Republican National Convention Archives

As the Republican National Convention unfolds this week, you will see all the GOP stars on stage and featured all week, especially on Fox News.

You will probably not see one of the former potential rising political show horses featured or interviewed. South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem may be there but will be shunned and snubbed by the GOP faithful and media. She has been relegated to the political graveyard, now and forever. She is now a comedic laughingstock and punchline in political circles.

This time, six months ago, the spectacularly attractive South Dakotan was actually being considered to be Donald Trump’s running mate. Indeed, our Senior Senator Tommy “Coach” Tuberville, who has become one of Trump’s closest allies and confidantes, recently shared with me that while he and Trump were golfing at Mar-a-Lago earlier this year, Trump referred to Noem often and inferred that she was being considered as his running mate.

Noem was aspiring to be on the national stage. She was the keynote speaker at the Alabama GOP Winter Dinner in recent years. About a year ago, she began running ads on Fox News promoting South Dakota, which primarily featured her in jeans and a hard hat. Ostensibly, these ads were to attract business to the small, obscure, sparsely populated, western state. They were really designed to promote her as the Governor of South Dakota and to help build her name identification with an eye towards national politics.

As is the case with aspiring governors and senators, who begin being touted as potential presidential aspirants, they come out with a book. Governor Kristi Noem was relatively unknown except in small Republican circles. However, her book made her nationally and even internationally known.

For you see, this western girl told the whole world that she took her pet dog out to a gravel pit and shot it dead and left it there just because she did not like it anymore. She more than likely did not write the book, a ghost writer did. However, she had to have read the book, and approved it, and given the writer that gruesome aspect of her life. A chapter was devoted to it.

My first thought was, is this for real? Then, what kind of aspiring political person would tell the world this in not only an interview, but in her own book? Her so-called biography. What kind of stupid political adviser would allow that to go into a book? What kind of publisher would allow that passage and think that the book would be bought and make any money?

Bless her heart, Kristi Noem was set to promote the book, and the book was leaked, and the passage posted prior to her appearances. The greeting was so savage and brutal from all news sources, even Fox, that within a day of total ridicule and abject obvious hatred toward her, she and her advisers tucked their tails and hightailed it back to South Dakota. She will probably never be heard from again.

If Noem ever goes anywhere to a political or social event, the rest of her life she will be met with a laugh or sneer as a joke. She will forever be known as the woman dog killer. She will be the brunt of jokes for life. She is through, politically, and to think she did it to herself. She not only shot her dog, she also shot herself in the foot with the same bullet. In fact, she did not shoot herself in the foot, she shot herself in the head, politically. Kristi Noem committed political suicide.

I have been scratching my head for the last three months since Noem’s unbelievable revelation, trying to think of another example of overt political suicide in my lifetime. I cannot remember anything similar.

About this same time, it occurred to me that every older, white Republican I came in touch with had a dog that they loved and adored. Senator Richard Shelby has a new dog named Tallulah. Governor Kay Ivey has a beloved dog named Missy. My older brother, Scott, just lost his 13-year-old collie Jessie at about this time. He is still in mourning.

The same week as Kristi Noem’s horror story, ironically, I’m watching Fox News and Kristi’s South Dakota ad is sandwiched between an ad for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) and gourmet dog food, which older Republicans are obviously buying for their dogs. They are probably not buying Kristi Noem’s book that tells of her adventures of killing her dog in a gravel pit.

In political circles, she will be forever known as “Krazy Kristi” Noem.

See you next week.

Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at steve@steveflowers.us.

On Tuesday, Logan Glass, Alabama’s youngest delegate to the Republican National Convention taking place this week in Milwaukee, was handed the microphone by CBS News. He took the opportunity to promote the GOP nominee for President in 2024 — and give a shoutout to his mom and family back home in Alabama.

Glass, at age 22, is a graduate of the University of North Alabama, founder of the St. Clair County Young Republicans, former Vice Chair of the St. Clair County Republican Party, and an active campaign surrogate for President Donald Trump — as is well evidenced in the video below. Watch:

Glass was interviewed from the convention floor by Ed O’Keefe, senior White House political correspondent for CBS News.

The young Alabamian was initially surprised by President Donald Trump’s pick for Vice President, but is happy with the selection.

“I was taken by surprise,” Glass. “Personally, I thought it would be Doug Burgum, Marco Rubio, or Tim Scott. JD Vance was certainly a surprise to me, but a welcome one. I think JD Vance is going to help President Trump make America great again.”

Glass then sent his highest regards back home to the Yellowhammer State.

“And by the way, I want to give a shoutout to my mom, my uncle Phil, and all the folks back home watching. We’ve got a country to save in November, and we’re going to make America great again with the Trump-Vance ticket.”

Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @ShipleyAusten

U.S. Senator Katie Britt was interviewed by fellow Alabamian and CNN anchor, Kaitlan Collins, at the Republican National Convention Monday evening. Britt told Collins that the media’s inflammatory reporting divides Americans rather than uniting them.

“To be honest, I really wish the media would do a little bit better job of covering when we do work together because there are a number of things where we have pieces of legislation, like Senator Laphonza Butler and I working on the NIH Improve Act or working on mental health with Amy Klobuchar,” Britt told Collins. “So there are things that we do together that really do bring unity. But typically speaking, the only things that get covered are more kind of sort of hot-button issues or sound bites or divisive rhetoric.”

“So I think unity is out there.” Britt said that she believes both Republicans and Democrats ultimately “share a common goal.”

“Despite who we are, we have a duty to the people we serve to get in a room and try to figure out a path forward.”

“So I think we’ll continue to fight for our values and fight for our people, but try to do it in a way where we like people to realize that you don’t have to agree with someone to show them respect.”

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“And treating our colleagues with dignity and respect should be absolutely what we do each and every day.”

Britt was also a scheduled speaker at the event, addressing thousands of voters in attendance.

“The American people won’t have the wool pulled over our eyes,” she said in her remarks. “We see how Biden and Harris keep making things worse and we know the current president is not capable of turning things around.”

Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @ShipleyAusten

State Sen. April Weaver (R-Brierfield) is thankfully on the mend as of Monday afternoon after being struck by a car outside an Alabaster grocery store on Friday. She announced that she will be able to make a quick trip to Milwaukee, Wisconsin as an Alabama delegate to the Republican National Convention, despite not making the entire event.

She released a grateful update following her visit with an orthopedic specialist on Monday:

“Darrel and I sincerely appreciate the outpouring of kindness and concern we’ve received since my accident on Friday night. Following my emergency room visit, I was referred to an orthopedic specialist, where I received an evaluation and treatment this morning,” Weaver said.

“As a delegate pledged to my former boss, President Donald Trump, I will be unable to attend the entire RNC but have been cleared to make a quick trip to Milwaukee later this week. After pledging my support for President Trump, I will return to Birmingham, where I will continue treatment in an outpatient setting.

“Rest assured, I remain dedicated to addressing the needs of the people of Senate District 14 during my recovery. As always, the staff in both my Pelham and Montgomery offices are readily available to assist with any needs you may have,” said Senator Weaver.

Weaver was transported by ambulance to Shelby Baptist Medical Center on Friday night after being struck by a car while in a pedestrian crosswalk at an Alabaster grocery store, according to the Alabama Senate. X-ray scans and physicians’ assessments indicated no major injuries, but significant bruising and contusions did result.

At that time, she said: “My guardian angel was obviously on my shoulder and protecting me from what could have been even more terrible injuries. I am grateful to the first responders of Alabaster Fire and Rescue, Alabaster Police Department, RPS ambulance service and Shelby ER for taking great care of me so quickly today.”

A nurse with more than 25 years experience in healthcare administration, Weaver served in the Trump administration as the Region IV director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Grayson Everett is the state and political editor for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him @Grayson270

U.S. Tommy Tuberville cast all of Alabama’s 50 delegates to President Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Tuberville was elected as the state’s delegation chairman by members of the Alabama Republican Party (ALGOP) executive committee earlier this year.

