Ok, everybody but our veterans sit down. Thank you all for serving. My heart is with you. [applause] and you are one of the reasons i did not vote to shut down the government. Because you deserve to be paid and you deserve to be honored. It is great to be with you. As you all know nothing is happening in washington, d. C. In all seriousness its been, you know, a very difficult couple of weeks in washington, d. C. Im sure that you all have heard things just like ive heard things and my family has heard things. Let me just put, you know, a little fact check on some of those things. If i was a democrat, i would have run as a democrat 10 years ago and id have been in congress for a decade. I mean after all we are here in the peoples republic of iowa city, johnson county. Im not a democrat. Im a proud republican. Why do i want to get Appropriations Bills across . Is it because i want to cut spending . No. Its because every one of those Appropriations Bills has republican priorities and republican policies. And if anybody if anybody thinks im going to give up and im going to lay back as they say, theyve got another thing coming. When i campaigned i told you my life story. And i told you that i would never quit fighting for you. And that i would never give up. So they put across an ag appropriations bill. It had an 8. 5 , 8 cut. We were ok with that. They took it off the floor. And then they 3u it back on a month late we are another 14. 5 selfexecuting cut. That would have been cuts to crop insurance. Cuts to disease surveillance. Cuts to foreign disease surveillance. Thats avian flu, african swine fever. Things that hurt iowa. I was one of a few republicans to vote against it and i told them when they whipped the vote id vote against it. Why . Because im never going to quit fighting for iowa and im never going to quit fighting for this country. So if you think you can intimidate me, go can i borrow a bobby, where are you, bobby . Suck it up, buttercup so with that, im going to be proud to continue to vote for conservative republican policies and procedures because thats how we get this country back on track. Thats how we secure a border. Thats how we get energy independence. Thats how we get a parents bill of rights. Thats how we stop boys from participating in girls sports. [cheers and applause] the governor couldnt be here tonight but she wanted me to Say Something to you. She wanted me to tell you that im awesome. Actually she wanted me to tell you that shes sick. I am awesome. We have the greatest government in the country, hands down. We have some governors to talk to us, but theyre in iowa so we have the greatest governor in the country. I want to thank people that are here, dignitaries that are here, some of them youve already met. Thank you so much, bobby kaufman, for being here, emceeing our event, i know you had so change things to do this. Thank you to Republican Party chair jeff kaufman. We love him even when he loses his voice trying to get us motivated. Sheriff phil green wald, clinton county. Clinton county g. O. P. Chair tim striley. Iowa county chair matt eshelman. County chair theresa baumgarten garten. Our represented elections, representative bobby could haveman, representative momson, representative heather hora, representative brad sherman, representative mike bondren, representative hans wills, representative mark cisneros. Senator kerry kelker. Senator driis control. Senator scott webster. Senator tim goodwin. Thank you all for being here. We also have as you know, attorney general brenda burg and former congressman greg gansky. Thank you all for being here. Im going to also take a moment, i want to thank my incredible staff. As you can imagine, our phones have been ringing nonstop both here in iowa and in d. C. We never turned off our fens. We answered every call we could. And im so proud of my staff. That despite some profanity, they were always polite. They were always compassionate. And they remembered the motto in our office which is, culture starts at the top. And iowa first. So thank you to my staff. [applause] now with that, i think its time to get onto the program and why were really all here because iowa is first in the nation. We show up. We do the job. We ask questions. And we are going to propel the next president that is going to occupy the white house in january of 2025. Ms. Miler meeks i want gives me great pleasure to introduce our next speaker to you, one of our fantastic president ial candidates, i would say hes the best second the second best governor in the country. Governor ron desantis is a former j. A. G. Officer who served in iraq. Hes a former federal prosecutor who put child predators behind bars. As a congressman he fought for term limits. And he spearheaded the fight to fight back against the weaponization of the governor against conservatives. In 2022 with Battle Tested leadership, a bold policy agenda and never backing down to Corporate Media or special interests, he delivered a recordsetting victory of nearly 20 points please welcome the governor of the state governor ron desantis. [cheers and applause] the tailgate is yours. Mr. Desantis hello, iowa, its great to be back. Are you ready to send joe biden back to his basement in delaware where he belongs . We have an open border. We have a hamasisrael war. We have inflation. And what is he doing . We have hostages, our own people being held hostage. What is he doing . Hes at the beach in delaware again not doing his job. We can do better. You deserve a president that will take the 2 00 a. M. Phone call and do everything to advance this countrys interests. I look at what biden is doing. He wants tosen your money to the gaza strip. That will be commandeered by hamas terrorists. Not one red cent to hamas. We cannot do that in this country. [applause] you see students demonstrating in our own country in favor of hamas terrorists. Some of them are foreigners on student visas. When im president youre making common cause with hamas, im canceling your visa and im sending you home. [applause] we