{"id":131349,"date":"2021-10-27T22:51:57","date_gmt":"2021-10-28T05:51:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=131349"},"modified":"2021-10-27T22:51:57","modified_gmt":"2021-10-28T05:51:57","slug":"president-biden-at-grassroots-event-with-terry-mcauliffe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=131349","title":{"rendered":"President Biden at Grassroots Event with Terry McAuliffe"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Arlington, VA&#8230;Hello, Virginia!  (Applause.)  AUDIENCE:  We love Joe!  We love Joe!  We love Joe!  THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  Thank you.  My name is Joe Biden, and I\u2019m Jill Biden\u2019s husband.  (Applause.)  It\u2019s great to be with you all.  I really mean that.  First off, it goes without saying how much I appreciate your current governor, Ralph Northam.  Where\u2019s Ralph?  There you are, pal.  Thank you.  Well \u2014<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mGiIVaIBZok\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE MEMBERS:  Stop line three!  Stop line three!  Stope line three!<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  That\u2019s all right.  Let them go.  Let them go.  That\u2019s okay.  That\u2019s all right.  Why don\u2019t you hang out and talk to me after this is over, okay?<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE MEMBER:  We love you!<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, thank you.  Look \u2014 thank you, thank you, thank you. <\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE:  We love Joe!  We love Joe!  We love Joe!<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  That\u2019s right.  This is not a Trump rally.  We let them holler.  We let them holler.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019d also like thank members of the congressional delegation that are here.  (Applause.) <\/p>\n<p>Don Beyer \u2014 I think Don is here.  (Applause.)  Elaine Luria.  Bobby Scott.  Abigail Spanberger.  Are they all over there?  I don\u2019t \u2014 and Senator Tim Kaine and Jennifer Wexton.  (Applause.) <\/p>\n<p>Folks, they have been critical in our efforts to make historic investments in our nation and our people.<\/p>\n<p>And, of course, it\u2019s great to be here with Dorothy and Terry McAuliffe.  (Applause.) <\/p>\n<p>Folks, it\u2019s time.  It\u2019s time.  One week to make those phone calls and knock on more doors.  One week to get out the vote.  And one more week to elect Terry McAuliffe as your governor of the state of Virginia.  (Applause.) <\/p>\n<p>You all know the stakes.  And here are a few things I want you to remember.  First, you don\u2019t have to wonder what kind of Governor Terry will be because you know what a great governor he was.  (Applause.) <\/p>\n<p>It wasn\u2019t just because of what he promised; it\u2019s what he delivered.  (Applause.)  On his watch, Virginia\u2019s economy boomed.  Two hundred thousand jobs created.  He made a record addition of $1 billion investment in education expanding pre-school and resources for public schools in lower-income communities and gave teachers a raise.  (Applause.)  <\/p>\n<p>Now, I must say, parenthetically, the real reason I\u2019m here tonight is my wife, Jill, teaches fulltime at Northern Virginia Community College.  (Applause.)  And Terry is going to be her boss.  (Laughter.) <\/p>\n<p>Look, Terry stood by our veterans, helping them apply their skills in good-paying civilian jobs in fields like cybersecurity and healthcare; funding for new veteran care centers, including the first one in the Hampton Roads region.  (Applause.) <\/p>\n<p>Look, he took on the gun lobby and enacted sensible gun safety measures without infringing on the Second Amendment, including helping keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers.  (Applause.) <\/p>\n<p>Virginia, you know Terry.  You know his record.  He was a great governor.  If you reelect him again, he\u2019ll be another four years as a great governor. <\/p>\n<p>But, look, how well do you know Terry\u2019s opponent?<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE MEMBERS:  No!<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, just remember this: I ran against Donald Trump.  (Applause.)  And Terry is running against an acolyte of Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p>Terry\u2019s opponent doesn\u2019t like to talk about how \u2014 very much now \u2014 but to win the Republican nomination, he embraced Donald Trump.  (Laughs.) <\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE:  Booo \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  He started his campaign by saying the number-one issue in the race was \u2014 his called the election \u2014 he called for election integrity.<\/p>\n<p>Now this guy starts, and he\u2019s calling for election integrity.  Now, why did he do that?  Because he wanted to hear Donald Trump?  It was a price he\u2019d have to pay for the nomination, and he paid it.  But now he doesn\u2019t want to talk about Trump anymore. <\/p>\n<p>Well, I do.  (Applause.) <\/p>\n<p>Talk about an oxymoron: Donald Trump and election integrity?  (Laughter.)  I can\u2019t believe he puts the words<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTrump\u201d and \u201cintegrity\u201d in the same sentence.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>Look, he\u2019s done a lot of lousy things.  But when my friend General Colin Powell died, his integrity \u2014 a man of incredible integrity \u2014 they certainly go together with \u2014 \u201cColin Powell\u201d and \u201cintegrity.\u201d  He\u2019s a decorated American hero, which is why the attack just leveled by Trump against General Powell was so offensive.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019d say it\u2019s unbelievable, but it\u2019s not.  Trump did the same thing about John McCain.  That\u2019s who Donald Trump is.  All coming from a guy who invented the \u201cBig Lie,\u201d drove a mob of insurrectionists to breach the Capitol on the 6th of January.  