Iowa State Sen. Jim Carlin joined Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) to share his plans on running for the U.S. Senate against incumbent Sen. Chuck Grassley. 

Carlin served as an Iowa state senator for four years. His plans stretch from helping the middle class to holding mainstream media accountable for their actions. 

Carlin said breaking down critical thinking and having your own beliefs is crucial, expressing that those who critically think are going to be better off. Standing up for freedom, Carlin believes, is a true American policy. 

Carlin said he believes there was a good amount of election fraud when President Joe Biden defeated former President Donald Trump. He said that with his lawyer background, the courts did not look into enough evidence regarding fraud. 

While challenging the results of the election, Trump also encouraged the false rhetoric that the 2020 election was stolen due to fraudulent activity. The 2020 election, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, was overwhelmingly acknowledged as a free and fair election, after the nation’s top intelligence and law enforcement agencies confirmed there was no evidence to support these claims.

“Freedom is indispensable,” Carlin said.“If America could be encapsulated into one word, it would be freedom. Yet freedom is a shared responsibility; you can’t have freedom without responsibility.” 

Carlin shared he has three grandchildren and said he is worried about whether or not they will have freedom in America. He said it is our responsibility to protect the freedom of those to follow us. 

“I’ve been alive 58 years and never have I seen such a concerted effort to control people so aggressively, whether it’s media content, intimidation or flat out hostility,” Carlin said. 

Carlin said a main reason he wants to run for the U.S. Senate is for his grandchildren and their futures. He says the Bill of Rights has been relentlessly assaulted in the past 20 years. 

“I’m going to be the candidate that stands up for people that fundamentally believe they have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” Carlin said.  

Carlin said former President Abraham Lincoln used that verbiage to go to war and free the slaves. Carlin believes that every single one of the members in the room has the right to raise our children with values we know will sustain them through the journeys of life. 

“I have friends that are liberals, I get along with them just fine,” Carlin said. “I do not get along with people on the far left. They are not interested in any aspect of my personal dignity or freedom at all. To them, I don’t even exist in their reality.”

Carlin said critical thoughts are a threat to people who want to control, but Americans aren’t passive, hapless victims. Carlin said our voices have power, and when we use that power the grip of tyranny is diminished. 

“Media content is there to control the thoughts, if you control the thoughts, you control the behavior, if you control the behavior, you control the identity, and if you control the identity, you control the image of that person,” Carlin said.  

Carlin said we as Americans need to have the moral courage and take responsibility for our own life, our own thoughts and our own words. 

“We have to internalize the idea of freedom and stand up for it,” Carlin said. “About 60 years ago, we went to war for freedom. Millions of men went out and died on battlefields for your freedom. … I lost trying to fight for the dignity of someone who couldn’t stand up for themselves.”  

Carlin related this to how the government treats the middle class. He says the middle class is getting buried and that is exactly why he’s running for the U.S. Senate.