Transcript Of Biden's Iowa Speech On Wednesday (8/7/19)

Joe Biden rose to the occasion and gave a great speech in Iowa yesterday. Here, from C-SPAN, is what he said:

YOU ALL KNOW THAT THE WORDS OF A PRESIDENT MATTER. THEY CAN MOVE MARKETS. THEY CAN SEND OUR BRAVE WOMEN AND MEN TO WAR. THEY CAN BRING PEACE. THEY CAN CALM A NATION IN TURMOIL. THEY CAN CONSOLE, THEY CAN CONFRONT AND COMFORT THOSE WHO HAVE FACED TRAGEDY. THEY CAN INSPIRE US TO LITERALLY REACH FOR THE MOON. THEY CAN ENCOURAGE US TO APPEAL TO OUR BETTER ANGELS, OUR BETTER NATURE. 

THEY CAN ALSO UNLEASH THE DEEPEST, DARKEST FORCES IN THE NATION. THAT IS WHAT I BELIEVE DONALD TRUMP HAS CHOSEN TO DO. WHAT HE SAID AFTER CHARLOTTESVILLE, THERE WERE, AND I QUOTE, "VERY FINE PEOPLE ON BOTH SIDES, I SAID THEN THAT IT GAVE LICENSE IN SAFE HARBOR TO WHITE SUPREMACISTS AND NEO-NAZIS, TO THE KU KLUX KLAN. THESE WORDS NOT ONLY STUNNED AMERICA, BUT THEY STUNNED THE WORLD. AND IN DOING SO HE HAS SIGNED A MORAL EQUIVALENCE BETWEEN THOSE SPEWING HATRED AND THOSE WITH THE COURAGE TO STAND AGAINST IT. 

I SAID AT THE TIME THAT WE ARE IN THE BATTLE FOR THE SOUL OF THE NATION. I SAID IT AGAIN WHEN I ANNOUNCED MY CANDIDACY. AND I SAY IT HERE TODAY. WE ARE IN A BATTLE FOR THE SOUL OF THIS NATION. THAT'S WHY, PRIMARILY, I'M RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT.  CHARLOTTESVILLE WAS NO ISOLATED INCIDENT. WHEN TRUMP ANNOUNCED HE WAS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT, HE CALLED MEXICANS RAPISTS. DAYS BEFORE THE MIDTERM HE FOMENTED FEARS OF A CARAVAN HEADED TO THE UNITED STATES AND CREATED HYSTERIA WHEN HE SAID -- LOOK, LOOK AT WHAT'S MARCHING UP , THIS IS AN INVASION, AND INVASION. -- AN INVASION. HE ASSERTED THAT IMMIGRANTS WOULD CARVE YOU UP WITH A KNIFE. 

MORE RECENTLY HE CALLED A MAJOR AMERICAN CENTER CITY A DISGUSTING WRATH INFECTED RODENT MASS. NO HUMAN BEING, HE SAID, WOULD CHOOSE TO LIVE -- AS THOUGH THE VIBRANT AND DIVERSE COMMUNITY AROUND BALTIMORE WAS SOMEHOW LESS THAN HUMAN. 

AT A RALLY IN FLORIDA WHEN HE ASKED THE CROWD -- HOW DO WE STOP THESE PEOPLE -- MEANING IMMIGRANTS, SOMEONE YELLED BACK -- SHOOT THEM. AND HE SMILED. NORTH CAROLINA, HE BASKS IN THE CHANTS OF SEND HER BACK ECHOING ACROSS THE STADIUM. 

HOW FAR FROM TRUMP SAYING THAT THIS IS AN INVASION TO THE SHOOTER IN EL PASO DECLARING -- HOW FAR APART OF THOSE COMMENTS. HOW HARD IS IT FOR WHITE SUPREMACISTS AND NEO-NAZIS IN CHARLOTTESVILLE, TRUMP US VERY FINE PEOPLE CHANTING -- TRUMP'S VERY FINE PEOPLE CHANTING TO THE SHOOTER IN PITTSBURGH WHO SAID THAT THE JEWS ARE COMMITTING GENOCIDE ON HIS PEOPLE. I DON'T THINK IT'S THAT FAR AT ALL. IT'S BOTH. CLEAR LANGUAGE AND A CODE. 

