Deepening divide between Nancy Pelosi and new, radical Democrats over impeachment
Former Clinton adviser Richard Goodstein reacts to some Democrats turning on Pelosi over impeachment.
This is a rush transcript from "Tucker Carlson Tonight," June 18, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
TUCKER CARLSON, HOST: This is A Fox News Alert. The President about to begin a rally in Orlando, Florida. He will officially be announcing his 2020 election bid.
Good evening, and welcome to “Tucker Carlson Tonight.” We'll be covering the President's announcement right here live as soon as it starts. It's imminent, apparently. The question is, what does the President need to do to win this election now a year and a half away? As we await for the President to begin his speech? We will ask that question of Dana Perino, host of "The Daily Briefing" with Dana Perino, our friend.
Dana, thanks all for joining us tonight.
DANA PERINO, HOST: Happy to be here.
CARLSON: If you were running this campaign, what would you make it about? This reelection campaign?
PERINO: It's so interesting, because he was the disruptor candidate from 2016, but now he is the incumbent. And incumbency comes with a lot of benefits, okay? You've got the plane, you've got the organization, and now you have a record. He has got a big war chest and he has organization like he's never had before.
I think I would make it about three things. Number one, keep the economy hot; as hot as possible. He's got to figure out a way to maybe moderate the things that could hurt it, such as the trade wars, try to land that deal with the Chinese; avoid a debt default crisis, and the Congress is already trying to work that out. And to the extent that he possibly can, if the Democrats are willing, when they do that one bill that they'll get through this year, if they'll cut a deal on infrastructure, try to do that and show that you have some ability to move things forward.
Second thing I would do is define the Democrat. So he was very good at defining all of the Republicans that he ran against in the 2015 and 2016 primary. Now, he has to do that to the Democrat.
Voters disliked Hillary a lot more than they love Donald Trump. Now, as you can see, at this rally, there's a lot of people that love Donald Trump. But the Democrats are also very energized. So he has to define them very quickly.
Then the third thing is I think he has to figure out a way to remain the change candidate as much as he possibly can.
He is more anti-establishment than any Democrat running except for perhaps, Bernie Sanders. And eight of the last 10 elections were all about change. Those are the ones that were successful. So how do you run as an incumbent and still say that you are the change candidate. I think he would have to say, "I got so much done, you can't even believe how much I got done. It's amazing. It's beautiful. All that I got done. But there's still a lot more to do."
That's how I would do it. And I would also try to throw as much chaos into the Democratic primary as possible.
CARLSON: So that's it right there. So let's assume, and I'm not -- I actually don't believe this, but judging by today's numbers, it would be fair to assume that he'd be facing off against Joe Biden.
PERINO: Okay.
CARLSON: Wouldn't it be wiser to highlight the radical elements in the Democratic Party of Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, the radicals in the House and try to tie the opponent to those figures.
PERINO: I think that the more that President Trump in his reelection efforts can push the Democrats further to the left, the better off he will be. We've already seen Joe Biden have to go left to where he's been for decades, the Hyde Amendment on abortion funding; China, for example; the crime bill, we'll see how he does on that.
Next week, when he does the debates, he is the tallest oak in the yard, and all of those other Democrats are going to want to chop him down.
So I think the more that President Trump can put a spotlight on that focus on that chaos, push them to the left, the better off he will be and the better off that the other members of Congress could be that are running for reelection, or those that are just running for election, the 31 House seats that went Democrat that gave Nancy Pelosi the Speaker's gavel, those are up for grabs again in 2020.
And this time, instead of like 2018, this time, you have President Trump at the top of the ticket, and maybe those seats could flip back to Republicans if they play their cards right.
CARLSON: So we're getting way ahead of ourselves, but I can't resist asking you the Senate, does that likely stay in Republican hands?
PERINO: Yes. Yes, it does. And actually, there are people that work on the Senate side and Republican politics. It's just a good year for Republicans, but it's also the possibility that they could pick up a seat or two. The Michigan race is going to be very interesting to watch.
I think the Republicans are concerned about Arizona and Colorado. But other than that, I think they feel pretty good about things.
CARLSON: Yes, those states have changed an awful lot. Dana Perino who has not changed except for the better. Great to see you tonight. Thank you.
