Donald Trump described the 2016 election as a make-or-break moment for the nation in a rousing speech delivered to supporters in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Thursday.

“This is our moment of reckoning as a society and as a civilization itself,” Trump declared. “This is not simply another four-year election. This is a crossroads in the history of our civilization that will determine whether or not we the people reclaim control over our government.”

“Our Independence Day is at hand, and it arrives finally on Nov. 8,” Trump told voters, adding:

Our great civilization, here in America and across the civilized world, has come upon a moment of reckoning. We’ve seen it in the United Kingdom, where they voted to liberate themselves from global government and global trade deal, and global immigration deals that have destroyed their sovereignty and have destroyed many of those nations. But, the central base of world political power is right here in America, and it is our corrupt political establishment that is the greatest power behind the efforts at radical globalization and the disenfranchisement of working people. Their financial resources are virtually unlimited, their political resources are unlimited, their media resources are unmatched, and most importantly, the depths of their immorality is absolutely unlimited.

Trump highlighted the now well-documented collusion between the global special interests, corporate media, and Hillary Clinton who champions policies to cede “U.S. sovereignty in order to enrich these global financial powers, her special interest friends. and her donors.” Trump slammed, what he described as, our “illusion of democracy”– explaining how our political process is controlled “by a small handful of global special interests rigging the system.”

Trump explained that the “Clinton machine,” working through its arm in the corporate media, has declared “war” not just against him, but against the American people, who want to reclaim their government to represent their needs and interests, rather than simply representing the desires of corporate donors and transnational elites. Trump said:

Let’s be clear on one thing. The corporate media in our country is no longer involved in journalism. They’re a political special interest no different than any lobbyist or other financial entity with a total political agenda, and the agenda is not for you, it’s for themselves. And their agenda is to elect crooked Hillary Clinton at any cost, at any price, no matter how many lives they destroy. For them it’s a war, and for them nothing at all is out of bounds. This is a struggle for the survival of our nation, believe me. And this will be our last chance to save it on Nov. 8, remember that.

“The only thing Hillary Clinton has going for herself is the press. Without the press, she is absolutely zero,” Trump said. He went on:

The political establishment that is trying to stop us is the same group responsible for our disastrous trade deals, massive illegal immigration, and economic and foreign policies that have bled our country dry … The Clinton machine is at the center of this power structure. We’ve seen this first hand in the WikiLeaks documents, in which Hillary Clinton meets in secret with international banks to plot the destruction of U.S. sovereignty in order to enrich these global financial powers, her special interest friends, and her donors… With their control over our government at stake, with trillions of dollars on the line, the Clinton machine is determined to achieve the destruction of our campaign… They knew they would throw every lie they could at me and my family and my loved ones. They knew they would stop at nothing to try to stop me. But I never knew as bad as it would be. I never knew it would be this vile, that it would be this bad, that it would be this vicious… I will not lie to you. These false attacks are absolutely hurtful. To be lied about, to be slandered, to be smeared so publicly, and before your family that you love, is very painful. What is going on is egregious beyond any words…It’s reprehensible beyond description, it’s totally corrupt. But, I also know that it’s not about me. It’s about all of you and it’s about our country. I know that. I fully understand that. That’s why I got involved. It’s about all of us together as a country. It’s a movement the likes of which we have never in history in this country seen before, never in history.

“I take all of these slings and arrows gladly for you. I take them for our movement so that we can have our country back,” Trump said.

Trump explained that the only thing powerful enough to stop the political machine is the American people, if they chose to rise up and vote against it on November 8th.

He explained:

The corrupt political establishment is a machine, it has no soul. I knew these false attacks would come. I knew this day would arrive; it’s only a question of when. And I knew the American people would rise above it and vote for the future they deserve. The only thing that can stop this corrupt machine is you. The only force strong enough to save our country is us. The only people brave enough to vote out this corrupt establishment is you, the American people.

Trump continued: