Michigan Conservative Coalition celebrated the second and final day of its Battle Cry 2018 event with a number of keynote speakers, among them bestselling-author and conservative activist Dinesh D'Souza.

Born in Bombay on April 24, 1961, D'Souza came to the United States in 1978 under the Rotary Youth Exchange program. D'Souza would go on to graduate from Dartmouth College with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1983.

Between 1987 and 1988, D'Souza served as a policy adviser for Ronald Reagan's presidential administration, and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1991.

D'Souza has authored several books, including "What's So Great About America" in 2002 and "The Root's of Obama's Rage" in 2010. He has also written and directed the documentary films "2016: Obama's America" and "Hilary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party."

"The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left," D'Souza's latest book, examines what D'Souza calls the "the big lie" that the Republican Party has historically supported racist and bigoted policies, while the Democratic Party has historically been on the side of liberation and civil rights.

D'Souza argues that the opposite has been true throughout U.S. history, and compares Democrats accusing Republicans of being racist to criminals accusing law enforcement of being the bad guys.

"This would show unbelievable chutzpah -- the ability to transfer blame onto the very guys that are trying to stop you from your crimes," D'Souza said. "The Democrats have been able to do that, and so successfully have they been able to do that, that people on our (Republican) team believe them."

Through his films and books, and during his speech at Battle Cry, D'Souza explores what he calls the "gangsterization" of the Democratic Party. D'Souza decries what he sees as purposely obstructive behavior from Democrats towards President Trumps policies.

"We haven't been living in a normal political period at all," D'Souza said. "Since the election, we haven't had a single real debate on any important policy. Why? Essentially, the left refuses to accept the legitimacy of (President) Trump."

D'Souza ended his time on stage detailing the difficulties he sees for conservative viewpoints to find a foundation in mainstream media, and the importance of "planting conservative flags in academia and Hollywood."

Among the more than 450 people in the audience was Norma Housey of Livonia, who came specifically to see D'Souza, having been a longtime fan.

"I believe in a lot of the things (D'Souza) says about our country," Housey said. "(Our country) belongs to the people, and there are people who don't view it that way and would like to take our country out from underneath us."

In addition to D'Souza, the event featured several other conservative speakers, including:

Tom Leonard, Speaker of the House for the Michigan House of Representatives, who is currently running for Attorney General
Scott Hagerstrom, Michigan Trump Campaign director
Stan Grot, Shelby Township Clerk and candidate for Michigan Secretary of State
Gary Glenn, state representative and candidate for State Senate
Mike Rothfeld, founder of the Foundation for Applied Conservative Leadership
Grant Strobl, National Chair of Young Americans for Freedom

Michigan Conservative Coalition president Rosanne Ponkowski said the turnout for the event reached and exceeded the group's expectations.

"(The event) inspires people to take an active role in their community," Ponkowski said. "That's what we're here for -- getting them charged up, getting them inspired to get off their butts and giving them the tools they need to get busy."