THIS PRESIDENT HAS FANNED THE FLAMES OF WHITE SUPREMACY IN THE NATION. HIS LOW ENERGY NAKED EYED MOUTHING OF THE WORDS WRITTEN FOR HIM CONDEMNING WHITE SUPREMACY THIS WEEK I DON'T BELIEVE FOOLED ANYONE AT HOME OR ABROAD. 

HIS ENERGETIC EMBRACE -- THE ENERGETIC AND FACE -- EMBRACE OF THIS PRESIDENT IVY DARKEST HOUR TO AND MOST HATE FILLED MINES IN THIS COUNTRY SAY IT ALL. WHEN THE WHITE NATIONALISTS RICHARD SPENCER CELEBRATED TRUMPS ELECTION BY DECLARING HAIL TRUMP AT AN ALL RIGHT CONFERENCE WHERE THE NAZI SALUTE WAS BEING USED. IN CHARLOTTESVILLE, DAVID DUKE, THE FORMER LEADER OF THE KKK SAID -- THIS IS WHY WE VOTED FOR DONALD TRUMP. HE SAID HE'S GOING TO TAKE BACK THE COUNTRY. AFTER TRUMP TWEETED HIS GO BACK SCREEN, A LEADING NEO-NAZI WEBSITE SAID THAT THIS IS THE KIND OF NATIONALISM WE ELECTED HIM FOR. 

HE KNOWS IT, HE SAW IT. ON 8CHAN, A HAVEN FOR RADICALISM ON THE INTERNET, WHERE THE DECLARATION OF HATE FROM THE EL PASO SHOOTER WAS POSTED, ONE COMMENTATOR WROTE A TRUMP IS HELPING TO NORMALIZE THE MOST EXTREME RADICAL SENTIMENTS BECAUSE OF HIS PERCEIVED AUTHORITY CARRYING SO MUCH WEIGHT. 

WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THIS RISING TIDE OF WHITE SUPREMACY IN AMERICA. AND WE HAVE A PRESIDENT WHO ENCOURAGES AND EMBOLDENS IT. THE STATISTICS ARE CLEAR. EXTREMISM IS ON THE RISE IN AMERICA. THE SOUTHERN POVERTY CENTER FINDS THAT OF THE 1020 HATE GROUPS OPERATING IN THE UNITED STATES IN 2018, THAT IS HOW MANY THERE ARE, THEY POINTED OUT THAT WHITE NATIONALIST GROUPS HAVE SURGED BY OVER 50%. IN 2017, AND ACTIVE SHOOTER WITH TIES TO WHITE EXTREMISM CLAIMED 135 VICTIMS AND 70 KILLED. 

ACCORDING TO THE ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE, ALL BUT ONE OF THE 50 EXTREMIST LINKED MURDERS COUNTED IN 2018 HAD DIRECT LINKS TO WHITE SUPREMACISTS. HIS OWN FBI DIRECTOR RECENTLY TESTIFIED TO CONGRESS THAT EXTREME RIGHT-WING GROUPS, WHITE NATIONALISTS, POSED THE GREATEST THREAT TO RACIALLY MOTIVATED DOMESTIC TERRORISM. 

WHAT HAS TRUMP DONE? HE HAS POURED FUEL ON THE FIRE. REACH WEEDING POSTINGS FROM EXTREMISTS AND WHITE NATIONALISTS -- REACH WEEDING -- RE-TWEETING POSTINGS FROM EXTREMISTS AND WHITE NATIONALISTS. COUNTERING POLICIES THAT BARACK AND I PUT IN PLACE TO FIGHT TERRORISM HERE AT HOME. CAN BARELY BRING HIMSELF TO USE THE WORD WHITE SUPREMACY. AND EVEN WHEN HE SAYS IT, HE DOESN'T APPEAR TO BELIEVE IT. HE SEEMS MORE CONCERNED ABOUT LOSING THEIR VOTES THAN BEATING BACK THIS HATEFUL IDEOLOGY. 

HE SAYS THAT GUNS ARE NOT THE PROBLEM IN MASS SHOOTINGS. THE ISSUE IS MENTAL HEALTH. IT'S A DODGE. HATRED ISN'T A MENTAL HEALTH ISSUE. I CAN TELL YOU, AS THE GUY ALONG WITH SENATOR DIANNE FEINSTEIN WHO GOT THE ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN AND THE HIGH-CAPACITY MAGAZINES BANNED IN THIS COUNTRY FOR 10 YEARS, IF ELECTED PRESIDENT WE WILL DO IT AGAIN. WE WILL DO IT AGAIN. [APPLAUSE] 100 ROUNDS IN DAYTON. 30 ROUND CLIPS IN EL PASO. THEY WILL BE BANNED. AND WHEN WE DO IT, WE WILL PUT IN PLACE A BUYBACK PROGRAM TO GET AS MANY AS WE NEED MILITARY STYLE WEAPONS OF WAR OFF THE STREET. 

AND WE NEED -- WE NEEDED DOMESTIC TERRORISM LAW. WE CAN DO IT WITHOUT INFRINGING ON ANYONE'S FREE SPEECH. IN TAMPERING WITH ANYBODY'S LIBERTIES. QUITE SIMPLY, WE HAVE TO MAKE THE SAME COMMITMENT AS A NATION TO ROOT OUT DOMESTIC TERRORISM AS WE HAVE A NATIONAL TERRORISM. I WISH I COULD SAY THIS ALL BEGAN WITH DONALD TRUMP AND WILL END WITH HIM. BUT IT DIDN'T AND I WON'T. 

AMERICAN HISTORY IS NOT A FAIRYTALE. THE BATTLE FOR THE SOUL OF THE NATION HAS BEEN A CONSTANT PUSH AND PULL FOR 243 YEARS BETWEEN THE AMERICAN IDEAL THAT SAYS WE ARE ALL CREATED EQUAL AND THE HARSH REALITY OF RACISM THAT HAS LONG TOLD US APART. -- TORN US APART. THE SAME DOCUMENT THAT PROMISED TO SECURE THE BLESSINGS OF LIBERTY TO OURSELVES AND OUR POSTERITY ALSO A LOVE FOR SLAVERY AND THE SO-CALLED 3/5 COMPROMISE THE DISCOUNTED THE VERY HUMANITY OF BLACK PEOPLE IN AMERICA AT THE TIME. AND NOW THE TRUTH IS, BOTH ELEMENTS ARE PART OF THE AMERICAN CHARACTER. 

AT OUR BEST, THE AMERICAN IDEAL WINS OUT. BUT IT'S NEVER A ROUTE, IT'S ALWAYS A FIGHT AND IT'S A BATTLE THAT IS NEVER FULLY FINISHED. GO BACK TO THE BEGINNING. THOMAS JEFFERSON WROTE WHAT MANY BELIEVE TO BE THE MOST IMPORTANT DOCUMENT, CIVIL DOCUMENT IN HUMAN HISTORY. HE WAS A SLAVE HOLDER. WE HAVE NEVER LIVED UP TO OUR AMERICAN IDEALS. JEFFERSON HIMSELF DIDN'T. BUT WHAT HE WROTE HAS PULLED US TOWARDS JUSTICE FOR MORE THAN TWO CENTURIES AND STILL DOES. REMAINING THIS NATION'S NORTHSTAR. 

TAKE A LOOK AT THE KU KLUX KLAN. AFTER THE WAR, WE SAW A RISE IN THE PLAN. IT WAS BEATEN DOWN ONLY TO RISE AGAIN IN THE 20'S. IN AUGUST OF 1925, 30,000 FULLY CLAD KLANSMAN IN THEIR ROBES AND POINTED HATS MARCHED DOWN PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE IN THE STREETS OF WASHINGTON. IMAGINE. IMAGINE THAT TODAY. AND THEN THEY WERE ONCE AGAIN BECOME BACK AS THEY WERE AFTER THE CIVIL WAR. HOW QUESTION MARK THE COURTS, THE PRESS, AND YES, PRESIDENTS STOOD AGAINST THEM. AND THAT IS THE POINT. OUR INSTITUTIONS OFTEN IMPERFECTLY STOOD AGAINST HATE AT MOMENTS WHEN WE WERE MOST TESTED. 

