JOE BIDEN: Good evening.
Ella Baker, a giant of
the civil rights movement,
left us with this wisdom--
give people light, and
they will find the way.
Give people light.
Those are words for our time.
The current president has
cloaked American darkness
for much too long--
too much anger, too much
fear, too much division.
Here and now, I
give you my word.
If you entrust me
with the presidency,
I will draw on the best
of us, not the worst.
I'll be an ally of the
light, not the darkness.
It's time for us, for we,
the people, to come together.
And make no mistake,
united we can
and will overcome this season
of darkness in America.
We'll choose hope over
fear, facts over fiction,
fairness over privilege.
I'm a proud
Democrat, and I'll be
proud to carry the
banner of our party
into the general election.
So it's with great
honor and humility,
I accept this nomination
for president of the United
States of America.
But while I'll be a
Democratic candidate,
I will be an American president.
I'll work hard for those
who didn't support me,
as hard for them as I did for
those who did vote for me.
That's the job of a president--
to represent all of us, not
just our base or our party.
This is not a partisan moment.
This must be an
American moment--
someone with a cause for
hope and light and love,
hope for our future, light
to see our way forward,
and love for one another.
America isn't just a collection
of clashing interests
of red states or blue states.
We're so much bigger than that.
We're so much better than that.
Now, nearly a century
ago, Franklin Roosevelt
pledged a new deal in a time
of massive unemployment,
uncertainty, and fear.
Stricken by disease,
stricken by a virus,
FDR insisted that he
would recover and prevail,
And he believed
America could as well.
And he did, and we can as well.
This campaign isn't just
about winning votes;
it's about winning the heart
and, yes, the soul of America--
winning it for the
generous among us,
not the selfish;
winning it for workers
who keep this country going,
not just the privileged few
at the top; winning it
for those communities
who have known the injustice
of a knee on the neck.
For all the young people that
have known only America being
of rising inequity and
shrinking opportunity,
they deserve the experience
of America's promise.
They deserve to
experience it in full.
You know, no
generation ever knows
what history will ask of it.
All we can ever know
is whether we're
ready when that moment arrives.
And now history has delivered
us to one of the most difficult
moments America's ever face--
four, four historic crises
all at the same time,
a perfect storm, the worst
pandemic in over 100 years,
the worst economic crisis
since the Great Depression,
the most compelling call for
racial justice since the '60s,
and the undeniably
realities, and just
the accelerating threats
of climate change.
So the question
for us is simple--
are we ready?
I believe we are.
We must be.
You know, all elections
are important.
And we know in our bones this
one is more consequential.
As many have said, America
is at an inflection
point, a time of
real peril, but also
of extraordinary possibilities.
We can choose a path of
becoming angrier, less hopeful,
more divided, a path of
shadow and suspicion.
Or, or we can choose
a different path
and together take this chance
to heal, to reform, to unite,
a path of hope and light.
This is a
life-changing election.
This will determine what
America is going to look
like for a long, long time.
Character is on the ballot.
Compassion is on the ballot.
Decency, science, democracy,
they're all on the ballot.
Who we are as a nation,
what we stand for,
most importantly,
who we want to be--
that's all on the ballot.
And the choice could
not be more clear.
No rhetoric is needed.
Just judge this
president on the facts.
Five million Americans
infected by COVID-19,
more than 170,000
Americans have died,
by far the worst performance
of any nation on Earth.
More than 50 million
people have filed
for unemployment this year.
More than 10 million people
are going to lose their health
insurance this year.
Nearly one in six
small businesses
have closed this year.
And this president,
if he's re-elected,
you know what will happen.
Cases and deaths will
remain far too high.
More mom and pop businesses
will close their doors,
and this time, for good.
Working families will
struggle to get by.
And yet, the wealthiest 1%
will get tens of billions
of dollars in new tax breaks.
And the assault on the
Affordable Care Act will
continue until it's destroyed--
taking insurance away for
more than 20 million people,
including more than 15
million people on Medicaid,
and getting rid
of the protections
that President Obama
worked so hard to get
passed for people who have--
100 million more people who
have preexisting conditions.
And speaking of President Obama,
a man I was honored to serve
alongside for eight
years as vice president,
let me take this
moment to say something
we don't say nearly enough--
thank you, Mr. President.
You were a great president,
a president that our children
could and did look up to.
No one's going to say that
about the current occupant
of the White House.
What we know about this
president is if he's given
four more years,
he'll be what he's
been for the last four years.
President takes
no responsibility,
refuses to lead, blames
others, cozies up to dictators,
and fans the flames
of hate and division.
He'll wake up every day
believing the job is
all about him, never about you.
Is that the America you want for
you your family, your children?
I see a different America, one
that's generous and strong,
selfless and humble.
It's an America we
can rebuild together.
As president, the
first step I will take
would be to get control of
the virus that is ruined so
many lives, because I understand
something this president hasn't
from the beginning.
We will never get our
economy back on track.
We will never get our kids
safely back in schools.
We'll never have our lives back
until we deal with this virus.
The tragedy of
where we are today
is it didn't have
to be this bad.
Just look around.
It's not this bad in
Canada or Europe or Japan
or almost anywhere
else in the world.
And the president keeps
telling us the virus
is going to disappear.
He keeps waiting for a miracle.
Well, I have news for him--
no miracle is coming.
We lead the world
in confirmed cases.
We lead the world in deaths.
Our economy's in tatters,
with Black, Latino,
Asian-American, Native
American communities
bearing the brunt of it.
And after all this
time, the president
still does not have a plan.
Well, I do.
If I'm your
president, on day one,
we'll implement the
national strategy I've
been laying out since March.
We'll develop and deploy
rapid tests with results
available immediately.
We'll make the medical supplies
and protective equipment
that our country needs.
And we'll make them here in
America so we will never again
be at the mercy of China
or other foreign countries
in order to protect
our own people.
We'll make sure our schools have
the resources they need to be
open, safe, and effective.
We'll put politics aside.
We'll take the muzzle
off our experts
so the public gets
the information
they need and deserve--
honest, unvarnished truth.
They can handle it.
We'll have a national
mandate to wear a mask
not as a burden, but
as a patriotic duty
to protect one another.
In short, we'll do
what we should have
done from the very beginning.
Our current president's
failed in his most basic duty
to the nation.
He's failed to protect us.
He's failed to protect America.
And my fellow Americans,
that is unforgivable.
As president, I'll
make you a promise.
I'll protect America.
I will defend us
from every attack,
seen and unseen, always,
without exception, every time.
Look, I understand.
I understand how hard it is
to have any hope right now.
On this summer night, let me
take a moment to speak to those
of you who have lost the most.
I have some idea how it feels
to lose someone you love.
I know that deep black
hole that opens up
in the middle of your chest,
and you feel like you're
being sucked into it.
I know how mean, cruel, and
unfair life can be sometimes.
But I've learned two things--
first, your loved one
may have left this Earth,
but they'll never
leave your heart.
They'll always be with you.
You'll always hear them.
And second, I found the best way
through pain and loss and grief
is to find purpose.
As God's children, each of us
have a purpose in our lives.
We have a great
purpose as a nation
to open the doors of
opportunity to all Americans,
to save our democracy, to be a
light to the world once again,
and finally, to
live up to and make
real the words written in
the sacred documents that
founded this nation--
that all men and women
are created equal,
endowed by their creator with
certain inalienable rights,
among them life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness.
You know, my dad was an
honorable, decent man.
He got knocked down a
few times pretty hard,
but he always got back up.
He worked hard, and he
built a great middle class
life for our family.
He used to say, Joey, I
don't expect the government
to solve my problems,
but I sure in hell
expect them to understand them.
And then he'd say,
Joey, a job is about
a lot more than a paycheck.
It's about your dignity.
It's about respect.
It's about your place
in the community.
It's about being able to
look your kid in they eye
and say, honey, it's going
to be OK, and mean it.
I've never forgotten
those lessons.
That's why my economic plan
is all about jobs, dignity,
respect, and community.
