Mike Pence Campaign Speech Grand Rapids, Michigan Transcript October 14

Mike Pence: (02:27)
Well hello, Michigan. The Peter Meijer, the State Republican Chair, Laura Cox, National Committeewoman, Kathy Berden, and all the great men and women of Lacks Enterprises. My fellow Americans, it is great to be back in the Wolverine State. I appreciate y’all coming out. Feels and looks like fall in the heartland, doesn’t it? I just love it. But I got to be honest with you, I’m here for one reason. And one reason only, and that is the Michigan and America need four more years of President Donald Trump in the White House. It’s on. And the road to victory runs right through Michigan.

Mike Pence: (03:19)
And while you’re at it, President Trump and I need Michigan to send John James to the United States Senate. And Grand Rapids needs to send that West Point grad army veteran, a man who’s led humanitarian efforts at home and around the world to Capitol Hill. We need Peter Meijer in a new Republican majority in the United States Congress. So thank you all for coming out. And if you got a seat, you can grab it. Four years ago, a movement was born. A movement of everyday Americans from every walk of life. Here in Michigan, you knew we could be strong again. You knew we could be prosperous again.

Mike Pence: (04:10)
You said yes to President Donald Trump in 2016 and I know Michigan’s going to say yes to four more years of President Donald Trump in 2020. And we’re out there telling the story, about a week ago, I was in Salt Lake City, Utah, we had a little debate out there between Joe Biden’s running mate. Some people think we did okay. Thank you. But let me be clear with all of you, it was a privilege for me to be on that stage representing our president. Because that debate was not so much a debate between two candidates is it was between two visions. I mean, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris want higher taxes, open borders, socialized medicine.

Mike Pence: (05:04)
They want to abolish fossil fuels. They want taxpayer funding of abortion. They want to defund the police and pack the Supreme Court. Don’t you doubt. President Trump’s vision, we rebuild our military, we cut taxes. We rollback regulation. We unleashed American energy, secured our border, supported law enforcement. And we have stood for liberty for life in the constitution of the United States every single day. When you compare the Biden Harris agenda with our agenda, the choice is clear.

Mike Pence: (05:45)
If you cherish faith and freedom and law and order and life in a little less than three weeks, we need to reelect President Donald Trump for more years in the White House.

Audience: (05:57)
Four more years, four more years, four more years, four more years.

Mike Pence: (06:07)
Now you’re talking.

Audience: (06:08)
Four more years, four more years.

Mike Pence: (06:11)
Four years ago, we inherited a military that had been hollowed out by devastating budget cuts. An economy that was struggling to break out of the slowest recovery since the Great Depression. Terrorism was on the rise around the world and we witnessed a steady assault on our most cherished values, but in three short years, all of that’s changed. Most importantly, we rebuilt our military. We restored the arsenal of democracy and we are once again given our soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and coast guard, the resources and the support that they need to defend this nation. We’re doing it. As the proud father of a United States Marine and the father-in-law, the United States navy pilot who’s currently deployed. I have to tell you, I couldn’t be more proud to serve alongside a president who cares so deeply about the men and women of our armed forces and their families. It’s true. And we haven’t just stood with those who wear the uniform. President Donald Trump has stood with all the men and women who have served in the uniform of the United States. Donald Trump is the most pro-veteran president in my lifetime.

Mike Pence: (07:46)
When Joe Biden was vice president, you all remember it here in Michigan. When Joe Biden was vice president, we saw years of scandal at the VA that literally shocked the conscience of the nation. But under President Trump’s leadership, we signed the most sweeping reforms of the VA in 50 years. We fired thousands of VA employees that weren’t giving our veterans the care they deserve. And Veterans Choice is now available for every veteran in America.

Mike Pence: (08:24)
I got to believe among us there are lots of men and women who have worn the uniform of the United States just like your future Congressman Peter Meijer. So if you’re able to stand or raise your hand, if you served in the armed forces of the United States, would you mind just standing up or raising your hand and letting us say thank you one more time. Thank you for your service. Thank you for your service. Thank you for your service, army.

