A lot of lovely women — but women would send very salacious pictures and I’d just give them to the Secret Service. I thought somebody would think I w… - Joe Biden

that it was possible to absorb real loss and make it through.

My plan also takes commonsense action to reduce gun violence and violence overall. It builds on the progress we made this summer when I signed into law the bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the most significant gun safety law we passed in 30 years. It took 30 years. And we beat the NRA. We took them on, and we beat the NRA straight up. (Applause.) You have no idea how intimidating they are to elected officials. The NRA was against it, which means the vast majority — the vast majority of Republicans in Congress couldn’t even stand up and vote for it because they’re afraid of the NRA. It’s not unusual. Every Democrat, Republican, senators — they get afraid of certain interest groups. They voted against it. Law enforcement supported it. Faith leaders and teachers supported it. Victims of gun violence and their families supported it. Young people in this country, like the students of the great — this great university, support it. And the NRA and the vast majority of congressional Republicans voted against it — saving lives and keeping America safe. But guess what? We took on the NRA, and we’re going to take them on again. And we won. And we will win again.

The last 10 years, there have been fewer democracies that have been formed than we’ve lost in the world. So this is — what you’re engaged in is much more than just whether or not you can alleviate the pain and suffering of the people of Ukraine. We’re in a new phase — your generation. We’re at an inflection point. About every four or five generations, there comes along a change — a fundamental change takes place. The world ain’t going to be the same — not because of Ukraine, but — not going to be the same 10, 15 years from now in terms of our organizational structures. So the question is: Who is going to prevail? Are democracies going to prevail ... and the values we share? Or are autocracies going to prevail? And that’s really what’s at stake. So what you’re doing is consequential — really consequential.