Pence Speaks

Vice President Pence spoke at the Young America's Foundation Fall Retreat today:

I know you get a little tired — even all these bright young people get a little tired after election season, and I know you all worked very hard. The truth is, I’m headed down to Georgia next week, and I’ll be going down again and again, and we have got to roll our sleeves up. And just as earnestly as we are working to reelect President Trump for four more years, we got to make sure that we reelect a Republican majority in the United States Senate and the majority path goes straight through Georgia. (Applause.)

So get ready. I mean, it’s great to be here at this Young America’s Foundation Retreat, but I hope you get a little retreat, you get a little refreshed, and then, if you can, hit the road. (Laughs.) All roads point south, okay? Go find a place to get involved and knock on the door because it — their — you know, our agenda is about American greatness, and I really do believe their agenda will lead to American decline. I believe it with all my heart.

I mean, where we’re opening up again, they got people on their team that are already talking about locking down America again. Where we cut taxes, rolled back regulation, we advanced more freedom — they’re talking about literally raising taxes right out of the gate, growing government, and returning to an activist court, defense cuts that — the likes of which we inherited when we came into office.

We know what their agenda is, and if they — if they find a way to gain control of the White House and the United States Senate, as they hold the House of Representatives even by a narrow majority, their agenda is higher taxes, open borders, socialized medicine, a Green New Deal, abortion on demand, defunding the police, and packing the courts. But we’re not going to let it happen, right? (Applause.)

Young Americans, we’re going to do everything in our power to see this President reelected under the under the color of the law, and we’ll pursue every right and legal remedy. But we all need to do everything in our power to make sure that we win that majority in Georgia as well.

And so I appreciate the opportunity to come and chat with you today and to break loose from some of our duties. We’ll be — we’ll be talking in the Rose Garden a little bit later this afternoon about progress that we’re making in dealing with the coronavirus and advancing a vaccine to millions — tens of millions of Americans just around the corner.

But I want to give you a word of encouragement, and that is: I want to urge all of you to stay in the fight and have faith. I love a quote somebody sent me the other day from Corrie ten Boom. She wrote, “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to known God.” Right? We don’t know what the future holds, but, for me, in my house, we know who holds the future. And so I just want to encourage you to be encouraged. (Applause.)

Stay in the fight for integrity in our elections all the way through this contest through which we’re passing in our courts, and then after that, to make sure that — that we improve our electoral system in this country so that every American can be confident that every legal vote is counted.

Stay in the fight for a Republican majority in the Senate to reelect Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue.

In a word, just stay in the fight for freedom. You know, the fight for freedom never ends. You know, I’ve been — I’ve been laboring in the vineyards of the conservative movement since I had hair the same color as yours. (Laughter.) And, frankly, I started out in politics as a Democrat. I was actually the Youth Democrat Party coordinator in Bartholomew County, Indiana, in 1975, when I was a sophomore in high school. It’s true. I was kind of a “community organizer,” truth be told. (Laughter.)

But then, I started to hear the voice of this movie actor who had run for President. I started to hear the ideals that he was expressing — the belief in individual freedom and a strong national defense and traditional values and the liberties enshrined in our Constitution. And I — I became a Republican. I never looked back.

In fact, the first time I ran for Congress — I was young then, too — it was back in 1988. It was his last year in office, and I actually got to sit with the man that I like to call my second-favorite President. (Laughter.) And I sat down in the Blue Room, across from President Reagan. And it was one of these candidate lineups where you go in and you get to sit down for a few minutes, and they roll a little video, and then they take a — take a picture.

And I was with my young bride — still my bride today — our great Second Lady Karen Pence. (Applause.) But some capable campaign staffer, like one of you, had handed me a sheet that I ought to talk about some road or some bridge or a bridge that needed a road in Indiana or something. I don’t know. And I turned to Karen and I said, “You know, he’s the reason I’m a Republican. I feel like I’d just like to say something from my heart.” And Karen just looked at me and she said, “You just tell him whatever you want to tell him.”

So I sat down, very nervous. You can see a picture of it online, if you want. It’s easy to find. And I sat down, and he looked at me, and he said, “Mike, how’s the campaign going?” And I said, “Well, I got something I’d like to say to you.” And he said, “Okay.” And I said, “I just want to thank you for everything you’ve done to inspire my generation of Americans to believe in this country again.”

And he looked at me and, for as long as I live, I’ll — I’ll believe that, in that moment, the 40th President of the United States blushed. And he said, “Well, Mike, that’s a very nice thing of you to say.” (Laughter.) And it was like he’d never heard it before, and I know he had. But the truth was, when I was your age, I had — I had come of age watching — watching heroes of mine, in my youth, cut down in the streets.

You know, the heroes of my youth were John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., when I was a little boy in the 60s, and I saw the Vietnam War unfurl in front of us, and then we saw Watergate. But when President Reagan came along, he just reminded my generation that we could be great again.

And I can’t help but think that President Trump has had the same impact on each and every one of you. He’s just reminded you what real leadership looks like — what strong, unapologetic American leadership looks like on the world stage; about the difference that one person can make if they hew to the ideals and principles that have always made this country great.

And I have to tell you, it’s — I really hope, in the days ahead, that you’ll — you’ll take this experience and you’ll carry that in your own careers and in your own lives not just from being active in Young America’s Foundation, but as conservatives at home. And don’t resist the call to step forward and put your name on the ballot as well. Because I have a sense every single one of you would be a credit to the nation if you’d step forward and make that sacrifice. That’s what I mean by “Stay in the fight.” Stay in the fight every day in the days that are unfolding in front of us now and the history that’s being written.

Stay in the fight by heading from here straight down to Georgia and making a difference. But stay in the fight. Stay in the fight for freedom every day of your life. Because the fight for freedom never ends.

And remember this: Never forget that the Bible says, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” Which means any time that we make freedom our cause — defending it, upholding it, expanding it — we make His work on this Earth our very own, and it also means a freedom always wins.