Caitlyn Jenner, the former winner of the Olympic men’s decathlon who became a woman at 65 years old, is running for governor of California, and on Tuesday released her first campaign video ad.
The video, titled the “American Dream,” blames politicians for the state’s precipitous decline.
The ad opens with Jenner walking through what looks like her home as a narrator says the “famed Olympic gold medalist” is now running for governor. Jenner is seen opening a cabinet to reveal a gold medal.
“California was once the envy of the world. We have what everyone else wanted. The American Dream grew up here,” Jenner says. Then the ad shows homeless people and burned down buildings.
“Yet career politicians and their policies have destroyed that dream,” Jenner says. “It’s been locked away, closed, shuttered, left in the dark, burned down. The government is now involved in every part of our lives. They’ve taken our money, our jobs, and our freedom.”
Jenner continues, saying, “California needs a disrupter, a compassionate disrupter.”
“I came here with a dream 48 years ago, to be the greatest athlete in the world,” she says as the video shows Jenner winning the decathlon, including the iconic shot of him waving a small U.S. flag. “Now I enter a different kind of race, arguably my most important one yet — to save California.”
“I want to carry the torch for the parents who had to balance work and their child’s education, for business owners who were forced to shut down, for pastors who are not able to be with their congregation, or the family who lost their home in a fire, for an entire generation of students who lost a year of education.”
“This past year has redefined our career politicians as elitists — and the people of California as the warriors, the kings, and the angels. We never take kindly to glass ceilings here. Instead, we shatter them,” says the 71-year-old.
“We’re the trailblazers, the innovators. California is facing big hurdles. Now, we need leaders who are unafraid to leap to new heights, who are unafraid to challenge and to change the status quo. I want to prove that it is absolutely possible if we only do it together. California: It’s time to reopen our schools, reopen our businesses, reopen the golden gates,” she added.
Jenner — who voiced support early on for former President Donald Trump and is running as a Republican — said she wants to bring members of both parties into her fold. “So I don’t care if you’re a Republican, Democrat, I’m ready to be governor for all Californians, to reclaim our true identity, to bring back the gold to the Golden State.”
Then she references Ronald Reagan, who once called America a “shining city on the hill.”
“Now is the time to achieve that summit, to be the shining city on the hill, and together, we’ll restore and renew the California dream. It’s about what happens from here. It’s not just one person. It’s about all of us,” she says at the end as the music reaches a crescendo.