AMERICAN PRESIDENTS HAVE'S APT UP IN THE PAST. GEORGE H.W. BUSH RENOUNCING HIS MENTOR -- MEMBERSHIP IN THE NRA. PRESIDENT CLINTON AFTER OKLAHOMA CITY. GEORGE W. BUSH GOING TO A MOSQUE AFTER 9/11. PRESIDENT OBAMA AFTER CHARLESTON . PRESIDENTS WHO LED, WHO OPPOSED, CHOSE TO FIGHT FOR WHAT THE BEST OF AMERICAN CHARACTER IS ABOUT. 

THERE'S DEAFENING SILENCE NOW. SADLY, WE DON'T HAVE THAT TODAY. OUR PRESIDENT HAS ALIGNED HIMSELF WITH THE DARKEST FORCES IN THIS NATION. IT MAKES WINNING THIS BATTLE FOR THE SOUL OF OUR NATION THAT MUCH TOUGHER. HARDER. 

TRUMP DOESN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT DID. ROOSEVELT SAID THAT THE PRESIDENCY IS "PREEMINENTLY A PLACE OF MORAL LEADERSHIP. HE DOESN'T SEE WHAT JFK DID WHEN HE SAID ONLY THE PRESIDENT REPRESENTS THE NATIONAL INTERESTS. HE'S BLIND TO WHAT LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON SET OF THE OFFICE WHEN HE SAID "NOTHING MAKES A MAN COME TO GRIPS MORE DIRECTLY WITH HIS CONSCIENCE THEN THE PRESIDENCY. 

TRUMP OFFERS NO MORAL LEADERSHIP. SEEMS TO HAVE NO INTEREST IN UNIFYING THE NATION. NO EVIDENCE THAT THE PRESIDENCY HAS AWAKENED HIS CONSCIENCE IN THE LEAST. INDEED, WE HAVE A PRESIDENT WITH A TOXIC TONGUE WHO HAS PUBLICLY AND UNAPOLOGETICALLY EMBRACED A POLITICAL STRATEGY OF HATRED, RACISM AND DIVISION. 

SO, IT IS UP TO US, AS IT WAS IN THE 20'S. IT IS UP TO US. WE ARE LIVING THROUGH A RARE MOMENT IN THIS NATION'S HISTORY WHERE OUR PRESIDENT ISN'T UP TO THE MOMENT. WHERE OUR PRESIDENT LACKS THE MORAL AUTHORITY TO LEAD. WHERE OUR PRESIDENT HAS MORE IN COMMON WITH GEORGE WALLACE THAN HE DOES WITH GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

YOU KNOW --  WE ARE ALMOST 330 MILLION AMERICANS. WE WILL HAVE TO DO WHAT OUR PRESIDENT CAN'T. STAND TOGETHER. STAND AGAINST HATE. STAND UP FOR WHAT IS BEST. OUR NATION'S BEST. 

IN THIS NATION, WE BELIEVE WHEN WE ARE AT OUR BEST. WE BELIEVE IN HONESTY. DECENCY. TREATING EVERYONE WITH RESPECT. GIVING EVERYONE A FAIR SHOT. LEAVING NOBODY BEHIND. GIVING HATE NO SAFE HARBOR. DEMONIZING NO ONE, NOT THE POOR, THE POWERLESS, THE IMMIGRANT OR THE OTHER. LEAD BY THE POWER OF OUR EXAMPLE, NOT BY THE EXAMPLE OF OUR POWER. THAT IS THE LOUDEST -- THAT HAS ALLOWED US TO STAND AS A BEACON TO THE WORLD. BE A PART OF SOMETHING BIGGER THAN OURSELVES. 

IT'S A CODE. IT'S A UNIQUELY AMERICAN CODE. IT'S WHO WE ARE. DONALD TRUMP DOESN'T GET IT. BUT THIS PRESIDENT DOESN'T UNDERSTAND IS THAT LIKE EVERY OTHER NATION ON EARTH, WE ARE UNABLE TO DEFINE WHAT CONSTITUTES AMERICA BY RELIGION, BY ETHNICITY, OR BY TRIBE. YOU CAN'T DO IT. 

