The 1st #IACaucus campaign speech of @RealDonaldTrump (on 8/10/13)

As the 2016 Iowa Caucus campaign winds down, how about a Saturday morning rewind?  We go all the way back to the Family Leadership Summit in August of 2013.  Donald Trump was the closing speaker at the event, which was organized by The Family Leader. The first voice on the recording is that of Bob Vander Plaats, the CEO of The Family Leader (who endorsed Ted Cruz a few weeks ago). When Trump starts speaking, you are going to recognize the cadence and the issues Trump is talking about now on the campaign trail.

AUDIO of Trump’s appearance, 30:00

Here are some of the highlights from that 2013 Trump speech:

• “What’s going on with the country we love?…We need leadership that’s smart,” Trump said. (He said this shortly after having his childhood confirmation picture shown on the big screen that loomed over the stage so the crowd could see it.)
• “Our country is in serious trouble. We have problems like we have not had before…The Republican Party is in serious trouble,” Trump said.
• “Our country is in trouble, but our country has tremendous potential with the right leadership,” Trump said.
• “You need border security. You have to have it. It’s like a sieve…Either you have a country or you don’t…and having a country starts with security at your borders,” Trump said, and was interrupted with applause.
• “They manipulate better than anybody has ever manipulated a currency ever,” Trump said, in a section of the speech about the trade imbalance with China. “…Why aren’t we taxing them so that their product becomes more expensive?…They don’t think our leaders are very smart. It’s a problem. It’s a problem.” The crowd applauded.
• “There’s such a lack of intelligence,” Trump said, as he continued to talk about the trade imbalance with China and other countries. “You know, I’d almost say it’s either dishonesty because these countries and these companies have the right lobbyists or it’s pure stupidity. Probably it’s a combination of both.” (You can hear mild laughter from the crowd at this.)
• “I have, like, a slogan: ‘Make America Great Again’ — I have to add the word ‘again’ because, you know, in 2016 China will become the great economic power of the world,” Trump said in the fall of 2013. “…So whoever is president in 2016, you’d better move fast…It will be a very, very sad day to me and I think to a lot of other people when that happens.”
• “The Republicans have to get smart…I am a Republican, proudly, and I am a conservative Republican,” Trump said, to applause and then he was interrupted with ever louder applause and cheers as he delivered this litany:  “And by the way, I am prolife, traditional marriage and Second Amendment 100 percent. I mean, let’s face it.  I had to throw that in. You know, it’s amazing. They want to take away guns, but they’re not going to take ’em away from the bad guys.”
• At the 27:00 minute mark, Trump starts talking about 2016. “The Republicans have to do what’s right. If they don’t pick the right person and I mean the right person — perfect, it’s got to be the perfect person — they are going to get drubbed in the 2016 election and that’s not going to be a good thing because this country has to be brought back from the edge,” Trump said. “…The Republicans have to get very tough and very smart and they have to do it fast.”