Speaker unverified: belief

Transcript context

…Speaking of opportunity in America, let's talk about science, space, and technology. American Dynamism in Katherine Boyle's terms. You mentioned China competitiveness that you were involved in actually in the Financial Services Committee. I'd love to hear from you. Maybe the right way to start is you've said this before, plenty elsewhere, kind of what you see as the great political battle of our time and how it's not Republican versus Democrat. I don't think it is, though the activists inside of both parties think that's what it is. To me, I think we're at a crossroads in our country, but also globally. I think the breakdown is do you believe in American democracy or not? That's not a question of do you believe that democracy is working perfectly. Clearly, the answer to that is no. There are almost no people I know who think our government's working exactly the way that it should. We should fight for meaningful reforms to make sure it's more reflective of the people we serve, absolutely. When I say there are people who have lost faith in America and why I think the real divide is who believes in American democracy and not, is I think on both sides, what I've seen increasingly is people inside the parties. When things don't go their way, when they don't get the outcome they like, their immediate reaction is to destroy and tear down something. It could be a building, it could be law, could be the court, it could be anything. It's sort of the, take your ball and go home, this thing's totally broken, we need to burn it down and start over with something else. I see that on the left and I see it on the right. I think that's poison. It's poison for a whole host of reasons. One of which is I think we need to take a step back and remember how incredible the American idea and American democracy has been for the entire world. Prior to our founding, governments were not of ‘by and for the people.’ Governments were of ‘by and for the government.’ Like a monarch.…

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