Untitled episode

Today We Gather in a New Year some 246 years later just one day before January 6 a date forever shared in our memory because it was on that day that we nearly lost America lost it all today we're here to answer the most important of questions is democracy still America's sacred cause need it this is not rhetorical academic or hypothetical whether the democracy is still America's

it's about every age and background that occupied this country it's about the future we're going to continue to build together and our campaign is about preserving and strengthening our American democracy three years ago tomorrow we saw with our own eyes the violent mob storm the United States capital was almost in disbelief as you first turned on the television for the first time in our history insurrectionist

had come to stop the peaceful transfer transfer of power in America First Time smashing Windows shattering doors attacking the police outside Gallows were erected as the magga crowd chanted hang Mike Pence inside they hunted for speaker Pelosi the house was chanting as they marched through and smashed Windows where's Nancy over 140 police officers were injured Jill and I attended the funeral police officers who died as

a result of the events of that day because Donald because of Donald Trump's lies they died because these lies brought a mom to Washington he promised it would be wild and it was he told the crowd to fight like hell and all hell was Unleashed he promised he would write them write them everything they did he would be side by side with them then as usual

he left the Dirty Work to others he retreated to the White House as America was attacked from within Donald Trump watched on TV in the private small dining off my oval off the Oval Office the entire nation watched in horror the whole world watched in disbelief and Trump did nothing members of his staff members of his family Republican leaders who were under attack for the at

that very moment pled with him act call off the mob imagine had he gone out and said stop and still Trump did nothing was among the worst derelictions of Duty by a president in American history an attempt to overturn a free and fair election by force and violence a record 81 million people voted for my candidacy and to end his presidency Trump lost the popular vote

by 7 million Trump's claims about the 2020 election never could stand up in court Trump lost 60 court cases 60 Trump lost the Republican control States Trump lost before Trump appointed judge and then judges and Trump lost before the United States Supreme Court all of them who lost Trump lost recount after recount after recount and state after state but in desperation and weakness Trump and his

magga followers went after election officials who who ensured your pow as a citizen would be heard these Public Service had their lives forever upended by attacks and death threats for simply doing their jobs in Atlanta Georgia a brave black mother and her daughter Ruby Freeman and sheay Moss were doing their jobs electing workers until Donald Trump and his magga followers targeted and threatened them forcing them

from their homes unleashing racist Victory all on them Trump's personal lawyer Ry Giuliani was just hit with $148 million judgment for cruelty and defamation that he inflicted against them other state and local elected officials across the country faced similar personal attacks in addition Fox News agreed to pay a record8 $787 million for the lies they told about voter fraud let let's be clear about the 2020

election Trump exhausted every legal Avenue available to him to overturn the election everyone but the legal path just took Trump back to the truth that I had won the election and he was a loser well so knowing how his mind works now he had one he had one act left one desperate act available to him the violence of January the 6th and since that day more

than 1,200 people have been charged for their assult in the capital nearly 900 of them have been convicted or pled guilty collectively to they have been sentenced to more than 840 years in prison what's Trump done instead of calling them criminals he's called these ex these insurrectionists Patriots they're Patriots and he promised to Pardon them if he returns to office Trump said that there was a

lot of love on January the 6th the rest of the nation including law enforcement saw a lot of hate and violence one Capital police officer called it a medieval battle that same officer called vile rap was called vile racist names he said he was more afraid in the capital of the United States of America in the chambers then when he was fighting as is a soldier

in the war in Iraq said he was more afraid inside the halls of Congress than fighting in the war in Iraq and trying to rewrite the facts of January 6th Trump is trying to steal history the same way he tried to steal the election but he we knew the truth because we saw it with our own eyes this wasn't like something a story being told it

was on television repeatedly we saw it with our own eyes Trump's mob wasn't a peaceful protest it was a violent assault they were insurrectionists not Patriots they weren't there to uphold the Constitution they were there to destroy the Constitution Trump won't do what an American president must do he refuses to denounce political violence so hear me clearly I'll say what Donald Trump want political violence is

never ever acceptable in the United States political system never never never it has no place in a democracy none you can't be pro- insurrectionist and pro-american you know Trump and his magga supporters not only Embrace political violence but they laugh about it Addis Ry he jokes about an intruder whipped up by the big Trump lie taking a hammer to Paul Pelosi skull and echoing the very

same words used on January 6th where's Nancy and he thinks that's funny he laughed about it what a sick my God I I think it's despicable seriously not just repressive for any person to say that but to say it to the whole world listening when I was overseas anyway oh Trump's assault in democracy isn't just part of his past it's what he's promising for the future

he's being straightforward he's not hiding the ball his first rally for the 2024 campaign opened with a choir of January 6th insurrectionists singing from prison on a cell phone while images of the January 6th ride played on a big screen behind him at his rally can you believe that this is like something out of a fairy tale bad fairy tale Trump began his 2024 campaign by