PERINO: All right, thanks.
CARLSON: Last night, the President tweeted that I.C.E. will soon begin the large scale deportations of millions of illegal immigrants in the United States. Millions. Buck Sexton is a radio host. Very familiar with what's happening on the border. He's been there recently. He joins us tonight. Buck, thanks a lot for coming on.
What do you -- what do you make of this? This seems like a pretty dramatic departure from where we've been. I think a lot of people, certainly me included, would welcome this? Is it going to happen?
BUCK SEXTON, RADIO SHOW HOST: I think it's going to start, Tucker, and that will have a couple of effects. One is that if he does, in fact, go for this, and there's now confirmation from senior administration officials, I was speaking to somebody earlier today who was saying, "No, this is real, this is going to happen."
They're going to start telling people who have had all their due process who are in the country illegally, who've been adjudicated, and it has been found that they should be deported under the law. They're told that they have to go, Democrats are going to oppose this.
Democrats are going to say, "Well, hold on a second. That's not right. That's not fair," which also gives the lines what they've been saying all along about the Central American migrant crisis, the so-called asylum seekers that, "Oh, we promise, once they get their process, sure, it will be okay with them being deported."
That's obviously not the case. So they're really in on this scam. And it going to force Democrats to have to admit that they don't believe in the rule of law. They like the process until it comes to an end. And then the process isn't really for them anymore.
CARLSON: So is there some good reason why I should, I don't know, pay my taxes, or register my car? I mean, if people who are not allowed to live in this country apparently -- according to Democrats can ignore the law, then why am I obeying it?
SEXTON: Well, yes, I think what you've seen from Democrats, especially with the Mueller probe going on in the background for quite some time, is you know, if you are a friend of Donald Trump's and you misremember what you had for breakfast six months ago, people are cheering for you to go to prison.
I mean, there are prominent Democrats, you seem to think that Manafort in solitary confinement is some great justice and the country is achieving a better future because of it.
But the massive and systematic fraud -- and that's what it is -- that has been perpetrated at our southern border with Democrats really complicit in it by pretending that we don't all know what's happening.
We don't know that people are lying about being family units. We don't know that people are lying about fleeing violence, when in fact, they just are economic migrants who want a better future. This is going to finally bring into focus at a perfect time because we're heading the election that the Democrats are effectively an open borders party, and they only believe in the law when they like the law.
CARLSON: This is a winning issue, I think.
SEXTON: It is.
CARLSON: Buck Sexton, thanks a lot for that. Good to see you tonight.
SEXTON: Thanks, Tucker.
CARLSON: Well, from the other side, in an Instagram video broadcast, Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez of New York denounced holding facilities on the United States border as, quote, "concentration camps."
Ned Ryun is founder and CEO of American Majority, and he joins us tonight. Ned, thanks a lot for coming on.
NED RYUN, FOUNDER AND CEO, AMERICAN MAJORITY: Yes, good to be with you.
CARLSON: Concentration camps. What do you make of that description?
RYUN: Well, first of all, it's deeply insulting for her to compare our very humane detention centers, to what the Nazis did with, you know, their concentration camps and exterminating six million Jews.
The amazing part to me is, it seems lost on AOC that these illegal aliens are coming of their own volition, nobody is compelling them to come. They come here illegally, and yet we still treat them very humanely, and to say that that's the moral equivalent of what the Nazis did of forcing Jews into concentration camps and then gassing millions of them to death. It's insulting and it diminishes the horrors of the Holocaust, Tucker.
CARLSON: Yes, and the sacrifice of the American soldiers who helped defeat Nazi Germany and liberate the camps.
RYUN: That's right.
CARLSON: I mean, the whole thing is grotesque. But it suggests that --
RYUN: But this is a game to them.
CARLSON: Those illegal aliens are being held because of their ethnicity, or their religion or something because of who they are rather than because of what they've done.
RYUN: That's also insulting. This is a game to them, Tucker. First of all, it calls into question -- I truly believe they don't believe in national sovereignty anymore. But this is a game to them, for them to invoke the Holocaust and Hitler and the Nazis to use as a rhetorical bludgeon against their opponents that don't agree with them on anything.
