YT YouTube2Text

YouTube2Text → Transcripts → Joe Biden Acceptance Speech at 2020 Democratic National Convention

Joe Biden Acceptance Speech at 2020 Democratic National Convention — Transcript

by C-SPAN · 3,340 words · 618 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

Open in transcriber Summarize with AI Download SRT/VTT

Full transcript

0:01ella baker a giant of the civil rights
0:04movement
0:05left us with this wisdom give people
0:08light
0:10and they will find the way give people
0:13light
0:14those are words for our time the current
0:18president has cloaked
0:19american darkness for much too long
0:23too much anger too much fear too much
0:26division
0:27here and now i give you my word
0:30if you entrust me with the presidency i
0:33will draw on the best of us
0:35not the worst i'll be an ally of the
0:38light
0:39not the darkness it's time for us
0:42for we the people to come together
0:46and make no mistake united we can and
0:49will
0:50overcome this season of darkness in
0:53america
0:54we'll choose hope over fear facts over
0:58fiction fairness over privilege
1:01i'm a proud democrat and i'll be proud
1:04to carry the banner of our party into
1:06the general election
1:08so it's with great honor and humility i
1:11accept this nomination
1:13for president of the united states of
1:15america
1:17but while i'll be a democratic candidate
1:20i will be an american president
1:23i'll work hard for those who didn't
1:24support me as hard for them as i did for
1:27those who
1:28did vote for me that's the job of a
1:31president
1:32to represent all of us not just our base
1:35or our party
1:37this is not a partisan moment this must
1:40be an american moment
1:42it's the moment the calls for hope and
1:44light and love
1:45hope for our future light to see our way
1:48forward
1:49and love for one another america isn't
1:52just a collection of
1:54clashing interests of red states or blue
1:57states
1:58we're so much bigger than that we're so
2:00much better than that
2:03no nearly a century ago franklin
2:06roosevelt pledged a new deal
2:09in a time of massive unemployment
2:11uncertainty and fear
2:13stricken by a disease stricken by a
2:15virus
2:17fdr insisted that he would recover and
2:19prevail and he believed america could as
2:22well
2:22and he did and we can as well
2:26this campaign isn't just about winning
2:28votes it's about winning the heart and
2:31yes the soul of america
2:33we need it for the generous among us not
2:35the selfish
2:37wanting it for workers to keep this
2:38country going not just the privileged
2:40few at the top
2:42waiting for those communities who have
2:44known the injustice of a knee on the
2:47neck
2:49for all the young people have known only
2:52america
2:53being of rising inequity and shrinking
2:56opportunity
2:57they deserve the experience of america's
3:01promise
3:02they deserve to experience it in full
3:06you know no generation ever knows what
3:08history will ask of it
3:10all we can ever know is whether we're
3:13ready
3:14when that moment arrives and now history
3:17has delivered us
3:18to one of the most difficult moments
3:20america's ever faced
3:23four four historic crises all at the
3:26same time
3:28a perfect storm the worst pandemic in
3:31over a hundred years
3:32the worst economic crisis since the
3:34great depression
3:35the most compelling call for racial
3:37justice since the 60s
3:39and the undeniable realities and
3:42ex just the accelerating threats of
3:45climate change
3:47so the question for us is simple are we
3:49ready
3:51i believe we are we must be
3:55you know all elections important we know
3:58in our bones this one is more
3:59consequential
4:02as many have said america is at an
4:03inflection point
4:05a time of real peril but also
4:08extraordinary possibilities
4:11we can choose a path of becoming angrier
4:14less hopeful
4:15more divided a path of shadow and
4:18suspicion
4:19or or we can choose a different path and
4:21together
4:22take this chance to heal to reform to
4:26unite
4:27a path of hope and light this is a
4:30life-changing election
4:33this will determine what america is
4:35going to look like for a long long time
4:38character is on the ballot compassion is
4:41on the ballot
4:42decency science democracy they're all
4:45on the ballot who we are as a nation
4:49what we stand for most importantly who
4:52we want to be
4:53that's all on the ballot
