Speaker 1: It has been almost eight years since Donald Trump came
Speaker 1: down the escalator in Trump Tower and defiled American society
Speaker 1: with his racist rantings, his lunacies, his demagoguery, and his
Speaker 1: hostility to every precept concept of Americanism, the American idea,
Speaker 1: the American ideal, the history of the country. Trump is utterly,
Speaker 1: completely and totally ignorant of all of these things, which
Speaker 1: puts him in good stead along with the overwhelming majority
Speaker 1: of Americans who also have no idea about the country's idea,
Speaker 1: its ideals, and its precepts. The collapse of civics education
Speaker 1: around the meaning of the country, its point, its purpose,
Speaker 1: its story, has taken us to this most dangerous hour.
Speaker 1: There is no question that Donald Trump incited and led
Speaker 1: an insurrection against the lawful, peaceful transition of power. Donald
Speaker 1: Trump tried to stage a coup. He sent a mob
Speaker 1: and it invaded the capital. And it is not accidental
Speaker 1: that when that mob came, they were carrying the Confederate
Speaker 1: battle flag and they paraded it through the capital rotunda,
Speaker 1: breaching the capital, something the Confederacy was unable to achieve
Speaker 1: during the Civil War. There are significant consequence that have
Speaker 1: occurred because of this insurrection. There have been hundreds of
Speaker 1: criminal convictions. Many people have been imprisoned. Trump was impeached
Speaker 1: and he faces criminal counts in jurisdictions across the country.
Speaker 1: The Colorado Supreme Court has issued a ruling, and the
Speaker 1: ruling is that Donald Trump may not appear on the
Speaker 1: Colorado ballot. He will be stricken from it under Section
Speaker 1: three of the fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution,
Speaker 1: which was ratified in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War.
Speaker 1: In its design was to keep top officials of the
Speaker 1: Confederate government from serving again in the United States government.
Speaker 1: It's also important to remember that of the Civil War,
Speaker 1: the American leader, President Abraham Lincoln, talked about with malice
Speaker 1: towards none and charity towards all. The simple truth is
Speaker 1: that after the Civil War, the overwhelming majority of Confederate
Speaker 1: soldiers and officers and officeholders were paroled. They were freed.
Speaker 1: The condition of the parole was a commitment to never
Speaker 1: again take up arms against the United States. Another event
Speaker 1: occurred last night that is worthy of note, and it's tragic.
Speaker 1: The Lincoln Memorial was desecrated with red paint, then spelled
Speaker 1: out free Palestine, give Back the land. The temple that
Speaker 1: houses the spirit and memory of the man who saved
Speaker 1: the Union was defaced when the Lincoln Memorial was dedicated
Speaker 1: in nineteen twenty two by President Warren G. Harding, who
Speaker 1: received it for the nation from the president of the
Speaker 1: commission that built it, Supreme Court Chief Justice William Howard Taft,
Speaker 1: a former President of the United States. And what Harding
Speaker 1: talked about that day was that the temple that was
Speaker 1: received by the American government that enshrines the memory of
Speaker 1: Abraham Lincoln was not for that generation. It was not
Speaker 1: a gift for the old men who had fought in
Speaker 1: the war to remember their achievements and their victories. As
Speaker 1: Warren Harding pointed out, the gift of the Lincoln Memorial
Speaker 1: was for all of us, this generation, and the next
Speaker 1: and the next after that. The Lincoln Memorial is a
Speaker 1: reminder about the perpetuity of the American Union and its indivisibility.
Speaker 1: But more importantly, it is a stake in the ground
Speaker 1: about who is sovereign in the United States. Lincoln talked
Speaker 1: about this all the time. He made the point that
Speaker 1: a minority that threatens the majority with secession, as was
Speaker 1: the case in that time, seeks to undermine democracy with
Speaker 1: a belligerence that says, we will destroy what we cannot
Speaker 1: achieve through a majority. And the only defense of freedom
Speaker 1: that there can ever be is majoritarian. A system where
Speaker 1: the majority decides and minority rights are protected is the
Speaker 1: system of government that protects all in any from despotism.
Speaker 1: That is what Donald Trump challenged. What Donald Trump did
Speaker 1: was assault the American Constitution as firmly and with as
Speaker 1: much conviction as the Confederate States of America did. He
Speaker 1: sought to tear down Americanism. He sought to erase the
Speaker 1: American civilization. He sought to crack the foundation. What is
Speaker 1: the foundation of the American Republic? It is the idea
Speaker 1: that the citizen is sovereign. There are no kings or
Speaker 1: lords or emperors, barons or viscounts in America. There is
Speaker 1: no title gentry, just citizens, and those citizens decide every
Speaker 1: four years, in a great recurring drama, who it is
Speaker 1: that will be the head of state, who it is
Speaker 1: that will be the commander in chief, who will be
Speaker 1: the president. Presidents don't pick the time of their power.
