How are we doing, Montana? First, I've got to give a big shout out and a huge thanks to your amazing governor, Greg -- where's Greg at? Thank you, governor; it's great to be here. I wish it was a little bit warmer, but it's good to be here. Now we've got full attendance from your incredible Congressional delegation.
So, let me give a few shout outs to the amazing public servants and dear friends that we have. First of all, I've got to give it up for Congressmen Ryan Zinke and Troy Downing. Now, somebody told me that Ryan Zinke complimented my beautiful blue eyes earlier today. [Laughter] I was very excited about that, you know.
We're not afraid; we're self-confident men in the in the Trump/Vance administration. The president's been noticing a lot about the physiques of everybody lately. [Laughter] And I'm proud that Congressman Zinke welcomed me in the right way. We're also, of course, thrilled to be welcomed by two of the very best Senators anywhere in the United States of America, Steve Daines and Tim Sheehy.
Now, I want to introduce our great candidates here in a little bit, but I want to tell you a little bit about why we're here and what we are trying to preserve in this election, what we're trying to build upon in this election. Now, a lot of you know my backstory and I grew up very far from Montana. I grew up in southern Ohio and Eastern Kentucky.
But even though it's far away in geography, it's very close to my home in the ways that matter. Like my home, Montana is possessed of incredible natural beauty. Like my home, Montana's wilderness was conquered by free spirits and hard work. Some of you moved here recently, others built on what generations of ancestors had built before them.
But all of you love this place and helped turn it into one of the very best states to live, to work, and to raise a family. Now, I came here for the very first time as a grown man, but I felt at home in Montana immediately. Though it takes days to travel here by car from the places that -- for me, and I suspect that the people of Montana harbored many of the same doubts about our country's failed leadership that I did, first as a child, and then, of course, as a young man.
Now, I remember as a kid driving around with my grandfather, a union welder at a steel mill, who could identify the cars that were made with American steel, and he beamed with pride when he did so. I remember playing peewee football in leagues where the sons of working-class white kids played together on teams with the sons of working-class black kids, never worrying about the color of our skin or the relative privilege of black or white, we knew that we were privileged to grow up in the United States of America.
Now, back then in my peewee football league, and I imagine, like a lot of other peewee football leagues, you know, we were sponsored by local businesses. So, your jersey bore the name of a place you'd go to for ice cream or where your best friend's dad worked during the week. And so, we remember too, when those businesses in my hometown closed down.
We'd read in the paper about a factory that would soon move to Mexico or to Asia, and then we'd find out that a friend's mom or dad lost their job. And then, not too long after that, that their family lost their house. Now, I can remember as a kid looking in my closet at old football jerseys and realizing that the businesses that had sponsored the teams that I grew up playing, those businesses no longer existed.
They were casualties of politicians in a faraway place who seemed not to care what happened in Ohio or Montana, or in the places that really made this country run. A very distinctive memory I have of right after 9-11. I was a young man in high school; I remember that sense of pride -- you remember that -- that all of us had, Democrat, Republican, and Independent in our country.
And I remember driving to a local gas station to wait hours in line for gasoline that was now, of course, more expensive because of a region of the world made up of countries of names that I couldn't even pronounce. Of course, in the aftermath of 9-11, it wasn't the politicians' kids who went off to fight the wars, it was us. It was the people in this room; it was me and my family; it was kids from Montana and Ohio whose love for this country reached to our very bones.
Now, in 2003, there were two kids from my block who graduated from Middletown High School, me and a buddy of mine named Nick, and both of us enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, and Semper Fi to all the Marines that are out there. Now, I remember when I came home from Iraq, I came home to labor strikes in my hometown and the threat that more factories, that the town that I relied on, were going to be closed down and shipped to another country.
And I remember wondering why politicians seemed to care so little for the ranches, for the farms that farmed our food, for the people who built our cars and the towns that provided our troops who fought our wars. And if we're being honest, ladies and gentlemen, it wasn't just Democrats, it was everybody that neglected Montana and Ohio.
And if the Trump movement is about anything, it's not just about beating Democrats, as fun as that is, our movement is about restoring sovereignty to you, to the people who make this country run. Our movement is about public servants who are putting America first for a change. Isn't it about damn time? Our movement is about preserving the jobs and the communities and the families who grow our food, who fight our wars, who build the things that keep this country afloat.
