THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well hello Florida. [applause]
It is great to be back in the Sunshine State. And it's especially great to be here tonight with a friend of mine. [applause]
A man who will be out here in just a few minutes. A man who loves the state of Florida and the man that Florida voted overwhelmingly to make the 45th President of the United States of America, President Donald Trump.
I'm here today because I stand with President Donald Trump. I'm here because we stand with all the great Florida leaders who have supported our agenda. And we're here because President Trump and I need Florida to elect Ron DeSantis as your next governor and send Rick Scott to the United States Senate. [applause]
You know it's the greatest privilege of my life to serve as Vice-President to a President who gets up every day and fights to keep the promises that he made, to the people of Florida and to the people of America. You know, I think there's only one way you can describe the last two years. It's been two years of action. It's been two years of results. It's been two years of promises made and promises kept. And we're just getting started Florida. [applause]
I mean, think about it. Under President Trump's leadership, we'll rebuilding our military and supporting our vets. We're securing our borders, enforcing our laws. We put that caravan on notice, and we've already started to build that wall. [applause]
CROWD: Build that wall! Build that wall!
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Oh, we're building it. We're appointing strong conservatives to our Federal courts at every level. The most confirmed in the first year of any Administration in American history and that doesn't even include Justice Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court of the United States. [applause]
We fought for trade deals that are finally puttin American workers and America's farmers first and with the strong leadership of President Donald Trump, we've rolled back red tape, unleashed American energy and cut taxes across the board for working families and businesses, all across Florida. [applause]
And the results have been nothing short of amazing. The numbers are in. Just this week, 4.5 million new jobs created since election day 2016. Including 364,000 jobs right here in the Sunshine State. [applause]
Paychecks are growing at their fastest rate in 10 years. The unemployment rate is at a 50 year low and more Floridians are working today than ever before in the history of this great state. [applause]
Under President Trump's leadership, jobs are back. Confidence is back. In a word, America is back, and we're just getting' started Florida. [applause]
That's why we need Rick Scott in the United States Senate and Ron DeSantis in the governor's office. Rick Scott is a proven leader who've seen Florida through hurricanes and storms and in his tenure in the state house he's created more than 1.6 million jobs in the state of Florida. [applause]
And Ron DeSantis has been one of our strongest supporters in Congress. And as your next governor, Ron DeSantis will keep Florida growing with good jobs, better schools, clean water and safer communities. Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis will stand with this President, and they'll always put Florida first which is more than you can say than either one of their opponents. The truth is, the choice in this election couldn't be more clear. It's a choice between tax hikes and tax cuts. It's a choice between more government and more freedom.
Really it's a choice between resistance and results, and President Trump and I need Florida to vote for more results from the state house to Washington, D.C. We need Florida to elect Ron DeSantis as your next governor and send Rick Scott to the United States Senate. We've got three days to do it and a lot of work yet to do. You know, we keep hearing about this blue wave that's headed our way. [booing]
But I got to tell you, from what we're seeing President Trump and I know, if all of us do all we need to do between now and election day, that blue wave is going to hit a red wall right here in Florida and all across America. [applause]
So thanks for coming out Florida. It's great to be with you tonight. And I just know with Rick Scott in the United States Senate, with Ron DeSantis as your governor, with President Donald Trump in the White House and with God's help. We will make America and Florida safer and more prosperous than ever before, and this man will make America Great Again. [applause]
It is my high honor and distinct privilege to introduce to you the 45th President of the United States of America, President Donald Trump. [applause]
[music: Lee Greenwood, God Bless the U.S.A.]
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you Mike. Thank you. Wow. Look at that crowd. That's a nice crowd. That's a nice crowd. [applause]
If this election is based on crowds, they might as well cancel it because we won. [applause]
That's for sure. [applause]
Our opponents have 4 or 500 people and they say how many people they've had. Oh they had a big crowd like about this group right here [gestures to front of crowd]. That's what they had. This is a big beautiful crowd. Thank you very much Pensacola, Florida. We love it. [applause]
I love the state of Florida and I have to tell you we love the panhandle. Did we do well in the panhandle? [applause]
And you got hit but nobody like you to have built it back. In a little while, you won't even know there was that vicious hurricane. That was a bad one though, wasn't it? We got hit a little bit of the state but it's happening fast. It's going good. Rick Scott, everybody's working hard. Made a lot of progress. It was a bad one. That was like a giant tornado. That wasn't a hurricane.
That was like a 50 mile wide tornado, incredible. I visited and I've never seen where the houses were gone but the foundations were gone. The houses and the foundations, nobody's ever seen anything like that, but you are great people and we are with you 1,000 percent. You know that. You know that. [applause]
Great people. In just three days, the people of Florida are going to elect Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis to protect your jobs, defend your borders and continue "Making American Great Again". [applause]
We're just days away from one of the most important elections of our lives. This is a big one. This is a very important election. Has anybody not voted? Raise your hand. Not that bad. But you're going to vote right? [applause]
You're going to vote. That's not bad though. That's probably 10 percent didn't vote and I have no doubt that they. . .you're going to vote for DeSantis and Rick Scott. Right? [applause]
We need them. We need them. No games. This is - - this is very serious stuff. This election will decide whether we build on then extraordinary prosperity that we've achieved for our nation. Or whether we let the radical Democrats, and that's what they've become. They've become radical Democrats. [booing]
In Rick's case, he's going against somebody that's falling asleep. And in Ron's case, he's going against somebody that's got a lot of energy but he runs one of the worst, one of the biggest problem cities anywhere in the country. He's not doin' the job. You don't want to have him running Florida. That I can tell you.
