CPAC 2021- Remarks by Autry Pruitt

Dan Schneider, Matthew Schlapp, thank you so much for inviting me on such an honorable and great stage. Ian Walters, Carly Patrick, Alan Fuehler, Macy Cochran, your kindness knows no bound. And our organization's founder and visionary James Golden, aka Mr. Snirdley, from the Rush Limbaugh program, thank you so much for everything. We conservatives must be extraordinarily cautious because the tendency is when we are canceled everywhere, we turn inward and start talking mostly about ourselves to ourselves. We conservatives must continue even in spite of what the Hollywood elites and sport elites tell us. We must continue to go where we are not wanted. We must continue to engage, and this is especially true in the Black community. I know it's going to be frustrating sometimes because our efforts will not always yield the results that we want. But this does not mean that we should stop engaging. All it does, my fellow conservatives, all it does mean is that we need to pivot and change tactics. It's time to change our messaging just a bit. Let us not laugh at their leaders. Let us respect their leaders. Let's show their leaders respect. Stacey Abrams, girl, you go get it. The first Black American woman, I believe, to be nominated by the European Parliament for a Nobel Priest Prize. Kamala Harris, take your place in history. But while you do all of that, can I talk to you for just a moment? Why don't you trust Black parents to make the best decision for their kids? Why cannot federal dollars follow the student? Why do you insist on bailing out murderers and completely ignoring the likes of Janari Ricks, nine years of age, and Sincere Gadsden, 20 months old, two kids shot dead in the heart of Chicago? Why do you put more value on virtue signaling? Your support of the death of the Keystone Pipeline hurt Black American jobs. Do you not understand that your efforts has raised the price of gas, which disproportionately hurts Black American families? And why, oh, why do you support the unfettered, unmitigated destruction and killing of babies in a Black mother's womb? If I can borrow from the Honorable Maxine Waters for a moment, conservatives, we need to show up wherever we have to show up. We need to show up in Black communities and first listen, and then share with them how conservative values brought about abolition, how conservative values ended Jim Crow, how conservative values under President Trump freed innocent Black lives from a prison cell, how conservatism is the origin of Abraham Lincoln. We should proudly proclaim that conservative values will get your kids in school again. Conservative values will get the economy moving again. Conservative values will get you the loan your small business needs. Conservative values will get you the job that you've always wanted. Conservative values will help you take that mask off your face. Conservative values will put a hop in your foot, some food on your table, and baby, conservative values will put money in your pockets. Conservative values will let you lead your best life. So we at CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference, have a message for the Black American community. The door is open. Opportunity abounds. Conservatism is the original civil rights movement. We love you. We support you. We hear you. And over here, you will never be taken for granted. And we need your help to achieve all of this and more. And we're asking you to be leaders and come back home.