4:56and the choice could not be more clear
4:59no rhetoric is needed just judge this
5:02president on the facts
5:05five million americans infected by covet
5:0719.
5:08more than 170 000 americans have died
5:13by far the worst performance of any
5:15nation on earth
5:17more than 50 million people have filed
5:20for unemployment this year
5:21more than 10 million people are going to
5:24lose their health insurance this year
5:27nearly one in six small businesses have
5:29closed
5:30this year and this president
5:33if he's reelected you know what will
5:35happen
5:37cases and deaths will remain far too
5:39high
5:40more mom and pop businesses will close
5:42their doors and this time for good
5:44working families will struggle to get by
5:47and yet the wealthiest one percent
5:50will get tens of billions of dollars in
5:52new tax breaks
5:55and the assault on the affordable care
5:56act will continue until it's destroyed
6:00taking insurance away from more than 20
6:02million people
6:03including more than 15 million people on
6:06medicaid
6:09and getting rid of the protections that
6:11president obama worked so hard to get
6:13past
6:14for people who have 100 million more
6:17people
6:17who have pre-existing conditions and
6:20speaking of president obama
6:22a man i was honored to serve alongside
6:24for eight years as vice president
6:27let me take this moment to say something
6:29we don't say nearly enough
6:32thank you mr president you were a great
6:34president
6:36a president of our children could and
6:38did look up to
6:40no one's going to say that about the
6:42current occupant of the white house
6:44what we know about this president is if
6:47he's given
6:48four more years he'll be what he's been
6:50for the last four years
6:53president takes no responsibility
6:55refuses to lead
6:56blames others cozies up to dictators and
6:59fans the flames of hate and division
7:03he'll wake up every day believing the
7:05job is all about him
7:07never about you is that the american you
7:10want
7:11for you your family your children
7:14i see a different america one that's
7:17generous and strong
7:19selfless and humble it's an american we
7:21can rebuild together
7:24as president the first step i will take
7:26we to get control of the virus that has
7:29ruined
7:29so many lives because i understand
7:32something this president hasn't from the
7:34beginning
7:35we will never get our economy back on
7:37track we will never get our kids safely
7:39back in schools
7:41we'll never have our lives back until we
7:43deal with this virus
7:46the tragedy of where we are today is it
7:49didn't
7:50have to be this bad just look around
7:54it's not this bad in canada or europe or
7:57japan
7:58or almost anywhere else in the world
8:01and the president keeps telling us the
8:02virus is going to disappear
8:05he keeps waiting for a miracle well i
8:08have news for him
8:09no miracle is coming
8:14we lead the world in confirmed cases
8:16lead the world in deaths
8:18our economy is in tatters with black
8:20latino asian american native american
8:23communities
8:24bearing the brunt of it and after all
8:27this time
8:28the president still does not have a plan
8:31well i do if i'm your president
8:35on day one we'll implement the national
8:39strategy i've been laying out since
8:41march
8:42we'll develop and deploy rapid tests
8:46with results available immediately we'll
8:49make the medical supplies and protective
8:51equipment that our country needs
8:53and we'll make them here in america so
8:55we will never again
8:57be at the mercy of china or other
8:59foreign countries in order to protect
9:01our own people
9:03we'll make sure our schools have the
9:04resources they need
9:06to be open safe and effective
9:10we'll put politics aside we'll take the
9:12muzzle off
9:13our experts so the public gets the
9:15information
9:16they need and deserve honest unvarnished
9:20truth
9:22they can handle it
9:25we'll have a national mandate to wear a
9:27mask not as a burden but as a patriotic
9:30duty to protect one another
9:32in short we'll do what we should have
9:35done from the very
9:36beginning our current president has
9:39failed
9:40in his most basic duty to the nation
9:43he's failed to protect us he's failed to
9:46protect america
9:48and my fellow americans that is
9:51unforgivable
9:53as president i'll make you a promise
9:55i'll protect america
9:57i will defend us from every attack seen
