>> good evening. to the people of alabama, i want to thank you for your support over the years. we fought a good fight in this race. we have taken our case to the people of alabama and the people of alabama have spoken. they want a new leader, a new fresh face to go to washington. i think we're going to have that. i love this state.

it has been an honor beyond words for me to serve it. i grew up in the country, little house, 1000 square feet, no central air. my daddy had a country store with a gristmill in it. later, he had a small, small farm equipment dealership and he struggled to take care of us through that process and managed to get out of it with his shirt. i worked construction through summers and sold dictionaries and did other things to work my way through college. a great day i find myself interested in politics, studying the issues. my wife and i met in college and got involved in republican politics. it is been a real adventure for me. i want to congratulate tommy tuberville. he ran a really firm solid race.

he was focused on his goal and on winning. he had a plan to do so and he was able to do so. he is our republican nominee. we must stand behind him in november. i have been thinking about where i have been in my life. my wife mary and i have had an incredible adventure. as teenagers, we established a young republican club, the first one ever at that college. we had two members only of the alabama legislature. we were present at the creation of the modern republican party in alabama. i watched it grow over the years. great to see it prosper. we stood up to the democrats. we stood up to the good old boy

crowd. we stood for principles for good , values, good government, clean officials doing the right thing every day, working in the public interest. that vision, those principles of law and constitutionalism produced a growing party. it grew until this point every statewide elected official in alabama is a republican. except one. doug jones. that has to end. that is what i believe will be happening in the weeks to come. ours is an honorable state. a state of good, decent, hard-working, frugal, honest, churchgoing, frugal, conservative republicans. doug jones does not need to be our voice in washington. doug jones seeks to have chuck schumer be the majority leader

in the united states senate. he wishes to see the policies of nancy pelosi prevail over conservative alabama principles. it is an extraordinary thing. he has used the platform of alabama voters to advance a liberal democratic agenda too long. that must end. the stakes are high. party politics in the senate is of tremendous importance as most of you know as a result of the fact that every committee is chaired by the party that has a majority in the congress. my view about things at this point in history is the political parties have not been sufficiently sensitive to common -- sensitive to, understanding

of and responsive to the , legitimate wishes of the american people. and i have come to that believe more strongly in recent years. it is really why i chose to make this race. i thought i might have the ability to contribute in some way to the future of our country. in that the republican party as the greatest opportunity to build a leading majority in america. but to do so, they need to be more attuned to the values of the people of our country. they really do. for example, immigration. the american people are not against immigration, but they want a lawful system and they want the kind of immigration that serves the national interest and does not become a mechanism by which their wages down and their ability to find a decent job is reduced substantially. they are right about that. they are exactly right about that. but powerful forces out there on

the other side, they want more labor and cheaper labor. that is just what certain businesses do. that is what they always seek. secondly, i think the american people have been right to resist this religious free-trade idea that no matter how bad a competitor cheats you or if they sell products, china sells products to the united states below cost, closing american factory, laying off hundreds of american workers, these religious free-trade think we should send them a thank you note because you can get it a little cheaper at walmart or another store. american people are not happy with that. they are not happy we have allowed china to dominate our trade situation and they have massive trade surpluses. they're not happy with that. they think that is wrong. and they think we got involved in too many wars that don't

have an end, have not served the national interest, and is not -- and has not helped the people we thought we were trying to help. the american people are right in my opinion. they are essentially correct. and i think it is time for this republican party to listen to the donald trump agenda because he talked about those things frankly and openly. i think they were huge factors the pastility to win election. if he gets on message, stays on it, stays on those principal positions i think you will be in , a position to come back and win this election. we have borders in our country. we have a constitution that applies within our border. we need to understand we are a nationstate and our government leaders should be protecting the interest of the american people. we expect ceos to protect the

interest of their stockholders. government officials should protect the interest of their citizens. it is just that simple. too often, we have allowed the focus to be on gdp, on growth, on wall street and not enough on the struggles of the single mom who has to buy four tires for her old car. it is going to cost $600 and she does not have it and it has to go on a credit card that charges 25% interest. this is the world that most americans live in. we need to be more sensitive to it. i think they are right about where we are. i believe that is good and those are the kind of issues we should be advancing. i want to see our congress do so. and i think the party that does so will be the party that can govern in the years to come.

remarksfinish my tonight without thanking my family. i see my wife mary back there. i thought you're going to be up here, mary and i got excited. we will soon, within a month, celebrate our 51st anniversary. it is a remarkable thing to start. yes, i say thank you. [applause] remarkable partnership we have had and she has been so patient with me. and my three children, mary abigail, whose husband is in the navy and at the pentagon tonight, ruth and her husband is out of town at work today. four of our girls are here. my son as in birmingham now. he has four kids and they are here.

eight of the 10 are here tonight. our oldest just had her 13th birthday. this is our crew. come on up. come on up. i want to just say how much i appreciate -- sam, come on. ruth? angela? come on. so they have been a part of this. they have been helping me in this campaign. mary, got it? helping me in this campaign, giving as advice, fighting on the internet and doing the kind of things that make us successful. i want to thank our campaign team. they have worked their hearts out. they have given their full effort to this. we feel like we're making progress at the very end, but it was not enough in these last days. i really appreciate that team

and all the work they have done for me. i can never thank them enough. [applause] i feel like i let them down. they worked so hard and we just could not get it going. thank you all for that support. let me say this about the president and our relationship. i leave with no regrets. i was honored to serve the people of alabama in the senate and i was extraordinarily proud of the accomplishments we had as attorney general. on recusal, i follow the law. i did the right thing. and i saved the president's bacon in the process. any other action to try to squelch an investigation in that environment would not have worked. it would have been a catastrophe. i'm so glad it finally ended after a prolonged time and the president has been cleared.

i leave elected office with my integrity intact. i feel good about it. i hold my head high. i took the road less traveled. did not try to excuse myself or get in a fight or undermine the leader of our country and the great work he has to do. that was an honorable path i believe. although this chapter of my life is closed, we all must stand up for what is right. do it all the right way. alabama is worth fighting for. america is worth fighting for. we will keep it that way. [applause] once again to the people of alabama, i want to say how much i thank you. i thank you for letting this country boy have the opportunity to be united states attorney in mobile for 12 years under presidents reagan and bush. to be able to be attorney general of alabama, to be able

the united years in states senate and not even have an opponent last time. i ran unopposed. the only senator in the country that had no opposition. then to be able to serve at the department of justice. we had one issue that was controversial but day after day , after day, we populated the department with people who believed in the constitution, who believed in religious freedom, in freedom of speech, following the law, civil rights, believed in law enforcement and backing our police. that is even more important today than ever. it is a great honor for me to have served you. it is a sense of satisfaction that i complete that service. i do tell you with all sincerity it is my honor to have been able to serve. i hope this state will continue to be prosperous and grow in a

way that it has over the last number of years. and i look forward to helping tommy tuberville win this race. it is important for alabama, but it is also important for america. thank you all and god bless. [applause] >> did you speak to tommy tuberville this evening? >> we had a nice conversation and i was pleased to talk to him. >> what are you going to do next? >> thank you all. god bless. >> the democratic and republican party, the campaigns of president trump and joe bryden are adjusting -- and joe biden

are adjusting plans for political conventions. the democrats will convene for a scaled-back convention in 17.aukee starting august the republicans meet the following week on tuesday, august 25 in jacksonville, florida. the democratic and republican national conventions live on c-span beginning monday august 17. watch any time on c-span.org or listen live with the free radio app. c-span, your unfiltered view of politics. c-span,g up tonight on we begin q&a with the executive director and acting editor of the american conservative talking about the origins of conservatism in the u.s. and where it is going in the age of president trump. tonight on prime minister's questions, porcha johnson talks about the response to the coronavirus. from thet, we hear

chairman of the newly formed clergy of color on race relations in the u.s.. then education secretary betsy devos talks about challenges of reopening schools in the full. ♪ susan: john burtka, executive director and acting editor of the american conservative. the summer, you have got a special issue of the organization's magazine asking the question, what is american conservatism. tell me about this project? mr. burtka: thank you so much for having me on,