Together, we can and
will rebuild our economy.
And when we do, we'll
not only build back;
we'll build back better
with modern roads, bridges,
highways, broadband,
ports and airports
as a new foundation
for economic growth;
with pipes that transport
clean water to every community;
with 5 million new manufacturing
and technology jobs
so the future is
made in America;
with a health care system that
lowers premiums, deductibles,
drug prices by building
on the Affordable Care Act
he's trying to rip
away; with an education
system that trains our
people for the best
jobs of the 21st century.
There's not a single thing
American workers can't do.
And where cost doesn't
prevent young people
from going to college,
and student debt
doesn't crush them
when they get out;
with a child care and
elder care system that
makes it possible for parents to
go to work and for the elderly
to stay in their
homes with dignity;
with an immigration system
that powers our economy
and reflects our
values; and with newly
empowered labor unions--
they're the ones that
built the middle class--
with equal pay for
women, with rising wages
you could raise a
child on, a family on.
And yes, we're going
to do more than praise
our essential workers.
We're finally going
to pay them, pay them.
We can and we will deal
with climate change.
It's not only a crisis; it's
an enormous opportunity,
an opportunity for America to
lead the world in clean energy
and create millions of
new good-paying jobs
in the process.
And we can pay for
these investments
by ending loopholes,
unnecessary loopholes,
and the president's
$1.3 trillion
tax giveaway to the wealthiest
1%, and the biggest most
profitable corporations,
some of which
do not pay any tax
at all, because we
don't need a tax code
that rewards wealth
more than it rewards work.
I'm not looking to punish
anyone, far from it.
But it's long past time
the wealthiest people
and the biggest
corporations in this country
paid their fair share.
And for our seniors,
Social Security
is a sacred obligation, a sacred
promise made they paid for.
The current president
is threatening
to break that promise.
He's proposing to eliminate a
tax that pays for almost half
the Social Security without any
way of making up for that lost
revenue, resulting in cuts.
I will not let that happen.
If I'm your president,
we're going to protect
Social Security and Medicare.
You have my word.
One of the most powerful voices
we hear in the country today
is from our young people.
They're speaking to the
inequity and injustice
that has grown up in America--
economic injustice,
racial injustice,
environmental injustice.
I hear their voices.
If you listen, you
can hear them too.
And where there's existential
threat posed by climate change,
the daily fear of
being gunned down
in school, or the inability to
get started in your first job
will be the work of
the next president
to restore the promise
of America to everyone.
And I'm not going
to have to do it
alone because I'll have a great
vice president at my side--
Senator Kamala Harris.
She's a powerful
voice for this nation.
Her story is the American story.
She knows about all the
obstacles thrown in the way
of so many in our country--
women, Black women,
Black Americans,
South Asian-Americans,
immigrants, the left out
and the left behind.
But she's overcome every
obstacle she's ever faced.
No one's been tougher on
the big banks and the--
on the gun lobby.
No one's been tougher in calling
out the current administration
for its extremism, its failure
to follow the law, its failure
to simply tell the truth.
Kamala and I both draw
from our families.
That's where we
get our strength.
For Kamala, it's Doug
and their families.
For me, it's Jill and ours.
I've said many times, no
man deserves one great love
in his life, let alone two.
But I've known two.
After losing my first
wife in that car accident,
Jill came into my life.
She put our family
back together.
She's an educator, a
mom, a military mom,
an unstoppable force.
If she puts her mind to it,
just get out of the way.
She's going to get it done.
She was a great second lady.
And I know she'll make a great
first lady for this nation.
She loves this country so much.
And I'll always
have the strength
that can only come from family.
Hunter, Ashley, all
our grandchildren,
my brothers, my sister--
they give me courage.
They lift me up.
Wiley's no longer with us.
Bo inspires me every day.
Bo served our
nation in uniform--
a year in Iraq, a decorated
Iraqi war veteran.
So I take very personally and
the profound responsibility of
serving as commander in chief.
I'll be a president that's stand
with our allies and friends
and make it clear
to our adversaries
the days of cozying up
to dictators is over.
