CPAC Michigan- John James

Good evening, everyone. Thank you so much for having me on today, and thank you for taking the time to listen to me a little bit this evening. And for those who are on location, thank you for taking a little bit of time out of your very, very busy days to participate in this process. I also want to thank American Conservatives Union Chairman Matt Schlapp for inviting me to join you all today. Very much appreciate how important Michigan and this country are to him, and also for his friendship and support. I believe this election is serious, and a lot more is at stake than just a U.S. Senate election. This election is going to be one of the most pivotal of our lifetimes. And yeah, I know what you're thinking. They always say that in elections. But this time is actually true. There's truly so much at stake this November. I believe truly the American dream is at stake. My father grew up in Starkville, Mississippi in 1941. He lived directly across the street from Mississippi State University and couldn't go there because he was Black. But despite growing up in the worst economic inequality and institutional racism this country has ever known, in the Jim Crow South, he refused to allow his vulnerability to turn into victimhood. He refused to be a victim in his own country. He recognized the promise of America was his birthright too. He never allowed dependency to become his destiny. He paid his way through college. He served honorably in Vietnam. He moved to Detroit and in 1971 started a trucking company with one truck, one trailer, and no excuses, hauling beer back and forth between Detroit and Milwaukee. I'm not sitting here because of socialism. I'm sitting here because free enterprise and self-determination works. My father's sweat, tears, successes, and failures moved my family from poverty to prosperity in a single generation. That's the American dream. That's why we fight for freedom every single day. I believe the American dream is worth fighting for. I believe the American dream is worth sacrificing for. A few of my West Point classmates gave their lives for it. We, all of us, all of us must be willing to continue that fight. All people must have and deserve equal opportunity, a chance at the American dream. That is what makes America exceptional. You show me. You show me where in the world you can go from slave to senator in four generations and from poverty to prosperity in one, and I'll show you the United States of America. I'll show you the American dream. I'll show you what's possible when the people are first and the politics is last and we listen to our United States Constitution with rights that are endowed to us by our creator, not to any federal or state government. I need you all to realize something, too. My opponent would be less than a speed bump against the leftist move toward anarchy and socialism. We've already seen how that story plays out in Detroit when you let leftists take over. We don't need to go to Venezuela to see proof. You can see our schools. You can see our roads. You can see our opportunities, and you can see the lack thereof. You can see opportunity leaving our future generations. You can see opportunity leaving our working class and our farmers. You can see opportunity leaving our state, and Senator Peters has stood by for 30 years as a career politician, 12 years in Washington, and six years as a senator and allowed it to happen. People in Michigan want, need, and deserve change, and change will only come when we change it ourselves. We have the power, and so now we have to stand up, and we have to have our voices heard through our votes. President Lincoln showed us how to stand up to oppression and how to hold a nation together by sheer force of will. Reagan showed us how to defeat Marxist ideology without firing a shot. President Trump dares us to be great while continuing to tear down barriers and increase access to the American dream for the forgotten in every corner of this nation. I truly believe that the president is not done. I believe that I haven't even gotten started, and I know that you are not done doing everything you can to make this nation a better, stronger, more inclusive, equal, successful, and sustainable place. We have a long way to go, and I need you. Most importantly, a generation on the verge of socialism needs you. We don't have the right to give up or become despondent. We deserve exactly the leaders we have in this nation. In 2018, 200,000 Republicans who showed up in 2016 couldn't be bothered to show up in the midterm, and we now have the leaders who we complain about. We have the opportunity to change the trajectory of history because I truly believe that a Democrat Congress and a Democrat presidency would not need two more years to take our nation to the leftist agenda. We have the opportunity right now to stand up the way the original Republicans did, to free men from bondage and hold this nation together. I'm counting on you to jump in this boxhole with me. Thank you for your sacrifice of time, talent, and treasure. I will always have your six because you have mine as well. God bless you. Please be sure to return your absentee ballot or vote on November 3rd. Thank you. God bless you. And again, let's fly.