My Remarks at a Harris-Walz Rally in Charlotte, North Carolina

Remarks as delivered in support of Vice President Kamala Harris

Hello, Charlotte! Hey!

Yes, sir, it’s good to be back.

Good to be back in North Carolina.

It is good to be back. It is good to be back in Charlotte.

Give Thomas Davis a big round of applause. I’m thinking we need to run him for something. (Laughter.) I mean, I was getting fired up backstage. I like that.

It is so good to see all of you.

I love me some North Carolina. I do.

And I would just come to visit and just see some friends and have some barbecue, which I did have before I came out.

But that is not the reason I am here. It is not all fun and games. I am here for a very important reason, and that is to ask you to vote.

For your next governor, Josh Stein!

And for the next President of the United States of America, Kamala Harris.

I know you’ve already heard it, but it is worth repeating, in case anybody missed it, or somebody is tuning in right now. Here in North Carolina, early voting has already started, so go do it. You can register to vote and cast your ballot at any one-stop, early vote location in your county.

And if you don’t know where that is, go to IWillVote.com/NC.

Now, let’s face it, if you’re here, you’re probably going to vote. Just as important as you voting is to get your friends and family to make a plan to vote, too, because together, we have a chance to choose a new generation of leadership in this country and start building a better, stronger, fairer, more hopeful America.

AUDIENCE: (Chanting.)

AUDIENCE MEMBER: (Off-mic.)

PRES. BARACK OBAMA: Now listen, young man, there’s no reason to holler.

We know that this election is going to be tight, because there are lots of Americans that are still struggling. And as a country, we’ve been through a lot over these last few years. We’ve been through a historic pandemic that wreaked havoc on communities and businesses. And there were disruptions from that pandemic that caused –

Oh, hold on a second. Is something going on here? Hold on. Let everybody just settle down.

On my way here, I was just talking about how wonderful and polite everybody in North Carolina was. (Laughter.) I was!

AUDIENCE MEMBER: I love you!

PRES. BARACK OBAMA: I love you back, but I just want to make sure everything’s settled down.

All right, have we got everything settled back there? (Laughter.)

So, where was I?

We went through a historic pandemic, and then disruptions from the pandemic caused price hikes to put a strain on family budgets. And people started feeling like no matter how hard they worked, they were just treading water. So, I get why folks are looking to shake things up. I understand that.

What I cannot understand for the life of me is why anybody would think that Donald Trump would shake things up in a way that is good for you. There is absolutely no evidence that this man thinks about anybody but himself.

I have said it before. Donald Trump is a 78-year-old billionaire who has not stopped whining about his problems since he wrote down that golden escalator nine years ago. He’s complaining, he’s tweeting all times at night, all caps. And when he’s not doing that, he’s trying to sell you stuff. Who does this?

He’s trying to sell you ghost sneakers — (laughter) — trying to sell you $100,000 watch, trying to sell you a Trump Bible, wants you to buy the Word of God, Donald Trump Edition, got his name right there, next to Matthew and Luke. (Laughter.)

You couldn’t, you cannot make this stuff up. This would be like an SNL skit, except people be like, well, that’s going too far. Nobody’s that crazy.

No, no,, yes, he’s doing it. Yes, he is.

And the reason he’s doing it is because all he cares about is his ego, and his money and his status. That’s his mindset. Those are his intentions. And along with those intentions, then there’s also the question of his competence.

I mean, y’all have seen this. He’s up there giving two hour speeches, just a word salad. Nobody’s really sure what he’s saying. (Laughter.) He said he was the he was the father of IVF. I don’t know what that means. You don’t either. (Laughter.) He called January 6th a “day of love,” like it was Woodstock or Coachella.

And if your grandpa was acting like this, you’d be worried. (Laughter.) You’d call up your brother or your cousin, you’d say, hey, you notice Grandpa is acting a little funny? But his behavior has become so commonplace that people don’t take it seriously anymore.