And they know they can get away with it because their fellow travelers and the mainstream media instead of fact checking them actually are tying themselves in knots today defending her making outrageous statements.
I mean, even saying -- one CNN senior editor said Auschwitz was a work and concentration camp. And it got so bad that Chris Hayes had to be fact checked by the Auschwitz Museum and said you should probably get educated on what actually happened during the Holocaust.
CARLSON: Yes, that's also disgusting. Ned Ryun, thank you.
RYUN: It is disgusting. Thanks, Tucker.
CARLSON: Good to see you. Last night, the President authorized the deployment of another thousand American troops to the Middle East. This follows an alleged Iranian attack on two oil tankers.
The U.S. seems to be slipping toward war there. Meanwhile, we have no permanent Secretary of Defense. The acting Secretary Patrick Shanahan, you may have read just stepped aside over prior domestic incidents. He's now been replaced by a former Raytheon lobbyist called, Mark Esper.
Doug MacGregor is a retired U.S. Army Colonel and he joins us tonight. Colonel, thanks a lot for coming on. So the obvious question first, are we, as we appear to be moving toward conflict with Iran?
COL. DOUGLAS MACGREGOR, RET., U.S. ARMY: Look, let's hope not because if the President looks out on the sea of faces he has in front of him tonight, all of these supporters, he needs to be reminded of two things.
First, what Buck has already covered about securing the border, and secondly, about his promise to end these pointless and endless wars in the Middle East. He needs to get us out of Afghanistan. He needs to get out of Syria and he needs to get out of Iraq.
If he can't turn to an audience like the one he's got tonight, a year from now and say, "Look, I promised, I delivered." I think he is not going to see everybody show up at the ballot box that he would like to be there.
CARLSON: I think that's wise advice. Colonel, Doug MacGregor, thank you very much. We're going to go now to Orlando. The President is being introduced. We're joined now by Fox chief national correspondent, Ed Henry. Ed, so this is the official kickoff of the 2020 campaign.
HENRY: Yes, I mean, Tucker, in many ways, this has been game on for some time now. As you know, the President has already done many rallies across the country.
But yes, this is the official kickoff, and it just proves to us what we've known since at least 2000, Florida, Florida, Florida. That was a big part of the President flipping the narrative around on the mainstream media, which said again, and again, that the math doesn't work that he simply could not get to 270 electoral votes.
Once he turned Florida and then he went up, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, obviously, that's what got him far beyond that number.
And look, it's instructive that the same, you know, wise people who say they seem to know everything about politics are telling us again, the President is behind in all of these battlegrounds.
Quinnipiac, for example, a poll out just a couple of hours ago, saying the President is down nine points in the State of Florida to Joe Biden. Guess what? Quinnipiac had Andrew Gillum, the Democrat winning the governorship by seven points in 2018. He is not the Governor tonight, as the President stands on that stage in Orlando.
So these polls can be off, and I think that's one of many things this President is banking on because of the strong economy.
CARLSON: I wonder if the campaign -- the Trump campaign -- believes that the Democratic nominee will be Joe Biden.
HENRY: That's our expectation. That is in private why they say the President has spent a fair bit of time on social media going after Joe Biden.
But on the other hand, you can see as this Democratic race plays out that Elizabeth Warren and others on the left seem to have a lot more energy and enthusiasm on their side, which makes us wonder tonight, is Joe Biden the front runner in name only right now?
His numbers have come down a little -- not a lot -- little. But look, this is a kickoff for the President tonight. The kickoff really for the Democrats is next week when they have their first debates. And so this finally is, you know, we're here and we're going to find out whether Joe Biden is going to stay the front runner.
CARLSON: It looks like the First Lady may be speaking. This is it. We are going to go to this. Ed Henry, thank you so much.
MELANIA TRUMP, FIRST LADY: It has been my honor to serve as First Lady of this incredible country for the past two years, and I'm excited to do it for six more.
(Cheering and Applause)
M. TRUMP: I'm proud of all that my husband, this is administration and our entire family have done on behalf of the American people in such a short time.
