Transcript: Vice President Harris and Governor Walz Rally Support in Arizona

Glendale, AZ — Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz held a campaign event at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, on August 9, 2024.

Here is the transcript:

Remarks by Vice President Harris and Governor Tim Walz at a Campaign Event | Glendale, AZ
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 12, 2024

Remarks by Vice President Harris and Governor Tim Walz at a Campaign Event | Glendale, AZ

Desert Diamond Arena
Glendale, Arizona

(August 9, 2024)

5:15 P.M. MST

GOVERNOR WALZ: Wow! (Applause.) Hey, he- — hello, Arizona! (Laughs.) (Applause.) Wow. Hey —

AUDIENCE: Coach! Coach! Coach!

GOVERNOR WALZ: (Bows.) Yeah. Wow. Well, you might have seen, a few people showed up in Philadelphia the other night. (Applause.) And then 10,000-plus walked into a field in western Wisconsin. (Applause.) And then on Wednesday, the largest crowd of the campaign showed up in Detroit, Michigan. (Applause.)

But Arizona just couldn’t leave it alone, could you? (Laughs.) (Applause.) Wow. You know, it’s not as if anybody cares about crowd sizes or anything, so — (laughter and applause). Wow.

Let me begin — let me begin by giving a few thanks to some people here and a few dear folks to us.

First of all, I want to thank Arizona for sharing Senator Mark Kelly and Gabby Giffords with the rest of the country. (Applause.) Gabby was a classmate of mine in ‘06, and they are both national treasures. Thank you, Arizona. (Applause.)

I also had the privilege of serving with — with Congressman Gallego. And I have to tell you — (applause) — he — he was an amazing colleague. And I have to tell you, he’s going to be an amazing senator, but we get it — we — we get — (applause) — we get a twofer with Ruben, because we know who is never going to be a United States senator. (Applause.)

To all the local elected officials, thank you. But the most important thank you to each and every one of you. (Applause.) Look, you took time out of your busy lives. You found babysitters; you took time off work. You walked for miles. And look, I’m a Minnesotan; I’m like a damn snowman. I’m melting here. (Laughter.) There’s a — we walk on water half the year in Minnesota, it’s so damn cold. But — but not you. You came. And you came into this space with neighbors. (Applause.)

And you came here for one beautiful, simple reason: You love this democracy. (Applause.) I’ll – I’ll tell you what —

AUDIENCE: USA! USA! USA!

GOVERNOR WALZ: Wow, wow, wow.

Well, I couldn’t be prouder to stand with you, and I couldn’t be prouder to be on this ticket. (Applause.)

You know what is at the end of this little journey? Kamala Harris as the next president of the United States. (Applause.)

This is a leader who wakes up every day on the side of the American people. This is — (applause) — she will take on the predators. She will take on the fraudsters, she will take on the transnational gangs, and she will stand up to the corporate interests and put middle America first. (Applause.)

And — and she’s been effective. She’s been willing to reach across the aisle no matter what just to make sure it improves people’s lives.

And I’ll have to tell you, I know a little something about commitment to people. Some of you heard this. I was born in a small town in Nebraska. And we talk about small towns. (Applause.) These are those Nebraskans that moved out here for the winter, so — (laughter).

But, look, small town was all about community. My mom and dad, they taught us to show some care to your neighbors, show some generosity, work towards a common good, be a decent human being to your neighbors. (Applause.)

My dad — and some of you know him in here; you had him — a chain-smoking, Korean War-era veteran, cared about his community. But two days after I turned 17, he took me down to join the Army National Guard. And for 24 years, I proudly wore that uniform. (Applause.)

And I’m proud of that service, but what my nation gave my dad and millions of others and me was an opportunity to use the G.I. Bill to get a college education. (Applause.)

My dad was a teacher. My brothers and sisters and I — (applause) — my brothers and sisters and I all became teachers. (Applause.) And we married teachers. (Applause.)

I had the privilege of teaching high school social studies for 20 years — (applause) — and, you might have heard, coaching a state championship football team. So — (applause).

AUDIENCE: Coach! Coach! Coach!

GOVERNOR WALZ: Now if the Vikings could just win, that would be the — (laughter) — (inaudible). Well, look —

AUDIENCE: Booo —

GOVERNOR WALZ: (Laughs.) That worked better near Green Bay, I’ll tell you. So — (laughter) —

Look, it was my students — it was my students who encouraged me to run. They saw in me what I hoped to instill in them: a commitment to a common good, the belief — the true belief that one person, one of us in here, can make a difference in somebody’s life. (Applause.)

