Meet the Press - February 25, 2023 Jake Sullivan, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.), Yamiche Alcindor, Lanhee Chen, Stephanie Cutter and Chuck Todd
Interview
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It's good to be back with you. Thanks for having me on.
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Well, I think it’s in part of – it's part of it, Kristen. Look, it was a great night Friday night in Columbia, South Carolina. The president was really just enjoying himself. It was a great celebration for Black conservatives across our country. But let's be very clear, our economy is a mess. Our border is completely unsecured. These things are causes of major concerns for Black voters like it is for every voter in our country.
But then when you layer on the fact that, yes, this is political persecution from the Department of Justice and from radical DAs throughout our country, this is something similar that Black people had to deal with – with the justice system themselves. And so their look – their look of it is real simple: "Well, dang, if the government's going after him with foolishness, he can't be that bad." Especially considering the fact that Joe Biden is terrible at his job.
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What I would say is that Cedric is trying to play politics and use racial politics even now as we get into the general election. That's one. Number two, like I said at the top, the number one reason why minority voters in our country want to support Donald Trump is because he did the job of president. He did a great job as president. Our country was secure. The economy was great. These are all things that Donald Trump talked about Friday night.
He also did talk about the indictments. What Americans don't want to see, especially Black Americans and anybody else, they don't want to see a politicized Justice Department. They don't want to see a two-tier system of justice. They want justice to be followed. They want Lady Justice to be blind. That's what the American people want. That's what Black voters wants. That's what everybody wants.
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No, I wasn't. Because I understood what the president was talking about. And like I said now for the third time, he talked about all the reasons why minority voters want to support him. And Kristen, let me push back a little bit. You have to acknowledge the fact that now that the Robert Hur report has come out about Joe Biden's misuse of classified information, which is a violation of the Espionage Act, he had no rights to any of those documents when he was a senator
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– or vice president, yet there are no charges against – against vice – President Biden.
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While President Trump is under prosecution. Come on now.
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You know that doesn't make any sense at all.
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Sure.
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Kristen, I have to push back on you.
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That is not -
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No, no, no, no.
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The Espionage Act is clear -
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– you cannot possess those documents as a senator or vice president. You have no rights to those documents as a senator or a vice president. They must remain in a secure facility. Joe Biden took them from a SCIF. That's a violation of the Espionage Act, period.
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Well, first, I do support IVF because I have several friends who have gone through that procedure. It has made their – their families whole. It has allowed them to have children. Their children are beautiful. They're wonderful. I totally support the procedure. Number two, when the – when the MSNBC reporter asked me that question, I was in the middle of a hallway. I heard the tail end of it. I didn't hear about the Alabama ruling. It was about do I support that embryos are – should be protected as life.
Look, embryos are important to the production of life. We all come from embryos. That's what I said because I heard half her question. But do I support the IVF procedure? 100% I do. It should be made available. And I believe, as President Trump has also said, we really want the Alabama legislature to make sure that that procedure is protected for families who do struggle with having children. That helps them actually create great families, which is what our country desperately needs.
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Well, I think now you're getting into a personhood argument. And this is where a lot of the details in legislation, not just court rulings, are important. I believe that this is something that the legislatures have to make sure they weigh and walk themselves through. The IVF procedure is very important to a lot of couples in our country. It should be protected. I agree with President Trump on that. But when we get into these conversations, it's important to delineate from what just one judge might say versus what a legislature and a governor will decide when they go through the legislative process.
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Like any type of bill that gets drafted on Capitol Hill, I want to see the devil in the details. But yes, I could – I feel I could broadly support that. Because, like I said, IVF is something that is so critical to a lot of couples. It helps them breed great families. Our country needs that.
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My opposition has been very simple: Joe Biden needs to secure our country. The first job of the federal government is to secure the nation, secure our borders. He has failed in that. We are going to have 10 million migrants come into our country at the end of his first term just because he wants to have an open-border strategy. That doesn't help our country. And so many citizens are saying, "Why are we sending billions of dollars to protect Ukraine while our country remains open?" So my message has been clear. I agree with the Speaker. You want to talk Ukraine funding? Let's talk about it. But you've got to secure America first.
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Oh, it's very easy because it was a terrible deal. That bill would have codified all the actions of Joe Biden when he became president. There would've been no stop to the flow of migrants going into Detroit, Chicago, Denver, New York, et cetera. It wouldn't have fixed anything, Kristen. It was a terrible deal. And by the way, it didn't even pass the Senate. So if it doesn't pass the chamber of Congress, it is no deal.
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In the House we passed H.R.2. It is the most robust border security package ever to pass a chamber of Congress. And I stress, Kristen, H.R.2 has passed the House. The Senate deal did not pass the Senate. Chuck Schumer in the Senate won't even take it up for debate. He ignores it. That's on Chuck Schumer. But at the core of this entire question, the number one job is to secure the country. Joe Biden doesn't even need legislation to secure the country. He could do that right now. He can undo all of his executive orders that he put into place when he became president of the United States. That's what created the crisis that we have today.
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And I believe Joe Biden is willing to shut down it over border security.
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And like I said at CPAC a couple days ago.
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Hold on, Kristen, let me be clear. I'm willing to fund the government as long as our border is secure. The first job of the government is to secure the border. Any business that provides a service, if they don't give you the service, do you give them money? The answer is no. Kristen, you don't even do that. So we have to be honest with the American people. The government has a responsibility. Our cities are overrun. Our schools are overrun. Our shelters are overrun. And Joe Biden allows the disaster to continue. Kristen, let me add this wrinkle. There are young women who are sold into sex slavery by the drug cartels every single day. Joe Biden allows it to occur. That is un-American. It is not humane. Our border must be secured, period.
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I will not be voting for any funding if the border is not secured.
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Anything I vote for has to secure our border. And the president should agree to that. That's common sense for a nation like America.
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