(Cheering and Applause)
M. TRUMP: He truly loves this country, and will continue to work on your behalf as long as he can -- all of us will.
(Cheering and Applause)
M. TRUMP: Thank you all again for being here tonight. And now, I want to introduce my husband, the President of United States, Donald J. Trump.
(Cheering and Applause)
CROWD: (Chanting "USA.")
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT: We had such luck in Orlando. We love being in Orlando. Thank you. Thank you, Orlando. What a turnout. What a turnout.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: You know, this is a very big arena. For a Tuesday night, I said, you know, if we have about three or four empty seats, the fake news will say headlines, he didn't fill up the arena.
[Booing]
D. TRUMP: So I said, maybe we shouldn't take a chance. Maybe we shouldn't go to Orlando, we should go someplace else. I said, "No, I think we'll go to Orlando."
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: And not only did we fill it up, but we had 120,000 requests. That means you folks have come out very, very good. Congratulations.
I want to thank great Vice President Mike Pence, and his wonderful wife, Karen Pence, and our magnificent First Lady, Melania. Thank you.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: I'm thrilled to be back in my second home. That's what it is. It's my second home. In many cases, I think I could say it's my first, if you want to know the truth. It's the great State of Florida.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: Very historic, because exactly four years ago this week, I announced my campaign for President of the United States.
(Cheering and Applause)[
D. TRUMP: And it turned out to be more than just a political campaign. It turned out to be a great political movement because of you.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: A great movement.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: It's a movement made up of hardworking patriots who love their country, love their flag, love their children, and who believe that a nation must care for its own citizens first.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: Together, we stared down a corrupt and broken political establishment and we restored government of, by and for the people.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: Our country is now thriving, prospering and booming, and frankly, it's soaring to incredible new heights.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: Our economy is the envy of the world, perhaps the greatest economy we've had in the history of our country.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: And as long as you keep this team in place, we have a tremendous way to go. Our future has never ever looked brighter or sharper.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: The fact is, the American Dream is back. It's bigger and better and stronger than ever before.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: 2016 was not merely another four-year election. This was a defining moment in American history. Ask them more right there.
(Cheering and Applause)
CROWD: (Chanting "CNN Sucks.")
D. TRUMP: By the way, that is a lot of fake news back there. That's a lot.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: You know what I say, the amount of press we have tonight reminds me of the Academy Awards before it went political and their ratings went down the tubes.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: This was our chance to reclaim our government, from a permanent political class, that enriched itself at your expense.
As I said, what a wonderful, beautiful day at my inauguration. We did not merely transfer power from one party to another, but we transferred power back to you, the proud citizens of the United States of America.
(Cheering and Applause)
CROWD: (Chanting "USA.")
D. TRUMP: We stared down the unholy alliance of lobbyists and donors and special interests who made a living, bleeding our country dry, that's what we've done.
We broke down the doors of Washington back rooms, where deals were cut the clothes companies, give away your jobs, shut down our factories and surrender your sovereignty and your very way of life. And we've ended it.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: We took on a political machine that tried to take away your voice and your vote. They tried to take away your dignity and your destiny. But we will never let them do that, will we?
CROWD: No.
D. TRUMP: Many times I said we would drain the swamp. And that's exactly what we're doing right now, we're draining the swamp.
(Cheering and Applause)
CROWD: (Chanting "Drain the swamp.").
D. TRUMP: And that's why the swamp is fighting back so viciously and violently. For the last two and a half years, we have been under siege. And with the Mueller report, we won, and now they want a do-over, they want a do-over. Let's do it again. It didn't work out too well. Let's do it again. They want a do-over.
No President should ever have to go through this again. It is so bad for our great country. A hoax. A great hoax.
Our Patriotic Movement has been under assault from the very first day. We accomplished more than any other President has in the first two and a half years of a presidency and under circumstances that no President has had to deal with before because we did in the middle of the great and illegal witch hunt, things that nobody have been able to accomplish not even close. Nobody has done what we have done in two and a half years.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: We went through the greatest witch hunt in political history. The only collusion was committed by the Democrats, the fake news media and their operatives and the people who funded the phony dossier, Crooked Hillary Clinton and the DNC.
[Booing]
D. TRUMP: It was all in illegal attempt to overturn the results of the election, spy on our campaign, which is what they did and subvert our democracy. Remember? The insurance policy, just in case Hillary Clinton lost. Remember the insurance policy.
