‘You’re graduating at an exciting time for our nation, a period of both extraordinary change and incredible potential,’ the president says.
President Donald Trump addressed University of Alabama graduates in Tuscaloosa Thursday night in a nearly hour-long speech that combined humor and motivational themes, with thousands in attendance roaring in approval.
“I promise you that you’re the first graduating class of the golden age of America,” Trump said.
“You’re graduating at an exciting time for our nation, a period of both extraordinary change and incredible potential, and what will be unbelievable growth.”
The first commencement address since Trump’s return to the White House for a second term, the talk comes on the heels of his 100th day in office.
The president encouraged the students to embrace “positive thinking,” to “work hard,” and to “take control of their own destiny and make their own luck.”
He thanked voters in Alabama for electing him with a 45 percent margin of victory and told the crowd his administration is shaking up the federal government to better serve the next generations.
“Everywhere you look, broken systems, corrupt institutions, entire dogmas are being swept away by the tide of history,” Trump said. “Ancient Wisdom is being rediscovered, and the best and strongest traits of America are coming back for all to see bigger, better, and greater than ever, coming back, and they’re coming back fast.”
Known for criticizing mainstream media as “fake news,” Trump first joked with journalism students before noting the importance of a free press to a functioning democracy and calling the media one of the pillars of society.
He challenged the graduates to “never give up” because “perseverance is everything” and urged them to “stay optimistic.”
“In America, impossible is what we all do best,” Trump said. “There is nothing you cannot do if you’re willing to fight for it. You’ve got to fight, fight, fight.”
The president’s speech wove elements of his campaign rally addresses with local elements, including several mentions of the university’s football team and an obligatory “Roll Tide” to energize the crowd, which was dotted with Make America Great Again hats in a sea of crimson.
Introduced by seven-time national champion, legendary university football coach Nick Saban, the president praised Alabama’s winning spirit, drawing parallels between its athletic dominance and the graduates’ potential as they launch their careers.
He alluded to ongoing legal battles with Harvard University and said the Alabama students could be proud that their leadership “chose liberty over lockdown” during the pandemic and suggested the graduates are poised to lead the nation in the coming years.
“It is clear to see the next chapter of the American story will not be written by the Harvard Crimson,” Trump said. “It will be written by you, the Crimson Tide.”
One of the loudest applause lines of the night was about banning men from women’s sports.
“As long as I’m president, we will always protect women’s sports. Men will not play,” Trump said before going into a list of instances where transgender athletes outcompeted women in competitions.
Some critics of the president’s policies protested the event.
In response to Trump’s planned speech, students in the University of Alabama College Democrats issued a statement on social media saying the group was “shocked and disgusted.”
“Given that the White House has pulled federal funding from colleges and universities across our country, we understand if [President Stuart R. Bell’s] administration may be stuck between a rock and a hard place. We simply don’t want UA to be turned into a backdrop for MAGA propaganda,” it stated.