Pastor Mark Burns has been bringing down the house at his home church in South Carolina for a long time.
So those who have watched him at work weren’t surprised to see him bring down the house again Thursday night—this time at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. But aside from his enthusiasm, it was his message that energized the auditorium.
Particularly when he addressed charges of racism against the Republican Party.
“Those Democrats will do whatever it takes to keep us Americans focused on the colors that divide us instead of the colors that unite us,” he said. “She is afraid because she knows that together we will never allow Hillary Clinton to become president.”
Burns added that he wanted to declare, for the whole world, that in a Donald Trump Administration, “All Lives Matter.” He then got the crowd to repeat a chant of the anti-racism slogan.
“That means black lives, white lives, Hispanic lives, Asian lives, Christian lives, [and] Muslim lives,” he said. “Shout with me now: All Lives Matter!”
Burns said that although he disagrees with the tactics used by Black Lives Matter, he does understand how hopelessness and lack of opportunity “breeds this type of desperation.” He said the way to defeat that desperation is to create jobs.
“I want to declare today that, as Republicans, we are more determined than ever to listen to the cries of the disenfranchised, the low-income, the at-risk communities,” he said. “We will solve the problem together … I know without a shadow of a doubt that Donald J. Trump will make sure that all Americans will have jobs.”
He concluded his speech with a message of unity:
“Despite the color you were born with, here in America, the only colors that matter are the colors red, white and blue.”
See the entire speech below. The clip leads with an introduction by Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
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