I — I wasn’t very politically savvy, because I did not know it when I decided to run for Congress that there had been one other Democrat elected in that district since 1892. But my neighbors believed, and they graced me with an opportunity to serve them in the United States Congress for 12 years. (Applause.)

And I’m proud of the work I did as ranking member on the Veterans Affairs Committee, working on the Agriculture Committee. (Applause.) And I worked hand in hand with Republicans to make sure that we were crafting legislation that improved the lives of veterans and people all across this country. (Applause.)

I learned how to compromise without compromising my values. (Applause.)

And as governor of the great state of Minnesota, I brought all of those experiences — I brought all of those experiences to the challenges facing the state of Minnesota. (Applause.)

This idea about a common good, this idea about something bigger than ourselves, this idea of kindness, generosity and compassion that this building — which I have been told, by the way, might be the largest political gathering in the history of Arizona. (Applause.)

I — I think it’s — I think it’s safe to say Donald Trump sees the world a little differently than we do.

AUDIENCE: Booo —

GOVERNOR WALZ: First and foremost — and be very clear about this — he doesn’t know the first thing about service.

AUDIENCE: Nooo —

GOVERNOR WALZ: It’s hard to provide service when you’re too busy serving only yourself. (Applause.) Again and again and again, Donald Trump weakens our country to strengthen his own hands.

You’ve watched him mock our laws. You watched him sow chaos and division at every opportunity. And that’s to say nothing of his record as president.

AUDIENCE: Booo —

GOVERNOR WALZ: As governors — as governors, he froze during COVID and pitted us in a hunger game against our neighbors to try and find basic lifesaving needs. And because of him, our neighbors died.

AUDIENCE: Booo —

GOVERNOR WALZ: By failing to address COVID, he drove the economy into the ground.

And let’s be very clear, the statistics and the facts are clear about this: Violent crime was up under Donald Trump. (Applause.) And we don’t even have to count his crimes in that to make it up. So, still. (Applause.)

Look — those —

AUDIENCE: Lock him up! Lock him up! Lock him up!

GOVERNOR WALZ: Better yet, beat the hell out of him at the ballot box. (Applause.) Beat the hell out of him at the ballot
box.

Look, you and I, especially the gray hairs in the crowd, we know — we know our relatives. Republicans used to be the people talking about freedom. Not this group. When they talk about freedom, it means that the government should be free to invade your exam room with your doctor.

AUDIENCE: Booo —

GOVERNOR WALZ: Look, in Minnesota, we respect our neighbors and the personal choices they make. We may- — we maybe wouldn’t make the same choices, but we respect them. And I know in Minnesota and in Arizona and places across this country, you know what makes society work best — is when you learn a golden rule: Mind your own damn business. Mind your own damn business. (Applause.) We don’t need it.

I don’t — I don’t need you telling me what books to read. I don’t need you telling me about what religion we worship. And I sure the heck don’t need you to tell me about my family. (Applause.)

Look, this — this one is personal for me. This one is personal for me about IVF and reproductive care. When my wife and I — my wife of 30 years, because, yes, we share family values; we just make our own damn choices about our family. (Applause.)

But when we wanted to have children, we went through years of fertility treatment. And I remember it was — like it was yesterday, just waiting for good news. And then the phone would ring, and you would be tensed up. And then you would hear that the treatments had failed. It was a — it would blot out the sun that you just wanted something so beautiful and so simple to have a child.

And then, one day — and it wasn’t by chance when that news came and we welcomed our daughter into the world — (applause) — we named her Hope. We named her Hope. (Applause.)

AUDIENCE: Hope! Hope! Hope!

GOVERNOR WALZ: I’m not crying; you’re crying. So — (laughter).

When Vice President Harris and I talk about freedom, we’re very clear. We mean the freedom to make your own health care decisions — (applause) — and for all of our children to be free to go to school without worrying they’ll be shot dead in their classroom. (Applause.)

And in Minnesota, believe me, we believe in the Second Amendment, but we also believe in commonsense gun violence laws. (Applause.)

I remind my colleagues, when I was in Congress — Ruben could tell this story — for three years in a row, I was the top gun in the congressional trap shoot, so we can shoot better than them, too. Just, by the way, so — (laughter).

When Vice President Harris talks about freedom, it’s when freedom is when education is a ticket to the middle class — (applause) — not crippling student loan debt. (Applause.)

And this building and what we believe in — we are people that settle our political differences not through violence but through voting. (Applause.)

