Den tidigare presidenten Barack Obama kampanjar i Pittsburgh och för den demokratiska presidentkandidaten och vicepresidenten Kamala Harris den 10 oktober.
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Hello, Pittsburgh.
Are you fired up?
Are you ready to go?
It is good.
It is good to be back in Pennsylvania.
It is good to be back in Pittsburgh.
I love Pittsburgh.
You know, I love the people of Pittsburgh.
I love the food in Pittsburgh.
I don't usually do this,
but this is a little bit of a Yelp rating.
Just had some of Pamela's pancakes.
I first had those like 10, 15 years ago when I was running,
and I was like, I need some of those pancakes this time out.
And even though I'm from Chicago,
some of you may know when I was a kid,
I was a Steelers fan.
And watching the Steelers this season,
it seems I'm not the only guy from Chicago
who likes being in Pittsburgh.
Because so far, Justin Fields is doing pretty good.
Now, before we get started,
we have a little bit of work to do here.
So I want everybody to be, you know, just settle in.
We got some work to do.
Before we get started, I did want to say
that we are, you know, heartbroken
about the loss of life in Florida, North Carolina,
states across the Southwest.
We are thinking about people, families whose lives
have been upended by the storms over the last couple weeks.
I could not be more grateful for the first responders
and FEMA professionals who have put themselves
in harm's way to try and help.
You know, it's times like this
when you realize having honest,
competent leadership in government really matters.
It makes a difference.
And today, I'm asking you to vote for some of those leaders,
including some folks we need working
with your outstanding governor,
who you just heard from, Governor Josh Shapiro.
We need them in Harrisburg.
So we need you to vote for your next Auditor General,
Malcolm Kenyatta, your next Attorney General,
Eugene DePasquale,
your next State Treasurer, Eric McClellan,
and, my buddy, your outstanding United States Senator,
Bob Casey.
Now, here in Pennsylvania, there are three ways to vote.
You can vote early, in person, at the county election office
or at a satellite office.
You can also vote by mail.
And if you need to figure out how to do that,
just go to IWillVote.com PA
to find a place to vote early or to request a ballot.
And, of course, you can vote at your polling place on election day.
November 5th.
But if you're at this rally, let's face it,
you're probably voting unless you are 12.
So you also have to help your friends and family
make a plan to vote.
And even if you're 12, you can do that.
Talk to your mom and dad and aunts and uncles,
because together we have a chance to choose
a new generation of leadership in this country
and start building a better and stronger
and fairer and more hopeful America.
Now, you've already heard tonight,
this election is going to be tight
because there are a lot of Americans
who are still struggling out there.
They're still striving to make life better for themselves,
for their families and for their kids.
And let's face it, as a country,
we've been through a lot these last few years.
We had a historic pandemic wreaking havoc
on communities and businesses.
Disruptions from the pandemic then caused prices to spike,
and that put a strain on family budgets.
And in many ways, it felt like the aspirations
of working people had taken a backseat
to the priorities of the rich and the powerful.
So I get it why people are looking to shake things up.
I mean, I am a hope-y, change-y guy.
So I understand people feeling frustrated
and feeling we can do better.
What I cannot understand is why anybody would think
that Donald Trump will shake things up
in a way that is good for you, Pennsylvania.
I don't understand that.
Because there is absolutely no evidence
that this man thinks about anybody but himself.
I've said it before.
Donald Trump is a 78-year-old billionaire
who has not stopped whining about his problems
since he rode down his Golden Escalator nine years ago.
You've got the tweets in all caps,
the ranting and the raving about crazy conspiracy theories.
You've got the two-hour speeches, word salad,
just, you know, it's like Fidel Castro, just on and on.
Constant attempts to sell you stuff.
Who does that?
Selling you gold sneakers and $100,000 watch
and, most recently, a Trump Bible.
You know, he wants you to buy the Word of God,
Donald Trump edition.
Got his name right there next to Matthew and Luke.
I mean, you could not make this stuff up.
If you saw it on Saturday Night Live,
you'd say, well, no, I mean, that's going too far.
No, he's doing that.
It's crazy.
And the reason he does it is because all he cares about
is his ego and his money and his status.
He's not thinking about you.
Donald Trump sees power as nothing more
than a means to an end.
He wants the middle class to pay the price
for another huge tax cut that would mostly help him
and his country club buddies.
Doesn't care if he costs more women
their reproductive freedom
because it won't make a difference in his life.
Do not boo.
Vote.