Mike Pence: (08:56)
We didn’t just rebuild our military and stand with our veterans, but after the slowest, I want to say that again. It was the slowest economic recovery since the Great Depression, President Donald Trump lit the fires of the American economy, and we created the greatest economy the world has ever known in three short years. Where Joe Biden wants to raise taxes. In our first three years, we cut taxes across the board for working families, businesses large and small. This president signed more bills, cutting federal red tape than any president in American history.

Mike Pence: (09:33)
We unleashed American energy fought for free and fair trade. And in just three years, businesses large and small created seven million good paying jobs, including 125,000 jobs right here in the Wolverine State. It’s true. Those first three years, Michigan achieved its lowest unemployment rate in 20 years. And right in this state, the average hourly earnings grew nearly as much in our first three years as they did in all eight years that Joe Biden was vice-president. And maybe what’s most important to the president and me, after wages had been stagnant for many years all across the heartland, wages were rising at their fastest pace in more than 10 years. And they were rising most rapidly for hard working blue collar Americans, the forgotten men and women of America were forgotten no more.

Mike Pence: (10:41)
I’m from just down south in the Hoosier State, I always like stay out in this part of the country. We do two things particularly well. We make things and we grow things, right? And this president from early on said that we were going to bring American jobs back. We were going to bring the heartland back. We’re going to bring back those four beautiful words made in the USA and that’s just what we’ve done. President Trump’s leadership, those less taxes, less regulations, fighting for free and fair trade. I’m proud to report here in the great state of Michigan that the automotive industry is roaring back in America.

Mike Pence: (11:28)
Last year, GM announced they were adding 400 jobs in this state and Fiat Chrysler already is building a $1.6 billion new assembly plant here in Michigan that’s going to create 6,400 good paying jobs. Now, that’s quite a contrast. When Joe Biden was vice-president, you all remember, they actually lost 200,000 manufacturing jobs. And the last president four years ago said they were never coming back. Remember all that? He said, “What magic wand do you have?” Well, we didn’t need a magic wand. We just needed President Donald Trump in the White House. 500,000 manufacturing jobs created in just three years, 20,000 here in the Wolverine State. I’m telling you leadership matters. I promise you President Donald Trump and I will always put Michigan workers and Michigan jobs first. So it’s been about security and about prosperity. When President Donald Trump every day of this administration has also stood strong for the rule of law. We’ve appointed more than 200 conservatives to our federal courts at every level. And I can tell you firsthand, they are all men and women who will uphold all the god-given liberties in our constitution like the freedom of religion, the freedom of speech, and the second amendment right to keep and bear arms.

Mike Pence: (13:13)
Last month we rightly paused as a nation to honor the life and service of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. But when the memorials were over, President Donald Trump fulfilled his duty under the constitution when he nominated a brilliant, principled, conservative woman to the Supreme Court of the United States in Judge Amy Coney Barrett. Isn’t she something? Amazing, amazing. But they’re in day three of those hearings in the United States Senate. The president and I have continued to call on senators to provide Judge Barrett with a respectful hearing and to respect that nomination every day. But you know, we have-

Mike Pence: (14:03)
And to respect that nomination every day, but you know, we have reason to be concerned. You all remember a couple of years ago when Judge Barrett was nominated to the Court of Appeals out this way. The ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee criticized her Catholic faith saying, and I quote, “The dogma lives loudly within you,” and Hollywood liberals already started attacking her faith from the day the president nominated her to the Supreme Court. Well, I got a message for the Democrats and their Hollywood friends, that dogma lives loudly in me, that dogma lives loudly in you and the right to live and work and worship, according to the dictates of our faith lives loudly in the constitution of the United States of America.

Mike Pence: (15:11)
So the Senate has a job to do. They’re going about their constitutional role to advise and consent, then after they finished their work, I’ll make you a prediction. Judge Amy Coney Barrett is going to be Justice Amy Coney Barrett. We’re going to fill that seat on the Supreme Court of the United States.

Mike Pence: (15:48)
Now, while we’re talking about the Supreme Court, the people of Michigan deserve to know that after 150 years with nine members of the Supreme Court of the United States, leading Democrats in Washington are actually talking about packing the court.

