Here is the full transcript of Vivek Ramaswamy’s speech at Republican National Convention 2024 in Milwaukee.
Listen to the audio version here:
TRANSCRIPT:
Love it. Thank you guys. Thank you for the warm welcome. It’s good to be back in Milwaukee.
This time last year I was a candidate for U.S. President, and I’m proud to say that I achieved the impossible, which is that most of you actually know how to say my name by now. So thank you for that. It’s good to be back. We’re in the middle of a national identity crisis right now.
The State of the Nation
Faith, patriotism, hard work, and family have disappeared, only to be replaced by race, gender, sexuality, and climate. But we’re not going to win this election just by criticizing the other side. We’re going to win this by standing for our own vision of who we really are.
What does it mean to be a Republican in the year 2024? What does it mean to be an American in the year 2024? It means we believe in the ideals of 1776. It means we believe in merit, that you get ahead in this country not on the color of your skin, but on the content of your character and your contributions. It means we believe in the rule of law.
Immigration and Governance
And I say this as the kid of legal immigrants to this country. That means your first act of entering this country cannot break the law. That is why we will seal the southern border on day one.
It means the people who we elect to run the government ought to be the ones who actually run the government, not unelected bureaucrats in the deep state. These are not black ideas or white ideas. They are not even Democrat ideas or Republican ideas.
American Ideals
They are American ideas that we fought a revolution to secure. And the man who will revive these ideals in the United States of America is your next president, the 47th president of the United States, Donald J. Trump. If you want to seal the border, vote Trump.
If you want to restore law and order in this country, vote Trump. If you want to reignite the economy in this country, vote Trump. If you want to revive national pride in this country, vote Trump.
The Call to Vote
If you want to make America great again, vote Trump. But there is one more reason I’m going to ask you to vote Trump, and it’s the most important one. It’s the one the media won’t talk about, but it’s the truth.
Donald Trump is the president who will actually unite this country, not through empty words, but through action. Because you know what? Success is unifying. Excellence is unifying.
Our American Identity
That’s who we are as Americans. That’s who we’ve always been. To those of you watching this at home tonight, I’d like to deliver a message that the media doesn’t want you to hear from the Republican Party.
Our message to black Americans is this. The media has tried to convince you for decades that Republicans don’t care about your communities, but we do. We want for you what we want for every American.
A Message to All Americans
Safe neighborhoods, clean streets, good jobs, a better life for your children, and a justice system that treats everyone equally, regardless of your skin color and regardless of your political beliefs. Our message to every legal immigrant in this country is this. You’re like my parents.
You deserve the opportunity to secure a better life for your children in America. But our message to illegal immigrants is also this. We will return you to your country of origin, not because you’re all bad people, but because you broke the law, and the United States of America was founded on the rule of law.
Addressing the Younger Generations
Our message to millennials, speaking as one myself, yes, it’s true. Our government stole us a false bill of goods with the Iraq war and the 2008 financial crisis, loading up our national debt that falls on our generation’s shoulders, telling us that if we took out college loans, we’d somehow get a head start on the American dream when it hasn’t worked out that way.
But we can’t just be cynical about our country because the United States of America is still the last best hope that we have, and we deserve a better class of politician, one who actually tells us the truth, even if it comes with some mean tweets from time to time. And our message to Gen Z is this.
The Call to Action
You’re going to be the generation that actually saves this country. You want to be a rebel? You want to be a hippie?
Well, stick it to the man. Show up on your college campus and try calling yourself a conservative. Say you want to get married, have kids, teach them to believe in God and pledge allegiance to their country.
The Power of Courage
Because you know what? Fear has been infectious in this country, but courage can be contagious, too. That, too, is what it means to be an American. And you know what?
If you’re at home and you disagree with everything I just said, our message to you is this. We will still defend to the death your right to say it because that is who we are as Americans.
The American Spirit
We are the country where we can disagree like hell and still get together at the dinner table at the end of it. That is the America I know. That is the America we miss. We do not have to be ancient Rome. We don’t have to be this nation in decline.
We can still be a nation in our ascent, a nation whose best days, not in some fake politician way, but in a true way, a nation whose best days are actually still ahead of us, still on our way to that shining city on a hill, that country where no matter who you are or where your parents came from or what your skin color is or how long your last name is, that you will still get ahead in this country with your own hard work, your own commitment, your own dedication, and that you know what?