And I think it's important for us as we talk about what went wrong, as I remember what went wrong in my hometown. We've got to take stock of just how much has changed in the last couple of years. For years -- for years, I watched politicians talk about tax cuts and tax increases. And I have to be honest, none of it really seemed to matter to my community.
Nobody really cared about what their tax rate was if they didn't even have a job to begin with. And even if I, of course, liked the idea of paying less taxes, it always kind of seemed like empty promises from politicians. But not anymore, ladies and gentlemen -- under Donald Trump's leadership, we got real tax cuts for working people, we got no taxes on overtime, we got no taxes on Social Security, and we got no taxes on tips.
We took money away from the bureaucrats, and we put it back in the hands of the people who built this country right here in Montana. Now for a long time, I remember people like my grandmother -- I called her Mamaw, who were paying sky-high prices for medicine, while European nations freeloading off the innovation created in the United States of America.
And when we talk about sovereignty, I think a great example of sovereignty is when Donald J. Trump hauled the pharma companies into the Oval Office and demanded that they treat Americans fairly or face the wrath of the federal government and that's how we got TrumpRX. In the last couple of years, we have cut down on visa fraud and fought against anybody who would lay off an American worker and replace them with a low-wage foreigner because sovereignty, means that American jobs go to the American people.
Sovereignty means that you control your streets and that every American child, whether they are black or white, whether they are rich or poor, should be able to walk to a park or walk to a school without their parents worried about their safety. And that is why Donald J. Trump closed the border on day one and went to war against the drug cartels.
We banned foreign investors and domestic big corporations from buying up American homes, because sovereignty means that American homes and American farmland ought, by right, belong to the American people. We have ended the tyranny of DEI and racial discrimination in jobs and in universities, because I happen to believe that real sovereignty starts with the individual.
And no person can be truly free when their government or their employer cares more about so-called white privilege than about promoting the American dream for everybody, regardless of skin color. And I believe that real sovereignty comes, as I was talking about with Nick Faldo, the great golfer, now a resident of the state of Montana.
When Nick Faldo and I were talking about the fact that, in our movement, we love success, we love people thriving and building. And rather than tear down success in the United States of America, we want to build a country where everybody who works hard and plays by the rules can be successful and build their American dream.
That's how you make this country thrive. Now, I happen to believe that you have a rare opportunity to vote for Montana patriots who believe in real sovereignty and who believe in fighting for you. Your next Congressman who joins us here today, let's give it up for the great Aaron Flint. Aaron. Now Aaron Flint is a fifth-generation Montanan.
On September the 11, 2001, he watched his country get attacked and two months later he enlisted. He didn't ask anybody else to go and serve, he did himself. Now, 20 years later and two Bronze Stars later, he's getting ready to ship his oldest off to boot camp, and Aaron, we're proud of him and we're proud of your family's service.
Ladies and gentlemen, that's what you want in a Congressman. You want somebody who would never ask from your family something that he would not give himself. And it is the highest, the highest compliment to Aaron and his sense of service that he and his family are fighting for the United States of America.
Send him to Congress to keep fighting for you. Now, I want to talk about your next Senator but before I do, I've got to talk about your current Senator, because, ladies and gentlemen, you are blessed with, obviously, the great Tim Sheehy. Tim, where are you? Now, Tim has been in the Senate for only 18 months, but he's already made a great impact for the people of Montana.
But one of my -- one of my great mentors, a guy who served a little bit longer in the United States Senate, a very dear friend of mine is Senator Steve Daines. Let's give it up for Steve Daines. Now, Tim, of course, we're grateful that Tim is sticking around to continue to fight for Montana, but Steve Daines has decided he has had enough of Washington, DC. He wants to come back home.
He wants to spend his time in this beautiful, vast state. But I've got to tell you, ladies and gentlemen, you are losing one of the very best in Steve Daines. And you know, and you can judge a man not just by what he says in public, because, of course, Steve says all the right things. And importantly, not just by his voting record, because Steve has got one of the best voting records in Washington, DC. I know that Steve is a good man because I've seen the way that he operates behind the scenes.
