Jim Banks: “10 years feels like a lifetime ago. In May of 2015, I had just returned from serving a tour in Afghanistan and had just…”

“10 years feels like a lifetime ago. In May of 2015, I had just returned from serving a tour in Afghanistan and had just started my campaign--my very first campaign--for Congress. But not even a few weeks later, on this day, June 16--10 years ago today-- Donald Trump came down that golden escalator in Trump Tower in New York City and changed American politics forever. He took the Republican Party and the country by storm, and our country is better off for it. No one in the history of this country has dominated American politics for an entire decade like Donald Trump has, and it has been a wild ride. The Republican Party is better off because of that. Our country is better off today because of that too. Remember, when President Trump came down that golden escalator, we were in the political wilderness. Republicans hadn't won a national election in 12 years, and Republican experts, you might recall, gathered in 2013 to do an autopsy report. And what did they say? They said the best way to win a national election was to embrace amnesty. Boy, were they wrong. It may seem like a lifetime ago, but it wasn't too long ago when Republicans and Democrats in this Chamber were working together to pass so-called comprehensive immigration reform, or also known as amnesty-- remember the Gang of 8. But President Trump shifted us away from that ideology and that mindset.”