--- ---  # Read Tom Cotton's Speech at the Republican National Convention by [Will Drabold](https://time.com/author/will-drabold/) ## Will Drabold Jul 19, 2016 1:45 AM UTC  Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) delivers a speech on the first day of the Republican National Convention on July 18, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) delivers a speech on the first day of the Republican National Convention on July 18, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images by [Will Drabold](https://time.com/author/will-drabold/) ## Will Drabold Jul 19, 2016 1:45 AM UTC Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton argued that Donald Trump would be a strong commander-in-chief who “calls the enemy by its name” in [a prime-time speech at the Republican convention](http://time.com/4411613/republican-convention-tom-cotton-speech/) Monday. The freshman Republican, a rising star in conservative circles, mentioned Trump’s name only once in the brief speech. “This isn’t much to ask for, but eight years without it is more than enough,” he said. “So I say again: In a Trump-Pence administration and with a Republican Congress, help is on the way.” Read Cotton’s remarks, as prepared for delivery: --- > “” --- Republican National Convention: Read Tom Cotton's speech ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4412018/republican-convention-tom-cotton-speech-transcript/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4412018/republican-convention-tom-cotton-speech-transcript/"},"headline":"Read Tom Cotton's Speech at the Republican National Convention","datePublished":"2016-07-19T01:45:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:20:51.193Z","description":"Senator Cotton spoke about how to \"Make America Safe Again\" at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.","url":"https://time.com/4412018/republican-convention-tom-cotton-speech-transcript/","keywords":["Republican National Convention","2016 Election topic","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbdccfd4849eed083/69889c70f887dc8f4de96aa2/gettyimages-577291126.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Will Drabold","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/will-drabold/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbdccfd4849eed083/69889c70f887dc8f4de96aa2/gettyimages-577291126.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) delivers a speech on the first day of the Republican National Convention on July 18, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.","caption":"Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) delivers a speech on the first day of the Republican National Convention on July 18, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/republican-national-convention/","name":"Republican National Convention"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4412018/republican-convention-tom-cotton-speech-transcript/","name":"Read Tom Cotton's Speech at the Republican National Convention"}}]}] ```