are not going to let the left wing in this country have hundreds of thousands of gaza strip refugees deposited in the United States of america. That is not our role. We dont want to import the pathologies of the middle east here. The arab countries should handle any refugees that are needed in that region and ill ensure that thats the policy of the United States of america. When this attack happened, i knew instinctively it was going to be important for florida because we have a lot of people that have relationship that travel there. The state department wasnt helping our own citizens get out of harms way. The embassy wasnt helping them. So last week, i filled the void. We did an executive order in florida, i scrambled our Emergency Management resources, and we have brought hundreds of people back from israel to the state of florida to safety. Biden biden then said theyll take you to greece and dump you in greece and then send you a bill for that to leave a war zone, meanwhile if you come across our border illegal theyll fly you all over the country at no charge. Theyll put you up in hotels at no charge. Its time we start putting the American People first. You save your people when theyre in harms way. We stood up and we led and we got the job done. What those attacks show us is, we have a massive vulnerability in our own country with our open southern border. Weve had over seven Million People come across the border illegally. Its not just all mexico and Central America. Youve had people from iran. Youve had people from russia. From china. Other people through the middle east. Do you not think our enemies are going to take advantage of what is going on . So i view this as a National Security issue. As president on day one, im going do claire the border to be a national emergency. Were going to marshal our resources, including the United States military, to stop the invasion cold. When people come into this country illegal im sending them back to the country they camefrom. [applause] we are going i am going to build the wall and i am going to have mexico pay for it. Now remember that promise in 2016. I went to the rallies. I was fired up for it. Didnt happen. Heres the deal. Yeah, mexico is not going to just give you money. The way you have mexico pay for the wall is you impose fees on the remittances that people send back to mexico from america and Central America and south america. Youll raise billions of dollars and we will construct that border wall and this country will be safer as a result. Were also going to [applause] were also going to hold the mexican drug cartels accountable. Im treating them like foreign terrorist organizations. Because they are killing our people. 100,000plus Drug Overdose deaths. That should not be happening. Yet the elites in d. C. Just shrug their shoulders. They dont care. I care about it. I dont want to see americans dieing from fentanyl overdose. So we will authorize the use of deadly force against the mexican drug cartels. When theyre invading our country and killing our people, as commander in chief you not only have the right, you have the responsibility to fight back on behalf of america. I will do that. I will end the problem of the mexican drug cartels in this country. Look, as president , its a team effort. As your nominee im going to be working up and down the ballot to make sure we return republican and expand republican majorities. Districts like this are very important for us to be able to hold. You cant do it by yourself as president. Youve got to have people that are going to help in the legislature, that are going to share the vision. So my pledge will be, its not going to just be about me. Its going to be about brining in house members and bringing in u. S. Senators. I will say ive been watching whats going on in d. C. In florida, we dont do the theater. We dont do the drama. We dont do the palace entry, we just do results. Im the only one running for president that can tell you, i have delivered on 100 of my promises. Everything i told the people of florida i would do, ive accomplished. Whether thats Universal School choice. Whether thats paying down our debts. Whether thats tbheang Chinese Communist party from purchasing land. Whether thats the heart beat protection act, whether thats constitutional carry. Whether its banning sanctuary cities. On and on down the line weve gotten it done. Thats what its going to take you need someone as a nominee who is going to win the election. We have the record of political success to show you we can do it. You need somebody who will be able to convert and get all this stuff done. The time for excuses is over. We are not going to get a mulligan on the 2024 election. Weve got to get the job done or we are going to be in a hole were not going to be able to dig out of. It is not going to be enough for us to just simply manage this decline that our country is going through a little bit better than the democrats. We need to reverse this decline. We need to usher in an american revival. We need to give this country a new birth of freedom and i will get that job done. I have a parent im a parent of a 6, 5, and 3yearold. Were in jeopardy of turning over to our kids and grandkids in america less pros plus an america less prosperous and less free than what we inherited. I will not stand idly by and let that happen. We also owe a debt of gratitude to those who have fought nor country, in uniform, risked their live, given their live, so we can be free. Were not doing their sacrifice justice if we do not get the job done in 2024. So as your nominee, i will get the job done by winning the election. By sweeping in majorities in the house and senate. As a leader, ill always be somebody that you can be proud of and as your next president , i promise you this. I will not let you down. God bless you awful thank you so much. We appreciate it. Im asking for your support in the caucus in january. You can make it happen. We will make it happen. And well change the country for the better. Thank you so much. We