But I want you to understand just because he is acting odd, and at Town Hall meetings, he stops and listens to music for half an hour. (Laughter.) All that stuff does not mean that his presidency would not be dangerous.

And you don’t have to take my word for it. Some of you, I’m sure, read or saw, some of the people who know Donald Trump best have been saying in no uncertain terms that he should not be president again. These are not liberal Democrats. These aren’t woke folks. These are people who worked with him, worked for him.

The other day, General John Kelly, Donald Trump’s former chief of staff, said that Trump told him he wanted his generals to be like Hitler’s generals. Now, I said this yesterday. In politics, a good rule of thumb is don’t say you want to do anything like Hitler. (Laughter.) But it gives you a window into how Donald Trump thinks.

And John Kelly is not the only one saying this. Two of Donald Trump’s defense secretaries, understand they were in charge of the Pentagon, said Donald Trump is dangerous. Mark Milley, his chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, the very top the pinnacle of military brass said something similar.

And I know these folks. I know John Kelly. I know Mark Milley. They served under me when I was commander in chief.

No, no, no, hold on, hold on. These are serious people. They are decorated warriors who served in battle. They’re not woke liberals. They’re not even probably Democrats. They are people who don’t usually talk about politics, because they believe the military should be outside of politics, upholding the Constitution.

The reason they’re speaking up now is because they have seen that in Donald Trump’s mind, the military does not exist to serve the Constitution or the American people. Donald Trump doesn’t see being commander in chief as a solemn, sacred responsibility, an oath you take to our precious system of government. Like everything else, he thinks the military exists to do his bidding, to serve his interests. And he has said that if he’s elected, he’ll use the military to go after, quote, the enemy within which he –

AUDIENCE: (Boos.)

Do not boo, vote!

(Applause.)

– which he defines, which he seems to define as anybody who criticizes him or refuses to bend the knee. It offends his ego if people disagree with him.

Let me tell you, when I was president, a lot of people disagreed with me. (Laughter.) You never heard me say anything remotely like, you go after people in a democracy for disagreeing with you, for trying to punish people for disagreeing. This is America. This is a democracy.

And unlike the first time, unlike the first go around, Donald Trump won’t have people like John Kelly around to stop him, because he’s already announced he’s planned to surround himself with people who are just as wacky as he is and will let him do what he wants, carry out his bidding.

And so the question is, how is that going to help you? How’s that going to help you pay the bills? How’s that going to help you make sure your kids getting a good education? How’s that going to help you with a with a down payment on a house?

We do not need four years of a wannabe king running around trying to punish his enemies. That’s not what you need in your life. America is ready to turn the page. We are ready for a better story. North Carolina, we’re ready for President Kamala Harris!

And the good news is Kamala Harris is ready for the job.

This is a leader who has spent her life fighting on behalf of people who need a voice and a champion. Kamala wasn’t born into privilege. She was raised in a middle class family, worked at McDonald’s when she was in college to pay her expenses, didn’t just pretend to work at McDonald’s for a photo op when it was closed. (Laughter.) She actually knows what people are going through and cares what people are going through.

As a prosecutor, Kamala stood up for children who had been victims of sexual abuse. As attorney general of California, she fought big banks and for profit colleges and secure billions of dollars for people that they had scammed. After the mortgage crisis, Kamala pushed me and my administration harder than any other attorney general in the country to make sure homeowners got a fair settlement.

And she didn’t care that I was a Democrat, that she had knocked on doors for me in Iowa. She was not going to let anything stop her from winning as much relief as possible for families in California who deserve it. That’s who she is.

And the good news is, in the White House, she’ll have an outstanding partner in Governor Tim Walz.

I was just with Tim. I was just with Tim in Madison, Wisconsin. I love that dude. He’s a veteran. He’s a teacher. He’s a coach. He’s an outstanding marksman, been a great governor. Apparently, he can even take a vintage truck apart and put it back together again. (Laughter.) You think Donald Trump can do that?

AUDIENCE: No!