It’s a simple —

AUDIENCE: Vote! Vote! Vote!

GOVERNOR WALZ: Imagine every person in here is going to vote and every person in here is going to get 10 other people to vote, and here’s — (applause) — and let’s just go ahead and not go through this thing that it’s so close. Let’s just win big, people. Let’s just win big. (Applause.)

That’s our choice. How often — how often you get a choice so simple that this is going to decide the direction of our country? We have 87 days to decide the direction we’re going to go. And I’ve been saying it: We can do anything for 87 days. Anything. (Applause.)

And my mantra is — and, look, you can see it on me over the last five days — we’ll sleep when we’re dead. We’ll sleep when we’re dead. (Applause.) Not now. Not now.

Look, you know it and I know it, but I think we need to be reminded. You know exactly what Donald Trump’s plans are. You know which direction he’s taking us.

AUDIENCE: Booo —

GOVERNOR WALZ: Don’t believe this guy. Don’t believe — I — that’s — like, listen, no one in here believes this guy. So, anyway. (Laughter.) But don’t believe it when he’s playing dumb about this Project 2025.

AUDIENCE: Booo —

GOVERNOR WALZ: He knows exactly what it’ll do. They are not playing. They wrote their plan out. But just like they’re getting arrogant about it, they’re saying the quiet stuff out loud. It’ll take our freedoms. It will rig the economy for the super-rich. It will underfund veterans.

And you know that if he goes back again, he’s not only going to let go where he left off, it is going to be much, much, much worse.

AUDIENCE: Booo —

GOVERNOR WALZ: So, look, rising costs, pulling health care from us — you know, the whole routine.

Look, I get this too. I know I’m preaching to the choir — a damn big and beautiful choir — (applause) — but practice is over, people. The choir needs to sing. The choir needs to sing. (Applause.)

Trump stopped fighting for your family. He doesn’t give a damn.

And his running mate shares the same dangerous, twisted, backward agenda.

AUDIENCE: Booo —

GOVERNOR WALZ: Yeah. Ev- — every kid — every kid in my class of 25 studied at Yale, had their career funded by Silicon Valley billionaires, and then writes a book trashing the very people who raised you.

AUDIENCE: Booo —

GOVERNOR WALZ: I’ve said it. It wasn’t a name; it was an observation. These guys come up with the weirdest damn ideas that you will ever imagine. (Applause.) You know it’s true.

But here’s the good news. We know the stakes. We know who they are. When they told us, we believed them. We know what’s coming. But here’s the big thing about it is: That’s a reality that’s not going to happen because of the people in this building and millions across the country. (Applause.)

This is a campaign about the future. We know what’s there. We know what can come. We’re not people who are afraid of the future; we shape the future. (Applause.)

Kamala Harris believes in the freedom to make your own choices. She believes in the opportunity for every single person to enter the middle class. And she believes something so beautiful: She believes in the promise of America — the promise of America. (Applause.)

So, I want to say thank you, Madam Vice President, for the trust you’ve placed in me. And I want to say something else that this incredible leader, this incredible woman has brought to this fight. (Applause.) She — she has brought back compassion and decency and humor and joy to our politics. (Applause.)

So, Arizona — Arizona, bring that joy with you. Bring those smiles. Bring that positive future as you join me in welcoming the next president of the United States, Kamala Harris.

(“Freedom” by Beyoncé is played.)

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Good evening, Arizona! (Applause.) Good evening. Oh, my goodness. Good evening. (Laughs.) (Applause.) We’re going to do this. Good evening. Good — (laughs) — thank you all. Thank you.

Can we hear it for Tim Walz? (Applause.) Oh, my goodness. Oh, it’s good to be back in Arizona. Good evening, everyone. (Applause.)

Oh, my goodness. Thank you all so very much. Oh, it is good to be back.

Let me just say — let me — let me just start by thanking everyone who is here. Thank you all so very much. (Applause.) All of us, we’re going to do this. We’re going to do this. We are going to do this. (Applause.) Yes, we are.

And I want to thank all of the incredible leaders who are here, including Congressman Greg Stanton — (applause); your next United States senator, Congressman Ruben Gallego — (applause); and my dear friend, United States Senator Mark Kelly. (Applause.)

And let me just say, as Arizona knows, Mark is an extraordinary leader who has dedicated his life to the service of our nation as a fighter pilot, as an astronaut, and as a member of the United States Congress. And he has given so much to our country. He always fights for the people of Arizona. And I am so grateful, Mark, for your friendship and your leadership. (Applause.)

