I was walking out of the office, listening to an interview of former general mccaffrey and the bill cohen, former secretary of defense. Before i begin, i want to speak a little bit to what they talked about and the revelations of President Trumps disregard of our military and veterans. Quite frankly, if what is written in the atlantic is true, it is disgusting and it affirms what we believe to be what most of us believe to be true. President trump is not fit to be the commanderinchief. The president reportedly said and i emphasize reportedly said that those who signed up to serve, instead of doing something more lucrative, are suckers. Let me be real clear. When my son was an assistant u. S. Attorney and volunteered to go to kosovo while the war was going on, as a civilian, he was not a sucker. When my son volunteered to join the United States military as the attorney general and went to iraq for a year and won the bronze star and other commendations, he was not a sucker. The servicemen and women he served with, particularly those who did not come home, were not losers. If these statements are true, the president should humbly apologize to every goldstar mother and father, every Blue Star Family that he has denigrated and insulted. Who the heck does he think he is . Is it true . Well, we have heard from his own mouth his characterizations of john mccain as a loser in 2015. Donald trump says he was not a war hero. I like people who were not captured. Well, good for him. And the dismissal of the traumatic brain injuries suffered by the troops serving in iraq, as mere headaches not too long ago. He stood by, failing, failing to take action or even raise the issue with Vladimir Putin while the kremlin puts bounties on the heads of american troops in afghanistan. It is a sacred duty, and youre tired of hearing me saying this, those of you who have been covering me for years no know. I get in trouble for saying it, but ill say it again. We have many obligations, but we have only one sacred obligation. Equip and support those who we send into harms way, care for their families while they are gone, and care for them when they are home. That is the only truly sacred obligation a government has. Duty. Honor. Country. These are values that drive our service members. It is an allvoluntary outfit. President trump has demonstrated that he has no sense of service. No loyalty to any cause other than himself. If i have the honor of being the next commanderinchief, i will ensure that our american heroes know i will have their backs, honor their sacrifice, and those who have been injured will be in military parades. I am always cautioned not to lose my temper. This may be as close as i come in this campaign. It is just a marker of how deeply President Trump and i disagree about the role of the president of the United States of america. You know, the august jobs report came out this morning. Im grateful for everyone who found work again and found a , of hope that rings them back from the edge. But there is real cause for concern as well. The pace of the job gains in august were slower than in july, and significantly slower than in may and june. More and more temporary layoffs are turning into permanent layoffs. 28 Million People have filed for unemployment and after six months in the pandemic, we are less than halfway back to where we were, with 11 million 11. 5 million americans not getting their jobs back. We are still down 720,000 manufacturing jobs. In fact, donald trump may be the only president in modern history to leave office with fewer jobs than when he took office. I talked to a lot of real working people. I asked them, do they feel like they are being left behind . I asked how they felt about the economy coming back. You will find that they do not feel it. That is why i am here today, to thank the team for hosting us here at wilmington. All of your continued tradition of doing gods work in this community is important. It has been around for more than 130 years, through pandemics, wars, depressions. Westend has been here for generations of people who are just looking for a chance, not a handout. Shot at a good job, a safe place to live, and a better life to pass down to their kids. This is a special place for the biden family. My daughter ashley, a social worker, was a caseworker here. Helping young people who were aging out of foster care. When my son was the attorney general, beau came right here to learn more about job Training Programs for those working toward a ged or certificate for good paying jobs. When i was senator and Vice President , there were plenty of economists i had around me to talk about every aspect of the economy, but i always thought about the people who walked through the doors here. Working people. White, black, brown, latino. What are they doing . Are they ok . I knew if they were ok when they were walking through these doors, the economy was doing ok. If they were not ok, we were not doing well. That is what we should be thinking about. This latest job report. But the report reinforces the worst fears and painful truths. The economic inequities that began before the downturn have only worsened under this failed presidency. When the crisis started, we all hoped for a few months of a shutdown would be followed by rapid economic turnaround. No one thought they would lose a job for good or see Small Businesses shut down en masse. But that kind of recovery requires leadership. Leadership we did not have and still dont have. As a result, economists are starting to call this recession a kshaped recession, which is a fancy phrase for what is wrong with everything about trumps presidency. The k means those at the top the top are seeing things go up. And those in the middle and the lower end see things go down and getting worse. The root of this is the fact that trump has mismanaged the covid crisis, and that is why it is a