PRES. BARACK OBAMA: Do you think Donald Trump has ever changed the tire in his life?

AUDIENCE: No!

PRES. BARACK OBAMA: (Laughter.) I mean, even when he was young, if there was a flat tire, he’d call his chauffeur. “Jeeves, change that tire.” (Laughter.) I don’t know that his name was Jeeves. (Laughter.) That’s how I picture it though, Jeeves. (Laughter.)

The point is, if you elect Kamala and Tim, they won’t be focused on their problems, their ego. They’re going to be focused on you.

They understand that too many folks here in North Carolina and across the country are struggling to pay the bills. And now understand, it’s important. Wages are steadily growing. Unemployment is low. Inflation is finally slowing, but the price of everything from health care to housing groceries, it’s still too high. And that hurts, and they understand that. The question is, who’s actually going to do something about it?

Now, Donald Trump’s plan, shockingly — (laughter) — is to give another massive tax cut to billionaires and big corporations.

AUDIENCE: (Boos.)

PRES. BARACK OBAMA: Do not boo.

AUDIENCE: Vote!

PRES. BARACK OBAMA: Vote. I’m going to cure you of this. (Laughter.) They can’t hear you booing, but they can hear you voting.

PRES. BARACK OBAMA: Now, I’ve been traveling around the country. I’ve talked to some people. Some people say, “Well, you know what? I remember the economy being pretty good when Donald Trump first came into office.”

Yes, it was pretty good, because it was my economy!

Because I had spent the previous eight years cleaning up the mess that the Republicans had left! And we had had 75 straight months of job growth, and I handed it over to Donald Trump. And all he did was give a tax cut to folks who didn’t need it and drive up the deficit in the process.

So, do not give him credit for that. That’s not what makes an economy strong.

The other thing I hear folks say is, “Well, Donald Trump sent me a check during the pandemic.”

Hold on! I want to make sure you understand this. First of all, Democrats and Republicans in Congress sent you a check, but also understand, Joe Biden sent you a check during the pandemic, just like I gave relief to the American people with the help of Congress during the great recession.

The difference is we didn’t put our name on the check, because it wasn’t about feeding our egos or advancing our politics. It was about helping people get by during a tough time. That’s the difference.

So, please do not give him credit for an economy he didn’t have anything to do with making work. Do not fall for that okey-doke. (Laughter.) Don’t get bamboozled. Don’t get fooled. Do not get fooled when he talks about health care, either.

If you ask Donald Trump what his plans are for health care, he says — well, first, initially, he said, “End the Affordable Care Act,” right? I mean, he ran on that. “We’re going to get rid of Obamacare.” He didn’t really know why, except for the fact that I did it. (Laughter.) So, he’s got a problem now, because it’s popular. Almost 50 million people have gotten health care because of it.

A couple of weeks ago, his running mate, JD Vance –

AUDIENCE: (Boos.)

PRES. BARACK OBAMA: Do not boo. So, during the vice presidential debate, Mr. Vance has the nerve to say Donald Trump, and I quote. He said, “Donald Trump salvaged the Affordable Care Act.” Come on, man! Donald Trump spent his entire presidency trying to tear it up, trying to get rid of it, trying to tear it down. And by the way, he couldn’t even do that right. (Laughter.)

And now, eight years later, he was asked during the debate with Kamala, if you want to call that, because that was like Mike Tyson in his prime. (Laughter.) That was like, knock out! (Laughter.) But he was asked by the moderator, “Well, what’s your plan?” He said, “Well, I’ve got concepts of a plan,” for how he’d replace the Affordable Care Act. And I thought about that, and I want you to think about this.

Let’s say your boss gives you an assignment, says, “I need it by Friday.” And then Friday rolls around and your boss says, “Did you finish that project I asked for?” And you say, I haven’t started, but I have a concept of a plan. (Laughter.)

AUDIENCE MEMBER: (Off-mic.) (Laughter.)

