[DEMOCRACY IN ACTION Transcript  |  C-SPAN Video]

KAREN PENCE:  Hello Arizona.  Oh, it's so great to see all of you out there, so great to be here with you all today. Well I get the job of introducing the vice president today. And so I'm going to tell you a little story about our history of getting involved in politics. You can have a seat if you want, because I know when he comes out you're going to be standing and cheering and all that so.

When, when Mike and I were dating, when we were dating, which was about 37 years ago, he told me that he wanted to run for Congress, someday in the far future. And so, after we got married, he went and asked the county chairman. What should I do if I want to run for Congress and represent my hometown in like 20 or 30 years ? And the guy said, run for Congress. That's the best way to get prepared to run for Congress. So you know what? We decided we were going to do this. And so we ran for Congress in 1988. And we decided to run on the theme of faith, family, and freedom.

And we lost.

And so then—you know, we were young back then—and we said okay you know what, two years went by, we're going to do this again in 1990, and we're going to run on faith, family, and freedom.

And we lost.

And so, you know what, we felt like, you know, maybe, maybe this was our idea. Maybe this wasn't God's calling on our life. And so, we built our dream home. We started our family. Mike started a radio show that was all over the state of Indiana, I started a watercolor business. And we were like very comfortable. And I'll just tell you that's usually when God puts your life in a blender. And that's what happened to us.

Because in 2000 we did feel a calling on our lives to run. And Mike said, the seat I ran for is an open seat. Let's run. Let's run again. And I said okay, let's run. And so we did. And we ran on the theme of faith, family and freedom. And we won.

But over those 12 years that Mike was in Congress from 2000 to 2012, unless there was a delay in the flights we were together on Sundays, and we worshipped together as a family. Because Mike would go back and forth to Indiana all the time, but on Sundays we were together as a family.

And he stood for the principles of freedom in the United States Congress; he rose to the third highest position in the House of Representatives. And he would leave the Hill, and he'd come to our son's lacrosse game or he'd leave the Hill and he'd go to Charlotte's violin lesson or he'd leave the Hill and go see Audrey in the little school play. Or we would go to the Hill and we'd take him tacos and we'd sit on the steps of the Capitol and have tacos. So he made family a priority back then.

So in 2012, in 2012 we decided it's time to go home, it's time to go home to Indiana. And Mike ran for governor, and he ran on the theme of faith, family and freedom. And we won and Mike was the governor of Indiana and. Four years later, we were getting ready to run for reelection. And when we were getting ready to run for reelection, somebody called and had another idea for us. And after we had met with the President, Melania, and they had time to figure out what they wanted to do, the President called. And this is what he said: Mike. It's gonna be great.

I know you can hear him saying that can't you. And Mike said, well, if there's a question there, the answer is yes. And so, we ran again on the theme of faith, family and freedom. And for four years President Donald Trump has been fighting for your faith, your family, and your freedom. And somebody else has been standing right next to him.

Ladies and gentlemen welcome the Vice President of the United States, Mike Pence.

[Music]

VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE: Hello Arizona. Man, I'll tell you what, it is great to be with all of you today. Congressman David Schweichert, Congresswoman Debbie Lesko, to Jane and Jason Beck and all the men and women here at Tyr Tactical, fellow Americans from near and far, it is great to be back in the Grand Canyon State.

And I've got to tell you, it's a special joy to be here with a Marine Corps mom, a champion of military families, she even teaches art at a Christian school. And you just heard firsthand how blessed I am to be married for these 35 years to the wonderful Karen Pence. Would you thank our  Second Lady one more time; she's just doing an amazing job for America.

Karen and I are excited to be in Arizona today. We're here for one reason and one reason only. And that is that Arizona and America need four more years of President Donald Trump in the White House.

It's on Arizona. We are 26 days away from another great victory for the American people and the road to victory runs right through Arizona.

But really, it's great to be with all of you. Thank you for coming out in this cool and breezy Arizona day.

I'll tell you what, our family's getting a little more familiar with Arizona because our son, Captain Michael J. Pence and his wife are stationed at the Marine Corps Base in Yuma, Arizona, and we're proud of them.

