By Illinois Review
On Monday, over 100 grassroots conservatives gathered at the Drake Hotel in Oakbrook to meet legendary Republican strategist and political icon Roger Stone, who has served as a senior campaign aide to three Republican presidents – Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump – and hear his thoughts about the upcoming presidential election.
The event was hosted by Jim Pfaff, president of The Conservative Caucus – the oldest national grassroots organization in the United States, with help from Illinois Review editor-in-chief Mark Vargas, and organized by grassroots leader Jacqueline Garretson Abene – was a fundraiser in support of TCC, as the group accelerates it’s national fundraising efforts and directs resources into key swing states ahead of the November election.
In the Spring of 2020, Stone asked Vargas to assist with his legal team’s efforts to secure a presidential commutation from then President Donald Trump. In February of 2020, Stone was convicted of lying to Congress and sentenced to three years in prison as part of the Hillary Clinton manufactured Russian Hoax investigation. But on July 10, 2020, President Trump commuted Stone’s prison sentence, just days before he was to report to prison, and on December 23, 2020, Stone was granted a full pardon.
In 2016, Netflix launched a documentary called Get Me Roger Stone and featured an interview with Donald Trump, and it’s been viewed by tens of millions of people from around the world. Stone and Trump have a long history together. In 1978, Stone first met Trump as a campaign aide to then Gov. Ronald Reagan, who was running for president against Jimmy Carter. And the two have been working together ever since.
During his speech in Oakbrook, which included special guests Gary Rabine, Nick Richmond, Scott Kaspar, Drake Hotel owners Jim and Telly Nagle, and legendary Chicago radio host Mancow, Stone spoke about the morning of January 25, 2019, when 29 fully armed FBI agents and SWAT Team members stormed his home during a predawn raid to arrest him – pointing two assault rifles at his 75-year old wife as she lay sleeping in their bed. That morning, as Stone reflected on, was a “nightmare.”
The political icon also shared with the captive audience how prosecutors tried to intimidate him with life in prison if he did not cooperate in their sham investigation of Trump – an investigation of made up crimes. And in a attorney’s meeting with anti-Trump prosecutors, Stone said he had a message delivered through his personal lawyer: “go to hell.”
Stone then told the audience that what they did to him, including gagging him, which prevented Stone from defending himself against false accusations, “was the template for what they just did to Donald Trump. The exact template.”
Regarding the upcoming presidential election, Stone is convinced that we can win it, saying,
“So can we win? Yes. The answer is we can win. Will we win? Yes. We will win. And there are a lot of pieces to this. Election integrity is a crucial element. First of all, registering and getting out as big a vote as possible is a crucial element. 78 percent of evangelical Christians voted in 2016. From 78 percent to 63 percent in 2020. We cannot have that again. We’re making deep inroads into the African American community, into the Hispanic community, among younger voters. I’ve seen the polling. This is not a conspiracy theory. This is a truth.”
The GOP strategist also discussed his faith and the role it played in guiding him through his political persecution – the darkest times in his life. He also mentioned that this election isn’t about ideas or policies – it’s a battle of good versus evil.
“I really believe what we face today is more than just a political fight. It’s a spiritual battle. It’s very definitely a spiritual battle. The Democratic Party of Harry Truman and John F. Kennedy and Richard Daley – that Democratic Party is dead. It’s gone. It’s been hijacked by a bunch of Marxist progressive lunatics who want to take our children and change their gender. This is indeed a spiritual battle.”
Stone also took a shot at establishment Republicans across the country who lack the backbone to stand up and fight for conservative grassroots principles – noting that they are indeed a roadblock to Republican victories.
“But our biggest problem is not the left wing Democrats. Not really. Our biggest problem are the gutless, feckless, weak kneed, lily livered, cowardly, white wine swelling, country club establishment Republicans who have neither the balls or the guts to fight for America.”
The speech concluded with Stone encouraging the room of grassroots conservatives to never give up and that together – we can help elect Donald Trump as president and “restore our country to greatness.”
Just minutes before the event ended, Illinois Republican State Central Committee member Aaron Del Mar arrived – only moments after the SSC meeting had adjourned, to share with the group that establishment Republican Mark Shaw had been officially removed as vice chairman of the IL GOP – welcomed news to the room full of grassroots who had worked hard to see his removal. A fitting end to an already historic evening.
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