More than 400 AMAC members and concerned patriots gathered at the America First Warehouse this weekend on Long Island for AMAC’s third “Bootcamp for Boomers.” Attendees heard from a number of high-profile leaders in the conservative movement, including former Congressman Lee Zeldin, actor and evangelist Kirk Cameron, Just the News CEO John Solomon, TV commentator Tammy Bruce, , and AMAC CEO Rebecca Weber.
AMAC’s “Bootcamp for Boomers” is an election-year series focusing on the most pressing issues facing the country. It is designed to empower citizens with the skills and knowledge they need to drive change in their communities.
AMAC’s Bootcamp was held in the heart of a particularly important political battleground that will help determine which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives come next January. As Rebecca Weber wrote in an opinion piece for the New York Post earlier this month, “the Republican House majority runs through New York,” with the GOP facing three crucial contests on Long Island alone.
Just the News CEO John Solomon kicked things off this weekend with a message about the challenges facing the United States today and the importance of organizations like AMAC in addressing those challenges. “Every word I use as a reporter, every time I’m on TV, every interview I give, I want to make sure that we make our best effort to save this great country, to pass it on to another generation like it was passed on to us,” Solomon said. “That is what AMAC does. That is what AMAC stands for. It is an extraordinary group that I have been blessed to work with. It is filled with patriots. It is filled with enthusiasm. It is filled with innovation.”
AMAC President and CEO Rebecca Weber spoke next, sharing the story of how her father, the late Dan Weber, started AMAC on Long Island 15 years ago, and why AMAC’s mission is more important now than ever. “At AMAC, we are so proud to say that we wear our traditional values like a badge of honor,” Weber said. “To all of our AMAC members, thank you so much – I am so proud that you are all part of this great movement to win back America once and for all.”
“It’s going to take all of us here working together to stop the left’s socialist march,” Weber continued. “We are living in times when people are calling evil good, and good evil.”
Weber next pivoted to emphasizing the importance of New York in securing a GOP House majority. “As we saw in 2022, victory in the House runs right here through Long Island,” Weber said. “Last election cycle, we flipped two out of three swing districts. This year, let’s win all three,” she said as the crowd erupted in applause. She encouraged attendees to talk to their friends and neighbors and make a case to them on the important issues like immigration, inflation, crime, and safety.
Following Weber’s remarks, Attorney and Commentator Paul Ingrassia, former Trump trade policy advisor Peter Navarro and Robert Charles, AMAC National Spokesman and former Assistant Secretary of State, participated in a panel discussion on the left’s lawfare moderated by John Solomon. “What we’re on the precipice of in this country is a wholesale communist revolution. We are on the verge of losing our freedom, and that is truly what is on the ballot this November 5,” Ingrassia said.
Following brief remarks from Navarro about the importance of conservative political action and the stakes of the 2024 election, Tammy Bruce moderated a panel on the next generation of conservative activism with Ingrassia, AMAC correspondent Matt Kane, and conservative operativeVish Burra. All three panelists emphasized the importance of bringing younger people into the conservative movement by leveraging the technology and platforms young people use the most, like social media, and explaining how conservative policies will build a better future than liberal policies.
The third panel focused on border security. Moderated by journalist Bianca De LaGarza, the panel featured a stellar lineup of experts, including former Acting Commissioner of U.S. Border Patrol Mark Morgan, host of “Law and Border” on Real America’s Voice Ben Bergquam, and Director for Homeland Security and Immigration at the America First Policy Institute Rob Law. When asked about how the nation got to its current crisis, Morgan responded simply, “We got here because Donald Trump is no longer president.” That sentiment was echoed by the other panelists, who provided harrowing insights into the full scope of the border crisis and the threat it poses to the country. “It was intention,” Morgan added. “It was not because of incompetence. It was intentional.” Bergquam described his extensive experience as a reporter at the border and recounted heart-wrenching encounters with migrants who have been trafficked, abused, and subjected to cartel brutality.
Tammy Bruce took the stage next for remarks describing how the left has weaponized fear to obtain political power. “The left has made fear chronic,” she said. “We must demand a better way, as opposed to adapting and coping.”
Actor and Evangelist Kirk Cameron spoke next, bringing a message of hope about the future of America and in particular Christian faith in America. Kirk described how, in his travels around the country, he has witnessed “an attitude of discouragement that is descending toward hopelessness and despair because of the evil forces deteriorating the fabric of America because they think we’ve crossed some sort of line as a country and there’s no coming back.”
“I personally think that kind of hopelessness and despair is completely out of place for God’s faithful followers,” Kirk continued. “He has given us a birthright of courage and a faith that can work itself out in love that can realign the nation with good and Godly values. What if this current cultural setback is really a Divine setup for a spiritual comeback led by the family of faith?”
Following an update from AMAC Action on the important initiatives underway to prepare for Election Day, Lee Zeldin took the stage for his keynote address. Along with excoriating the Biden-Harris administration for their policy failures, Zeldin took the opportunity to encourage Republicans to utilize early and mail-in voting to maximize turnout among low-propensity conservative voters. As he explained, while Republicans may have legitimate concerns about certain election practices, refusing to use them to bank votes as Democrats do puts Republicans at a severe disadvantage – and Republicans must first win elections to change laws.
Zeldin also pushed back against Kamala Harris’ effort to remake her record. “Every time Kamala Harris keeps talking about what she would do if she is elected president – on day one she will do this, on day one she will do that – no, day one was three and a half years ago,” Zeldin said. “And you haven’t done anything you said you would do to fix the mess that you created.”
“The top of the ticket is key,” Zeldin continued. “But right here in New York, we are a battleground. New York will decide whether or not this is a Republican House or a Democrat House. The magic formula is telling people what they are investing in by voting Republican.”
“If we fight hard enough, doing everything in our power, on November 5, if we make it too big to rig, we are going to send a Republican House and a Republican Senate to go work with the next America First administration in the White House.” Zeldin concluded, bringing the audience to its feet in a standing ovation. “We will have another greatest night of TV because Donald J. Trump, the 45th President of the United States, will be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States to save America.”