will see you all. God bless the great state of iowa. [cheers and applause] wont be turned around mrs. Millermeeks my karaoke song is these boots are made for walking but i think maybe Governor Desantis should change that to his walkon song. Our next guest is the bestselling author of woke inc. , nation of victims of capitalist punishment. The leftleaning media called him one of the intellectual godfathers of the conservative movement. He says to put America First, we must first recover what america is. Thats what his policy is all about. Hes tackling the most pressing issues facing America Today from reviving our National Identity to unleashing our economy, and declaring independence from communist china. Vivek ramaswamys vision focus on a national revival, not a national divorce. He notes America First didnt start in 2016. It started in 1776. Please welcome vivek ramaswamy. Thunder hear the thunder lightning then the thunder [applause] mr. Ramaswamy thank you for the warm welcome. I want to in many ways pick up where Governor Desantis left off. I want to respect one thing he did, bringing those americans back home to the state of florida, i respect that. My wife and i in recent days had the privilege of doing the same through our foundation, getting a charter flight of 200 americans out of harms way. America first means no american left behind. Thats the spirit we need to revive. Now thats an old saying that goes, from thomas sole if you care about somebody you tell them them the truth if you care about yourself you tell them what they want to hear. When it comes to our moment, after a crisis like this, what happened to israel, it was barbaric. It was medieval. It was wrong. Morally wrong. And weve seen what that looks like in this country. In the wake of 9 11 as well. I want to make sure that we dont make the same mistakes that we did in that post9 11 era. 6. 5 trillion spent in iraq, in afghanistan. To what end . The taliban is still in charge. 20 years later in afghanistan. A hostile antiamerican regime in iraq thats now vulnerable to iranian incursion. We have to ask the difficult questions and the mistake weve made in the wake of 9 11 is we were told, i remember this, i was aging into my early adulthood then, shut up, sit down, go along with the plan. Failed to have the debate that i worry we need to have now both within and beyond our party. I am deeply concerned, i am the only republican candidate saying it, only person in either party saying it, but its the truth so im going to say it. I dont know if this is politically advisable or not, im told its not but its the truth. Im deeply worried about the wisdom of this ongoing potentially imminent Ground Invasion to gaza which i do not believe is going to be good for israel and do not believe its going to be good for the United States. Some people will ask, is that antiisrael . No, no, no. This is the most proisrael thing we can do as a friend to say learn the lessons proisrael thing we can do as a friend. Learn from the lessons we made 20 years ago so we do not repeat them again. I hope these words do not age well, but i worry they are, by the day. I will begin with praying for peace in israel and the u. S. If that can happen to israel two weeks ago, i say this as someone who has traveled to both borders in the last several weeks. It can happen here in the u. S. In my job as your president , my moral obligation is to stand for american interests, protecting americans in the homeland. That has to be the top priority of our national of our national defense. [applause] mr. Ramaswamy thank you, i appreciate that. Looking inward, we are in the middle of a war in this country. It is not a war between blackandwhite as the media will teach you to believe. It is not a war between democrats and republicans. It is a war between the majority of us in the u. S. Who love our founding ideals, who believe all men are created equal, endowed by their creator with in alienable rights, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Who get ahead on the content of your character, who believe in free speech and open debate, who believe american exceptionalism is real. Even though we are imperfect, we are founded on the pursuit of a more perfect union, liberty, equality and justice for all. That is most of us in this country on one side of this war. On the others, we have a fringe minority who hates this country and our national ideals. Who believe your identity is based on your race, gender and sexuality. That if you are black you are disadvantaged, if your whites, your privilege. Who believe we have to abandon Carbon Emissions, flogging ourselves for our way of life as we ship off Carbon Emissions to china. Who believe using military to secure our border is xenophobic. That is the other side of this war. I call it a war because there is no middle ground. Either you believe in meritocracy, or believe in group quotas. Either you believe in free speech, or you believe in censorship. Either you believe in american exceptionalism, or you believe an american apologies him. You cannot have apologism. You cannot have both at once. I have good news as somebody who traveled the majority of states in this union, rooms like this. I can say with conviction most of us are on the proamerican side of this war, 80 of this country easily. Half of the 20 are people younger than me who never learned those ideals in the first place. We are going to bring them along. Many were students. I met them in iowa city last night, they are lost, hungry for a cause, purpose, meaning. We will bring them along, too. The bad news is, in this country the other side is winning this war. The question we have to answer is why. The short version is, the Administrative State, the bureaucrats in washington, d. C. , the swamp within and outside of government has propped up this antiamerican movement to deflect accountability for their own failures. Even our own military. Those 25 years of wasted wars in iraq and afghanistan. The left used to criticize us. What does general mark mill