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Home » FULL TRANSCRIPT: Trump At Faith Leaders Meeting in North Carolina

FULL TRANSCRIPT: Trump At Faith Leaders Meeting in North Carolina

Read the full transcript of former President Trump’s speech at the 11th Hour Faith Leaders Meeting in Concord, North Carolina.

Listen to the audio version here:

TRANSCRIPT:

Opening Remarks

DONALD TRUMP: Thank you very much. You know, over the years, I’ve had and heard that song sung by others. And you know, honestly, it’s not the same. This man just sings it in a way that nobody else can sing that particular song. And it’s become so popular, like in some circles, the most popular song of its kind. And I just want to thank Lee. He’s been with us from the beginning. Really a talented, unique guy, and a good person with a great family. So thank you very much, Lee. We appreciate it very much.

And a very special hello to North Carolina. We love North Carolina. I don’t know if my boy told you, but Lara and Eric have two beautiful children. And one of them happens to be named Carolina. So that’s pretty good. That means you like the place pretty much, huh?

State of the Nation

So it’s great. But it’s also great to be back in this incredible state with so many proud American patriots who believe in faith and family, God and country. Thank you very much. We need more of that in this nation, don’t we?

We need more of that. Right now it’s not doing well. Right now we’re a failing nation, but we will soon be a great nation again. Earlier today, I visited Western North Carolina and witnessed the terrible devastation from Hurricane Helene.

Hurricane Response

I was actually here about a week and a half ago, right after, but I didn’t want to come into certain sections because I wanted to let them do their job. And our federal government, as you know, and FEMA, has really let them down, especially in North Carolina. It’s a shame. They spent a lot of money on having illegal people come into our country, migrants, you’ve heard about it.

And there wasn’t a lot of money for the people of North Carolina or a lot of the people from a lot of other states that were also devastated by that monster. That was a monster storm. But so many people have come together and done an incredible job, including Franklin Graham, who has been amazing.

To every family who has lost a loved one or a home, our hearts are with you and we’re praying for you. I mean, the homes are bad, but family members are really bad. That’s a tough one. It’s something you can never really — you can’t shake that. But all I can do is say we love you and we’re with you 100 percent.

Election Discussion

And on January 20th, if we are — if we win this election, I always like to say — I always like to say, “if,” and people say, “Oh, please say when,” but, you know, we have to — we have to understand that bad things can happen, but we’re not going to let it happen. We’re never going to let it happen again. We’re — we’re doing really well. We’re leading.

I know nobody in this room gambles, but some of the gambling polls are really in there. Like 65 to 35 or something like that, I saw it one. But nobody here gambles. Is anybody in this room? No. No, no, no, no. Great Christians don’t gamble, do they? Oh, no.

So, we’re doing really well. I would say beyond our wildest expectations. That’s not only in polls. More particularly, it’s in the votes that are being cast.

Voter Turnout

They’re coming in at levels that we’ve never seen. One of the things that’s amazing is North Carolina was devastated — devastated. And yet, areas that were — the worst. The worst areas. We just left one, as you know. And I met some of the greatest people. But they just set a record for votes cast thus far. Their homes are gone.

I mean, it’s — it’s an amazing — it’s an amazing thing. I figured maybe you’d get 50 percent. And these are — they call it Trump country, and I’m very honored by that. But these are Trump people. And just think of that. Their homes are gone. They’ve gone through such hell. And it’s as big a water — you know, that’s as big a water storm, they say, as we’ve ever seen in this country. And they just set a record. They compared it to the two — the two elections previous. And we have a substantial number more. Can you imagine that?

I mean, those are great, great people. Thank you very much.

Special Recognition

I want to thank a very special man, Ben Carson — Dr. Ben Carson — for organizing this. And of course, Candy, because without Candy, I don’t know if Ben would be the same. I don’t think so, actually. That’s a special couple. But I — can I tell him the one quick little story?

Well, you told me a couple of times, but, you know, Ben was very tough to beat, actually. He was getting up, up, up, and other people were falling in the wrong direction because he was in a primary with me — the original primary. And one day, in a church — it was a Sunday morning, and he was doing well, really well. And in a church, he came over to me, and he said, “You know you’re going to win, don’t you?”

And I said, “What’s this all about?” Because he’s a tough competitor. I said, “What is this all about?” He said, “God has picked you to win.” Can you believe that? Right? And you have no idea, he was so tough for him to say that. I said, “This is really something.”

And he really was.