This is a rush transcript from "Watters’ World" June 20, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
JESSE WATTERS, FOX NEWS HOST: Welcome to WATTERS' WORLD. I'm Jesse Watters.
President Trump just moments away from taking the stage for his first campaign rally since the beginning of the pandemic in early March. You're looking live at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where supporters are packed inside, excitement building inside that arena right there.
Chief White House correspondent John Roberts is in the middle of all the action. John, you've been to almost all of these things. How does this one feel?
JOHN ROBERTS, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You know, this feels like a reemergence, if you will, Jesse. There are so many people in this arena that I talked to. Whether they're outside lining up or here in the arena. Now, it's so loud, you can't even hear anybody.
But they've been looking forward to this. They got the three months off the campaign trail. It was too much. They were excited about getting back out here. And to a person, whether they came from Wichita, Kansas, or they came from Tulsa, they came from Oklahoma City, they wanted to be a part of this resurgence of the campaign.
And just a couple of moments ago, I had an exclusive interview with President Trump where he acknowledged that a lot of momentum with the campaign has been lost because of the lockdown. And so, he had been sitting in the White House for three months.
The campaign air is the air that gives him life. It is the air that he breathes and he wanted to be back out here tonight to say, look, we've done the best that we can with the coronavirus, but the country has to open back up again, and part of that, too, is getting back on the campaign trail.
But don't forget as well, the way that this President builds momentum toward election is by these big rallies because he could not draw any other candidate. He wanted to show in Tulsa, even though the BOK Center is about two-thirds full, that he can still pull a big crowd -- Jesse.
WATTERS: Yes, it looks packed and it definitely sounds packed, John. Thanks a lot.
The event tonight is being billed as the great American comeback. Joining me now, former Trump White House Chief Strategist, Steve Bannon and host of the podcast, "War Room Pandemic." All right, you know, as John acknowledged, it's been a rough couple of months. You've had the pandemic. You've had the snapper session. You've had racial unrest in this country.
How would you frame this election, if you're the President, Steve? It looks like right now, he is saying, I'm a man of action. I'm going to bring back the economy and take on China while Biden is a sleepy corrupt puppet who's going to destroy the economy.
STEVE BANNON, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE CHIEF STRATEGIST: Look, you heard John Roberts talking about the enthusiasm people have for getting this campaign back underway. This is just not a rough patch we've gone through.
I think is one of the most turbulent times in modern American history, not just political history. Donald Trump, look at the economy he built particularly the strivers economy as a populist and economic nationalist.
This was an economy that worked for the people at the lower end of the scale, and I think that's what President Trump showed, through action, action, action -- he built a terrific economy, and that's what it's going to take.
You know, this rally is very important. But next week, as President, Jesse he goes down to the wall in Yuma to see the new wall that's being built down there. He also goes to Wisconsin to a shipyard where I think has an order of 10 Navy ships.
This is where he is the best -- at creating jobs and bringing back jobs bringing back the supply chain to United States and he is running against a globalist.
So, I think it couldn't be more well defined. I think you'll start to see it tonight on stage with President Trump as he lays it out, his vision for the next four years.
But to me, it's very clear. He is a man of action versus someone like Joe Biden who has really been a legislator his entire life and a globalist.
WATTERS: So as the President goes, as you said to the border or goes to Wisconsin to look at a shipyard, if Joe Biden continues to use the excuse of the virus to not campaign and hide in his basement, how long do you think he can survive in that state?
BANNON: I don't think you can. Look, Joe Biden at the top of his game was not Einstein's cousin. Right? He obviously has got diminished capacity. And he has to, I think, prove to people -- he has to prove to people that he can handle not just complex topics, but he is a man of action that can force his will on things.
And I think, look, he's been in the witness protection program for a number of months. He's got this proof of life podcast that he does every so often. Every time he comes on social media, it's kind of a mini disaster. Joe Biden is going to have to go to the country and lay out a vision and a plan and then convince people he can execute upon it.
He doesn't have a great track record. In fact, if you remember what Bill Parcells said, You are what your record says you are. His record is being the Senator from Wilmington, Delaware, really the mail drop or the post office box for globalist corporations.
He supported them. He's been kind of their advocate for 40 years. He's going to have to run against that record, and also, convince people against Trump that he has got a plan of action.
I just don't see it happening. I think President Trump on jobs, on law and order with necessary and needed reform, and also against China in this great geopolitical thing as he handles a pandemic, which he is working with governors to open rapidly, smartly and safely.
When people see the difference between the order of Trump and kind of the chaos of Biden, I think it's going to be a pretty clear choice, and I think Biden is going to have a very tough time making this case to people.
