Pence Channels Hit Movie 'Independence Day' To Rally Blue-Collar Walmart Workers
Vice President Mike Pence delivered an “Independence Day”-style speech to the workers at a Walmart distribution center in Virginia on Wednesday, pledging the United States will come back from the coronavirus pandemic “stronger and better than ever before.”
The vice president, who is head of President Donald Trump’s coronavirus task force, was introduced by Walmart CEO Doug McMillion at the Gordonsville facility, about 20 miles northeast of Charlottesville.
“Thank you for doing a great job, for keeping food on the table for the American people. You’re making an incredible difference here,” Pence said.
The vice president also expressed gratitude for farmers who are working “around the clock to keep the food supply rolling.”
“But I want you know, whether it’s truck drivers, whether it’s the people working here throughout the distribution center, we know you’re on the front lines, and the fact that you’re showing up every day, you’re rolling your sleeves up and you’re doing the work says an awful lot about each and every one of you, about the way you love your neighbors and the way you love your country,” Pence said.
“You’re the people that are making the difference on the ground,” he continued. “It’s our health care workers and it’s the people that are keeping the supply chain rolling … that make it possible not just to meet this moment, but to overcome this moment.”
“You’re keeping food on the table of America. And we’re grateful.”@VP @Mike_Pence and U.S. Agriculture @SecretarySonny Perdue tour a VA @Walmart Distribution Center and meet with employees. pic.twitter.com/lGwI9Tu3v8
— The Hill (@thehill) April 1, 2020
Pence went on to express confidence in the ultimate outcome in the coronavirus fight.
“We’re going to get through this,” he said. “We’re going to get through this by working together and every American doing their part.”
The vice president concluded, “God bless you. Keep up that great work. And here’s to that day in the future when we put the coronavirus in the past and come back stronger and better than ever before.
“When that day comes you’ll know right here … you played your part.”
Your sparks have never shined brighter. To our over 1 million heroes across the country, we thank you. #TeamWalmart pic.twitter.com/4BRugo7azN
— Walmart (@Walmart) March 26, 2020
Pence’s remarks were in ways reminiscent of Bill Pullman’s performance as President Thomas Whitmore in the 1996 blockbuster film “Independence Day.”
“We’re fighting for our right to live, to exist,” Whitmore said. “And should we win the day, the Fourth of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day when the world declared in one voice, ‘We will not go quietly into the night, we will not vanish without a fight.’
“We’re going to live on. We’re going to survive. Today we celebrate our Independence Day!”
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