U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colorado, stood before some 530 Kane County Democrats at their annual Truman Dinner and urged courage, unity and vision.

In November 2025, Crow and five other Democratic lawmakers made a public video that told military members that they do not have to obey illegal orders. Though President Donald Trump accused them of “seditious behavior,” a federal indictment against them failed.

“It wasn’t about me,” Crow, a U.S. Army veteran, said March 8 at the Q Center in St. Charles.

“What it was about was Donald Trump trying to crush his opponents and silence dissent,” Crow said. “Donald Trump was simply trying to send a message through me – through us – that if you speak up, if you dare question his authority, if you step out of line – that you will be crushed. That the weight of the government, of his machine, will be too much for any one person to take.”

Crow paused, then said, “Well, he chose the wrong people to send that message,” prompting the crowd to erupt in applause and cheers.

“The phase that we are in – in this creeping authoritarianism spreading across our country – the phase we are in is the extraction of power,” Crow said. “It is our responsibility to draw that line, to hold it, to push back on it.”

Crow said the biggest division in the Democratic party is between those who understand the threat Trump poses and those who think the situation is normal.

“The situation is not normal and we will not act like it,” Crow said.

The situation is also about courage versus cowardice, with both in full display, he said.

“There is no shortage of examples of cowardice in our country. We have politicians cowering and sometimes, just as bad, pretending that things are normal. We have CEOs capitulating, law firms buckling, universities bending the knee,” Crow said.

“But this is not their story. It is never the story of the cowards,” Crow said. “It is never the story in history of those who didn’t rise ... It is never the elite and the privileged who come to our aid and defend us. It is those who have the most to lose. It is those with a sense of purpose and commitment to something bigger than themselves that rise to the occasion.”

Crow cited the Greatest Generation, credited with fighting fascism in World War II, and Freedom Riders, who fought for racial equality in the Jim Crow South.

Crow said he believes Trump is counting on fear spreading so that people opt out.

He drew on his own experience as a paratrooper serving three combat tours in Iraq to describe a metaphor for the nation.

“There is a tradition in the American paratroopers,” Crow said. “When you’re in the plane, flying over your objectives and you’re getting ready to jump out. The leader of the unit goes first. The highest-ranking person in the plane jumps first. What that tradition is based on is that courage is far more contagious than fear. We have to prepare our people, lead with courage and jump first.”

But Crow said it was not enough to counter the current administration. He said Democrats need their own vision of what they want the country to be.

“We can’t defeat something with nothing,” Crow said.

Growing up Catholic in a working-class family, Crow said the country did not deliver for his family and not for others, calling the American Dream broken and dead.

“I realized the system was rigged and was rigged for most working-class folks in this country,” he said. “Whether Democrat or Republican, if you are in this for yourself or if you are in this for corrupt means – giving in to special interests – we are coming for you and we are overturning that system.”

Crow said the Democrats need to inspire the next generation of servant leaders to step up and go into public service.

He advocated for a national initiative to pay for job training and college in exchange for national service.

“What we need is not just to win elections, but we need to inspire that next generation of servant leaders with courage, with preparation, with tenacity with a commitment to unrigging the system to spark a movement around this country to build something new.”

Crow warned that it will get worse before it gets better.

“We are in great danger as a nation right now ... but there is a path through it. That’s why you are all sitting here tonight,” Crow said. “Now is the time, Kane County, to get Americans ready, to inspire them and to jump first. Let’s get this done.”