WATTERS: The order of Trump and the chaos of Biden, I didn't quite see it that way. So Steve, you're saying, you know, obviously, Joe Biden, not a man of ideas, never really had a fresh idea in his entire life. He has been a coattail candidate, got plucked out of nowhere to be the VP for Barack Obama, probably one of the luckiest politicians ever, not a policy guy, poor instincts on foreign policy.
Yet, if you look at some of these polls and Joe Biden is ahead in some places. Do you believe these polls? Or do you just see that as more of a snapshot of where we are right now, several months to go?
BANNON: Look, President Trump was behind by these type of numbers in mid- August in '16. I think these polls are very ephemeral. I think what the American people, particularly the day with a pandemic, this economic crisis driven by the pandemic, the financial crisis on top of that, all of it coming from Beijing, all of it driven by the Chinese Communist Party.
You know, what people want is action. What they want is somebody -- this why I say, Trump really is order because if you look at everything Joe Biden talks about, the foreign policies he has supported, the financial policies he has supported, the economic policies about jobs and trade. That's led to the managed decline of the United States.
The Democrats picked a globalist candidate in '16 and got beaten and Hillary Clinton was far tougher and far smarter than Joe Biden.
Once again, they have selected a globalist candidate in an age of populism and economic nationalism. Joe Biden is going to have to defend that. That is the chaos that was brought to the United States, the man is declined by our political elites and our economic elites.
President Trump has fought that from day one, and he is fighting it for the American people. And I think he's going to make a very serious case of why he is actually the candidate of order versus chaos, and I think it's going to be very powerful and I think Biden is going to have a tough time not just articulating it, but convincing the American people he has got the willpower to kind of push these changes through.
WATTERS: Right, because he obviously can't articulate it. No one knows what he believes or what he thinks or he doesn't even know what that is. He just reads whatever is put in front of him. He has never really been a leader, ever. If you've ever seen him out front of anything, I can't think of one example where he's led the charge.
So, do I think that people are going to rally behind Joe Biden? Only in the sense that they want to take down Donald Trump. And you see that with the enthusiasm gap. The Trump supporters twice as enthusiastic to vote for Trump as Biden folks are to vote for Biden.
But if you have all of this turmoil that we've been seeing, do you think that people are going to say, you know what? Do we want to go back to normal? Or do we want to keep the bull in the China shop? I think that's the question in November.
BANNON: Look, here's the reason. This was triggered by the Chinese Communist Party's pandemic. Up until January, President Trump signed the trade deal that he fought so hard for when he signed the trade deal.
The economy was on fire. His numbers were on fire. This came because of an exogenous event driven by the existential threat to the United States of the Chinese Communist Party.
I think when people take -- this turbulence is going to go for a while, and the question is going to be, is the guy that created these jobs, the guy that really set America first national security policy, so we're not in wars all over the place, but we're very focused on what our enemy is, and that enemy is the Chinese Communist Party and we're in an economic and information war with him right now.
I think when people weigh and measure this versus what Joe Biden -- remember, you said about leadership, Joe Biden was really dedicated one big thing in the Obama administration, the pivot to Asia. He was Obama's lead man on the China. That fiasco was all on Joe Biden's plate. An eternal memory of his leadership.
WATTERS: And not only that, Steve, yes, he was point man on Ukraine. He was point man on the surplus -- or the stimulus. He was point man on getting out of Iraq.
I mean, everywhere Joe went, disaster followed, and that's what I think you're going to see if he is elected in November, which I don't think, but we have a long way to go.
All right, Steve, thank you very much. Everybody, check out the "War Room Pandemic," Steve Bannon.
BANNON: Thanks, Jesse.
WATTERS: Let's bring in the panel. And here we have at the rally, we have the co-chairwoman for Trump, Gina Loudon and Trump 2020 campaign senior adviser, Corey Lewandowski who is in Tulsa, couldn't get a ticket, they wouldn't let him in; and former Arkansas Governor and Fox News contributor, Mike Huckabee.
All right, Corey, you know, you heard Steve and I talking about what we expect at the top. Do you expect a lot of score settling and maybe going off script tonight because, boy, I've got to think the President has a lot to get off his chest?
COREY LEWANDOWSKI, FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Jesse, I hope so. We know that President Trump is the best when he's talking directly to the American people, when he talks extemporaneously, when he is not following a script. We saw that success in 2016 during the entire campaign when he ridiculed all of his opponents for using those teleprompters, I love when Donald Trump is off script.
I know that's going to cause consternation for some people across this country who said, "He must be presidential." I want him to be the leader that we elected him to be which is fighting for America. He is going to show it tonight.