They're going to take control of Congress. They want to give away our country. They want to knock it down with a giant wrecking ball to our economy and to our future. And by the way, did you see those job numbers? Did you see what's going on? Right? [applause]
They were awfully good numbers. You know, it's very interesting. Some of the fake news was saying--I was watching: "Why doesn't he talk about the economy? Why does he talk about immigration and what's coming up with the caravan? Why does he talk about the caravan when he's got maybe the best numbers on the economy in the history of our country?" [applause]
And we can talk about the economy but the fact is we know how well we're doing with the economy and we have to solve problems. I'm looking to solve problems. Not talk into the fact that we have done a great job, and we have done a great job on the economy. [applause]
So we now have the hottest economy anywhere on earth. We have the best economy that the United States has ever had. In the last month alone we added another 250,000 jobs. Think of that. [applause]
And that is despite the hurricanes. You know hurricanes devastate your monthly and your quarterly numbers. This is 250,000 jobs despite your - - I have to - - your hurricane. Now if you add those numbers back, which I won't bother doing. The 250,000 goes really wild but we're not even going to do that. We're going to take it the way it is and it is something but we've added a total of 4-and-a-half-million new jobs since the election. Nobody would have thought that's possible. Including those people back there. Nobody would have said that was possible. [applause]
Nobody would have said - - if I said on the campaign that we would add 4.5 million new jobs they would go, and oh, they'd say terrible things. We are over performing. What we said was great but what we're doing is far greater, so that's the way we want to keep it. That's the way we're going to keep it. But the unemployment rate just fell to the lowest level in over 50 years. That's not bad. [applause]
And more Americans are working today than ever before. Think of that. In the history of our country, today, more Americans are working than ever before in the history of our country. That's a good sound bite. That's a good sound bite. [applause]
I was just saying that's awfully tough to beat somebody when I'm debating one of the far left candidates that the Democrats will produce. Well you have two of them running against our two friends. But can you imagine in the debates we have the most successful economy ever. What are they going to say? We have the best jobs numbers ever. What are they going to say? It's going to be hopefully very easy debates. But we always debate three people, it won't be one it will be three. It's the person, plus the media against me. [applause]
So that makes it a little tougher. That makes is a little bit tougher. Remember they way they treated Hillary? Oh Madam Secretary. Oh, what did you have for breakfast Madam Secretary? Did you enjoy it? As far as you Mr. Trump, bah, bah. No. I have - - we have three people. Three people on that stage.
Hispanic American, African-American and Asian-American unemployment have all reached their lowest levels in the history of our country. [applause]
Republicans passed a massive tax cut for working families and we will soon follow it up with another 10 percent tax cut for the middle class. We're working on that right now. [applause]
We're taking care of our veterans, and we are rebuilding America's military might like we haven't done in 50 years. [applause]
And everything is made in the USA. It's a good thing. No, we're building our military bigger, stronger, better than ever before and we hope we never have to use it. But you know when you don't have to use it, when you're bigger, better, and stronger. Right? Then you don't have to use it. [applause]
When you're weak, you have to use it. When you're strong, you don't have to use it. Under Republican leadership, America is respected again, and America is winning again because we are finally putting America first. Right? [applause]
CROWD: USA! USA! USA!
THE PRESIDENT: Could the cameras please span out and just show this crowd? It would really be nice. Would really be nice. [applause]
Would you do that? You know, they never like to do that folks. They never like to do that. Could you span out? See they won't turn that camera. They don't want to turn the camera. They never do, unless there's a little problem in which case that camera bends in 15 different directions. Right? That camera can bend and turn. That's called great equipment. They never show the crowd but people hear the crowd. They hear the crowd. [applause]
Sounds like a big Florida State or Florida football game. Sounds like a stadium on television. [applause]
In many ways, it sounds even better. But I wish they would show the crowds because nobody has any clue. They do. I guess we all do. Right? We all do. I mean, I looked at the crowd size of some of the people that we're competing against. You don't want to be involved with that. One thing you always have plenty of room. That's good. But if crying Chuck Schumer, you know crying Schumer. [booing]
Nancy Pelosi. [booing]
Or the legendary genius, Maxine Waters. [booing] If they take power, they will try to wipe away all that we've done, and at the same time double and triple and quadruple your taxes. And we're not going to let it happen. [booing]
They will restore the job killing regulations. You know, I cut more regulations in less than two years than any other Administration has cut in four years, in eight years or in one case more than eight years. [applause]
We've cut more. Remember I said, we want to cut two for every one? You know what it ended up? Right now, it's trending at 22 for one. We cut one regulation and we take out 22. [applause]
A highway that would take 20 years to get approved. We go through a process. You believe, an environmental impact process, I know it well, would take 20 years, 18 years, 15 years, 22 years. We have it down to two and a half years. We want to get it down to one and a half maybe even one. And by the way, we may reject it if it's not good. But you're not going to devote an entire lifetime and then find out at the end it's not going to be approved. And it's going to end up costing 10 times or 30 times more--which we have many examples--then it was supposed to.
So we have it down really good but we're going to get it down even lower. And again, if it doesn't pass environmental standards, if we do anything to interfere with our clean air or our crystal clean, beautiful water, we won't approve it. Not gonna be approved. But we're going to know. We don't have to take 20 years to tell you that do we? [applause]
They'll take away your healthcare and they'll make it impossible. They'll impose socialism on the state of Florida. [booing]
Welcome to Venezuela. And they'll erase America's borders. We have to have a border. If we're going to have a great country, we have to have a great, strong, powerful border. [applause]
CROWD: Build that wall! Build that wall!
THE PRESIDENT: So we're building the wall, as you know, it started. We did $1.6 billion. We've got another $1.6 billion. We're doing that. And we have another third but I want to build it all at one time. And when you look at that caravan and I'm good at building. When you look at that caravan coming up, that's not what we want. That's not for us folks. Not for us.
And we want people to come through our strong borders, but they have to come in legally. They have to come in absolutely through a process. And they have to come in through merit so that they can help all of the companies that are moving back to Florida and moving back to the United States.
We have car companies. We have car companies moving into Michigan and Ohio and Pennsylvania and South Carolina and North Carolina and Florida, by the way. But we have many, many companies moving back, and I speak to the top people and I speak to the presidents of countries and the prime ministers of countries. And they all want to be where the action is. And we are where the action is now. Didn't used to be. Even two years ago, not a long time. It was going in reverse. It was going down. Regulations were killing our country. High taxes, all of the other things. And by the way, if Florida - - if you want to pay high taxes, you ought to vote for the mayor of Tallahassee, Florida because you will pay high taxes. [booing]
And you'll destroy this state that I love and that I live in. I mean I'm here all the time. [applause]
This is my home also. Great state. And Rick Scott has done a great job. He's done a great job. A vote for any Democrat this November is to, really, vote to put extreme, far left politicians in charge of Congress, and to destroy your jobs. Slash your incomes. Undermine your safety and put illegal aliens before American citizens. Not too good. [booing]
A vote for Republicans is a vote to protect your families, to keep America's economic boom going full speed ahead--and it is going. It's going better than ever before. And don't forget, we're now normalizing interest rates. President Obama, we were heading south, and he had zero interest. It's really easy to do things with zero interest, but we're normalizing rates. And now, if you think about it - - if you think about it, just take a look.
Are they OK darling? You take your time. We got to be with our people. Right? We got to be with our people. Is she OK? Take your time. Do you have a doctor? Doctor please. It's what? Yes. Yes. Take that. Move that partition. Yes. Move it. Take care of the person. OK. Good. You OK? [applause]
That's good. That's good. That's good. You take your time. We have plenty of time tonight. Right? Plenty of time. [applause]
Don't forget I know you get here 7-8 hours ago. It's not easy. It's not easy for these folks with those really good prime locations. [applause]
Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Great job. Thank you very much. Thank you doctor. Thank you doctor. They do a great job. The doctors do a great job. We've got to get their fees down a little bit, but other than that. Get their fees down a little bit. Great job doctor. Thank you.
But the choice is simple. A Republican Congress means more jobs and less crime. A Democrat Congress means more crime and less jobs. It's pretty simple. That's cute. We have a number of very special guests with us tonight including a man, don't we love great athletes. I like him.
You know, sports is sort of like a microcosm in life. But we have a man who was a heavy weight champion but he was always considered small for a heavy weight, but he made people suffer. Any time this man fought, he had the biggest heart. He had zero, zero body fat. I can tell you. Evander "the Real Deal" Holyfield. Where is Evander? [applause; Trump points.]
What a great champion. What a great champion. Evander, I've made so much money on Evander.
He'd come in at 218 and he'd be fighting people and I could say Riddick Bowe, I could say plenty of them and they were good. Right Evander? They were good. But he's come in, he'd be 50 pounds lighter and the one thing they knew. It was going to be a painful, painful evening. Evander "the Real Deal," one of the greatest in history in my opinion. Thank you. Great Evander. Thank you very much. Evander Holyfield. [applause]
And we're also thrilled to be joined by a Florida football legend who truly knows how to win. He won them all, and if he had a great place kicker, he could have even won a couple of more. Right? Bobby will be the first tell you. Bobby Bowden is an incredible man and an incredible coach and a great leader. Bobby. [applause]
He looks good. A lot of teams would like to have him right now. Right? [applause]
Come on. Say something. Come here Bobby.
BOBBY BOWDEN: Thank you brother. [applause]
Thank y'all. Thank y'all. [applause]
Gosh, what a great crowd. You know what I was thinking a while ago? The most powerful man in the world, the most power position in the world is the President of the United States. [applause]
Also, like some of the other folks tonight. I want you to keep your eye on Ron DeSantis as we vote this year. [applause]
I think he'll do a great job, you know that. And then also, our former governor Rick Scott. [applause]
Look at them good because I know he wants 'em. OK? You know, I came to Florida State in 1963 as - - as - - as an assistant coach. And you know where my recruiting area was? Right here, baby. [applause]
Right here. And we got some great ball players from Pensacola, Florida. You know it? And, uh, so I - - it's just a pleasure for me to be back. Now, in coaching football, my philosophy was pretty simple. It was - - it was, that if whoever gets the best players is gonna win. You know. If I got - - if I got better players than you, I'm going to whip you. But if you've got better players than me, you gonna whip me. Now we also know, I know you know this. A coach can mess that up,can't he? Coaches can mess that up. But the reason I mentioned that to you--the midterm election, that, that's what it's all about. Who gets the best players. You know. [applause]
That's - - that's why I mentioned DeSantis and Scott, because they are the best players. You know. Now, let me - - let me just read you a thought I had. When you vote, vote against what you think is false. Opt for what you think is true. You can tell a difference, now. There is a difference, and uh, don't be deceived. Vote like tomorra departs itself - - supports itself. You know, because it does. And uh, thank you for lettin' me be on the program with you Mr. President and - - I, I want to make - - I want to wait - - I want to make one more statement about this man. Now, see if you think this is true. Trump plus God, . . . hold it, is a majority. [applause]
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you Bobby. You see that. That's National Championship ring. [applause]
Good man. Good man. He did it the best for a long time. You know, I had another good coach up last night. I went to Indiana. You saw that. Right? Bobby would respect this guy. Bobby Knight, Indiana. Mike Pence came, and we had an incredible group but we had Bobby Knight and it was - - he won 902 games. Three National Championships. The last undefeated college basketball team, it's amazing. So he was great last night, and Bobby thank you very much for being here. Great. Thank you. [applause]
We're also joined by many terrific Florida Republicans. Your state's next Attorney General, a tremendous person, Ashley Moody. Ashley. [applause]
And by the way, you have a very good Attorney General right now. You know that right? Pam. Is Pam? Great. You like Pam right Ashley? OK. Then I like you Ashley. Good luck. I hear you're doing well. Good luck. Very important position. You're next Agriculture Commissioner Matt Caldwell. Matt. Thank you. [applause]
Great Matt. Thank you. Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis. [applause]
Good luck Jimmy. Good job. Good job fellas. And Congressmen that helped me so much. They're always with us. They're always fighting for us and they win. They know how to win, like Bobby. They know how to win. Neal Dunn and Matt Gaetz. [applause]
Thank you. Thank you. Thanks Neal. Thanks Matt. Great people. So if you don't want to be saying Speaker Pelosi, [booing] for the next two years, vote for Neal and Matt. I hear they're doing pretty well. But never assume, please go out and vote. They've heard that before in this business, right? They're doing well. We don't have to go out and vote. You have that, and then you have suppression, where they suppress the polls. You don't bother to go out and vote. But that didn't happen with us two years ago did it? Huh? That didn't happen. One of the most exciting days in political history but honestly one of the highest rated nights in the history of television.
