GEIS-新闻详情

'This Week' Transcript 1-14-24: Gov. Ron DeSantis & Gov. JB Pritzker

2024-01-15 00:00:00.0 ABC新闻-政治新闻原网页

'This Week' Transcript 1-14-24: Gov. Ron DeSantis & Gov. JB Pritzker This is a rush transcript of "This Week" airing Sunday, January14.

By ABC News

January 14, 2024, 10:44 PM

1:08

Republican presidential candidate Florida Governor Ron DeSantis makes remarks at...Show MoreShow More

Alyssa Pointer/Reuters

Gov. Ron DeSantis & Gov. JB Pritzker were on "This Week" Sunday, January 1. This is a rush transcript and may be updated.

JONATHAN KARL, ABC "THIS WEEK" CO-ANCHOR: And we are joined now by -- from Iowa, from Bettendorf, Iowa, by Republican presidential candidate Governor Ron DeSantis.

Governor DeSantis, good morning, and thank you for joining us.

So, let me ask you, your closing argument now to those voters who -- those Republicans who plan to go tomorrow night and to caucus for Donald Trump, what is your closing argument to them to say, come vote for me instead?

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL), 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, Donald Trump's running for his issues. I'm running for your issues and your family's issues and solely to turn this country around. I've delivered on 100 percent of my promises. Donald Trump, obviously, didn't build the wall, didn't drain the swamp, and didn't reduce the debt. I've also taken on and beaten the Democrats and the left. And in reality, Donald Trump, as president, oftentimes got beat by the Democrats at the border. He got beat on debt. And so we have an opportunity to have a two-term president, someone that's going to be able to win decisively, and then actually bring all this stuff into fruition. And I'm the guy to do it.

KARL: You say Donald Trump is running for his issues. What do you mean by that? What are Donald Trump's issues?

DESANTIS: Well, he's focused a lot on things that concern him. Obviously, the distractions of everything that's going along with all these legal issues has been a huge thing for him. You're going to have criminal trials. You're going to have a lot of focus on things like January 6th by the media. And I think that ends up focusing the election on things that are going to be advantageous for Democrats because you're not going to be talking about the border, you're not going to be talking about the economy. You're going to be talking about all these things to make the election a referendum on Donald Trump.

And I think when Republicans have had those elections, whether it's 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, the Democrats have -- have benefitted for that, whereas if I'm the nominee, we'll be solely focused on the issues that matter to the American people. I'll be able to hold Biden or whoever their nominee is accountable. And I think it will be a crisp opportunity for a crisp victory for Republicans. And so we have an opportunity to make that choice starting in Iowa, and then through this process, but the notion that somehow all this stuff that's swirling around him is going to be a positive in a general election, that's just not true.

KARL: You know, it's extraordinary. Our poll shows that a vast majority of Republican voters say that they believe that Donald Trump has the best chance of winning in November against Biden, against the Democrats. You, obviously, outperformed in 2022 in your re-election. Trump – Republicans, other than some exceptions like you, have vastly underperformed since 2016. Why are Republican voters thinking – saying, why are they wrong in saying that Donald Trump has the best chance of beating Biden?

DESANTIS: Well, I think it's a couple of things. I mean, I think, one, our voters understandably see Biden as a very feeble, weak, and poor president. And so, I think some of it is they think anyone can beat him.

You know, my argument on that is, is that would have been a case in 2022, in the midterms. We probably never had circumstances more favorable for the party. Biden was unpopular, inflation was hot, the border was a disaster, crime -- all these issues.

We should have been able -- every Republican with a pulse should have been able to won -- win, and yet the Democrats made it a referendum on Trump and his adjacent candidates, and there's just certain swing voters that just aren't going to go there at that point. And I think that's been the case over and over again.

But I think when people just look at Biden as Republicans, they're, like, well, obviously, this is not a strong candidate.

