Ben Carson photo

Remarks to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio

July 19, 2016

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, everyone. Thank you. [applause]

Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. [applause]

Thank you. All right. Don't eat up my time. Thank you. [laughter]

I want to thank you all for that very warm welcome. I have to start out by saying one very important thing. I am not politically correct. [cheering]

And I hate political correctness because it is antithetical to the founding principles of this country, and the secular progressives use it to make people sit down and shut up while they change everything . It's time for us to stand up and shout out about what we believe in. [applause]

You know, I devoted my career to studying and operating on the human brain. This remarkable organ defines our humanity. It gives us the ability to not only feel and observe, but to reason.

When we elect a president we need to use that power of reasoning to look at their history, their character, what kind of people they really all. It makes all the difference in the world for us. And, it is going to be so critical right now. We must resist the temptation to take the easy way out, and to passively accept what is fed to us by the politically elite and the media because they don't know what they're talking about. They have an agenda. [cheering]

Now, we must also be weary of the narrative that's being advanced by some in our party. The notion that a Hillary Clinton administration wouldn't be that bad, the effects would only be temporary. You know? [cheering]

That it would only last for four, and at most, eight years. They're not using their God-given brain to think about what they're saying because it won't be for eight years because she will be appointing people who will have an affect on us for generations, and America may never recover from that.

That's what we have to be thinking about.

You know, interestingly enough, we have to start thinking about what would Hillary Clinton do if she was, in fact, the President.

She would appoint Supreme Court Justices, she would appoint federal judges, and that would have a deleterious effect on what happens for generations to come. Not only that, but she would continue with a system that denigrates the education of our young people, puts them in a place where they're never going to be able to get a job, where they're always going to be dependent, and where they can, therefore, be cultivated for their votes.

This is not what America is all about, this kind of deception. And, this is what we, the people, have the necessary obligation to fight. [cheering and applause]

Now, one of the things that I have learned about Hillary Clinton is that one of her heroes, her mentors was Saul Alinsky. And, her senior thesis was about Saul Alinsky. This was someone that she greatly admired and that affected all of her philosophies subsequently.

Not, interestingly enough, let me tell you something about Saul Alinsky. He wrote a book called, "Rules for Radicals." On the dedication page it acknowledges Lucifer, the original radical who gained his own kingdom.

Now, think about that, this is a nation where our founding document, the Declaration of Independence talked about certain in alienable rights that come from our creator. This is a nation where our Pledge of Allegiance says we are one nation under God. [cheering]

This is a nation. [applause]

This is a nation where every coin in our pocket, and every bill in our wallet says, "In God We Trust." So, are we willing to elect someone as president who has as their role model somebody who acknowledges Lucifer? Think about that.

The secular progressive agenda is antithetical to the principals of the founding of this nation, and if we continue to allow them to take God out of our lives, God will remove himself from us, we will not be blessed, and our nation will go down the tubes. And, we will be responsible for that. We don't want that to happen.

Now, Donald Trump, he understands this very well. He understands that the blessings of this nation come with the responsibility to ensure that they are available to all, not just a privileged few. This is exemplified by his willingness to take on the establishment against all odds. It is evident in his passion for the American work. It is found in his desire to put his considerable skills to work on behalf of American interests, not his self interests.

I'm proud to support Donald Trump, an extraordinary business man. The right leader for a time such as this. [cheering]

But, you know what? It is not about Donald Trump. It is not about me, it is about we the people, and Thomas Jefferson said that we would reach this point because we the people would not be paying attention, and it would allow the government to grow, to expand, and to metastasize and try to rule us.

But, he said that before we turn into something else we the people would recognize what was going on. What we were about to lose, and we would rise up, and we would take control of our nation, and I say now is the time for us to rise up and take America back. [cheering and applause]

Ben Carson, Remarks to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/317847

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