Sen. Mike Lee (R- Utah) knows one thing about the Millennial generation -- their love of freedom. And it's this spirit, he believes, that will help transform America and get young people engaged in politics again.
"Millennial Americans are all about the concept of 'live and let live.' They're all about freedom," he said in an exclusive interview with Red Alert Politics, following a speech to a packed crowd of college students at the National Conservative Student Conference's Reagan Banquet Wednesday evening.
The senator from Utah passionately defended the Constitution, telling the students in attendance that “we need young people to step up" and "to read our Constitution” in order for them to claim the constitutionally defined rights that are “rightfully ours as citizens.”
Among those rights are the freedoms Millennials have capitalized on, but that a Big Brother-type government hinders. The concept of free markets and entrepreneurship are ingrained in the way millennials live – from using services like Uber and Airbnb to making money through innovation and the “gig-economy.”
Lee’s recent book, Our Lost Constitution, details stories of the Constitution that he hopes will “reinvigorate interest among the American people in our founding document.”
His book, which the senator jokingly described as “a lot like 50 Shades of Grey except it has more constitution scenes,” illustrate principles he believes will resonate with the younger generation who generally lacks a basic understanding of America’s founding documents.
Sen. Lee told Red Alert Politics that Millennials who understand the implication of big government “are naturally attracted to the idea that massive deficit spending can result in an inter-generational wealth transfer, in other words it's kind of a nasty form of taxation without representation.”
For instance, someone who is turning 18 this year is inheriting part of the massive national debt that was accumulating before they were even born. Lee said that's “ not fair.”
“They [Millennials] understand that it's [big government] not sustainable and they want reform," Lee told Red Alert.
Lee is not the first member of Congress to express that Millennials and the level to which they become involved and attune to politics will play a large role in not only the near future of the nation, but the upcoming presidential election.
Millennials have been labeled the "up for grabs" demographic -- vital in making real change and disrupting the current status quo of government. Lee told the group of students in his talk that the separation of powers in government as laid out in the Constitution "works out great," but the possibility of change lies in who the people elect and "how resoundingly the voters speak."
"I think there are changes coming in the next few years that will result in some pretty significant shifts as the spending patterns and the regulatory approach of our federal government become more and more unsustainable," Lee told Red Alert Politics.
Though he admitted it can be "a slow process, a painful process," Lee encouraged the students in the crowd to acquaint themselves with the Constitution and bravely be leaders of conservative principles.
Watch the senator's full speech below courtesy of Young America's Foundation: