enjoy this important moment in your lives. all the hard work has paid off. we are so proud of what you've accomplished and what you've learned at nashua community college. i want to thank you so much for having me here today. i would love to stay and celebrate with each and every one of you but i also have an important moment in my son's life tonight. some of you may remember. it's prom so it's really my god-given right as a her to take pictures of my son and his date and embarrass him as he goes to the prom. if i sneak out early, that's what i need to do but i wish you every success in your career in life. i know that we're going to see great achievement from in class of 2025 and n.c.c. and i hope you stay here in new hampshire. i wish you the very best. congratulations and have some fun and i look forward to seeing what you do in the future.

[applause] criticizes president trump for his administration's policies. [applause] >> thank you and good morning. thank you for your passion and your unwavering advocacy for minnesota law. thank you also for the privilege of being able to to the class of 2025 and good morning all. i am not a graduate of the university of minnesota, but i have great affinity both as governor of minnesota and of the past year, as the governor's residence was being fixed up, i had the privilege of living just down the street at the president

of the university of minnesota's home. my wife, my son and my pup scout had the privilege of living in that beautiful home along the river as guests of the university of minnesota. president cunningham, thank you for that and thank you for having me be part of the university of minnesota. to the class of 2025, congratulations on an extraordinary achievement. to all the award winners, congratulations, incredible work to be recognized. for those of you who didn't receive an award, it will be ok. i didn't either and i am the , governor of minnesota. [laughter] so for three long years, you have buried your noses in books, survived your fair share of cold calls, labored away on essays and briefs without much help from chat gpt. now you rightfully stand amongst

the brightest, budding lawyers across this nation. for all those folks behind you, congratulations to you, too. it's no small feat to be a graduate here. and on behalf of the state of minnesota, thank you for the financial contributions in the state of minnesota, we are grateful. to the faculty and staff of minnesota law, thank you for the hard work and dedication of molding the minds of the next generation of lawyers and leaders. i promise i'm not just saying it because i have appointed early half of the initial branch. we have extremely qualified, diverse, and a thoughtful bench. we have high-powered law firms and brilliant attorneys. and of course one of the finest law schools in the world. [applause]

there is reason that so many of the leading public servants in our state are university of minnesota alumni. as you heard dean mcgovern say, my chief of staff, tom has been with me since he chose to turn down georgetown law to come here, my chief of staff is a graduate of this law school and i am incredibly proud of him. [applause] and i know many of you will join the ranks of the outsized impact of this revered institution which is well beyond our state borders. some legendary american leaders have spent countless hours in those sundrenched rooms, mondale hall, walter mondale was a consummate public servant and he devoted every breath to improving the lives of others.

it is an e sosa embedded into the legislation you received at this alma mater right now. i've been thinking about mondale , who got his ass kicked in as much of election. strikes a chord in my heart. unlike all of you, i am not but -- i did supervise the high school lunchroom. i want to start with a little bit of history. when you leave this place, you're getting more than that in a lifetime of lawyer jokes. before we were even a country, there's 13 colonies under their tyranny, the concept of rights should not even exist until a

few lawyers brought it up, that everyone would be brought -- better off if we were brought up by law. that notion --[cheers and applause] >> that notion, that radical notion, that fragile idea, that was the real american revolution. so we went to war to make it happen and then a few years later, they wrote that promise down and gave us a constitution, binding us all together through the simple notion that no one is above the law. the law is sovereign. but the thing is, the law doesn't have any power of its own. it's got no military behind it. it depends entirely on people who believe in it, who honor it, and who are willing to fight for it.

that's why our history is filled with moments when it was the lawyers who were the heroes. folks like charles hamilton houston, thurgood marshall, and those who dismantled jim crow case-by-case. [applause] justice ruth bader ginsburg, who argued six gender discrimination suits in front of the supreme court and won five of them. the court doesn't always get it right. nixon's attorney general chose to step aside, rather than follow through on a criminal president's unlawful order. but once again, in this pivotal moment in history, lawyers are our first and last line of defense. when you join the bar you will swear an oath to preserve and protect the constitution and the

laws of the state and elected leaders like me take the same oath. so that means that no matter what we do or where we were we , share not only moral duty a professional obligation to defend the rule of law. that's a pretty big deal. the rule of law is the foundation pretty much everything we care about. it is what lets us settle our differences, makes it possible to start or grow a business, and it empowers us to stand here and exchange ideas freely. without the rule of law, everything else crumbles away, and that's where you all come in. right now, more than any other time in my lifetime, we need you to live up to the oath you are about to take. i have to be honest with you, every day the president of the united states finds new ways to trample rights and undermine the rule of law. i get it, some are saying he's getting way too political.

but i would not be honoring my oath if i didn't address this head-on. [cheers and applause] and i'm going to start with the flashing red light. donald trump's modern day gestapo is scooping up folks off the streets, no chance to mount a defense, not even a chance to cast look -- kids loved ones could buy, just shoved into those band -- those bands and disappear. to be clear, there's no way for us to know whether they were actually criminals are not because i refuse to give them a trial. we are supposed to just take their word for it. when duly elected members of congress try to execute their constitutional right they get shoved around and harassed. meanwhile we have an aspiring

fascist in stephen miller on tv talking about suspending habeas corpus. all of you know this. that's only used in times of rebellion or emergency, neither of which is happening right now. by the way, they are not only kicking out folks who are undocumented here, they're kicking out citizens. a few weeks ago they kicked out three children, all under eight years old. it's not hyperbole to say we are not far from a world where anyone can get that knock at the door, and there is no guarantee you will get your day in court, and then you have a vice president, when not getting chastised by various spokes, he is offering up horrific arguments, horrific arguments. it is his view that due process is optional. i don't know what the hell to teach at yale, the the constitution is pretty clear. it doesn't say only if it is convenient. it is crystal clear.