kshaped pandemic. First, the president s chaotic mismanagement of the pandemic is Still Holding us back, compared to other countries in europe and asia. During the pandemic, our Unemployment Rate is still more nationsble, while other have only gone up by why . Half. Because the president has botched the covid response. Botched it badly. Ive said from the beginning, we cant deal with an economic crisis until you beat the pandemic. You cant have an economic comeback when almost 1000 americans die each day from covid. When the death toll was reached about 200,000. When more than 6 million americans have been infected. When millions more worry about getting sick and dying. As schools and businesses try to reopen. We all know it didnt have to be this bad. It didnt have to be this bad to begin with if the president just did his job. If he just took the virus seriously early on as it spread around the globe, if he just took the steps when needed back in march and april to do to institute widespread testing and tracing to control provided clearou scientific guidance to state and local authorities, giphy just set a good example, like social distancing and wearing a mask its not too much to ask. Its almost like he doesnt care, it doesnt affect him, because it doesnt affect him or his class of friends. Anyone with a big enough check book can get rapid tests on demand. If you dont, you might have to wait in line for hours and wait for weeks to get your result, if you get them at all. If you have the kind of job where you can work from a laptop at home remotely, risking getting covid is very small work. This job reports shows that 37 Million People reported teleworking in august. But if you work at an Assembly Line or checkout counter, plant, or you drive a truck or deliver packages, there are much bigger risks. The jobs report shows more than 27 million workers reported that they could not work or lost hours because their employer had to close or lost business during the pandemic. If you can hire a private tutor or have a livein childcare, you can balance being a parent and remote schooling. If you cant, you have to do your job and be a teacher all at once. Jill and i have held briefings on reopening schools safely two days ago. Asking the questions that parents call on us, educators as well, who feel like they are in an impossible situation. What are they supposed to do with our children when the president has made it so hard for schools to reopen safely . What is the alternative when it is devastating to keep them isolated from their friends and their support systems . I also said earlier this week, to the shock of many, we lost more cops this year to covid than on patrol. Just a reminder of how an already dangerous job, law enforcement, has gotten more dangerous because of trumps mismanagement. What may be just as shocking as many other jobs also become dangerous due to covid. Being a Health Care Worker is now more dangerous than ever. We have lost hundreds of them this year, because they were not protected from covid on the job. Being a meatpacker is more dangerous than ever. So many have died due to getting covid at work. Work for waitresses, waiters, and transit workers all have become more dangerous, with so many dying of covid. Ladies and gentlemen, no matter what he says or what he claims, you are not safer in Donald Trumps america. You are not safe in Donald Trumps america, where people are dying at a rate last seen when americans were fighting in world war ii. Donald trumps malpractice during this pandemic has made being a working American Life or death work. And while there is a disproportionate impact on black, latino, and native americans, white workingclass communities are being hit hard as well. Opiod deaths are up during the pandemic. Another crisis that trump continues to all but ignore. In the meantime, trump and his friends have strong views about what the rest of america should do. Cut Unemployment Benefits to force people to go back to their jobs. Defund Social Security and the and eliminate obamacare in the middle of a pandemic. Reopen Public Schools without resources or guidance. Reopen main street businesses without protection for workers so corporations can continue to soar. This is their plan. Secondly, the economic pain remains unrelenting to millions of working people of every race and background are not getting the relief they need. Meanwhile, the wealthy are doing just fine. Some better than ever. This divergence of forces is unique to any recession in recent memory. The painful truth is, we just have a president who just does not see it. He does not feel it. He does not understand. He just doesnt care. He thinks if the stock market is up that everything is fine. If his wealthy friends and donors are doing well, and everything is doing well. If corporations see their valuations rising, then they must be hiring. But the best economists know when i know. I have learned growing up in scranton and delaware, places where folks are not invested in the market like wealthy americans. A measure of our economic success is the quality of life of the American People. And if your stock sores, families teeter on the brink of homelessness, and the president called that success, what does that say about what he values . When you see the world as such a narrow prism, its no wonder he doesnt see nearly 30 million americans on unemployment, one in six Small Businesses that are closed right now. He doesnt understand what life is like for people walking by their boardedup shops. Educators afraid of doing their job, the job they love, will bring the virus home to the people they love. Its no wonder he doesnt see the single mom forced to wait in a threehour food line. So, for the first time in her life, so she can feed her family because she is not part of the one in six households with children that dont have enough to eat. He wants us