10:00and unseen
10:01always without exception every time
10:06look i understand i understand how hard
10:10it is to have any hope right now
10:13on this summer night let me take a
10:15moment to speak to those of you who have
10:17lost the most
10:20i have some idea how it feels to lose
10:22someone you love
10:24i know that deep black hole that opens
10:26up in the middle of your chest and you
10:27feel like you're being sucked into it
10:30i know how mean and cruel
10:33and unfair life can be sometimes
10:38but i've learned two things first
10:42your loved one may have left this earth
10:45but they'll never
10:46leave your heart they'll always be with
10:49you you'll always hear them
10:52and second i found the best way through
10:55pain and loss and grief
10:57is to find purpose as god's children
11:01each of us have a purpose in our lives
11:04we have a great purpose as a nation
11:08to open the doors of opportunity to all
11:10americans
11:11to save our democracy to be a light to
11:14the world once again
11:16and finally to live up to and make real
11:19the words written in the sacred
11:20documents that founded this nation
11:23that all men and women are created equal
11:26endowed by their creator with certain
11:29inalienable rights
11:30among them life liberty and the pursuit
11:33of happiness
11:36you know my dad was an honorable decent
11:39man
11:40he got knocked down a few times pretty
11:42hard but he always got back up
11:45he worked hard and he built a great
11:47middle-class life for our family
11:50he used to say joey i don't expect the
11:52government to solve my problems but i
11:54sure in hell expect them to understand
11:55them
11:58and then you say joey a job is about a
12:01lot more than a paycheck
12:03it's about your dignity it's about
12:06respect
12:07it's about your place in the community
12:09it's about being able to look your kid
12:11in the eye and say honey
12:12it's gonna be okay and mean it
12:16i've never forgotten those lessons
12:19that's why my economic plan is all about
12:22jobs
12:23dignity respect and community
12:27together we can and will rebuild our
12:29economy
12:30and when we do we'll not only build back
12:33we'll build back better
12:35with modern roads bridges highways
12:37broadband
12:38ports and airports as a new foundation
12:40for economic growth
12:42with pipes that transport clean water
12:45to every community with 5 million new
12:48manufacturing and technology jobs
12:50so the future is made in america
12:54well the health care system that lowers
12:55premiums deductibles
12:57drug prices by building on the
13:00affordable care act
13:01he's trying to rip away with an
13:03education system that trains are people
13:06for the best jobs of the 21st century
13:08there's not a single thing
13:10american workers can't do and where cost
13:14doesn't prevent young people from going
13:16to college
13:17and student debt doesn't crush them when
13:20they get out
13:22with the child care and elder care
13:24system that makes it possible for
13:26parents to go to work
13:28and for the elderly to stay in their
13:29homes with dignity
13:33with an immigration system that powers
13:35our economy and reflects our values
13:39and with newly empowered labor unions
13:41they're the ones that built the middle
13:43class
13:44with equal pay for women with rising
13:47wages
13:48you can raise a child on a family on
13:52and yes we're going to do more than
13:54praise our essential workers
13:56we're finally going to pay them pay them
14:01we can and we will deal with climate
14:03change
14:04it's not only a crisis it's an enormous
14:07opportunity an opportunity for america
14:10to lead the world in clean energy
14:13and create millions of new good paying
14:15jobs
14:16in the process and we can pay for these
14:19investments
14:20by ending loopholes unnecessary
14:22loopholes and the president's 1.3
14:25trillion dollar tax giveaway
14:26to the wealthiest one percent and the
14:28biggest most profitable corporations
14:30some of which
14:32do not pay any tax at all
14:36because we don't need a tax code that
14:38rewards wealth
14:39more than it rewards work
14:43i'm not looking to punish anyone far
14:46from it
14:47but it's long past time the wealthiest
14:49people and the biggest corporations in
14:51this country
14:52paid their fair share and for our
14:55seniors
14:57social security is a sacred obligation
