Remarks by Vice President Harris and Governor Tim Walz After Greeting the Aliquippa High School Football Team

“First of all, Coach, thank you. To each of you, thanks. I know we’re interrupting your practice. The busy part and the important part is out there on the field, but thank you for having us on this.

BREAK IN SPEECH

“This is a — this is pretty sacred ground. Folks in Minnesota know about this place. We know about this team. We know the people you produce — not just FN- NFL players but — but men of a character that come out of this program, because, as Doug said — I’m privileged to be on this team — I’m the current governor of Minnesota, but for 20 years, this was the time of year I looked forward to most. I was a defensive coordinator at Mankato West High School and coached football and — and taught school.

Public schools are the foundation of our country. And I don’t have to tell you, anybody who tells you that it’s just a game — this is more than just a game. This is about building character. It’s about doing something bigger than yourself. It’s about trusting the person that’s standing on each side of you, and, on Friday night, you know they’ll be there. And if you look around here, the moments that you’re living right now, these guys will be around your whole life. You’ll remember them. You’ll remember these plays.

I can still remember every single call during that state — first state championship, how it went. It’s that important. I’ve told people, and they think I’m joking about it, it was harder to win that state football championship than it was to become governor, so — it’s tough work. You got to count on a lot of things. You got to do a lot of things.

And on our team, we ran a 4-4 defense. I wouldn’t have wanted to go against this guy, I can tell you that, but . There’s no stopping that run.

But the kids played hard and — and they understood that it was something bigger than themselves. And I’ll have to tell you, being out here with — with Vice President Harris, I know it’d be easy — especially now, our politics has been pretty ugly. Our politics has seemed pretty negative. Our politics is something that I know what I fear most is, is that young people turn away from it rather than turning into it.

Politics isn’t that much different than this. It’s about something bigger than themselves. It’s about setting a future goal and trying to reach it. It’s about doing it with dignity and hard work. It’s about doing it with humility. And when you lose, you walk across the field and you shake hands with the other team and know they played hard too. But we’re all in it together to try and make it better.

And things like investing in this public school and having — I can’t imagine what this place looks like when it’s filled with folks and the lights are on and the leaves are turning and that game is in the fourth quarter and somebody has to make that play, somebody has to step up, and you look to each side of you and you know, “I trust them. I trust them to make that play.”

Our country’s not that different. Our neighbors want to be with you. Our neighbors want to do what’s right. And the more we figure out that we’re in this thing together and we have more in common than we have separated, we’re going to do a heck of a lot better.

So, I have to tell you, thanks for taking some time. Thanks for giving us the privilege to stand on this field, because you earned the right to be on this field. You earn it with a lot of sweat. You earn it with a lot of time in the weight room. You earn it with the folks who came before you and know that they care how you conduct yourselves on this, and we feel the same way.

We have a responsibility to the American public to conduct ourselves with dignity, conduct ourselves with a vision, and to conduct ourselves and all of this — when football’s done right, it is just fun as heck to play the game. And that’s the way things can be.

So, I have to tell you, I am just honored to be with this leader. I’m honored with someone who’s showing us that. I’m honored with someone who’s out doing politics with a smile on her face and with a sense of that everybody matters.

And we’re here in this space to say — it’s not just a cliché — our future is with you, and we have a responsibility to deliver it to you in good shape, to make sure that we’re doing the right things to give you a good shot at the future.

And so, for me, it’s a privilege to be on this team. It’s a privilege to see this leader do it with such joy. And it’s a privilege for me to get to introduce to you — and this is, like, some of the first times I’m getting to do this — the next president of the United States, Kamala Harris.”

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