Mike Pence: (16:10)
You all saw Joe Biden refuse to answer the question during the presidential debate. Has running mate, Kamala Harris, during the primaries actually said that she was quote, “Absolutely open to packing the court.” And when I tried to get her to answer the question during our debate, she ducked it. Last Friday, Joe Biden was asked if voters didn’t deserve to know if he plans to pack the court. And he said, quote, “No, they don’t.”

Mike Pence: (16:42)
And yesterday he dodged the question again. Refused to rule it out. You know, when you’re running for the highest office in the land, you owe it to the American people to say whether or not you’re to respect the highest court in the land. There’s only one explanation why they won’t answer the question. You know, out here in the heartland, we like to say, “I was born in the morning, but not yesterday morning.” I mean, come on everybody, they’re ducking the question because Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are going to pack the Supreme Court with liberal judges if they win this election. They’re going to add seats to the Supreme Court of the United States and fill them with activist judges in what would be the biggest power grab in American history. But we’re not going to let it happen, we’re going to reelect President Donald Trump for four more years and reelect a Republican majority in the United States Senate with John James in that chamber. I mean, we’re going to stand on the constitution and we’re going to preserve an independent judiciary. It’s just that serious. And speaking to the rule of law, I couldn’t be more proud to serve alongside a president who has stood every day with the men and women who serve in law enforcement at every level across America. President Donald Trump and I know what you know, and that is the men and women who put on the uniform of law enforcement every day are the best people in this country. They deserve the respect of every American every day. When I was growing up down in small town in southern Indiana, we used to drive up to Chicago where my folks grew up, visit my grandparents. I’d see my uncle getting dressed for work as a young man, still living at home. He’d put on that police officer’s uniform, Chicago PD, and me and my three brothers would just stand there in awe as he came out in that uniform with that sidearm at his side. All of my heroes wear uniforms.

Mike Pence: (19:21)
Now we’ve stood with law enforcement, but I want to be clear, President Trump and I will always support the right of Americans to peaceful protest, but rioting and looting is not peaceful protest. Burning businesses is not free speech. Violence against innocent civilians, the destruction of property or violence against law enforcement will not be tolerated and those who do these things will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Now, for months, all Joe Biden and his running mate talked about were peaceful protesters, remember? All summer long, while the American people literally watched businesses in their communities burn. At that debate last week, I traveled there and invited Flora Westbrook to join me. I’d met Flora in Minneapolis, just a couple of weeks earlier. Wonderful African-American business owner. She opened a salon 35 years ago in Minneapolis. It’s really kind of the heart of the community, and she told me in the days following the killing of George Floyd, she watched as the violent looters and protesters came closer and closer to her business until they burned her out. Flora deserved better. All of our families deserve better and we’re going to rebuild Flora’s business, rebuild that community for all of our families in all of our cities. We’re going to make it safe. We’re going to do it. What a wonderful woman.

Mike Pence: (21:12)
You know, the truth is, I think you all know Joe Biden would double down on the policies that have literally led to violence in our major cities. I mean, when you start to withdraw support for those who protect and serve, you only embolden those who would do harm to our families and our communities. Now, Joe Biden justifies it all by saying that he thinks America is quote, “Systemically racist,” and that police have, in his words, an implicit bias against minorities. When Joe Biden was asked if he’d support cutting funding to law enforcement, he said, “Yes, absolutely.” Let me make you a promise, under President Donald Trump, we’re going to back the blue. We’re not going to defund the police, not now, not ever. We’re going to have law enforcement in every city, in every state in this nation for every American of every race and creed and color, so help us God. You know, you all in Michigan know what we know down in the Hoosier state. We don’t have to choose between supporting law enforcement and supporting our African-American families and neighbors and other minorities that live in our cities. I mean, this president has done both for three and half years, and we’re going to keep doing both for four more years. In our first three and a half years, we funded 4,000 new law enforcement officers through the COPS program, when the violence engulfed many of our cities, we launched Operation Legend, named after a four year old boy who was literally killed in his home while he slept in a pillow fort he and his dad had built. And now we’ve arrested more than 2,500 violent offenders in cities across the country.

