Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, your patience exceeds your good judgment. But thank you. Good evening.
Audience (00:06):
Good evening. Whoo!
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Ron, thank you for that introduction, pal. I really mean it. It makes a big difference. Ben, it's good to see you, pal. How the hell do you keep all your hair and I have lost all mine? A long time leadership in Nebraska, you've been a friend a long time. While he's not here tonight, I've been talking to him lately. I couldn't come to Nebraska without mentioning my buddy Bob Carey.
Audience (00:38):
Whoo!
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Bob not only won the Medal of Honor, which we all know, but he's a genuine patriot and a true and loyal friend, no matter what the circumstance. Folks, to Mayor John Ewing of Omaha, the award winners and union leaders, including private first class, Harry Dunn, another true patriot. Another true patriot.
Audience (01:05):
Whoo!
Speaker 1 (01:06):
I was a pretty good football player. Believe it or not, I was a runt, but I was a pretty good football player. I was a flanker back. And if I had him running in front of me, man, I could have been an all American. I could have been not working. I could have been an all American. Well, look, Precious, you're most applying named person I know. And Madam Chair, thank you so much for all you've done. And Governor Andy Beshear, Kentucky. Andy may have had to leave, but I spent a lot of time with Andy when I was vice president and as president. Kentucky got in the living hell kicked out of him by the weather. I mean, I've been to every part of that state working like hell just to keep it open. And I mean it sincerely. This is the guy he knows what he's doing. He does it well. And he doesn't ask whether it's a red or blue part of the state. He just gets it done.
(02:09)
I tried to get ahold of Andy the other day because when I heard that airplane crash, we spent a lot of time talking to these things, but a lot of people really devastated in Kentucky today as well. But he's always there. The Louisville Airport and their families are really hurting right now. And we're keeping all of you, all of them in our hearts and our prayers. Look, so much look folks, it's good to be back in Nebraska.
Audience (02:40):
Whoo!
Speaker 1 (02:47):
And now we're back in Nebraska. The Democratic Party's back.
Audience (02:51):
Whoo!
Speaker 1 (02:53):
The Democratic Party's back. That's not hyperbole. Did you see the election results? Well, I want you to know for the longest time, Delaware didn't have a national TV station. They had to rely on Philadelphia. And when that was happening, I liked it very much because I was voted the most popular person in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Y'all think I'm kidding. I'm not. I keep reminding the governor of New Jersey gov that Delaware owns the high watermark of the Delaware River on the New Jersey Shore. But look, folks, the fact is that we had a great night in Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, California, New York City, Georgia, Mississippi, even the Mississippi.
(03:46)
Look, the American people are sending a message. They're sending a message, a message to Trump and to his crowd. And look, folks, I just want you to know you work for us, Mr. President. We don't work for you. You work for us. Not just billionaires and millionaires. I mean this sincerely, I'm angry. You work for us. Look, folks, the fact of the matter is that you better get the damn government open. Because look, folks, here's the deal. This is democracy. And the fact of the matter is that there are no kings in democracies. None. None.
(04:44)
But you act in a way that embarrasses us as a nation, quite frankly. I spent all my most of my life in … I have the dubious distinction. I'm the youngest man ever elected in the history of America to the United States Senate. And I'm the oldest [inaudible 00:05:01] president. It's hard to say. I feel like I'm 40, but I've turned it twice plus three. Look, folks, I want to begin by saying thank you, because I'll be forever grateful that you made me the 46th President of the United States of America. And I'm proud, proud of the work we've gotten done over the years. Together we had covert administered to 200 million vaccines we put in people. And we lost 1,500,000 people because of the incompetence of the last administration. In the first 100 days, we did that by saving millions of lives. We left no neighbor behind, no matter how poor it was.