And to this day, he incites people all around the country. <\/p>\n<p>He said \u2014 he said the people who attended his rally and then stormed the Capitol, quote, \u201c[They] were peaceful people, [they] were great people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE:  Booo \u2014<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE MEMBER:  (Inaudible.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, God love you.  I\u2019m glad you\u2019re here. <\/p>\n<p>Virginia, you know better.  You saw it with your own eyes.  Many of you were there.  Some of you risked your lives. <\/p>\n<p>The anger.  The rage.  American flags turned into spears.  A noose.  A gallows.  Police assaulted and killed.  Death threats against elected officials and public servants carrying the most sacred act of a democracy: certifying a free election.<\/p>\n<p>A breach of the Capitol \u2014 that didn\u2019t happen even during the Civil War.<\/p>\n<p>To Donald Trump, the insurrection isn\u2019t a violent assault that took place on January 6th at the Capitol.  No.  To Trump, the insurrection was the November 3rd election when more Americans voted than had ever voted in all of our history.  (Applause.)  That\u2019s the \u201cBig Lie\u201d that Terry\u2019s opponent embraced.<\/p>\n<p>And it prompted the Washington Post to write something about Terry\u2019s opponent that every Virginian should read before they vote, and I quote:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGlenn Youngkin has failed [the] character test\u2026he\u2026has indulged and encouraged Republicans who have swallowed former President Trump\u2019s lie that last year\u2019s presidential election was stolen\u2026Mr. Youngkin chose to dignify a fundamental fiction that is subverting our system, rather than stand[ing]\u2026squarely for the truth.  In doing so, he proved himself unfit for office.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>End of quote.  (Applause.) <\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve not seen many editorials written that strongly in my career. <\/p>\n<p>Heck, just look at how he\u2019s closing his campaign.  He\u2019s gone from banning a woman\u2019s right to choose to banning books written by a Pulitzer Prize and Nobel Prize-winning author, Toni Morrison.<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE:  Booo \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  My wife, Jill \u2014 my wife, Jill, went to Princeton to interview her, taught her book.  Let\u2019s be clear: This is a guy who doesn\u2019t know much about anything. <\/p>\n<p>A women\u2019s right to choose is very much at risk because of what\u2019s happening in Texas.<\/p>\n<p>If you want to protect a woman\u2019s right to choose in Virginia, you need a governor absolutely committed to protecting that right.  (Applause.)  And Terry has made it clear he will be a \u201cbrick wall\u201d against anyone trying to take that constitutional right away.<\/p>\n<p>But Terry\u2019s opponent not only embraces someone with such a lack of character, he endorses Donald Trump\u2019s bad ideas and bad record.<\/p>\n<p>Donald Trump is the only President since Herbert Hoover in the \u201930s to see more jobs lost than gained the four years he was in office. <\/p>\n<p>In just nine months of our administration, we\u2019ve created more jobs than any President has in the same period of time in American history.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>When Donald Trump left office, there were only about 2 million people fully vaccinated.  In just nine months in our first year, over 190 million Americans are now fully vaccinated.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Trump \u2014 I love this one \u2014 Trump likes to boast the single-best measure of the economy is the stock market.  I never thought that.  Well, if that\u2019s true, take a look at the stock market now.  It\u2019s higher than it\u2019s ever been.  (Applause.)  I guess it (inaudible) everything is doing well.  It is.  Higher than it\u2019s ever been.<\/p>\n<p>Not only that, more people are working today than just before the pandemic started.  Household wealth is up.  People are buying more things.  Manufacturing is up.  We\u2019re on the move, but we\u2019re on the right track.  We\u2019ve got more to do.<\/p>\n<p>So, if you\u2019re looking for someone who is going to keep your economy going and growing, the man behind me is the guy to get it done.  (Applause.)  He\u2019ll do it again. <\/p>\n<p>In fact, we\u2019re taking a page from Terry\u2019s book when he was governor and when he\u2019d be governor next time.  We\u2019re emerging from this pandemic, and we want to expand pre-k for three- and four-year-olds \u2014 millions of pre-K children.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s what\u2019s in my Build Back Better initiative.  (Applause.)  Studies show that when you do this, you increase by 58 percent the chances that a child will complete the rest of their education in high school and beyond.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And what better \u2014 we want better roads, bridges, and airports.  Well, take the new bridge that will be built next to the 117-year-old Long Bridge in Arlington.  (Applause.)  This will be a dedicated corridor to passenger rail and reduce traffic bottlenecks in freight rail.  It will be a game changer.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Right now, 13 percent of Virginia households don\u2019t have the Internet.  As we said during this pandemic, no parent should have to park in a McDonald\u2019s parking lot to have access to their Internet for remote learning.  Think about that.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Terry wants every single Virginian to have access to affordable high-speed Internet, and I guarantee we\u2019re going to both do that.  Right now \u2014 (applause) \u2014<\/p>\n<p>Right now, there are 10 million homes and 400,000 schools and childcare centers in America that have lead pipes, including in their water.<\/p>\n<p>Look, folks, in America, every American, every child should be able to turn on a faucet and drink clean water. <\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE MEMBER:  (Inaudible.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Give that guy a drink of water, will you?  (Laughter and applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Look, let me ask you this.  Why is it that, 20 years ago, a bottle of insulin for Type 1 diabetes cost $32 a bottle, but, today, the same exact \u2014 same exact formula \u2014 no change \u2014 costs $280 a bottle? <\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE:  Booo \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Hear me?  That\u2019s not only wrong; it\u2019s immoral. <\/p>\n<p>Terry wants to take the drug companies \u2014 and I do \u2014 bring down the costs of prescription drugs.  And we can do that.  There are nearly \u2014 (applause) \u2014<\/p>\n<p>There are nearly 2 million Amer- \u2014 qualified women in America who are working to- \u2014 not working today because of childcare. <\/p>\n<p>Here in Virginia, the average two-parent home spends $14,600 a year for just one child.  We want to bring those costs down so working families will not have to pay more than 7 percent of their income to care for a child under the age of five.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re going to raise the minimum wage to \u2014 Terry is going to \u2014 we strongly support it \u2014 to $15 an honor.  No one \u2014 no one working fulltime should live below the poverty line.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And here\u2019s what else you ought to think about.  Terry\u2019s opponent has made all of his private pledges of loyalty to Donald Trump.  But what\u2019s really interesting to me: He won\u2019t stand next to Donald Trump now that the campaign is on.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>Think about it.  He won\u2019t allow Donald Trump to campaign for him in this state.  And he\u2019s willing to pledge his loyalty to Trump in private, why not in public?  What\u2019s he trying to hide?  Is there a problem with Trump being here?  Is he embarrassed? <\/p>\n<p>Look at who has been here for Terry: my wife, Jill; Barack Obama; Kamala Harris; Stacey Abrams; and so many more.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Look, let me close with this.  There is a fundamental difference between Democrats and Terry McAuliffe and what\u2019s going on in today\u2019s Republican Party and Terry\u2019s opponent. <\/p>\n<p>Number one, we stand for working people and the middle class.  (Applause.)  Trickle-down economics has never worked.  We\u2019re both building an economy from the bottom up and the middle out. <\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s Republican Party stands for nothing but just keep cutting taxes for the wealthy and the most powerful corporations. <\/p>\n<p>Second thing to remember \u2014 here\u2019s the deal: Virginia Democrats, you\u2019ve made incredible progress in this state in recent years on jobs, the economy, healthcare, education; on attracting new businesses, growing the middle class, and so much more.  For more than 40 years in Virginia, it has been the Democrats and Democratic governors who have led. <\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ve made this progress because you\u2019ve had the courage and wisdom to reject the very extremism that has taking over the Republican Party all across America. <\/p>\n<p>Think of it.  The Republican Party, nationally, is for nothing.  Not a joke.  Nothing.  Nothing.<\/p>\n<p>Just look around \u2014 just look around at what\u2019s happening with the governor of Texas and Florida \u2014<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE:  Booo \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  \u2014 the assault on a woman\u2019s right to choose.  The lives lost to this pandemic could\u2019ve been saved.<\/p>\n<p>Virginia, for the sake of your families and the country, we can\u2019t let this happen here in Virginia. <\/p>\n<p>Extremism can come in many forms.  It can come in the rage of a mob driven in an assault \u2014 driven to assault the Capitol.  It can come in a smile and a fleece vest.  (Applause.)  Either way, the Big Lie is still a big lie. <\/p>\n<p>So, Virginia, show up.  Show up like you did for Barack and me.  (Applause.)  Show up like you did for me and Kamala.  (Applause.)  And show up for a proven leader like Terry McAuliffe.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Show up to protect the majority in the House of Delegates, to re-elect Mark as Attorney General, elect Hala as Lieutenant Governor.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Virginia, you can\u2019t take anything for granted.  So, vote.  Vote early.  Get five of your friends and family to vote.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>You can drop off your ballots in drop boxes.  You can mail them in.  Visit IWillVote.com to find out where and how to vote early. <\/p>\n<p>Show up for democracy, for Virginia, for the United States of America. <\/p>\n<p>God bless you all.  And may God protect our troops. <\/p>\n<p>Vote!  Vote!  Vote!  Vote!  Vote!  (Applause.) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Arlington, VA&#8230;Hello, Virginia! (Applause.) AUDIENCE: We love Joe! We love Joe! We love Joe! THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you. My name is Joe Biden, and I\u2019m Jill Biden\u2019s husband. (Applause.) It\u2019s great to be with you all. I really mean that. First off, it goes without saying how much I appreciate your current governor, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":131350,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-131349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-government","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Fullscreen-capture-10272021-104827-PM.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=131349"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":131351,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131349\/revisions\/131351"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/131350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=131349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=131349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=131349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}