Steve Daines is one of those people who does what's right when nobody else is looking. And ladies and gentlemen, that is what we want in Washington and that is what Kurt Alme is going to do when he gets to Washington to replace Steve. Now, Kurt is the son of two Great Falls school teachers, that's amazing -- two people who educated the next generation.
He knows what's at stake. He is from Helena; he led the largest income tax in state history. Sorry, he's not from Helena -- Helena. Thank you. And I am humble enough to admit when I'm wrong. So, in the state Capitol, he led the largest income tax in state history. And then, as your twice-named US attorney, he took the fight to drug traffickers and violent criminals who would take this peaceful, beautiful state and turn it over to violent crime.
He fought for you, he fought for law enforcement, and he fought against violent crime in the state of Montana. Now, what unites these two men who we're going to send to Washington to fight for you is something that I believe has always united the people of Montana, and it's that they love this place, they believe in it and they've devoted their lives to serving the great state of Montana.
Now, on the other side, in the Senate race, you have not one but two Democrats on the ballot. Aren't you blessed with abundance? [Laughter] You have people, of course, who pretend that they're not Democrats, who are running away from the legacy of Chuck Schumer. But rest assured that, if they got into Washington, DC, they would bend the knee to Chuck Schumer.
They wouldn't fight for you, they would fight for the far-left interest groups. So, what are we going to do? We're not going to send them to Washington DC. We're, unfortunately, going to keep him right here in Montana where they can't do as much bad. We're going to send Kurt to DC to fight for you. Now, on the House side, you almost can't believe this stuff.
We have an ACLU lobbyist from Portland by the name of Sam Forstag. [Audience boos]
Now, this is a guy who tells Montanans that this great state needs a sales tax. [Audience boos]
He's a guy who tells Montana that it needs sanctuary cities. [Audience boos]
This is a guy who tells Montana that it needs gender transitions for beautiful Montana kids. [Audience boos]
Ladies and gentlemen, what unites these two fake leaders is not love of country or love of this state.
[A protester interrupts the event]
[Audience chants "USA"] Now, of course -- now, you can rest assured that in any event that we do, you are going to have a few yahoos who pretend that the Democrats aren't who they already have shown themselves to be. Well, if Mr. Forstag doesn't support gender transition for minors, why did he say that he does?
If Mr. Forstag doesn't support a sales tax in Montana, why does he say that he does? Ladies and gentlemen, I'll make a simple request -- don't judge these people by their well-produced television commercials, don't judge them by the yahoos they send to protest our events, judge them by what they've done, and they have been failures for the state of Montana.
Don't send them to Washington DC on your behalf. What unites the Democrats who are running in this state, and unfortunately, far too many of the Democrats running across our country, it's not a love of country, it's not a love of this state, but it is a willingness to bend the knee. They are not independent voices from Montana; they are not servants for you.
They are servants of Nancy Pelosi; they are servants of Chuck Schumer. [Audience boos]
And on November the 3rd, every single person in this room and the entire state of Montana, let's send a message to Chuck Schumer and good old Nancy Pelosi. Let's send a message to the patriots of Montana that in this state, we believe in sovereignty. In this state, we believe in freedom. In this state, we believe there are men, and we believe there are women, and anybody who tells you that one can change into the other is a damn fool.
And in Montana, we aren't sending fools to represent us in Washington; we're going to send great patriots like Kurt and Aaron to fight for us. Ladies and gentlemen, as proud as I am of the last 18 months, we've done a lot, but there is still so much more that we can do together. With America First allies, we can further reduce your taxes; we can further tear down the bureaucracy of DEI and racial hatred that has infected our classrooms and too many of our companies; we can build more, we can build more houses, we can build more factories.
We can build more of the good jobs that support our families and sustain our nation. Now you will hear, and I want to speak a little bit to the undecided voters out there. You will hear many say that gas prices are too high, that there's still so much work to do on correcting the terrible Biden inflation, the highest inflation that we saw in 50 years in our country.
And I understand that; I agree with it. But remember, in 2022 -- let's just talk about gas prices. Remember in 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine and gas prices skyrocketed, they skyrocketed, by the way, far higher then than they are today. They skyrocketed in 1979. They skyrocketed in 2001. They skyrocketed in 2007. They skyrocket every time some tin pot dictator decides to throw a tantrum.