(06:02)
We were there with docks in place. Together we put America back to work. We created 14 million new jobs, 600,000 of those jobs in manufacturing. We made more things in America to get more jobs created in any four years of any president of American history. Together we made the largest ever investment in America's infrastructure to rebuild our roads, our bridges, our ports, our airports, our dams. We connected everyone in America to the internet, everyone. The internet's as important today as electricity was back in Roosevelt's time. We enacted the PACT Act, the business expansion of benefits, expansion of benefits and services to toxic, exposed veterans like my son, and all of history. And America continued to lead the world.
(07:05)
One of the reasons Barack asked me to be vice president was because of my background in foreign policy, because I've had the dubious distinction only because I've been hanging around. I know every major foreign leader since 1974. But folks, we rule. We got the respect of the world, not just because of the example of our power, but the power of our example. That's why the world followed us. Not a joke. When I was president, wages were up and inflation was down. More people had healthcare than ever before in all American history. And one of the proudest things I did as president was cut child poverty in half in America. But now, now we have a president who's deliberately making hunger worse for Americans. Today, in the United States of America, one in five children, one in five children go to bed hungry every night.
Audience (08:21):
Boo.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
No, it's more than boo. It is disgrace. It's immoral. It's wrong. Simply wrong. By the way, did anyone see a Halloween party Trump threw for himself and his friends? Oh, down to Mar-a-Lago. I thought it was an example of who he is. The theme of the Halloween party of Mar-a-Lago on Halloween was The Great Gatsby. On Friday, everyone dressed up like the rich folks they are from the war in 20s though. And on Saturday, he cut assistance to 40 million food assistants, to 40 million Americans. The next day, he holds this party for the world to see make him fool of himself. And he cuts food assistance. You can't make this stuff up.
(09:21)
Folks, when I left the president, the [inaudible 00:09:26] Trump was going to take a wrecking ball of the country, but I had no idea, I have to admit, I didn't know it was going to be an actual wrecking ball. Anyone see what he's done to the east wing of The People's House, the White House? It's a perfect symbol of his presidency. Trump is taking a wrecking ball, not only to The People's House, but to the Constitution, to the rule of law, to our very democracy. And yet while doing this, Trump at the same time can provide recently on his own account, $40 billion line of credit to Argentina without even the government voting for it. Who in the hell does he think he is? No, no, I'm serious. I'm not kidding about this.
(10:15)
You may remember when I was running the first time around, I talked about it, I was worried about protection of democracy. I thought it was literally at risk, but I cannot find, I cannot find the money that he's blown away to feed all those kids. The family farms in Nebraska. Many of them are going bankrupt because Donald Trump starts this ridiculous trade war, which I hope the Supreme Court will finally step up and up some backbone and say, "He had no right to do it." The Republicans refuse to say there's any problem at all. There's a lot of good folks. I know these folks. I hate to admit it. I was the United States Senate for 36 years, longer than most of you were alive. But now, look, he now says we are, "in a golden age." Not only golden stuff he's hanging on the mantle of what? Isn't it… It says all kids aside. Does anyone feel like this is a golden age?
Audience (11:47):
No.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
But it is a golden age for the Trump family. Can you imagine? Has anyone noticed how much the Trump family has made while he's been president and put in the program? Reported $1.8 billion. Can you imagine if any other president in American history did that, can you imagine what happened? Because of the government shut down, [inaudible 00:12:21] families could sue me paying double what they paid for the basic healthcare they received under my administration. Here in Nebraska, if Trump gets his way, it's estimated that a 60-year-old couple could see their healthcare premium increase from $22,000 by over $22,000 a year. That's not high privilege. Come on, look. This is real. I know we say it. People go, "That can't be true." Think about that. Additional $22,000 didn't get basic health insurance. And by the way, did you know how many government shutdowns we had when I was president?
Audience (13:01):
Zero.
(13:01)
No.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Zero, zilch, none.
Audience (13:04):
Whoo!
