Here is the full transcript of presumptive Democratic nominee for president Kamala Harris’ speech at a campaign rally at the Georgia State Convocation Center in Atlanta on July 30, 2024.
Listen to the audio version here:
TRANSCRIPT:
Opening Remarks
Good evening. Good evening, Georgia. Thank you all. Thank you, thank you…… Thank you, everyone. Thank you, thank you. Thank you.
Thank you all. Thank you very much. Thank you, everybody. Oh, it’s good to be back in Georgia.
Acknowledgments
Thank you, everyone. Can we please hear it for Tyler? I want to thank Tyler for that incredible introduction. I invited him and several other young entrepreneurs to come and visit with me at the White House. And we had a really very long and important conversation about the future of America. And Tyler, you represent the best of our future. Thank you for that. Thank you.
And please give it up for Quavo. And Megan. So good to see everyone. And let me also thank our incredible members of Congress who are with us this evening.
Senator Jon Ossoff. Senator Raphael Warnock. And Representative Nikema Williams. To Mayor Andre Dickens, thank you for welcoming me back to Atlanta.
Campaign Outlook
And thank you to the great Stacey Abrams for your extraordinary leadership. So Georgia, it is so good to be back. And I am very clear. The path to the White House runs right through this state.
And you all helped us win in 2020, and we’re going to do it again in 2024. Yes, we will. Yes, we will. So let’s get right down.
Okay, I’m going to get into some business now. Okay, I’m going to get into some business now. All right. So Georgia, as many of you know, before – and have a seat if you have a chair.
Personal Background
As many of you know, before I was elected Vice President and before I was elected a United States Senator, I was an elected Attorney General and an elected District Attorney. And before that, I was a courtroom prosecutor. So in those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds: predators who abused women; fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain.
So hear me when I say, I know Donald Trump’s type. I know the type. And I have been dealing with people like him my entire career. For example, as Attorney General of California, I took on one of our country’s largest for-profit colleges that was scamming students. Well, Donald Trump ran a for-profit college that scammed students.
Prosecutorial Experience
As a prosecutor, I specialized in child sexual abuse cases and sexual abuse cases. Well, Trump was found liable for committing sexual abuse. And as an Attorney General, I held the big Wall Street banks accountable for fraud. Donald Trump [inaudible] guilty of fraud. 34 counts.
So in this campaign, So in this campaign, I will proudly put my record against his any day of the week. Any day of the week. Including, for example, on the issue of immigration. So I was the Attorney General of a border state. In that job, I walked underground tunnels between the United States and Mexico on that border with law enforcement officers. I went after transnational gangs, drug cartels, and human traffickers that came into our country illegally. I prosecuted them in case after case, and I won.
Immigration Stance
Donald Trump, on the other hand, has been talking a big game about securing our border, but he does not walk the walk. Or as my friend Quavo would say, he does not walk it like he talks it.
So look, our administration worked on the most significant border security bill in decades. Some of the most conservative Republicans in Washington, D.C. supported the bill. Even the Border Patrol endorsed it. It was all set to pass.
But at the last minute, Trump directed his allies in the Senate to vote it down. Right. He tanked, tanked the bipartisan deal because he thought it would help him win an election.
Vision for the Future
Which goes to show Donald Trump does not care about border security. He only cares about himself. And when I am president, I will work to actually solve the problem.
So here is my pledge to you. As president, I will bring back the border security bill that Donald Trump killed, and I will sign it into law, and show Donald Trump what real leadership looks like.
But make no mistake, this campaign is not just about us versus Donald Trump. Truly, this campaign is about two very different visions for our nation. One focused on the future. The other focused on the past.
Economic Vision
We believe in a future where every person has the opportunity to build a business, to own a home, to build intergenerational wealth. A future with affordable health care, affordable child care, paid leave. And all of this is to say, building up the middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency.
Because we here all know, when our middle class is strong, America is strong. And to keep our middle class strong, families need relief from the high cost of living, so that they have a chance not just to get by, but to get ahead.
And yes, it is true that by many indicators, our economy is the strongest in the world. But while inflation is down and wages are up, prices are still too high.
Economic Plan
You know it and I know it. And when we win this election, here’s what we’re going to do about it. On day one, I will take on price gouging and bring down costs.
We will ban more of those hidden fees and surprise late charges that banks and other companies use to pad their profits. We will take on corporate landlords and cap unfair rent increases. And we will take on big pharma to cap prescription drug costs for all Americans.
Our plan will lower costs and save many middle class families thousands of dollars a year.