Kamala (00:00):
Hi everyone. Good afternoon. Please have a seat. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, that means a lot. Thank you. Thank you. Please, please, please have a seat.
(00:21)
I’m very touched and very honored. And thank you all, the leaders who are here. Mayor Giles, I thank you. You’ve been an extraordinary friend and I really, I so appreciate the courage that you have shown to be so open and forward about the importance of us all working together and your support has meant the world to me. So, in front of all of the friends, I thank you very much for all thank you.
(01:11)
And former State Rep Shaw, I thank you as well. There you are. Thank you, for all the support that you have given. Thank you. Thank you.
(01:32)
So, we are all here together because we love our country. We love our country. And I was talking with some folks recently about the importance of understanding the duality, frankly, that exists in terms of our democracy.
(01:52)
You know, as your vice president, and I have now met over 150 world leaders; presidents, prime ministers, chancellors, and kings. And when we, representing the United States, walk in those rooms, traditionally we’ve been able to walk in those rooms, chin up, shoulders back, with the earned and self-appointed authority, to talk about the importance of democracies; rule of law. But I say to a room of role models, here’s the thing about being a role model. When you’re a role model, folks, watch what you do to see if it matches up to what you say.
(02:32)
And I tell you, because I have traveled the country recently, including the many, many trips that I’ve taken over the last almost four years, but recently in particular, where world leaders, allies, have come up to me. We’re now on a first name basis. I’ve met with so many of them so many times and they have said to me, “Kamala, I hope you guys are going to be okay.”
(02:57)
One of the things that I think I about and weighs on me sometimes, is I hope we as Americans really understand how important we are to the world. We are so important to the world. Those people who fight for democracy, who fight for freedom, who fight for a life in which they can have opportunity, they hold us up and they hold us out as a model.
(03:36)
And that, as much as anything, is at stake right now in this election. And I know I’m speaking to a group of people who know that and know that well.
(03:47)
You know, I was raised to believe that hard work is important. It is important to look out for each other. It is important to understand that the vast majority of us have so much more in common than what separates us. I was raised in a community of folks who understood that when we stand together, when we look for commonality, that’s when we thrive. And part of what we know has been happening in the last several years in our country, is there’s some powerful forces that are trying to divide us as Americans, would have us and cheer us on if we point fingers at one another.
(04:34)
There’s this kind of backward thinking coming from some folks that suggests that the measure of the strength of a leader is based on who you beat down, instead of what we know, which is the real measure of the strength of a leader based on who you lift up. That’s strength.
(04:52)
But truly, but I mean that intentionally. It’s not only good and right. That’s strength because part of what is the perversion of what some people are suggesting, as though it is a sign of weakness to have empathy, to have some level of concern and care about the suffering of other people, and then take it upon oneself to do something about that. That is about lifting the condition of your fellow human being.
(05:35)
So when we think about what’s at stake in this election, whoa. It’s packed with some stuff. It’s packed with some fundamental stuff. I say rather articulately. There’s so much at stake. Mayor, you mentioned John McCain. Okay, so I’ll tell you. I was in the United States Senate for about four years and I worked with John McCain, and so I’ll tell you…
(06:11)
So, there was this. We were on a committee together. These committee rooms in the United States Senate, they’re very grand and very impressive. John McCain was on one side of the dais and I was on the other horseshoe and he’s going after me. He’s going after me. We’re having some conversation. I think it was about one of the nominees. This is during President Trump’s years. He’s going after me and I’m going back after him. I’m going back after him. And that was it. And this is what the public saw. And then I step onto the floor of the well of the Senate, later that day we had votes, and I passed by John McCain and he looks at me. He says, “Kid, come over here. You’re going to make a great senator.” True story. True story. True story. That was John McCain. That was John McCain.
(07:11)
I was talking about him last night at a rally, right? John McCain, who we didn’t agree on everything. But man, I mean, what about an incredible American hero? Again, strength. Strength. We know what the former President said about John McCain, I’m not going to repeat it here. But, strength. John McCain stood on principle. He stood on a belief in the importance of patriotism, of sacrifice, of what we stand for as a country.
(07:50)
And part of what I talked about at a rally last night is I shared with the folks in the room, I was there on the Senate floor way, into the middle of the night, when it was yet another attempt of the former President to get rid of the Affordable Care Act, which as we know, has been literally a lifesaver for people. What it has done, to no longer allow preexisting conditions to be the reason that an insurance company can’t give you assistance, right?
