See below for video – and a partial transcript (bolding added by me for emphasis) – of yesterday’s on-the-record press call, in which Biden-Harris 2024 Campaign Manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Principal Deputy Campaign Manager Quentin Fulks and Communications Director Michael Tyler discussed what’s at stake in the 2024 presidential election.
- “…the choice before the American people this November couldn’t
be more clear.“ - “On Election Day 2020, Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump by more than 7 million votes and got more votes than any presidential candidate in history. The American people voted for President Biden and Vice President Harris’s vision for more freedom, not less; an economy that grows from the middle out and the bottom up instead of the top down; and they voted to preserve our democracy. But on January 6 2021, we witnessed a very different vision of America, one defined by revenge, retribution and rebuke of our very democracy. This Saturday will mark the three-year anniversary of when, with encouragement from Donald Trump, a violent mob breached our nation’s
Capitol…the first time in our nation’s history that a president tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power. Not even during the Civil War did insurrectionists breach our Capitol. But at the urging of Donald Trump, insurrectionists on January 6 2021 did.
America watched as 2,000 rioters launched a violent attack on the Capitol as our duly elected Congress carried out the sacred ritual of our republic and certified the Electoral College vote. 140 police officers were assaulted by rioters and five people died as a result of the events on January 6, including Capitol police officers.” - “When Joe Biden ran for president four years ago, he said we are in the battle for the soul of America. And as we look towards November 2024, we still are. The threat Donald Trump posed in 2020 to American democracy has only grown more dire in the years since. There’s less than two weeks until GOP primary voters began casting ballots in Iowa and former president Donald Trump’s extreme and dangerous MAGA agenda continues to define the Republican Party. The 2024 field has made clear time and time again that they don’t just accept, they give their full-throated endorsement to Donald Trump’s anti-democratic, anti-freedom rhetoric and actions. With that reality comes the stark and sobering fact – the choice for voters next year will not simply be between competing philosophies of governing; the choice for the American people in November 2024 will be about protecting our democracy and every American’s fundamental freedoms.”
- “Our message is clear and it is simple: we are running a campaign like the fate of our democracy depends on us, because it does.”
- “The stakes…this November have never higher. This election will determine the future of American democracy and every American’s fundamental freedoms… Donald Trump and his MAGA apostles… have no interest in preserving our democracy; they only care about power. If reelected, Donald Trump will use all of his power to systematically dismantle and destroy our democracy. Let me say that again and let’s all take a moment to sit with the gravity and significance of the moment we’re all living through: the leading candidate of a major party in the United States is running for president so that he can systematically dismantle and destroy our democracy. Trump is running a campaign of revenge, of retribution. These are his words. The campaign that’s about dividing our country, attacking our values and eroding our ideals. He wants to end free and fair elections altogether; he’s promising to rule as a dictator and use the government to exact retribution on his political enemies, all while he and his MAGA supporters encourage and applaud political violence across the country…”
- “Freedom isn’t an abstract concept. Every single day we’re seeing a concerted intentional effort to take away Americans hard-fought hard-earned rights. Take the fundamental right for every woman in this country to make her own healthcare decisions…Trump proudly brags he was the one who got rid of Roe v Wade, paving the way for Republican extremists across the country to pass draconian bans that are hurting women and threatening doctors. Because of Trump, one in three women of reproductive age now live under an abortion ban – that’s one in three women that would be subjected to the same war that Kate Cox faced in Texas and far too many women have already confronted, begging for healthcare in states with Trump-backed abortion bans. Let’s make no mistake: if Trump returns to the White House, it’ll only get worse. He’ll work to ban abortion nationwide. It’s not just women’s reproductive freedom. Trump and MAGA Republicans want to take away the freedom to live in a country where children can go to school without the fear of being shot in their classrooms, where everyone who can be who they want to be, where political violence is never accepted. They also want to take away the freedom to learn by banning books and rewriting and erasing important parts of American history – because if they don’t like it, you don’t have the right to read it…”
- “A return to Trump or any of the MAGA Republicans in the White House means a return to trickle-down policies that rig the economy for the ultra wealthy and big corporations at the expense of the middle class and destroy the bedrock principle of Americans economic freedoms, the idea that everyone deserves a fair shot to succeed in this country…”
- “MAGA attacks on our freedoms not only pose a catalysmic threat to our
future, they’re also wildly out of step with Americans…” - “President Biden and Vice President Harris are offering America a different vision. They’re determined to build a more fair and more free America; an America where the economy is built from the middle out and the bottom up, not the top down; an America that restores Roe, so that once again women have the freedom to make their own healthcare decisions; an America that protects our most vulnerable; an America where everyone can live work and retire with the dignity owed to every single American. Every generation of Americans will face a moment where they have to defend democracy, stand up for our personal freedoms and stand up for the right to vote and our civil rights. This is our moment and President Biden knows it’s more important than ever that we win.”
