Schiff: “There is nothing more American than what you’re doing today”
Washington, D.C. — Ahead of ‘No Kings Day’ rallies across California, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) released a video message for attendees championing the spirit of the day of action and emphasizing the patriotic spirit behind the events that are expected to draw millions in cities across the country.
“Whether you’re a group of dozens of people in Truckee, or tens of thousands of people in San Francisco, there is nothing more American than standing up. Not just for yourself, but for your neighbors, and for an idea,” said Senator Schiff.
“The miracle of this country is that power begins and ends with the people who grant it. So today, in towns and cities across this nation, we say it again, we have no kings in America.”
Amidst President Donald Trump’s illegal deployments of the U.S. military to California and other blue state cities, mass deportation agenda, denial of due process, and weaponization of the rule of law, Schiff also invoked the spirit of the Declaration of Independence and the grievances laid out by America’s Founding Fathers against King George III of England.
View the video HERE. Download the video HERE.
Read the full transcript below:
Two and a half centuries ago, a handful of farmers and printers and philosophers looked across an ocean at the most powerful man in the world and said, “no.”
No to divine right, no to inherited power, no to the idea that one man’s will could rule a free people. In the Declaration of Independence, our founders set out a long list of grievances against their British masters.
And here is part of what they said, “he has obstructed the administration of justice. Made judges dependent on his will alone. Cut off trade with all parts of the world. Deprived us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury. Transported us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses. Kept among us in times of peace, standing armies.”
If those grievances sound familiar, they should, because the man who would rule America today has done all of that and more. But when we declared independence from a king 250 years ago, we also declared independence from the idea of kings. That was the moment America was born, before the blood of rebellion, when we declared our belief that a government could draw its power not from a crown, but from its citizens.
A belief that laws, not a single man, would be sovereign. And there’s nothing more American than what you’re doing today to fulfill that idea. Whether you’re a group of dozens of people in Truckee, or tens of thousands of people in San Francisco, there is nothing more American than standing up. Not just for yourself, but for your neighbors, and for an idea.
Because ultimately, every generation has to answer the same question. Do we still mean it? Do we still believe in free speech, in the rule of law, in our ability to govern ourselves? Do we still believe that the presidency is an office of service, not a throne of power?
When a leader forgets those truths, when he tries to bend the law to his own will, when he treats dissent as disloyalty and truth as treason, then it’s up to us to remind him who’s in charge. That’s patriotism at its most peaceful and profound.
Because the American story was never about one man, it was about all of us, and it is about all of us. The miracle of this country is that power begins and ends with the people who grant it.
So today, in towns and cities across this nation, we say it again, we have no kings in America.
We have citizens. We have a people brave enough to govern themselves and wise enough to know that democracy only survives if we defend it.
That’s the work, that’s the calling, that’s the promise we renew every time we stand up and say “no” to kings. Thank you and keep up the great work.
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