glorifying the fail violent insurrectionist Insurrection at our on our Capital the guy who claims Law and Order SWS lawlessness and disorder Trump's not concerned about your future I promise you Trump is now promising a full-scale campaign of Revenge and retribution his words for some years to come they were his words not mine he went on to say he'd be a dictator on day one I mean

if I writing a book of fiction I said an American president said that and not in just he called and I quote quote the terminate quote this is a quote the termination of all the rules regulations and articles even those found in the US Constitution should be terminated if Fitz's will it's really kind of hard to believe even found in the Constitution he could terminate he's

threatened the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff with the death penalty says he should be put to death because the chairman put his oath to the Constitution ahead of his personal loyalty to Trump this coming from a president who called when he visited cemeteries called dead soldiers suckers and losers remember that sometimes I'm really happy the Irish should be can't be seen it was

right around the time I was at B grave Tommy how dare he who in God's name do you think he is with former AE Trump plans to invoke the in insurrections act insurrection ction act which will allow him to deploy which not allowed to do in nor circumstances allow him to deploy US military forces on the streets of America he said it he calls those who

Oppo oppose him Vermin he talks about the blood of americaas being poisoned echoing the same exact language used in Nazi Germany he proudly posts on social media the words that best describe his 2024 campaign quote Revenge quote power and quote dictatorship there's no confusion about who Trump is what he intends to do I plac my hand in our family Bible and I swore an oath on

the very same steps of the capital just 14 days after the attack on January the 6th as I looked out over the capital city whose streets were lined with National Guard to prevent another attack I saw an American that had been pushed to the brink America that has pushed to the brink but I felt enormous Pride not in winning I felt enormous pride in America because

American democracy has had been tested American democracy had held together when Trump had seen weakness in our democracy and continued to talk about it I saw strength your strength it's not hyperbole your strength your integrity American strength and integrity ordinary citizens State election officials the American Judicial System had put the Constitution first and sometimes at their Peril at their Peril because of them because of you

the will of the people prevailed not the anger of the mob or the appetites of one man when the attack on January 6th happened there was no doubt about the truth at the time even Republican members of Congress and Fox News commentators publicly and privately condemn the attack as one Republican senator said Trump's Behavior was embarrassing and humiliating for the country but now that same Senator

and those same people have changed their tune as time has G on gone on politics fear money all have intervened and now these magga voices who know the truth about Trump on January 6th have abandoned the truth and abandoned the democracy they made their choice now the rest of us Democrats Independents mainstream Republicans we have to make our choice I know mine and I believe I

know Americas we'll defend the truth not give into the big lie we'll embrace the Constitution and the Declaration not abandoned it will honor the sacred cause of democracy not walk away from it today I make this sacred pledge to you the defense protection and preservation of American democracy will remain as it has been the central cause of my presidency America as we began this election year

we must be clear democracy is on the ballot your freedom is on the ballot yes we'll be voting on many issues on the freedom to vote and have your vote counted and the freedom of a choice the freedom to have a fair shot the Freedom From Fear and we debate and disagree without democracy no progress is possible think about it the alternative democracy is dictatorship the

rule of one not the rule of we the people that's what the soldiers of Valley Forge understood so was me what what we have to understand it as well we've been blessed so long with a strong Sable democracy it's easy to forget why so many before us risk their lives and strengthen democracy what our lives would be without it democracy means having the freedom to speak

your mind to be who you are to be who you want to be democracy is about being able to bring about peaceful change democracy democracy is how we've opened the doors of opportunity wider and wider with each successive generation not with not withstanding our mistakes but if democracy Falls we'll lose that freedom we'll lose the power of We the People to shape our destiny if you

doubt me look around the world travel with me as I meet with other heads of state throughout the world look at the authoritarian leaders and dictators Trump says he admires he out loud says he admires it won't go through them Mall it take too long look remember how he F where you refers to what he calls Love Letter exchanges between he and the dictator of North

Korea those women and men out there in the audience who ever fought for the American Military would you ever believe you'd hear a president say something like that his admiration for Putin I could go on and look at what these autocrats are doing to limit freedom in their countries they're limiting freedom of speech freedom of press freedom to assemble women's rights lgbq rights people are going

to jail so much more it's true the push and pull of American History is not a fairy tale every stride forward in America is met with ferocious backlash many times from those who fear progress and those who exploit that fear for their own personal gain from those who traffi and lies told for power and profit for those who are driven by grievance and grift consumed by

conspiracy and victimhood from those who seek to bury history and ban books do ever think you be in a political event talking about book Banning for presidential and a presidential election the choice and contest between those forces those competing forces between solidarity and division is perennial but this time it's so different you can't have a contest you can't have a contest if you see Politics as

an allout War instead of a peaceful way to resolve our differences allout war is what Trump wants that's why he doesn't understand the most fundamental truth about this country unlike other nations on Earth America is not built on ethnicity religion J geography we're the only nation in the history of the world built on an idea not hyperboy built on an idea we hold these truths to

be self-evident that all men and women are created equal it's an idea declared in the Declaration created in a way that we've viewed everybody as equal and be should be treated equal throughout their lives we've never fully lived up to that we have a long way to go but we've never walked away from the idea we've never walked away from it before and I promise you