Speaker 1: The American people decide who is granted for a time
Speaker 1: lawful executive authority constrained by the American Constitution, which protects
Speaker 1: the rights of the individual and places them higher than
Speaker 1: the authority of the elected official. In fact, the American
Speaker 1: system removes the power of elected officials to take away
Speaker 1: fundamental rights that are granted in the American system not
Speaker 1: by men, but by God, the Creator, as he is
Speaker 1: referred to in the Declaration of Independence. Ever since Donald
Speaker 1: Trump came down the escalator, his opposition has searched for
Speaker 1: the magic bullet. With each speech, with each degradation, with
Speaker 1: each offense, we have arrived at moments where people said, well, now,
Speaker 1: finally this will be the end. The grab them by,
Speaker 1: the on access Hollywood, the shakedown of the Ukrainian president,
Speaker 1: the insults towards John McCain, the fact that he did
Speaker 1: not want to go to an American cemetery in France.
Speaker 1: He has insulted POW's our war dead, the United States
Speaker 1: and wounded soldiers. At each instance somebody has gone on
Speaker 1: and said, this is the end for Donald Trump. And
Speaker 1: so it is. Again. We are in the middle of
Speaker 1: a game that is reminiscent of Charlie Brown and Lucy
Speaker 1: and their kabuki with the football, where each time Charlie
Speaker 1: Brown would run at the football ready to kick it,
Speaker 1: and each time Lucy would pull it away. And so
Speaker 1: it is that the American people and the Trump opposition
Speaker 1: are deeply invested in the idea now that the Supreme
Speaker 1: Court of the United States will affirm the Colorado decision
Speaker 1: and remove Donald Trump from the ballot. But we have
Speaker 1: to think about this soberly and seriously and understand the impact.
Speaker 1: There is no shortcut here. There is no easy way
Speaker 1: around Donald Trump. This matter will not, cannot, and must
Speaker 1: not be decided by lawyers in a courtroom. How can
Speaker 1: it be that an opposition that has rightfully talked about
Speaker 1: Donald Trump's degradations towards the American Republic and the threat
Speaker 1: that he provides to democracy seek to remove him by
Speaker 1: denying the American people the choice to choose him if
Speaker 1: they so wish to be the commander in chief, which
Speaker 1: in my view will end catastrophically and likely and the
Speaker 1: American Republic. But that choice is the choice of this
Speaker 1: generation of Americans. And this is what Abraham Lincoln understood.
Speaker 1: If our choice is to be national suicide, so be it.
Speaker 1: I hope that will not be the case, but there
Speaker 1: will be a tremendous backlash to any type of maneuver
Speaker 1: by a court that seeks to remove Donald Trump from
Speaker 1: the ballot, because it's not the court's job to remove
Speaker 1: him from the ballot. Under the Fourteenth Amendment, written after
Speaker 1: the Civil War, it is the American people's job to
Speaker 1: keep him from power and to keep an illiberal cabal
Speaker 1: of corrupt, dangerous lunatic from taking power with him. If
Speaker 1: the American people's indifference to their own freedom and liberty
Speaker 1: is so great they're indifference to the blood sacrifice of
Speaker 1: a million who sustained liberty against all threats foreign and domestic,
Speaker 1: is so great that they cannot see the danger, that
Speaker 1: they cannot see what will happen, then there is no
Speaker 1: court decision that can save us from Trump, because Trump
Speaker 1: will have already won. The United States of America is
Speaker 1: the greatest idea in all of human history. It is
Speaker 1: the greatest and grandest experiment in all of human history,
Speaker 1: the ideal that ordinary people of all creeds and backgrounds
Speaker 1: and races can govern them. It has taken almost two
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty years to arrive at the moment where
Speaker 1: freedom means freedom for everybody in America. The question at
Speaker 1: hand is not a legal question. It is a civilizational question.
Speaker 1: It is paramount that we understand the choice at hand.
Speaker 1: The choice will be made by the American people, not
Speaker 1: by Supreme Court justices, and any attempt, no matter how
Speaker 1: well intentioned, and no matter how it is framed as
Speaker 1: being part of a rule of law, that is supreme.
Speaker 1: The simple truth is the removal of a former president
Speaker 1: who is going to be the Republican nominee from a
Speaker 1: ballot across the States because of what he did but
Speaker 1: has not been convicted for, will wreck American democracy as
Speaker 1: surely as Donald Trump's election will. The American people have
Speaker 1: to show love for their country by participating in its governing.
Speaker 1: There is no workaround for citizenship. The failure to practice
Speaker 1: it will mean a loss of our children's freedom. And
Speaker 1: that's what this moment is truly about.