CROWD: (Chanting "Lock her up.")
D. TRUMP: They appointed 18 very angry Democrats to try to take down our incredible movement. After two years, 1.4 million pages of documents, 500 search warrants, 500 witnesses, 2,800 subpoenas and 40 F.B.I. agents working around the clock. What did they come up with? No collusion.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: And the facts that led our great Attorney General to determine no obstruction, no collusion, no obstruction.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: And they spent $40 million on this witch hunt, $40 million. That's right, they spent $40 million, probably a hell of a lot more than that. And think about it, nobody has been tougher on Russia than Donald Trump. Nobody.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: We call it the Russian hoax. Remember, President Obama's famous line caught on the open mic, secretly telling the Russian President to quote, "Inform Vladimir, that after my election, I'll have more flexibility." Okay. Remember that?
[Booing]
D. TRUMP: A lot of people remember that. I remember it. I saw it happen. I didn't like it. They don't bring it up. The fake news will never bring it up. And in September, just before the election, the F.B.I. told President Obama about possible Russian interference, and he did nothing, because he thought that Hillary Clinton, Crooked Hillary was going to win. That's why he did nothing. He did nothing.
I built up the military, imposed sanctions on Russia, and provided alternative energy sources for all over Europe, that competed very, very strongly with Russia. We are, by the way, the number one producer of energy in the world because of what we've done right now.
(Cheering and Applause)
CROWD: (Chanting "USA").
D. TRUMP: The Democrats don't care about Russia. They only care about their own political power. They went after my family, my business, my finances, my employees, almost everyone that I've ever known or worked with. But they are really going after you. That's what it's all about. It's not about us. It's about you.
They try to erase your vote, erase your legacy of the greatest campaign and the greatest election, probably in the history of our country.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: And they wanted to deny you the future that you demanded, and the future that America deserves and that now America is getting.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: Our radical Democrat opponents are driven by hatred, prejudice and rage. They want to destroy you, and they want to destroy our country as we know it. Not acceptable. It's not going to happen.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: Not going to happen. To understand Democrats' ruthless tactics, look no further than the United States Supreme Court and our court system nationwide. I will soon have appointed my 145th judge.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: President Obama was very nice to us. He didn't fill the positions. I get there the first day, "How many judges do I have to appoint?" "They said, sir, 139." Now it's 145, and we've just finished number 107 already approved, sitting on the bench. How about that?
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: And by the time we're finished with the rest, we will have a record percentages -- our percentage will be a record except for one person. One person has a higher percentage than your favorite President Donald Trump. Do you know who that President is? He has got a higher percentage than me, and it's devastating. His name is George Washington.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: George is at 100 percent and there's no way I'm going to get there no matter what I tell you. He has got 100 percent. Well, he was first so he just appointed them all, and that was it. That's going to be a hard record to beat.
They want to take away your judges. They want to pack the court with far left ideologues and they want to radicalize our judiciary, you know that. We already have a lot of that.
Look at what they did to a great gentleman, Justice Kavanaugh, highly respected.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: That didn't just try to win. They tried to destroy him with false and malicious accusations. And thank you, Marco. And thank you, Lindsey, wherever you may be. Thank you. Great job. Thank you.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: Stand up. Yes, Lindsey Graham was doing okay in South Carolina. Not great. Now he is through the roof. Great. Thank you. Great job. Thank you.
Great people, great people, all of them. They tried to ruin the family of now, Justice Kavanaugh. They tried to ruin his career. They tried to ruin his life. They even wanted to impeach him on fraudulent charges. Those charges were a fraud. He did nothing wrong.
All in pursuit of political domination and control. Just imagine what this angry left-wing mob would do if they were in charge of this country?
[Booing]
D. TRUMP: Imagine if we had a Democratic President and a Democratic Congress in 2020?
[Booing]
D. TRUMP: They would shut down your free speech, use the power of the law to punish their opponents, which they're trying to do now anyway. They'll always be trying to shield themselves. They would strip Americans of their constitutional rights while flooding the country with illegal immigrants in the hopes it will expand their political base and they'll get votes some place down the future. That's what it's about.
