As the spat between Texas Governor Greg Abbott and federal officials over the situation at the southern border peters out, a massive trucker convoy is still headed toward the border to make the voices of ordinary Americans heard in a peaceful and productive way. The idea seems to have caught on in the minds of many, with nearly three-quarters of a million vehicles expected to participate in the trucker convoy protest.
As background, a press release put out by the organizers of the convoy provided, “A coalition of concerned Americans from across the nation is proud to announce the formation of the Southern Border Convoy and multi-city rallies scheduled for February 3, 2024. Acknowledging the profound threat to every American and that our national security is at risk!!”
Further, the group’s website called for all manner of people to get involved. It petitioned “all active & retired law enforcement and military, Veterans, Mama Bears, elected officials, business owners, ranchers, truckers, bikers, media and LAW ABIDING, freedom-loving Americans” to gather for and participate in a “peaceful assembly and prayer.”
Then, after the convoy picked up some steam in the media, U.S. Rep. Keith Self, a Republican from Texas, appeared on Fox Business to discuss the matter. Doing so, he spoke with host Maria Bartiromo on her show “Mornings with Maria” about how many truckers aim to show up and what their values are.
Introducing the topic, Bartiromo said, “The host, Let’s talk about this trucker convoy, you brought this up just a moment ago. So this is called ‘Take Our Border Back.’ It kicks off Monday. So you’ve got multiple starts. You’ve got trucks leaving from Virginia Beach that are going to go through Texas, Arizona, California. On the website, it describes the vent event as a peaceful assembly, encouraging all freedom-loving and law-abiding Americans to attend.”
Continuing, Bartiromo noted why the congressman was being asked about the matter, saying, “I saw that you posted on X, to raise awareness about that you obviously just mentioned it a moment ago. I understand that you’re going to be speaking once they get to Eagle Pass. I also see that you know that it’s gonna go through Yuma, it’s gonna go to San Ysidro, California as well. 700,000 vehicles. That’s the prediction here. How do you keep that well, peaceful, and on track? That’s a lot of trucks.”
Responding, Rep. Stitt told her, “Well, the people that have organized this are the same people that went to California to DC with the truckers. I understand we’re going to be joined by Canadian truckers. So these people are committed to a peaceful demonstration that we’ve had enough. The American people have had enough. We’re demanding that the Biden administration do its job, enforce the laws on the books, and secure our border.”
Continuing, he added, “8 million people during the Biden administration. That’s more than the population of Ohio. This is the time for us to rise up as the American people and demand that our president do his job. This should be a peaceful movement of the American people joined by other nations if they want to come this is the Canadian farmers, truckers. This is the German farmers. This is the French farmers. This is the Dutch farmers. This is a movement well beyond the United States that people are simply tired of the overreach of their federal governments and we’re pushing back. Now is the time.”