Flanked by fellow Alabamians, including U.S. Representative Jerry Carl (R-Mobile) and ALGOP Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Republican National Committee, John Wahl, Tuberville made the announcement.

“We cast our 50 delegates for the next President of the United States, Donald J. Trump!”

Tuberville shared the excitement for Trump’s nomination and the RNC itself in a video Monday afternoon from the floor of the convention.

As of Monday afternoon, the Republican Party formally nominated Donald Trump as its presidential nominee, cementing he and running mate J.D. Vance as the top of the GOP ticket in 2024.

“We’ll give our 50 delegates to President Trump here in about an hour, hour and fifteen minutes and do a lot of interviews,” Tuberville (R-Auburn) said. “There are a lot of great Americans here.”

“We’re looking forward to a great week, not just a great day. Possibly, President Trump could speak here tonight and introduce his new vice presidential candidate. Looking forward to that. Plus the speech on Thursday, accepting the nomination to be President number 47 of the United States of America.”

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Tuberville’s fellow U.S. Senator from Alabama Katie Britt (R-Montgomery) will address the RNC on Monday night.

2,500 delegates are expected to attend the Republican National Convention, where the party will meet to formally nominate its candidate for President and Vice President, and adopt a platform.

Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @ShipleyAusten

Alabama U.S. Senator Katie Britt was announced as a speaker at next week’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Britt topped the official list alongside a cavalcade of incumbent U.S. Senators including Ted Cruz (R-TX), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Tim Scott (R-FL), as well as potential Trump vice presidential nominees U.S. Senators JD Vance (R-OH), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and a host of top U.S. House of Representative officials, including U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).

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Over 50,000 people, including 2,500 delegates, are expected to attend the Republican National Convention, where the party will meet to formally nominate its candidate for President and Vice President, and adopt a platform.

Sen. Britt delivered the official GOP response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address earlier this year, making her debut to an audience nationwide as a top party voice and the only Republican mom in the U.S. Senate to working age kids.

Donald Trump is expected to accept the party’s nomination on Thursday night in a blockbuster speech. Beforehand, the former president’s son, Donald Trump, Jr. is also scheduled to speak.

It’s also been announced that a dais of surrogates and celebrities are slated to attend and deliver dynamic endorsements, including Florida Governor and former presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, UFC president Dana White, and president of the Teamsters union Sean O’Brien.

Speeches will be carried on primetime television broadcasts, available on networks including FOX News, ABC News, C-SPAN and others.

Grayson Everett is the state and political editor for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him @Grayson270

While many national polls show a presidential election contest between Donald Trump and Joe Biden tightening, most polls still have Biden ahead. That’s given many political watchers license to anticipate Biden will win on November 3.

However, U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Hoover) does not see it as a foregone conclusion that the presidential election is going for Biden. In fact, he says he is unsure the outcome between Trump and Biden will be close.

During a Wednesday interview with Mobile radio’s FM Talk 106.5, Palmer said — while noting that a relatively high percentage of Evangelical Christians don’t vote — that it could go big for Trump if voter turnout is increased among that voting bloc.

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State Representative Andrew Sorrell (R-Muscle Shoals) on Monday cast all of the state’s 50 delegates to officially renominate President Donald Trump as the GOP’s candidate for president in 2020.

The official nomination of Trump was a procedural matter — the president has enormous support among Republican voters and faced only token challengers in the primary elections — but until the actions taken on Monday, his renomination was only presumptive.

Sorrell noted that Alabama is “the state with the highest approval rating in the country for Donald Trump,” to open his remarks about the nomination.
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Alabamians will play major roles both on-stage and behind the scenes during this year’s Democratic National Convention (DNC) and Republican National Convention (RNC).

Held in Milwaukee, the DNC kicked off on Monday at 11:00 a.m. CT. The convention will end after presidential nominee Joe Biden’s speech on Thursday night.

The RNC is scheduled to occur in Charlotte from August 24-27.

Both conventions are occurring mostly in virtual formats due to COVID-19 restrictions and social distancing guidelines. (more…)

Alabama Republican Party Chairman Terry Lathan issued a statement on Friday supporting the cancellation of the portions of the 2020 Republican National Convention scheduled to occur next month in Jacksonville, Florida.

President Donald Trump on Thursday announced the cancellation due to large gatherings being a substantial risk for spreading COVID-19. Certain business portions of the GOP convention will still occur in North Carolina, and other parts will happen remotely.

“We understand and support President Trump’s decision to cancel our Party’s convention celebration in Jacksonville due to the safety concerns the virus situation has created,” Lathan stated. “As always, health and safety are a priority for our president and Party.”

“While the event may have been cancelled, this in no way slows down our enthusiasm, or plans, for re-electing President Trump, Vice President Pence and electing Tommy Tuberville as our new U.S. Senator,” she continued. (more…)

Last weekend at a meeting of those set to serve in the Alabama delegation for the Republican National Convention later this summer in Charlotte, N.C. and Jacksonville, Fla., State Rep. Andrew Sorrell (R-Muscle Shoals) won an election over Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Tom Parker to serve as the delegation chairman.

Although Sorrell’s selection to serve as chairman was a surprise to some, it has solidified his position as one of the Alabama Republican Party’s rising stars.

During an interview with Huntsville radio’s WVNN, Sorrell reacted to the honor, adding it did help that one of the other delegates was also his wife, Hannah Sorrell.

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MONTGOMERY — Governor Kay Ivey is still tremendously popular among Alabama Republicans, if Tuesday’s primary results are any indicator.

While Ivey was not up for election to public office, she did face an electoral test in her bid to be a delegate to the 2020 Republican National Convention for President Donald Trump.

Ivey faced off against two-term State Auditor Jim Zeigler in the statewide Place 1 delegate race, but the results were not even close.

The governor garnered 70.57% to Zeigler’s 24.44%. There were two other uncommitted delegate candidates who received 3.33% and 1.66%, respectively. (more…)

Drama can come when you least expect it in Alabama politics.

On Tuesday, both Governor Kay Ivey and State Auditor Jim Zeigler qualified to run for the Place 1 delegate spot to the 2020 Republican National Convention in support of President Donald J. Trump’s reelection.

Zeigler on Wednesday then sent out a press release claiming, “After Zeigler qualified to run statewide for GOP Delegate Place 1, Kay Ivey signed up to run against him.”

In the release, he personally stated, “Normally, campaigns for convention delegates do not attract public or media interest. This year promises to be different.” (more…)

Trump delegate Kathleen Moore (Photo: Contributed)

I was blessed with the opportunity to represent Alabama as a delegate at this year’s Republican National Convention, alongside my dad. It was an experience I will never forget and one I feel changed America, the Party, many undecided voters and even some in the media.

When I tell you I believe this presidential campaign is a war between a Washington insider and a New York businessman, it’s probably not difficult to figure out which one I’m backing.

But why am I — a young, college-educated Christian woman — supporting Donald J. Trump? After all, the media says my demographics should make me a Bernie-loving, Hillary-backing liberal, right?

But I’m not.

I am a Trump voter, and a proud one at that.

My main reason for supporting Mr. Trump is that I want to preserve my constitutional rights. You know, the ones we are promised as American citizens. The same ones Mrs. Clinton is openly campaigning on taking away, if elected.

The next President is guaranteed to make at least one lifetime appointment to the United States Supreme Court and has the possibility of making three or four more in the next four-to-eight years.

It was the courts, not Congress, that took away prayer in schools. It was the courts, not Congress that gave us Roe v. Wade. The courts have done more to infringe upon the rights of Christians than anything or anyone in recent history.

These next appointments are vital. They will affect my life, my future children’s lives, and one day even the lives of my grandchildren. Needless to say, we as Christians need to think carefully about who will make these lifetime appointments to the highest court in the land.

