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Hey everybody here’s the text from my speech to the Missoula County Democrats Saturday night. I don’t normally let it rip like this. But these aren’t normal times. It was a ton of fun. So, perhaps I will have to do more of this in the future. Here’s what I told the crowd of about 400 people at the Holiday Inn in Missoula. (a technical note - the videographer missed a bit of the speech)
“I’d like to thank the Missoula county democratic party for inviting me to the big Williams dinner. Love the Williams. Lot of people here. Wow.
I am nowhere near the coast right now… no ocean close by.. I did see a river and there were surfers.. Which was great. But i want to make sure nobody brought any seashells with them tonight. Hand em over. No numbers either. You can’t say 86 47…
I think we should call him 32 for his poll numbers.
I’ve been told for a while by friends that it was high time i made it back to Montana.. And the views.. The hospitality.. And the food do not disappoint. Plus the last couple of times i visited your state it was for a rally for a certain political candidate. Got a little dicey. I’ll get into that. This is a much friendlier crowd i must say.
I raced out here and escaped the madness of Washington DC… in part because i needed a break… even a brief one… and also because i try to go wherever i can to deliver the urgent message…. I have brought with me tonight.
And before i do that i have to tell you it’s not easy for a reporter like yours truly… to go out on a limb and just tell it like is these days. Just let it rip.
I’m used to showing up to a big fancy studio in a suit, and fix my hair just right, even put on a little makeup. All of that is out the window now. You might have seen my last day on the air at CNN. It was back in January 2025.. About one week after Donald Trump came back into the white house. And i told the audience… this…
“it’s never a good time to bow down to a tyrant… don’t give into the lies. Don’t give into fear. Hold on to the truth and hope.”
I delivered that message over the airwaves because i was greatly worried about what was already starting to happen in this country.
You see… trump had just pardoned all of the criminals who stormed the capitol on January sixth. Major tv networks were paying trump these ridiculous multi-million-dollar settlements… universities… law firms… and other major American institutions were beginning to bend the knee. And i thought all of that.. Was absolutely… totally wrong.
As the son of a Cuban refugee… i am here to tell you… the last thing i am going to do… is bow down to a tyrant
You see i know this man. I’ve covered him for more than a decade. I’ve been to hundreds of trump rallies… speeches and press conferences. I was at the white house on january sixth…when trump and his forces tried to overturn a free and fair election… and i remember walking around the white house looking for an official to explain what was going on. And nearly all of them were gone. They had scattered like cockroaches.
A lot of this got started during the 2016 campaign… when trump started attacking the free press in America with the kind of language we had never really heard from presidential candidate before. You might remember when he called me “fake news…” and worse… “the enemy of the people.”
Back in those days… we in the white house press corps… tried to warn the president and his team that this kind of language can be dangerous. But our appeals for decency fell on deaf ears.
That’s because he figured out… calling us “the enemy of the people…” worked so well with his people.
There was this one trump rally in Montana right before the midterm elections in 2018. At that rally… the president praised greg gianforte, when he was a congressman. Ever heard of that guy? Isn’t he the governor or something. Where is Greg? Is here tonight???
At the time, his claim to fame was that he once body slammed a journalist named Ben Jacobs, a friend of mine. Trump whipped that rally into a frenzy when he declared Gianforte was his kind of guy.
The crowd went wild. They cheered and they laughed. And as i looked over to one group of young men, one of them looked back at me and ran his thumb across his neck... Like he wanted to slit my throat.
At these rallies… we were called “scum…traitors,” and worse. The atmosphere was so intense we often had bodyguards. Sometimes we had to run back to our cars after these rallies were over.
It didn’t feel like i was in America anymore. Maybe I’m old fashioned. But in my view… you don’t treat your fellow Americans like that. You don’t treat human beings like that.
Trump now calls reporters “piggy…” and “stupid…” and so on. I gotta tell ya… if i were in that white house press corps today… i would have some questions to ask.
Oh would i have some questions.
Like… who you calling piggy?
Do you think that you… Donald Trump… should be calling other people piggy?
It’s just a question.