Karen and I just got back from a little stop in Salt Lake City, Utah. We had a little debate with Kamala Harris last night. Some people think we did all right. Let me be clear, folks. It was a privilege to be on that stage. And I think last night's debate was not so much a debate between two candidates for vice president; it was a debate between two visions. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris want higher taxes, open borders, socialized medicine; they want to abolish fossil fuels, use taxpayer funding to pay for abortion all the way up to the moment of birth. If you didn't figure it out watching last night, I'll tip you off: they want to pack the Supreme Court and defund the police.

President Donald Trump. We've rebuilt our military. We cut taxes. We rolled back regulations. We unleashed American energy. We secured our border, supported law enforcement and we stood for life and liberty every single day.

So when you compare the Biden-Harris agenda with all that President Trump has done these last three and a half years, I think there's no question about it. President Donald Trump won that debate hands down and we're gonna win again in 26 days, when we reelect President Donald Trump for four more years.

Four years ago a movement was born. A movement of everyday Americans from every walk of life. Here in Arizona, you believed we could be strong again. You believed we could be prosperous again. You know I heard that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are both in Arizona today. I got a feeling it's because Arizona said yes to President Donald Trump in 2016. And I know Arizona is gonna say yes to four more years of President Donald Trump come November the 3rd.

And it's because of what we've done and what we've accomplished together.

Four years ago we inherited a military that was hollowed out by devastating budget cuts, economy struggling to break free of the slowest economic recovery since the Great Depression. Terrorism was on the rise. And we witnessed a steady assault on our most cherished values.

But in just three short years we rebuilt that military, we restored the arsenal of democracy, and we're finally giving our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guard, the resources and the support that they deserve to accomplish their mission and defend our nation.

And now we're standing here just a short drive from Luke Air Force Base. It's the pride of the nation, and I'm proud to report that President Donald Trump has signed the largest investments in our national defense since the days of Ronald Reagan. So we've stood with those who served.

But we've also stood with all of you who have worn the uniform of the United States. You know when Joe Biden was vice president America saw years of scandal at the VA that shocked the conscience of the nation. We all remember those days. Some of the worst abuses happened not far from here in Phoenix at the VA. Veterans were literally dying while waiting for the medical care that they needed, medical care that they earned in the uniform of the United States.

When President Trump came into office that all changed. We passed the Veterans Accountability Act, the most sweeping reforms of the VA in 50 years. We fired thousandss of VA workers for not given our veterans in the health care that they earned, and veterans choice is now available for every veteran in America.

You know I know this close to that Air Force Base there's probably more than a few of you who served in uniform. So if you're able, would you mind standing up or raise your hand and let us thank you one more time.

Thank you for your service. So it's been about security; it's been about supporting our veterans.

In our first three years it was about restarting the engine of the American economy. You know where Joe Biden wants to raise taxes, in our first three years President Donald Trump cut taxes across the board for working families and businesses. We rolled back more federal red tape than any administration in history. We unleashed American energy, fought for free and fair trade, and in just three short years businesses large and small created 7 million good-paying jobs, including more than 250,000 jobs right here in Arizona.

And wages were rising across the board. What meant the most of the president and me is wages were rising most rapidly for hard working blue collar Americans. The forgotten men and women of America were forgotten no more.

When Joe Biden was Vice President—and I may have brought this up last night—when Joe Biden was vice president, America lost 200,000 manufacturing jobs. And the last president actually said those jobs were never coming back. Remember, four years ago, he said, and I quote "What magic wand do you have ? "

Well we didn't need a magic wand. We just needed President Donald Trump in the White House.

500,000 manufacturing jobs in just three years. I mean you don't need to look any further than right here at Tyr Tactical in Peoria. I just heard backstage from Jason and Jane, that it was because of President Trump's tax cuts that they were actually able to expand Tyr Tactical, expand the facility we're standing in right now. They're building another facility right in front that's going to create 80 more good paying Arizona jobs. Can we give Jason and Jane a big round of applause. Thank you for growing in Peoria.

So we stood for our national defense, our veterans, for jobs. And every day of this administration President Donald Trump has stood for the rule of law. We've appointed more than 200 principled conservatives to our courts at every level, including two Supreme Court justices. And I will tell you, they are all men and women who will uphold all the God given liberties in our Constitution, like the freedom of religion, and the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.