Mike Pence: (23:24)
But as we supported law enforcement, I have to tell you how proud I am, in our first three years because of the economic policies we advanced, we had the lowest unemployment ever recorded for African-Americans. We had the highest funding ever for historically black colleges and universities. We passed criminal justice reform and we have fought to give every parent in every community, the right to choose where their children go to school regardless of their income and area code. So we’ve supported law enforcement and we’ve supported on minorities and we’ll keep doing it for four more years. And every single day, as we’ve supported the rule of law, this president has stood strong for the right of every American to live, to work, to worship according to the dictates of their conscience. People of faith have no greater champion than President Donald Trump. Under this administration, we restored the conscience rights of doctors, nurses, teachers and religious charities, and President Donald Trump ended the assault on the Little Sisters of the Poor and the Supreme Court voted seven to two to make it permanent. I mean, think about that. I’m the product of eight years of Catholic education. I have nothing but love and a deep respect for nuns. Can I get an amen on that? Anybody else? Thank you very much.

Mike Pence: (25:11)
But think about that, Little Sisters of the Poor, these are incredible women, answered a call of faith, a call of service, took a vow of poverty to do nothing other than help the underprivileged in their communities. And when Joe Biden was vice president, they hauled them into federal court to force them to compromise their faith and live under the mandates of Obamacare. And believe it or not, after the Supreme Court ruled, Joe Biden announced that he was going to reimpose the Obamacare mandates on the Little Sisters of the Poor and religious institutions around the country.

Mike Pence: (25:48)
In fact, the religious intolerance spans their whole ticket. His running mate, Kamala Harris, actually attacked one of our nominees to the Federal Court because he was a member of the Catholic Knights of Columbus. Well, let me make you a promise, with four more years of President Donald Trump in the White House, we’re going to respect the religious freedom of every American of every faith, so help us God.

Mike Pence: (26:26)
Beyond all of that, beyond our security and our prosperity and law and order and our most cherished values. I couldn’t be more proud to serve alongside a president who stands without apology for the sanctity of human life, Where Joe Biden and Kamala Harris support taxpayer funding of abortion all the way up to the moment of birth, President Donald Trump has stood strong for the unborn and President Trump is the most pro-life president in American history. It’s true.

Mike Pence: (27:12)
So we’ve rebuilt, our military revived our economy, stood for law and order, liberties and life. Let me say none of that would have been possible without the strong and consistent support of Michigan’s Republican delegation on Capitol Hill. That’s why right after you send John James to the United States Senate, we need you to send Bill Huizenga, Fred Upton, John Molenaar, Jack Bergman, Tim Walberg and Peter Meyer to a new Republican majority in the House of Representatives and retire Nancy Pelosi once and for all.

Mike Pence: (28:00)
You know, when you look at what we all were able to accomplish with Republican majorities in the House and Senate in our first two, it’s incredible. On our security, our economy, on our constitutional foundations. Only one way you can describe it, we made America great again. And then the Coronavirus struck from China. But I can tell you, when there were only five documented cases of Coronavirus in the United States, all of which had come back from China, President Trump did with no American president had ever done. He suspended all travel from China, the second largest economy in the world. Now, Joe Biden said that was hysterical. He said it was xenophobic. In fact, he wrote in the week before … I always keep an eye on the flag. A week before the President made that decision, you all deserve to know, Joe Biden said it would make things worse if you closed off travel from China. And in fact, back when they were dealing with the H1N1 in 2009, when Joe Biden was vice-president, they refused to close the border to Mexico. But I want to tell you firsthand, as the head of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, President Trump’s action suspending all travel from China, saved untold American lives and bought us invaluable time to stand up the greatest national mobilization since World War II. It’s a fact.

Mike Pence: (30:22)
We reinvented testing. We’ve done more than 120 million tests already. We saw it to the manufacturer and the delivery of billions of supplies of PPE and medical equipment to our incredible doctors and nurses. We’ve been developing medicines and therapeutics at a record pace, and we’re on track to have the first safe and effective vaccine before the end of this year with tens of millions of doses available for the most vulnerable. As President Trump said Saturday on the South Lawn, through the power of American science and medicine, we will eradicate the China virus once and for all that day will come.

