Yesterday I rallied thousands in Atlanta to oppose this Administration's unprecedented attack on our Constitution and the rule of law.
(You can watch my speech here on YouTube.)
Here's what I said —
Atlanta, with open contempt for the law, this President has launched a power grab unprecedented in our history, abusing his power and trying to poison our democracy with fear and intimidation.
In his first 100 days, he has set free a mob of criminals who did violence on his behalf.
Purged independent watchdogs across the government who investigate corruption and abuse.
Stacked the most powerful offices with personal loyalists.
Called on those same loyalists to investigate and prosecute his opponents.
Undermined the freedom of the press.
Retaliated against lawyers who have opposed him in court.
Defied and threatened Federal judges.
And given massive unaccountable power to the richest man in the world, who spent 300 million dollars to elect him President.
Atlanta, this is not a drill and it's not a bad dream. As citizens it is the test of our lifetimes.
So tell me, Atlanta, are you ready to fight?
***
It's wonderful to see you all here.
I'd like to ask every veteran in the building to raise your hands and to be honored by all of us.
We are all grateful for your service.
And Raphael and I are both so grateful for every one of you here. For your hard work over so many years. Give it up again for your Senator, my brother: Reverend Raphael Warnock.
Take a moment and turn to your neighbor. Introduce yourself. Say, 'We're in this together.'
We've been in this fight a long time together.
Five years ago we faced a different sort of crisis: the deadliest pandemic since 1918.
Thousands died per day. Tens of millions were out of work.
The lines for the food banks, they ran for miles, do you remember that?
Donald Trump was President then too. Thinking out loud about whether we should inject ourselves with bleach.
And at that moment we held here in Georgia one of the most consequential Senate elections of all time.
It was two for one.
The Jewish kid and the Black pastor, running together, with all of you alongside us.
They said we couldn't win. Do you remember?
But we built one of the most powerful movements in Georgia's history.
You picked me up and you picked Raphael up, and you carried us on your shoulders.
And now it is our honor to represent you in the Senate.
***
Do you all remember how it felt to fight and to win?
Maybe right now you feel surrounded by darkness.
You might be a little numb. Wondering whether there's a way out.
But Atlanta: we don't have the luxury of despair.
There are so many counting on us.
Children and pregnant women who rely on Medicaid.
Veterans who have earned their care and benefits.
Children in our public schools.
Cancer patients counting on the next big breakthrough.
An entire world hoping the United States hasn't given up on freedom.
My little girl and all our children who deserve to grow up in a kind and fair and decent country.
***
The truth is, beyond revenge, there's not much to this President's agenda.
It's tax breaks for the rich and rounding up immigrants. That's the whole program.
Paid for by blowing out the deficit, cutting Medicaid, and trying to close new factories that make chips and solar panels and electric cars.
So who is this agenda supposed to help?
Let me ask you, Yes or No:
Will your family's life improve because we borrow trillions of dollars to cut taxes for the wealthiest people in the country?
Will your family's life improve because our military bases become prison camps for immigrants?
When Medicaid covers nearly half of the births in our state, two thirds of all seniors in nursing homes, 40% of children … will your family's life improve if they gut the Medicaid program?
***
See, part of the shame of this useless spiral into chaos and revenge is we face so many real and urgent challenges.
Our prisons are full of violence and abuse.
Women die needlessly from pregnancy and childbirth.
Hospitals in Georgia continue to close.
Seniors can't afford glasses and hearing aids because Medicare won't cover them.
Veterans can't get VA coverage for dental care.
Families live paycheck to paycheck, the federal debt keeps growing, but top earners wind up paying lower taxes than teachers and firefighters.
These problems aren't cheap and easy to solve, but we could solve them — and none of that is on this Administration's agenda. They just don't care.
Trump's cabinet is worth like $60 billion dollars — and that's not even including Elon Musk!
They are literally the elites they pretend to hate. They don't care about you.
The President is not at his palace in Florida thinking about whether you can afford day care for your daughter, or stopping insurance companies from ripping you off, or anything that matters to our daily lives.
When's the last time you even heard Donald Trump talk about health care or child care?
He's talking about invading Greenland.
He's handing your data over to Elon Musk.
***
I'm all for government efficiency, by the way.
Government programs aren't sacred. They have to work.
But when you randomly fire tens of thousands people, regardless of what role they fill or how well they perform, and then you have to scramble to hire them back because you accidentally fired the people who run the veterans crisis line and the people who watch out for Ebola at the CDC and the people who fight bird flu on our poultry farms and the people who protect our nuclear weapons...
When you stop research into new Alzheimer's treatments and cures for childhood cancer... that is not efficiency. That's just cruelty and chaos.
***
And then on top of the chaos there's the corruption.
It was just reported that dinner with the President at Mar a Lago is currently on sale... for just $5 million.
The whole royal family is cashing in. Don Jr.'s setting up a new business empire, Jared's investment fund got $2 billion from the Saudi royal family. Like, Hunter Biden should have been more ambitious!
The President was already selling those bibles made in China; but now they have their own memecoins. Did you see that?
They literally stopped enforcing the law that prohibits bribery of foreign officials.
The Secretary of Commerce is pumping up Tesla stock and the White House has been converted into a Tesla showroom, while Elon's money is what keeps Republican Senators in line.
***
But the truth is corruption in America runs a lot deeper than Donald Trump.
He's not just a beneficiary of it. His rise is a symptom of it.
Citizens United was the most destructive Court decision in modern history.
The whole political system is just overrun by outside money.
Members of Congress live in fear of these Super PACs. It's not just Elon.
Senators get threatened with $5, $25, $50 million dollars of opposition over individual votes on a whole range of issues.
And see, this is why things don't work for ordinary people!
It's not because of trans kids or woke college students or the President's new archenemy, Canada.
The corruption is why you pay a fortune for prescriptions. It's why your insurance claim keeps getting denied. It's why hedge funds get to come in and buy up all the houses in your neighborhood and Congress doesn't do anything about it.
This is why so many have lost faith in our system.
Because the system really is rigged.
But Trump isn't unrigging it.
He's just re-rigging it for himself!
***
Even more corrosive than the chaos and the corruption is the fear.
This Administration is trying to poison our republic with fear and intimidation.
His goal isn't just revenge. He wants to use the government to crush the opposition.
And this is actually something we've never faced before. Not like this.
Before you elected me, I led a team that exposed corruption and war crimes.
We exposed the truth in places where criticizing the government is dangerous, where whistleblowers and witnesses will only meet in secret, where protest carries the risk of prosecution.
And the atmosphere in America under Donald Trump reminds me more and more of those places.
I've heard it from some of the most powerful to some of the least — They say, "We don't need a federal investigation. We're not sticking our necks out right now. We don't want any trouble."
***
Americans are now living in fear of their own government.
And it's not just here at home — people from around the world who want to do business, research, and tourism here are now being advised by their governments not to visit America because civil rights and civil liberties are eroding here so swiftly.
***
When I first ran for Congress, eight years ago, it was because I saw that the election of someone so unfit for the Presidency was a danger to the country. And you all got behind me because you saw the same thing.
When we won the Senate it was because we still understood together the urgency and necessity of the moment, and we knew Georgia could lead the way.
And now each morning when I look at my beautiful three year old girl and her sweetness and that magical, hopeful innocence and potential, I realize, we have no choice but to keep going.
Because I don't want my little girl to grow up in a hopelessly divided country, where citizens fear their own leaders and the government is an instrument of repression and revenge.
I don't want her to grow up in a world where freedom is in retreat.
I want her to grow up in an America that continues to lead the free world, where diversity is celebrated instead of mocked, with leaders who bring us together and inspire us to be honest and decent and kind.
The measure of our success is not how many of the poorest and most vulnerable families we hunt down and shackle and imprison and deport.
The measure of our success is whether each generation achieves greater health and prosperity than the last, and whether we live up the promise of equal justice for all.
***
Senator Warnock and I are on your team.
We're pushing back every day.
When they cut HBCU scholarships, I fought back, and we won.
Republicans in Congress are already feeling the heat on Medicaid.
We understand the assignment.
And please trust us when we assure you that if we all do our part as citizens, we will overcome this.
In my Senate office, there's a portrait of Congressman Lewis right above my desk.
And his spirit is with us in this room right now.
Atlanta, are you ready to get in good trouble?
Are you ready to speak out?
Are you ready to organize?
Are you ready to march?
Georgia will bow to no king.
And Georgia will lead the way again.
Thank you all, thank you Atlanta!
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