And, of course, the — a phenomenal congresswoman, Gabby Giffords. (Applause.)

There are also an incredible group of mayors with us today, Mayor Kate Gallego — (applause); Mayor Corey Woods — (applause); and Arizona co-chair of Republicans for Harris, Mayor John Giles. (Applause.)

So, today, I also bring greetings from our incredible president, Joe Biden. (Applause.)

AUDIENCE: Joe! Joe! Joe!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: And I know we are all deeply grateful for his lifetime of service to our nation. And we thank Joe Biden each and every day — (applause) — for all he is and all he has done and all he has yet to do. Let us thank him always. (Applause.)

So, Arizona, this has been a big week. (Applause.)

On Monday, I officially became the Democratic nominee for president of the United States. (Applause.)

And on Tuesday, I announced my running mate in this campaign, Governor Tim Walz. (Applause.)

And as you all just heard, Tim has a great record as governor of the great state of Minnesota. And to those who know him best, Tim goes by a few more titles besides governor.

To his wife, Gwen —

AUDIENCE MEMBERS: (Inaudible.)

AUDIENCE: USA! USA! USA!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: So —

AUDIENCE MEMBER: (Inaudible.)

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you.

So, Tim — Tim, we know him by — we know him by “Governor,” but you’ll soon get to know his wife, Gwen, to whom —

AUDIENCE MEMBERS: (Inaudible.)

THE VICE PRESIDENT: You know what? Hold on a second. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on, everybody. Hold on, hold on, hold on.

Here’s the thing: We are all in here together. I’m s- — I’m told, an extraordinary number of folks who are here together because we love our country. We’re here to fight for our democracy — (applause) — which includes respecting the voices that I think that we are hearing from.

And let me just say this on topic of what I think I’m hearing over there. Let me just speak to that for a moment, and then I’m going to get back to the business at hand. (Applause.)

So, let me say, I have been clear: Now is the time to get a ceasefire deal and get the hostage deal done. (Applause.)
done. Now is the time. And the president and I are working around the clock every day to get that ceasefire deal done and bring the hostages home. (Applause.)

So, I respect your voices, but we are here to now talk about this race in 2024. (Applause.)

So, Tim Walz — so, let’s just say this. Besides being governor, the thing I’ve come to learn about Tim Walz that you have known and may learn more: He’s an extraordinary person.

He’s known by many titles. To his wife Gwen, he is husband. To his kids, Hope and Gus, he is Dad. To the people of Southern Minnesota for 12 years, he was Congressman. To his former high school students, he was Mr. Walz. (Applause.) And to his former high school football players, he was Coach. (Applause.)

AUDIENCE: Coach! Coach! Coach!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: And in 88 days, the nation will know Coach Walz by a new title: vice president of the United States. (Applause.)

So, it’s so good to be back in Arizona, and I thank you all for turning out today. This is an extraordinary, extraordinary thing. (Applause.)

And, Arizona, I’ll also this — say this, as exciting as this is, we cannot lose sight of a really important fact: We are definitely running as the underdog. We are the underdog. We are out in great numbers, but we got a lot of work to do.

And this is going to be hard work, but I know we like hard work. Hard work is good work for all of us. Hard work is good work, and we will do it with joy. (Applause.)

And I know we are all clear about what we are up against. As many of you know, before I was elected vice president, I was an elected United States senator. (Applause.) Before that — before that, I was an elected attorney general and, before that, an elected district attorney. (Applause.) And before that, I was a courtroom prosecutor. (Applause.)

So, I took on, in these roles, perpetrators of all kinds: predators who abused women —

AUDIENCE: Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT: — fraudsters who ripped off consumers —

AUDIENCE: Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT: — scammers who broke the rules for personal gain.

AUDIENCE: Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT: So, Arizona, hear me when I say: I know Donald Trump’s type. (Applause.) I do. In fact, I’ve been dealing with people like him my entire career.

For example, as attorney general of California, I took on one of our country’s largest for-profit colleges that scammed students. Well, Donald Trump ran a for-profit college that scammed students.

AUDIENCE: Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT: As a pres- — as a prosecutor, I specialized in cases of sexual abuse. Well, Donald Trump was found liable for committing sexual abuse.

AUDIENCE: Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT: As attorney general, I held Wall Street banks accountable for fraud. Well, Donald Trump was just found guilty of fraud — 34 counts. (Applause.)

