MILWAUKEE — Fresh out of his four-month prison stint, ex-Trump White House trade adviser Peter Navarro sought to stoke fear that Democrats are coming for “you” and “your kids.”
During his address at the Republican National Convention, which drew one of the loudest applauses from the audience so far during the four-day gathering, Navarro, 75, recounted his recent run-in with the law.
“This morning, I did walk out of a federal prison,” he began, stoking a thunderous showering of cheers from the audience. “Joe Biden and his Department of Injustice put me there.
“If they can come for me. If they can come for Donald Trump. Be careful. They will come for you, too,” he warned while making a clarion call for the GOP to control all three branches of government.
Navarro proceeded to air out a litany of grievances against the justice system and decried the “scam Jan. 6 Committee” which issued the subpoena that prompted his defiance and then conviction.
“They demanded that I break the law because they have no respect for it,” he said.
Federal prosecutors and the courts have said otherwise. Back in 2022, the since-defunct House Select Jan. 6 Committee subpoenaed him for documents and testimony pertaining to its investigation of efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Navarro refused to comply, claiming executive privilege precluded him from cooperating with the panel. Executive privilege grants a president the right to keep certain documents and information from Congress.
As a result, Congress voted to hold him in contempt and the Justice Department opted to pursue charges against him. He was found guilty of two contempt of Congress charges on Sept. 7, 2023, and later sentenced on Jan. 25.
Navarro, 75, reported to a Miami federal prison back in March after multiple failed attempts to thwart his prison sentence.
During his speech, Navarro sought to paint a picture of everyday Americans being under siege by the government and Democrats.
He decried the prosecutions of former President Donald Trump and Steve Bannon, at one point saying they fired “literal bullets at Donald Trump.”
“Make no mistake, they’re already coming for you,” he claimed. “I’m sitting in prison and this just eats me: Democrats are coming for your kids.”
Navarro cited the spread of gender ideology in classrooms across the country as evidence.
“I went to prison so you won’t have to. I am your wake-up call,” he added.
Near the end of his speech, Navarro explained that before he entered prison, his fiancee, Bonnie, told him, “We got this.” She later took the stage — wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat — and hugged him.
“This is my beautiful girl. She did the time with me. That’s what these freaking Democrats don’t understand. They do this to our families,” he said.
“Do not let up,” he pleaded to the crowd before concluding his speech.
