'It's An Epidemic': Vivek Ramaswamy Decries 'Wokeism' In America | 2023 Rewind

we're going to figure out what's going on in our country right the mystery story we're going to talk about today is why we see the rise of different secular religions in America right at the same time in our National History the first secular cult we see in America is this new Dogma that says your identity is based on the color of your skin that if you're black you're disadvantaged that if you're white you're privileged no matter your economic background or your upbringing your race governs who you are and what you can achieve in life it's what Don Lemon told me on the stage when before he got kicked off out of CNN the last interview he did with me he said that you can't say it if you don't have black skin now good news for him is they can after after that that was a good that was a good result from that interview so I I was happy to play a role in that but but it's not just him right this is a pervasive Dogma in our culture congresswoman Ayanna Presley of the squad she famously said it a couple years ago when she said we don't want any more Brown faces that don't want to be a brown voice end quote now I don't fit her description of what counts as a brown voice but there's a really toxic philosophy embedded in there and it's this when your race goes from being about your skin color to being about the content of the ideas you're allowed to have then any disagreement with those ideas automatically makes you a racist and there is no greater damnation in modern America than to be called a racist so when given the choice between pledging allegiance to this new religion and being tarred with that Scarlet R everyday Americans are choosing to bend the knee and that's created this new Culture of Fear in our country fear of losing your jobs fear of your kids getting a bad grade in School fear of becoming an outcast in your own community so that that's the first of these secular Cults in America I could go on about it but I'm going I'm going to make a point here there's the rise of a second secular cult right at the same time this is the cult of gender ideology this one says that there's so many little letters in it lgbtqia they just put a little Plus at the end of it so many other letters to keep track of this one says that the sex of the person you're attracted to is hardwired on the day you're born yet now your own biological sex is totally fluid over the course of your life these two things can't make sense if you're applying logic but if you're subscribing to a secular cult then you can believe these things at the same time now right at the time you have the cult of gender ideology have ra racial wokeism now we see the rise of this new cult now this one looks like it's here to stay unless we do something about it and we will that is the climate cult in America all right that is this new cult that says we have to stop burning carbon here in the United States or carbon emissions of any kind that we have to adopt electric vehicles at all cost even as we ship those same carbon emissions to places like China that doesn't make sense if supposedly you're addressing global warming the same cult is hostile to nuclear energy the best known form of carbon free energy production known to mankind so the question here today is do you think it's a coincidence that we see the rise of these different secular religions at the same time it is not these are symptoms of a deeper cancer in our country in recent weeks I offered unprecedented detail on exactly how we would shut down the administrative State the anatomy of how we would dismantle the US Department of Education and reorganize some of those functions into the Department of Labor under vocational training while shutting down the rest giving money back to the States and to the people how we would shut down the FBI taking those 35,000 employees and breaking them into two categories the 20,000 who actually should find honest work in the private sector and get out of government versus the 15,000 special agents and investigators in the front lines who could be reorganized into the US Marshals the drug enforcement agency and the financial crimes enforcement Network that haven't been politicized in the same way as the FBI I've explained the legal Authority that we would use to get that done on a strong constitutional basis that gives the US president that power that's the stage of the campaign we're moving into and one of the issues I will be most focused on is the effects of shutting down those regulations in that regulatory state on stimulating our economy that's something that affects all Americans black or white Democrat or Republican and something that as a businessman myself I have a deep understanding of how to actually address the numbers on the surface are deceiving Biden says that unemployment is low it's only 3% well the reality is the unique challenges we face today are different they're on the side of productivity on the side of actual GDP growth the real problem for businesses today is that we have more job openings than we do have people in this country so the facial unemployment number is the wrong number to look at we need to get to the essence of how we actually fill those vacancies in the workforce stimulate economic growth actually stimulate productivity in this country not through more hiring in the government but through more productivity in the private sector in the months we're going to be getting into the details of the how the focus on not just our cultural cancers in this country but how those cultural cancers have infected our economy to make us less productive why when we're less productive we Prosper less as Americans and why when we Prosper less we lose our sense of national pride we wonder why young people are no longer proud to be an American one of the secrets is people tend to be more proud of a country where when we're all making more money in that country I'm going to be offering a sweeping economic vision of how we lead our nation forward back to Prosperity back to four plus percent GDP growth that's a big part of how we revive our national identity