here is the thing. due process is not just lawyer speak. it is a right that stretches back centuries. it was wrested away from kings that heroes out and die for. and we're just going to surrender it to donald trump, a guy whose only knowledge of the law is by being a criminal defendant himself. [applause] and i am going to talk about it. it is happening in front of our eyes. i'm going to talk about this damn jet. i'm a little obsessive about things that really irritate the crap out of me. this alice in the sky he is getting from the qatari government, which he gets to keep her himself when he is done, let's be very clear, it's a flying bribe, plainly unconstitutional. even worse, this whole deal was signed off on by the attorney general of the united states.

extensively our nation's top lawyer, famously an independent job, but now the attorney general, pam bondi, is acting as the president personal attorney. and wearily and coincidentally enough, she happens to be a lobbyist for the government of qatar. this is what the crumbling of rule of law looks like in real time, and it's exactly what the founders of this nation be a, a tyrant abusing power to persecute scapegoats and enemies. look, i get it. there's no verse folks on my side of the aisle. i keep hearing this, all the polling, it sucks talking about this. it's a distraction from more important issues. but caring about this stuff isn't partisanship or politics, it's patriotism. the rule of law is the whole ballgame. [applause] what you stand for is what makes

america america. if we don't fight back now, why did we get elected and why did we? ? become attorneys to defend the law but there are those with power and money you're choosing not to fight. that brings me to a touchy subject, big law. granted, getting singled out by executive orders by the president of the united states will scare the crap out of you, trust me, i get it. and i know it probably spooked the clients. but is anyone here can tell you, those executive orders carry about the same constitutional authority as a ransom note. the quality of writing is about the same, too. those firms are home to some of the nations top lawyers. these are folks that know how to throw a punch. so did they fight back? well, some did, and guess what? they have gone to court and won almost every case they fought back on. [applause]

but some of the biggest farms, you know the ones i'm talking about, they caved. i hope you haven't signed with them yet. those feckless firms let donald trump shove them into a locker. now they are at his beck and call to do his dirty work. it is craven and cowardly, it's a flagrant betrayal of the oath they took as lawyers, the same oath i took as governor, the one you are about to take, to defend the rule of law, come hell or high water. so i'm here today to ask you to take that responsibility seriously as you enter the workplace. that means letting those firms know they screwed up by refusing to work for them or with them. [applause] it means demanding your employer , the private sector, the public sector, whoever caves to those are ben's rule, be there to stand in that breach.

that means screaming at the top of your lungs to call out abuse of power wherever you see it, and especially amidst elected officials. because of holding the law in his maker break moment is just not something that you should do , is something that any true lawyer or leader is compelled to do. and if you don't do it, who is going to do it? here is the thing about biden -- the thing about fighting, sometimes you lose previous -- you lose. trust me, i know something about losing. losing on the biggest stage under the brightest lights with the highest stakes at the most important time. that has a way of sticking in your head and setting up shop. but the one thing about failing is, it forces you to figure out what is next. a few days after that loss, my wife and i went on a walk not too far from here to decide what do we do now? we had that conversation about, how do we see it? we've got two choices.

on the one hand, the majority of country voters told us to kick rocks. on the other hand, the guy who won was threatening to destroy everything we cared about, rinse , families, neighbors, the rule of law, including those who told us to kick rocks. people's lives are on the line, and i had some power to do something about it. so i thought back to walter mondale, that guy knew something about losing, too. he and carter lost to reagan and bush in 1980. he lost to reagan in a landslide. thank god and a soda voted right way, by the way, in that election. two decades later, long out of the public eye, there was a tragic plane crash two weeks before the election. walter mondale stepped up to run to the senate. win or lose, that guy just kept on serving.

he strengthened our ties to japan as an investor. he advised my administration throughout the entire covid epidemic. shaping the future by teaching right here at the university of minnesota. he never complained the title wasn't right, the job wasn't right, he just found a way to serve. we got to work saying how do we preserve the rule of law for things we love? i, too, had taken an oath to uphold. if trump and his folks want to come for minnesotans, need to make sure there's a firewall they have to come through. i know i am one of the last things standing between you and your future, your celebration, lunch, everything else, so i will close it. when you walk off the stage today, we will take some photos with her parents, there will be some tears, and you will leave the classmate you spent some intense years with. and you will head in different directions. my hope is this, that you will

join the public sector, others will go to nonprofits. some of you will go to big firms. that is fine, there are still some good ones out there. but in matter where you go, you will face moments in your career when you come to that crossroads, that choice. to bend to the whims of the wealthy and powerful, or to stand up and fight. i would say especially when that victory isn't guaranteed, but just think, if there is no chance of failing, there would be no reason to fight like we are fighting. if you lose a battle, fine, find another way to serve. the fight goes on. there is no savior coming down from on high to get us out of this. it's us. is the graduates of 2025. i am an eternal optimist. you have got to be an optimist to survive. you all give me hope. you are brilliant. you are bold. you are dedicated. and as the dean said, you are ready.

and here at the university of minnesota, you live by that battle cry. i wish you all the best. go out there and fight the good fight. take what you've learned here to protect those that don't have a voice. stand up for the rule of law and know that someday, there are going to be stories written and names in this class who stood up in the moment of challenge for this nation and turned this thing around and preserve what is truly the best of america. everybody belongs and everybody is equal in front of the law. thank you. [cheers and applause] values and the responsibility of being a role model for others. >> just who we need, another dr. phil, right? thank you all for having me. it is good to see my good friends, president of the norwich board of