PRES. BARACK OBAMA: You could try it at home. (Laughter.) “Honey, did you do the dishes?” “I have a concept of a plan to do the dishes.” How’s that going over?

If it would not work for you, why should it work for the president of the United States?

The good news is Kamala Harris does not have concepts of a plan. She has actual plans to make your life better.

She’s going to go after corporations that unfairly jack up prices. She’s going to make it easier to build and buy a home. She’s going to limit out-of-pocket health care costs. She’s going to give a tax cut to 100 million middle-class and working Americans.

It’s on her website. It’s laid out in detail. There’s an actual plan there. And if Congress passes a bill to restore the reproductive freedom that women had for nearly 50 years, the freedom that Donald Trump bragged about taking away, Kamala will sign it into law.

That is who Kamala Harris is. That’s what she stands for, not concepts of a plan, plans, actual plans.

Now, if you challenge Trump on his concepts, he will fall back on one answer. This is his blanket for everything: Blame immigrants. He wants you to believe that if you let him round up whoever he wants, ship them all out, put together these big detention camps, your problems will be solved.

I want to talk about this just for a second, because we have real issues at the border. We are a nation of immigrants. Unless you’re a Native American, somebody in your family came from somewhere else.

We are also a nation of laws. We are also a nation of laws. We have to make sure the system works the way it’s supposed to, that it’s orderly, that it’s safe, that it’s fair.

What I don’t understand is this. Donald Trump, JD Vance, they’re quick to say anything right now that’s not working. “Well, Kamala, you’ve been vice president for four years.” Wasn’t Donald Trump president for four years?

AUDIENCE: Yes!

PRES. BARACK OBAMA: I know some of you may have blocked it out, but it’s true. He was the 45th president. So if rounding up and deporting millions of desperate people, many of them women and children, is the answer to everything, the answer to all of America’s problems, why is it that the number of undocumented immigrants was basically the same when he left office as when he took office? He was president for four years.

I’ll tell you why, because he doesn’t have a real plan. He has a concept of a plan, and it’s a mean and ugly plan. You know what would actually help bring order to the border and fix our immigration system? A bipartisan deal that Kamala Harris supported, even though it was written by one of the most conservative Republicans in Congress.

And Donald Trump lobbied actively and told Republicans not to vote for it, because he figured, this is an issue that I can use to win an election.

We do not need a president who will make problems worse just to make his politics better. We need a president who actually cares about solving problems, making your life better. That’s what Kamala Harris will do.

And let me say this, because sometimes I think we think presidents can solve every problem. That’s not how our system works. We do not have a monarchy. We don’t have a dictatorship. The president’s just won among other elected officials in our system of government. In order for Kamala to get all the things done that need to get done, she’s also going to need strong leaders in state houses across the country.

Now here in North Carolina, you’ve been lucky, because you’ve got an outstanding governor in Roy Cooper.

He has done a fantastic job. He is a good man. He is a sensible man. He’s a hardworking man. He has done an outstanding job leading this state.

So now, to continue progress, you need to elect Josh Stein and keep North Carolina moving forward.

(Applause.)

AUDIENCE: (Chanting.)

PRES. BARACK OBAMA: Josh knows how to get stuff done. As your attorney general, he’s fought for survivors of sexual assault, stood with families that were devastated by the Fentanyl crisis, defended your right to vote. And as your governor, he’ll do even more, cutting taxes for workers, expanding technical education, paying teachers what they deserve, because Josh Stein believes that if you work hard and take responsibility, you should be able to get ahead.

Now, Josh’s opponent believes other things.

AUDIENCE: No!

PRES. BARACK OBAMA: I do not know where to start with this man. Called the Civil Rights movement crap, called LGBTQ people filth, self-identified as a Nazi, suggested bringing back slavery.

Now, I shouldn’t really have to get into all this. (Laughter.) I think it’s fair to say you do not need a governor who makes Donald Trump look almost normal. (Laughter.) You deserve somebody who is going to work every day and fight for you, somebody who has shown that he is up for the job, somebody like Josh Stein! He has been doing it his entire career.

