On the Importance of Voting and Her Commitment to Earning Every Vote:
Vice President Harris: “So first of all, your vote does matter. It is because folks voted that we have capped the cost of insulin at $35 a month, that we are on the path to doing what I intend to do, which is saying that your medical debt cannot be on your credit score, putting $16 billion in HBCUs, having the lowest Black unemployment in recent history. The work that we have done that has been about investing in Black businesses, the work that we have done that has been about understanding the importance of having representation at every level, including a Black woman on the United States Supreme Court for the first time, because people voted and demanded that.
“And the reality of how this system works is that we each have many ways that we are powerful, and one of those ways, very significantly, is through our vote. People sit down and they’ll watch and say, ‘Okay, well, those folks aren’t going to vote anyway. I don’t need to listen to them. That’s how this works.’ I don’t feel that way. I’m going to go everywhere.”
On Trump’s Failed Record and Dangerous Project 2025 Agenda:
Vice President Harris: “He cares about the kinds of people who run the businesses he runs: big developers, billionaires. He’s not looking out for middle class folks. You look at what he’s proposing in terms of cutting – if you look at the costs that middle class families bear. Health care costs: We have capped the cost of insulin, $35 a month for seniors. Black folks are 60% more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes. Under Project 2025, they would undo that $35 cap. You look at what he is planning to do that is about undoing, getting rid of the Department of Education and Head Start programs. Who do you think that’s going to affect?
“So, there is, first of all, a danger in terms of understanding – there are two choices in this election – and understanding what Donald Trump intends for middle-class families. Two, look at it in the context of how he actually thinks and talks about Black folks in America. And you and I have talked about this before. He is not looking out for folks when he was when he was a landlord and would not rent to black families: sued for it. When he took out a full-page ad in the New York Times against those five teenagers, Black and Latino, who were innocent, saying they should be executed, the Central Park Five.
“When you look at the first Black president of the United States, and he had birther lies, and now you look at Black immigrants, legal immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, and he gets on a debate stage and says they’re eating their pets. Come on.
“This man is dangerous, not to mention Roland, let’s fast forward to right now. His staff won’t let him do a 60 Minutes interview. Every president for the last half century has done one – anyone who’s running for president. Everyone has done it except Donald Trump. He will not debate me again. I put out my medical records, he won’t put out his medical records. And you have to ask: Why is his staff doing that? And it may be because they think he’s just not ready, and unfit, and unstable, and should not have that level of transparency for the American people. There’s a real choice in this election.”
On Her Opportunity Economy Agenda to Lift Up All Americans:
Vice President Harris: “I grew up in the middle class. My mother worked hard, she saved up, and by the time I was a teenager, she was able to buy our first home. I will never forget where I came from, okay? By the way, my opponent, Donald Trump, was handed $400 million, basically on a silver platter, and filed for bankruptcy six times. So just keep that in mind about who’s coming from where.
“I know the ambitions, the aspirations, the incredible work ethic that exists in our community. I know the dreams that exist. But not everyone has started out on the same base in terms of being able to realize their goals and their dreams. So, my plan is to build what I call an Opportunity Economy, which means giving people an opportunity to actually achieve those ambitions, those goals, and those dreams.
“So, for example, housing is too expensive. The American Dream is something that previous generations could kind of count on, but no more. So, one part of the problem is that we have a supply issue in terms of housing supply. My plan includes working with developers to do what we – and home builders – to create incentives for them to build 3 million new homes by the end of my first term. The second part, which is equally important, if not more, is to give people – first-time home buyers – a $25,000 down-payment assistance. Because what you and I know is, a lot of folks want to be a homeowner, but they don’t come from money. They don’t come from some families that can necessarily give them or pass on a home or give them the equity out of their home to help them with the down payment: $25,000 down-payment assistance just helps people get through the – get their foot in the door, to then save up to cover a mortgage. $6,000 Child Tax Credit: I’m expanding the Child Tax Credit to $6,000 for young families, so that in the first year of their child’s life, they have the resources they need to buy a crib, a car seat, clothes, knowing that all parents have a natural desire to parent their children well, but not all parents have the resources to be able to do that.
“Opportunity, small businesses. My second mother, our second mother, who helped raise us, was a small business owner. I know who our small business owners are. They, for our communities, they are part of the cultural, economic, civic fabric of our communities. They hold the strength of hiring locally, mentoring, all that.
“So, I’m going to change so that the tax deduction for a startup small business, change it from what it is, it’s $5,000 – nobody can start a small business for $5,000 – to $50,000 and include in that, knowing that a lot of startup businesses then have overhead around, for example, what they need to do to buy equipment for those who are startup and don’t have the connections, historically, a $20,000 forgivable loan for them to be able, for example, to pay to set up a really good website.”
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