Last month, we paused as a nation to rightly honor the life and service of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. When the memorials were over, President Donald Trump fulfilled his constitutional duty and nominated a principled, experienced, brilliant conservative woman to the Supreme Court of the United States, Judge Amy Coney Barrett.

I gotta be honest with you I'm a big fan of Judge Barrett, and not just because she's from Indiana. Judge Barrett is exactly the kind of judge that President Trump promised the American people he would appoint, and that we've appointed all along the way. Judges who will interpret the law as written, who will not legislate from the bench; who will uphold the Constitution of the United States. That's why we need Judge Amy Coney Barrett to be Justice Amy Coney Barrett. And I promise you, after the Senate does their job of advise and consent, we're going to fill that seat.

So we stood for the rule of law, strengthened the constitutional foundations of our republic. President Donald Trump has stood every single day with the men and women who serve on the thin blue line of law enforcement and we always will. The President and I know what Jason just said, the men and women who serve in law enforcement across America are some of the best people in this country, and they deserve the respect of every American every single day. Would you join me in thanking all the members of law enforcement who are gathered with us today.

Now President Trump and I will always support the right of Americans to peaceful protests, but rioting and looting is not peaceful protest; burning businesses is not free speech.

Last night in Salt Lake City I had with me a wonderful woman, African-American business owner from Minneapolis. It was just a few days after the killing of George Floyd. And let me say again, there's no excuse for what happened to George Floyd and justice will be served.

But in the days that followed, Flora Westbrook watched as the protesters and rioters and looters moved closer and closer to a business that she had built in the largely African American community 35 years ago, and they burned her to the ground.

Men and women of Arizona, let me be clear. Violence against innocent civilians, the destruction of private property, and violence against law enforcement will not be tolerated. And those who do so will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

You know for months all Joe Biden talked about were peaceful protests, right. While the American people literally watched businesses in their communities burn in our major cities. You know the truth is, Joe Biden would double down on the very policies that have led to violence in America.

When you, when you suggest that you will withdraw support from those who protect and serve, you embolden those who would harm our families. Now Joe Biden justifies it by saying that America is in his words systemically racist. And he's actually said and Kamala Harris repeated it last night that police have an implicit bias against minorities in this country.

When Joe Biden was asked if he'd support cutting funding for law enforcement, he replied, Yes, absolutely. And his running mate has said that we need to reimagine law enforcement, and she recently applauded the mayor of Los Angeles's efforts to cut $150 million from L.A.'s budget. Well let me make you a promise. Under President Donald Trump, we're not gonna to defund the police, not now, now ever; we're going to back the blue.

And here at this great company that every single day not only employs people all across this region but it makes equipment for our heroes in law enforcement, I'm proud to report to you that under President Trump's leadership we're providing more funding for law enforcement, more training, and more resources, and we're going to keep supporting law enforcement for four more years.

Now the President and I know that we don't have to choose between supporting law enforcement and supporting our African American families and other minorities in our major cities. The truth is we've supported law enforcement with all new resources, deployed personnel to cities struggling with violence, and all along the way in this administration we saw the lowest unemployment ever recorded for African Americans, the highest investment in historically black colleges and universities. This president was a champion of educational choice for all of our families and we've passed prison justice reform.

The truth is we can support law enforcement and support more opportunities, better education, better public safety in our African American communities in our major cities. We have done both for the last three and a half years. and we're gonna continue to do both for four more years in the White House.

And it really is an honor to be here at a family owned business that literally is saving the lives of our men and women in law enforcement every day.  Under this President's leadership ,I'm told that they created more than 120 new Arizona jobs and every year this company makes some 20,000 protective vests that are worn by law enforcement across America and American forces stationed all around the world. Would you just give one more round of applause to an incredible family that is all about faith in God and love for country, former U.S. Marine Jason Beck, Jane Beck, and all of their boys. We love you.

Under President Donald Trump, I promise you we're going to have law and order in every city in this country for every American of every race and creed and color.