(08:22)
And you all may have seen it. I was there on the floor that night and we were all standing around because whether or not the Affordable Care Act would continue to be, relied on one vote. And we were all standing on the floor. And of course I had voted to keep going. And I say this, and it sounds like it’s out of a movie, but this is how I experienced it.
(08:48)
On the floor with my colleagues and the Senate, well it was late into the night in the Senate. You walk onto the Senate floor and there were these big wooden ornate doors and those ornate doors opened and John McCain came out and he went to the floor and he said, “No, you don’t. No, you don’t take away healthcare for millions of people.” And that is but one example of an individual that we all respect, who put country before party, in terms of what they thought was right.
(09:30)
I’m honored to have the endorsement of Jeff Flake, someone I also worked with. Again, putting country before party. And so I say all of that, to say that, those are examples that are situated right here in this beautiful state of Arizona. A tradition that everyone in all of us, I will say, stand on.
(09:54)
And then of course, most recently what Maricopa did in terms of the clerk refusing to participate in the intention to undo the will of the people in a free and fair election. The people of this state have always shown extraordinary courage to stand up for the principles upon which we as a country were founded. And I thank you for that. I thank you for that.
(10:18)
I know we are going to win this election and it is not going to be easy. There are forces at play that are making us as Americans, I think call into question certain fundamentals that we’ve always taken for granted. That is part of our pride.
(10:39)
Freedom. Freedom. Freedom from the government making decisions about a person’s body; a woman’s body. Freedom to just be. Freedom over matters of heart and home, I like to say. Fundamental principles around the importance of rule of law. Whether we should actually be concerned and have a question, a legitimate question, in an election for President of the United States, the Commander in Chief, of whether they will abide by the oath.
(11:25)
But imagine. Imagine. That’s a legitimate question we’re asking. It’s not rhetorical. It’s a legitimate question we are asked. He who said that he would quote, “terminate” the Constitution of the United States. He who said he would be a dictator on day one. He who intends to weaponize the Department of Justice against his political enemies, take away the independence of the Department of Justice, and put in place loyalists, fundamental notions about who and what we are as a democracy are at play in this election. And you all, each of you, have had the courage to say, “Hey, we may not agree on every single thing.” That’s also what a democracy looks like. But foundational, first principles, cannot be in question. Not for the sake of our children, not for the sake of our future and wellbeing, not for the sake of our standing in the world.
(12:44)
And so I tell you all this to just reaffirm that we share not only a concern, but a commitment to our country and what’s most important. About in a moment of crisis, dare I say, I think this is one. Do we stand together as Americans, being our first identity, and come together around these issues?
(13:10)
And I am going to actually announce we have press in the room that I have decided also, not only will I have a Republican in my cabinet, but I’m also going to… I was talking to my team about it. I want to create some structure around the following, which is I love good ideas. Wherever they come from, I love good ideas. And so part of what I intend to do, mayor, and put some structure around, is creating a bipartisan council of advisors, who can then give feedback on policy as we go forward. Because here’s the thing I also understand and feel strongly about.
(13:55)
In order for us as America, to maintain our status as the strongest democracy in the world, we need a healthy two-party system. We have to have a healthy two-party system. We have to. It’s in the best interest of all of us. It’s in the best interest of all of us. The way that I like to lead, I bring folks in my office all the time and they know I don’t want any “yes” people. I want people to come in and first of all, be prepared. Yeah, no time to waste. But come in and then let’s, as I often say, “Kick the tires on ideas.” Because the best ideas will survive those kinds of challenges and the best ideas will then be most relevant to the American people, most effective to the American people. And so I’m create a bipartisan council so we can put some structure around exactly this point and do the work that is important.
(14:58)
And then I’m just going to close with this. Again, I think on the fundamentals, we have more in common than what separates us, including across faiths. So I know there are a lot of members of the LDS community here. And you may or may not know, my pastor, actually spoke at the hundredth birthday of President Nelson. And that wasn’t a plan as part of this. It just is. And I just think if we think in our lives and in what we know, there’s so many examples of that point. We have so much more in common than what separates us, especially on the fundamentals.
(15:42)
And so with that, I say that I’m committed to all of you to be a President for all Americans, and to work as we must, together. Again, knowing we have so much more in common than what separates us. And on the biggest and most important issues, I think we know that this is a fight that is not against something, as much as it is a fight that is for something.
(16:05)
Thank you all. God bless you. God bless you. God bless.