"Those of us who take on a role of leadership in public office, the elected role or appointed or however we get here at this moment, is highlighting the significance of holding these offices in the public trust. And that means that the power that one has in these offices must be used in a way that is about the people and serving the people and being in touch with their needs. Lifting them up in terms of their circumstance, lifting people up spiritually, in terms of lifting up people’s spirits, even having some sense of of empathy and understanding about the suffering with some level of concern about one’s responsibility to help alleviate that."

“We’ve got a president of the United States who is so obsessed with what is in his personal best interest … to the pain and the demise of the people who he is in office to represent. So, we need a new president. There is no question about that.”

“There is not a black man I know, be he a relative, a friend, or a co-worker, who has not been the subject of some kind of profiling or discrimination”

“Black women and women of color have long been underrepresented in elected office and in November we have an opportunity to change that. Let's get to work.”

“The civil rights struggle is nothing new to Joe. It's why he got into public service. It's why he helped reauthorise the Voting Rights Act and restore unemployment discrimination--and employment discrimination laws. "And today, he takes his place in the ongoing story of America's march toward equality and justice as only--as the only, as the only who has served alongside the first black president and has chosen the first Black woman as his running mate”

“The science behind climate change is not a hoax. The science behind COVID-19 is not partisan. And President-elect Joe Biden and I will not only listen to the science—we will invest in it and the next generation of scientists.”

“They said, 'Do you think Trump is responsible for what happened?' And I said, 'Well, look. Obviously he didn't pull the trigger, but he's certainly been tweeting out the ammunition”