And then I think there's been an effort to talk about national polling a year in advance or even more, showing that Trump is winning. Now I do think they're starting to come -- poll showing the opposite that Biden wins these swing states. But I would imagine as the year goes on, and should Trump be the nominee, all those polls I think are going to show Biden with a lead over Trump. And so, there -- I think it's been somewhat of a mirage, but people see that, and I think that that does register with them.

KARL: So, you think Trump is likely to lose to Biden in a head to head matchup?

DESANTIS: Well, look -- one of the reasons I’m running, Jon, is because after the midterms of 2022, we saw very clearly the pathway forward for the party was like what we did in Florida, what Governor Reynolds who's endorsed me here in Iowa, what she did winning big. Governors and Republicans that had their own brand and focused on results performed extraordinarily well. The other Republicans who were more aligned with Trump and his issues, they underperformed. That's just the reality.

So my fear is, is doing 2024 with a rematch would have a lot of the same dynamics that we had in 2020, only Donald Trump won't be an incumbent. I mean, the advantages of incumbency are incredible, and yet we are where we are.

So I think we -- I have the best path forward for the party, to both unite the party because you've got to have somebody that can -- that can energize the base, and I think that Trump obviously has done that in the past. I’ve done that in Florida. I can do it nationally.

Haley cannot do that. I mean, she is not getting support from conservatives. She's relying on Democrat-leaning independents for her support in the primary, and that's just not the way you can win and galvanize support from the party faithful.

KARL: So, back to Iowa. You've actually spent a lot of time in Iowa, 99 counties. You've put a major effort in.

You’ve been asked many times over the last several months a very direct question about how you'll do in Iowa. I want to play some of your responses.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DESANTIS: Iowa, we have the best ground game by far right now.

INTERVIEWER: You expect to win in Iowa?

DESANTIS: We're going to win in Iowa.

We're going to win Iowa.

REPORTER: Governor, do you expect to win the Iowa caucuses with Governor Reynolds --

DESANTIS: I think so, yeah. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

We're going to win the caucus. We're doing everything that we need to do it.

We're going to win Iowa.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KARL: So simple question, are you going to win Iowa?

(LAUGHTER)

DESANTIS: But you know what? Since then, I’ve learned that it's good to be an underdog. When folks want to count you out, when they want to say, oh, you know, this, when they want to cite these polls -- I mean, the -- our supporters here, and I think Iowans generally, I think they roll their eyes at some of these polls because how you can poll a caucus, much less one in negative 22?

So our voters are ready. They're going to turn out. We've built this great organization. We've got great enthusiasm on the ground. Yes, I visited all 99 counties. So, that's the -- that’s what you need to be able to do well.

So, we're going to do well, but I’d rather have people count us out. I'd rather have people lower expectations for us. I tend to perform better like that.

I think our vo -- our voters that we’ve lined up and we have tens of thousands that have committed to caucus for us. I’ve got thousands of people that have come in just to volunteer in Iowa. People that are just paying their own plane ticket from Washington state and Texas so they can trudge through snow in the middle of a blizzard and knock on doors and ask Iowans to support me in the caucus.

So, we’re really excited about what we put together here. Our voters have an opportunity to have their vote count in a really meaningful way because there was 186,000 people that came last time 2016 to participate. A lot of people thought it was going to be less anyways. But now with this weather, it could be significantly less.

So, any one of our voters who are out there bringing friends and family -- man, that's going to pack a punch. So we're going to do well, but I would -- I like the fact that they’re -- that they're viewing me as an underdog. I think that's better.

KARL: So let me ask you. In the debate in Iowa, you were asked a very direct question of whether you believe Donald Trump has the character to be president. I didn't hear you give a direct answer so let me try again.

Do you believe – I'm not talking about his fitness to serve in terms of his health, his age, any of that. Do you believe he has the character, the moral character to be president of the United States again?

DESANTIS: Well, I think I did answer it in just -- I just didn't answer it in the way the media wants me to.

KARL: Well, you --

DESANTIS: For me, leadership is not about yourself, it's not about showmanship or any of that, it’s about producing results. So, when you make promises, do you deliver? And if you break the promises, then that's not good leadership. So, he was -- he ran in 2016. You covered that campaign. He said he was going to build the wall and have Mexico pay for it, drain the swamp, hold Hillary accountable, eliminate the debt. None of that stuff came to fruition. And so the way I view it is simply, I make promises to people and I am fully intent on following through with it. And I'm going to be willing to sacrifice whatever's in my own personal/political interest to be able to deliver on those big promises.

And so he didn't deliver on those key promises the first time. So, the question is, even if he could get elected, you know, he's close to 80 years old. He’d be a lame duck president. He's got a lot of issues surrounding him personally that he's very concerned about. Is he going to be able to deliver on all those things? And so for me it's just -- the end of the day it's about results. You got to deliver on what you promised. KARL: One – one of your supporters -- one of the five House members who have supported you, endorsed your campaign, had this to say about why so many others have lined up behind Donald Trump. This is Thomas Massie, Congressman Thomas Massie. He said, “I would say a good number of people who have endorsed Trump in Congress have done it because they genuinely want him to be president and prefer him. But a majority of them are scared of their own constituents, not necessarily scared of Trump, but that he would rile up their constituents and that they might lose a primary.”

Is that is that is – is that what's going on? Because we are now seeing this stampede of – of elected Republican officials endorsing Donald Trump.

DESANTIS: Well, you'll – you’ll have to ask them. I mean I can tell you this, I mean, I do know elected officials who encourage me to run and say they're going to vote for me in a primary, but yet have endorsed Donald Trump. That's just the reality of the situation. But here's the thing, what I would tell elected Republicans. You know, when you stand up and you're delivering on conservative issues, you know, Donald Trump's not going to be able to say you're bad if you've delivered on those issues. The voters are going to look at what you’ve done. I think Trump can be effective in a primary for people who are not delivering on conservative issues and who are going more wobbly or more left on things. But then that's always been the case that people can be exposed in these primaries.

So, we're doing it. I've got guys like Chip Roy, I've got guys like Tom (ph). I mean they guys are out there. They're fighting the good fight. You know, they've got a lot of incoming. But what we can't have as a party is that our movement is detached from the underlying principles and issues that we're trying to advocate on behalf of the American people. And I think Trump is trying to make it to where someone that kisses the ring, even if they're not faithful to the core conservative values, somehow they're a member in good standing just by doing that, whereas a Chip Roy, who's fighting on all these conservative issues that all the Republican base has always wanted to do, but the fact that he's endorsed me and hasn't kissed the ring that somehow he’s bad or he’s somehow a rhino, that is what you don’t want. You want it to be rooted in – in a larger principle and not an individual.

And, also, you’ve got to hold people accountable. I mean, I – you know, me as the nominee should be held accountable, Donald Trump, anybody. So, we're doing it, I think, the right way. The people that are attracted to us. Yes, they – they like what I've done in Florida, but – but I'm really just the vessel for the values that they believe in.

KARL: All right, Governor Ron DeSantis, thank you for joining us this morning.

DESANTIS: Thank you.

KARL: We are joined now by Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, a member of the Biden-Harris campaign national advisory board.

Governor Pritzker, thank you for joining us.

As I understand it, you're going to be in Iowa tomorrow speaking on behalf of the Biden campaign, and I believe even colder than Chicago. So tell me, what's your -- what's your message tomorrow in Iowa?

GOV. JB PRITZKER, (D) ILLINOIS & BIDEN-HARRIS CAMPAIGN NATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER: Well, it's minus 29 here...

KARL: OK.

(LAUGHTER)

PRITZKER: So I'm not sure how much colder it will be in Iowa...

(LAUGHTER)

PRITZKER: ... but I'll be there.

Look. here's the important thing for people to recognize, that, putting all the polls aside, the truth of the matter is this is going to be won among independents. And independents understand that -- as Democrats do -- that it's the Republicans that are trying to take your freedoms away. It's the Republicans that are trying to take away your Social Security and your Medicare. It's the Republicans that are basically fighting against the working families of America.

And it's Joe Biden who has been lifting up the economy. We now have incomes above inflation. Inflation is coming down significantly. Things are getting better in this country. And over the course of an election year. as the economy continues to improve, you're going to see poll numbers improve, too.

KARL: Well, let me ask you about those numbers because they -- they aren't improving. In fact, they seem to be going in the -- in the other direction. Our poll this morning has Biden's approval rating at 33 percent. That's historically low, low for him, low for an incumbent president. It's 15 years since we've seen numbers that low. And on the economy, it's even actually worse. Only 31 percent say that they approve of Biden's handling of the economy.

How does he turn that around?

PRITZKER: Well, I will say I think your poll is a bit of an outlier, but -- but here's what I'll tell you. This battle hasn't even been joined yet. You've got a bunch of Republicans, MAGA Republicans, espousing things that are not good for the American public, that are on the stage now. And not until they choose a nominee will we truly be in this battle.

And then it's a choice. It's a choice, again, between two visions for America. And Joe Biden has proven that he's the one standing up for working families. He's the one standing up for the rights that people view as fundamental in their lives, their voting rights, their reproductive rights, human rights. And so I -- I really believe that this hasn't, you know, seen the day yet where you've got a true contrast between a Republican on one side and a Democrat on the other.

KARL: I mean, obviously, aside from the issues and where people think the economy is, you have -- you have the question of the president's age. I mean, it's just there in poll after poll, not just ours.

Our poll, in fact, said 28 percent -- just 28 percent think that President Biden has the mental sharpness to effectively serve for another term. So how does he address those concerns, those very real concerns that voters have?

PRITZKER: Maybe we ought to start by just acknowledging that Joe Biden has years of experience, that when you talk about someone's age, you're also talking about the wisdom that they've gained over many years and how they've demonstrated their empathy that they've learned from so many experiences.

Joe Biden and Donald Trump are roughly the same age. Do you think Donald Trump has learned empathy in his life? He has not. Joe Biden has demonstrated it at every turn. Think about what he's accomplished across the aisle because of his years of experience, not in a partisan fashion, but a bipartisan fashion. Getting a serious bill passed to improve our infrastructure across the nation, to make sure to create jobs and bring manufacturing back to the United States.

That's what he's done, and again, working with Republicans. The majorities that he's gotten have had Republicans and Democrats voting together. That's who Joe Biden is, and that's what age and experience brings.

KARL: Is it your expectation that he'll be running against Trump?

PRITZKER: I -- you know, the polls certainly show that. If you'll look at the average of the polls out there, it doesn't look good for the people who are running against Donald Trump. Having said that, you know, I think, whatever happens in Iowa tomorrow will be somewhat determinative of who gets to move on to the states beyond Iowa.

And so, we’ll see. I think this battle will go on for perhaps another month or two before there is really a clear front-runner that's been established by actual voters going to the polls.

KARL: And what do you make of this effort to keep him off the ballot, citing the 14th Amendment, banning insurrectionists running? You know, obviously, you have Colorado. You have Maine. There's a movement in Illinois to do the same thing.

Is that something Democrats should be doing, or should they be focused on, you know, the campaign?

PRITZKER: Well, it's not just Democrats doing it. But let's face it -- this is going to go to the Supreme Court. They're the ones who are ultimately going to make the decision here, and we'll all abide by that decision.

KARL: And yet, there's an interesting issue in Illinois. You've got this -- this pledge that candidates have been asked to sign. It's a voluntary pledge, but it's saying that you will not advocate for overthrowing the government.

