Thank you. Thank you!
Thank you, Vice President Kamala Harris. Thanks for putting your trust in me and for inviting me to be part of this incredible campaign. And a thank you, President Joe Biden for four years of strong, historic leadership. And it is the honor of my life to accept your nomination for vice president of the United States.
We're all here tonight for one beautiful, simple reason-we love this country! So thank you to all of you here in Chicago and all of watching at home tonight. Thank you for your passion, thank you for your determination, and most of all thank you for bringing the joy to this fight.
Now I grew up in Butte, Nebraska, a town of 400 people. I had 24 kids in my high school class and none of 'em went to Yale.
But I'll tell you what, growing up in a small town like that, you learn to take care of each other. That family down the road-they may not think like you do, they may not pray like you do, they may not love like you do, but they're your neighbors. And you look out for them, and they look out for you. Everybody belongs, and everybody has a responsibility to contribute. For me, it was serving in the Army National Guard. I joined up two days after my 17th birthday and I proudly wore our nation's uniform for 24 years.
My dad, a Korean War-era Army veteran, died of lung cancer a couple years later. He left behind a mountain of medical debt. Thank God for Social Security survivor benefits. And thank God for the GI Bill that allowed my dad and me to go to college, and millions of other Americans.
Eventually, like the rest of my family, I fell in love with teaching. Three out of four of us married teachers. I wound up teaching social studies and coaching football at Mankato West High School. Go Scarlets! We ran a 44 defense, we ran through the whistle on every single play, and we even won a state championship. Never close the yearbook, people.
It was my students who first inspired me to run for Congress. They saw in me what I hoped to instill in them-a commitment to the common good. An understanding that we're all in this together. And the belief that a single person can make a real difference for their neighbors.
So there I was, a 40-something high school teacher with little kids, zero political experience, and no money, running in a deep-red district. But you know what? Never underestimate a public school teacher. Never.
I represented my neighbors in Congress for 12 years and I learned an awful lot. I learned how to work across the aisle on issues like growing the rural economies and taking care of veterans. And I learned how to compromise without compromising my values.
Then I came back home to serve as governor and we got right to work making a difference in our neighbors' lives. We cut taxes for the middle class. We passed paid family and medical leave. We invested in fighting crime and affordable housing. We cut the cost of prescription drugs and helped people escape the kind of medical debt that nearly sank my family. And we made sure that every kid in our state got breakfast and lunch every day. So while other states were banning books from their schools, we were banishing hunger from ours.
We also protected reproductive freedom because, in Minnesota, we respect our neighbors and the personal choices they make. And even if we wouldn't make the same choices for ourselves, we've got a Golden Rule: mind your own damn business.
That includes IVF and fertility treatments. This is personal for Gwen and I. If you've never experienced the hell that is infertility, I guarantee you know somebody who has. And I can remember praying each night for a call with good news, the pit in your stomach when the phone would ring, and the absolute agony when we heard the treatments hadn't worked. It took Gwen and I years. But we had access to fertility treatments and when our daughter was finally born, we named her Hope.
Hope, Gus and Gwen-you are my entire world and I love you. I'm letting you in on how we started our family because that's a big part of what this election is about: freedom. When Republicans use that word, they mean that the government should be free to invade your doctor's office. Corporations free to pollute the air and water. And banks free to take advantage of customers.
But when we Democrats talk about freedom, we mean the freedom to make a better life for yourself and the people that you love. The freedom to make your own health care decisions. And, yeah, your kids' freedom to go to school without worrying they'll be shot dead in the halls. Look, I know guns. I'm a veteran. I'm a hunter. I was a better shot than most Republicans in Congress and I got the trophies to prove it.
But I'm also a dad. I believe in the Second Amendment. But I also believe our first responsibility is to keep our kids safe.
That's what this is all about: the responsibility we have to our kids, to each other, and to the future that we're building together in which everyone is free to build the kind of life they want. But not everyone has that same sense of responsibility. Some folks just don't understand what it takes to be a good neighbor.
Take Donald Trump and JD Vance. Their Project 2025 will make things much, much harder for people who are just trying to live their lives. They've spent a lot of time pretending they know nothing about it. But look, I coached high school football long enough to know ,and trust me on this, when somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they're gonna use it. We know what they'll do if they get back in the White House, they'll start jacking up the costs on middle-class families, they'll repeal the Affordable Care Act, they'll gut Social Security and Medicare and they will ban abortion across America, with or without Congress.
Here's the thing; It's an agenda that nobody asked for. It's an agenda that serves nobody but the richest and the most extreme amongst us. And it's an agenda that does nothing for our neighbors in need.
Is it weird? Absolutely. But it's also wrong. And it's dangerous. It's not just me saying so, it's Trump's own people. They were with him for four years. They're warning us that the next four years would be much, much worse.
When I was teaching, we elect a student body president. And you know what? Those teenagers could teach Donald Trump a hell of a lot about what a leader is. Leaders don't spend all day insulting people and blaming others; leaders do the work. I don't know about you all, but I'm ready to turn the page on these guys. So say it with me: "We're not going back."
We've got something better to offer the American people. It starts with our candidate, Kamala Harris.
From her first day as a prosecutor, as a district attorney, as an attorney general, as a U.S. senator, and then, as our vice president, she's fought on the side of the American people. She's taken on predators and fraudsters. She's taken down transnational gangs. And she stood up to powerful corporate interests. She's never hesitated to reach across the aisle if it meant improving your lives. And she's always done it with energy, with passion, and with joy.
Folks, we've got a chance to make Kamala Harris the next president of the United States. But I think we owe it to the American people to tell them exactly what she'd do as president before we ask 'em for their votes. So this is the part, clip it, and save it and send it to your undecided relatives so that they know. If you're a middle-class family or a family trying to get into the middle class, Kamala Harris is gonna cut your taxes. If you're getting squeezed by the price of your prescription drug prices, Kamala Harris is gonna take on Big Pharma. If you're hoping to buy a home, Kamala Harris is gonna help make it more affordable.
And no matter who you are, Kamala Harris is gonna stand up and fight for your freedom to live the life that you want to lead.
Because that's what we want for ourselves. And it's what we want for our neighbors. You know, you might not know but I haven't given a lot of big speeches like this. But I have given a lot of pep talks.
So let me finish with this, team. It's the fourth quarter. We're down a field goal. But we're on offense and we've got the ball. We're driving down the field. And, boy, do we have the right team. Kamala Harris is tough. Kamala Harris is experienced. And Kamala Harris is ready.
Our job, for everyone watching, is to get in the trenches and do the blocking and tackling. One inch at a time, one yard at a time, one phone call at a time, one door knock at a time, one $5 donation at a time.
We've only got 76 days to go. That's nothing. There'll be time to sleep when we're dead. And we're gonna leave it all on the field. That's how we'll keep moving forward. That's how we'll turn the page on Donald Trump. That's how we'll build a country where workers come first, health care and housing are human rights, and the government stays the hell out of your bedroom.
That's how we make America a place where no child is left hungry. Where no community is left behind. Where nobody gets told they don't belong.
That's how we're gonna fight. And as the next president of the United States always says, "When we fight, we win!" When we fight, we win! When we fight, we win!
Thank you, and God bless America!