You need it in the governor’s office. You need it in every office at every level. I’ve taken special interest in following the school superintendent race down here in North Carolina, in part because, apparently the Republican candidate has been spreading conspiracy theories and thinks I should face a firing squad. So, I guess I am self-interested. (Laughter.)

You do not want — look. (Laughter.) I mean, I’m serious here, people. I have friends who are conservative. I have friends who are Republican. We all can have differences on issues, but we can’t have somebody saying just crazy stuff, running your school system, purchasing textbooks, allocating resources for our kids.

You need somebody like Mo Green, who has actually run one of the largest school systems in the state and will make sure your kids get the education they deserve.

Mo, Josh, those are the kinds of people we need in elected office, and not just because they’ve got smart policies, not just because they’ve got an extraordinary track record of accomplishment,

but also because they share just some basic core American values that we seem to be forgetting.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Thank you!

PRES. BARACK OBAMA: I mean, it’s an example of how frustrating politics can be sometimes, that there’s so much crazy just swirling, especially on social media. And so, I understand why sometimes, people just want to ignore politics. They just want to step away from it. We all know folks like that, good people, but they go, “God, it just seems so nasty. I just don’t want to be involved. It doesn’t matter.” And so, complacency is also our opponent here.

And I whenever I talk to folks who feel just frustrated or disgusted with politics, I don’t try to sell them the moon. I’m honest with them. Politics is not going to solve all your problems. Politics will not solve — will not eliminate all poverty. You elect a president, no matter how well meaning, they’re not going to eliminate racism. You may still be frustrated with your boss. Your kid may still act up and do knucklehead things. (Laughter.) People you love may still get sick. Politics is not a cure all, but your vote matters, because what politics, what government can do, is make your life a little bit better or a little bit worse.

When I was president, we didn’t solve all the problems with our health care system, but almost 50 million people got health care through the Affordable Care Act.

Another 50 million were able to stay on their parents’ plan until they were 26 or they had preexisting conditions. And before, they couldn’t buy insurance, and now they can.

Somebody you know has health insurance because of what we did. It didn’t solve all our problems, but it made your life a little better.

Yo, we’ve we got somebody who fainted back there? All right, if we get an EMT.

Everybody, you’ve got to bend your knees a little bit if you’re standing too long. They’ll be all right, just give them a little space. This happens. I know y’all been standing around for a while.

I’ll give you another example. I said how politics can make your life a little bit better. It can make it a little bit worse, too, or a lot worse.

And my former attorney general, Eric Holder, is here.

Outstanding attorney general, so he’ll remember this.

In my second term, because we had dealt with H1N1 virus, and then we dealt with Ebola, I had studied the issue. We had gathered together scientists and experts, and there was a prediction that some time, nobody knew when, there was going to be an airborne pandemic, and we were going to need to be able to deal with it, just like we deal with the natural disaster.

So, we put together a plan, a playbook for how to deal with a pandemic. And we had what, Eric, were called table top exercises, where we’d get all the agencies together. And we’d work through, all right, what would we do in the event of a pandemic? How are we going to deal with the schools? How are we going to deal with public health officials at the state level? How do we provide information? How do we accelerate the production of viruses? Had a whole playbook, big playbook.

Handed it off, just like I handed off that good economy to Donald Trump. (Laughter.) I said, “Here, there you go.” And apparently, it was dropped in the bin, and he ignored it. And three years later, the pandemic hits.

Now I want to be fair. No matter who was president, the pandemic was going to be a major crisis. People were going to die. People were going to get sick. Businesses were going to be shut down. Supply lines were going to be messed up. Travel was going to be restricted. There is a once in 100 year pandemic, but if you look at a country like Canada, their death rate was 60% lower than here in the United States.