It actually has its roots in McCarthy -- in the McCarthy era, but candidates have been signing this, you know, for decades. Biden signed it.

We've learned that President Trump has not signed it. What do you make of that? He's not signing a pledge that he won’t participate in the overthrow of the government?

PRITZKER: Isn't that telling? That says all you need to know about Donald Trump, that, you know, truthfully, what Joe Biden has been saying about Donald Trump not really believing in democracy, you know, having Joe Biden call out the fact that Donald Trump is saying that he'll be a dictator, whether it's one day or his entire term, nobody really knows.

But the reality is that he's not signing that pledge, it's just another indicator of Donald Trump not wanting to abide by the Constitution of the United States of America, and we just can’t afford to have a president who is acting in unconstitutional fashion, and in his own self-interest.

KARL: Well, one thing we've seen in -- throughout this primary process is Trump has refused to debate. Do you expect that, assuming he is the nominee, are we going to see debates in the fall?

PRITZKER: I would think so. I mean, I have not seen a presidential election in my lifetime where there wasn't at least one debate between the two candidates. So I think we're going to see that.

But the debate is ongoing, as you know. And once a nominee is chosen on the Republican side, once again, I think you're going to start to see the real contrast, whether there's a debate or two in the fall. Every day, you're going to see the contrast between these two visions for a future for the American people, and it's Joe Biden that really stands with working families.

KARL: And we don't have much time left, but one issue that is clearly hurting Democrats is the situation at the border. A recent CBS poll found that 68 percent disapprove of the president's handling.

Whatever you think of that, there's clearly a problem at the border. I know you have advocated for a stronger action from the federal government on dealing with this crisis. How does -- how does the president address this going forward?

PRITZKER: Well, we need the Congress to act. There is discussion right now about comprehensive immigration reform, about border security, and this can be handled right now. They could vote on this and make sure that we're actually dealing with it.

But, you know, Democrats have been at the table for decades now, wanting immigration reform. Republicans refused. So, finally, they're at least in discussion. My hope is that they'll get something done.

But not enough has been done, there's no doubt about that. And I think that the president needs to do more. The Congress needs to do more.

Cities out here that are the target of this political game that Governor Abbott is playing, are suffering.

And here in Illinois, it's minus 29 degrees outside with the wind chill. We have migrants that arrive from Texas virtually every day, hundreds, and we don't have places to put them. We don't have enough shelter space here.

There are plenty of other cities where, you know, if he's going to send people, they could be sent, but no. He's choosing only Democratic states, Democratic cities. And when we've asked him to stop sending people because of the weather, because the dangerous nature of this winter storm that we're experiencing now, he's refused to stop sending them. So, he does not care about people. He doesn't care about the, the migrants, he doesn't care about the fact that they're going to suffer if they're sent to certainly the Upper Midwest, as he is doing now.

KARL: All right, Governor JB Pritzker of Illinois, thank you for joining us.

PRITZKER: Thank you very much, Jonathan.

Promoted Links by Taboola Promoted Links by Taboola

URUHIME MOMOKO

Bulk buying rush at Japan Donki, 40s women face changedURUHIME MOMOKO

Undo

Superfood Reviews

Do This Everyday to Ease Eczema Flare-UpsSuperfood Reviews Shop Now

Undo

Hair’s Rich

Watsons-bought "Japan's hair growth gel" worked so wellHair’s Rich

Undo

Who are the Houthis and why did the US attack them?

Undo

Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan steps down from No Labels' board in a possible sign of a 2024 bid

Undo

Experts break down what the Constitution, framers said about 'presidential immunity'

Undo

Body Design News

Tackle Fat with Diet Sensation. Available at Watsons!Body Design News

Undo

My Beauty Life

A woman in her 40s drank "Ceramide" and her skin became…My Beauty Life

Undo

WallStreet Viral

Here is What a Funeral Service Should Cost In 2024 - See Prices in SingaporeWallStreet Viral

Undo