15:00a sacred promise made they paid for
15:05the current president is threatening to
15:06break that promise
15:08he's proposing to eliminate a tax that
15:10pays for almost
15:11half the social security without any way
15:15of making up for that lost revenue
15:17resulting in cuts i will not let that
15:21happen
15:24if i'm your president we're going to
15:26protect social security and
15:28medicare you have my word
15:32one of the most powerful voices we hear
15:35in the country today
15:37is from our young people they're
15:40speaking to the inequity and injustice
15:42that has grown up in america
15:44economic injustice racial injustice
15:47environmental injustice i hear their
15:50voices if you listen you can hear them
15:52too
15:54and whether it's the existential
15:56existential threat posed by climate
15:58change
15:59the daily fear of being gunned down in
16:01school
16:03or the inability to get started in your
16:05first job
16:06will be the work of the next president
16:08to restore the promise
16:10of america to everyone
16:13and i'm not going to have to do it alone
16:15because i'll have a great
16:17vice president at my side senator kamala
16:20harris
16:22she's a powerful voice for this nation
16:25her story is the american story
16:28she knows about all the obstacles thrown
16:30in the way of so many in our country
16:32women black women black americans south
16:36asian americans
16:37immigrants the left out and the left
16:39behind
16:41but she's overcome every obstacle she's
16:43ever faced
16:45no one's been tougher on the big banks
16:47than a gun on the gun lobby
16:50no one's been tougher in calling out the
16:51current administration for its extremism
16:54it's failure to follow the law it's
16:56failure to simply
16:58tell the truth
17:01kamal and i both draw from our families
17:04that's we get our strength for commons
17:07doug
17:08and their families for me it's jill and
17:11ours
17:12i've said many times no man deserves one
17:14great love in his life let alone two
17:17but i've known two after losing my first
17:20wife in that car accident
17:22jill came into my life she put our
17:24family back together
17:27she's an educator a mom a military mom
17:30and an unstoppable force if she puts her
17:34mind to it
17:35just get out of the way she's going to
17:37get it done
17:39she was a great second lady and i
17:42know she'll make a great first lady for
17:45this nation
17:46she loves this country so much
17:49and i'll always have the strength that
17:52can only come from family
17:54hunter ashley all our grandchildren
17:58my brothers my sister they give me
18:01courage they lift me up
18:03while he's no longer with us
18:07bo inspires me every day
18:11both served our nation in uniform a year
18:14in iraq a decorated
18:16iraqi war veteran so i take very
18:19personally
18:21and i the profound responsibility of
18:24serving as commander-in-chief
18:26i'll be a president who will stand with
18:28our allies and friends and make it clear
18:30to our adversaries
18:32the days of cozying up to dictators is
18:34over
18:37under president biden america will not
18:40turn a blind eye to russian bounties
18:42on the heads of american soldiers nor
18:45light put up with foreign interference
18:47on our most
18:48sacred democratic exercise voting
18:53and i'll always stand for our values
18:57of human rights and dignity a working
19:00common purpose
19:02for a more secure peaceful and
19:04prosperous world
19:07history history has thrust one more
19:11urgent task on us
19:14will we be the generation that finally
19:17wipes out the stain of racism
19:19from our national character i believe
19:23we're up to it
19:24i believe we're ready just a week ago
19:28yesterday was the third anniversary of
19:31the events in charlottesville
19:34close your eyes remember what you saw on
19:35television remember seeing
19:37those neo-nazis and klansmen and white
19:39supremacists
19:40coming out of fields with lighted
19:42torches
19:43veins bulging spewing the same same
19:46anti-semitic bile
19:48hurt across europe in the 30s i remember
19:52the violent clash that ensued
19:54between those spreading hate and those
19:56with the courage to stand against it
20:00and remember what the president said
20:02when asked
20:03he said there were quote very fine
20:07people on both sides
20:10it was a wake-up call for us as a
20:11country and for me
20:13a call to action at that moment i knew