that's the phase of the campaign we're now entering you now know me you now understand my broad Vision but it's now my job to tell you exactly how we will get that job done and my commitment is that we will lead the way in this race as we already are in offering unprecedented detail and specifics that's against the advice of my political advisers they tell me to dumb it down to keep it simple I view it the other way I think our Republican primary base is incredibly smart incredibly hungry for that detail I'll respect the voters and I hope that you'll respect me back thank you and I'll tell you I'll tell you what's going on in our generation right Millennial what's going on with the Millennials we are hungry for a cause we are starved for purpose and meaning and identity at a time in our national history when the things that used to fill our void Faith patriotism belief in God Nation the things we talked about when those have disappeared that leaves a moral vacuum in its wake and I think that that presents our opportunity not speaking to conservatives I'm speaking to Americans that is our opportunity to step up and to fill that void with a vision of what it means to be an American today you ask people my age that question what does it mean to be an American try it you had a blank stare in response like a deer in a headlights reaction that is the vacuum that is the void and and for a long time especially in the conservative Movement we have been running from something now is Our Moment to actually start running to something to our vision of what it means to be a citizen of this nation what does it mean to be American to me it means we believe in the ideals that set this nation into motion 250 years AG go ideals like meritocracy and the pursuit of Excellence the idea that you get ahead in this country not on the color of your skin but on the content of your character and your contributions that is why I've said I will end affirmative action in America it's been a cancer on our national soul and we are done with it what does it mean to be American it means we believe in the rule of law I say this as the kid of legal immigrants to this country we should be open to immigrants like them but your First Act of entering this country cannot break the law that is why we will use our own military not to secure somebody else's border somewhere else but to secure our own Southern Border in this country in the United States of America what does it mean to be an American means we believe in this radical dream that our founding fathers had 250 years ago means we believe in a radical dream that Richard Nixon had half a century ago a radical dream that I have as a citizen today that the people who we elect to run the government ought to be the ones who actually run the government not the Deep State managerial bureaucracy that actually runs the show today that is why I've said that you know what if I can't be your president for more than 8 years and collect a paycheck from you all the hardworking taxpayers for that long which I think is a good thing then neither should any of those Federal bureaucrats reporting into me either 8-year term limits for the bureaucracy over Civil Service protections that is what it means to revive accountability in government if there are government agencies that should not exist or which have become so corrupt that they have abandoned their original purpose from the FBI to the IRS to the ATF to the CDC to the nuclear Regulatory Commission to the US Department of Education we will not just reform them we will get in there and shut it down that is how we revive the Integrity of a constitutional republic these are not Democrat ideas or republican ideas these are not black ideas or white ideas these are fundamentally American ideals that we fought a revolution for in 1776 where we said we the people create a government that is accountable to us not the other way around that we the people settle our differences through through free speech and open debate in the Public Square where every Citizen's voice and vote counts equally not in the back of Palace halls in Old World England not in the back of Palace halls in the back of a three-letter government agency building in Washington DC or black Rock's corner office on Park Avenue in Manhattan we the people settle these differences in a republic the thing that motivates me is that you know what November nober 2024 that is not a destination that is the starting line the destination for us in our next leap will be January 2033 when I leave office and we dropped the mic I'll tell my two sons my older son he won't even be in high school yet I want to tell them what we actually did I want to tell you all what did we actually do there not a lot of US president can do but there's a few things that we can do actually without asking anybody for permission I will tell you that we no longer have four branches of government we're back down to three okay that we laid off properly 75% of the federal employee headcount in Washington DC 75% can go home and find honest work I will tell you that we are no longer dependent on our enemy communist China for our modern way of life we are independent in the United States of America I will tell you that our economy is once again growing at the fastest rate in the developed world because we Embrace capitalism instead of apologizing for our growth and most importantly I will tell you that my two sons and their generation that they are once again proud to be citizens of this nation I believe that is possible I believe we together together can create a country that they can be proud of again for a long time we have been taught I've been taught grew up into it for the last 20 years to celebrate our diversity and our differences so much that we forgot all of the ways that we are really just the same as Americans bound by a common Creed that set this nation into motion 250 years ago I believe deep in my bones those ideals still exist and I believe that we together can revive them e plebus Unum from many one that is the dream that won the American Revolution that is the dream dream that reunited us after the Civil War that