I’ve spent a lot of time, a lot of wonderful times, traveling across our country, and I’ve seen people fixing all kinds of things. I’ve met educators like Delia, working with teachers and parents to turn around schools and give kids a better chance. I’ve met small businesses and entrepreneurs who get up every day and work really hard. And you know when they make a contract for their goods or their services, they expect to be paid. I’ve met so many wonderful men and women who serve in our military; they know their job, they know the grave responsibility that they fulfill, and they get up every day and they do their best. But I’ve never heard one of them say, ‘Oh, I can fix it alone.’
I was in Orlando before I came here to Tampa. And I had the great honor of sitting and talking with some of the residents of that beautiful city, and hearing what they are doing together to deal with the aftermath of the worst mass shooting in American history. The mayor spoke with great pride about how his city had responded. The police captain in charge of the SWAT team talked with such conviction about how when the moment arrived, the police in Orlando were ready. They had trained. They supported each other. They were ready. The captain didn’t say, ‘I can fix it alone.’ He said, ‘I’m a member of a team – the best team that anybody could have.’
I met some of the hospital and the medical personnel who were there to take the wounded and worked so heroically to save lives, every one of them doing his or her part – triage, nursing – doing everything. I didn’t meet any one of them who said, ‘Hey, I can fix it alone.’
I’ve never heard of an American leader, or at least someone who wants to be an American leader, claiming that he’s all we need. That’s not a democracy, my friends. As I recall, we had a revolution to make sure we didn’t have someone who said, ‘I can fix it alone.’
The other thing he said that really shocked me – it is hard to know where to start, isn’t it? Well, last night Donald told us, ‘I am your voice.’ Well, I don’t think he speaks for most Americans, do you? He doesn’t speak for small businesses like the ones he has consistently stiffed and driven into bankruptcy and financial peril. He doesn’t speak for the workmen that he’s employed on his various projects and then refused to pay them. He doesn’t speak for the housekeepers and the cooks and everybody working at a hotel in Las Vegas that he owns that have voted to have a union and he refuses to even talk to them. He doesn’t speak for immigrants; he only speaks against immigrants. He doesn’t speak for people with disabilities. He doesn’t speak for our military, which he has insulted consistently, and in particular, prisoners of war who sacrifice much of their life because they serve us. And contrary to what they tried to say at their convention, I don’t think he speaks for women. I don’t think he speaks for working families who would be devastated by his reckless economic policies. He doesn’t speak for anyone who thinks our country should be standing together not splintering apart. He sure doesn’t speak for me, because I know we are stronger together and that’s what we’re going to be next year.