Mrs. Clinton has promised to appoint Supreme Court justices that will erode our 2nd Amendment right to bear arms — the same amendment that was put in place to protect American citizens from a tyrannical government…

The irony.

Without the right to bear arms, we lose our ability to protect any and all rights enshrined in the Constitution of the United States, including freedom of speech, religion and press.

We also lose our right to protect ourselves and our families from criminals, which by definition, have no regard for the law. Gun control makes the law abiding citizens “sitting ducks” in a land of armed criminals.

On the other hand, Donald Trump received the early endorsement of the National Rifle Association and promises to protect the 2nd Amendment by appointing Supreme Court Justices who respect the Constitution.

That alone was reason enough for me to climb aboard the Trump Train.

And then there is immigration. It has become a controversial subject, but Donald Trump isn’t running from it and neither should we.

Mrs. Clinton is calling for an increase in the amount of Syrian refugees that are allowed in the United States, even though the FBI Director testified before Congress that we have no way to vet them.

Undoubtedly hidden among these refugees are members of the so called Islamic State. And would you care to guess what groups they will be targeting when they get here?

The same ones they are targeting around the world: Christians and the LGBTQ community.

Mrs. Clinton is not fighting for either of those communities, instead she is fighting to make it easier for the very terrorists who want to see them disappear to come to the United States.

Meanwhile, Trump has promised to protect all Americans, regardless of their race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status.

Ask yourself: do you want another Orlando? Munich? Paris? New York? Boston? Paris?

I don’t.

I want a President who will prioritize the safety of Americans, even if that means making tough, politically-incorrect decisions, because that is the job of the President — to protect American lives and uphold the Constitution of the United States.

These reasons are just the tip of the iceberg of why I am supporting Donald Trump, even though the media want you to believe everyone in my generation is “Feeling the Bern.” I didn’t even get into the economy, the national debt, the liberal war on the American Dream, Benghazi, Israel relations, sanctuary cities, veterans, racial issues, police issues, abortion or taxes.

America is one nation under God. We need to start acting like it.

Please, Christian community, pray for our nation. Pray for Donald Trump. Pray for his family, because politics is a family business. Pray for fellow voters. Pray without ceasing.

“…Rejoice at all times. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.…” – 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Republican presidential contender Donald J. Trump (Photo: Gage Skidmore)

Donald J. Trump is set to accept his party’s presidential nomination Thursday night during a primetime speech from the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio.

His prepared remarks, which come in at 4,319 words, were predominately penned by Stephen Miller, a 30-year-old former staffer for Sen. Jeff Sessions.

Trump is scheduled to go on stage at approximately 7:30 p.m. central time. The full text of his prepared remarks can be found below.

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Friends, delegates and fellow Americans: I humbly and gratefully accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States.

Together, we will lead our party back to the White House, and we will lead our country back to safety, prosperity, and peace. We will be a country of generosity and warmth. But we will also be a country of law and order.

Our Convention occurs at a moment of crisis for our nation. The attacks on our police, and the terrorism in our cities, threaten our very way of life. Any politician who does not grasp this danger is not fit to lead our country.

Americans watching this address tonight have seen the recent images of violence in our streets and the chaos in our communities. Many have witnessed this violence personally, some have even been its victims.

I have a message for all of you: the crime and violence that today afflicts our nation will soon come to an end. Beginning on January 20th 2017, safety will be restored.

The most basic duty of government is to defend the lives of its own citizens. Any government that fails to do so is a government unworthy to lead.

It is finally time for a straightforward assessment of the state of our nation.

I will present the facts plainly and honestly. We cannot afford to be so politically correct anymore.

So if you want to hear the corporate spin, the carefully-crafted lies, and the media myths the Democrats are holding their convention next week.

But here, at our convention, there will be no lies. We will honor the American people with the truth, and nothing else.

These are the facts:

Decades of progress made in bringing down crime are now being reversed by this Administration’s rollback of criminal enforcement.

Homicides last year increased by 17% in America’s fifty largest cities. That’s the largest increase in 25 years. In our nation’s capital, killings have risen by 50 percent. They are up nearly 60% in nearby Baltimore.

In the President’s hometown of Chicago, more than 2,000 have been the victims of shootings this year alone. And more than 3,600 have been killed in the Chicago area since he took office.

The number of police officers killed in the line of duty has risen by almost 50% compared to this point last year. Nearly 180,000 illegal immigrants with criminal records, ordered deported from our country, are tonight roaming free to threaten peaceful citizens.

The number of new illegal immigrant families who have crossed the border so far this year already exceeds the entire total from 2015. They are being released by the tens of thousands into our communities with no regard for the impact on public safety or resources.

One such border-crosser was released and made his way to Nebraska. There, he ended the life of an innocent young girl named Sarah Root. She was 21 years-old, and was killed the day after graduating from college with a 4.0 Grade Point Average. Her killer was then released a second time, and he is now a fugitive from the law.

I’ve met Sarah’s beautiful family. But to this Administration, their amazing daughter was just one more American life that wasn’t worth protecting. One more child to sacrifice on the altar of open borders. What about our economy?
Again, I will tell you the plain facts that have been edited out of your nightly news and your morning newspaper: Nearly Four in 10 African-American children are living in poverty, while 58% of African American youth are not employed. 2 million more Latinos are in poverty today than when the President took his oath of office less than eight years ago. Another 14 million people have left the workforce entirely.

Household incomes are down more than $4,000 since the year 2000. Our manufacturing trade deficit has reached an all-time high – nearly $800 billion in a single year. The budget is no better.

President Obama has doubled our national debt to more than $19 trillion, and growing. Yet, what do we have to show for it? Our roads and bridges are falling apart, our airports are in Third World condition, and forty-three million Americans are on food stamps.

Now let us consider the state of affairs abroad.

Not only have our citizens endured domestic disaster, but they have lived through one international humiliation after another. We all remember the images of our sailors being forced to their knees by their Iranian captors at gunpoint.
This was just prior to the signing of the Iran deal, which gave back to Iran $150 billion and gave us nothing – it will go down in history as one of the worst deals ever made. Another humiliation came when president Obama drew a red line in Syria – and the whole world knew it meant nothing.

In Libya, our consulate – the symbol of American prestige around the globe – was brought down in flames. America is far less safe – and the world is far less stable – than when Obama made the decision to put Hillary Clinton in charge of America’s foreign policy.

I am certain it is a decision he truly regrets. Her bad instincts and her bad judgment – something pointed out by Bernie Sanders – are what caused the disasters unfolding today. Let’s review the record. In 2009, pre-Hillary, ISIS was not even on the map.

Libya was cooperating. Egypt was peaceful. Iraq was seeing a reduction in violence. Iran was being choked by sanctions. Syria was under control. After four years of Hillary Clinton, what do we have? ISIS has spread across the region, and the world. Libya is in ruins, and our Ambassador and his staff were left helpless to die at the hands of savage killers. Egypt was turned over to the radical Muslim brotherhood, forcing the military to retake control. Iraq is in chaos.

Iran is on the path to nuclear weapons. Syria is engulfed in a civil war and a refugee crisis that now threatens the West. After fifteen years of wars in the Middle East, after trillions of dollars spent and thousands of lives lost, the situation is worse than it has ever been before.

This is the legacy of Hillary Clinton: death, destruction and weakness.

But Hillary Clinton’s legacy does not have to be America’s legacy. The problems we face now – poverty and violence at home, war and destruction abroad – will last only as long as we continue relying on the same politicians who created them. A change in leadership is required to change these outcomes. Tonight, I will share with you my plan of action for America.

The most important difference between our plan and that of our opponents, is that our plan will put America First. Americanism, not globalism, will be our credo. As long as we are led by politicians who will not put America First, then we can be assured that other nations will not treat America with respect. This will all change in 2017.
The American People will come first once again. My plan will begin with safety at home – which means safe neighborhoods, secure borders, and protection from terrorism. There can be no prosperity without law and order. On the economy, I will outline reforms to add millions of new jobs and trillions in new wealth that can be used to rebuild America.