WATTERS: All right, Governor Huckabee we heard all week from the media that this was a dangerous rally and it was going to cost lives but you know, they never said anything about the actual danger from some of the anti- police riots that we saw over the last couple of weeks.
So, do you think this is COVID shaming as the President called it with the media?
MIKE HUCKABEE, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CONTRIBUTOR: I think we've learned that the COVID virus is cured by riots and looting so what the President should have done is just said, we're not going to have a rally we're going to have a riot in Tulsa. Then it would have been okay.
WATTERS: All right, Governor, we're going to have to let you go there. The President is just taking the stage at the BOK Arena here in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Let's listen in.
(God Bless The USA - Lee Greenwood)
And I won't forget the men who died Who gave that right to me And I'd gladly stand up next to you And defend Her still today 'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land God Bless the U.S.A. From the lakes of Minnesota To the hills of Tennessee Across the plains of Texas From sea to shining sea From Detroit down to Houston And New York to L.A. Where's pride in every American heart And it's time we stand and say That I'm proud to be an American Where at least I know I'm free And I won't forget the men who died Who gave that right to me And I'd gladly stand up next to you And defend Her still today 'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land God Bless the U.S.A. And I'm proud to be an American Where at least I know I'm free And I won't forget the men who died Who gave that right to me And I'd gladly stand up next to you And defend Her still today 'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land God Bless the U.S.A.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: Thank you. Thank you.
AUDIENCE: USA. USA. USA. USA.
TRUMP: Thank you.
AUDIENCE: USA. USA.
TRUMP: So, we begin. Oklahoma, we begin. Thank you, Oklahoma. And thank you to Vice President Mike Pence. We begin -- we begin our campaign.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: We begin our campaign and I just want to thank all of you, you are warriors. I've been watching --
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: I've been watching the fake news for weeks now and everything is negative.
[BOOING]
TRUMP: Don't go. Don't come. Don't do anything. Today, it was like, I've never seen anything like it. I've never seen anything like it. You are warriors. Thank you. We had some very bad people outside.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: We had some very bad people outside. They were doing bad things. But I really do, I appreciate it. We have just a tremendous group of people in Oklahoma.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: And I hear -- I hear from your two great senators and you Governor that we're doing very well in Oklahoma. That's the word.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: That's the word. I stand before you today to declare the silent majority is stronger than ever before.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: Five months from now, we're going to defeat Sleepy Joe Biden.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: Boy, does he get a pass from these people? Huh? We're going to stop the radical left, we're going to build a future of safety and opportunity for Americans of every race, color, religion and creed.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: Republicans are the party of liberty, equality and justice for all. We are the party of Abraham Lincoln and we are the party of law and order.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: Think of what we've done. We will have close to 300 Federal judges appointed and approved by the end of my first time. That's an all-time record.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: That's an all times record.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: I've always heard how important judges are. Now, we know how important they are. Think of that over 300 -- around 300 by the end of the term and when we have another four years, we're going to have a big, big percentage of the total number.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: Very important. November 3rd. And two great Supreme Court judges. So, we have two Justices of the Supreme Court -- Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh, they're great. They are great. They are the greatest.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: We have two. And we could get a few more, yes, we could get a few more.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: We've spent over $2 trillion to completely rebuild the unmatched strength and power of the United States military.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: And all of that incredible equipment, whether it's submarines or missiles, or rockets or jet fighters, bombers, it's all built in the USA.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: We passed VA Choice. Thank you very much, Jim. Where's my senator? Jim Inhofe. You better vote for him. He is running. He is great.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: We'll get to him and James Lankford in a second. Two great senators. You have two great senators.
So we passed VA Choice. So, if you're a veteran, for years and years, they've wanted to do it for almost 50 years. We got it done. We get a lot of things done.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: And so if you're a veteran, and you have to wait in line for one week, two weeks, three weeks, five weeks, seven weeks, two months, what happens is you go outside, you get a private doctor, you get fixed up and they pay your bill. We take care of the bill. We take care of the bill, and you get immediate service. It's never happened before. And our approval rating at the VA is now 91 percent. That's how good it is.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: Never been anywhere near that number. Never been anywhere near that number. And VA Accountability. We had a lot of bad people in the VA, people that didn't love our vets. People that were sadistic, people that stole -- a lot of bad people.
You couldn't get rid of them because they were -- let's say, it could be unions. It could be civil service, right? Let's say -- let's just say, and so you couldn't get it done. That was another one for decades and decades, they wanted to get it changed, and I got it done with those people and your Congressman, too.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: Your Congressman, who I'm going to introduce. VA Accountability, and now somebody treats our veterans badly, and we look at them and what do we say? We say, "You're fired. Get out," right? "Get out."