AMERICA IS AN IDEA. AN IDEA STRONGER THAN ANY ARMY. EGER THAN ANY OCEAN. MORE POWERFUL THAN ANY DICTATOR OR TYRANT. IT GIVES HOPE TO THE MOST DESPERATE PEOPLE ON EARTH. BECAUSE NOT ONLY ARE OUR VALUES UNDER ASSAULT, OUR DEMOCRACY IS AS WELL. A FREE PRESS, AN INDEPENDENT JUDICIARY. A LEGISLATURE THAT IS THE COEQUAL BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT. THESE OTHER GUARDRAILS. THESE OTHER GUARDRAILS OF OUR DEMOCRACY. THEY ARE WRITTEN INTO OUR CONSTITUTION. 

IF YOU HAVE NOTICED, FOR THE LAST TWO YEARS THEY HAVE BEEN UNDER ATTACK. PHRASES LIKE FAKE NEWS. ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE. THEY ARE NO JOKE. THEY ARE INSIDIOUS. THEY ARE CORROSIVE. JUST LOOK AROUND THE WORLD. THE WORST DESPOTS ARE USING TRUMPS LANGUAGE TO JUSTIFY THEIR OWN ABUSES OF POWER. 

TRUMP IS TRYING TO WEAKEN OUR INSTITUTIONS, THE PRESS, THE COURTS, CONGRESS, PRECISELY BECAUSE THEY ARE THE ONLY CHECKS ON HIS POWER. THAT'S WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT. THE ABUSE OF POWER. THERE'S ONE THING I CAN'T STAND AND I KNOW YOU CAN'T, THE ABUSE OF POWER, WHETHER IT IS A BOSS TAKING ADVANTAGE OF HIS OR HER WORKERS, OR A MAN RAISING HIS HAND TO A WOMAN OR A CHILD. OR A PRESIDENT WHO IS RUNNING ROUGHSHOD OVER EVERYTHING THIS COUNTRY BELIEVES. 

NO MATTER HOW OLD OR YOUNG YOU ARE, YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS IN YOUR LIFETIME. WE ARE BEING REMINDED EVERY DAY THAT THERE IS NOTHING GUARANTEED ABOUT DEMOCRACY. NOT EVEN HERE IN AMERICA. WE HAVE TO CONSTANTLY EARN IT. WE HAVE TO PROTECT IT. WE HAVE TO FIGHT FOR IT. 

I BELIEVE THAT AMERICA, AS LINCOLN NAMED US, IS THE LAST BEST HOPE ON EARTH. WE HAVE TO REMEMBER WHY. IT'S NOT BECAUSE WE HAVE THE BIGGEST ECONOMY. THE STRONGEST MILITARY IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD BUT IT IS NOT WHY WE ARE AMERICANS. THE REASON IS, WHAT WE BELIEVE, THE MOST POWERFUL IDEA IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD THAT I THINK BEATS IN THE HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTRY, IT BEATS AND ALL OF US, NO MATTER YOUR RACE, ETHNICITY, YOUR GENDER IDENTITY, YOUR SEXUAL ORIENTATION, NO MATTER YOUR FAITH. IT BEATS IN THE HEARTS OF THE RICH AND POOR ALIKE, HE UNITES AMERICA, WHETHER YOUR ANCESTORS WERE NATIVE TO THESE SHORES OR BROUGHT HERE FORCIBLY AND ENSLAVED, OR IMMIGRANTS FROM GENERATIONS BACK, LIKE MY FAMILY FROM IRELAND, OR THOSE COMING TODAY, LOOKING TO BUILD A BETTER LIFE FOR THEIR FAMILIES. 