is the dream that won US two world wars in the cold war that is the dream that still gives hope to the Free World and if we can revive that dream over group identity and victimhood and grievance then nobody in the world not a nation not a corporation not a virus is going to defeat us that is what a American exceptionalism is all about and that is what we will revive to save this great nation and the way we do it thank you it's good to be back appreciate the warm welcome so listen we're going to have a little bit of little bit of fun tonight we're not going to get angry about this but I'm going to take us through a little bit of an inquiry to figure out what's going on in our country right now right on one hand we see the rise of these different sec religions we're here to talk about true Faith but I'm going to go somewhere else first we see the rise of these secular religions what I'll call Cults in the United States the first of them is a cult of racial wokeism I wrote a book about this a few years ago a new cult that says your identity is based on your skin color that if you're black you're inherently disadvantaged that if you're you're white you're inherently privileged no matter your economic background or your upbringing your race determines who you are and what you can achieve in life now this is a little bit odd because that runs counter to what Martin Luther King told us in the civil rights movement that we wanted to be judged not on the color of our skin but on the content of our character you can't believe both of those two things at once and so that's a little bit of a contradiction but you can believe them if you're subscribing to a religious cult so right around the same time we see the rise of this Cult of racial wokeism we see the rise of a different belief system this one's the cult of gender ideology in the United States this has so many letters lgbtq i a they just put a little Plus at the end just to include the rest of the alphabet this one has some interesting and we're not going to be angry about it because we sometimes our anger clouds our judgment if we want to get to the bottom of what's going on we have to see it with Clarity this one says the sex of the person you're attracted to is hardwired on the day you're born because it had to be in order for gay rights to be civil rights but now also says that your own biological sex is totally fluid over the course of your life again you can't believe these two things at once and then you go even one step further there is no gay gene but there are two sex chromosomes 2x you're a woman X and A Y you're a man right so you can't believe these two things at the same time if you're applying principles of reason or logic but you can if you're subscribing to a secular cult so you got racial wokeism you've got gender ideology then at the same time you see now the rise of this third cult in the United States The Cult of the climate that says we have to abandon carbon emissions at all cost in the United States even as we're perfectly fine shifting those same carbon emissions to places like China when they tell us it was supposedly about global warming and then you see the same people who are opposed to carbon emissions in the United States are also the ones who are most opposed to nuclear energy the greatest form of carbon- free energy production known to mankind these are contradictions so I could go on all night we could go one secular cult after another but that's not my point my point in raising this is to ask a deeper question what the heck is going on in our country that we see the rise of these very different secular Cults at the same time here's the answer we're in the middle of a national identity crisis right now Faith patriotism hard work family these things have disappeared and that leaves a moral vacuum in its wake and when you have a black hole that runs that deep that is when the poison fills the void I say this to you as a relatively young person doing what I'm doing now I'm 38 years old I'm a millennial I was born in 1985 I'll tell you speaking as a member of my generation what's going on we are hungry for a cause we are starved for purpose and meaning and identity at a point in our national history when the things that used to fill that void belief in God belief in country belief in self these things have disappeared and when you have a black hole in your heart that is when the poison fills the void here's the actual secret it almost doesn't matter what the poison is actually I've made this mistake over the last several years I wrote my first book woke Inc wrote a second book about victimhood culture it's like playing a game of whack-a-mole you get the wokeism down here you got some transgenderism over there got that down cism over here got that down climatism is up again globalism it's it's an endless cycle but do you think it's a coincidence wokeism transgenderism climatism cism globalism depression anxiety fentanyl suicide these are symptoms of a deeper void as the old saying goes if you have a hold the size of God in your heart and God does not fill it something else will instead the same can be said of pledging allegiance to the flag of this nation don't pledge allegiance to the American flag you're going to pledge allegiance to a different flag instead get into this we're in the middle of a war right now we are in the middle of a cold cultural Civil War in the United States and you cannot win a war unless you first know that you're in one this is not a war between black and white as the media would teach you to believe it is not a war between man and woman or gay and straight or even Democrat and Republican it is a war between one side who loves the ideals of this country and the ideals that set this nation into motion who believes that all men are created equal endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights among these life liberty and the pursuit of happiness who believes that you get ahead in the United States not on the color of your skin but on the content of your character and your contribution who believe in the American dream the idea that you get ahead in the United States with your own