Endorsement of Joe Biden - March 2, 2020

KLOBUCHAR: Alright. Wow, thank you! Unbelievable! Well, how great is it to be here in Dallas, Texas? And how great it is to be here with my family, John and Abigail, and with Vice President Biden. How wonderful it is to be standing next to him on a stage when it isn’t the debate stage.

So I actually, as you all know, announced my campaign for President in the middle of a Minnesota blizzard, just so I could impress everyone in Texas. And in particular, everyone in Dallas. So we didn’t let the snow stop us, we didn’t let the cold stop us, we did continue through that speech because that’s what we do in the Heartland. We made a little in this campaign — in my campaign — go a long way. And our homegrown campaign, with a tremendous staff that stuck together from the beginning and volunteers, every way beat the odds. And that got me up here right now on this stage in Dallas. And the most amazing thing was getting to know so many people across the country, and I know the Vice President knows this as well. The Vietnam vet who sobbed as he talked about losing his son to mental illness. The rancher who had voted for Donald Trump but after he saw him give a speech in front of that sacred wall with the CIA stars of those that lost their lives in the line of duty, decided he wasn’t going to do it again. The immigrant mom who told me she works two jobs all for her kids. And through it all I said to them — and I believe this now, standing with the Vice President — “If you feel tired of the noise and the nonsense of our politics and if you are tired of the extremes, you have a home with me” and I think you know you have a home with Joe Biden.

So many people joined us — supported us — as we carried forward with this simple but fundamental message, and that it is time for Americans to join hands instead of pointing fingers. It is time to turn back the division and the hate and the exclusion and the bitterness. And it is time to work together, to lift up those who are left out, and to bring people with us instead of shoving them away. I believe — and it is the reason I’m up here — that we are never going to out-divide the divider-in-chief. We must as Americans dream bigger than that, we have to be better than that because if we spend the next four months dividing our party and going at each other, we will spend the next four years watching Donald Trump tear apart this country. Texans, we need to unite our party and our country. And to do it not just with our words but with our actions. It is up to us, all of us, to put our country back together, to heal this country and then to build something even greater. I believe we can do this together. And that is why today I am ending my campaign and endorsing Joe Biden for President.

Okay, I have a few other things to say. Joe Biden has dedicated his life to fighting for people. Not for the rich and the powerful, but for the mom — for the farmer —for the dreamer —for the builder — for the veteran. He can bring our country together and build that coalition of our fired up democratic base — and it is fired up — as well as independents and moderate republicans because we do not — in our party — want to just eke by a victory, we want to win big and Joe Biden can do that. As you know for all the work he has done, that he will not just govern with his head — he’s got a lot of good ideas — but he will also govern with his heart. And I know that you know, here in this big state of Texas, that the heart of this country is bigger than the heart of the guy in the White House. It is time America, for a President that understands that service is not about self-interest, it is about sacrifice. It is time for a President that represents all of America — including people in the middle of this country — at a time when we see people in extremes that are trying to drown out people. And most of all, it is time — and this is what I feel so strongly about — it is time for a President that will bring decency and dignity back to the White House.

So at one of the debates — of our many debates — I told the story…

JOE BIDEN: All of which you won.

KLOBUCHAR: I told the story of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, that beloved President. And when he died they put his body on a train that went from Georgia to Washington D.C. And the story is that people spontaneously stood along those train tracks to show their respect. And a reporter came upon a guy — regular guy — just had his hat in his hand and he was sobbing. And the reporter said to him, “Sir, do you mind me asking? Did you know President Roosevelt?” And the guy says, “No, I didn’t know the President but he knew me.” He knew me. And that is exactly what is missing right now in the White House. We have a President that has no empathy. That cannot put himself in the shoes of the people of this country. Well guess who can do that. And that is Joe Biden. So, if you out there are trying to figure out how you stretch your paycheck to pay for your rent or your mortgage — or someone in your family is — Joe knows you and he will fight for you. If you are someone trying to decide how do you pay for the long term care for your parents and the childcare or the college for your kids, Joe knows you and he will fight for you. And if you are trying to figure out how am I gonna fill that prescription for insulin or some other prescription drug or fill my refrigerator, Joe knows you and he will fight for you. So I cannot think of a better way to end my campaign than joining his. Because America you gave an opportunity to the granddaughter of an iron ore miner, to the daughter of a teacher and a newspaper man. You gave me — Minnesota — the opportunity to be the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from the state of Minnesota. And America you gave me this incredible year to be a candidate for President of the United States. It is because you have faith in what we can achieve together, it is because of your undying belief that for all of us the best is yet to come. So before I turn it over to our next President, I want to remind you of something really practical. Tomorrow is Super Tuesday and Texas you are one big Super Tuesday state. But there are fourteen other Super Tuesday states including my home state of Minnesota. So what I want for all of you to do is vote for Joe. Vote for decency, vote for dignity, vote for a heart for our country. That is what he will bring to the White House. And with that I give you the next President of the United States, Joe Biden.

Klobuchar, A.J. [CBS News]. (2020, Mar. 2). Amy Klobuchar endorses Joe Biden in Dallas [https://youtu.be/545CmsRhDD8]. Retrieved on Mar. 4, 2020 from https://www.youtube.com/user/CBSNewsOnline.