DNC 2024 | Day 4 Speeches | Adam Kinzinger

 Auto-transcribed on Friday, August 23, 2024.media and text playback available on this page: https://aliceapp.ai/recordings/eWfuN6OTL3tRFUpgYZDoHxy_qMczl2iG

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Speakers:

 Adam Kinzinger - 100.0%

Notes:

- Adam Kinzinger: The republican party is no longer conservative. It has switched its allegiance from the principles that gave it purpose to a man whose only purpose is himself. True strength lies in defending the vulnerable. Vote for Kamala Harris tonight.

[00:00:01]  Adam Kinzinger 
Hey, good evening. Good evening. Thank you. Thank you, thank you. I'm Adam Kinzinger, and I am proud to be in the trenches with you as, uh, part of this sometimes awkward alliance that we have to defend truth, defend democracy, and decency.

[00:00:26]   
I was just a kid when I was drawn to the party of Ronald Reagan, to his vision of a strong America, the shining city on a hill. I was a Republican for twelve years in Congress, and I still hold onto the label. I never thought I'd be here. But listen, you never thought you'd see me here, did you? But I've learned something about the democratic party, and I want to let my fellow Republicans in on the secret.

[00:00:58]   
The Democrats are as patriotic as us.

[00:01:08]   
They love this country just as much as we do, and they.

[00:01:26]   
And they are as eager to defend american values at home and abroad as we conservatives have ever been.

[00:01:38]   
I was relieved to discover that because I've learned something about my party, too. Something I couldn't ignore. The republican party is no longer conservative. It has switched its allegiance from the principles that gave it purpose to a man whose only purpose is himself.

[00:02:03]   
Donald Trump is a weak man pretending to be strong.

[00:02:12]   
He is a small man pretending to be big.

[00:02:19]   
He's a faithless man pretending to be righteous.

[00:02:25]   
He's a perpetrator who can't stop playing the victim.

[00:02:31]   
He puts on. Listen, he puts on quite a show. But there is no real strength there. As a conservative and a veteran, I believe true strength lies in defending the vulnerable. It's in protecting your family.

[00:02:46]   
It's in standing up for our constitution and our democracy that. That is the soul of being a conservative. It used to be the soul of being a republican. But Donald Trump has suffocated the soul of the republican party.

[00:03:08]   
His fundamental weakness has coursed through my party like an illness, sapping our strength, softening our spine, whipping us into a fever that has untethered us from our values. Our democracy was frayed by the events of January 6, as Donald Trump's deceit and dishonor led to a siege on the United States Capitol. That day, I stood witness to a profound sorrow. The desecration of our sacred tradition of peaceful transition, of power, tarnished by a man too fragile, too vain, and too weak to accept defeat.

[00:03:52]   
How can a party claim to be patriotic if it idolizes a man who tried to overthrow a free and fair election?

[00:04:00]   
How can a party claim to stand for liberty if it sees a fight for freedom in Ukraine? An attack pitting tyranny against democracy. A, uh, challenge to everything our nation claims to be. And it retreats, it equivocates. It nominates a man who is weirdly obsessed with Putin and his running mate.

[00:04:24]   
His running mate who said, quote, I don't care what happens in Ukraine.

[00:04:31]   
Yeah. And he wants to be vice president. Yeah. How can a party claim to be conservative when it tarnishes the gifts that our forebears fought for? Men like my grandfather, who served in world War two, who believed in a cause bigger than himself.

[00:04:47]   
And he risked his life for it. Behind enemy lines to preserve american democracy. His generation found the courage to face down armies. Listen, all we're asked to do is to summon the courage to stand up to one weak man.

[00:05:12]   
Some have questioned. Some have questioned why I've taken the stand. I have. The answer is really simple, ladies and gentlemen, we must put country first.

[00:05:28]   
And tonight. And, uh, tonight, as a Republican speaking before you, I'm putting our country first because the fact is, I do belong here. I know Kamala Harris shares my allegiance to the rule of law, the constitution, and democracy. And she is dedicated to upholding all three in service to our country. Whatever policies we disagree on pale in comparison with those fundamental matters of principle of decency and of, uh, fidelity to this nation.

[00:06:15]   
To my fellow Republicans, if you still pledge allegiance to those principles, I suspect you belong here, too. Because.

[00:06:28]   
Because democracy knows no party.

[00:06:33]   
Uh, it's a living, breathing ideal that defines us as a nation. It's the bedrock that separates us from tyranny. And when that foundation is fractured, we must all stand together, united, to strengthen it.

[00:06:57]   
If you think those principles are worth defending, then I urge you, make the right choice. Vote. Vote for our bedrock values and vote for Kamala Harris. God bless.