They can't hear your boos, but they can hear your votes.
Most of all, Donald Trump wants us to think
that this country is hopelessly divided between us and them,
between the quote-unquote real Americans who support him
and the outsiders who don't.
Because having people divided and angry,
he figures boosts his chances of being elected.
And he doesn't care who gets hurt.
Think about it. Just the other day,
we learned that on January 6th, a couple years ago,
Donald Trump was told that Mike Pence was in the Capitol
about 40 feet from an angry mob chanting,
Hang Mike Pence.
And his response was, quote, So what?
Don't boo.
If Donald Trump does not care
that a mob might attack his own vice president,
do you think he cares about you?
Pennsylvania, we do not need four more years of that.
We don't need four more years of arrogance
and bumbling and bluster and division.
America's ready to turn the page.
We are ready for a better story,
one that helps us work together
instead of turning against each other.
Pennsylvania, we're ready for a President Kamala Harris.
And the good news is Kamala Harris is ready to do the job.
This is a leader who has spent her life
voicing any change,
somebody who was raised in the middle class,
who worked a summer job at McDonald's
while she earned a degree,
who believes in the values that built this country,
somebody who has served with distinction
in every office that she has ever held.
I think we probably had a fainted spell back there,
so let's make space for the emergency folks.
This happens sometimes.
Everybody bend their knees a little bit.
You've been standing for a while.
You can dance if you want.
I'd just suggest you bend your knees.
But you'll be okay.
Kamala is as prepared for the job
as any nominee for President has ever been.
That's who Kamala is.
And in the White House,
she will have an outstanding partner in Governor Tim Walz.
Tim is a veteran.
He is a teacher.
He's a coach.
He's a hunter.
He's been a great governor,
working with Democrats and Republicans to get stuff done.
He can also take a vintage truck apart
and put it back together again.
You think Donald Trump can do that?
For that matter, do you think Donald Trump
has ever changed a tire in his life?
I'm just trying to picture it.
The point is, if you elect Kamala and Tim,
they won't be focused on their problems.
They'll be focused on yours.
They understand that too many folks here in Pennsylvania
and across the country are struggling to pay the bills.
Even though wages are steadily growing
and inflation is finally slowing,
the price of everything from health care
to housing to groceries, it's still too high.
And that takes a real bite out of paychecks.
It hurts.
So the question is,
who's really going to do something about it?
That's what you should be asking yourself.
Now, Donald Trump's plan is to do what he did last time,
which was give another massive tax cut
to billionaires and big corporations.
And then, don't boo.
I'm going to break you on this habit.
And the reason some people think,
I don't know, I remember that economy
when he first came in being pretty good.
Yeah, it was pretty good because it was my economy.
We had had 75 straight months of job growth
that I handed over to him.
It wasn't something he did.
I spent eight years cleaning up the mess
that the Republicans had left me the last time.
So just in case everybody has a hazy memory,
he didn't do nothing except those big tax cuts.
His other big economic plan now
is to slap tariffs on everything,
from food to TVs.
Now, understand what tariffs are.
Anything that's made elsewhere and comes here,
you slap extra money on top of it.
And if other countries are cheating,
in some cases, it makes sense
because you want to have a fair playing field.
But what he's proposing is basically a Trump sales tax
that could cost the average family
almost $4,000 a year.
So if you're concerned about higher prices,
that is not the way to get lower prices.
That's gonna come out of your pockets.
You think prices are high now?
Donald Trump's message basically is,
you ain't seen nothing yet.
All right, so that's, as far as you can tell,
that's his plan, right?
Because it's not written down anywhere.
When it comes to healthcare,
you heard it in the debate.
Donald Trump's got one answer.
Ending the Affordable Care Act
that 45 million people rely on.
The other day, his running mate, J.D. Vance,
had the, you gotta vote.
The other day, his running mate had the nerve to say,
Donald Trump salvaged the Affordable Care Act.
I mean, Donald Trump spent his entire presidency
trying to tear it down.
And by the way, he couldn't even do that right.
And now, eight years after he was elected,
when he was asked about what he was gonna do,
he says he's got concepts of a plan for how he'd replace it.
Now, I want y'all to think about this for a second.
Let's say your boss gives you an assignment, a project.
He says, I need this on Friday.
And Friday comes around and he says,
so, did you finish that project I asked for?
You say, well, I actually haven't started,
but I have a concept of a plan.
Or you could try it at home.
Honey, did you do the dishes?
I have a concept of a plan to do the dishes.