to believe we are doing better. To keep it up and not notice that this remains the worst Economic Situation is the great situation since the great depression. Faces historic divergence in our way of life. Which gets me to my third and final point, and what the American People really need to understand. All pain and suffering stems from President Trumps failure to lead. His sheer inability and unwillingness to bring people together. He likes to sign executive orders, actions for photo ops, but they are illconceived and can do more harm than good. He says, protecting renters from eviction, thats what hes doing, but he is not giving them any support to pay the rent when it comes due. Millions of americans will be left with the terrible choice between eviction and living in the streets, or paying back rent they simply do not have. When there was an answer offered and rejected. He says he is continuing to provide enhanced Unemployment Insurance payments, but he cut the amount everyone on it received, which leaves them on the edge when it runs out in a few weeks or sooner. He should be doing his job of calling congressional leaders together immediately to get a deal and deliver real results for the American People. This is the first president in the middle of a crisis i have never seen has called congress into the oval office. If i were president , that is what i would do, and i would get it done like previous president s. Rentals, food, unemployment assistance, tens of millions of struggling americans. Student loan relief, Small Business support, aid schools aid to schools and state governments that are going bankrupt. As long as a pandemic and the economic catastrophe persists, no one should have their water or power cut off because they cannot afford to pay the bill. Bottom line, mr. President , do your job. Get off your golf course and out of the sand bunker. Call the leaders together in the oval office. Sit with them and make a deal. Make a deal that delivers for working americans. And eases their anxiety and pain. In july, i laid out my build back better plan for an economy that works for everyone. Over the next three weeks, i will be laying out the sharp contrast my plan has with the president s nonplan. I will be asking American People three basic questions. Who can handle the pandemic . Who can keep their promises . And who cares about and will fight for working families . Like the people here in west end, throughout this pandemic, they found a way to keep the center open safely and provide for critical services. No one here has been laid off. They adjusted their spaces for social distancing. They started a Lending Program to help local businesses, hair salons, other Small Businesses. They continued their childcare services, which is critical for so many working families. By pure courage, heart, and grit, they never give up and they never give in. That is the pursuit of the full promise for america. That is the story of the people of this community and this country. That is who we are. Give ordinary americans just half a chance, and they never let the country down, they will do extraordinary things. They will never let us down, unlike the current president. And unlike the current president , i wont let you down either. This is what this election is about. Helping people unite. Get together. And move this country back in the direction that we can be. Theres nothing beyond our capacity. Nothing. If we just do it together. Thank you all. I will now take your questions. I guess, are you calling on people . I dont have a list, so you go ahead and call. Thank you, sir. This morning, in reference to that article in the atlantic, thatomments demonstrated President Trumps comments are testament to selfishness and that his soul is that of a coward. You have talked about this as a different view of how you see the job as a president. When you hear these remarks, suckers, losers, recoiling from amputees, what does that tell you about President Trumps soul and the life he leads . Joe biden im going to try to be measured in my response. If it is true and based on other things he said, i believe the article is true i would ask you all a rhetorical question. How would you feel . How would you feel if you had a kid in afghanistan right now . How would you feel if you lost a son or daughter or husband or wife . How would you feel . For real . I know that it is not your job to express that feeling, but you know. You know in your heart, you know in your gut it is deplorable. Its deplorable. As i have said many times and i will say again, these folks are the backbone of america. They are the heart, the soul, the grit. That is what patriotism is about. Ive just never been as disappointed in my whole career with a leader i have worked with, president or otherwise. Because if the article is true and it appears to be based on other things he said it is absolutely damnable. It is a disgrace. On a somewhat related topic, what would you say to the supporters of the qanon, the people who believe in that conspiracy . What they think about america, that there is sex trafficking, conspiracies against President Trump . What would you say to President Trump for not rejecting the that conspiracy and the people who believe in it . Joe biden ive been a big supporter of Mental Health and recommend that people who believe it, maybe should take advantage of it while it still exists in the Affordable Care act. Its bizarre. Totally bizarre. And now, have you guys found that planeload of people in uniforms and weapons and flying around . Have you found them yet . By theody even from way, i respect conservative and liberal points of views in the press. Anybody found that plane . What in gods name are we doing . Look at how it makes us look around the world. It is mortifying. It is embarrassing. And it is dangerous. It is dangerous. If the president doesnt know better, wh