A number of these reforms that I will outline tonight will be opposed by some of our nation’s most powerful special interests. That is because these interests have rigged our political and economic system for their exclusive benefit.

Big business, elite media and major donors are lining up behind the campaign of my opponent because they know she will keep our rigged system in place. They are throwing money at her because they have total control over everything she does. She is their puppet, and they pull the strings.

That is why Hillary Clinton’s message is that things will never change. My message is that things have to change – and they have to change right now. Every day I wake up determined to deliver for the people I have met all across this nation that have been neglected, ignored, and abandoned.

I have visited the laid-off factory workers, and the communities crushed by our horrible and unfair trade deals. These are the forgotten men and women of our country. People who work hard but no longer have a voice.

I am your voice.

I have embraced crying mothers who have lost their children because our politicians put their personal agendas before the national good. I have no patience for injustice, no tolerance for government incompetence, no sympathy for leaders who fail their citizens.

When innocent people suffer, because our political system lacks the will, or the courage, or the basic decency to enforce our laws – or worse still, has sold out to some corporate lobbyist for cash – I am not able to look the other way.

And when a Secretary of State illegally stores her emails on a private server, deletes 33,000 of them so the authorities can’t see her crime, puts our country at risk, lies about it in every different form and faces no consequence – I know that corruption has reached a level like never before.

When the FBI Director says that the Secretary of State was “extremely careless” and “negligent,” in handling our classified secrets, I also know that these terms are minor compared to what she actually did. They were just used to save her from facing justice for her terrible crimes.

In fact, her single greatest accomplishment may be committing such an egregious crime and getting away with it – especially when others have paid so dearly. When that same Secretary of State rakes in millions of dollars trading access and favors to special interests and foreign powers I know the time for action has come.

I have joined the political arena so that the powerful can no longer beat up on people that cannot defend themselves. Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it. I have seen firsthand how the system is rigged against our citizens, just like it was rigged against Bernie Sanders – he never had a chance.

But his supporters will join our movement, because we will fix his biggest issue: trade. Millions of Democrats will join our movement because we are going to fix the system so it works for all Americans. In this cause, I am proud to have at my side the next Vice President of the United States: Governor Mike Pence of Indiana.

We will bring the same economic success to America that Mike brought to Indiana. He is a man of character and accomplishment. He is the right man for the job. The first task for our new Administration will be to liberate our citizens from the crime and terrorism and lawlessness that threatens their communities.

America was shocked to its core when our police officers in Dallas were brutally executed. In the days after Dallas, we have seen continued threats and violence against our law enforcement officials. Law officers have been shot or killed in recent days in Georgia, Missouri, Wisconsin, Kansas, Michigan and Tennessee.

On Sunday, more police were gunned down in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Three were killed, and four were badly injured. An attack on law enforcement is an attack on all Americans. I have a message to every last person threatening the peace on our streets and the safety of our police: when I take the oath of office next year, I will restore law and order our country.

I will work with, and appoint, the best prosecutors and law enforcement officials in the country to get the job done. In this race for the White House, I am the Law And Order candidate. The irresponsible rhetoric of our President, who has used the pulpit of the presidency to divide us by race and color, has made America a more dangerous environment for everyone.

This Administration has failed America’s inner cities. It’s failed them on education. It’s failed them on jobs. It’s failed them on crime. It’s failed them at every level.

When I am President, I will work to ensure that all of our kids are treated equally, and protected equally.
Every action I take, I will ask myself: does this make life better for young Americans in Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, Ferguson who have as much of a right to live out their dreams as any other child America?

To make life safe in America, we must also address the growing threats we face from outside America: we are going to defeat the barbarians of ISIS. Once again, France is the victim of brutal Islamic terrorism.

Men, women and children viciously mowed down. Lives ruined. Families ripped apart. A nation in mourning.
The damage and devastation that can be inflicted by Islamic radicals has been over and over – at the World Trade Center, at an office party in San Bernardino, at the Boston Marathon, and a military recruiting center in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Only weeks ago, in Orlando, Florida, 49 wonderful Americans were savagely murdered by an Islamic terrorist. This time, the terrorist targeted our LGBT community. As your President, I will do everything in my power to protect our LGBT citizens from the violence and oppression of a hateful foreign ideology. To protect us from terrorism, we need to focus on three things.

We must have the best intelligence gathering operation in the world. We must abandon the failed policy of nation building and regime change that Hillary Clinton pushed in Iraq, Libya, Egypt and Syria. Instead, we must work with all of our allies who share our goal of destroying ISIS and stamping out Islamic terror.

This includes working with our greatest ally in the region, the State of Israel. Lastly, we must immediately suspend immigration from any nation that has been compromised by terrorism until such time as proven vetting mechanisms have been put in place.

My opponent has called for a radical 550% increase in Syrian refugees on top of existing massive refugee flows coming into our country under President Obama. She proposes this despite the fact that there’s no way to screen these refugees in order to find out who they are or where they come from. I only want to admit individuals into our country who will support our values and love our people.

Anyone who endorses violence, hatred or oppression is not welcome in our country and never will be.
Decades of record immigration have produced lower wages and higher unemployment for our citizens, especially for African-American and Latino workers. We are going to have an immigration system that works, but one that works for the American people.

On Monday, we heard from three parents whose children were killed by illegal immigrants Mary Ann Mendoza, Sabine Durden, and Jamiel Shaw. They are just three brave representatives of many thousands. Of all my travels in this country, nothing has affected me more deeply than the time I have spent with the mothers and fathers who have lost their children to violence spilling across our border.

These families have no special interests to represent them. There are no demonstrators to protest on their behalf. My opponent will never meet with them, or share in their pain. Instead, my opponent wants Sanctuary Cities. But where was sanctuary for Kate Steinle? Where was Sanctuary for the children of Mary Ann, Sabine and Jamiel? Where was sanctuary for all the other Americans who have been so brutally murdered, and who have suffered so horribly?
These wounded American families have been alone. But they are alone no longer. Tonight, this candidate and this whole nation stand in their corner to support them, to send them our love, and to pledge in their honor that we will save countless more families from suffering the same awful fate.

We are going to build a great border wall to stop illegal immigration, to stop the gangs and the violence, and to stop the drugs from pouring into our communities. I have been honored to receive the endorsement of America’s Border Patrol Agents, and will work directly with them to protect the integrity of our lawful immigration system.

By ending catch-and-release on the border, we will stop the cycle of human smuggling and violence. Illegal border crossings will go down. Peace will be restored. By enforcing the rules for the millions who overstay their visas, our laws will finally receive the respect they deserve.

Tonight, I want every American whose demands for immigration security have been denied – and every politician who has denied them – to listen very closely to the words I am about to say.

On January 21st of 2017, the day after I take the oath of office, Americans will finally wake up in a country where the laws of the United States are enforced. We are going to be considerate and compassionate to everyone.
But my greatest compassion will be for our own struggling citizens. My plan is the exact opposite of the radical and dangerous immigration policy of Hillary Clinton. Americans want relief from uncontrolled immigration. Communities want relief.

Yet Hillary Clinton is proposing mass amnesty, mass immigration, and mass lawlessness. Her plan will overwhelm your schools and hospitals, further reduce your jobs and wages, and make it harder for recent immigrants to escape from poverty.

I have a different vision for our workers. It begins with a new, fair trade policy that protects our jobs and stands up to countries that cheat. It’s been a signature message of my campaign from day one, and it will be a signature feature of my presidency from the moment I take the oath of office.

I have made billions of dollars in business making deals – now I’m going to make our country rich again. I am going to turn our bad trade agreements into great ones. America has lost nearly-one third of its manufacturing jobs since 1997, following the enactment of disastrous trade deals supported by Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Remember, it was Bill Clinton who signed NAFTA, one of the worst economic deals ever made by our country.
Never again.

I am going to bring our jobs back to Ohio and to America – and I am not going to let companies move to other countries, firing their employees along the way, without consequences.

My opponent, on the other hand, has supported virtually every trade agreement that has been destroying our middle class. She supported NAFTA, and she supported China’s entrance into the World Trade Organization – another one of her husband’s colossal mistakes.

She supported the job killing trade deal with South Korea. She has supported the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The TPP will not only destroy our manufacturing, but it will make America subject to the rulings of foreign governments. I pledge to never sign any trade agreement that hurts our workers, or that diminishes our freedom and independence. Instead, I will make individual deals with individual countries.

No longer will we enter into these massive deals, with many countries, that are thousands of pages long – and which no one from our country even reads or understands. We are going to enforce all trade violations, including through the use of taxes and tariffs, against any country that cheats.

This includes stopping China’s outrageous theft of intellectual property, along with their illegal product dumping, and their devastating currency manipulation. Our horrible trade agreements with China and many others, will be totally renegotiated. That includes renegotiating NAFTA to get a much better deal for America – and we’ll walk away if we don’t get the deal that we want. We are going to start building and making things again.

Next comes the reform of our tax laws, regulations and energy rules. While Hillary Clinton plans a massive tax increase, I have proposed the largest tax reduction of any candidate who has declared for the presidential race this year – Democrat or Republican. Middle-income Americans will experience profound relief, and taxes will be simplified for everyone.

America is one of the highest-taxed nations in the world. Reducing taxes will cause new companies and new jobs to come roaring back into our country. Then we are going to deal with the issue of regulation, one of the greatest job-killers of them all. Excessive regulation is costing our country as much as $2 trillion a year, and we will end it. We are going to lift the restrictions on the production of American energy. This will produce more than $20 trillion in job creating economic activity over the next four decades.

My opponent, on the other hand, wants to put the great miners and steel workers of our country out of work – that will never happen when I am President. With these new economic policies, trillions of dollars will start flowing into our country.

This new wealth will improve the quality of life for all Americans – We will build the roads, highways, bridges, tunnels, airports, and the railways of tomorrow. This, in turn, will create millions more jobs. We will rescue kids from failing schools by helping their parents send them to a safe school of their choice.

My opponent would rather protect education bureaucrats than serve American children. We will repeal and replace disastrous Obamacare. You will be able to choose your own doctor again. And we will fix TSA at the airports! We will completely rebuild our depleted military, and the countries that we protect, at a massive loss, will be asked to pay their fair share.

We will take care of our great Veterans like they have never been taken care of before. My opponent dismissed the VA scandal as being not widespread – one more sign of how out of touch she really is. We are going to ask every Department Head in government to provide a list of wasteful spending projects that we can eliminate in my first 100 days. The politicians have talked about it, I’m going to do it. We are also going to appoint justices to the United States Supreme Court who will uphold our laws and our Constitution.

The replacement for Justice Scalia will be a person of similar views and principles. This will be one of the most important issues decided by this election. My opponent wants to essentially abolish the 2nd amendment. I, on the other hand, received the early and strong endorsement of the National Rifle Association and will protect the right of all Americans to keep their families safe.

At this moment, I would like to thank the evangelical community who have been so good to me and so supportive. You have so much to contribute to our politics, yet our laws prevent you from speaking your minds from your own pulpits.

An amendment, pushed by Lyndon Johnson, many years ago, threatens religious institutions with a loss of their tax-exempt status if they openly advocate their political views.

I am going to work very hard to repeal that language and protect free speech for all Americans. We can accomplish these great things, and so much else – all we need to do is start believing in ourselves and in our country again. It is time to show the whole world that America Is Back – bigger, and better and stronger than ever before.

In this journey, I’m so lucky to have at my side my wife Melania and my wonderful children, Don, Ivanka, Eric, Tiffany, and Barron: you will always be my greatest source of pride and joy. My Dad, Fred Trump, was the smartest and hardest working man I ever knew. I wonder sometimes what he’d say if he were here to see this tonight.

It’s because of him that I learned, from my youngest age, to respect the dignity of work and the dignity of working people. He was a guy most comfortable in the company of bricklayers, carpenters, and electricians and I have a lot of that in me also. Then there’s my mother, Mary. She was strong, but also warm and fair-minded. She was a truly great mother. She was also one of the most honest and charitable people I have ever known, and a great judge of character.

To my sisters Mary Anne and Elizabeth, my brother Robert and my late brother Fred, I will always give you my love you are most special to me. I have loved my life in business.

But now, my sole and exclusive mission is to go to work for our country – to go to work for all of you. It’s time to deliver a victory for the American people. But to do that, we must break free from the petty politics of the past.
America is a nation of believers, dreamers, and strivers that is being led by a group of censors, critics, and cynics.

Remember: all of the people telling you that you can’t have the country you want, are the same people telling you that I wouldn’t be standing here tonight. No longer can we rely on those elites in media, and politics, who will say anything to keep a rigged system in place.

Instead, we must choose to Believe In America. History is watching us now.

It’s waiting to see if we will rise to the occasion, and if we will show the whole world that America is still free and independent and strong.

My opponent asks her supporters to recite a three-word loyalty pledge. It reads: “I’m With Her”. I choose to recite a different pledge.

My pledge reads: “I’m with you — the American people.”

I am your voice.

So to every parent who dreams for their child, and every child who dreams for their future, I say these words to you tonight: I’m With You, and I will fight for you, and I will win for you.

To all Americans tonight, in all our cities and towns, I make this promise: We Will Make America Strong Again.

We Will Make America Proud Again.

We Will Make America Safe Again.

And We Will Make America Great Again.

Thank you.

Quin Hillyer speaks to the Georgetown University College Republicans about free speech on campus. (Photo: YouTube Screenshot)

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tx.) set the political world on fire Wednesday night after not endorsing Donald J. Trump during his speech at the Republican National Convention. Cruz’s remarks sparked fierce debate among Republican primary voters, some of whom credited the Texas senator for making a principled stand, while others criticized him for being a sore loser. Alabama-based, nationally-syndicated political columnist Quin Hillyer counts himself among the former.

Hillyer, who previously ran for Congress as a Republican in Alabama’s 1st Congressional District, has been one of Trump’s most vocal critics and on Thursday took to Facebook to react to the Cruz dustup.

Trump: Cruz is a liar.

Trump: Cruz’ wife is ugly, plus I’ll “spill the beans on her” (one mental health issue years ago).

Trump: Cruz’ dad worked with Lee Harvey Oswald…..

Cruz: Vote for your conscience and the Constitution…..

The new Trump GOP, and the media: Oh, gosh, how can Cruz be so obnoxious!!!!!…..

Readers, please note: There is something seriously wrong with this picture. A Republican Party that boos when somebody says to vote conscience and the Constitution is no longer the Republican Party my dad sacrificed for and that I sweated for. It is now a hateful, lunatic mob. And a Party that expects a man to endorse another man when the second man horrendously maligned the first’s wife and father is a Party that understands nothing about personal honor. ….. To anybody that can’t understand these simple concepts: What is WRONG with you?

Hillyer has also at times been deeply critical (while at other times supportive in other matters) of his home state senator, Jeff Sessions, who has been one of Trump’s biggest proponents.

Poor Sen. Sessions is now delusional. https://t.co/sIGYnhEsyj

— Quin Hillyer (@QuinHillyer) May 30, 2016

Sessions should mind his own bleeping business. Ryan has House members to protect. https://t.co/nisfnPrgz6

— Quin Hillyer (@QuinHillyer) May 31, 2016

Other Alabamians took to Twitter Wednesday night to join Hillyer in expressing their support for Cruz.

@Cliff_Sims sore losers stay home like Kasich, men with principles go into the lions den.

— Luke Glover (@LGLOVER89) July 21, 2016

@Cliff_Sims Sticking to his guns. Trump said horrible things about his wife and father. Why on earth should he endorse after that?