And how do you pronounce Iran… is it eh-rahn… or i-ran… as in… i ran up your gas prices???
Oh and why are you mentioned in the Epstein files 38,000 times?
Now those would be some questions!!!
But in all seriousness… this trump toxin - that has been injected into our political discourse - has been spreading throughout our nation’s blood stream for more than a decade now. Our kids and grandkids are now soaking up this culture of bullying and intimidation as this poison now courses through America’s social media platforms. And the man at the center of it all – has his own toxic social media platform… called truth social…
You probably saw just the other day he posted an image of himself as Jesus. Though he later claimed he thought it was just a picture of a doctor.
Can you believe that??
I tell ya.. Jesus could turn water into wine.
But trump can turn… truth… into b******t… can’t he?
You can’t make this stuff up.
Trump as Jesus..are you serious?
Trump doesn’t walk on water.
He can barely stay awake at cabinet meetings.
He is churning out this garbage during the wee hours of the morning… when a man his age… or any age!... Should be getting his rest. Perhaps that’s why he has so much trouble staying awake during those cabinet meetings. Have you seen those??? He’s slumped over… mouth drooping. And just snoozing away.
Have you seen that? It’s not a good look.
And his social media antics are as appalling as ever… consider some of his posts from just in the last month… when trump threatened to wipe out Iran’s civilization. He repeatedly lies about the 2020 election… issues threats about what he might do this time around.. During the upcoming midterms.
As one of his former top officials told me on my podcast the other day… and i hope you watch that… it’s called the Jim Acosta show… i know very orginial. But this official ty cobb… told me last month..that just based on trump’s truth social account.. The president is (quote) “clearly insane.”
Trump has slapped his name on the Kennedy center…he wants to build a giant arch in front of Arlington national cemetery… and he’s even trying to paint the reflecting pool on the national mall.. Blue… so it looks like a swimming pool. Totally normal stuff!
Do you want to see trump in a bathing suit??
They better use a lot of chlorine in that pool!!!
Gonna be a lot of orange stuff in there.
I haven’t even gotten into the oval office…and all of the gold décor… and the strange statues he’s set up… and how he has paved over the rose garden. It looks like Liberace and Saddam Hussein collaborated on an extreme white house makeover.
Forgive the Virginia boy in me… coming out when i say this… but he ain’t right! He ain’t right.
Which all takes me back to this struggle with what i have decided to do with this stage in my career. For the longest time, i worked in places where we would both-sides the news. One side says this. The other side says that. Here are the facts. Make up your minds on your own. It’s a great system. On the news… i believe in objectivity and fairness and giving everybody a fair shake. I believe in the news. I also believe there are not two sides to a story… when it’s a matter of right and wrong.
But these days… i feel like delivering what i call… “real news…”
As in let’s get real…
You wanna get real… Missoula?!!
I am tired of taking it on the chin.
Are you tired??
I am sick and tired… of the lies… and the b******t… and the insanity.. Each and every day..
Are you tired??
I didn’t hear you… are you tired??
After covering the news for the last 30 years, at both the local and naitonal level, i must report to you something that i never thought i would say to an audience… the american way of life is in danger.
What is the American way of life? It’s hard to describe. But i will take a stab at it. I would define the American way of life as… our democracy… our ability to choose our elected leaders… so we can realize the American dream… and have a bright future for our kids and grandkids…
And what about our elections? Are we going to see ice and American soldiers at polling places this fall? The defense secretary was asked that and he didn’t rule it out.
What about our system of checks and balances… does it feel like we have those anymore? The supreme court gave trump almost blanket immunity to do whatever he wants. The republicans who control congress… led by house speaker Mike Johnson… have all but made trump a dictator. It’s not one party rule in America.
It’s one man ruling over everything.
And that man ain’t right!!!
It’s no wonder the Atlantic magazine just the other day reported that trump no longer puts himself in the same class as Washington and Lincoln. He has set his sights on Napolean, Julius Caesar, and Alexander the Great.
I’m surprised Putin didn’t make the list..
How about the media…our system for informing the public… the news… i hate to break it to you.. But here’s the breaking news… the news in this country is broken.
