'This Week' Transcript 3-3-24: Sen. Chris Murphy, Sen. Mike Rounds & Chef José Andrés

Interview

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Well, I think we'll have continued good leadership. John Thune, I think, is kind of leading the race right now. He's my stablemate out here, also from South Dakota. Solid. And he understands politics as well.

We also know that we need leadership changes in the White House. And we're prepared for that. Whoever the Republican nominee is, we're going to get behind them and we're going to make sure that this thing happens where we get back to actually building this economy again and getting some of the folks in this part of the world that are just angry as all get out right now because of the cost of living and so forth back -- back feeling like we're trying to fix things.

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Look -- look, he -- he's the Republican frontrunner. He's going to have, you know, a voice in it. We recognize that. And I think as Mitch says, you know, we understand politics. And that's a part of the political scene. But we also know that in the Senate we've got a lot of independent thinkers as well. The former president will have, you know, the opportunity to influence a number of my -- my colleagues, but we also want to be able to have a good working relationship with him if he becomes the next president of the United States. We've got things we've got to get done.

You know, you've already talked a little bit today about the border. It has to be fixed. We also know that like right here in South Dakota and, you know, South Dakota's right here in the middle of the entire country. Most folks will tell you right now that, you know, the cost of living has gone up about $10,000 a year since Joe Biden took office. They're feeling that. They want change. When you talk about energy and what Joe Biden did on the very first day where he shut down a pipeline that was a $2 billion project, they're still remembering that. And when you think about Afghanistan and the fact that he pulled out on a date certain, which was a terrible message to all of our allies, a lot of people here in the United States were saying that was wrong as well.

So, for us, in the Senate, we're looking forward to a change in leadership. We're prepared to work with whoever the next president is. But I think you're going to find that a lot of folks in the Senate will take their own time in terms of how they work through and, you know, the vote -- on a vote by vote basis when they're going to support the president and when they're not.

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Well, that's what I'm looking for in a leader. I want someone who will work with a president, but who also will stand his own ground. That's one of the reasons why I very publicly and openly supported John Thune and I supported Mitch McConnell. I think John Thune will bring some -- you know, a fresh breath. That always happens when you have a change in leadership.

And -- and, once again, you know, we've got some other folks that are going to take a look at it. They are good people. It's not a matter of having a bad choice out there for those of us in the Senate, but we've got some really good choices. I just happen to think John Thune is the right guy at the right time. Great moral character. He's the right kind of a guy. And I think he will be independent enough to where he will look out also, just like Mitch did, for the institution of the Senate itself. So, I'm optimistic. It's the reason why I'm supporting him.

But as a Senate, our obligation is to look long term. We're elected from every single state and we want to take care of our individual states, but we've also got the bigger picture of constitutionally what is right and also, in terms of national defense, we've always got to be looking at national defense as our primary responsibility.

So, yes, we've got some -- some other alternatives, but it's very similar to what a president should have.

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I -- I do not. And, in fact, I was of the same opinion that Senate McConnell expressed, which was an impeachment process is designed as a civil action, not as a criminal action, and that if a person is no longer in office, that an impeachment would be inappropriate.

In the impeachment process that had occurred, I voted not to impeach. And there was a couple of different items that had to be considered. One of which, and the first to be considered is, whether or not it was appropriate to impeach a former president.

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Once we start going down that path, there is no end. And it -- that means in that every single new group will be coming in, every single new House will come in and look at previous presidents, previous individuals in office and so forth. And that was one thing our founding fathers made it very clear, that they did not want that to happen.

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