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: They got rid of a lot of bad people that were there for a long time. So like me in Washington, draining the swamp. I never knew it was so deep, but it is happening. It's happening. I never knew it was so deep. It is deep and thick. There are a lot of bad characters. Thank you.
We're lowering the price of prescription drugs, making our allies pay their fair share. They get a big bargain on drug prices and enacting fair Trade Deals. That finally, finally after all these years, put America first. I've been saying it for a long time.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: We passed the largest tax cuts in the history of our country. The Democrats want to raise your taxes. Tell me about that.
[BOOING]
TRUMP: Tell me about that. I guess, I'm old fashioned. You know, all my life. All my life. I heard politicians want to lower taxes, not raise them. If you could lower them, you couldn't lose. The Democrats want to substantially raise your taxes. How do you figure that? How do you figure that?
And regulation cuts, we passed more regulation cuts than any administration in the history of our country.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: And with the help of our great energy workers, many of them come from the Great State of Oklahoma. Do you ever notice that Biden -- no, do you ever notice that Biden oftentimes gets the state wrong? He's in Iowa, and he says, it's good to be in Idaho. No, no, you're not in Idaho.
He's in New Hampshire, and he says, It's great to be in Ohio. No, no, no, you're in New Hampshire. That happens to him all the time. It hasn't happened to me yet.
You know, when that happens, there's nothing you can do to make up for it. You might as well just walk off the stage because the speech is a disaster, right?
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: Right? But we just turned the United States into the dominant energy superpower of the world -- of the world.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: And because of the Chinese virus, what happened? About three months ago, it looked like we were in big trouble, and we were and I got it back together. I called Russia. I called -- right? I called Russia.
I called Saudi Arabia. And believe it or not, I called Mexico. Mexico was a little bit tough. That's called OPEC Plus. Did you ever hear of OPEC Plus? That's OPEC Plus-Plus, and we got them to do the right thing. And we have our energy back to up almost $40.00 a barrel. Meaning, you have an energy business again.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: Almost $40.00 a barrel. A couple of months ago it was zero and we're going to lose 10 million energy jobs. Ten million jobs. So Texas and Oklahoma and North Dakota and many other states would have been hurt.
Now, you think you're going to be hurt there? You try putting AOC in charge of your energy.
[BOOING]
TRUMP: That will make the pandemic look like child's play to the people in energy. She has one problem, it's called petroleum. No President or administration has done more in the first three and a half years than the Trump administration, not even close.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: Nobody. Our incredible success in rebuilding America stands in stark contrast to the extremism and destruction and violence of the radical left. We just saw it outside. You just saw it outside. You saw these thugs that came along, these people call them protesters. This is a beautiful --
[BOOING]
TRUMP: It's so beautiful. It is so wonderful. They called them the Boston Tea Party. That's so wonderful. Yes, they called them -- you ever watch fake news CNN? You ever watch? Where they go --
[BOOING]
TRUMP: How about the CNN anchor -- how about the CNN anchor, you know with the little shave job in the head which is fun. And he's standing in front of a building, saying things are very peaceful here. And the building is -- it looks like the biggest fire I've ever seen. The whole town is burning.
It looks -- it's like the biggest fire and he says, things are very good here, Anderson, I think it's -- I think it's -- these are wonderful people, Anderson.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: Did you ever see that? Like the world was coming to an end. And you know, we did something in Minneapolis after watching for three or four days, I called and said, you've got to get out. You can't protect yourself. I've got them to take 8,000 National Guardsmen, and in one hour, it all ended and they rode through the next three weeks with no problems.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: And we did the same thing in other cities. But how about Seattle? Exactly.
[BOOING]
TRUMP: So they take over a big chunk of a city called Seattle. I mean, we're not talking about some little place. We're talking about Seattle. Have you ever been to Seattle? They took over a big chunk and the Governor who is radical left, all of these places I talk about are Democratic. You know that, every one of them, every one of them.
And I had an offer out, I said, anytime you want, we'll come in, we'll straighten it out in one hour or less.
Now, I may be wrong, but it's probably better for us to just watch that disaster.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: I flew in with some of our great Congressmen who we're going to introduce in a second and I said to him, Congressman, what do you think? I can straighten it out fast. Do we just go in? No, sir. Let it simmer for a little while. Let people see what radical left Democrats will do to our country.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: Right? But Americans have watched leftwing radicals burn down buildings, loot businesses, destroy private property, injure hundreds of dedicated police officers.
These police officers, they get injured. They don't complain. They're incredible and injure thousands upon thousands of people only to hear the radical fake news say what a beautiful rally it was.
