Remarks at Emerge America Gala - Apr. 30, 2025

Good evening, everyone. Thank you for supporting Emerge. Thank you for supporting Emerge. It is so wonderful to be home and to be back with all the leaders who are here. And to celebrate this extraordinary organization, which is an organization of so many exceptional leaders. Those who found the courage to run for office, and those who support them. Emerge, I will say something you know. Throughout my entire career and life, I have always believed in the ideals of our nation. The ideals reflected in the Declaration of Independence, that all are created equal and endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights, ideals advanced and affirmed by the service and sacrifice of generations of patriots. The ideals that ground the Constitution of the United States, that here in our country, power ultimately lies not with the wealthy or well-connected, but with all of us. With we the people.

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Now of course I recognize that America has never fully lived up to these ideals, that for all the gains we’ve made, the American dream has for decades been slipping further out of reach for so many. And that the American people deserve leaders who make their lives better and make our country stronger. But sadly, we have seen quite the opposite over these past few months. Now, I know tonight’s event happens to coincide with the 100 days after the inauguration, and I’ll leave it to others to give a full accounting of what has happened so far. But I will say this: instead of an administration working to advance America’s highest ideals, we are witnessing the wholesale abandonment of those ideals.

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And what we are also seeing in these last 14 weeks is Americans using their voice and showing their courage. We all know President Trump and his administration, and their allies, are counting on the notion that fear can be contagious. They are counting on the notion that if they make some people afraid, it will have a chilling effect on others. But what they’re overlooking, what they’ve overlooked, is that fear is not the only thing that’s contagious. Courage is contagious.

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The courage of Americans who are banding together in the face of the greatest man-made economic crisis in modern presidential history. Americans, across the political spectrum, who are declaring that the president’s reckless tariffs hurt workers and families by raising the cost of everyday essentials, devastate the retirement accounts that people spent a lifetime paying into, and paralyze American businesses, large and small, forcing them to lay off people, to stop hiring or pause investment decisions. The courage of Americans we are seeing who are rallying at Social Security offices to protect their hard-earned benefits, of Americans who are speaking out to say it is not okay to violate court orders. Not okay. Saying it is not okay to detain and disappear American citizens or anyone without due process.

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The courage of judges to uphold the rule of law in the face of those who would jail them, of universities that are defying unconstitutional demands that threaten the pursuit of truth and academic independence. And I will tell you, the courage of all these Americans inspires me. And I have been inspired by the movements like the one in Wisconsin that put Susan Crawford on the Supreme Court, by the State of the People Power Tour, that is aiming to ignite a grassroots movement to lift up voices and advance freedom and justice. And by leaders across the spectrum, including congressional leaders like Cory Booker, Chris Van Hollen, Chris Murphy, Jasmine Crockett, Maxwell Frost, AOC, and Bernie Sanders. All who, in different ways, have been speaking with moral clarity about this moment.

So here’s one of the other things I wanted to talk about tonight, and to highlight. So, look, some people are describing what’s been happening in recent months as absolute chaos, and of course, I understand why. And it’s certainly true of those tariffs. Tariffs that, as I predicted, are clearly inviting a recession. But friends, please let us not be duped into thinking everything is chaos. I know it may feel that way, but understand what we are in fact witnessing is a high velocity event. Where a vessel is being used for the swift implementation of an agenda that has been decades in the making. An agenda to slash public education, an agenda to shrink government and then privatize its services, all while giving tax breaks to the wealthiest among us. By the way, an agenda that is not lowering costs, not making life more affordable, and not what they promised. It’s an agenda, a narrow, self-serving vision of America. Where they punish truth-tellers, favor loyalists, cash in on their power, and leave everyone to fend for themselves, all while abandoning allies and retreating from the world.

And folks, what we are experiencing right now is exactly what they envisioned for America. Right now, we are living in their vision for America. But this is not a vision that Americans want. We are living in a moment when the checks and balances upon which we have historically relied have begun to buckle. And we here know that when the checks and balances ultimately collapse, if Congress fails to do its part, or if the courts fail to do their part, or if both do their part, but the president defies them anyway, well friends, that is called a constitutional crisis. And that is a crisis that will eventually impact everyone because it would mean that the rules that protect our fundamental rights and freedoms, that ensure each of us has a say about how our government works, will no longer matter. And if that happens, the one check, the one balance, the one power that must not fail is the voice of the people.

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And look, look, right now I know a lot of folks are wondering what’s going to guide us through this moment. How are we all going to figure out how to chart the course. But that’s not a reason to throw up our hands. In fact, please allow me, friends, to digress for a moment. Okay. It’s kind of dark in here, but I’m going to ask for a show of hands. Who saw that video from a couple of weeks ago, the one of the elephants at the San Diego Zoo during the earthquake. Google it if you’ve not seen it. So that scene has been on my mind. Everyone’s been asking me, what’ve you been thinking about these days, well…

So, in the video, for those who haven’t seen it, here those elephants were. And as soon as they felt the earth shaking beneath their feet, they stood in a circle and stood next to each other to protect the most vulnerable. Think about it. What a powerful metaphor. Because we know those who try to incite fear are most effective when they divide and conquer, when they separate the herd, when they try to make everyone think they are alone. But in the face of crisis, the lesson is don’t scatter. The instinct has to be to immediately find and connect with each other, and to know that the circle will be strong.

So, I’ll end with this. I am not here tonight to offer all the answers. But I am here to say this: you are not alone, and we are all in this together. And straight talk, things are probably going to get worse before they get better. But we are ready for it, we are not going to scatter, we are going to stand together everyone a leader and emerge. You have a special role to play, organizing is as important as ever. Mobilizing is as important as ever, running for office is as important as ever. So, please, everyone here, please keep doing what you are doing. And to everyone, let’s lock it in.

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Lock it in, gear up for the hard work ahead. And please, always remember this country is ours. It doesn’t belong to whoever is in the White House, it belongs to you, it belongs to us, it belongs to we the people. Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America. Thank you all.