- “Our campaign is running in an operation like our democracy depends on it – because it does…In 2020, the American people were clear and steadfast in their rejection of the extreme MAGA agenda. They rejected it again in 2022, they rejected it a few months ago in the elections across the country. But that hasn’t stopped Donald Trump from doubling down and running a campaign on revenge and retribution. I want to be very very clear – the threat that Donald Trump posed in 2020 to American democracy has grown even more dangerous than it was when President Biden ran last time. That’s why we’re hitting the ground early, we’re running hard this year to bring the message directly to voters who will decide this election. The start of that will kick off this Saturday, when President Biden will lay out the stakes of this election near Valley Forge…There, the president will make the case directly that democracy and freedom, two powerful ideas that united the 13 colonies and that generations throughout our nation’s history have fought and died for…remains central to the fight we’re in today.”
- “He’ll then take this message to South Carolina on Monday, where he’ll deliver
remarks at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston – a historic venue that embodies the stakes of our nation at this moment. Because whether it is white supremacists descending on the historic American city of Charlottesville; the assault on our nation’s Capitol on January 6th; or white supremacist murdering churchgoers at Mother Emanuel nearly nine years ago; America is worried about the rise in political violence and determined to stand against it…” - “And on the anniversary of Roe v Wade later this month on January 22nd, Vice President Harris will kick off her official reproductive freedoms tour in Wisconsin, where she’ll highlight the chaos and cruelty created by Trump all across the country…and you can expect the entirety of our campaign to be out in full force later this month on
the anniversary of Roe v Wade, making crystal clear to every American that the freedom for women to make their own health care decisions is on the ballot this November.” - “We’re entering the election year with significant resources thanks to a historic 2023 fundraising operation, including a strong Q4 powered by consistent and stronger than expected grassroots support…”
- “I’ll end with this: every single day, Donald Trump tells us point blank if he wins a second term, he will do everything he can to dismantle American democracy, strip Americans of their hard-fought and fundamental freedoms. He’s promised to be a dictator on day one. He’s threatened to rip away health care from millions. He’s threatened to punish and alienate Black and Brown communities through bans, detention camps, erasing our history and more. We should take him at his word – we’ve already seen what he would do. The voters have also been clear – they will not accept the existential threat to democracy that Donald Trump represents; they will not vote for his extreme policies and explicit promises to control their daily lives.”
- “We’re going to continue to win by continuing to bring the message directly to voters. We’re going to win by doing the work to strategically build the strong campaign
that will meet the moment next year. We’re going to win by activating the coalition that sent Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to the White House in historic numbers just like they did in 2020. And we’re going to win because democracy and freedom and the very ideas that make America America are on the line. We have no other choice.”
**************
Press release from the Biden/Harris campaign:
Biden-Harris 2024 Outlines Robust Early January Reelection Efforts
President Biden Will Mark January 6 With Remarks Near Valley Forge, Before Campaigning in South Carolina for Historic First-in-the-Nation Primary
Kicking off the new year, the Biden-Harris campaign announced plans for a robust early January effort that will highlight the stakes of this election and talk directly to the voters who will decide this election.