Speaker 1 (13:07):
During my term, we expanded healthcare, increased Obamacare. We made cancer research a priority. And now Trump is cutting government funding for cancer research. Folks, I know what cancer research means. Cancer hits every family, it hit my family hard just as so many of yours. With the love of my life, my oldest son, the attorney general of the state of Delaware, who should have been the president, not me, volunteered to go to Iraq for a year. He didn't have to. Came back with stage 4 glioblastoma because he lived near the burn pit, just like those guys did in 9/11 and he died.
(14:01)
I remember him calling me aside. I shouldn't probably say this, but when he died, I thought I lost part of my soul and he asked to meet with me in his room, the hospital room. And he said, "Dad, look at me." We have this screwy thing we Bidens we say when we want to make sure we really mean. He said, "Give me your word as a Biden." He said, "Dad, look at me. Look at me. I know what you're going to do, dad. When I go, you're going to quit. You're not going to want to be engaged. Look at me, promise me. Give me your word as a Biden, you'll stand above. Give me your word." And I did. But guess what?
(14:55)
There are those moments like you've had, so many of you. How many in here I've lost anybody to cancer? You know, folks. But when you get that research they're doing when they diagnose it, in my case, I just have prostate cancer. And when they finish this round of treatment, you get to ring that bell at the end of this year of treatment. Well, thank God for the doctors and nurses and the incredible breakthroughs for making the cancer research. Now Trump and his Republican friends are cutting government funding for healthcare and making it more expensive, more expensive for virtually everyone.
(15:53)
And because of Republican budget cuts, more than 300 rural hospitals in America, including two right here in Nebraska, are going to shut down. They're on the chopping block. What alternative do those people have? Not like there's another one two miles away. Folks, I've never said this my whole career, but I think it's immoral. It's un-American. It's flat out wrong. And you have to ask yourself, why? Why in God's name are they doing this? Why? Well, I'll tell you why. So they can give away an additional $4 trillion. The tax breaks are the benefit of the wealthiest people in America. That's four billion over 10 years on top of the tax bank they gave the first term to put us in a hole. That's right. Not only are your kids going hungry and rural hospitals are closing. The cost of healthcare is skyrocketing. All because Trump wants to give people like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, which I have another way of calling them, a tax cut.
(17:14)
We have a word back in Scranton where I was born and where I spent my summers with my grandma and grandpa. We call us a bunch of malarkey. You see? Folks, here's what I understood that Donald Trump never does understand will. And I've said this before. I mean this sincerely. It's not just a slogan. Wall Street, they're not bad guys, but they didn't build America. The middle class built America. And unions built the middle class. That's a fact. That's a fact. My frat grandfather finger would roll over in his grave if I walked away from unions. Let's get something clear. I handed Donald Trump, we handed Donald Trump, literally, not figuratively, literally the strongest economy in the world at the time. The strongest in the world.
(18:18)
Ten days before he died, I got a call from Dr. Kissinger, who I knew well. I didn't agree with him a lot of the time because the Vietnam War was because I was on the formulation committee when I was 24 years old. And he called me when I was able to convince two great nations to join NATO, make it even stronger. And he said, "Not since Napoleon has Paris not looked over their shoulder at Moscow with a sense of dread till you guys came along. You made it stronger." What's the first thing that this guy does? He starts to pick apart NATO. He talks about what a drag they are. Look, we invested in America in the American people. We invested in America. Here in Nebraska, we supported countless projects, including the major renovation of Omaha's airport.
(19:22)
Look, it's actually quite a big deal. It's quite a big deal. And by the way, the fact is that when we did that, it was the beginning of … [inaudible 00:19:36] hear me say lots of times. If we don't lead the world, who does? That's not beating our chest. Think about it. If the United States of America is not leading the free world, who leads the free world? Who? None of our NATO allies by themselves are able to do it. China, Russia? Well, folks, look, this isn't the golden age. The fact of the matter is that it was a very, very dark moment. But you know, the fact of the matter is, we're in a situation where we had something special happen just last Tuesday.
Audience (20:29):
Yes, we did.
(20:29)
Whoo!