A lot of good things happened, but most importantly what we did is we won, and we won for incredible people in this country. Incredible people. They got what they wanted and we are producing, and we did it together. I didn't do it. We all did it together. This Tuesday the people of Florida are going to head to the polls to elect an incredible new Senator. As your governor, Rick Scott cut your taxes massively by billions of dollars. Think of it. Removed job killing regulations, and created more than 1.6 million new Florida jobs. One of the hottest places anywhere on earth. That's what he created.
And you know what? You put the mayor of Tallahassee - - take a look at the bad job he's doing in Tallahassee. You put him here, he'll destroy Florida in one year or two years if he's doing a good job. A vote for Rick's far left opponent, Senator Bill Nelson, who I never see. I'm the President of the United States. We have 100 Senators. We have 49 Democrats. I never see him. The only one I see is cryin' Chuck. He represents everyone. Bill never calls me and says, you know I'd like to get something from Florida for Florida. Okeechobee, the damn, we're doing that because Rick Scott was driving us all crazy in the White House. [applause]
He was driving us crazy. He'd call again, "It's Rick Scott, governor sir, Rick Scott." I said, "Oh I know he wants Okeechobee." As soon as I give him that he wants other things. But honestly, isn't that what you want? So I've never had a call. I've been here almost two years. I've never had a call from Senator Bill Nelson saying could you help me? I've never had a call. But I'll tell you what he is good at, and I shouldn't say this but I will. With Okeechobee, I did it for him because he was just back and forth. He's sending me plans. He's just like a construction job. Right?
And it's a big deal. Lake Okeechobee and he's calling and all of a sudden Bill Nelson heard about it, and he had a news conference to announce Okeechobee Dam, and he had nothing to do with it. So I don't say that's stupid but I will say this. I don't see Bill Nelson for five and a half years, and around election time he's on television every night. But for five and a half years, you don't see him. So, a vote for Nelson is just a vote for Chuck Schumer, the majority leader. How about this one? It's vote really for the group. Diane Feinstein, she did a great job.
She did a great job on Judiciary with her obvious leaks. Remember that? Remember? Remember that? Senator Cornyn of Texas, did you leak? Uh- do I leak? Did we leak? Did we leak? Did we leak? No, you didn't leak. Oh, no we didn't leak. The worst body language we've ever seen. What a mess. And by the way, did you see today? Right? Now Justice Kavanaugh, then Judge Kavanaugh, great person. It started a whole movement, I mean, what they did to that man. And today, an accuser who said she was raped, admitted she was lying. Think of that.
She was lying. She never met him. It didn't happen. Can you imagine? And - - and the Democrats were so horrible on everyone. So horrible. And by the way, what about the others? What are they going to say things like she did? She said it never happened. She never met him. She don't even - - she didn't even know why she did it. And they tried to destroy a great man with a great, incredible family. A scholar, an intellect, she said it never happened. Can you imagine, if this man, who people predicted 10 years ago would be a Supreme Court Justice some day, because of his intellect. Can you imagine if he didn't get the job because of that? And then you find this out later on?
But she admitted nothing happened. She never met him. This is disgraceful. The Democrats. Bill Nelson voted against Neil Gorsuch, and he voted against Brett Kavanaugh. Bill Nelson voted against your tax cuts, and he voted against your regulation cuts. Bill Nelson voted against "Kate's Law." He voted for deadly sanctuary cities. And Nelson joined every other Senate Democrat in supporting open borders legislation sponsored by Diane Feinstein. [booing]
You deserve a Senator who shares your values and who will always have your back. And I will tell you, this is a man who loves the people of Florida. He works as hard as anybody I've ever seen. We all work hard. I work hard. This guy, he is doing - - he's a producer. He's done an incredible job as your governor. Rick Scott, please come forward. [applause]
CROWD: Rick Scott! Rick Scott! Rick Scott!