How's that gonna go over?
If it wouldn't work for you,
why in the heck should it work
for the President of the United States?
But the good news is Kamala Harris,
she doesn't have concepts for a plan.
She has an actual plan to make your life better,
to bring down the cost of things like groceries.
She'll go after corporations that are jacking up prices,
just like she went after big banks and for-profit colleges
when she was an attorney general in California.
And believe me, when she does,
nobody's gonna wanna stand in her way.
I remember after the home mortgage crisis,
Kamala pushed me and my administration
harder than any other attorney general in the country
to make sure homeowners got a fair settlement.
It did not matter that she was pushing
a Democratic administration.
She was not gonna let anybody stop her
from winning as much relief as possible
for the families who deserved it.
And because of the work she did,
those families got billions more
than they would have otherwise got.
That's the kind of president Kamala Harris will be.
To lower housing costs, Kamala will cut red tape
and work with governors like Josh Shapiro,
as well as the private sector
to build three million new homes.
And she'll give first-time homebuyers up to $25,000
to help with the down payment.
Plans, concrete plans.
And for a lot of folks, that could be the difference
between watching their dreams pass them by
and finally owning a place of their own.
To lower healthcare costs,
Kamala already worked with Joe Biden
to take on the drug companies
and bring down the cost of insulin and hearing aids
and more than 50 prescription drugs.
And as president, she will never stop working
to limit out-of-pocket costs and protect your care.
That's who Kamala is.
She's got a track record of doing it.
And here's a big one.
Instead of giving more tax breaks to billionaires
and raising prices on working families,
Kamala will give a tax cut to 100 million middle-class
and working people here in America.
So if you're a new parent,
you can qualify for a $6,000 tax credit
during the first year of your child's life.
Because I don't have to tell a lot of you,
raising kids is hard.
And she wants to make it easier
to afford stuff like a crib or a car seat or diapers.
I remember buying diapers.
I remember the first time I went in the store
right after Malia was born.
I was like, what?
That's how much diapers cost?
I remember changing diapers.
You think Donald Trump ever changed a diaper?
I almost said that, but I decided I shouldn't say it.
If you're starting a small business,
Kamala Harris will give you a $50,000 tax credit
to help you get it off the ground.
That's who Kamala Harris is.
That's what she stands for.
So with Kamala, you've got actual plans.
Trump, concepts of a plan.
Now, if you challenge Trump to elaborate
and enumerate his concepts,
he will fall back on one answer.
Lady Vance does the same thing.
Doesn't matter what the issue is,
housing, healthcare, education, paying the bills.
Their only answer is to blame immigrants.
They want you to believe that if you let Donald Trump
round up whoever he wants, by the way,
and ship them out, all your problems will be solved.
Now, we've got real issues at the border.
We are a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants.
We have to make sure it's fair
to the communities at the border that can be overrun.
We've got to actually solve a problem.
But when I hear Donald Trump talking,
I've got one question.
As I recall Donald Trump's presidency for you,
and if rounding up and deporting millions
of desperate people and building the beautiful wall
and didn't matter whether some of those folks
you rounded up were women and children,
if that's the answer to everything,
well, why didn't you solve the problem?
Why were the number of immigrants basically the same
when you left office as when you took office?
I'll tell you why.
Because he didn't have a real plan.
He had talking points.
He had concepts of a plan.
And the plan was mean and ugly.
And it was designed to enhance his politics
and make people angry, not to solve the problem.
You know what would actually help bring order
to the border and fix our immigration system?
The bipartisan deal that Kamala Harris supported,
even though it was written by one
of the most conservative Republicans in Congress,
the same bill that Donald Trump tanked on purpose
because he thinks fear-mongering
is how he's gonna win this election.
He told Republicans, even the ones
who had originally supported it, don't vote for it
because he doesn't want the problem solved.
We don't need a president who will make problems worse
just to make his own political circumstances better.
We need a president who actually cares about solving problems
and making your life better,
and that's what Kamala Harris will do.
And to help her do it, she will need a Senate
full of serious public servants like Bob Kasich.
I'm gonna talk about this man just for a second.
I've known Bob for almost 20 years.
I've watched his daughters grow up.
I know his brothers and cousins,
and let me tell you, there are a lot of brothers and cousins.
And I can tell you that no one is more humble
and more honest and more rooted in his community
and has more integrity than Bob Kasich.
You know, in Washington, folks make a distinction
between workhorses and showhorses,
and Bob Kasich, he's not a showpony.
