Michael Bennet Demands Voters ‘Show Up’ To Hold Trump Accountable Or ‘Our Democracy Will Perish’

Forbes Breaking News

During Wednesday’s town hall event in Salida, Colorado, Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) spoke about the importance of political engagement.

Transcript

00:00I want to join me in welcoming Senator Bennett.

00:08Thank you, Mr. Robertson.

00:11Thank you, Mr. Davis.

00:14Thank you, J.D. County, for being here.

00:17What an unbelievable turnout.

00:20Do not tell them that I said this.

00:23But I think we have more people in J.D. County

00:27than we had with J.D. News in Boulder County.

00:32So, thank you, and I feel that there.

00:34That's a reflection of how much you love her

00:38and how worried you are.

00:40P.T. Wood, thank you for your introduction, for your service.

00:44You and your partnership.

00:46We appreciate it.

00:48Your county commissioners have been great partners in this part of the world

00:52for many years.

00:54I don't know about what part of it, because they're simply trying to do it,

00:59represent you in the best way they can.

01:01And they understand, I think, the fundamental responsibilities

01:05of a public servant and a democracy.

01:08I am deeply appreciative for the example that they have set.

01:12I'm also deeply appreciative for the example that Brittany sets

01:16every time she gets on the airplane.

01:19It's one thing.

01:20She now has two children under the age of five.

01:25And she gets on that plane just like everybody else.

01:28She drives herself to the airport, gets herself to the plane,

01:32brings Sam with her, gets to the other end, takes care of Sam,

01:37and advocates on behalf of our democracy in our state.

01:41It's bad for them playing with Sam and comes all the way back here.

01:44I was sitting in the Intelligence Committee last week,

01:48and that's actually not a bad place to work because it's in secret.

01:54So, people like the jackass portion goes down a lot,

01:58and there are no cameras, and there's nobody looking from outside,

02:03but there are these little TV sets, and I could see Brittany on it.

02:08I didn't have the sound on it, but I could see her advocating for her bill,

02:13for moms to be able to go to the world.

02:16And I was so proud of what she was trying to do to democratize this place.

02:27It needs her voice.

02:29It needs her voice.

02:30And I am grateful that all of you are out here.

02:33We are here, all of us are here,

02:35because we are deeply worried about our country.

02:38You know, like you, my parents raised me to have high aspirations

02:44for the United States of America,

02:46high aspirations for our democracy.

02:48We all have our own family stories.

02:50I know Brittany's family story well,

02:52because we've known each other for a long time.

02:55In my case, my dad was a public servant for much of his career.

02:59He was a federal employee, actually.

03:02And my mom was an immigrant who had been born in Warsaw in 1938,

03:08a Polish Jew, when the year before Hitler invaded Warsaw,

03:13probably the worst place in the world you could have been born at that time.

03:17And her parents and she, after they had survived the war,

03:21were miraculous and made it to the United States.

03:24My mom was 11 years old,

03:26the only one in the family who could speak any English.

03:30And she enrolled herself in the New York Public Schools.

03:33And my grandparents, who had, you know,

03:39they thought they didn't have accents the whole time that I was growing up,

03:43but had one of the thickest accents of anybody that I know,

03:47were among the greatest patriots I have ever known,

03:51because they loved this country for our democracy, for our rule of law.

03:59And the fact that they could participate even with those accents,

04:05even with their religion, even though they come from someplace else,

04:10they could participate in the life of our democracy.

04:14I'll never forget my grandmother telling me the story of seeing,

04:18going to the lunch counter near the small business that they had in New York,

04:24and seeing, after he was president of the United States,

04:28Harry Truman sitting at the end of the lunch counter,

04:31eating lunch with my grandmother.

04:34And to her, that's what this country was all about.

04:38She would be shocked to find ourselves in the position that we are in.

04:44And I think it is critical for us to stand up at this moment.

04:49We all have to. We all have to.

04:52And by the way, if you're looking for an antidote to the social media

04:57that is tearing us apart, to the digital world that is tearing us apart,

05:02it is being here tonight. It is being here tonight.

05:06It is being effective for the country here.

05:10Totally, I don't know if it's the last thing

05:13that's showing up in the democracy,

05:15and tonight that's what you've done.

05:17And that's what we have to do every single day

05:20for as long as this guy is president.

05:22We need to make sure that the guardrails of this democracy hold,

05:26and they will.

05:28But we've learned something very important

05:30that my grandparents knew, and that people all over the world know,

05:35which is who have lived in corrupt countries

05:38where they've been subjected to political violence,

05:41and there is no rule of law.

05:43What they know is that there is nothing self-executing about a democracy.

05:47A democracy doesn't take care of itself.

05:50If the people don't show up, the democracy will perish.

05:55And our democracy will perish.

05:57If the people don't know that.

05:59That's why we're here tonight.

06:01That's why we're here tonight.

Category

Transcript

Recommended