[Booing]
CROWD: (Chanting "Build that wall.")
D. TRUMP: We are building the wall we're going to have over 400 miles of wall built by the end of next year. It's moving rapidly. Moving very rapidly.
Man, you know, we couldn't get the wall approved by the Democrats, even though they voted for four years ago and six years ago and didn't get built, but they voted for it, all of a sudden Trump is President, "We don't want a wall."
Can you imagine? Can you imagine those caravans without having the barriers and walls that we've already put up and that are up? This country would be a mess, like you wouldn't believe.
So the wall is moving along, it's moving along rapidly. It's beautiful. I changed the design. It's stronger, bigger, and better and cheaper.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: Cheaper, a lot cheaper. You know, sometimes when they don't give you the money, you have to make it cheaper. It's not going to happen. But it's going well, instead of bringing us together as one America, Democrats want to splinter us into factions and tribes. They want us divided. It's not going to happen to the Republicans anymore. It's not going to happen.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: This election is not merely a verdict on the amazing progress we've made. It's a verdict on the un-American conduct of those who try to undermine our great democracy and undermine you.
And by the way, on July 4th, in Washington, D.C., come on down, we're going to have a big day, bring your flags, bring those flags. Bring those American flags, July 4th. We're going to ask hundreds of thousands of people. We're going to celebrate America. Sounds good, right? July 4th.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: Celebrate America. This election is a verdict on whether we want to live in a country where the people who lose an election refuse to concede and spend the next two years trying to shred our Constitution and rip your country apart.
[Booing]
D. TRUMP: You remember during one of the debates, when Crooked Hillary said, "If I win, are you going to support me?" But I must be honest, I didn't give her a great answer.
That was a very -- that might have been my hardest question during the debates. Isn't it amazing that it worked the other way around, right? Isn't it amazing?
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: If you want to know how the system is rigged, just compare how they came after us for three years with everything they have, versus the free pass they gave to Hillary and her aides after they set up and illegal server destroyed evidence, deleted and acid washed 33,000 e-mails, expose classified information and turned the State Department into a pay for play cash machine.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: Thirty three thousand e-mails deleted, think of it. I keep mentioning, you know, there was a lot of corruption on the other side.
But you know, the simplest thing, they get a subpoena from the United States Congress. And they decide that they're not going to give it, so Lindsey Graham, they delete and they acid wash which is very expensive. Nobody does it. They acid wash those e-mails. Never be seen again. But we may find them somewhere deep in the State Department.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: But can you imagine if I got a subpoena? Think of this. If I got a subpoena for e-mails. If I deleted one e-mail, like a love note to Melania, it's the electric chair for Trump.
(Laughter)
D. TRUMP: Thirty three thousand e-mails. But let's see what happens. We now have a great Attorney General. Let's see what happens.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: So if you want to shut down this rigged system once and for all, then show up November 3rd, that's you're day, a big day, and vote, vote, vote. We're going to have a big, big day.
(Cheering and Applause)
CROWD: (Chanting "Four more years.")
D. TRUMP: Thank you. And remember, the only thing these corrupt politicians will understand is an earthquake at the ballot box. That's what they will understand, and they're going to see it.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: We did it once, and now we will do it again. And this time, we're going to finish the job.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: And this time should be a lot easier because we have done so much with our military, with our vets, with the Second Amendment, with our regulations, with the biggest tax cut in history, with getting rid of so many different problems, so many different things, including, by the way, the individual mandate on Obamacare, one of the worst things anybody has ever had to live through.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: We got rid of the individual mandate. Right? How many people are happy, they no longer have to pay for the privilege of not paying for bad health insurance? How many people are happy? Bad healthcare.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: So every time you don't have to make out a check, in order not to have healthcare, think of that. Think of that. This is the only country you pay for the very distinct privilege of not having to pay, but you had to pay a lot. Now you don't have to pay any more. You don't want it you don't have to take it.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: The individual mandate, Mike. We got rid of it. That was a big deal. The people trying to stop our movement at the same Washington insiders who spent their careers rigging the system. So your losses will be their gains, you know that.
