Richard Grenell took the stage last night at the RNC and delivered perhaps the best speech of the night. In it, he executed a well deserved take-down of our foreign policy “expert class” while also hitting those who spied the Trump campaign. His defense of Trump’s “America First” outlook was also noteworthy.

Here’s the full speech before we get to the breakdown.

What an absolutely brutal speech from @RichardGrenell pic.twitter.com/eNgsnumtbJ

— Kyle Kashuv (@KyleKashuv) August 27, 2020

If you’ve read any of my work, you know that I often stray from tradition conservative thought on foreign policy. I do not see George W. Bush and his foreign policy establishment cohorts as moral beacons, nor do I think their failures can just be glossed over as simple mistakes. I’m also under no illusion that the Democrat foreign policy establishment is any different. Pay attention to what the anti-Trump, pro-Obama elements are saying now and you’ll see the two parties are mostly one in the same. That’s how you get 70 former Bush era foreign policy “experts” endorsing Biden.

Grenell holds no punches on this topic, pointing out the failures of Iraq and the Iran deal, but also noting just how wrong the “consensus” on China was and still is. He goes on to talk about how the decay of our cities and manufacturing occurred as naive, arrogant people sought to spread their influence in places that were never going to accept it. The contrast he’s trying to draw is clear, i.e. Trump as a leader who seeks first what’s best for his country. Grenell then hit back at the use of the term “nationalist” as an insult, saying that it’s ridiculous to expect a President to not put his country first. The term globalism made several appearances as the former Amb. to Germany made the case for an America First foreign policy.

It was the second half that really struck home though. Grenell pointed out the duplicity and deceitfulness of those who run our national security focused bureaucracies. He spoke directly about the surveillance of the Trump campaign, the lying to judges to get FISA warrants, and the over classification of anything that could expose what they were doing. Grenell even nailed Biden on unmasking Michael Flynn. This of course set the media into a frenzy of “fact-checks,” but Grenell doesn’t care, and that’s one of his strong suits.

In short, it was a near perfect speech, and while only 8 minutes long, he managed to concisely and completely destroy the foreign policy establishment and the games they’ve played for so many years. Grenell has a bright future ahead of him if he so chooses the path of politics. We need more men who are willing to speak truth directly, even when it pushes back on what conservatives are supposed to think about a topic.

(Please follow me on Twitter!!! @bonchieredstate)