THE AMERICAN CREED THAT WE ARE ALL CREATED EQUAL WAS WRITTEN LONG AGO, BUT THE GENIUS OF EVERY GENERATION OF AMERICANS HAS OPENED IT WIDER AND WIDER, TO INCLUDE THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN EXCLUDED IN A PREVIOUS GENERATION. THAT IS WHY IT HAS NEVER GATHERED DUST IN OUR HISTORY BOOKS. IT IS STILL ALIVE TODAY, MORE THAN 200 YEARS AFTER ITS INCEPTION. AND I HONEST TO GOD DON'T BELIEVE DONALD TRUMP SEES IT THAT WAY. 

ON JANUARY 20, 2017, IN HIS INAUGURAL ADDRESS, DONALD TRUMP PAINTED A DARK, BLEAK ACTOR OF OUR COUNTRY IN CRISIS, WHEN HE DECLARED, AND I QUOTE, "THIS AMERICAN CARNAGE STOPS RIGHT HERE, IT STOPS RIGHT NOW." BUT AS A SITTING PRESIDENT, TRUMP'S ANGER, HATE AND DIVISIVENESS, PITTING AMERICANS AGAINST ONE ANOTHER, PREYING ON OUR DIVISIONS AND DOING NOTHING, NOTHING ABOUT THE ENDEMIC AND EPIDEMIC OF GUNS THAT IS FUELING A LITERAL CARNAGE IN AMERICA. WE NOW HAVE MORE MASS SHOOTINGS IN 2019 SINCE JANUARY, THEN WE HAVE DAYS THAT HAVE PASSED SINCE JANUARY 1, 2019. AS OF MONDAY, ACCORDING TO DATA FROM THE GUN VIOLENCE ARCHIVES, THERE HAVE BEEN 255 MASS SHOOTINGS IN THE FIRST 217 DAYS OF THIS YEAR. 

WE CAN'T LET THIS GO ON. WE CAN'T, AND I WILL NOT, LET THIS MAN BE REELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. WE CAN'T. FOLKS, THIS INCOMPETENCE, HIS IMMORALITY, HIS CARNAGE STOPS WITH US, RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW, STARTING IN THE MIDWEST. LIMIT TO FOUR YEARS, AND I BELIEVE HISTORY WILL LOOK BACK ON THIS PRESIDENT AS AN ABERRANT MOMENT IN AMERICAN HISTORY. BUT IF DONALD TRUMP IS REELECTED, HE WILL FOREVER AND FUNDAMENTALLY ALTER THE CHARACTER OF THIS NATION. IF WE GIVE DONALD TRUMP FOUR MORE YEARS, THIS WILL NOT BE THE COUNTRY AND VISIONED BY WASHINGTON AND ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. IF WE GIVE DONALD TRUMP FOUR MORE YEARS, THIS WILL NOT BE THE NATION BOUND TOGETHER BY LINCOLN. IF WE GIVE DONALD TRUMP FOUR MORE YEARS, THIS WILL NOT BE THE NATION LIFTED UP BY ROOSEVELT OR INSPIRED BY KENNEDY. IT WILL NOT BE THE NATION THAT BARACK OBAMA PROVED BENDS TOWARD JUSTICE. 

THE DANGER OF DONALD TRUMP AND THE ALT RIGHT POSED TO THIS NATION IS NOT HYPOTHETICAL OR EXAGGERATED. IT IS REAL. THE CORE VALUES OF THIS NATION, OUR STANDING IN THE WORLD, OUR VERY DEMOCRACY, EVERYTHING THAT MAKES AMERICA AMERICA, ARE AT STAKE. 

EVERYBODY KNOWS WHO DONALD TRUMP IS, EVEN THE PEOPLE WHO SUPPORT HIM. WE HAVE TO SHOW WHO WE ARE. WE CHOOSE HOPE OVER FEAR. WE CHOOSE SCIENCE OVER FICTION. WE CHOOSE UNITY OVER DIVISION. AND YES, WE CHOOSE TRUTH OVERLIES. -- TRUTH OVER LIES. IF WE STAND TOGETHER, IF WE STAND TOGETHER, WE WILL WIN THE BATTLE FOR THE SOUL OF THIS NATION. 

WE ARE THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THERE IS NOT A SINGLE THING BEYOND OUR CAPACITY, IF WE STAND TOGETHER AND GET UP AND REMEMBER WHO WE ARE. THIS IS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. PERIOD. THANK YOU,