WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a Friday address to hundreds of enthusiastic Values Voter Summit participants, Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows equated some members of Congress to “dud” shotgun shells, declaring that those who don’t get behind President Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda should be sent home.

“We need to anticipate the battle that is still raging on the streets of Washington, D.C. in this place that they call the swamp,” said the congressman.

The crowd cheered as Chairman Meadows said that draining the swamp “includes every single member of the House and Senate. If they’re not willing to do what they promised on their campaign trail, it’s time to send them home.”

He spoke of the American flag, remarking that there are times which aren’t for making a political statement. “It is time that we stand and honor what it represents,” he said of standing for the flag during the playing of the National Anthem. The crowd erupted in cheers.

Meadows asked the crowd if they were willing to fight – even for a lost cause: “When all of the media says that your voice doesn’t matter, will you join me in making sure that they know that your voice matters and it is not to be denied?” The crowd responded with applause.

He recalled the spirit of the 2016 presidential campaign, seeing people with handmade signs and feeling and seeing an “organic desire to make America great again, to believe that America is exceptional and to quit apologizing for our greatness – [that] was something that we needed to do once again.” The crowd whistled and cheered in response.

Meadows issued a challenge and encouragement to the crowd: “We need to continue to show the same type of energy that is there … that was there before November 8.”

He talked about how hard and how many long hours President Trump works. Affirmations and cheers came from the crowd as Meadows said this should spur them to do the same.

“Don’t you think it’s time that Congress quits talking and they start doing? Isn’t it time? ” said Meadows. “If we don’t get behind this agenda, an ‘America First’ agenda, if we do not get behind it, it is time that you send us home.”

He went on to equate some members of Congress to shotgun shells:

I love to shoot, I love to actually go out with my son and shoot, and so when you go out to shoot you can shoot a lot of shells. All the shells look exactly the same. In fact, you can put them in and as you shoot, occasionally you come across one where you pull the trigger and it’s a dud. Now you have two options: You can leave that in the chamber and pull the trigger again and again and see if it fires, or you can eject it and put in another shell.” (cheers and laughter from the crowd) I would suggest we have some members that are duds, that have been left in the chamber too long, and it’s time that we eject them. (whistles, laughter and cheers came from the crowd) What do you think? It is time, it is time. Quit trying to make them perfect, eject them, start over with a fresh shell.

The congressman emphasized the importance of standing up for Israel as well.

He went on to call for the removal of the filibuster rule in the U.S. Senate, where Republicans hold a mere two-seat majority. “We have eight Democrats in the Senate that often believe that they will believe that they’re going to run things, but I tell you that it is time that we get rid of the 60-vote cloture rule in the Senate and start ruling like a majority,” Meadows said. The crowd again whistled and cheered in response.

“I’m for no more excuses. It is time to get rid of the excuses,” said Meadows.

He closed by sharing a personal story of his relationship with President Trump. One day after the election he took a call from the President, who thanked Meadows for campaigning for him and was checking to see how Meadows was doing. He told Meadows that he had “a friend in the President of the United States.”

Meadows said he kept waiting to hear Trump ask for something, but even four or five minutes into the call, Trump told him that he just wanted to check and see that the congressman was OK and let him know, if he ever needed anything, to give him a call. “There was no request, there was no demand, there was even not a hint of encouragement of where he wanted me to be. That’s the man we have at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, that’s the man that you elected on November 8, and that’s the man that will make America great again.”

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