Select Remarks from Opening Night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention: “Uniting America”
MILWAUKEE—The Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) released a selection of excerpts from the remarks of speakers as prepared for delivery who will address the Democratic National Convention tonight, August 17, from 9:00-11:00 PM ET.
The theme of Monday's program is “We the People.” This convention is about Americans rising up to take our country back—and move forward as a nation together. As we have learned throughout our history, when we stand united, we can overcome anything, including the monumental challenges we face today. With Joe Biden as president, ‘we the people’ will mean all the people.
Excerpts from select remarks as prepared for delivery from tonight’s program are included below:
FORMER FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA
MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER (Washington D.C.)
• “But while we were peacefully protesting, Donald Trump was plotting. He stood in front of one of our most treasured houses of worship and held a Bible for a photo op. He sent troops in camouflage into our streets. He sent tear gas into the air—federal helicopters, too. I knew if he did this to D.C., he would do it to your city or your town.”
• “We have to undo the laws and systems that have codified racism for far too long. But we have to do something too. Each and every one of us. Challenge our own biases. If we see something, do something. Together, we can turn this reckoning into a reimagining of a nation where ‘We The People’ means all the people.”
GOVERNOR ANDREW CUOMO (New York)
• “Only a strong body can fight off the virus, and America’s divisions weakened it. Donald Trump didn’t create the initial division. The division created Trump; he only made it worse.”
• “We saw the negative, but we also saw the positive. As they proved their way failed, we proved that our way succeeded; that America can still rise to the occasion. We can put our differences aside and find commonality.”
• “Americans’ eyes have been opened, and we have seen in this crisis the truth: that government matters and leadership matters. And it determines whether we thrive and grow, or whether we live or die.”
KRISTIN URQUIZA (California)
[Kristin Urquiza lost her father to COVID-19, and wrote a scathing obituary blaming failed leadership for his death.]
• “My dad was a healthy 65-year-old. His only preexisting condition was trusting Donald Trump, and for that, he paid with his life.”
• “The coronavirus has made it clear that there are two Americas: the America that Donald Trump lives in and the America that my father died in.”
GOVERNOR GRETCHEN WHITMER (Michigan)
• “President Obama and Vice President Biden saved these autoworkers’ livelihoods. Then these workers did their part to save American lives. That’s the story of this great country. Action begets action. Progress begets progress. And when we work together—we can accomplish anything.”
• “Over the past few months, we learned what’s essential: rising to the challenge, not denying it. We’ve learned who is essential, too. Not just the wealthiest among us. Not a president who fights his fellow Americans rather than fight the virus that’s killing us and our economy. It’s the people who put their own health at risk to care for the rest of us.”
FORMER GOVERNOR JOHN KASICH (Ohio)
• “I’m a lifelong Republican, but that attachment holds second place to my responsibility to my country. That’s why I’ve chosen to appear at this convention. In normal times, something like this would probably never happen, but these are not normal times.”
• “Yes, there are areas where Joe and I absolutely disagree. But that’s OK because that’s America. Because whatever our differences, we respect one another as human beings, each of us searching for justice and for purpose.”
• “We can all see what’s going on in our country today and all the questions that are facing us, and no one person or party has all the answers. But what we do know is that we can do better than what we’ve been seeing today, for sure. And I know that Joe Biden, with his experience and his wisdom and his decency, can bring us together to help us find that better way.”
SENATOR CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO (Nevada)
• “Despite what the president says, voting by mail has been a secure, proven option for decades: in 2016, 33 million Americans voted by mail. Even Donald Trump has requested an absentee ballot twice this year.”
• “Mr. President: Nevada is not intimidated by you. America is not intimidated by you. We are united by shared values, shared history, and shared rights—including our fundamental right to vote.”
SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS (Vermont)
• "This election is the most important in the modern history of this country. In response to the unprecedented set of crises we face, we need an unprecedented response - a movement, like never before, of people who are prepared to stand up and fight for democracy and decency—and against greed, oligarchy and authoritarianism."
• "My friends, I say to you, and to everyone who supported other candidates in this primary and to those who may have voted for Donald Trump in the last election. The future of our democracy is at stake. The future of our economy is at stake. The future of our planet is at stake. We must come together, defeat Donald Trump and elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as our next president and vice president. My friends, the price of failure is just too great to imagine."