Mike Pence: (31:06)
I spoke to the President this morning, told him I was headed to Michigan and I’m happy to report each and every one of you, he’s back on the plane today, the President and the First Lady are doing great and he is out on the campaign trail. You just say on behalf of the President and the First Lady how moved we’ve all been by the outpouring of love and concern and prayers, not just for the first family, but for every family that’s been impacted by loss and difficulty through the midst of this pandemic. Those of you that are here and looking on that have lost loved ones, are struggling with this virus, just know you’ve always been in our hearts. The outpouring of concern from across the country for the President and the First Lady is really just emblematic of what the American people have been doing from day one with one another. In fact, could we just take a minute? Can we just say, show how grateful we are to the doctors, the nurses, the first responders to all of those in ministry who have come alongside families impacted by loss and hardship in the midst of this pandemic. The American people have been there for one another and it’s been truly inspiring. Thank you all. I promise all of you, we’re going to keep making sure that our doctors and nurses have all the resources they need to provide the level of healthcare to anyone in this country that we’d want a family member of ours to have. We’re going to keep protecting the vulnerable and keep saving lives.

Mike Pence: (33:02)
While Joe Biden is talking about shutting down the economy, under President Donald Trump, we’re opening up America again. You know, in just the last five months, after losing 22 million jobs at the height of this pandemic because of the foundation that we poured, because of the extraordinary recovery and relief that the President secured from the Congress for families and businesses, we’ve already seen 11 and a half million Americans go back to work, including nearly 600,000 people right here in Michigan.

Mike Pence: (33:47)
So we’re opening up America and we are opening up American schools. Last week, we started distributing a hundred million rapid point-of-care tests to school nurses and administrators all across America so we can get our kids back in the classroom and keep them back in school where they belong. And thanks to President Trump’s leadership a week from this Saturday, Big 10 football is back. Michigan State will be back on the grid iron at Spartan Stadium and the Wolverines will be back in the Big House. We’re coming back. We’re coming back. We’ve got a great American comeback underway.

Mike Pence: (34:47)
You know, the truth is we’ve gone through a time of testing in this last year, but in less than three weeks, we’re going to come to a time for choosing. That’s the reason why we’re all here today. And I want to tell you from my heart, I think the choice in this election has never been clearer. The stakes have never been higher. It’s amazing to think in the middle of a global pandemic, Joe Biden wants to raise taxes by $4 trillion. President Trump, we not only cut taxes across the board in our first four years, we’re going to keep cutting taxes for middle-class Americans for four more years. Joe Biden wants to bury our economy under an avalanche of red tape. The President had to remind him the other night that he actually supports the Green New Deal. He wants to put us back in the Paris Climate Accord.

Mike Pence: (35:49)
President Trump, we’ve been cutting red tape at a record pace, and we still have the cleanest air and land and water in history and America is a net exporter of energy for the first time in 70 years. When it comes to trade and jobs, the choice couldn’t even be clear. The truth is, when we took office, America was losing $500 billion a year in our trade imbalance to China. Where Joe Biden’s been a cheerleader for communist China all along the way, he said that the rise of China was a positive development. President Trump put China on notice on day one. He said, the era of economic surrender is over. We impose tariffs on China to level the playing field, and we’re going to stand strong until they respect American workers and American property.

Speaker 1: (36:56)
USA, USA, USA, USA, USA.

Mike Pence: (37:07)
And here in the heartland, I don’t have to tell any of you about the impact of NAFTA. It’s amazing to think the day since NAFTA was signed into law, we literally saw 60,000 American factories close and many of those jobs go south of the border. Down in the Hoosier state, I saw one community almost entirely shuttered as thousands of jobs disappeared overnight and left our shores. I mean, the truth of the matter is all along the way, Joe Biden never lifted a finger to reform NAFTA, to renegotiate it in a way that put American jobs, automotive jobs here in the heartland first. But thanks to the man who wrote The Art of the Deal, Americans got a way better deal. NAFTA is gone and the United States, Mexico, Canada Agreement is here. Now you may not know it, USMCA is a huge win for America, but it’s a big win for Michigan and Michigan auto workers. Under the USMCA, 75% of all auto parts have to be made in North America and 40% of them have to be made by workers making the average hourly wage equal to the average hourly wage in the United States of America. We are protecting American workers, protecting American jobs with the USMCA.