Under President Biden,
America will not
turn a blind eye
to Russian bounties
on the heads of
American soldiers.
Nor will I put up with foreign
interference in our most
sacred democratic exercise--
voting.
And I'll always
stand for our values
of human rights and dignity.
I'll work in common
purpose for a more secure,
peaceful, and prosperous world.
History-- history has thrust
one more urgent task on us.
Will we be the
generation that finally
wipes out the stain of racism
from our national character?
I believe were up to it.
I believe we're ready.
Just a week ago yesterday
was the third anniversary of
the events in Charlottesville.
Close your eyes.
Remember what you
saw on television.
Remember seeing those
neo-Nazis and Klansmen
and white supremacists coming
out of fields with lighted
torches, veins bulging, spewing
the same anti-Semitic bile
heard across Europe in the '30s.
Remember the violent
clash that ensued
between those spreading hate
and those with the courage
to stand against it.
And remember what the
president said when asked?
He said there were, quote, "very
fine people on both sides."
It was a wake up call
for us as a country,
and, for me, a call to action.
At that moment, I knew I'd have
to run because my father taught
us that silence was complicity.
And I could never remain
silent or complicit.
At the time, I said, we're
in the battle for the soul
of this nation, and we are.
You know, one of the most
important conversations
I've had this entire campaign--
it was someone who was
much too young to vote.
I met with six-year-old
Gianna Floyd the day
before her daddy, George
Floyd, was laid to rest.
She's an incredibly
brave little girl.
And I'll never forget it.
When I leaned down to speak
to her, she looked in my eyes,
and she said, and I quote,
"Daddy changed the world.
Daddy changed the world."
Her words burrowed
deep into my heart.
Maybe George Floyd murder
was a breaking point;
maybe John Lewis'
passing, the inspiration.
But however it's
come to be, however
it's happened, America's
ready, in John's words,
to lay down quote, "the heavy
burden of hate" at last,
and the hard work of rooting
out our systemic racism.
You know, American
history tells us
that it's been in
our darkest moments
that we've made our
greatest progress--
that we've found the light.
In this dark moment,
I believe we're poised
to make great progress again--
that we can find
the light once more.
You know, many people
have heard me say this,
but I've always believed you
can define America in one word--
possibilities, the defining
feature of America.
Everything is possible.
That in America,
everyone, and I mean,
everyone, should be
given an opportunity
to go as far as their
dreams and God-given ability
will take them.
We can never lose that.
In times as
challenging as these,
I believe there is
only one way forward--
as united America,
a united America,
united in our pursuit of a
more perfect union, united
in our dreams of a better future
for us and for our children,
united in our determination to
make the coming years bright.
Are you ready?
I believe we are.
This is a great nation.
We're a good and decent people.
For lord's sake, this is the
United States of America.
And there's never been anything
we've been able to accomplish
when we've done it together.
The Irish poet Seamus Heaney
once wrote, "History says,
don't hope on this
side of the grave.
But then, once in a lifetime,
the longed-for tidal wave
of justice can rise up.
And hope and history rhyme."
This is our moment to
make hope and history
rhyme with passion and purpose.
Let us begin, you and I
together, one nation under god.
Unite our love for
America, united
in our love for each other.
For love is more
powerful than hate.
Hope is more powerful than fear.
And light is more
powerful than dark.
This is our moment.
This is our mission.
May history be able to say
that the end of this chapter
of American darkness began
here tonight, as love and hope
and light join in the battle
for the soul of the nation.
And this is a battle we will
win, and we'll do it together.
I promise you.
Thank you and may God bless you.
And may God protect our troops.
Good night.
[MUSIC - THE STAPLE SISTERS, "WE
 THE PEOPLE"]
(SINGING) We the people got
to make the world go 'round,
got to make the world now.
We the people got to
make the world go 'round,
got to make the world now.
Earnin' the knack.
Vast regret.
Everybody sweatin'.
What you give is what you get.
Hot pants in style, don't
let our world go wild.
Mama's youngest child
is learnin' fast.
Go to get--