hard work your own commitment your own dedication and that you are free to speak your mind at every step of the way most of us in these countries share our common ideals in common that is one side of this war and on the other side we have a fringe minority that has the current Democrat Party in a Chokehold who believes that your identity is based on your genetics your race your gender your sexual orientation that if you're black you're inherently disadvantaged that if you're white you're inherently privileged no matter your economic background or your upbringing your race your gender and your sexuality determine who you are and what you can achieve in life it believes we must fog ourselves for our success in this country bending the knee to this new Cult of climate change that we have to stop carbon emissions here in the United States even as we're perfectly fine shifting those carbon emissions to places like China who will say that it is racist to defend our own border with our own military but it's perfectly fine sending our own military to defend somebody else's border halfway around the world who believes in group quotas over meritocracy you see these two sides of this war why is this a war because those two World Views cannot coexist it's not a choice that you can have a little bit of both it's either one or the other you're either pro-american or you're anti-American that is the choice we Face In This Moment this is America's time for choosing once again and I have some good news for you on this War I have some good news and some bad news the good news is I'm convinced of this from traveling the country I have been to a majority of States there's no social media algorithms in the room between us today there's no TV screens between us the media will teach you one thing but put that to one side what I see when I travel this country is that most of us 80 plus per of this country easily black or white even democrat or republican 80 plus% of this country agrees on our shared National values a majority of us are on the side of standing for the United States of America without apologizing for it that's the good news the bad news is that the other side is still winning and so the question really for us to answer today is why here's what happened in our country first thing that happened is we had a culture of fear that spread across the United States like an epidemic faster than covid-19 okay this spread the true pandemic in this country and in the modern West was the spread of this culture of fear take the likes of congresswoman Ayanna Presley of the squad who famously said a couple of years ago we don't want any more black faces that don't want to be a black voice we don't want any more Brown faces that don't want to be a brown voice end quote think about that for a second when your race goes from being about your skin color to being about the content of the ideas you're allowed to espouse than any disagreement with those IDE ideas automatically makes you a racist or a climate denier or a transphobe or a homophobe and there is no greater damn nation in modern America than to be called a racist or a climate denier so when given the choice between pledging allegiance to this new religion and being tarred with that Scarlet R everyday Americans are choosing to bend the knee and that is what has created this new Culture of Fear in our country fear of losing your job fear of your kids getting a bad grade in School fear of becoming an outcast in your own community and that Culture of Fear has displaced our culture of free speech in the United States of America you want to know the best measure of our country's health is it the number of green pieces of paper in our bank accounts that's important but it's not the most important thing is it the number of ballots we cast every November that's just the final act at the end of the process the best measure of the health of our constitutional republic is the percentage of people who feel free to say what they actually think in public that's the truth right now we are doing poorly the only way we're going to do better is all of us not just me all of us starting to speak openly again but that's the first reason why the other side is winning but it's no surprise how we got here I actually wrote a book about this a few years ago woke in it is the inevitable result of this self-loathing anti-American woke Orthodoxy that has pervaded our universities our companies and nearly every major institution across this country over the last decade history teaches us that anti-Semitism is actually a symptom of a deeper cultural malaise and I believe the left-wing woke cancer was always destined to end in the destination of anti-Semitism I said this in my book several years ago now you look today a recent poll finds that gen Z is divided 50/50 on whether they support Hamas or Israel young people in this country are lost I am 38 years old I am the first Millennial ever to run for US president I can tell you what's going on in our generation they are hungry for purpose for meaning for a cause for identity and for a generation we've taught them to fill that hunger by going to Ben and Jerry's in order in a cup of ice cream with some anti-semitic sprinkles on top it's no surprise they're not now spewing back that same anti-Semitism coming out of their mouth in Reverse shut down the Deep State at home declare independence from China abroad but then we get to the real problem for how we win this war we have to revive national pride in the United States of America Young Americans we are lost I'm 38 years old I'm the youngest person ever to run for US president presid as a Republican and I will tell you what is going on in our generation we are hungry for a cause we are starved for purpose and meaning and identity at a time in our national history when the things that used to fill that void Faith patriotism hard work work family these things have disappeared that leaves a black hole in our hearts and when you have a black hole that runs that deep that is when the poison fills the void wokeism transgenderism climatism cism globalism zalinskis depression anxiety fenel suicide do you