Now, I want you to do the math. Over a million people died during the pandemic here in the U.S. Sixty percent of a million is 600,000 people. That’s somebody’s grandmother or grandfather, parent, coworker, friend. Some of those folks might be alive if we had a competent, caring president, who was actually trying to make things better, who was not advising people to inject bleach as a cure.

If somebody tells you this election doesn’t matter, explain, no, it does matter. It makes a difference when you have a leader who sees you and cares about you and thinks about you. They don’t need to be perfect, but they need to try. They need to care.

And remind them that elections are more than just policy. They’re also about values, and they are about character.

Some of you know, I didn’t have a father in the house when I was growing up. My parents divorced when I was two. I knew my father for one month, but I did have a lot of people around me, stepfather, grandparents, teachers, coaches, and most of all, my mother, who taught me the difference between right and wrong, showed me what it meant to be honest and be responsible, and to work hard, to treat others the way I want to be treated.

And I did not, growing up, always live up to those values. I was a knucklehead like most teenagers, but as I became a young adult, I tried to internalize them. I tried to live up to those values. I suspect most of you grew up the same way.

And one of the most disturbing things about this election, about Trump’s rise in politics, is how we seem to have set aside values, basic values, not Democratic values or Republican, just basic values that we were taught.

I mean, a few weeks ago, we had one of the deadliest hurricanes in American history. I was just talking to Roy and Josh about one of my favorite places in the country, Asheville, just a couple hours from here, devastated.

President Biden and Vice President Harris, they come down. They’re in some of the affected communities, meeting with local officials, trying to comfort families. And as that is happening, Donald Trump and JD Vance are making up stories about the Biden administration withholding aid, not giving it to Republican areas, giving it to undocumented immigrants, just making stuff up. Even MAGA Republicans on the ground said, “That’s just not true.” It was a bald-faced lie.

At a moment when people are most vulnerable, most desperate, for somebody, anybody, to try to manipulate and use that for their own game, when did that become okay? I don’t care where you stand on the issues. I don’t care what party you’re a member of. How can you countenance that behavior?

If your coworkers acted like that, they wouldn’t be your coworkers for very long. If a family member acted like that, you might still love them, but you wouldn’t put them in charge of anything. You wouldn’t trust them.

And yet, when Donald Trump lies or cheats or shows utter disregard for our Constitution, when he calls our service members who died in battle “losers,” when he calls our fellow citizens “vermin,” people make excuses for it, act like it’s okay. As long as our side wins, it’s all right.

And I’ve noticed this, especially with some men, who seem to think Trump’s behavior, the phony macho, tough guy act, that somehow that’s a sign of strength. I’m here to tell you North Carolina, that’s not what real strength is. Never has been.

I don’t care whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat or an Independent. I don’t care if you’re Black or white or Hispanic or Asian or straight or gay. We know better than that. We know that real strength is about working hard, and taking responsibility, and telling the truth even when it’s inconvenient, and that real strength is about helping people who need it, and looking out for your neighbors, and standing up for those who can’t always stand up for themselves.

That’s what we should want in our daughters and our sons, and that’s what I want to see in a president of the United States.

And the good news, North Carolina, is that you have candidates to vote for in this election, who demonstrate that kind of character, who know what real strength looks like, who will set a good example, and do the right thing and leave this country better for it.

That’s the choice in this election. It’s not just policies on the ballot, it’s who we are, what we stand for.

Whether this election is making you feel excited or scared, or hopeful or frustrated, or anything in between, do not sit back and hope for the best. Get off your couch and vote! Put down your phone and vote!

Vote for Kamala Harris as the next president of the United States and Tim raw as the next vice president!

Vote for Josh Stein and this whole incredible North Carolina Democratic ticket!

Help your friends and family members and neighbors and coworkers do the same, because if enough of us make our voices heard, we will leave no doubt about the outcome of this election. We will leave no doubt about who we are and what America stands for. And together, we will keep building a country that’s more fair, and more just, and more equal and more free.

That is our job. That is our responsibility. North Carolina, Charlotte, let’s go do it!

I love you. God bless you!