RICK SCOTT: Good evening Pensacola. [applause]
Now isn't it exciting to have the President here? [applause]
Is he taking care of us? Yes! So he's been President for less than two years. Let me tell you the things he's already done. We've had two horrible hurricanes, Irma and Michael. Everyday he called me. "What do you need?" Everything I asked for he came through. [applause]
Everything. You know - - and then you - - you talked - - he talked about Lake Okeechobee. I asked Barack Obama and Bill Nelson to fund a dike at Lake Okeechobee. It's their project. It's their project. You know how much money I got? Nothing. [booing]
I did harass the President a little bit about it. I called him a lot. If he'd invited me to the Oval Office, I said, "how are we doing on Lake Okeechobee?" But he came through. We have all the funding. So all of it will get done in the next four years. Thank you Mr. President. [applause]
So let's think about Hurri - - Hurricane Michael. Here's - - it was horrible. Fourteen foot of storm surge, 150 mile an hour winds. So many people without homes. So many people in trouble. This is the greatest country in the world. [applause]
People came from all over the country. They didn't say are you a Republican? Are you a Democrat? They say, what do you need? You need water. You need food. You need a tarp. You need some help. We'll do it for you. [applause]
This is the best place in the world. This is what this President's doing. He's bringing us together to do good things. [applause]
I'm going to go to Washington to have a can-do attitude to represent you whole heartedly to make sure our Federal government takes care of us when we need them. [applause]
You know, as you all know, I grew up in public housing. I didn't know my dad. We lived where - - my family was very poor but I - - I was born with a silver spoon on my - - in my mouth. You know why? I grew up in this country where anything is possible. [applause]
You know, I forgot one point. You know what Bill Nelson - - Bill Nelson texted me he says, why are you doing things for the President? What am I supposed to do? I mean, when we're in need shouldn't I talk to the President? Should I say what can you do for us? This is a - - this is a massive storm. Shouldn't we get local, Federal and state resources? Yes. So, we have a big choice. All right. Here's your choice. Over here with Bill Nelson, he wants to grow Washington. What we want to do is grow our economy, not the Washington economy. [applause]
With Bill Nelson, he wants to raise your taxes. He thinks it's his money for Washington. We want lower taxes. Less money in his pocket. More money in our pockets. That's what this President has done. Tax cuts. Tax cuts. Tax cuts. [applause]
You know, my mom taught me to be a worker. Bill Nelson's not a worker. He doesn't show up to work. I have a very specific plan on how we can improve this country. It starts with term limits. You know who ought to be term limited first? Bill Nelson. [applause]
You know, we have sent so many big talkers to Washington. We need to send more doers to Washington--like President Trump! And I will do it. Now, here's your job. Vote. The only thing that matters between now and Tuesday at 7 p.m. is to get every vote out. If we do, we'll have the greatest win ever, besides 2016 maybe. [applause]
So, if you voted make sure you're family and your friends get to the polls and vote. We need to get every vote in we can, so we can all go to D.C. and help President Trump turn this economy around. Make this the greatest nation in the world to grow up in. God Bless America. Good night. [applause]
CROWD: USA! USA! USA!
THE PRESIDENT: So remember what I told you. Almost two years as President, I never received one call from Senator Nelson to help out the people of Florida. Not a call. Not a call. [booing]
This man, all the time. That's got to mean something. To me, that means a lot. Maybe almost everything. The people of Florida are going to choose a governor to continue the Florida jobs boom and the success boom started by Rick Scott.
Ron DeSantis, I've known him a long time. I mean, I don't want to talk about his education. But he's Harvard. He's Yale. Good student, which is only telling you he's smart. But I know a lot of smart guys that don't have what it takes. He does. He's a smart guy. He's a great guy and he'll keep your jobs going way up. He'll keep your taxes going way down. Ron stands 100 percent with the men and women of law enforcement, like we all do. [applause]
And Ron is running against, really a radical socialist, named Andrew Gillum, [booing] who will not do good things for Florida. Gillum will tax and regulate your jobs into oblivion. Gillum wants to abolish ICE. Can you believe that? Wants to abolish ICE. Nobody wants that job, but they love it. To them it's a day at the office. They're strong people but they're great patriots, and they take care of us. Wants to flood your cities with criminal aliens because that's what's going to happen. And Gillum pledged his support to end all borders. Do you believe that? End borders. [booing]
So when you have people camping out on your front lawn remember Gillum. That's what will happen. People will come in, if we don't have those borders. And, did you watch tonight? I sent the United States military to our borders. [applause]
And I looked at those young, great people, and I looked at those generals giving the orders, and I looked at the way they worked, and I watched that barbed wire being put down. Barbed wire. Got to come in legally folks. You can't come in that way. And by the way caravan, after caravan, and we pay these countries where they're formed. Honduras, all of them. We pay them hundreds of millions of dollars. They do nothing for us. They do nothing.
They do nothing for us. They had a new one just formed in El Salvador. We pay them a lot. We pay them all, hundreds of millions of dollars. They do nothing. And did you see, Mexico's trying. They are trying. And their military and their police stood guard, and the level of viciousness with the rocks being thrown in their face. Their military was hurt. Their police, their law enforcement, they were hurt. We don't put up with it. We don't put up with it. We don't want - - we don't want that in our country. We're not going to have it in our country. They broke through. Think of it. They broke through the Mexican military and the Mexican police. They broke through.