think it's an accident that we see the rise of these same poisons at the same time in our history it is not these are symptoms of a deeper void of purpose and meaning in our country and for a long time we in our party we have been running from something race gender sexuality climate without offering a vision of our own individual family Nation God we have been running from something now is our moment though to actually start running to something to our vision of what it means to be an American today what does it mean to be an American I'm an America First conservative but to put this country first we have to ReDiscover what this country is you ask people my age that question you get a blank stare and response it's like a deer in the headlights what does it mean to be an American means we believe it means freedom it means we believe in the ideals of the American Revolution ideals like meritocracy the pursuit of Excellence that you do get ahead in this country not on the color of your skin but on the content of your character and your contributions that is why we will end a ferment of action and race-based quotas in every area of American life it's a cancer on our national soul and we are done with it what does it mean to be American it means we believe in the rule of law and I say this as the kid of legal immigrants to this country that means your First Act of entering this country cannot break the law that is why we will use our own military to secure our own Southern border and our northern border too that is what it means to stand for the rule of law it means that we the people create a government that is accountable to us not the other way around that we the people sort out our differences through free speech and open debate in a constitutional republic where every Citizen's voice and vote counts equally not in the back of Palace halls in Old World England not in the back of some super pack conference today not in the back of black Rock's corner office no we the people settle those differences at The Ballot Box where everybody's voice and vote counts equally and by the way you want to fix the elections single day voting on Election Day as a national holiday paper ballots and governmen issued voter ID to match the voter file and by the way English as the sole language on the ballots or at The Ballot Box because if you don't know something about this country then you shouldn't be participating in the elections of this country that's how you revive our national identity you want to end the identity crisis in this country and I say this as the kid of legal immigrants to this country that means we end Birthright citizenship for the kids of illegal immigrants to this country that is not protected this is what it means to be an American I think every 12th grader who graduates from 12th grade should have to pass the same Civics test that every immigrant has to pass to become a voting citizen of this country we have to revive who we are as Americans now let me tell you something they'll talk to you about Foreign Wars the truth is we're in the middle of a war right here at home in the United States of America it is not a war between black and white as the media would teach you to believe it's not a war even really between Democrats and Republicans not really it is far deeper than that it is a war between the majority of us in the United States of America who believe that all men are created equal endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights among these life liberty and the pursuit of happiness who believe that you get ahead in this country not in the color of your skin but in the content of your character who believe in American exceptionalism that Nations have borders that our nation has a border that we will not apologize for having a Homeland that we will not apologize for our ideals that even though we're an imperfect Nation we are founded on the pursuit of a more perfect union the pursuit of Liberty equality and justice for all that is one side of this war and on the other side of this war we have those who say your identity is based on your race your gender your sexuality those who believe that if you're black you're disadvantaged that if you're white you're privileged no matter your background or your upbringing your race and your gender govern who you are and what you can achieve in life who believe that we have to stop burning carbon in the United States even as we shift those same carbon emissions to places like China who believe that maybe we can use our military to protect somebody else's border halfway around the world but it is racist or xenophobic to protect our own border with our own military here at home who believe that we have to apologize for the ideals that this nation was founded on now I call this a war because there's no middle ground in this war you have to know that you're in a war to win one okay either you believe in meritocracy or you believe in group quotas you cannot have both either you believe in free speech or you believe in censorship you cannot have both either you believe in American exceptionalism or you believe in American apologism you cannot have both and now is Our Moment to choose who is the commanderin-chief who will lead us to victory in that War I think it's going to take someone from the outside and I believe me I have I have respected Donald Trump more than anybody else in this race because he was the best president of the 21st century I've said that before and I will say it again because it's the right thing to do we will honor that Legacy I am in this race because I have fresh legs I am from a different generation to reach the the next generation of Americans and that is what this nation is founded on Thomas Jefferson he was 33 years old when he wrote the Declaration of Independence he invented the swivel chair while he was at it too by the way that's the spirit we need to revive in this country and I think it is going to take someone from the Next Generation to reach the next Generation with our shared American ideals when it comes down to the enemies we Face here at home starts right here with the Deep state that is the Real