Speaker 1 (20:40):
The bottom line, when we were in office, we showed up for our neighbors, regardless of their politics, whether they were red states or blue states. My administration didn't reward some states and others based on how they voted. My administration didn't attack red states because I was president of the United States. And even the women who were both vocal and when I addressed the United States Congress and terrible to us, they wanted to keep the programs that we had to benefit them. People go, "How could you do that for them?" It wasn't for them. It's for the people of their states. And folks, you can't govern this nation by dividing the nation.
(21:31)
When I was president, the biggest issue facing this nation was this, is democracy, is democracy still America's sacred cause? Not a joke. Is it? I used to teach this in college. Is it? Well, let me tell you something. The answer is yes, it has to be. But democracy's not a given. There's nothing guaranteed about democracy, even in America. We have to put in the work. We have to elect the leaders who believe in democracy, who stand up for it, who'll defend it, who protect it. The folks.
(22:21)
This isn't just about the people we elect. Democracy is not a spectator sport. It needs active participants. It needs committed individuals. And its people need people who love this country. It needs all of you badly. It really does. We've never said we have a perfect union. We have never said that as an American. We've always said we're striving to create a more perfect union. Alexis de Tocqueville said, "The greatness of America lies not in its being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults." That's the uniqueness of America. That's what we have to do, repair our faults. And that's what we begun to do again on Tuesday. We began to repair her faults. America has a special advantage, unique among nations. Well, every other nation of the earth is founded on either religion or ethnicity or geography. America's the only nation in the world founded on an idea. This is literal, not figurative, an idea.
(23:44)
The most powerful idea in human history. Bigger than the ocean, stronger than any army, more powerful than any dictator tyrant. It's this. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all, that all men and women are created equal. We've never lived up to it, but we've never walked away from it. And folks, hear me say this, we're not going to walk away from it now. Tuesday night was a good start. And yes, this is a difficult time, but we faced difficult times before. There's one thing I know about the American people. There is no quit in this country. There's no quit in America. None. We can't give up, not when our children need us, not when Nebraska needs us, not when America needs us. Because the America of our dreams is always closer than we think, always. Right here in Omaha, you guys are the blue dot, right?
Audience (25:16):
Whoo!
Speaker 1 (25:16):
You know what it feels like to be outnumbered. But every election, you put up the yard signs. You organize the neighbors. You show up and vote and you make your voices heard. In the Biden family, we have an expression for that. We call it keeping the faith. My grandfather used to say over and over, "Joey, keep the faith." My grandmother would respond, "No, Joey. Go spread it." You have to believe the better days ahead and make it happen. Nebraska, you know this more than most. Every farmer who plants a seed in Nebraska believes tomorrows are going to be better. Every one of them. Folks, I've seen a lot in my lifetime. I've served this nation in elective office for 52 years. I'm only 40, but I'm 52 years. But there's one thing I know about America, and I mean this sincerely, I've traveled over 1160 nations.
(26:33)
We're the only nation on earth who's emerged from every single crisis we face stronger than when we enter that crisis. Every single one. Mark my words. We'll emerge stronger from this crisis as well. The American experiment is not going to end on our watch. We'll still be that nation where honesty, decency and integrity still matter. We'll still be the beacon to the world for the next century as we have for the last 250 years. We just have to remember who we are, who in God's name we are. We're the United States of America. There's never been a country like us.
(27:23)
Scripture tells us be strong and of good courage. Be not afraid. Folks, I know this nation. I know the American people. Here's what I know. No one, no one, not even a president, can destroy our democracy if we stand together and fight for it. Nebraska, we can't be afraid. You have an election coming up soon. An open seat for Congress right here in Omaha. Statewide races up and down the ballot. Folks, we can't be afraid to dream big, not small, big. We have to get back up and we're getting back up in Nebraska and all of America in 2026. So Democrats, let's get up. Get up. Get up. It's about to change again. God bless you all. Thanks for having me here.
Audience (28:31):
Whoo!
Speaker 1 (28:35):
And may God protect our troops. Thank you.
Audience (28:38):
Whoo!