Sheriff David Clarke tells conservatives: 'Go forth to stand and fight'

Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. told conservatives Saturday to hold fast to values handed down from the nation's founding fathers, resist critics and help President Donald Trump enact his agenda.

Lacing the speech with quotes from the likes of Ronald Reagan, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, Clarke's 29-minute address closed the Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington, D.C.

"The choices we need make at this moment are opposed by entrenched interests," Clarke said in the live-streamed speech. "They attack our motives, they assail our beliefs, they decry our notion of justice. They proclaim the high ground of virtue and threaten upheaval if not given their way."

"What will history show we did with our moment of truth? Did we stand and fight or did we cut and run?" Clarke asked.

He concluded: "This is my challenge to you. These are your marching orders. Go forth to stand and fight."

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In many ways, this was one of the more important speeches given by Clarke, who has raised his political profile in recent years with frequent appearances on cable television and unyielding support of Trump.

Clarke, who runs in Milwaukee County as a Democrat, could still land a spot working in the new administration. If this was a tryout, he took few chances as he read from a prepared text.

He backed Trump, stood by Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and spoke of the "rule of law."

The speech likely helped Clarke with the roll out of his new book, "Cop Under Fire." And it probably didn't hurt the groups trying to draft Clarke to run for U.S. Senate in 2018 against Democrat Tammy Baldwin.

Clarke praised the Trump administration's new directives to tighten up enforcement against illegal immigrants, saying "no new laws were created, no group was put at risk without affording them due process."

He said the rights of citizens were not imperiled.

"Instead, we merely restated the laws that were what they have been and voiced an intent to see them upheld fairly, impartially and a haste borne of necessity," he said.

Clarke said those who oppose "the rule of law and the applicability of the law on immigration," offer "no vision, only lawlessness, obstruction and chaos."

Clarke extolled the virtues of small government and liberty.

"Freedom, my conservative friends is no small a la carte side dish at a restaurant. It is the main event, the heavyweight title fight, the reason we dress and come to the party," Clarke said.

Clarke said that with Trump he sensed "a pride in our nation and a voice to that pride that I have found lacking for the last eight years."

"We were constantly told by former President Obama that America needed to humble itself," Clarke said. "He told us humility is a virtue. But false humility is an affront to the senses. And pride in the grace and might of our nation has never been a sin."

Clarke spoke against the mainstream media for allegedly mocking Trump's inaugural message. "They desire to convince we the people that his vision is dark and feral. No, it's not," Clarke said.

Clarke added: "President Trump reminded us, we will face challenges, we will confront hardships, but we will get the job done."