And we've got to remember that the Democrats' solution to this problem is to whine and build a few windmills. Now, if you think that works as a solution to high gas prices, I would ask you to look at the Joe Biden administration. It doesn't work; we've already tried it. What does work is to build more refineries, build more energy facilities, and to keep on drill baby drilling in the United States of America.
While they whine at the problem, ladies and gentlemen, we are working every single day on solving it. And instead of doubling down on the green new scam, which is what Forstag and the rest of the Democrats want to do, let's double down on energy dominance so that Montanan children do not have to worry about the latest drama in the Middle East.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have got plenty of energy right here at home, let's keep on developing it for our families and our future. And that's what ultimately sets Kurt and Aaron apart from the Democrats they are running against. They are problem solvers. They are people who want to fight for you. They are people who are going to wake up every single day thinking about how to make your life better.
But they also have something that you cannot fake and is more important than just pragmatism. They love this state, they love this place, and they've devoted their lives to serving it. They know what generations of Montanans have known before them -- that the greatness of this place is something we inherit, and something we have a sacred duty to preserve for our own children.
And that's something I understand personally, because my own family is living proof of what one generation can make possible for the generation that comes after. I have to remember I shouldn't be here, ladies and gentlemen. I am the grandson of a steelworker from Middletown, Ohio, and I stand here today as the vice president of the United States of America.
I stand here because generations of Americans who came before me made sacrifices that gave a kid like me a chance. It wasn't fate, and it wasn't luck, it was men who went down into the mines, who worked at steel mills and refineries, who crossed oceans and scaled mountains their ancestors could scarcely have imagined, ordinary men and women who took extraordinary risks on behalf of people they would never meet because they loved this country and they had faith in its people.
I know that you are, and I am grateful for them. I'm grateful for this land, I'm grateful for the people who have built an incredible civilization out of the incredible bounty of the United States of America. And I'll tell you what gets me about Democrats today, because as strange as it sounds, I would actually like a functioning Democrat Party.
I want a healthy two-party system, I want a system where people of different viewpoints can sit across the aisle because they believe in America, and they can compromise on how best to serve it. But today's Congressional Democrats, ladies and gentlemen, they do not believe in the United States of America.
They have spent years, decades teaching our youngest generation to be ashamed of the United States of America. They have taught our children to hate our history and feel shame about the flag that our ancestors fought under. They feel more comfortable attacking our country than they do defending it. But we're not ashamed, ladies and gentlemen.
Never let them make you ashamed of this country. We're proud of this country, and we're going to fight for it. And we're not just proud of this country, we're grateful for this country. And on November the 3rd, Montana gets to say so by sending two men to Washington who will keep faith with everything built and settled by those who came before us. And when I think about what's at stake, it's whether Montana is still going to be the kind of place where a kid in Bozeman or Billings can start a business, or just work a good job and do it right here in the state that you love.
My friends, I would not be here were it not for people like you. I want every kid in Montana to have the same exact shot and the same exact chance at their American dream that I had. And that starts -- what we can do next to build that American dream for the next generation, it starts on November the 3rd. And it starts by electing men who are going to fight for that American dream, rather than the crazy Democrats who are going to tear it down.
When you go and vote -- when you go and vote on November the 3rd, I want you to think of the men and women who built this state. I want you to think of those who homesteaded this land, who mined it, who ranched it, who buried their own kin in the beautiful soil of Montana. They didn't do all of that so it could be sold off to foreign interests, or so that it could be sold out to crazy leftists who spit on everything that makes it great.
They did it for their own, they did it for posterity, they did it for you. So, Belgrade, before I head back east, I want to leave you with a simple question for everybody here -- do we believe in the greatness of this country? Do we promise to stand up for faith and family and honest work in Montana? Do we promise to fight for Montana values?
Will you stand up and tell the Democrats that Montana is not for sale? So, on November the 3rd, let's send Kurt Alme to the United States Senate, let's send Aaron Flint to the United States House. Let's get it done, Montana, for your children and for mine. God bless you and God bless America.