So we rebuilt our military, we revived our economy, we stood for life for our liberties and law and order. In just three short years, we made America great again.

And none of those would have been possible without our incredible partners in Congress. Would you join me in thanking two of the most principled conservatives in Washington, DC, people who have stood in the gap and stood by this president every step of the way. Congressman David Schweikert and Congresswoman Debbie Lesko.

Thank you for your incredible support. And I'm just going to ask you right now, we need you to return Congressman Dave Schweikert and Congresswoman Debbie Lesko to a new Republican majority in the United States House of Representatives. We need to retire Nancy Pelosi once and for all.

So we made incredible progress. It was a wonderful three years under this President's leadership. promises made, promises kept.

Then the coronavirus struck from China. But I'm here to report to you, before the first documented case of community transmission, President Trump's leadership shown forth. Before January was out, our president did what no American president had ever done in the history of this country. He suspended all travel from China, the second largest economy in the world.

Now Joe Biden, Joe Biden said that was xenophobic, hysterical. He said it was fearmongering and wrote an essay in USA Today that said it would make things worse. But I want to tell you as the head of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, President Trump's action suspending travel from China saved untold American lives and bought us time to stand up the greatest national mobilization since World War Two.

We reinvented testing. Over 115 million tests done so far. We saw to the manufacture and delivery of literally billions of medical supplies to our amazing doctors and nurses and health care workers. We partnered with major research companies in this country; we developed medicines that are literally saving lives every day. And we are on track to have the first safe and effective Coronavirus vaccine and tens of millions of doses before the end of this year.

Let me say on behalf of President Trump how moved we have all been at the outpouring of concern and prayers for the President and the First Lady over this past week. I spoke to the president this morning. I told him I was headed Arizona. And I gotta tell you, President Trump and First Lady Melania are doing just great, and he's gonna be back on the road and in the fight before you know it.

But you know the outpouring of concern for our first family, the president and I know is just emblematic of the love, the care, the wonderful medical treatment that every American family impacted by the coronavirus has had. It really is incredible. So would you join me in just taking a mo— can we just say thank you to our doctors, our nurses, our first responders and everyone who has kept America moving forward, been healing our sick, comforting those who suffered loss.

Here in Arizona after the outbreak this summer, all across America we're gonna stay on it. We're going to keep slowing the spread, we're going keep protecting the vulnerable, we're gonna keep saving lives. And we're gonna keep opening up America again.

The truth is because of the strong foundation this president poured in those first three years, because of the unprecedented support, direct payments to families in a paycheck protection program that saved 50 million American jobs,  the American economy is coming back stronger than ever before.

We lost 22 million jobs at the height of this pandemic, but  because of the support we provided—and I heard that Tyr Tactical took advantage of that paycheck protection program to keep people on the payroll, and we're thankful for that. But in the last five months alone we've already seen more than 11 and a half million Americans go back to work, including 172,000 right here in the Grand Canyon State.

And Arizona's unemployment rate is already cut in half. The Arizona and American comeback is underway.

And let me just say, none of that would have been possible without the seamless partnership, the strong and compassionate leadership of Governor Doug Ducey. Would you join me in thanking Governor Ducey for the strong job he's done putting the health of the people of Arizona first. We couldn't be more grateful.

So we've gone through a time of testing. But I came here today because in 26 days we're coming to a time for choosing. And the choice in this election has never been clearer, the stakes have never been higher. I can tell you all know that.

Joe Biden is, Joe Biden actually wants to raise taxes by $4 trillion in the midst of a global pandemic.

President Trump. We not only cut taxes in the last three and a half years, we're going to keep cutting middle class taxes for four more years. President Donald Trump's already rolled back more federal red tape and unleashed the American economy as never before.

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, they want to pass a two trillion dollar version of the Green New Deal and put us back in the Paris Climate accord. It would [inaud.] American jobs and disadvantage American families and workers.

Joe Biden is for open borders, sanctuary cities, free lawyers and health care for illegal immigrants. I think you here in Arizona know what all of that has meant and would mean.

President Donald Trump. We made record investments in border security, Mexico is doing more to secure our border and theirs than ever before, and we've already built more than 300 miles of that border wall. And with four more years, we're gonna build it all.

