Donald Trump Jr. took aim at both Democrats and Republicans during his speech at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest 2024. Trump Jr. told the attendees that they became the media and Democrats were forced to compete on a level playing field for the first time in “generations.”
“Their ideas have to actually make sense,” he said. “I know, they’re not used to it, but they’re actually revolting and quitting the game because it’s not just being handed to them. We’re actually fighting back.”
And now conservatives, he said, have become the government and proven they no longer fear their representatives – as evidenced by the confirmation process. Trump said the media and the swamp wanted to take out Pete Hegseth, but conservatives took control of the narrative.
“All of you got involved and you held the swamp accountable,” he said. “You were able to finally hold your representatives accountable. They can’t get away with it anymore.
“For far too long, people have been made to be afraid of their media, of their government, of their representatives. That time is over. This election was a mandate against that insanity.”
Trump Jr. said it is all coming together at the “perfect time.” The media and the government have been lying the last four years, especially about the “insurrection.”
“They lied about it,” he said. “There are still people in prison who haven’t had due process who were marching through velvet ropes taking selfies. They had no idea, it didn’t matter. That ends now.”
He added that President Trump has actually won three elections because everyone knows he won in 2020.
“While my father went through hell and they tried taking away his business, and they tried bankrupting him, and they tried doing the same to myself and my brother, and they tried jailing him, you know, 750 years. It seems like a long time. My father is a young and vibrant 78, but I feel like 750 years and possibly the death penalty may be excessive. But I guess it’s what they needed to do. And it’s all collapsing because it was all built on a foundation of lies and garbage and everyone now knows it.”
While 2020 was disappointing, Trump Jr. said he isn’t sure a second term beginning in 2020 would have been as good as what the upcoming term will be. The “bad guys,” he said, are gone and not coming back.
“We have a chance to transform our government once and for all,” he said. “To function as it was intended. To be of the people, for the people and by the people. But the only way we do that is if all of you stay involved. You stay in the game. You fight, fight, fight.”
Trump Jr. called on conservatives to hold the “weak, deep-state puppet Republicans” accountable as they did to Senate Republicans who were reluctant to support Hegseth’s confirmation.
“Just being in this room alone tonight, I have spoken to more real Republicans than Mitch McConnell has in his 772-year tenure in the United States Senate,” Trump Jr. said.
McConnell, who claims Ukraine is a top issue for Republicans across the country, is wrong, Trump Jr. said.
“Basically zero Americans actually thought (Ukraine) was a top-10 issue and yet Senate Republicans were still trying to jam that down our throats to the tune of $250 billion,” Trump Jr. said. “And by the way, that doesn’t include the other $260 billion that the Pentagon lost. Just lost it. The same government that will audit you for a $601 Venmo account transfer can magically lose $260 billion. That ends now.”
While things are going well right now, Trump Jr. predicted the swamp would fight back.
“Put on that pressure. Make them feel the pain. I think Joni Ernst learned this a little bit the hard way,” he said. “ETP – education through pain. It’s a very simple concept. Just because they have the R next to their name doesn’t mean anything anymore. The Republican Party of a few years ago is gone. This is now the America First Party. Donald Trump is in charge.”
America First now has a bench, he said, that includes Vice President-elect J.D. Vance. The movement has to keep going for decades.
“The Democrats don’t get why they lost yet,” he said. “They don’t understand. Kamala Harris is leading in 2028. Please, God, make this happen. The Democrats are literally out there on TV, celebrating. ‘Who cares if you can’t afford your groceries? Three-year-old children need to be getting gender-affirming care without parental consent.’ They don’t get it. Their disdain for you, for hard-working Americans, is so palpable.”
Trump Jr. said it is important to get down-ballot candidates elected as well.
“We have to make sure we just get every possible seat forever,” he said. “I get it guys. Without Donald Trump at the top of the ticket, that gets harder. But we need to keep that going. Because if they take over this country, it’s over.”
Apathy will squander the opportunity America First has to turn the country around, he said.
“We cannot just sit back and hope that Republicans in office are going to do what they tell you on a daily basis,” he said. “For those people who aren’t willing to get in line and do their job, which is to serve their constituents, we’ve got to start primarying the hell out of these people.”
