I truly believe Mr. Trump is America’s blue collar billionaire

Jerry Falwell, Jr.’s speech at the 2016 GOP Convention

Thank you. I am honored and humbled to be here tonight.

In 1984, my father stood at this convention and offered the opening prayer before our party’s candidate, Ronald Reagan, went on to accept the nomination and win in a landslide.

A little over 30 years later, I stand here with the sincerest prayer that history is about to repeat itself with the election of Donald J Trump. Most of our nation’s founders had strong faith, as I do, in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

My family has lived in Virginia since the 1600s and in the Lynchburg, Virginia area since 1834.

My wife, Becki, is a descendant of George Washington’s family. Every day, I drive past Poplar Forest, the summer home of Thomas Jefferson who wrote in the Declaration of Independence.

We are all endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights and among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Our founding fathers envisioned a government that existed only to protect these God given rights and a nation governed by citizen legislators.

The most effective politicians were never career politicians, but surveyors, architects, ministers, farmers, businessmen and even actors who were successful in the private sector before serving in government.

Donald Trump follows in this rich tradition. He has created jobs for thousands and is one of the greatest visionaries of our time.

I first supported Mr. Trump after I spent 20 years as a young lawyer working with my father to restore Liberty University to financial health.

Since 2007 Liberty has become the largest and most prosperous Christian university in the world and I am convinced that Donald Trump can work the same magic for a nation $19 trillion in debt.

But my family and I have grown to love and respect the Trumps for other reasons. We have never met such a genuine and loving family. I truly believe Mr. Trump is America’s blue collar billionaire. He is down to earth, he loves America and the American people. He is a true patriot and a champion of the common man.

Mr. Trump has added a plank to this party’s platform to repeal IRS rules sponsored by Lyndon Johnson in 1954 barring churches and non-profits from expressing political free speech. Conservative universities and churches have been investigated while authorities have too often turned a blind-eye toward liberal groups, including universities where left-wing ideology is so pervasive that they have in effect become Democratic-voter indoctrination camps. Trust me, this will create a huge revolution for conservative Christians.

We are at a crossroads where our first priority must be saving our nation. We must unite behind Donald Trump and Mike Pence.

A decision not to vote or to vote for a third-party candidate is a de facto vote for Hillary Clinton. If Hillary Clinton is allowed to appoint the next few Supreme Court justices, that in itself could be a fatal blow to our republic.

On the other hand, a vote for Donald Trump is a vote to uphold the 2nd amendment right to bear arms. A vote for Trump is a vote to stop Iran, a nation committed to the destruction of the state of Israel, from becoming a nuclear power. A vote for Trump is a vote to appoint conservative pro-life justices to the Supreme Court.

In the days before my father passed away in 2007, he joked with CNN that he dreamed Chelsea Clinton had asked him in an interview about the three greatest threats facing the nation. He replied, Osama, Obama and yo’ Momma. Osama is now gone, Obama has six months left on his term and the only way to make America great (and one) again is to keep Chelsea’s Momma from ever becoming president of the US by electing Donald Trump and Mike Pence as the next president and vice-president of the United States.