Throughout the month of January, President Biden and Vice President Harris will travel across the country, speaking to voters where they are and engaging the core constituencies who sent them to the White House.
On Saturday, January 6, President Biden will travel to Pennsylvania near Valley Forge where he will mark the three-year anniversary of when–at the urging of Donald Trump–a violent mob breached our nation’s Capitol. On Monday, January 8, the President will take the campaign’s message to South Carolina where he will deliver remarks at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, a venue that embodies the stakes for the nation at this moment.
Also on Saturday, January 6, Vice President Harris will make her 7th visit to South Carolina since becoming Vice President where she’ll deliver the keynote address at the 7th Episcopal District AME Church Women’s Missionary Society Annual Retreat, on the official side.
On January 22, the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Vice President Harris will travel to Wisconsin to kick off her official reproductive freedoms tour to continue fighting back against extreme attacks on women’s health care access throughout America to bring together thousands of people to fight for the freedom of every American to make decisions about their own body.
At the same time, our team will spend the month of January continuing to expand our States program, hiring state leadership teams in every battleground state and building out our team so that by early summer, thousands of staff across the country will be talking to voters early and often. In addition, the campaign will be implementing new organizing efforts and scaling up our paid media program.
Read highlights below:
“On January 6, 2021, we witnessed a very different vision of America – one defined by revenge, retribution, and a rebuke of our very democracy. This Saturday will mark the three-year anniversary of when–with encouragement from Donald Trump–a violent mob breached our nation’s Capitol. It was the first time in our nation’s history that a president tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power. Not even during the Civil War did insurrectionists breach our Capitol. But at the urging of Donald Trump, insurrectionists on January 6, 2021, did.” said Biden-Harris 2024 Campaign Manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez. “America watched as 2,000 rioters launched a violent attack on the Capitol as our duly elected Congress carried out the sacred ritual of our republic and certified the Electoral College vote. 140 police officers were assaulted by rioters and five people died as a result of the events on January 6th – including Capitol police officers. When Joe Biden ran for president four years ago, he said, ‘We’re in a battle for the soul of America.’ And as we look toward November 2024, we still are. The threat Donald Trump posed in 2020 to American democracy has only grown more dire in the years since. … Our message is clear and it is simple: We are running a campaign like the fate of our democracy depends on it. Because it does.”
“As we saw on January 6 three years ago, Donald Trump and his MAGA apostles – including many of his primary opponents – have no interest in preserving our democracy. They only care about power. If reelected, Donald Trump will use all of his power to systematically dismantle and destroy our democracy. … Trump is running a campaign of revenge – of retribution. These are his words. A campaign that is about dividing our country, attacking our values, and eroding our ideals. … And it’s not just Trump. At his direction, the MAGA Republican Party has openly embraced a platform of election denialism, undermining our country’s democratic institutions, and restricting the right to vote itself, ” said Biden-Harris 2024 Communications Director Michael Tyler. “Every generation of Americans will face a moment when they have to defend democracy, stand up for our personal freedom, and stand up for the right to vote and our civil rights. This is our moment, and President Biden knows that it’s more important than ever that we win.”
“Every single day, Donald Trump tells us point blank: If he wins a second term, he will do everything he can to dismantle American democracy, strip Americans of their hard-fought and fundamental freedoms. … We should take him at his word,” said Biden-Harris 2024 Principal Deputy Campaign Manager Quentin Fulks. “But voters have also been clear. They will not accept the existential threat to democracy that Donald Trump represents. They will not vote for his extreme policies and explicit promises to control their daily lives. We are going to continue to win by continuing to bring this message directly to voters. We are going to win by doing the work to strategically build the strong campaign that will meet the moment next year. We are going to win by activating the coalition that sent Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to the White House in historic numbers – just like they did in 2020. And, we’re going to win because democracy and freedom – the very ideas that make America America – are on the line – and we have no other choice.”
LISTEN TO THE FULL PRESS CALL HERE
Sign up for the Blue Virginia weekly newsletter