When it comes to jobs and opportunity, you know I know you all know about NAFTA. Where I come from out in the heartland we literally saw entire, entire communities shuttered, factories closed and sold off. 60,000 factories were closed and jobs shipped south of the border and overseas since 1995 when NAFTA became law. Joe Biden didn't lift a finger to reform NAFTA. President Donald Trump renegotiated our trading relationship with Mexico in Canada and the USMCA is here to stay. It's a huge win for Arizona and a huge win for America.

And finally, Joe Biden and the Democratic Party support abortion on demand. They support using taxpayer dollars to pay for abortion all the way up to the moment of birth. But I'll tell you, I couldn't be more proud to be vice president to a president who stands without apology for the sanctity of human life. President Donald Trump is the most pro-life president in American history.

You know when you look at their agenda it's clear. Joe Biden and the Democratic Party have been overtaken by the radical left. Joe Biden would be nothing more than a Trojan horse to the extreme agenda of the radical left. Now Joe Biden says that democracy is on the ballot on November 3rd. Well I think our economic recovery is on the ballot. I think law and order are on the ballot. But I also think there are things that are more foundational to our country that are on the ballot.

You know I think in this election year, when it's all said and done, it's not going to be whether America is more Republican or Democrat, more liberal or more conservative, more red or more blue; I think the choice in this election is whether America remains America. It's whether we're going to let Joe Biden and Kamala Harris steer our nation on to a course of socialism and decline or whether we are going to keep America on a path of freedom, free markets and all the ideals that have made this country great. That's then our choice. That's why we need to decide right here and right now that Joe Biden will never be President of the United States. We're going to reelect President Donald Trump for four more years.

You know four more years means more jobs, four more years means more judges; four more years means more support for our troops. And it's gonna take at least four more years to drain that swamp.

Men and women, I've been serving alongside this president every day for the last three and a half years.  I've known him just a little bit longer than that. Some people think we're a little bit different. To be honest with you, we've become very close friends. I've seen him up close. The cameras are off, when nobody's looking. And hand to my heart I can tell you, there's never been a day gone by that President Donald Trump hasn't got up and fought to keep the promises that he made to the people of Arizona. Now it's our turn to fight for him.

It's on Arizona. We need you to bring it. We need you to bring all this enthusiasm, keep voicing your support, talk to your neighbors and friends in worship and at work all across the Grand Canyon State. Say, I ran into Mike over in Peoria. And he talked for like 40 minutes out in the hot, blazing sun, and just talked about what we've just begun to do for the American people and how this president has led our nation through one of the great and challenging years in my lifetime.  I mean go and tell the story, and when you do, I want you to have faith. Have faith in the people of this country.

I mean the truth is, I think a careful study of American history shows that every time the American people have been given a choice between more freedom and less freedom, they choose a future of more freedom every single time. So talk to your neighbors and friends and have faith. Just like they did before in 2016, they're going to choose American greatness again.

And if you're inclined to bow the head and bend the knee from time to time, I'd encourage you to exercise that other kind of faith too. Jason was talking about, talking about that from this podium, he was talking about it with us back stage.

You know you turn on the television these days and it's kind of like that little girl asked me a question in the debate last night.  It seems like, on TV it looks like there's more that divides us in this country than unites us. Well, I've got to tell you I've travelled all across America the last four years, and I can tell you there will always be more that unites the people of the United States of America than will ever divide us and chief among those things is faith. This is a nation of faith.

So in the next 26 days, I'd encourage you to pray for America. Pray for all the American people. When you pray, pray with confidence, that if his people who are called by his name will humble themselves and pray, that he'll do like he's always done in the long and storied history of this great nation, he'll hear from Heaven and he'll heal this land, this one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. So pray for America. It will make a difference.

And I just know with your continued support, the energy that I see out here in the Arizona sun today, and every day between now and November 3rd, we're going to make Arizona and America stronger than every before, we're going to make Arizona and America safer than ever before; and with Congressman David Schweichert and Congresswoman Debbie Lesko and a new Republican majority in the House of Representatives and with President Donald Trump in the White House for four more years and with God's help, we're going to make America great again—again.