— Joshua Williamson (@joshwill90) July 21, 2016

Other Alabamians harshly criticized the Texas senator.

@Cliff_Sims @SenTedCruz Sore loser and not a man of his word! No respect!

— tigergrad85 (@Tigergrad85) July 21, 2016

@Cliff_Sims nothing principled about playing both sides of the fence after pledging to support the candidate. Self over country isn't brave

— Jason Cooke (@jasonwcooke) July 21, 2016

@Cliff_Sims he's a schmuck

— Jason Putman (@JL24601) July 21, 2016

@Cliff_Sims sore loser…. for sure

— Nick Watkins™ (@N_Wat) July 21, 2016

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) at the Republican National Convention (Photo: Matt Rourke)

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) bounced between interviews Wednesday afternoon, fresh off of his star turn on the big stage the night before when the Republican National Convention’s theme was “Make America Safe Again.”

No subject could have been more fitting for Alabama’s junior senator, who has spent much of the last decade sounding the alarm that “open borders” could leave the United States vulnerable to attack — from both terrorists and illegal immigrants.

Many would argue he has been proven right.

In one particularly heart-wrenching example, 32-year-old Kate Steinle was murdered on a pier in San Francisco by an illegal alien who had been convicted of seven felonies but was continuously released back onto the streets.

Sessions invited her father to testify before a U.S. Senate committee last year while the body was considering a bill to crack down on “sanctuary cities.”

“We were walking arm-in-arm on Pier 14 in San Francisco enjoying a wonderful day together,” Mr. Steinle testified. “Suddenly a shot rang out, Kate fell, and looked at me and said ‘Help me, Dad.’ Those are the last words I will ever hear from my daughter.”

It is the Steinles and countless other families around the country who have been negatively impacted by U.S. immigration and border policies for whom Sessions sees himself fighting.

Who he’s fighting against is often a little more abstract. Although they sometimes have names — Obama and Clinton or Zuckerberg and Gates — they are usually referred to more broadly as simply the “Masters of the Universe.”

As a constant reminder of this, above Sessions’ desk in his Capitol Hill office hangs a drawing of He-Man and Battle Cat from the 1980s comic book series and cartoon of the same name.

“(O)ur greatest ‘Masters of the Universe,’ as I like to refer to them, have joined… (together) to share their wisdom from on high and to tell us in Congress how to do our business,” Sessions declared on the Senate floor in 2014 in the midst of a tense fight over so called comprehensive immigration reform. “Sheldon Adelson… Warren Buffett… and Bill Gates… all super billionaires, aren’t happy, apparently. They don’t have much respect for Congress, and by indirection the people who elect people to Congress… Those three billionaires have three votes. The individual who works stocking the shelves at the grocery store, the barber, the doctor, the lawyer, the cleaners operator, and the person who picks up our garbage are every bit as valuable as they are. So I know who I represent. I represent citizens of the United States of America.”

But while Sessions’ clashes with immigration advocates have become high profile affairs in recent years–and foreshadowed the Trump phenomenon–that has not always been the case. In 2007, with a Republican president pushing immigration reform along with members of his own party in both houses, Sessions made a sometimes lonely stand.

He won.

And to this day, just below the “Masters of the Universe” drawing hangs an excerpt from the remarks Sessions delivered on the Senate floor just before the vote that sent the bill going down in flames.

“No one small group of people have a right to meet in secret with special-interest groups and write an immigration bill and ram it down the throat of this Senate,” he said. “I oppose it. It is not right.”

But in spite of the legislative victories, President Obama has used–and Sessions would argue abused–his executive power to grant de facto amnesty to wide swaths of illegal immigrants. This has led many Trump supporters to fantasize about what it might look like for Sessions to transition out of his role as the Senate’s conservative elder statesman and into a Trump Cabinet post atop the Department of Homeland Security.

If the billionaire businessman makes it to the Oval Office, it very well could go from fantasy to reality, although the always humble Sessions dismisses such ideas offhand.

That does not mean, however, that he has not thought at great length about what needs to change inside the third largest Cabinet department (trailing only the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs).

“A lot of things need to be done immediately,” Sessions told Yellowhammer at the Republican National Convention. “Sadly, the Department is one of the largest in the federal government, but they have the lowest morale of all the major agencies, and have for several years.”

The head of the border patrol agents union has said that current DHS leadership is “punishing law enforcement officers who are just trying to uphold U.S. law,” and is “willing to take away their retirement, their job, their ability to support their families in favor of someone who is here illegally and violating our laws…either taking a disciplinary action [or] threat[ening] disciplinary action.”

The vice president of the National Border Patrol Council testified before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that, “(Border Patrol) agents who repeatedly report groups (of illegal aliens) larger than 20 face retribution. Management will either take them out of the field and assign them to processing detainees at the station or assign them to a fixed position in low volume areas as punishment. Needless to say agents got the message and now stay below this 20 person threshold no matter the actual size of the group.”

As a result, in addition to the victims mentioned above, Sessions has also become a champion of immigration and customs agents.

“The agents in that organization sued their supervisors and the Secretary of Homeland Security basically saying, ‘You’re ordering us to violate our oath and violate the law,'” Sessions explained. “I’ve never heard of that before — suing your boss for not letting you do your job! That’s the level of disfunction.

“So the first thing that needs to happen is that those officers need to be rallied, respected and empowered,” he continued. “Let’s put them to work. They’re ready. Let’s build a wall and the barriers we need, empower the officers, back them up with tough prosecutors, and deport the people who are caught here illegally.”

Sessions believes that such an approach would completely revolutionize Homeland Security and drastically change the way the U.S. is viewed by would-be illegal entrants.

“We would immediately send a message to the world that the border is no longer open,” he concluded. “I guarantee you we would see a major reduction in attempts to enter the country illegally, because right now many people are just coming because they believe–often rightly–that they’ll get away with it.”

Six months from today a new president will be sworn into office, and he or she will presumably bring an entirely new Cabinet with them. Whether Sessions ends up being offered such a post remains to be seen. But you can bet the “Masters of the Universe” will be holding their breath as the process unfolds.

(Video above: Alabama officially pledges 36 delegates to Donald J. Trump)

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Donald J. Trump officially became the Republican Party’s presidential nominee on Tuesday evening, with Alabama kicking things off by casting 36 of its 50 votes for the billionaire real estate mogul.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) announced the state’s votes, while also mentioning a couple of the Yellowhammer State’s accomplishments, as is the tradition.

Mr. Speaker, the great state of Alabama; the home of national champion football teams Alabama and Auburn; the home of the Saturn V rocket that took us to the moon; the place where we had two of the greatest Trump rallies in the nation’s history — Mobile and Huntsville — is proud to cast its votes: one vote for Marco Rubio, 13 votes for Ted Cruz and 36 votes for the next president of the United States, Donald J. Trump.

Alabama Republican Party chairwoman Terry Lathan also threw in a few “War Eagles” for good measure.

Check it out in the video above.

(h/t War Eagle Reader)

(Video above: Sen. Jeff Sessions’ RNC speech)

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) delivered an eight-minute speech at the Republican National Convention Monday night, taking his turn in the spotlight as the intellectual force behind Trump’s immigration and trade policies.

Sessions, the chairman of Trump’s national security advisory committee, said a Hillary Clinton presidency would be little more than a continuation — or acceleration — of the current administration’s “job-killing” policies.

The full speech can be read below, or viewed in the video above.

Speaking from this podium today is a long way from the rafter seats my wife and I had as college students in Miami in 1972, I’ve got to tell you.

This year, our voters spoke clearly on two critical issues in our primaries: trade and immigration. They affirmed Donald Trump and his positions. They opposed ObamaTrade, and they demanded a lawful system of immigration that protects their safety and their financial wellbeing.

Average Americans have been the first to know that something is wrong with this economy. Our middle class is steadily declining, with our African-American and hispanic communities being hurt the most. But the Washington establishment, the media and big corporations have been in denial.