[BOOING]
TRUMP: And they never talk about COVID. They don't talk about -- when you see 25,000 people walking down Fifth Avenue or walking down a street of a Democrat-run city, you never hear them saying they're not wearing their mask. You don't hear them saying, as they're breaking windows and running in, and then when I say the looters, the anarchists, the agitators, they say, what a terrible thing for our President to say. What a terrible thing.
But you don't hear them talking about COVID. COVID. To be specific COVID-19 that name gets further and further away from China as opposed to calling it the Chinese virus.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: And despite the fact that we -- I have done a phenomenal job with it. I shut down the United States to very heavily infected, but all people from China in late January which is months earlier than other people would have done it, if they would have done it at all. I saved hundreds of thousands of lives. We don't ever get even a mention.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: Then I closed it down to Europe early. Closed it down because I saw what was happening. And by the way, most people said, don't do it. Don't do it. We saved hundreds of thousands of lives, and all we do is get hit on like we're terrible at what we've done with the ventilators, and with the medical equipment, and with testing.
You know testing is a double edged sword. We've tested now 25 million people. It's probably 20 million people more than anybody else. Germany has done a lot. South Korea has done a lot.
They call me, they said the job you're doing. Here's the bad part, when you test -- when you do testing to that extent, you're going to find more people, you're going to find more cases. So, I said to my people, slow the testing down, please.
They test and they test. We test the people who don't know what's going on. We got this. We've got another one over here. The young man is 10 years old. He's got the sniffles. He will recover in about 15 minutes. That's a case. Add to it. That's a case.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: I was actually with a very nice man, a very good man. Even though he is very liberal, the Governor of New Jersey, right? We know him. Now, listen, he said to me something that's amazing.
New Jersey was very heavily hit, very hard hit. Thousands of people. He said with thousands of people that died. Thousands of people. There was only one person that died under the age of 18, would you believe that? Which tells me one thing -- that kids are much stronger than us.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: When you see a little kid running around saying, boy, oh boy, do you have a great immune system? How about a piece of your immune system? They don't even know about this. Let's open the schools, please.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: Open the schools. Open the schools. We've got to get open them open. In the fall, we've got to get them open.
The unhinged leftwing mob is trying to vandalize our history, desecrate our monuments, our beautiful monuments.
[BOOING]
TRUMP: Tear down our statues and punish, cancel and persecute anyone who does not conform to their demands for absolute and total control. We're not conforming. That's why we're here, actually.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: This cruel campaign of censorship and exclusion violates everything we hold dear as Americans. They want to demolish our heritage so they can impose their new oppressive regime in its place. They wanted to fund and dissolve our police departments. Think of that.
[BOOING]
TRUMP: You know, I heard it for the first time two weeks ago. I said, well, that one -- I mean, they are only kidding. I said, they are wrong. They are not.
Minneapolis, you see what's going on. They're not kidding. They've got a lot of problems. They'll have a lot of problems.
Hey, it's one o'clock in the morning and a very tough -- you know, I've used the word on occasion. I'm brave. Very tough hombre is breaking into the window of a young woman whose husband is away as a traveling salesman or whatever he may do. And you call 911. And they say I'm sorry, this numbers no longer working.
[LAUGHTER]
TRUMP: By the way, you have many cases like that. Many, many, many whether it's a young woman, an old woman, a young man or an old man and you're sleeping. So what are you going to do? Right?
So, they want to defund -- they really do. This is a serious movement. And in Minneapolis, the Council has already passed it. In Seattle, you see what's going on there, it's even worse. Okay. These people are stone cold, crazy.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: They are crazy. So if you want to save your heritage, you want to save that beautiful heritage of ours. We have a great heritage. We're a great country.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: You are so lucky I am President, that's all I could tell you.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
AUDIENCE: USA. USA. USA. USA. USA.
TRUMP: People have come up to me and say, how do you take it? I say, do I have a choice? Do I have a choice? We deal with a lot of bad people, but we're winning.
And every once in a while, I'll have one of these days where I'm hit left and right, left and right, like even this great event. What -- if you could have seen outside? Or if you could have heard the reports, the reports -- oh, it's COVID. It's this again.
By the way, it's a disease without question. It has more names than any disease in history.
I can name -- Kung Flu. I can name 19 different versions of them. Many call it a virus, which it is. Many call it a flu. What difference? I think we have 19 or 20 versions of the name. But they said to me, where do you get the energy? I say, I don't have a choice. I don't have a choice.
You know, it was interesting. To show you how fake they are. You might have seen it. So last week, they called me and they said, sir, West Point. West Point, we're ready. I said oh, that's right. I have to make the commencement speech at West Point.
