1 00:00:04,200 --> 00:00:08,160 Speaker 1: It has been almost eight years since Donald Trump came 2 00:00:08,200 --> 00:00:14,000 Speaker 1: down the escalator in Trump Tower and defiled American society 3 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:20,680 Speaker 1: with his racist rantings, his lunacies, his demagoguery, and his 4 00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:28,680 Speaker 1: hostility to every precept concept of Americanism, the American idea, 5 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:35,320 Speaker 1: the American ideal, the history of the country. Trump is utterly, 6 00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:42,280 Speaker 1: completely and totally ignorant of all of these things, which 7 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:47,680 Speaker 1: puts him in good stead along with the overwhelming majority 8 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:53,639 Speaker 1: of Americans who also have no idea about the country's idea, 9 00:00:54,120 --> 00:01:00,080 Speaker 1: its ideals, and its precepts. The collapse of civics education 10 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:05,080 Speaker 1: around the meaning of the country, its point, its purpose, 11 00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:11,360 Speaker 1: its story, has taken us to this most dangerous hour. 12 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:18,200 Speaker 1: There is no question that Donald Trump incited and led 13 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:27,679 Speaker 1: an insurrection against the lawful, peaceful transition of power. Donald 14 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:32,440 Speaker 1: Trump tried to stage a coup. He sent a mob 15 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:37,880 Speaker 1: and it invaded the capital. And it is not accidental 16 00:01:38,959 --> 00:01:42,959 Speaker 1: that when that mob came, they were carrying the Confederate 17 00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:48,120 Speaker 1: battle flag and they paraded it through the capital rotunda, 18 00:01:49,120 --> 00:01:54,840 Speaker 1: breaching the capital, something the Confederacy was unable to achieve 19 00:01:55,560 --> 00:02:01,400 Speaker 1: during the Civil War. There are significant consequence that have 20 00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:07,360 Speaker 1: occurred because of this insurrection. There have been hundreds of 21 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:14,320 Speaker 1: criminal convictions. Many people have been imprisoned. Trump was impeached 22 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:21,480 Speaker 1: and he faces criminal counts in jurisdictions across the country. 23 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:27,400 Speaker 1: The Colorado Supreme Court has issued a ruling, and the 24 00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:32,320 Speaker 1: ruling is that Donald Trump may not appear on the 25 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:37,960 Speaker 1: Colorado ballot. He will be stricken from it under Section 26 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:42,079 Speaker 1: three of the fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, 27 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:46,480 Speaker 1: which was ratified in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War. 28 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:51,000 Speaker 1: In its design was to keep top officials of the 29 00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:55,920 Speaker 1: Confederate government from serving again in the United States government. 30 00:02:56,960 --> 00:03:01,640 Speaker 1: It's also important to remember that of the Civil War, 31 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:08,359 Speaker 1: the American leader, President Abraham Lincoln, talked about with malice 32 00:03:08,639 --> 00:03:14,080 Speaker 1: towards none and charity towards all. The simple truth is 33 00:03:14,639 --> 00:03:20,200 Speaker 1: that after the Civil War, the overwhelming majority of Confederate 34 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:27,000 Speaker 1: soldiers and officers and officeholders were paroled. They were freed. 35 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:32,200 Speaker 1: The condition of the parole was a commitment to never 36 00:03:32,320 --> 00:03:37,520 Speaker 1: again take up arms against the United States. Another event 37 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:42,240 Speaker 1: occurred last night that is worthy of note, and it's tragic. 38 00:03:42,880 --> 00:03:48,160 Speaker 1: The Lincoln Memorial was desecrated with red paint, then spelled 39 00:03:48,160 --> 00:03:54,840 Speaker 1: out free Palestine, give Back the land. The temple that 40 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:59,800 Speaker 1: houses the spirit and memory of the man who saved 41 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:06,240 Speaker 1: the Union was defaced when the Lincoln Memorial was dedicated 42 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:11,360 Speaker 1: in nineteen twenty two by President Warren G. Harding, who 43 00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:15,680 Speaker 1: received it for the nation from the president of the 44 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:21,200 Speaker 1: commission that built it, Supreme Court Chief Justice William Howard Taft, 45 00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:25,440 Speaker 1: a former President of the United States. And what Harding 46 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:31,000 Speaker 1: talked about that day was that the temple that was 47 00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:36,880 Speaker 1: received by the American government that enshrines the memory of 48 00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:42,839 Speaker 1: Abraham Lincoln was not for that generation. It was not 49 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:47,320 Speaker 1: a gift for the old men who had fought in 50 00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:52,160 Speaker 1: the war to remember their achievements and their victories. As 51 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:57,240 Speaker 1: Warren Harding pointed out, the gift of the Lincoln Memorial 52 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:03,640 Speaker 1: was for all of us, this generation, and the next 53 00:05:04,279 --> 00:05:09,400 Speaker 1: and the next after that. The Lincoln Memorial is a 54 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:17,080 Speaker 1: reminder about the perpetuity of the American Union and its indivisibility. 