AUDIENCE: Lock him up! Lock him up! Lock him up!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: So, all of this — yeah, the courts will deal with that. We going to win in November. (Laughs.) We going to win in November. (Applause.) We’ll handle that too.

So — but all of this is to say: In this campaign, I will proudly put my record against his every day of the week. (Applause.) Every day of the week.

But make no mistake, that being said, our campaign is not just about us versus Donald Trump. It is about —

AUDIENCE MEMBER: We love you, Kamala!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: And I love you back. (Applause.)

Our campaign — our campaign is about two different visions for our nation. One, ours, focused on the future. The other, focused on the past. And, Arizona, we — we fight for the future. (Applause.) A future with affordable health care, affordable child care, and paid leave. (Applause.) A future where we build a broad-based economy where every American has an opportunity to own a home, to start a business, to build wealth. (Applause.)

Here with us today, I know we have a number of Native leaders. And as president, I will tell you — (applause) — I will always honor tribal sovereignty and respect tribal self-determination — (applause) — and fight for a future where every Native person can realize their aspirations and every Native community is a place of opportunity. (Applause.)

We here — we believe in a future where we lower the cost of living for America’s families — (applause) — so that they have the chance not just to get by, but to get ahead. (Applause.) Because, look, while our economy is doing well by many measures, prices for everyday things like groceries are still too high. You know it, and I know it.

When I was attorney general, I went after price-fixing schemes. And when I am president, I will continue that work to bring down prices. I will take on — (applause) — I will take on big corporations that engage in illegal price gouging. I will take on corporate landlords that unfairly raise rents on working families. (Applause.) I will take on Big Pharma and cap the cost of prescription drugs for all Americans. (Applause.)

And all of this is to say, unlike Donald Trump, I will always put the middle class and working families first. (Applause.)

Because you see, Coach Walz and I know the middle class built the United States of America. (Applause.) And when the middle class is strong, America is strong. (Applause.)

And while we work to move our nation forward, look, Donald Trump, be very clear, intends to move us backward.

AUDIENCE: Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Just look — and we’re not going back.

AUDIENCE: We’re not going back! We’re not going back! We’re not gong back!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: And we’re not going back. We are not going back. We’re going back. No.

But just look — look — look at his — you know, Tim talked about it. Look at his Project 2025 agenda.

AUDIENCE: Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT: It’s 900-plus pages. I can’t believe they put that thing in writing, by the way. (Laughter.) But when you look at it, when you read it, you will see Project 2025 is a plan to weaken the middle class. If he is elected, Donald Trump intends to give a tax break to billionaires and big corporations.

AUDIENCE: Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT: He intends to cut Social Security and Medicare.

AUDIENCE: Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT: He intends to surrender our fight against the climate crisis.

AUDIENCE: Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT: And, Arizona, every day you feel the impact of extreme heat and drought. You know this crisis is real. He calls it a hoax.

AUDIENCE: Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT: And on top of all of this, if Donald Trump wins in November, he intends — he intends to end the Affordable Care Act —

AUDIENCE: Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT: — and take us back to a time when insurance companies had the power to deny people with preexisting conditions. You remember what that was?

AUDIENCE: Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Remember what that was?

AUDIENCE MEMBER: He won’t win!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: He won’t win. You’re right. (Applause.) He won’t win.

AUDIENCE: He won’t win! He won’t win! He won’t win!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: We will win. We will win.

AUDIENCE: We will win! We will win! We will win!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: And — and part of why we are going to win is because we remember and we are smart and we know what’s happening and we’re not falling for the gaslighting and we’re not falling for the okey-doke. (Applause.) That’s why.

So, look, America has tried so many of those failed policies before, and, like we all know, we’re not going back. (Applause.) We — we will move forward and take on the biggest issues facing our nation.

For example, the issue of immigration. So, I was attorney general of a border state. I went after the transnational gangs, the drug cartels, and human traffickers. (Applause.) I prosecuted them in case after case, and I won. (Applause.) So I know what I’m talking about.

We know our immigration system is broken, and we know what it takes to fix it: comprehensive reform that includes strong border security and an earned pathway to citizenship. (Applause.)

But Donald Trump does not want to fix this problem. Be clear about that. He has no interest or desire to actually fix the problem. He talks a big game about border security, but he does not walk the walk.

Earlier this year — everybody here knows, earlier this year, we had a chance to pass the toughest bipartisan border security bill in decades, but Donald Trump tanked the deal —

AUDIENCE: Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT: — because he thought by doing that it would help him win an election.

AUDIENCE: Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT: But when I am president, I will sign the bill. (Applause.)