I will not let Donald Trump or the mag of Republicans Force us to walk away now we're living in an era where a determined minority is doing everything in his power to try to destroy democracy for the own agenda the American people know it and they're standing bravely in the breach remember after 2020 January 6 Insurrection to undo the election in which more Americans had voted

than any other in American history America saw the threat posed to the country they voted him out in 2022 historic midterm election and state after state election after election the election deniers were defeated now in 2024 Trump is winning as the denier in Chief the election denier in Chief once again he's saying he won't honor the results of the election if he loses Trump says he

doesn't understand well he still doesn't understand the basic truth that is you can't love your country only when you win you can't love your country only when you win I'll keep my commitment to be president for all of America whether you voted for me or not I've done it for the last three years and I'll continue to do it together we can keep proving that America

is still a country that believes in decency dignity honesty honor truth we still believe that no one not even the president is above the law we still believe the best majority of us still believe that everyone deserves a fair shot at making it we're still a nation that gives hate no Safe Harbor I tell you from my experience working with leaders around the world and I

mean this sincerely not a joke that America is still viewed as the beacon of democracy for the world I can't tell you how many how many world leaders and I know all of them virtually all of them grab my arm and private and say you can't win tell me no my country will be at risk think of how many countries Tomy you know that are on

the burn on the edge imagine we still believe and we the people that includes all of us not some of us let me close this this in the cold winter of 1777 George Washington and his American troops of Valley fors waged the battle on behalf of a revolutionary idea that everyday people like where I come from and the vast majority of you not a king or

a dictator that every day people can govern themselves without a king or a dictator in fact in the Rotunda of the capital there's a giant caining of General George Washington not President Washington and he is resigning his commission as commanderin-chief the Continental Army a European king at this at the time said after he won the revolution now's the time for him to declare his kingship but

instead the mob that attacked the capital waving Trump flags and Confederate flags stormed right past that port portrait the image of George Washington gave them no pause but it should have the artist who painted that portrait memorialized that moment because he said it was quote one of the highest moral lessons ever given to the world end of quote George Washington was the height of his power

having just defeated the most powerful Empire on Earth could have held on the power as long as he wanted he could have made himself not a future president but a future Monarch in effect and by the way when he got elected president he could have stayed for two three four five terms till he died but that wasn't the America he and the American troops at Valley

Forge had fought for and America genuine leaders Democratic Leaders with a small D don't hold on on to power relentlessly our leaders return power to the people and they do it willingly because that's the deal you do your duty you serve your country and ours as a country worther worthy of service as many Republican presidents and democratic presidents have shown over the years we're not perfect

but at our best we face on WE face head on the good the bad the truth of who we are we look in the mirror and ultimately never Pretend We're something we're not that's what great Nations do and we're a great nation we're the greatest nation on the face of the Earth we really are that's the America I see in our future we get up We

Carry On we never bow we never Bend we speak of possibilities not Carnage we're not weighed down by grievances we don't Foster fear we don't walk around as victims we take charge of our destiny we get our job done with a PE with help of the people we find in America who find their place in a changing world and dream and build a future that not

only they but all people deserve a shot at we don't believe none of you believe America is failing we know America is winning that's American patriotism it's not winning because of Joe Biden it's winning this the first national election since January 6th Insurrection placed a dagger at the throat of American democracy since that moment we all know who Donald Trump is the question we have to

answer is who are we that's what's at State who are we in the year ahead as you talk to your family and friends cast your ballot the power is in your hands after all we've been through in our history from Independence to Civil War to Two World Wars to pandemic to Insurrection I refuse to believe that in 2024 we Americans will choose to walk away from

what's made us the greatest nation in history of the world Freedom Liberty democracy is still a sacred cause and there's no country in the world better position to lead the world than America that's why I've said it many times that's why I've never been more optimistic about our future and I've been doing this a hell of a long time just to remember who we are with

patience and fortitude with one heart we are the United States of America for God sake I mean it there is nothing I believe in every fber there's nothing beyond our capacity if we act together and decently with one another nothing nothing nothing I mean it we're the only nation in the world has come out of every crisis stronger than we went into that crisis that was

true yesterday and is true today and I guarantee you will be true tomorrow God bless you all and may God protect our troops hi everyone George Stephanopoulos here thanks for checking out the ABC News YouTube channel if you'd like to get more videos show highlights and watch live event coverage click on the right over here to subscribe to our Channel and don't forget to download the

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