55 00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:23,000 Speaker 1: But more importantly, it is a stake in the ground 56 00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:29,520 Speaker 1: about who is sovereign in the United States. Lincoln talked 57 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:34,640 Speaker 1: about this all the time. He made the point that 58 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:41,120 Speaker 1: a minority that threatens the majority with secession, as was 59 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:46,839 Speaker 1: the case in that time, seeks to undermine democracy with 60 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:52,080 Speaker 1: a belligerence that says, we will destroy what we cannot 61 00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:58,279 Speaker 1: achieve through a majority. And the only defense of freedom 62 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:06,720 Speaker 1: that there can ever be is majoritarian. A system where 63 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:13,719 Speaker 1: the majority decides and minority rights are protected is the 64 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:19,040 Speaker 1: system of government that protects all in any from despotism. 65 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:26,080 Speaker 1: That is what Donald Trump challenged. What Donald Trump did 66 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:32,920 Speaker 1: was assault the American Constitution as firmly and with as 67 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:39,880 Speaker 1: much conviction as the Confederate States of America did. He 68 00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:46,920 Speaker 1: sought to tear down Americanism. He sought to erase the 69 00:06:46,960 --> 00:06:55,560 Speaker 1: American civilization. He sought to crack the foundation. What is 70 00:06:55,880 --> 00:07:02,200 Speaker 1: the foundation of the American Republic? It is the idea 71 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:08,359 Speaker 1: that the citizen is sovereign. There are no kings or 72 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:14,360 Speaker 1: lords or emperors, barons or viscounts in America. There is 73 00:07:14,400 --> 00:07:22,400 Speaker 1: no title gentry, just citizens, and those citizens decide every 74 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:27,480 Speaker 1: four years, in a great recurring drama, who it is 75 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:30,200 Speaker 1: that will be the head of state, who it is 76 00:07:30,280 --> 00:07:34,120 Speaker 1: that will be the commander in chief, who will be 77 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:43,800 Speaker 1: the president. Presidents don't pick the time of their power. 78 00:07:45,400 --> 00:07:51,760 Speaker 1: The American people decide who is granted for a time 79 00:07:52,920 --> 00:08:01,600 Speaker 1: lawful executive authority constrained by the American Constitution, which protects 80 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:07,440 Speaker 1: the rights of the individual and places them higher than 81 00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:12,920 Speaker 1: the authority of the elected official. In fact, the American 82 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:19,920 Speaker 1: system removes the power of elected officials to take away 83 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:25,480 Speaker 1: fundamental rights that are granted in the American system not 84 00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:30,520 Speaker 1: by men, but by God, the Creator, as he is 85 00:08:30,560 --> 00:08:36,559 Speaker 1: referred to in the Declaration of Independence. Ever since Donald 86 00:08:36,559 --> 00:08:42,640 Speaker 1: Trump came down the escalator, his opposition has searched for 87 00:08:42,720 --> 00:08:48,280 Speaker 1: the magic bullet. With each speech, with each degradation, with 88 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:54,240 Speaker 1: each offense, we have arrived at moments where people said, well, now, 89 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:59,640 Speaker 1: finally this will be the end. The grab them by, 90 00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:06,400 Speaker 1: the on access Hollywood, the shakedown of the Ukrainian president, 91 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:12,920 Speaker 1: the insults towards John McCain, the fact that he did 92 00:09:12,960 --> 00:09:15,959 Speaker 1: not want to go to an American cemetery in France. 93 00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:20,720 Speaker 1: He has insulted POW's our war dead, the United States 94 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:25,920 Speaker 1: and wounded soldiers. At each instance somebody has gone on 95 00:09:26,080 --> 00:09:29,559 Speaker 1: and said, this is the end for Donald Trump. And 96 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:34,600 Speaker 1: so it is. Again. We are in the middle of 97 00:09:34,640 --> 00:09:39,160 Speaker 1: a game that is reminiscent of Charlie Brown and Lucy 98 00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:44,240 Speaker 1: and their kabuki with the football, where each time Charlie 99 00:09:44,240 --> 00:09:46,640 Speaker 1: Brown would run at the football ready to kick it, 100 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:51,959 Speaker 1: and each time Lucy would pull it away. And so 101 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:55,640 Speaker 1: it is that the American people and the Trump opposition 102 00:09:56,240 --> 00:09:59,720 Speaker 1: are deeply invested in the idea now that the Supreme 103 00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:02,920 Speaker 1: Court of the United States will affirm the Colorado decision 104 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:06,640 Speaker 1: and remove Donald Trump from the ballot. But we have 105 00:10:06,720 --> 00:10:13,559 Speaker 1: to think about this soberly and seriously and understand the impact. 