So, Arizona, ours is a fight for the future, and it is a fight for freedom. (Applause.)

Across our nation, we are witnessing a full-on assault against hard-fought, hard-won freedoms and rights: the freedom to vote; the freedom to be safe from gun violence — (applause); the freedom to love who you love openly and with pride — (applause); and the freedom of a woman to make decisions about her own body and not have her government telling her what to do. (Applause.)

And on that last point, understand how we got here. When he was president, Donald Trump handpicked three members of the United States Supreme Court —

AUDIENCE: Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT: — with the intention that they would overturn and undo the protections of Roe v. Wade. And as he intended, they did. And now, in over 20 states in our nation, there is a Trump abortion ban.

AUDIENCE: Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Many, like Arizona, with no exceptions even for rape or incest.

AUDIENCE: Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT: And just yesterday in a press conference, we got a fresh reminder of what Donald Trump’s Project 2025 agenda would do. It would ban medication abortion in every state.

AUDIENCE: Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT: But we are not going to let that happen —

AUDIENCE: Nooo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT: — because we trust women. (Applause.)

And when I am president of the United States and when Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive freedoms for every woman In America, I will sign it into law. (Applause.)

So, listen, here’s the thing that we all know — here’s the thing we all know: Generations — generations of Americans before us led the fight for freedom. Now, the baton is in our hands — (applause) — each and every one of us. So, we who believe in the sacred freedom to vote will finally pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the Freedom to vote act. (Applause.)

And we who believe in the freedom to live safe from gun violence will finally pass an assault weapons ban, universal background checks, and red flag laws. (Applause.)

So much is on the line in this election. And understand, this is not 2016 and this is not 2020. You know, this time around, the stakes are even higher. And that’s because last month, the United States Supreme Court basically just told the former president, who has been convicted of fraud, that going forward, he was — he will be effectively immune no matter what he does in the White House.

AUDIENCE: Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT: But — but think about what that means. Think about what that means in this election. Think about what that means. He’s been effectively told he will be immune if he’s back in the White House. Think about what that means when you remember Donald Trump has openly vowed, if reelected, he will be a dictator on day one —

AUDIENCE: Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT: — that he will weaponize the Department of Justice against his political enemies.

AUDIENCE: Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Remember that he even called for th,e quote, “termination” of the Constitution of the United States.

AUDIENCE: Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Understand what this means.

And let us be very clear: Someone who suggests we should terminate the Constitution of the United States should never again stand behind the seal of the United States president. (Applause.) Never again. Never again.

So, Arizona, it all comes down to this. We are here because we love our country. (Applause.) We love our country.

AUDIENCE: USA! USA! USA!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: That’s right. That’s right. We love our country. And I do believe it is the highest form of patriotism to fight for the ideals of our country. That’s — that’s how we preserve the promise of America.

And after all, the promise of America is what makes it possible for Governor Walz and me to be on the same stage together.

Because think: two middle class kids. One, a daughter of Oakland, California — (applause) — who was raised by a working mother, had a summer job at McDonald’s. (Applause.) The other, a son of Nebraska plains, who grew up working on a farm. Think about it. Only in America is it possible for them together to make it all the way to the White House. (Applause.) Only in America. Only in America.

So, we, together, all of us — we’re running this campaign on behalf of all Americans, from red states to blue states, from the heartland to the coast. And when we are elected, we will govern on behalf of all Americans. (Applause.) All Americans.

So, Arizona, ultimately, in this election, I do believe we each — each one of us, we face a question. That question being: What kind of country do we want to live in? Do we want to live in a country of chaos, fear, and hate —

AUDIENCE: Nooo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT: — or a country of freedom, compassion, and rule of law? (Applause.)

And the beauty — the beauty of our democracy — the beauty of our democracy is that we each have the power to answer that question. Each one of us in a democracy has the power to answer that question. The power is with the people. (Applause.)

And in the next, then, 88 days, we need you to use your power. (Applause.) We need you to knock on some doors. (Applause.) We need you to register folks to vote. (Applause.) We need you to energize, to mobilize, to organize, and to make your voices heard. (Applause.)

So, Arizona, I ask, are you ready to make your voices heard? (Applause.)

Do we believe in freedom? (Applause.)

Do we believe in opportunity? (Applause.)

Do we believe in the promise of America? (Applause.)

And are we ready to fight for it? (Applause.)

And when we fight —

AUDIENCE: We win!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: — we win. (Applause.)

God bless you. And God bless the United States of America. God bless you. (Applause.)

                         END                6:06 P.M. MST

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