Turning Point USA founder and President Charlie Kirk opened the first night of the 2020 Republican National Convention Monday by calling President Trump the “bodyguard of western civilization.”

Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, a conservative student organization, on Monday warned that the 2020 presidential election is “a decision between preserving America as we know it, and eliminating everything that we love.”

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Kirk said that before Trump took office, politicians had sold out the United States to “China, faceless corporations and to self-serving lobbyists,” but said that all changed with Trump’s candidacy in 2016.

“We may not have realized it at the time, but Trump is the bodyguard of western civilization,” Kirk said.

Kirk went on to add that the American way of life is being dismantled by a group of “bitter, deceitful, vengeful, activists who have never built anything in their lives.”

Kirk went on to say that the election is "the most important election since Abraham Lincoln."

Kirk’s appearance kicked off the convention, following an opening prayer from New York Cardinal Archbishop Timothy Dolan and the pledge of allegiance.

Monday night’s event is expected to be filled with appearances from prominent Republicans, like former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and more.