All the guy cares about is doing the job
and looking after you, the people he was elected to serve.
That's the kind of person we need to send back to Washington.
That's the kind of person
who's going to help Kamala get stuff done,
folks who share our values
and will do what they can to move this country forward
rather than backward.
That's who Bob Kasich is.
Now, one of those values is freedom.
Well, let me talk about that just for a second,
because I don't think we've ever had an election
with candidates who understand freedom more differently.
Donald Trump and his cronies,
freedom means that the powerful can do whatever they please.
Fireworkers for trying to organize a union.
Dodge paying their fair share of tax.
Try to go out and vote when they lose an election.
Control what women can and can't do with their bodies.
In other words, for Trump,
freedom is getting away with stuff.
It's like he said in the middle of a pandemic,
I don't take any responsibility at all.
People were dying, I don't take any responsibility at all.
Not sure any other president
has ever uttered that statement.
We have a broader idea of freedom.
We believe in the freedom to provide for our families
if we learn to work.
The freedom to breathe clean air and drink clean water
and send our kids to school
without worrying if they come home.
We believe that true freedom gives each of us
the right to make decisions about our own life.
How we worship, who we marry,
what our family looks like.
That we're gonna disagree
on how each of us should live our lives.
We have to respect other people's views on these issues.
You know, I've always said
there are good people of conscience
on both sides of the abortion divide.
I respect anyone whose faith tells them
that it isn't something they support.
But if we believe in freedom,
then we should at least agree
that such a deeply personal decision should be made
by the woman whose body is involved and not by politicians.
It has been fascinating to watch Donald Trump
tie himself into a pressure on this issue.
When he ran for president the first time,
he said he would support punishing women
who got an abortion, that's what he said.
Thank you.
Now, a couple of weeks ago, what did he say?
He said, don't worry, woman, I'll be your protector.
I'll tell you how he protected you.
He handpicked three of the Supreme Court justices
who overturned Roe versus Wade,
went out there and bragged about it.
And now there are Trump abortion bans in 20 states,
many of them with no exception for rape or incest.
And when he's asked about it, he says,
well, everybody wanted it this way.
Really?
He thinks women want to have to drive hundreds of miles
to find a doctor who can help them?
Does he think doctors want to choose
between letting a woman die or going to jail
for giving her the lifesaving care that she needs?
That is not something people chose.
Now, Donald Trump may be confused about that issue,
but let's not be confused.
Let's be clear about what's at stake here.
If you send Bob Casey back to the Senate,
he'll vote to restore reproductive freedom
that women had for nearly 50 years.
And if Congress passes that bill,
Kamala Harris will sign it into law
because they understand that freedom is about being able
to make the right choice for ourselves and our families.
It's about recognizing that other people have the freedom
to make their own choices,
even if they're different from ours.
And it's an example of how,
it's an example of how,
at the end of the day, this election isn't just about power.
It's about values.
It's about who we are and how we treat each other.
In the example we want to set of children,
and for their children,
and it's about character.
You know, some of you know that when I was growing up,
I didn't have a father in the house,
but I did have plenty of people around,
stepfather, grandparents, teachers, nurses,
and most of all, my mother,
who taught me the difference between right and wrong.
She showed me what it meant to have integrity
and to be honest, and to be responsible,
and to work hard, and to treat other people
like we wanted them to treat us.
And I had a bunch of role models out there
who helped raise me to become a man,
and I made mistakes, and sometimes I didn't live up
to those values that had been taught the way I should have.
I was checked, and I was corrected,
and I internalized those values,
and I tried to live up to them.
And I suspect most of you grew up the same way.
And that process of trying to live out your best self,
trying to live out your values,
that doesn't stop after you're 20 or 21.
It keeps going, and as I got older,
I continued to benefit from friends like Bob Casey,
and Josh Shapiro, and others who reinforced those values,
and who I didn't want to disappoint.
Obviously, my wife, and my daughters.
Who I want to make sure, Malia and Sasha are watching.
I want to make sure that I don't disappoint them,
and that I'm passing on these values to them.
Here in Pittsburgh, I'm thinking about another example.
Somebody who's a dear friend of mine,
and he passed away in a damn room.
Here was a guy who won six Super Bowls,
eight AFC Championships, and had enormous wealth and power.
But I remember walking around,
I guess it was Heinz Field by that time.
I'm old enough to remember Three Rivers Stadium.
Now I know it's something else.
But Dan knew the name of every single person
in the Steelers organization.
