Political speeches aim to inspire and influence, to slant and spin, to flatter and fool. But when those aims become the only aims, and reason disappears beneath rhetoric, something important is lost. Imagine getting it back.
We need to start off with something absolutely urgent. We need to start by talking about defending our elections from foreign interference. About defending our country, our democracy, from our enemies. About things that anybody who says they care about America or democracy or patriotism needs to care about.
Russia interfered in our 2016 election. They interfered to help Donald Trump, and to divide up Americans against each other. That’s something everybody knows. All our intelligence agencies have spoken very clearly about it. The only people who pretend not to know are Donald Trump, and a few of his supporters in Congress and on Fox News.
Now we also know that Russia is interfering in this 2020 election. Our intelligence agencies tell us that Russia is working to again help Donald Trump, and is also working to help my campaign.
I denounce these attacks on our democracy. And I say to the lawless thug Vladimir Putin that he needs to stay the hell out of our elections, and as President I will make sure that he does. But this is not something that can wait until then. We need our current President, and the Republicans in our current Congress, to act. They need to immediately stop blocking efforts to defend our elections, like the three election security bills that were just blocked by Senate Republicans less than two weeks ago. And we need to unite, every single one of us, to say that we are a democracy, and we are going to remain a democracy, with our elections being decided by our people.
We must be absolutely clear that whatever American politicans or voters you personally might be most opposed to, that opposition gets decided within our political process. And however scary that outcome might be to any of us, the alternative of betraying our democracy, and taking power out of the hands of American voters and giving it to Vladimir Putin or anybody else—that is even scarier.
So we cannot waste any more time. We cannot play any more games. And we cannot put up with any more lies or fantasies or conspiracy theories from President Trump. Russia interfered in 2016, they are interfering right now, and we must stand together to stop them.
Now, as you can tell, these attacks on our democracy make me angry. They’re something that I think should make us all angry. And that’s what we need to talk about next.
You see, I personally think that there are some things in the world that deserve our anger. When our democracy is attacked, I think that deserves our anger. And then when those attacks on us, those attacks on American democracy, are defended and ignored and even denied by Donald Trump and some of the Republicans in Congress, I think that deserves our anger. But that’s not all. When we overpay for our healthcare, getting worse outcomes while paying more money compared to the people of every other major country on earth, as part of a system that hurts all Americans, and that bankrupts and even kills millions of Americans, but somehow still delivers huge profits to the insurance companies and the drug companies, I think that too should make us angry.
When student loan debt is crushing 44 million Americans, and for decades now the cost of higher education has risen higher and higher while real wages for working families have stagnated, and when huge corporations make huge profits but do not pay their fair share of taxes, and do not pay their workers a living wage, I think that should make us angry.
When our water and air are being poisoned, and our national parks are being sold off by Donald Trump, and our planet is warming so much that our seas are rising and our weather is changing and our forests are burning, I think that should make us angry.
I personally think that these are things that deserve our anger. And millions of Americans agree with me. Including millions of Americans for whom these issues are personal. Americans who have lost their homes in forest fires. Americans who are buried under student loan debt. Americans who are working for starvation wages while paying sky-high rent and being denied access to the health care that is their human right. Americans who’ve lost jobs because of health emergencies, and then lost their healthcare because they lost their job. Americans who’ve suffered for days and weeks and months and years without medical care that they desperately need. Americans who’ve seen friends and loved ones suffer without care for days or weeks or months or years. Americans who’ve then seen those friends and loved ones die without the care they needed.
I say that these are things that deserve our anger. And I say that they clearly deserve more of our anger and more of our attention than any niceties about what tone we use to talk about them.
However. I also realize that sometimes things go wrong. There are mistakes. There are misunderstandings. And there are worse things like real disrespect or arrogance or harassment. And so I want to be very, very clear. We are fighting for all Americans. Those who disagree with us are not our enemies. And the way that we will win is by bringing people together, not by dividing them up, not by insulting them, not by harassing them. Wherever we or I have said or done anything to encourage that, or failed to say or do enough to discourage it—I apologize. And I repeat, to every one of my supporters, that we are fighting for all Americans. And we are going to win by bringing people together.
Now, before I close, I want to talk about one other thing that some people are angry about. Or are at least pretending to be angry about.
I grew up in a working family living paycheck to paycheck. My father had immigrated to this country without having a nickle in his pocket or speaking a word of English. And as hard as he and my mother worked and scrimped and saved, they were never able to enjoy any sense of financial security. But they were able to put my brother and me on the path to a better life. And so I was able to get an education, and eventually get into politics, and write a couple books, and ultimately end up, as Mayor Bloomberg put it, as a millionaire with three houses.
Now, let’s forget for just a moment that just in the time span of our last debate, where Mayor Bloomberg said that, he earned more in interest than I am worth. And let’s also forget for a moment that most of the people repeating his little soundbite are not any more serious or sincere than he was. Leaving that aside, the idea, the point, seems to be that I’m some sort of hypocrite. That I’m some sort of hypocrite because I want millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share of taxes, but since I’ve now become a millionaire myself, I must want to avoid paying those taxes.
Well, I have to be honest with you. That is not the smartest argument I’ve ever heard. Because in fact I cannot wait for the day when our economy is fair for all Americans, myself included. The day when wealthier Americans, myself including, pay fair taxes, so that all Americans, yourself included, have a fair shot, in a fair country, with an economy that works for us all.
But I realize that at the moment those are just words. So I want to go further. Those three houses that so scandalized Mayor Bloomberg? Well there is our house in Vermont, which is our home. And there is our house in Washington, which we need for a few more months, until we move into one we’ve picked out on Pennsylvania Avenue. And then there’s number three, a summer lake house in Vermont.
Well can I tell you something about that lake house? This afternoon Jane and I signed it over to a trustee who’s now going to sell it. And he’s going to direct 100% of the proceeds not to me personally but to this campaign. Let’s call it a sign of my appreciation for the millions of Americans who have made small individual donations to this campaign. Together, we are going to win this election. And together, we are going to transform this country.