You know, they delayed it for six weeks because of COVID, so they delayed it and I went there, 1,106 cadets were graduating and beautiful.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: Beautiful cadets. So, this just to show you how bad to fake news is, so they say to me, sir, we're ready to go. I said let's go. This is after saying hello to a lot of cadets, inspecting little areas of the building that was very exciting. Actually, it is beautiful, very old.
It studied a lot of our great generals. Some of our presidents that went there. West Point is beautiful, right on the Hudson River. But after an hour, the General that runs it. He is a fantastic guy, after an hour. We land. We do some more inspections and they say sir, are you ready? Yes, I am.
So we walked like the equivalent of about three blocks, which was fine. We go on stage, which is fine. They make speeches then I make a speech. It lasted a long time. I don't know, maybe 45 minutes, maybe longer. I don't know, but a long time.
The sun is pouring down on me. Okay. But they said to me before the speech, sir, would you like to salute each cadet? Each single cadet? Or maybe they will be in groups of two. Would you like to salute like this? Yes. Like this. Almost 600 times, you know what that is? Six hundred times.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: Thank God they were in twos. Because let me tell you, you do that 600 times, you go home and you say, it's like a workout without a weight, right? Six hundred times.
So I did that, and then the incredible helicopter is brand new, gorgeous helicopters, the Apaches and the other new ones that we just bought.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: So they fly over and the kids throw the hats in, and it's beautiful. It really is. That was a beautiful day. And we're all finished.
I was on the stage for hours -- hours -- sun. I came home I had a nice tan.
[LAUGHTER]
TRUMP: Meaning -- meaning, I had a nice sunburn. The sun was going right like that. But I make this speech, right? I salute for probably an hour and a half, maybe more. But around that. Watch. If I'm off by two minutes, they will say, he exaggerated. It was only an hour and 25 minutes. He exaggerated. He lied. He lied. He's a liar. These people are sick. The fake news.
[BOOING]
TRUMP: So then, so then I finished saluting my final salute. I said, thank goodness, thank you very much.
[LAUGHTER]
TRUMP: But think of itself, so, essentially, almost 600 times. Now, the General says, sir, are you ready? I said, I'm ready, General. Where are we going now? I just said, I left early in the morning to get there. Now, it's sort of late in the afternoon. A lot of these fakers were with us. So they know.
He said, sir, we can now leave the stage. I said, great, General. Let's go. I'll follow you. And he goes like this, right here, sir. And I walk on.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: And the stage was higher than this one, and the ramp was probably 10 yards long. I said, General -- and now you've got to understand, I have a whole corps of cadets looking at me, and I want them to love their President. I did this big thing. I love them. I love them. They're incredible and they do.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: I said, General I've got myself a problem, General. Because I'm wearing leather bottom shoes which is good if you're walking on flat surfaces, it's not good for ramps. And if I fall down -- look at all those press back there. Look at them.
[BOOING]
TRUMP: And this was a steel ramp. You all saw it because everybody saw it. This was a steel ramp. It had no handrail. It was like an ice skating rink. And I said, General, I have a problem and he didn't understand that at first.
I said, there's no way. He understood. I just saluted almost 600 times. I just made a big speech. I sat for other speeches. I'm being baked. I'm being baked like a cake.
I said, General, there's no way I can make it down that ramp without falling on my ass, General.
[LAUGHTER]
TRUMP: I have no railing. It's true. So, I said is there like something else around? Sir, the ramp is ready to go. Grab me, sir. Grab me. I didn't really want to grab him. You know why? Because I said that'll be a story, too.
So now I have a choice. I can stay up there for another couple of hours and wait until I'm rescued.
[LAUGHTER]
TRUMP: Or I can go this really steep, really, really, really -- it's an ice skating rink, it's brutal. So, I said general get ready because I may grab you so fast because I can't fall with a fake news watching.
[BOOING]
TRUMP: If I fall -- if I fall -- I remember when President Ford fell out of the plane, you remember? I remember when another President, nice man, threw up in Japan, and they did slow motion replays.
[LAUGHTER]
TRUMP: True. Right? I don't want that, General. Now, he is standing. A big strong guy. And he's got these shoes, but they're loaded with a rubber on the bottom. Because I looked. The first thing I did, I looked at his shoes. And I looked at mine -- very, very slippery.
So, I ended up saying, okay, General, let's go. I will only grab you if I need you. That's not a good story. Falling would be a disaster.
It turned out to be worse than anything. I would have been better off if I fell and slid down the damn ramp.
[LAUGHTER]
TRUMP: Right? So what happens is I start the journey inch by inch, right? And I was really bent over, too. I didn't like that, you know, I didn't like this picture. This picture I'm sure will be an ad by the fakers. So, I was bent over right. I went like this.