We'd pass by a custodian, and he'd say,
hey Jimmy, how you doing, how's the family?
All the front office staff, he cared about them.
He used his influence to get more black and brown
head coaches hired in the NFL.
He gave back to his community.
He was known for his integrity.
He helped support the peace process in Northern Ireland,
became my ambassador to Ireland,
and continued to help encourage people
who were so far apart to come together.
He had character, because it's so different
from what we see out of the Republican nominee.
It's been one of the most disturbing aspects
of this election season, about Trump's rise in power.
It's how we seem to have set aside
the values that people like Dan stood for,
and Bob stood for, and I was taught,
and those didn't used to be Republican democratic values.
I mean, it used to be we'd have arguments
about tax policy or foreign policy,
but we didn't have arguments about
whether you should tell the truth or not.
We didn't make excuses for people
who just violated basic norms
of treating people fairly and with respect.
I mean, just last week, I talked about this.
We had one of the deadliest hurricanes in American history.
A beautiful town of Asheville, North Carolina,
one of my favorite places in the country.
Spent time there, amazing people,
devastated, hundreds of people killed,
and President Biden and Vice President Harris
were down there meeting with local officials
and comforting families, asking how they could help,
and Donald Trump, at a rally,
just started making up stories
about the Biden administration
withholding aid from Republican areas
and siphoning off aid to give to undocumented immigrants.
Just made the stuff up.
Everybody knew it wasn't true.
Even local Republicans said it was not true,
and now the people of Florida are dealing
with another devastating storm,
and I want you to watch what happens
over the next few days, just like the last time.
You're gonna have leaders who try to help,
and then you have a guy who will just lie about it
to score political points, and this has consequences.
The people are afraid, and they've lost everything,
and now they're trying to figure out
how do I apply for help,
and someone may be discouraged
from getting the help they need.
The idea of intentionally trying to deceive people
in their most desperate and vulnerable moments,
and my question is, when did that become okay?
I'm not looking for applause right now.
I want to ask Republicans out there,
people who are conservative,
who didn't vote for me, who didn't agree with me.
I have friends who disagreed with me on every issue.
When did that become okay?
Why would we go along with that?
I mean, if your co-workers acted like that,
they wouldn't be your co-workers very long.
If you're in business,
and somebody you're doing business with
just outright lies and manipulates,
you stop doing business with them.
Even if you had a family member who acted like that,
you might still love them,
but you tell them you've got a problem,
and you wouldn't put them in charge of anything,
and yet, when Donald Trump lies or cheats
or shows utter disregard for our Constitution,
when he calls POWs losers or fellow citizens vermin,
people make excuses for it.
They think it's okay.
They think, well, at least he's owning the libs.
He's really sticking it to them.
It's okay, as long as our side wins.
And by the way, I'm sorry, gentlemen.
I've noticed this, especially with some men
who seem to think Trump's behavior,
the bullying and the putting people down,
is a sign of strength.
And I am here to tell you,
that is not what real strength is.
It never has been.
Real strength is about working hard,
and carrying a heavy load without complaining.
Real strength is about taking responsibility
for your actions and telling the truth,
even when it's inconvenient.
Real strength is about helping people who need it
and standing up for those
who can't always stand up for themselves.
That is what we should want for our daughters
and for our sons,
and that is what I want to see
in a president of the United States of America.
And the good news is that you have candidates
to vote for in this election
that demonstrate that kind of character,
who know what real strength looks like,
who will set a good example and do the right thing
and lead this country better than they found it.
So, Pennsylvania, that is the choice in this election.
It's not just about policies that are on the ballot.
It is about values, and it is about character.
So, whether this election is making you feel excited
or scared or hopeful or frustrated
or anything in between,
do not just sit back and hope for the best.
Get off your couch and vote.
Put down your phone and vote.
Grab your friends and family and vote.
Vote for Kamala Harris
as the next president of the United States.
Vote for Tim Walz
as the next vice president of the United States.
Vote for Bob Casey.
And this whole incredible Pennsylvania Democratic ticket.
Help your friends and family members
and neighbors and coworkers do the same,
because if enough of us make our voices heard,
we will leave no doubt about the election outcome.
We'll leave no doubts about who we are
and what America stands for.
And together, we'll keep building a country
that's more fair and more equal and more just and more free.
That is our task.
That is our responsibility.
Let's go do it.
Thank you, Pittsburgh.
Thank you, Pennsylvania.
Let's go vote.