Fellow Republicans, we must understand that the incomes of middle class Americans today are $4,000 less per year than in 1999. This is an economic disaster. We’re on the wrong track and the American people know it.

Yet, Hillary Clinton’s plan is more of the same — more government, more taxes, more regulations, more illegal immigration and more debt.

She has been the champion of globalist trade agreements, but the facts are in, they have not worked for the American people. When those agreements were signed, Presidents Clinton and Obama promised our dangerous trade deficits with China and Korea would be reduced. But the deficit with China has increased five-fold. And the deficit with Korea has more than doubled in just four years. These are job-killing numbers. Worst of all, they are now pushing the disastrous, 5,000-page ObamaTrade — the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement. This must not happen.

This election has also been about immigration.

For thirty years, our good and decent people have rightly pleaded with their leaders for an end to the lawlessness and for sound immigration policies that are fair and advance the national interests. To this legitimate plea, our elites have responded with disdain, dismissal and scorn. But is there anyone in America that does not understand that when we bring in more workers than we have jobs for, that job prospects and wages fall? Top economists and the Congressional Budget Office have told us just that.

Is it too much to ask to just slow down and protect our national security and jobs?

We lawfully admit, friends, 1.1 million permanent residents annually to this country — more than any other country in the world. And they are, for the most part, wonderful additions to our country. On top of that, we have 700,000 guest workers here that take jobs, and the majority of these are not seasonal or agriculture workers. There are about 350,000 people who succeed in crossing our borders illegally each year, and almost 500,000 more unlawfully stay their visas. These are extreme numbers. But the only solution from Obama and Hillary Clinton is to capitulate to the lawlessness and give amnesty and citizenship to all. It will not work.

Understand this, from 2000 to 2014, while our existing population increased by millions, the number of jobs held by Americans actually declined. Amazingly, all of the net job growth during that period went to immigrants. Combine that with the reality of efficient businesses, increased automation, and slow growth, the fact is, we just don’t have enough jobs being created now for the people who are here.

Does this help to explain why our wages have fallen and why we have the lowest percentage of Americans actually holding a job in 40 years? Our duty as elected officials is to get our people jobs first. It cannot be our policy to take jobs from abroad while government support payments are used for those unemployed Americans.

Bad trade deals and excess immigration floods the labor market, reducing job prospects and wages. Improper vetting places our nation at risk of terrorism. Remember, the President has the clear power — the clear power — to suspend immigration to protect America. So Americans want help now.

This election will make it happen. That is why we need Donald Trump. Donald Trump is the leader who will bring change. He has the strength, the courage and the will to get it done. He is attracting more and more independents and Democrats to our movement. Donald Trump will kill ObamaTrade. Donald Trump will build the wall. And Donald Trump will make America great again.

Thank you, God bless.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Trump delegates to this month’s Republican National Convention are raising money in an effort to make sure the “regular folks” who are prepared to cast their ballot for the presumptive Republican nominee are not replaced by “elites” who may give their support to another candidate.

“We are your average Alabamians,” the delegates wrote on a GoFundMe page set up to raise resources. “You may know us from church, work, a Republican club, or you may not know us at all.

“Most of the delegates committed in October 2015 to run in the March primary, almost a year ago,” they continued. “Since then, unforeseen convention costs have emerged and most notably, financial situations have changed. It can be challenging for a retiree living on a fixed income, the young professional living month to month, persons with loss of income due to decrease in pay and family changes from divorce to infertility/adoption costs. Due to these unforeseen circumstances, we appreciate your generosity, of any amount. We expect each delegate to shoulder much of the costs of the trip but a little assistance for us would be most appreciated.”

The GoFundMe page, which was set up by Trump delegate Laura Payne, can be found here.

“As we have seen in Alabama and other states, Donald Trump has engaged many new voters and has reinvigorated many traditional voters,” said Payne, who serves on the RNC Rules Committee. “Because of the enthusiasm and excitement he has brought, many Trump delegates are attending the Republican convention for the first time.”

According to several Trump delegates Yellowhammer spoke with on Thursday, the GoFundMe campaign was a response to concerns about Trump delegates dropping out due to financial difficulties and being replaced by individuals who support other candidates.

A report in the Wall St. Journal titled “Anti-Donald Trump Forces See Convention Coup as Within Reach” has exacerbated those concerns.

Months after Donald Trump appeared to seal the Republican nomination for president, anti-Trump forces are making one last push to force a vote on the party’s convention floor that would throw open the GOP contest again.

It’s a long shot, but by some counts they are remarkably close to getting past the first hurdle next week in Cleveland.

Mr. Trump’s intraparty foes, led by a group of rogue delegates, are waging an intense behind-the-scenes effort to push the Republican National Convention’s Rules Committee for a vote on freeing delegates to back whomever they wish, rather than being bound to Mr. Trump.

The presumptive nominee’s team is fighting back just as vehemently, with an organized campaign of dozens of aides and volunteers. It’s a power struggle that has prompted threats of reprisals and left many Republicans anxious that it could hurt the party’s prospects in November.

“Donald Trump has inspired many normal, hard-working Americans across the country to engage in the political process for the first time,” said Chris Beeker, an Alabama Trump delegate. “These individuals deserve the opportunity to represent their peers at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland and not be excluded because of exorbitant travel costs. The convention isn’t a place for just the party elites. It needs to be a place where the voices of all who are tired of the status quo and stand ready to fight to make America great again can be heard.

“We are raising money for the foot soldiers of the Republican Party, not the party elites,” he concluded. “This will be used to help those people who put up signs, not write checks.”

Trump won every county in Alabama and captured 36 of the state’s 50 delegates. The Republican National Convention is set to take place July 18–21 in Cleveland, Ohio.

MOBILE, Ala. — Alabama Congressman Bradley Byrne on Thursday called for Republican voters across the country to unite behind presumptive GOP nominee Donald J. Trump in an all-out effort to defeat likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

“The primary process has been long and challenging, but the American people have spoken loud and clear,” Byrne said Thursday morning. “The time has come for the Republican Party to unite to defeat Hillary Clinton, and I will be voting for Donald Trump in November. With everything going on in the world today, these times require a strong leader who understands the need for a powerful military and who will stand up for our veterans. We cannot tolerate four more years of bloated, expensive, liberal policies that make life harder for American families.”

Byrne had previously warned Party leaders that secret machinations to deny Trump the nomination against the will of voters could prove to be disastrous.

“I am very troubled by reports that some in the Republican Party are exploring ways to subvert the presidential nominating process,” he said in March. “Our party’s nominee should be selected by the American people, not by party bosses.

“I have great confidence in the American people, and we should be listening to their voices and their calls for a better, stronger country,” he continued. “Unity is very important as we head into a critical election in November… I can assure you of this: any of our Republican presidential candidates would be a better leader than Hillary Clinton, who can’t be trusted, or self-declared socialist Bernie Sanders.”

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus earlier this week indicated he agrees with Byrne and called on warring GOP factions to unite behind Trump.

.@realDonaldTrump will be presumptive @GOP nominee, we all need to unite and focus on defeating @HillaryClinton #NeverClinton

— Reince Priebus (@Reince) May 4, 2016

The Republican National Convention is set to take place in Cleveland, Ohio at the Quicken Loans Arena July 18-21 2016.

Jeff Sessions speaks at Donald Trump's campaign rally in Mobile, Ala. (Photo: Screenshot) — Jeff Sessions speaks at Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Mobile, Ala. (Photo: Screenshot)

On Tuesday, Donald Trump won another big primary in New York, further extending his lead over his opponents, Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Ohio Governor John Kasich. Based on Tuesday’s results, Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, Trump’s only Senate endorsement, says he believes it is becoming almost impossible for anyone but Trump to win the Republican nomination this summer.

“It’ll be hard for any of these candidates to argue, it seems to me, they should leap over somebody that clobbered them in a big state like New York, especially when they have fewer delegates and fewer votes nationwide,” Sessions said.

Trump’s Big Apple victory brought his delegate count to 845, just 392 shy of the 1,237 needed to secure the nomination at the Republican National Convention. Ted Cruz currently has 559 delegates, and John Kasich trails far behind with 147.

Sessions also said that it would be easier for Bernie Sanders to take the Democratic nomination from Hillary Clinton with fewer delegates than it would be for Cruz or Kasich to take the Republican nomination from Trump. The New York businessman’s lead over his opponents is far greater than Clinton’s current lead over Sanders.

After publicly endorsing Trump in February, Sen. Sessions has become increasingly involved in the billionaire real estate mogul’s campaign. Shortly after his endorsement, Sessions was named the Chairman of Trump’s National Security Advisory Committee, and he was rumored to be in the running for Trump’s Vice Presidential pick. Sessions quickly denied those rumors, saying, “I think that would not happen. I have not talked with him about it.”

Sen. Sessions has called for Republicans to unite behind Trump, calling the campaign a “movement.” As other Republicans look for ways to take the nomination away from Trump, Sessions has remained the billionaire’s most prominent supporter.

Sessions says he has faith in Trump’s campaign team to secure the nomination. He recently met with Paul Manafort, a veteran campaign operative who joined the Trump team to retool the operation to better prepare for a contested convention.

“The campaign team has done a magnificent job to date, but I do think that [Manafort’s] experience in presidential campaigns is a very positive addition to the Trump efforts,” Sessions said. “He had a good visit yesterday on the Hill. He [met] three different groups of House members, and I think those went well.”

“I think the hire of Manafort also signals an expansion of the number of people, just because so many people are calling in, you can’t even return the calls … as small as they were to begin with,” Sessions continued. “This is a national movement, I think.”

WASHINGTON — Several conservative opinion leaders are circulating lists of prominent Donald J. Trump supporters, including some from Alabama, and vowing to “blackball” them from the conservative movement in the years to come.

“Call it a boycott, call it a blackball, call it a blacklist, call it whatever you want,” said Amanda Carpenter, a CNN contributor and former communications director for Senator Ted Cruz. “I’m done with these folks and other conservatives should be, too. Anyone who will defend a man condoning random acts of violence at his rallies has lost his morals; he will defend anything at all.”

Carpenter’s Alabama list includes Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), who endorsed Trump at a massive rally in North Alabama and was subsequently named chairman of Trump’s National Security Advisory Committee. In addition to Sessions, Carpenter also “blacklisted” Alabama State Representatives Jim Carns, Ed Henry, Tim Wadsworth and Barry Moore, each of whom has endorsed the billionaire businessman.

Representative Moore took to Facebook to respond to his name being included on the list.

I was one of the first state elected officials to endorse Trump. Agree with me or not I find the effort to block free speech and shut down rallies extremely troubling. I have yet to hear a racist remark from Mr Trump. But it’s always the first card the left plays. Subsequently, these paid activists show up and try to take others rights away! (So tolerant of them). Not in this country — not now, not ever. The answer for opposition to free speech is more free speech. I’m glad Mr. King had free speech, aren’t you? I’m glad Mr. Reagan had free speech, aren’t you? I’m glad Abe Lincoln had free speech, and Billy Graham, and on and on and on. Let’s make America great again. Return our nation to its founding principles, restore freedoms and limit government. Let’s bring opportunity to all and not try to guarantee outcomes that are equal. Let individuals excel and endeavor in whatever they choose, stop demonizing and start producing. Let’s make America great again let’s take our freedoms back and share them with the world.

Matt Walsh of Glenn Beck’s TheBlaze, also created a “list of cowardly Trump shills who should be shunned,” which included Sen. Jeff Sessions.

Message to conservative Trump shills who sold the movement out and bowed before Trump: we will never forget, and we don't want you back.

— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) March 5, 2016

Trump has earned 673 delegates to this point, 600 short of the number needed to secure the GOP nomination going into the Republican National Convention in July. Cruz is within striking distance with 411, but it is becoming increasingly unlikely that any candidate will reach the 1,273 delegate threshold ahead of the convention.

A contested convention has not taken place since 1976 when Gerald Ford ultimately held of Ronald Reagan to secure the nomination. Governor John Kasich has hired several operatives who were involved in that convention, and other candidates are gearing up for a fight, as well.

The convention will take place July 18–21 in Cleveland, Ohio.

Chris Christie’s victory rally in Asbury Park, New Jersey Tuesday night had the look, feel and size of a presidential celebration.

The speech he delivered matched the grandiosity of the stage he stood on.

Following his seismic 22-point victory over Democrat Barbara Buono, it’s obvious now that Christie sought to use the address to trumpet his rationale for a presidential candidacy.

Here are 5 key points he delivered along with the larger message he was attempting to send to the country.

1. Christie’s soundbyte: “I know that if we can do this in Trenton, New Jersey, maybe the folks in Washington, D.C. should tune in their TVs right now, see how it’s done.”

Christie’s message: For all the talk of my harsh, brash, pugnacious nature, I’ve proven I’m still more successful at governing than those putzes in Washington. The government shutdown? Woulda never happened on my watch. I have to deal with a legislature of the opposite party too — but we’re still capable of acting like adults and working together.

2. Christie’s soundbyte: ”We show up. We show up everywhere. We don’t just show up in the places that vote for us a lot. We show up in the places that vote for us a little. We don’t just show up in the places we’re comfortable. We show up in the places where we’re uncomfortable. Because when you lead, you need to be there.”

Christie’s message: If (when) I run for president, I’ll strive to campaign everywhere — even in places that may be wary of an in-your-face northeastern governor, even in enclaves normally hostile to Republican candidates. My mantra will be to win and winning means growing the party. That means venturing into the big cities as well as the smaller far-flung towns. And oh, punditry aside, I may just go to Iowa in the run-up to the caucuses, despite my long odds of success there. Sure, I probably won’t win them (and frankly, I don’t need to), but I will respect their process and make my case, because that’s what I do. I show up. Everywhere.

3. Christie’s soundbyte: ”You can agree with me or disagree with me, but I will never stop leading the state I love.”

Christie’s message: Admit it Democrats, you probably don’t like a lot of my policies, but you can’t deny I’m not a natural leader with tremendous persuasive ability. You gotta at least respect my no-nonsense candor, for the most part.

4. Christie’s soundbyte: ”Now that doesn’t mean that we don’t have principles, we have many of them. And we have stood and fought every day to cut taxes, to reduce the size of government spending, to reform pension benefits, to reform a broken education system and to make sure that we create an opportunity again for New Jerseyans.”

Christie’s message: And to my conservative critics, look at the record, I’m a pretty conservative guy. And I stress the stuff that matters — the stuff that will allow us to win — economic, bread-and-butter, kitchen table issues I’m with you on the social issues too, but I’m not in your face about it. This is part of the formula that allows me to win. I’m one of you, just packaged a bit differently and with a bit more spunk. So don’t even think about trying to portray me as a faux conservative. It won’t work.

5. Christie’s soundbyte: ”I know that tonight a dispirited America angry with their dysfunctional government in Washington, looks to New Jersey to say, ‘Is what I think happening, really happening? Are people really coming together? Are we really working African-Americans and Hispanics, suburbanites and city dwellers, farmers and teachers, are we really all working together?’

Christie’s message: Remember that rebranding effort the Republican National Committee undertook a year ago? How’s that working out for you? Well, I’m a governor in a blue state who has built a broad coalition. I can win women — the demographic that befuddled the other Republican gubernatorial candidate who lost this year. I can put Hispanics in play and African-Americans will at least give me the time of day. And I’ve built a team of ambassadors here from all these different demographic groups who can vouch for me and my proclivity to be inclusive. It’s powerful and it’s just the beginning.

Follow Dave’s blog at TheRun2016.com