Rally in Pennsylvania with Vice President Kamala Harris

[Applause] hello my name is Mary Grace vidala and I am so honored to be here today to tell my story I'm a registered nurse woo a Scranton [Applause] native and a lifelong Republican [Applause] [Applause] a lifelong Republican just like my mother Grace Weber my mother the daughter of a Pennsylvania coal miner loved to be active she was always on the move she used to walk three miles a day and she loved her Zumba classes she also happened to love Donald Trump she had ever since The Apprentice she proudly cast her vote for him in 2016 but during the pandemic at a time when so many of us were looking to Trump for leadership strength and comfort she was betrayed by him like so many others I remember watching TV hoping Trump would get serious and guide us through that unprecedented and terrifying time we needed a leader but we never got [Applause] one instead Donald Trump did what he always does he spewed in misinformation and bragged about how great he was doing while thousands of people died workers were out of jobs and Pennsylvania families like mine were hitting the wall I've always believed crisis reveal the true nature of a leader but when face with one Donald Trump drove our nation into the ground his recklessness endangered the American people cost us millions of jobs and led to the deaths of over 1 million Americans including my mother Grace here's the plain truth Donald Trump doesn't care about families like mine he cares about himself and Pennsylvania it's time to turn the page once and for [Applause] all that is why we're not going back we're not going back we're not going back we're not going back that's why I am so excited and yes as a lifelong Republican to cast my vote for KLA Harris in November she is in this thing to help families like mine get ahead she believes she believes in the promise of our country and I know she's going to be a president for every single one of us and I hope every single person turning tuning in will join me in voting for her this [Music] November to turn the page to protect our freedoms to protect our democracy and to build up the middle class it is now my honor to introduce the next president of the United States and the definition of true leadership vice president kamla Harris [Music] [Applause] good evening Pennsylvania good evening can we please hear from Mary Grace [Applause] [Music] [Applause] it's good to be back in Pennsylvania hi everyone okay okay we got some business to handle okay so let me start by saying to everyone here thank you for all you are doing and for taking the time to be here this evening you know one of the things that I love about everyone who is here and what we are doing you know in the midst of this moment where there are people trying to divide us as a nation trying to make people feel small and feel alone these are moments that remind all of us that we are all in this together as one loving Community we're all in this together so thank you all for the time you've taken to be here this evening I want to thank also all the incredible leaders including Governor Shapiro who you heard from earlier Senator Bob Casey who we will reelect to the United States Senate and Mayor Brown and thank you mayor for the warm [Applause] welcome all right so Pennsylvania three days ago Donald Trump and I had our debate you watched it so yeah so here's the thing so I I take it many people here watched it so so you'll remember that night I talked about issues that matter to families Across America like bringing down the cost of living investing in America's small businesses protecting reproductive freedom and keeping our nation safe and [Applause] secure but that is not what we heard from Donald Trump instead it was the same old show the same tired Playbook we've heard for years with no plan no plan on how he would address the needs of the American people well folks it's time to turn the page Turn the Page [Applause] we're not going back we're not going back and and we are not going back because we're not going back because America is ready for a new way forward we are ready for a new generation of leadership that is optimistic about what we can do together which is why and Mary Grace thank you which is why Democrats Republicans and Independence are supporting our campaign we need a president of the United States who works for all the American [Applause] people and that just stops with all the try to div us like people are exhausted with that stuff exhausted and you know my entire career I have fought for the people as a young courtroom prosecutor in Oakland I stood up for women and children against predators who abuse them as Attorney General of California I took on the big Banks and delivered 20 billion do from middle class families who faced foreclosure [Applause] I stood up for veterans and students being scammed by big for-profit [Applause] colleges for workers who are being cheated out of the wages they were due for seniors facing elder abuse and as Attorney General of a border state I took on transnational criminal organizations like the caloa cartel that traffic in drugs and threaten the safety of our [Applause] communities I know these cartels firsthand and as president I will make sure we prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law for pushing poison like fentol on our children and as president I will fight on behalf of all communities and all Americans and together we will build a brighter future for our nation together together and and that future and that future we build will include what I call an opportunity economy so that every American has an opportunity to own a home to build wealth and to start a business you know I love our small businesses so growing up I really do we have small Business Leaders here raise your hand yeah right so growing up my sister and my mother my sister and me had a mother have a mother had a mother excuse me she passed but um our mother worked long hours she worked hard she worked long hours and my sister Ma and I would go over to miss Shelton's house M Shelton lived a couple of doors down and she helped my mother take care of us and we in fact used to call her our second mother well Mich Shelton was a small business owner and I will tell you since I was a child I know the character and the the person who is a small business owner you're not only Business Leaders you're Civic leaders you hold the community together you're part of the fabric of the community and small business owners are the backbone of America's economy backbone of America's economy which is why part of my plan that you heard about the other night will give a $5,000 tax deduction to start up small businesses knowing that not everybody like my opponent got handed $40 million on a silver tray and then filed for bankruptcy six times and people sometimes just us need the opportunity because we as Americans do not lack for ambition for aspiration for dreams for the preparedness to do hard work but not everyone has the opportunity because not everyone has the access when I talk about building an opportunity economy it is grounded in that foundational belief that when given an opportunity people Excel every day every [Applause] [Music] day