Former second lady Jill Biden made a virtual campaign stop in the Tampa area Wednesday, in which she acknowledged the stresses of returning to school during a pandemic and urged young people to vote as a way of ending the “chaos” of the current administration.
“We are living in the chaos of Donald Trump’s America. If you want change in your life, if you want this pandemic to go away so you can go back to school, so you can go back to work, so that you do have good health, then you have to vote. It is crucial,” she said in an online live video addressing students and staff at Pasco-Hernando State College.
“My message to anyone who is ambivalent or indifferent about voting: all of the students on the screen – your future depends on it,” she said.
The virtual visit by Biden is part of her back-to-school tour, including many battleground states like Florida. An online event in Jacksonville is also planned.
As a longtime professor of English at Northern Virginia Community College, Biden also acknowledged the strain of returning to school in a pandemic.
“If you’re anything like my students, you still face challenges, like sharing a computer with other members of your family, trying to figure out how to make a complicated matrix of schedules work, maybe you are overseeing your children’s remote learning, and maybe you are worried about juggling it all – work, learning, childcare and keeping your family safe,” Biden said.
She also promised that if elected, her husband would make education a priority.
“Joe knows that the best policies don’t come from politics. They come from educators and students like you. And I promise you that Joe is going to listen. That’s why I’m here today and why I am touring cities over the course of the next two weeks.”
The former second lady urged students to vote in November, and reminded them that the deadline to register in the state is October 5.