Mike Pence: (38:47)
It’s true.

Mike Pence: (38:50)
Now the people in Michigan deserve to know, not only did Joe Biden not lift a finger to reform it for all those years, but Joe Biden’s running mate, Kamala Harris was one of only 10 senators to vote against the USMCA. She said the USMCA didn’t go far enough on climate change. And truth is Kamala Harris put her radical environmental agenda ahead of Michigan auto workers and Michigan auto jobs. That’s one more reason why Michigan needs to say no to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and yes to four more years of President Donald Trump in the White House.

Mike Pence: (39:32)
And it’s not just about jobs. It’s also about our healthcare. You know, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are planning a government takeover of healthcare. Kamala Harris was the original co-sponsor of Bernie Sanders’ socialist Medicare for all. And Joe Biden added what’s called a public option to Obamacare that would send America on an inevitable path towards socialized medicine. President Trump and I, we’ve been working to give the American people better healthcare. We’ve lowered the cost of prescription drugs across the country. We expanded right to try for families to have access to life saving medicine. And we are going to have healthcare that protects preexisting conditions and lowers the cost of health insurance without growing the size of government.

Mike Pence: (40:36)
We’re going to reform our healthcare system in a way that respects the doctor/patient relationship, is built on the power of the free market and makes sure that America will never be a socialist country on healthcare or in any other way. The truth is, when you look at their agenda, it’s clear, Joe Biden would be nothing more than a Trojan horse for the radical left. Joe Biden says that democracy is on the ballot. The President and I believe that our economic recovery is on the ballot. Law and order are on the ballot. But I think there’s also things far more foundational to our nation that are on the ballot as well. You know, in this election I think it’s not so much whether we’re going to be more conservative or more liberal, whether it will be more Republican or more Democrat, more red or more blue. I think the choice in this election is whether America remains America.

Mike Pence: (42:00)
… America. It’s whether we’re going to chart a course based on our highest ideals of freedom, free enterprise, personal responsibility, traditional values. Or whether we’re going to let Joe Biden, the Democratic party and the radical left take us on a leftward path towards socialism and decline. So let me say, all of you gathered here on this blustery day in Michigan, for our freedom and all the ideals that have always made America great, we need to decide right here and right now that Joe Biden will never be president of the United States. We’re going to reelect president Donald Trump for four more years. So I need you to be out there, folks. I need you to tell your neighbors and friends what four more years means. And tell them you were over at Lacks Enterprises, you ran into Mike, standing in front of this beautiful flag. And I told you to tell them, “Four more years means more jobs. Four more years means more judges. Four more years means more support for our troops and our police.” And you tell them I said, “It’s going to take at least four more years to drain that swamp.”

Mike Pence: (43:52)
Folks, I’ve served alongside this president for the last three and a half years. I’ve only known him for about four. We’d met a few times before I met him on the campaign trail. Some people think we’re kind of different. But actually we’ve become very close friends. And I’ve served alongside him every day. And I can tell you that when the cameras are off, the bright lights are off, there’s not a day gone by that President Donald Trump hasn’t gotten up and fought to keep the promises that he made to the people of Michigan. Now, it’s our turn to fight for him. It’s on, Michigan. We need to bring it. Okay.

Mike Pence: (44:49)
So I got to ask you to do a couple of things before I slip away. First and foremost, in the next 20 days, we’re on election day, I need you to vote, Michigan. Vote for four more years of President Donald Trump in the White House. I’m told early voting started on September 24th here in Michigan. If you don’t have plans tomorrow, you can actually head down to the Cascade Township clerks office. They’re open nine to one, 2865 Thorn Hills Avenue, Southeast, right here in Grand Rapids. And remember, friends don’t let friends vote alone. Bring a family member, bring a neighbor, bring a co-worker, and vote for four more years of President Donald Trump. Get it done.

