On the recordDecember 4, 2024
Case in point. I didn't necessarily expect to speak, but I found myself sitting there getting sad and angry that we are losing Mitt Romney, first of all, because we have--obviously, to the naked eye--so much in common: I am Black, and Mitt Romney is Black adjacent. Mitt Romney is a man of great personal net worth, and I am a man of great personal net girth. The reality is, the more I served with Mitt Romney, the more I found myself hoping to have more in common with him. I have watched somebody from this seat for years now give a master's class in what I believe America needs most. I ran for President because of this drive and this feeling that our Nation was becoming too tribalistic. I watched time and time again from this seat a person who put aside the desires for partisan adoration for a deeper conviction to stand up for our Nation. I watched a man not confuse tribal celebrity with leadership significance. I watched time and time again and saw it with my own eyes him being harassed in airports and being scorned for taking principled stands that he saw as the best way to try to hold our country together. I disagree with him, even though I see him now from one of his colleagues getting great approbation for a moment I remember when I was a mayor watching him run for President where he was asked what the great national security threat is, and he said Russia.…
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