Enemy we face because it's not the people who we elect to run the government who run the government anymore it's not the people who we elect to run the government they're no longer the ones who actually run the government it is the managerial bureaucracy in the shadow government that pulls the strings today so if we want to fix that problem we got to get in there and shut government agencies down you can't just Tinker around the edges the FBI the ATF the IRS s the CDC the US Department of Education we will get in there and shut them down fire 75% of the federal bureaucrats resend a majority of the unconstitutional federal regulations that act like a wet blanket on the US economy you know what if I can't work for you all as the next president for more than eight years which I think is a good thing then neither should any of those Federal bureaucrats reporting into me either 8-year term limits for the bureaucracy that is how we restore the Integrity of a constitutional republic look abroad who's our Real Enemy it's not Ukraine it's communist China and today we depend on our enemy China for our entire modern way of life from the shoes on our feet to the phones in our pockets you want to fix that this is how we declare economic independence from communist China that that is the Declaration of Independence that Thomas Jefferson would have signed if he were alive today that is the Declaration of Independence that we need to sign to move this nation forward independence from semiconductors from Pharmaceuticals from our military equipment here in this country that we depend on we cannot depend on our enemy for our modern way of life so let's start here and just make sure there's no division at this table you know because we're at the Thanksgiving table families are going to be traveling next week thday they're going to be celebrating everything that we've been blessed with in this country gathering around a table like this uh so this is more about you and not about whoever your opponent is even if it happens to be the former president or President Biden this is about you and each one of you will have 28 minutes you see the clock in front of you and and this is one is we're going to have an adult conversation around the table you know speak when you want to speak and when you speak the time comes off and when you don't the time stops all right Ronald Reagan said this so Ronald Reagan said great change begins at the dinner table and I don't know but I look around this country and I think we've left the dinner table and not only has our nutrition taken a hit but passing on the Timeless values to our children has taken a hit how do we REO we we how do we res restore America's children to the blessings of marriage to Parenting of a mom and a dad where there's a dad in the household at the table but to make Family Central again how do we do that as a country I I'll maybe kick off with one reflection I don't think it's going to be one Silver Bullet it's not going to be some President coming from on high and fixing this so you know I'm asking you to each of us is to make you that person but we can't let each other off the hook it's going to take individual responsibility and parental responsibility at every level but what the government can do is stop paying people to do the opposite of that I've been to the south side of Chicago a room like this one looks a little different told it's 90% plus Democrat 95% black in that room well they're paying people more money women more money not to have a man in the house than to have a man in the house in the name of Lynden Johnson's Great Society so in some ways you get what you pay for so there's a whole debate about what role should the government play in fostering family let's start with the basics stop having a government that's paying people not to actually celebrate or embody the nuclear family and I think that we talk about education a lot the nuclear family is where it begins that's the greatest form of governance known to mankind and no I had the ultimate people asking did you grow up in privilege my parents came to this country with no money I didn't grow up in economic privilege but I did have the ultimate privilege of two parents in the house with the focus on education and instilling us a belief in God and I think it's perfectly right for us whoever is the next president of the United States to want to set an example such that every kid in this country can enjoy that same privilege and I don't think we should apologize for it you know add one thing to to what what Ron said I I I think that it's tremendous I mean to have Governors who have actually implemented programs that have shown that level of progress I think that's important it shows how important policy is I do think that there is half the job of being US president that actually isn't about policy either I think this is where this role is a little different than being a congressman or a senator or a legislator all of which are important roles but I think part of the role of being the US president is we also set an example for our national character and I've heard you say something similar to this Bob but I believe it too I think it's been a long time since certainly speaking for myself that I could look my two boys in the eye and tell them in good conscience that I want you to grow up and be like him whoever that is in the White House and that's the standard I want you all to hold us to whoever it is to say I want you to stand grow up to be like him or her whoever that is in the White House hold us to that standard and that's half the job of how I think the president stands for family too is the example that we set for the Next Generation it's not just the policies and I think that that's something that is about the standard we hold ourselves to but that our voters hold us to as well you know in America we combine statesmanship and the CEO role together but we we should never forget about being a Statesman is what you talked about

Channel: Forbes Breaking News

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Length: 44min 47sec (2687 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 12 2023