Trump has cracked the code in how to hurt the press in America. He’s not only extracted big multimillion dollar settlements from ABC and CBS… just the other day he bragged on truth social about how he defunded PBS and NPR… and forced anchors and hosts out of this nation’s biggest tv networks. Trump boasted he’s gotten rid of the likes of Stephen Colbert, Lester Holt, Joy Reid, Chuck Todd, and Terry Moran. He claimed he’s somehow paved the way for one of the richest families in the world… the Ellisons.. To buy both CBS news and CNN… as well as Tik Tok.
Ladies and gentlemen… the oligarchs should not own the news… in America… the news belongs to the people.
So much of what makes this country so special and precious… and unique… and fragile…
All of that is in danger.
I don’t know how else to say this other than to state it very simply and plainly… and it’s based on my reporting that i have done as a white house correspondent and reporter covering politics back in d-c… and around the world… and that is to say this… the president of the united states represents a danger to American democracy… and therefore to the American way of life.
So what do we do about it?
I have described it as “the great American comeback.” Just look at these no kings protests we have seen all over this country. People taking to the streets. Making their voices heard. It’s been amazing to witness. My friends Don Lemon, Joy Reid and I have been broadcasting these demonstrations from start to finish. I’ve been out there walking with the protesters… the corporate media didn’t do that. But that’s why independent media is so important. We can deliver that kind of coverage… because it’s powered by the people.
It’s powered by you.
And that’s what we need now.
We need people power. Sustained people power.
And again… I’m letting it rip here tonight…
****I came here to kick ass and eat steak… and I’m all outta steak!!!
In addition to people power… we need a people’s agenda.
An agenda that takes care of people again.
Trump is taking care of the rich and powerful. He is lining his pockets with crypto money from god knows where.
What about the people?
For starters the American system of government is broken.
We need reform across the board…
Starting with that supreme court that gave trump immunity. That ruling needs to be overturned… but it is not going to happen overnight.
But a good way to reform the court…is to place term limits on justices. Sorry Clarence Thomas…sorry clarence. The gravy train is coming to an end!!! Time to hop in that Winnebago and go on vacation.
While you’re at it… add some seats to the court… how do you like that Mitch McConnell.
Let’s put term limits on congress.
Let’s talk about a recall option for presidents… just in case we elect somebody who is tweeting out images of himself as Jesus.
Let’s talk about national health care… and breaking up big tech… and big media. Let’s invest in public media in this country.
Let’s tax billionaires… and don’t forget the trillionaires like Elon Musk… yeah he’s about to be a trillionaire… and let’s spend that money on retraining workers… who are displaced by a-i… and making college… and services for our seniors more affordable.
Now… if we start talking about a people’s agenda… the people in power aren’t going to like that. The oligarchs are gonna try to stop us..
Even if they send troops to the polling places… even if ice is waiting in the parking lot…. Even if trump claims it’s all gonna be rigged. And the courts are tied up in knots sorting out all of the legal challenges to the results.
Don’t let them stop you. Don’t let them get in your way. You make it your job to exercise your right as an American… to march into that voting booth… and vote the bums out.
I believe we are entering a decisive period in our history… where we are now all in the fight… for our civil rights… our right to vote… our right to march in the streets… our freedom of the press… these are the stakes.
I don’t think the battle in this country any more is between left and right… it’s between democracy and authoritarianism… backed by the oligarchs…enforced by modern day fascists… and led by a president who doesn’t see himself on Mount Rushmore.
He wants to replace Mount Rushmore.
Right now… the rich and the powerful… the oligarchs are backing a man who is trying shred our constitution… right in front of our faces….
Take it from the man he once called “the enemy of the people.”
I don’t see the press as the enemy of the people.
I see us as defenders of the people.
And that’s what i want all of you to become.
Defenders.
Defenders… who will send a message to Washington… and to any president or politician who represents a danger to democracy and the American dream.
And that message is that the great American comeback has begun. It’s going to be powered by the people…and by hope… and by the truth.
And we are not backing down.
We are not giving into the lies… we are not giving into the fear..
We will hold on to the truth… and hope
Hope. Hope.. Hope…”
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