20:17i'd have to run
20:19because my father taught us that silence
20:22was complicity and i could never remain
20:26silent or complicit
20:28at the time i said we're in the battle
20:32for the soul of this nation
20:35and we are
20:38you know one of the most important
20:40conversations i've had this entire
20:42campaign
20:43it was something this was someone who
20:45was much too young to vote
20:47i met with six-year-old gianna floyd the
20:50day before her daddy
20:52george floyd was laid to rest she's an
20:55incredibly brave little girl
20:57i'll never forget it when i leaned down
21:00to speak to her
21:02she looked in my eyes and she said i
21:03quote daddy
21:05changed the world
21:08daddy changed the world
21:13her words burrowed deep into my heart
21:16maybe george floyd's murder was a
21:19breaking point
21:21maybe john lewis is passing the
21:22inspiration
21:24but however has come to be however it's
21:26happened
21:27america's ready in john's words to lay
21:30down quote the heavy burden of
21:32hate at last
21:36and then the hard work
21:39of rooting out our systemic racism
21:44you know american history tells us that
21:47it's been on our darkest moments
21:49that we've made our greatest progress
21:52that we found the light and this dark
21:56moment
21:57i believe we're poised to make great
21:59progress again
22:01that we can find the light once more
22:06you know many people have heard me say
22:09this but i've always believed you can
22:11define america
22:12in one word possibilities
22:15to defining feature america everything
22:18is possible
22:21that in america everyone and i mean
22:23everyone
22:24should be given an opportunity to go as
22:26far as their dreams and god-given
22:28ability will take them
22:30we can never lose that in times as
22:34challenging as these
22:36i believe there's only one way forward
22:39as a united america a united america
22:42united in our pursuit of a more perfect
22:45union
22:45united in our dreams of a better future
22:49for us and for our children united in
22:52our determination
22:55to make the coming years bright
22:58are you ready i believe we are
23:02this is a great nation we're a good and
23:05decent people
23:06for lord's sake this is the united
23:08states of america
23:10and there there's never been anything
23:13we've been able to accomplish
23:15when we've done it together
23:18the irish poet sheamus heaney once wrote
23:22history says don't hope on this side of
23:25the grave
23:27but then once in a lifetime
23:30the longed for tidal wave of justice can
23:33rise up
23:34and hope and history rhyme
23:37this is our moment to make hope and
23:39history rhyme
23:41with passion and purpose let us begin
23:44you and i together
23:45one nation under god unite our love for
23:48america united in our love for each
23:50other
23:52for love is more powerful than hate hope
23:54is more powerful than fear
23:56and light is more powerful and dark this
23:58is our moment
24:00this is our mission may history be able
24:03to say
24:05that the end of this chapter of american
24:07darkness began here
24:08tonight as love and hope and light
24:12join in the battle for the soul of the
24:14nation
24:15and this is a battle we will win and
24:18we'll do it together
24:20i promise you thank you and may god
24:24bless you
24:25and may god protect our troops good
24:29night

About this transcript

This page contains the full transcript of Joe Biden Acceptance Speech at 2020 Democratic National Convention by C-SPAN, generated from the public captions YouTube serves with the video. The transcript has 3,340 words across 618 segments, with the original timestamps preserved so you can click any line to jump to that moment in the embedded player.

What you can do with it

Use the transcript to take notes, quote the speaker, build a study guide, generate a summary with ChatGPT or Claude via the YouTube Summary tool, or export it as a timed subtitle file with YouTube to SRT. You can also re-open it in the transcriber to translate the transcript into 100+ languages.

Free YouTube transcript tool

YouTube2Text is a free YouTube transcript generator — no signup, no daily limit. Paste any YouTube link and get the full transcript instantly, with timestamps, click-to-jump, translation to 100+ languages, AI prompts for ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, and exports to TXT, SRT, VTT, or Markdown.