106 00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:18,680 Speaker 1: There is no shortcut here. There is no easy way 107 00:10:18,880 --> 00:10:24,680 Speaker 1: around Donald Trump. This matter will not, cannot, and must 108 00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:31,120 Speaker 1: not be decided by lawyers in a courtroom. How can 109 00:10:31,160 --> 00:10:36,800 Speaker 1: it be that an opposition that has rightfully talked about 110 00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:41,400 Speaker 1: Donald Trump's degradations towards the American Republic and the threat 111 00:10:41,840 --> 00:10:46,400 Speaker 1: that he provides to democracy seek to remove him by 112 00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:52,839 Speaker 1: denying the American people the choice to choose him if 113 00:10:52,880 --> 00:10:58,120 Speaker 1: they so wish to be the commander in chief, which 114 00:10:58,120 --> 00:11:02,960 Speaker 1: in my view will end catastrophically and likely and the 115 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:10,120 Speaker 1: American Republic. But that choice is the choice of this 116 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:15,120 Speaker 1: generation of Americans. And this is what Abraham Lincoln understood. 117 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:21,360 Speaker 1: If our choice is to be national suicide, so be it. 118 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:27,360 Speaker 1: I hope that will not be the case, but there 119 00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:31,960 Speaker 1: will be a tremendous backlash to any type of maneuver 120 00:11:32,160 --> 00:11:35,400 Speaker 1: by a court that seeks to remove Donald Trump from 121 00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:39,880 Speaker 1: the ballot, because it's not the court's job to remove 122 00:11:40,040 --> 00:11:44,680 Speaker 1: him from the ballot. Under the Fourteenth Amendment, written after 123 00:11:44,760 --> 00:11:49,600 Speaker 1: the Civil War, it is the American people's job to 124 00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:54,720 Speaker 1: keep him from power and to keep an illiberal cabal 125 00:11:55,960 --> 00:12:03,600 Speaker 1: of corrupt, dangerous lunatic from taking power with him. If 126 00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:07,520 Speaker 1: the American people's indifference to their own freedom and liberty 127 00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:12,040 Speaker 1: is so great they're indifference to the blood sacrifice of 128 00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:19,480 Speaker 1: a million who sustained liberty against all threats foreign and domestic, 129 00:12:20,480 --> 00:12:25,640 Speaker 1: is so great that they cannot see the danger, that 130 00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:32,160 Speaker 1: they cannot see what will happen, then there is no 131 00:12:32,240 --> 00:12:36,120 Speaker 1: court decision that can save us from Trump, because Trump 132 00:12:37,040 --> 00:12:41,760 Speaker 1: will have already won. The United States of America is 133 00:12:41,800 --> 00:12:45,640 Speaker 1: the greatest idea in all of human history. It is 134 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:51,640 Speaker 1: the greatest and grandest experiment in all of human history, 135 00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:57,479 Speaker 1: the ideal that ordinary people of all creeds and backgrounds 136 00:12:57,480 --> 00:13:03,520 Speaker 1: and races can govern them. It has taken almost two 137 00:13:03,679 --> 00:13:06,800 Speaker 1: hundred and fifty years to arrive at the moment where 138 00:13:06,840 --> 00:13:12,960 Speaker 1: freedom means freedom for everybody in America. The question at 139 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:19,440 Speaker 1: hand is not a legal question. It is a civilizational question. 140 00:13:21,679 --> 00:13:27,319 Speaker 1: It is paramount that we understand the choice at hand. 141 00:13:29,040 --> 00:13:33,240 Speaker 1: The choice will be made by the American people, not 142 00:13:33,360 --> 00:13:38,080 Speaker 1: by Supreme Court justices, and any attempt, no matter how 143 00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:42,000 Speaker 1: well intentioned, and no matter how it is framed as 144 00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:45,160 Speaker 1: being part of a rule of law, that is supreme. 145 00:13:46,520 --> 00:13:50,720 Speaker 1: The simple truth is the removal of a former president 146 00:13:50,760 --> 00:13:54,079 Speaker 1: who is going to be the Republican nominee from a 147 00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:58,480 Speaker 1: ballot across the States because of what he did but 148 00:13:58,559 --> 00:14:04,400 Speaker 1: has not been convicted for, will wreck American democracy as 149 00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:12,679 Speaker 1: surely as Donald Trump's election will. The American people have 150 00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:19,240 Speaker 1: to show love for their country by participating in its governing. 151 00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:25,400 Speaker 1: There is no workaround for citizenship. The failure to practice 152 00:14:25,440 --> 00:14:31,560 Speaker 1: it will mean a loss of our children's freedom. And 153 00:14:31,560 --> 00:14:34,680 Speaker 1: that's what this moment is truly about.