[LAUGHTER]
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: And then we finally reached almost the end and the fake news, the most dishonest human beings, they cut it off. You know why? Because when I was 10 feet short, I said, General, I'm sorry -- and I ran down the rest, right? I looked very handsome. That was the only good thing.
I wouldn't want to run down the whole thing because the fall there would be definitely bad. So, I took these little steps, I ran down the last 10 and by the way, their tape, take a look, in almost every instance. It ends just before I run.
And they said -- it was the number one trending story. I called my wife. I said how good was that speech? Hey, look, I will tell you what I make good ones and bad ones.
Like so far, I am average.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: So far tonight. But I called my wife and I said, how good was it, darling? She said, you're trending number one. I said to our great First Lady. I said, let me ask you a question. Was it that good a speech that I'm trending number one because I felt it was really good? No, no, they don't even mention the speech. They mentioned the fact that you may have Parkinson's disease.
[LAUGHTER]
TRUMP: It's true. It's true.
[BOOING]
TRUMP: They say there's something wrong with our President. I'll let you know if there's something wrong, okay. I'll let you know if there's something -- I'll tell you what, there's something wrong with Biden that I could tell.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: So, then my wife said, well, it wasn't only the ramp. Did you have water?
I said, yes. I was speaking for a long time. I didn't want to drink it. But I wanted to wet my lips a little bit. You know, you're drinking -- you're working hard up there with the sun pouring down on you. I love this location, the sun's like this. This way they save on lighting, right? That's why they did it probably.
So what happens is, I said, what does it have to do with the water? They said, you couldn't lift your hand up to your mouth with water. I said, I just saluted 600 times like this. And this was before I saluted. So what's the problem?
She said, well, I know what you did. You had on a very good red tie. That's a sort of expensive. It's silk, because they look better. They have a better sheen to them, and I don't want to get water on the tie and I don't want to drink much.
So lifted up the water. I see we have a little glass of water. Where the hell did this water come from? Where did it come from? And I looked down on my tie, because I've done it. I've taken water and it spills down into your tie, this doesn't look good for a long time. And frankly, the tie is never the same.
So, I put it up to my lip. And I say, because I don't want it -- but just in case. And they gave me another disease. They gave me another disease. Anyway, that's a long story.
AUDIENCE: Four more years. Four more years. Four more years.
TRUMP: Anyway, that's a long story, but here's the story. I have lived with more the ramp than the water, but I've lived with the ramp and the water since I left West Point, not one media group said I made a good speech or I made a great speech.
[BOOING]
TRUMP: But the kids loved it because they broke their barrier, which wasn't good in terms of COVID, but they broke their barrier and they wanted shake hands and they wanted -- and I don't want to tell anybody, but there are a couple of kids they put out their hands, and I actually shook their hand. Okay? I actually shook them. Because they were excited.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: They were excited that with their President, they were excited. The most beautiful young people, men, women, the most beautiful young people you've ever seen. So, think of how you feel with me.
I go there. How did I do? Sir, that was a great speech. You know all my people. Sir, that was one of your best. That was great. I said, that's great. I agree. It was a good speech. I like that speech.
They don't mention the speech, but they have been going down this ramp at an inch of time. It's so unfair. It really is so unfair. They are among the most dishonest people anywhere on Earth. They're bad people. Bad people.
[BOOING]
TRUMP: Okay, that's enough of that. I wanted to tell that story. Does everybody understand that story?
AUDIENCE: Yes.
TRUMP: The leftwing anarchists tore down a statue of Thomas Jefferson. Now, we're getting into the reels.
[BOOING]
TRUMP: They decapitated a statue of Christopher Columbus except in New York when the Italians surrounded it. They didn't have too much of a chance. Those Italians. I love the Italians. They heard they were going to rip down their beautiful Christopher Columbus and all of a sudden they encircled that thing. They didn't do too well in hurting Christopher, did they? Thank you to our Italian population. We're very proud of you all.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: Two days ago, leftist radicals in Portland, Oregon ripped down a statue of George Washington.
[BOOING]
TRUMP: And wrapped it in an American flag and set the American flag on fire.
[BOOING]
TRUMP: Democrats. They were all Democrats. Everything I tell you is Democrat. And you know, we ought to do something. Mr. Senators, we have two great senators. We ought to come up with legislation that if you burn the American flag, you go to jail for one year, one year.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: Jim and James, Jim and James, we ought to do it. You know, they talk about freedom of speech, and I'm a big believer in freedom of speech. But that's desecration. That's a terrible thing they are doing.
We used to have things, we don't have them anymore because we want to be so open so everything and look what happens? We should have legislation that if somebody wants to burn the American flag and stomp on it, but just burn it, they go to jail for one year, okay?
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: In Seattle, the Democratic Mayor and the Democratic City Council have surrendered control of six city blocks to an anarchist mob. These are anarchists. These are not protesters. You listen to the fake news, they say, oh, the protesters were lovely.
Could you imagine if people just even slightly to the right, try to take over Seattle? They'd have machine guns out to get them. But these people can take over the city. Look at what they've done to business people that have spent years and years building their business and now they're wiped out. Taken away.
Governor Inslee ought to get his act together. Get in there. I'll help you. I'll do whatever you want. I'm waiting for a call. I would love to do it. I would love to do it. It'll take -- it'll take less than an hour and it'll all be over with and you'll have your city back.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: And yet Biden remained silent in his basement in the face of this brutal assault on our nation and the values of our nation. Joe Biden has surrendered to his party and to the leftwing mob. He has no control. Does anybody honestly think he controls these radical maniacs?
[BOOING]
TRUMP: You know what he says to his wife when he's not confusing her with his sister? Get me the hell out of here. These people are crazy. That's what he says. He has absolutely no control.
You know, a lot of times I'll make like a speech, and I'll have this beautiful paragraph come out, criticizing every little aspect of the speech beautiful, brilliant.
But Joe didn't -- and it will say, a comment from Joe Biden, but he didn't say it. Professional people, great students in English Lit. People that are very smart said, Joe Biden said, and they're going through this highly complex paragraph, beautifully worded. And I say, Joe didn't say that. Joe doesn't even understand it.
[LAUGHTER]
TRUMP: And if Biden is elected, he will surrender your country to these mobsters a hundred percent.
[BOOING]
TRUMP: Your 401(k) by the way, look at how we're doing in the stock market. Just set another record with NASDAQ. NASDAQ. Your 401(k) and money itself will be worthless. Your 401(k) are doing very well unless -- I don't want to say if you were stupid, I would say, don't sell, don't sell. It went down. But we got it back up.
And now NASDAQ -- think of it NASDAQ just set a record. And I think you're going to see a lot of records and next year, if we don't do anything stupid on November 3rd, you are going to have the greatest economic year we've ever had. That'll be next year.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: If the Democrats gain power, then the rioters will be in charge and no one will be safe and no one will have control. Joe Biden is not the leader of his party. Joe Biden is a helpless puppet of the radical left.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: And he is not radical left. I don't think he knows what he is anymore. But he was never radical left. But he is controlled by the radical left and now he's really controlled. His campaign staff even donated a lot of money to bail out rioters, looters and arsonists who ravaged Minneapolis.
[BOOING]
TRUMP: They bailed them out. They put up a lot of money to bail them out, the rioters and the looters. And they were, they were the arsonists. Now, they'll say, oh, it's terrible what he says about the people of our nation.
Maybe some of them aren't even from our nation. The left is trying to do everything they can to stop us, every hour of every day including even violence and mayhem. They'll do anything they can to stop us. Look what happened tonight. Look at what happened tonight.
Law enforcement said, sir, they can't have -- they can't be outside. It is too dangerous. We had a bunch of maniacs come and sort of attack our city. The Mayor and the Governor did a great job. But they were very violent people.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: And our people are not nearly as violent. But if they ever were, it would be a terrible, terrible day for the other side. Because I know our people. I know our people.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
TRUMP: But we will never submit to their threats and we will never let them destroy our nation. What they did tonight, I saw it on television coming in on Air Force One, one thing about Air Force One, we got plenty of televisions. We have televisions in closets. You open up the closet, we've got a television.
We have got a lot of televisions. It's a great plane. Great everything. By the way, we ordered new ones. No President wanted to do it. They thought it was luxury. I said wait a minute. Air Force One is 31 years old. People don't realize that. So, I said they gave me a chart very early in my administration. Like, how about the first week? Sir, would you sign for this plane? Now, it's actually two planes.
Would you sign for this plane? Air Force One? I said, how old is the original or the one we have now? Sir, it's 31 to 32 years. And I'd see people coming in from foreign lands that can't compete with us, rich countries, but they can't compete with the United States, and they have a brand new beautiful 747, 800, 747. And I said, wait a minute, that country has new one and we have a 31-year, so somebody has to do it.
So the deal was made, and it was made for a lot of money. I think it was $5.7 billion or $5.6 billion. Now in all fairness, it's two planes and there's a lot of stuff in those planes, I want to talk to you about.
So I told Boeing, the head of Boeing. They said, sir, please would like to get started on the planes. I said, I do too, but I'm not paying $5.6 billion.
And I'm not paying $4.6 billion. I said it has to have a three on the front of it.
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