And by the way, these aren't babies. They broke through viciously. We're not having them. And you know the good thing, they don't break through our military. Nobody does. [applause]
Nobody's breaking through our military. Gillum's extreme policies would be a total nightmare for the state of Florida that we all love. If you want a bright future for your families and your children, going to take care of your children. You have only one choice Ron DeSantis for Governor. He's going to be a great, great governor. Ron, come on up. [applause]
RON DESANTIS: Hello Pensacola. [applause]
Is this Trump country or what? [applause]
You know, President Obama was in Florida the other day. He didn't get a crowd this big. Not even close. I want to thank the President for keeping his word on behalf of the American people. [applause]
When candidate Trump came to Florida, he promised to restart America's economy. Has President Trump delivered? [applause]
When candidate Trump came to Florida, he promised to put solid Constitutionalists on our Supreme Court. Has President Trump delivered? [applause]
When candidate Trump came to Florida, he promised to stand by our veterans. Has President Trump delivered? [applause]
Candidate Trump came to Florida and promised to relocate our Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. [applause]
And while no other President delivered, has President Trump delivered? [applause]
Candidate Trump promised to end the disastrous Iran Deal. Has President Trump delivered? [applause]
When you make promises and you run for office and you get in the office and you keep it. You are doing right by the people that elected you, and that's exactly what he's doing. [applause]
I'm proud to be here with my wife Casey who's she going to be the next first lady of the state of Florida. Right over there. [applause]
I'm also proud in the governor's race. I'm the only candidate running who's worn the uniform and served in Iraq and served in our military. [applause]
I'm also the only candidate that can say that I've never been - - had my palms greased by an undercover FBI agent while I've been in office. [applause]
So here's the mission. We have to protect Florida's future. We need to protect the economic momentum that we have under Governor Scott and under President Trump. I will keep it going, and I will build on that success. And we'll have success like we've never had before. But, you've got to have good leadership, and you have to keep taxes low. Andrew Gillum, his great idea is to raise tax 40 percent. [booing]
That will cost you your jobs. That will cause businesses to leave Florida, and it will stop the flow of investment into our state. It would be a historic mistake, but here's the thing. That 40 percent tax increase, that's just the increase he's willing to admit to you that he's going to see. This is a guy that has supported higher taxes his entire career, including higher property taxes as Mayor of Tallahassee. He wants to repeal the Trump tax cuts, which would mean higher Federal taxes for you. And the non-partisan think tank analyzed all the spending he's promising, and they say the only way you can pay for it is either to raise the sales tax to 38 percent or to impose an income tax in Florida. [booing]
With me as Governor, we will not raise taxes, and we will never have an income tax. [applause]
And we have such a good opportunity to bring more investment to Florida. Mr. President, I just want you to know, when I become governor, I'm going to come to Don Jr. and Eric and I'm going to try to bring the Trump Organization to Palm Beach. We can save you a lot of money. [applause]
I'll protect Florida's communities by standing with the men and women of law enforcement. I'm not going to attack them like Andrew Gillum has. I'm not going to sign an anti-police pledge. No wonder Tallahassee has the highest crime in Florida. No wonder they have the most murders in their history last year. Bad leadership and bad judgment. He wants to abolish ICE and have sanctuary cities. No! I can tell you this, when I'm governor, we will not have sanctuary cities, and Florida will never be a sanctuary state. [applause]
I will appoint solid Constitutionalists to our state Supreme Court. Similarly to how the President has appointed these great people to our Federal courts. We can end judicial activism in Florida one month into my term. So we've got to do that. I will defend your rights including your 2nd Amendment rights. [applause]
Andrew Gillum has laid out criteria what he would ban. The fact is, he would ban the vast majority of handguns and long guns in the state of Florida. He is hostile to the 2nd Amendment. He will not protect your rights, and he cannot be trusted to be the governor. I'll also protect - - protect your right to pursue the type of healthcare you want. Andrew Gillum supports Bernie Sanders' government run Medicare-for-all. [booing]
And it sounds - - it sounds nice at first but then you read the fine print. It abolishes Medicare for seniors. Medicare Advantage gone. If you get insurance through your job, the government will take it away from you. You'll get dumped on a government run single payer plan. In fact, everybody with health insurance would lose it and get pushed on the single payer except the VA and the Indian Health Service. So I guess that means that Elizabeth Warren has a 1/1000 percent chance of keeping healthcare. [applause]
But here's the deal, government has no right to take away the health benefits that you have earned. And Andrew Gillum wants to do that. That is wrong and we won't let it happen. So it's an honor for me to be here. I want to thank the President for coming to Florida. [applause]
We just have a few days left. And what you need to do is you need to make your voice heard. You will be the determining factor in this election. Are we going to build up the success Florida's had, or are we going to put a far left Bernie Sanders, anti-law enforcement, tax raising radical in the governor's mansion? I don't think so. So vote and get your friends to vote. And when you do, you'll be doing your part to protect Florida's future for a generation and as Governor, I promise you I will fight the good fight. I will finish the race, and I will keep the faith on behalf of the people of Florida. Thank you. God Bless You. Thank you so much. [applause]
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much Ron. Their won't be any sleeping for Ron. No sleeping. You worked and worked. I will say this, Andrew Gillum is not equipped to be your governor. He's just not equipped. It's not for him. It's not for him. He knows it. He won't say it but he knows it. We got to keep this state great. You're going to make it even greater if you do Ron, and otherwise I'm telling you it's going to be problems like you've never imagined. He's not equipped to be your governor.
If Democrats gain power on Tuesday, one of their very first projects will be a socialist take-over of the American healthcare system; you can't have it. They'll destroy what we're building and what we're going to build. The Democrat plan would obliterate Medicare and eliminate Medicare Advantage for nearly 2 million Florida seniors who depend on it. The Democrat plan is especially unfair to Hispanic-Americans. One out of every two Hispanic seniors is enrolled in Medicare Advantage. Republicans will protect Medicare for your great, great seniors that we love who earned it and who, by the way, paid for it. [applause]
And Republicans will always, just like I said, Social Security. Didn't touch it. During the debates they all wanted to do a lot of bad things. They wanted to do bad things, and I said, "No way." We'll get the money from making good deals on trade. We got plenty of money coming in now. Those trade deals are phenomenal. We took them from being horrible to phenomenal. But we will always protect patients with pre-existing conditions. Always. [applause]
Always. Democrats' plan to destroy healthcare also includes raiding Medicare to fund illegal immigrants. That's what they want to do. As we speak, Democrats are openly encouraging millions of illegal aliens to break our laws, violate our sovereignty, overrun our borders and destroy our nation in so many ways, and we can't let it happen.
They want to invite caravan after caravan, and it is a little suspicious how those caravans are starting. Isn't it? Isn't it a little? And I think it's a good thing maybe that they did it. Did they energize our base or what? [applause]
They want to sign up the illegal immigrants for free healthcare, free welfare, free education and guess what they really want? They want them voting because they believe they'll be voting for Democrats every single time. The Democrats only believe in defending the borders of other countries. They don't believe in defending our country. Open borders, "come on in." means crime. That's what it means. [booing]
Republicans believe we must defend our borders. We have to defend our country, and we must defend our families, our communities and our great American way of life. [applause]
And one of the reasons why you have so many people wanting to come up and come into our country, and I don't know if you saw the report, but there are a lot of bad people in there. Just saw it. Just put it out. They were saying, how do you know they're bad people? Well now we know. We got the reports from their countries. We got the reports from Mexico. You have a lot of bad people coming into our country, and we're not letting them come into our country. [applause]
But one of the reasons they're coming up is my fault. You know that. Because we have created such an incredible success. We have become so successful with the best job numbers in so many years and everything else. That people want to come in and take it. But they have to come in legally. There's nothing we can do about it. That's all we're going to do. They have to come in legally. They have to come through merit. Nearly 100 percent of heroin in the United States enters through our southern border. Along with roughly 90 percent of the cocaine, the majority of meth, and a substantial portion of the ultra lethal fentanyl, which is killing our youth and destroying our people.
These drugs killed, last year, over 70,000 Americans. And last year alone, listen to these numbers they're incredible. You know they want to get rid of ICE right? They want to get rid of ICE. Last year alone, ICE officers arrested more than, listen to this, 127,000 criminal aliens. These are people with criminal records. These aren't like - - these are people that have criminal records here and in the countries from which they come. Including those charged or convicted, a 48,000 assaults, 12,000 sex crimes and 100 - - listen to this, 1,800 murders. 1,800 murders. OK. Think of it.
But if Democrats get elected they will do everything in their power to dismantle ICE. They want to turn America into a giant sanctuary city for violent predators and ruthless gang members like MS-13. No thank you. You can have them. And by the way, we have taken out thousands and thousands of gang members from MS-13, and we got them the hell out of our country. [applause]
Or put 'em in the clinker. They're bad. They're bad ones. Republicans will always stand with the heroes of ICE, the Border Patrol, law enforcement. We will throw the gang members out. We will throw the predators out. They'll be in jail, or we're bringing them back where they come from. They're out. [applause]
If you want to protect criminal aliens, you should vote Democrat. If you want to protect law abiding Americans vote Republican. It's really very simple. This election is about safety and it's about prosperity. Very simple. For years you watched as we let foreign countries plunder our wealth, shutter our factories and steal our jobs. But those days, folks, are over. You can see that. They're over. They're over. Look what we've done with other countries. They're respecting us again.
You know, our country is respected again. Doesn't it feel different? Really? Doesn't it feel different? [applause]
Respecting you. We've added half a million manufacturing jobs since the election, now that's going to go to 600,000 very shortly. 600,000 manufacturing jobs. Remember the previous administration said, they're not coming back. You'd need a magic wand. We found the magic wand. [applause]
Last month alone, we added 32,000 manufacturing jobs--one month--and that's 1,000 new manufacturing jobs every single day of the month. [applause]
I recently announced that we are replacing the horrible, horrible NAFTA deal. One of the worst trade deals in the history of man or womankind with an incredible brand new U.S., Mexico, Canada agreement. I got it done. We got it done. USMCA right? Like YMCA. Remember, if you have a problem remembering it just think of the song YMCA. We love that song. USMCA. We've taken the toughest ever action to crack down on China's very abusive trade practices. Now we're doing very well. And they want to make a deal. They want to make a deal. We put tariffs on $250 billion worth of different things they send our country and inflation is staying low. Isn't that amazing?
They want to make a deal. Everyday it's promises made, promises kept. We've taken bold action to reduce the price of prescription drugs. Wait until you see what's going to happen there. And I've been saying it. I called up Pfizer. I called up Novartis a month ago. They raised their drug prices very substantially. And there was no reason for them to do that. And I called up the heads of both companies and others, I say, "You can't do this. You can't raise your drug prices. This is not happening like that." And they immediately reduced their drug prices to the same price that it was the day before. They cut out the entire increase. [applause]
And I respected them for doing that, and I appreciated that they did it. Pfizer, Novartis, others, they did it. And I really realized how powerful this position is. Can you imagine? It's never happened before. It's never happened before. And yet with their own President, he can use the same words and they won't do it. That's the way it works folks, whether you like it or not. That's the way it works. But we'll reducing drug prices very soon. You're going to see. Secretary Azar has done a fantastic job.
To help critically ill patients get life saving treatments, we passed, after 44 years, we passed "right to try." We have the greatest pipeline of drugs and cures and everything. We weren't allowed to use it. Now we're allowed to use that pipeline when somebody's very sick, terminally ill, seriously ill. They won't have to go to Asia, Europe, Africa. They go all over the world looking for hope and we have the greatest medical people in the world right here. Greatest drug companies in the world.
Greatest line up in the world and now they sign a paper. They take it. And you know what? We have had tremendous results. This was three months ago. Tremendous results. Passed by Congress, signed by me. For years and years they've wanted to do it. We got it done. We get it done. [applause]
And last month, I proudly signed the largest bill to fight the opioid epidemic in American history. Largest in the history of our country. $6 billion. We passed "Veterans Choice," giving our great veterans the right to see a private doctor when they have to wait in line for a week, for a month, for two months and three months. [applause]
They'd be online with a very minor problem. Sometimes they wouldn't be able to see a doctor for so long that by the time they got treatment, they would be terminally ill. Think of that. Think of that. So now you go out, you see a doctor immediately. We pay for the doctor. We take care of our veterans. And frankly, this I don't care about it compared to taking care of our veterans, but it's also less expensive if you can believe that. Much less expensive. That's another one. They've wanted to pass it for four decades. They could never get it passed. I got it passed.
Here's another one they couldn't get passed for decades, VA accountability. In order to insure anyone who mistreats our veterans, they have to be accountable, meaning, you're fired, or worse. You're fired. We got it done. Many decades they've been trying to get it done. And you know, for those who think, oh, that should be easy. Well you've got to fight the unions, and you're got to fight civil service. You've got to fight everybody. Not easy. Not easy. Over four decades they've been trying to get it.
We secured $700 billion and $716 billion to fully rebuild the United States military. And we gave our great warriors, and you have some of them right here. And I know you don't want this. I know you're willing to give this up. You don't care. But regardless, and if you want you can give it back. We'll work out a system. We gave them the largest pay raise in more than a decade. [applause]
OK? Take it. You deserve it. Take it. Take it. And at my direction, the Pentagon is now working to create the 6th branch of the American Armed Forces called the Space Force. The Space Force. Very important. [applause]
That's where it's at. That's where it's at. I'm not just talking about sending rockets to the moon, sending rockets to Mars. We're doing all that stuff, but, I mean, that's where it's at militarily. Satellites and so many other things. And I withdrew, as Ron said, the United States from the horrible, once sided Iran Nuclear catastrophe deal. And we just announced that we are putting in place the toughest sanctions ever on the Iranian regime. [applause]
And as Ron also said, stole my speech. We have recognized the Capital of Israel and opened the American Embassy in Jerusalem. [applause]
And we opened it already. We didn't just - - we opened it. We converted a building. They were going to build a new building for probably for about $1.1 billion which would have ended up being $4 billion. How do you build a one story building for $1 billion? Any builders in the house? They'll do it for $65,000. And it will be better. But we converted a building that we had for less than $500,000 and it's beautiful on the best site that we already owned, right in Jerusalem. Best location. We already had it. We already had it. Together we've made extraordinary progress, and we are just getting started.
But the Democrats want to turn back the clock, throw American into reverse. Not going to happen. And return power to a corrupt, selfish ruling class that only looks out for themselves. You know that. That's why this movement started. That's why it started. Think of it. Think of what we've done. The most successful political movement in the history of our country. And I can say that and they never challenge it. What's to challenge? [applause]
What's to challenge? Nobody - - look at the crowds even now. I mean, the energy is, I don't know, it seems like the energy's even greater. It's greater. [applause]
I don't know. But I need you to vote for a Republican House and a Republican Senate. It's very fragile. I can be taken away. All of the things, the tax cuts, the regulation cuts. So we can continue this incredible movement, we have to continue this great, great movement. We've made so much progress. Remember it's Make America Great Again, but our new theme in another year I think. Could probably do it now because we're so far ahead of schedule is, Keep America Great. Keep America Great. [applause]
Right? [applause]
With your support, we will keep on cutting your taxes, reducing your regulations and raising your incomes. We will protect Medicare, and we will protect your Social Security. [applause]
We will defend your right to free speech, religious liberty, and we will continue to confirm judges who will interpret the Constitution as written. [applause]
We will fully secure the border. We will pass "Kate's Law." We will stop sanctuary cities. Stop catch and release. We will end the visa lottery and chain migration. And we will keep the criminals, drug dealers, terrorists the hell out of our country. We don't want 'em. [applause]
We don't want 'em. We will lift millions of citizens from welfare to work, from dependence to independence, and from poverty to prosperity which is the way it's supposed to be. For years you watched as your leaders apologized for America. That's what they did. They apologized for us. They apologized for your great country. Now you have a President who is standing up for America. We are standing up for your values. We are standing up for Florida and we are proudly standing for our great national anthem. [applause]
CROWD: USA! USA! USA!
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you very much. We love our country. We really love our country. It's been amazing. It's been an amazing period of time. Let's not blow it. Go out, Ron, Rick. Go out and vote for them. Make sure everyone you know votes for them. [applause]
So I'm asking every citizen from every party, every background and every race, color and creed to reject the Democrat politics of anger and division. Reclaim our proud and righteous destiny as Americans. I need you to get your family, get your friends, get your neighbors. Get your co-workers, and go out and vote Republican. We're going to make this an even greater country. Greater than it's ever been before. We can do it. This Tuesday, I need the people of Florida to send a message to cryin' Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, Maxine Waters and the radical Democrats by voting for Ron DeSantis and Rick Scott. [applause]
Tell your friends. Get out and vote. Don't take a chance. Loyal citizens like you help build this country, and together we are taking back our country. Returning power to you the American people. It's what we're going. Doing it together. This great state, the state of Florida, was settled by pioneers and visionaries who raised up gleaming cities by the sea, who helped build America into the greatest nation and the most powerful military the world has every seen. [applause]
This state was built by farmers and factory workers and soldiers and sailors. And by those brave Americans who opened the first Naval Air Station at Pensacola. [applause]
These courageous Americans did not shed their blood, sweat, and tears so that we could sit at home while others try to erase their legacy, tear down our history, and destroy our very proud American heritage. For the sake of our freedom, and for the sake of our children, we are going to work. We are going to fight, and we are going to win, win, win. [applause]
We will not bend. We will not break. We will never give in. We will never give up. We will never back down. We will never surrender, and we will always fight on to victory. Always. [applause]
Because we are Americans, and our hearts bleed red, white and blue. We are one people, one family, and one glorious nation under God. [applause]
And Florida together, we will make America wealthy again. We will make America strong again. We will make America safe again. And we will Make America Great Again. Thank you Florida. Thank you.
[music: Rolling Stones "You Can't Always Get What You Want"]
NOTE: President Trump addressed a campaign rally at Pensacola International Airport in Pensacola, FL. Appearing with President Trump were Vice-President Michael Pence, former Representative Ron DeSantis, candidate for Florida Governor, and Governor Rick Scott, candidate for US Senate.
Donald J. Trump (1st Term), Remarks at a "Make America Great Again" Rally in Pensacola, Florida Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/332433