part of my focus is on the fact that we need to build more housing in [Applause] America and so we are going to cut red tape and work with the private sector to build three million new homes by the end of my first term and I have a plan to help lower the cost of living for America's families on everything from Health Care to groceries including I will take on corporate price gouging which as we know is about those few bad guys taking advantage of desperate people and there needs to be a consequence under my plan more than 100 million Americans will get a tax cut including including expanding the child tax credit to $6,000 during the first year of a child's life understanding that new parents need support in that most critical phase of their child's development to help them buy a car seat a crib baby clothes I will also make sure good jobs are available to all Americans not just those with college degrees for far too long our nation has encouraged only one path to success a four-year college degree our nation needs to recognize the value of other paths additional paths such as apprenticeships and Technical programs [Applause] so as president I will get rid of the unnecessary degree requirements for federal [Music] [Applause] jobs to increase jobs for folks without a four-year degree understanding that requiring a certain degree does not necessarily talk about one's skills and I will challenge the private sector to do the same all of this to say look I come from the middle class I understand where I come from and I'm never going to forget that and I will always put middle class working people first it will always be my priority always be my priority I know where I come from I know where I come from but now Donald Trump has a different plan just Google just just look up the Google just Google project [Music] 2025 it is a detailed dangerous blueprint for what he will do if if he were elected president again Donald Trump will give billionaires and corporations massive tax cuts like he did before he intends to cut Social Security and Medicare and he wants to impose what I call the Trump sales tax on everyday basic necessities which as economists have reviewed would cost the average family nearly $4,000 more a year [Applause] in fact independent economists like Goldman Sachs have said my plan would grow our economy and his plan would shrink the economy reignite inflation and send us into a recession by the middle of next year on top of all of this Donald Trump intends to and the Affordable Care Act and let's remember like we're not here with Trump Amnesia we remember remember when he was president he tried 60 times to end the Affordable Care Act and as he said in the debate just this week he has no no plan to replace it right right you said it he said he has quote concepts of a plan [Music] concepts of a plan no actual plan so let's let's just think about this for a moment he's going to threaten health insurance for the 45 million people who rely on it based on a concept and take us back when insurance companies have but because we remember where that was we remember what that was when insurance companies had the power to deny people with preexisting conditions remember what that was like remember well we are not going back we are not going back no are because because because ours is a fight for the [Applause] future and and ours is a fight for Freedom like the fundamental freedom of a woman to make decisions about her own body and not have her government telling her what to [Applause] do and we remember how we got here Donald Trump handpicked three members of the United States Supreme Court with the intent that they would overturn Ro v Wade and they did exactly as he intended and we and we understand where we are we understand where we are Hey listen listen now now is the time to get a hostage deal and ceasefire I we have been working around the clock to get that [Applause] done and I respect your voice but right now I am [Applause] speaking so on the issue so on the issue of fundamental rights and freedoms we remember how he selected those members of the Supreme Court to undo roie way they did just as he intended and what we have seen is in state after State they passed laws to criminalize Health Care Providers to punish women now more than 20 states have a trump abortion ban many with no exceptions many with no exceptions for rape and incest which is immoral to tell a survivor of a violation to their body that they don't have a right to make a decision about what happens to their body body next that's immoral and let us agree one does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government should not be telling her what to do not the [Applause] government and I will tell you when Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive Freedom as president of the United States I will proudly sign it into [Applause] LA and I'm traveling our country and I'll tell you across our nation we are witnessing a fullon assault on other hardfought hard one fundamental freedoms and rights like the freedom to vote the freedom to be safe from gun vience the freedom to join a union and the freedom to love who you love openly and with [Applause] pride and generations let let's remember who we are as Americans Generations before us led the fight for freedom and to the friends here I say the Baton is now in our [Applause] [Music] hands and so much is on the line in this election we all know and remember this is not 2016 or 2020 the stakes are even higher than they were then because two months ago the United States Supreme Court essentially told the former president that he will effectively be immune no matter what he does if he gets back into the White House just imagine Donald Trump with no guard rails imagine what that might mean me right he who has bowed if reelected he would be a dictator on day one he who called for the quote termination of the Constitution of the United States and let us be clear someone who suggest we should terminate the Constitution of the United States of America should never again stand behind the Seal of the president of the United States never [Applause] again so Pennsylvania it all comes down to this we are here together because we love our our country we love we love our country and we who are here understand the awesome responsibility the awesome responsibility that comes with the greatest privilege on Earth the privilege and pride of being an [Applause] American right and I do believe it is the highest form of patriotism to fight for the ideals of our country and to fight to realize the promise of America so Pennsylvania 53 days until election day and we know ours will be a tight race until the very end we are the underdog we are the underdog let's remember that and know that when we know how they play we know how they play We Are the underdog and we have some very hard work ahead of us but here's the thing we like hard work hard work is good work and with your help we will win we will win so Pennsylvania today I ask you are you ready to make your voices heard do we believe in Freedom do we believe in Opportunity do we believe in the promise of America and are we ready to fight for it and when we fight God bless you and God bless