Mike Pence: (45:56)
And after you vote, I need you to do just like you’re doing today. I need you to go out and tell the story. I need you to bring the enthusiasm. Talk to your neighbors and friends at worship and work. Say, “You know what? I ran into Mike the other day at Lacks Enterprises. And that guy stood out there and talked for an hour, just summarizing everything that we got done and how this president has led us through this challenging time.” Tell them about the choice in this election. Lay out the stakes. Because honestly, I keep thinking about this time in the election four years ago, and all the polls back then, kind of like now, didn’t look so good, did they? I mean literally, we had a whole range of different pollings, one where we were losing by a lot and others where we were losing by a little.

Mike Pence: (46:58)
But I knew something else was going on. Because I was traveling around the country. I was seeing good people like you. I saw the tens of thousands of people that were coming out for our candidate. I’ve seen the hundreds of people that were coming out when I’d come into town. And I saw the determination on people’s faces. And I knew something was happening across the country. I knew that in some real sense, the American people were turning down the sound on all the experts and the pundits and the elites. And we were just talking to one another, weren’t we? And that’s what we need to be doing again, every day for the next 20 days. It’s great to be back in Grand Rapids because for the president and me, the campaign actually ended early in the morning on election day in Grand Rapids. Maybe some of you were there. Remember?

Mike Pence: (47:56)
I mean, I was up at the podium right when it ticked us just right past midnight. And I looked at this little Timex watch. And I remember I leaned in and I said, “Welcome to election day, the day that Donald Trump’s going to be elected president of the United States.” And he was. And we had 20,000 people out after midnight. And when he arrived, he gave a talk from one in the morning until two in the morning. And the enthusiasm was incredible. But I’ll never forget what he said to me when he came off the stage. The crowd was thundering. It was two in the morning, early on election day. And he came walking off that stage. He slapped me on the shoulder and he said, “Mike, I don’t know about you, but this doesn’t look like second place.”

Mike Pence: (48:44)
It still doesn’t, Michigan. We’re going to deliver a win on November the third. But it’s going to take all of us to do it again. So I encourage you to do like you did before. Right after you vote, with a friend, do just like you did four years ago. Tell your neighbors and friends all that’s at stake. And lastly, I just say one more thing. And that is as I’ve traveled all across this country the last four years, I’ve come to two firm convictions. America is a freedom-loving nation. And America is a nation of faith. I mean, for all the time you turn on the television, like a question I got from a little girl at the end of the vice presidential debate, you turn on the TV and it seems like people are always arguing. It seems like there’s more division than ever before.

Mike Pence: (49:42)
I truly do believe that there will always be more that unites us in this country than can ever divide us, and chief among those things is faith. And so I would just say to each one of you that if you’re inclined to bow the head and bend the knee from time to time, I encourage you to do that too over the next 20 days. As we work to get out to vote, to tell the story, I just encourage you to remember those ancient words that Americans have clung to in much more challenging times. That if his people, who are called by his name, will humble themselves and pray and turn, he’ll do like he’s always done through the long and storied history of this nation. He’ll hear from Heaven and he’ll heal this land, this one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Mike Pence: (50:53)
So pray for America. Pray for all of the American people. And it’ll make a difference. So thank you all for coming out. Thank you for your enthusiasm. I got a plane to catch. And we’re going to take this message all across America. But I leave here today with renewed confidence that if all of us do all we need to do in the next 20 days, all across the state of Michigan and all across America, come November 3rd, we’re going to have a great victory. Great victory in the Wolverine state and all across America. With your continued support and prayers, we’re going to make Michigan and America more prosperous than ever before. We’re going to make Michigan and America safer than ever before. And with John James in the United States Senate, with Congressman Bill Huizenga and Peter Meyer, in a new Republican majority in the Congress, and with President Donald Trump in the White House for four more years, and with God’s help, we will make America great again. Again. Thank you all very much. God bless you. God bless America. Let’s go get it done.