These are the same career politicians who presided over decades of flat wages, the loss of our manufacturing jobs -- 60,000 -- can you believe that? Sixty thousand. Who would believe that number? And you know how I know it's true, because if it wasn't, I've been using it a lot, the fake news would have headlines, "Trump used a phony number."
They would have headlines. It would be the biggest story. "Trump used -- " well, they never corrected it, so I assume fellas, 60,000 shuttered factories. We closed up 60,000 factories. It didn't seem right. It didn't seem like it would be possible.
An avalanche of job-killing regulations, a growing wealth gap and one ruinous trade deal after another. By the way, those trade deals are getting very good folks, you will see.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: We just completed the deal with South Korea. Great deal. We're working with Mexico and Canada, we have to get the Democrats to approve it. We want it to be bipartisan.
As you know, you may have read a couple of things about China. I spoke to President Xi, terrific President, a great leader of China, I spoke to him this morning at length, and we'll see what happens. But we're either going to have a good deal and a fair deal; or we're not going to have a deal at all, and that's okay too.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: Because we are taking in billions and billions of dollars into our Treasury and companies are leaving China, because they want to avoid paying these large tariffs. And by the way, when the fake news tells you that you are paying, in the case of China, they've devalued their currency that helps them and you know what else they're doing.
They're subsidizing those companies. And you're not paying very much if you're paying anything at all; in the case of China, and we are taking billions and billions of dollars in and remember this and you know it as well as I do. We have never taken in 10 cents from China. We would lose $500 billion a year with China. We rebuilt China. They've done a great job. But they took us for suckers and that includes Obama and Biden. We took -- they took us for suckers.
[Booing]
D. TRUMP: $500 billion. Somebody said you mean 500 million? That's a lot, too, right? No. $500 billion. It's actually more than that. I don't want to be too specific -- 507.
We're fighting against the same far-left politicians that ravaged our great cities and crushed the dreams of African-American middle class, the same people who threw open our borders, and allowed drugs, gangs and illegal labor to devastate our poorest American communities. You know that.
Our political opponents looked down with hatred on our values, and with utter disdain for the people whose lives they want to run. That's the way they've been doing it.
And if you take a look at the African-American community, how much progress that has been made, the lowest unemployment numbers in the history of our country.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: They called you and us, you remember this, they called us "deplorables."
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: That was a mistake. That was a big mistake. I'll never forget I was making a speech after Hillary used the word "deplorables." And I didn't think it was that bad. You know what? She used another word. You know what the other word was? She said, "deplorables and irredeemables." I think that was worse, but it didn't get picked up.
You never know what's going to get picked up. It didn't. I think irredeemables is worse than deplorables. But I'll never forget. I was making a speech the next day, we had a big crowd in a great, great state. And women in particular were wearing "We are deplorables." "The deplorables love you."
And there were hundreds and hundreds of people wearing, "We are deplorables." And I said, I think Hillary Clinton made a big mistake with that speech.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: And that is the problem with politics. One word and your career is ruined. You never know. You have to be very careful with the fakers back there.
I have news for Democrats who want to return us to the bitter failures and betrayals of the past. We are not going back. We're going on to victory. Going on to victory.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: Because they'll all take it away as fast as it came, and as Mike Pence said a little while ago, that's why we want a little more time. It's got to be cemented. It's got to be cemented.
You know, we have a big decision to make. You know what I'm going to say. We have to come up with a theme for the new campaign, right? Is it going to be "Make America Great Again" which is probably and possibly the greatest theme in the history of politics, I think, Make America Great Again, MAGA country, right?
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: MAGA, MAGA. MAGA Country. We are in MAGA Country, that I could tell you.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: But you know, today we had a massive day on the stock market. A lot of good things are happening, but we had a very big day and we're very close to, I think our 68th record. You know, we've hit all-time records. It is tremendous. I think it's actually more than that, but it's a lot.
So now I say, we've made America great again. But how do you give up the number one, called a theme, logo statement in the history of politics for a new one? But you know, there's a new one that really works. And that's called Keep America Great. Keep America Great. Right? Keep America Great.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: Keep America Great. In other words, Make America Great Again, well, we've really done it. We've rebuilt our military, it is still in the process. We've taken care of our vets. We've cut the hell out of regulations. You know, I've cut more regulations than any President in the history of our country regardless of the length of their term.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: So now I say, we need -- we have a lot of brilliant talent -- campaign people -- they cost a fortune, and they never give me any ideas. I'm only kidding.
So now I'm saying, what do we use as our theme? As our statement? So I'm going to ask you to vote on it. I'm going to go Make America Great Again, then Keep America Great.
Let me just here by your cheers what you like, so in all fairness, Make America Great, the greatest of all time. I really believe that. The greatest of all time, how do you give up the greatest of all time with a new thing?
Because you know what's going to happen? If I do it with the new theme, I give up the greatest of all time. And if I lose, people are going to say, what a mistake that was. But we're not going to lose so it's not going to matter.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: We're not going to lose. Right? We're not going to lose. Are you ready? First, we do Make America Great Again. Then we do Keep America Great. Let me hear it. Ready. Make America Great Again.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: Not bad. Not bad. I would have said that three years ago, it wouldn't be a contest, right? You're ready. Keep America Great.
(Cheering and Applause)
CROWD: (Chanting "Keep America Great.")
D. TRUMP: Wow. I'm sorry, MAGA Country, but that wasn't too close. I thought you had it won, and then I heard this cheer, my eardrums will never be the same.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: Keep America Great.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: Pretty good. We're going to keep on fighting for every man and woman and child all across this land with every ounce of heart and mind and sweat and soul, we're going to keep making America great again, and then we will indeed Keep America great. Oh, we'll keep it so great.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: Better than ever before. We're going to keep it better than ever before, and that is why tonight, I stand before you to officially launch my campaign for a second term as President of the United States.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: Thank you.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: I can promise you that, I will never ever let you down. I won't.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: And I am profoundly thankful to my family. I have a great family. Melania, Don, Ivanka, Eric, Tiffany, Barron, Lara, Jarred, Robert, Maryanne, Elizabeth and my later brother, Fred, Jr.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: We're joined tonight by many great patriots who fight right by our side. Florida's terrific Governor.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: Thank you, Ron. Our First Lady, Casey deSantis. What a job you're doing. Thank you. Thank you, Ron and Casey, thank you. What a job.
And again, your great Lieutenant Governor, who I hear is fantastic. Right? Jeanette Nunez. Jeanette. Thank you, Jeanette. Beautiful job. Your Florida CFO, Jimmy Patronis.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: Some really brilliant, top, wonderful friends who have helped me so much, Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina; Marco Rubio of Florida and Rick Scott of Florida.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: These are great people. They're tough. They're smart, and they love our country. Thank you very much, Rick, Marco, Lindsey. Thank you.
Members of Congress, warriors also. Boy, they're up there. You want them protecting you, I'll tell you. They don't stop. Matt Gaetz, Ted Yoho, and Michael Waltz.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: Thank you. And also all of our friends and our supporters, you've been incredible. This has been a tremendous night. You've really been incredible.
Since the very first day, I walked through the doors of the White House, I have never forgotten who sent me there. You did. You did.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: You did. You did. You did. You did. You all did.
When I get behind my desk in the beautiful Oval Office, I think about only one thing how the American people are going to win, win, win today.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: And I'm fighting for you, and I think you see that. Not easy. But I love it. And the reason I love it, because there have been few Presidents that have been able to do what we've been able to do for you, and it is a great, great feeling. Thank you. I love it.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: Together, we're breaking the most sacred rule in Washington politics. We are keeping our promises to the American people.
(Cheering and Applause)
D. TRUMP: Because my only special interest is you. I don't have this special interest. I don't care. I don't care. And by the way, a woman who has been so good, so talented, so wonderful, and we're sort of going to be losing -- I have a feeling she's going to be running for a certain gubernatorial position. Don't worry about it, Ron, it's not going to be in Florida. It won't be in Florida. I promise you Casey. But she'll be tough, right?
But a woman who is a special woman and right -- and her father by the way, he is out there fighting for us all the time. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
(Cheering and Applause)
CARLSON: The President's reelection campaign officially underway as of tonight. We'll have coverage of that tomorrow and for the next year and a half.
But live coverage of the President's announcement continues tonight. On Sean Hannity's show in a moment.
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