Trump Delivers ’Outsider’ Message at Liberty U

(13 May 2017) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: AP CLIENTS ONLY POOL - AP CLIENTS ONLY Lynchburg, Virginia - 13 May 2017 1. Mid of Trump approaching stage 2. SOUNDBITE (English) President Donald Trump, NO SUPER “What will future Americans say we did in our brief time right here on earth. Did we take risks? Did we dare to defy expectations? Did we challenge accepted wisdom, and take on established systems? I think I did. But we all did, and we’re all doing it. But did we just go along with convention. Swim downstream, so easily with the current.“ BLACK FRAMES 3. SOUNDBITE (English) President Donald Trump, NO SUPER “Remember this, nothing worth doing ever, ever, ever, came easy. Following your convictions means you must be willing to face criticism from those who lack the same courage to do what is right, and they know what is right. But they don’t have the courage, or the guts, or the stamina to take it and to do it.“ BLACK FRAMES 4. SOUNDBITE (English) President Donald Trump, NO SUPER “In my short time in Washington, I’ve seen first-hand how the system is broken. A small group of failed voices who think they know everything and understand everyone want to tell everyone else how to live, and what to do and how to think. But you aren’t going to let other people tell you what to believe. BLACK FRAMES 5. SOUNDBITE (English) President Donald Trump, NO SUPER “When the pilgrims landed at Plymouth, they prayed. When the Founders wrote the Declaration of Independence, they invoked our creator four times because in America, we don’t worship government, we worship God.“ (Applause) BLACK FRAMES 6. SOUNDBITE (English) President Donald Trump, NO SUPER “You have to do what you love. You have to do what you love. I’ve seen so many people, they’re forced through so many reasons, sometimes including family, to go down a path they don’t want to go down. To go down a path that leads to something they don’t love, that they don’t enjoy. You have to do what you love, or you most likely won’t be very successful at it.“ 7. Trump shaking hands after speech STORYLINE: Delivering his first commencement address, President Donald Trump on Saturday urged graduates of a Christian university to follow their convictions but to also be willing to stand up to criticism from others who don’t have the courage to do what is right. Trump kept to an upbeat message in his first extended public appearance since firing James Comey as FBI director this week, saying the lawyer and veteran prosecutor was an incompetent “showboat“ and “grandstander.“ The timing of Comey’s dismissal raised questions about Trump’s decision, as the FBI continues its investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 presidential campaign that ended with Trump’s election. Trump didn’t mention the fallout over Comey’s firing in his remarks to graduates of Liberty University, a Christian school whose leader was one of Trump’s earliest and most outspoken supporters during the campaign. Drawing parallels to what was widely viewed as a longshot bid by Trump for the presidency, he urged the more than 18,000 graduates to fight for what they believe in and to “challenge entrenched interests and failed power structures.“ A crowd of more than double that size filled an outdoor stadium on campus to welcome just the second sitting president to address the university’s commencement. “Remember this: Nothing worth doing ever, ever, ever came easy,“ Trump said. “Following your convictions means you must be willing to face criticism from those who lack the same courage to do what is right, and they know what is right but they don’t have the courage or the guts or the stamina to take it and to do it.“ =========================================================== You can license this story through AP Archive: Find out more about AP Archive: