NBC "Meet the Press" - Transcript: Interview with Gov. Elect Tony Evers
Interview
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CHUCK TODD:
Welcome back. We're going to turn now to a couple of end runs around the November election results. In Wisconsin the Republican legislature has approved a set of bills that essentially would strip some power from the newly elected governor and attorney general. "Why?" you might ask. Well, the newly elected governor, Tony Evers, and the newly elected attorney general, Josh Kaul, are newly elected Democrats.The newly defeated two-term governor Scott Walker has indicated that he does plan to sign the bills that would, among other things, give the Republican legislature control over some major appointments and reduce early voting, which tends to benefit the Democrats in Wisconsin, down to two weeks. Across the lake in Michigan, the Republican legislature is taking similar steps against the incoming Democratic governor and attorney general there as well. Now, this has happened before in many a legislature. Democrats in fact have done this in the past to Republican governors in lame duck sessions in other states. Joining me now from the state capital of Madison is Wisconsin's incoming Democratic governor, Tony Evers. Governor-elect Evers, welcome to Meet the Press, sir.
GOV.-ELECT TONY EVERS:
Good morning, Chuck. How are you today?
CHUCK TODD:
I'm okay. Let me start with this. You had said you were going to personally lobby Governor Scott Walker, the outgoing governor whom you defeated, to veto this legislation. How have those talks gone? Have you met with him?
GOV.-ELECT TONY EVERS:
I communicated with Governor Walker over the telephone a few days ago and laid out my position that vetoing the legislation was going to be an important thing not only for, you know, to make sure that are -- what happened last November, the vote of the people of Wisconsin, is actually upheld and we're putting people in front of politics. But also, it's just bad legislation. And I made that, made that pitch, and he was noncommittal. I know publicly he's said in other arenas that he plans to sign most or all of it. So I'm not particularly encouraged at this point in time. But it's around Scott Walker's legacy. He has the opportunity to change this and actually validate the will of the people that, that voted on November 6th.
CHUCK TODD:
Did you negotiate with him? Did you say, "You know what? Look, I know X is really important to you. I get that. But what's with Y and Z here?" Was there a Y and Z? Did you go to him and say, "Look, I really think this part is just crazy. Please veto that. If you want to keep this, I get it"?
GOV.-ELECT TONY EVERS:
No, I talked about a few areas that are really important that actually Republican business leaders have talked about that, that would take away power and implicate and make, make economic development much more difficult in the state of Wisconsin. But the entire thing is a mess. It's a hot mess. And I believe that he should veto the entire package. In fact, at least three or four of the pieces that are in there now, he has vetoed previously. And so it makes no sense to me. And, you know, he's been a longtime public servant. And, and he, he, he has a legacy here. So we're hopeful that he will veto the whole thing.
CHUCK TODD:
I'm curious. After you were elected and quickly we heard word that the Republican speaker and the Republican majority leader in the legislature there were considering these bills, did you reach out to them personally before the bill started going? And, and if you did, what was that conversation like?
GOV.-ELECT TONY EVERS:
Well, I met with Robin Vos, the speaker, much before those words came -- that rumor came down the pike. No, I haven't had a chance to talk -- I mean, it was last minute. One of these, "Here's a rumor," and then, "Here's the bills that have been worked on for several months." But, you know, Chuck, if Scott Walker --
CHUCK TODD:
So you didn't --
GOV.-ELECT TONY EVERS:
-- had won this election, if Scott Walker had won this election, we wouldn't be sitting here talking to you today.
CHUCK TODD:
Is there any part -- you know, one of the things that the speaker said, he goes, "Well, in hindsight maybe we gave the governor too much power." Take the partisan hat off a minute, all right? I know that, that perhaps many people read that comment tongue in cheek. But do you believe he's right?
GOV.-ELECT TONY EVERS:
Well, there are things in that bill that really had nothing to do with giving Scott Walker anything. So, no, I don't agree with that. You know, we have balanced power in the state of Wisconsin. The legislature on both sides are Republican. I'm a Democrat. The attorney general's a Democrat. No, I, I view this as completely different than what Robin Vos believes. And that is that -- we are trying to invalidate the will of the people. The people of Wisconsin didn't -- voted for me because they knew that I was for good schools, and a good transportation system, and good health care. They didn't elect me to fight over administrative powers in the state of Wisconsin vis-à-vis the Republican majority. No, I think this, this gets us off to a bad start. And I think it's a mistake. But we'll continue working to get the people of Wisconsin to convince Scott Walker to think about his legacy and make sure that he vetoes this language.
CHUCK TODD:
Democratic Congresswoman Gwen Moore said the following. "The legislators who engineered this coup, their actions amount to a smash-and-grab hijacking of the voters' will." Do you "coup's" the right word here?
GOV.-ELECT TONY EVERS:
Well that's always --is seems, it seems strong, but the fact of the matter is, as I just said, if Scott Walker had won this election, and he did not, I did, we wouldn't be sitting here talking about this today. We, we wouldn't, we wouldn't be talking -- Scott Walker wouldn't be sitting here talking about, "Jeez, they're trying, they're trying to balance the power here." So, no, I think, as, you know, it's directly related to, to a win by a Democrat. And that'd be me. And we -- we need, we need to have this, we need to have this vetoed.
CHUCK TODD:
One of their rationales has been, "Well, Governor-elect Evers' margins all came from two cities: Madison and Milwaukee. We have to represent the rest of the state." What do you say to that charge? And, more importantly, you won a very narrow election. How do you reach --
GOV.-ELECT TONY EVERS:
Of course.
CHUCK TODD:
How do you reach across this divided state at this point?
GOV.-ELECT TONY EVERS:
Well I can -- it would have been a lot easier without this legislation. I'll tell you that. I have reached, in my present job as state superintendent, that's a statewide elected position, and I've reached across the aisle on all, all numbers of issues. So that's part of my DNA. I'm an educator. So I, I always try to find common ground. And I'll continue to do that going forward.
This just makes it more difficult. But I won the election. Any way you slice it, I won the election. And actually I narrowed some of the, the votes outstate. And I've won lots of those counties outstate in the past. So I am the governor, I will be the governor of the state of Wisconsin --
CHUCK TODD:
Alright.
GOV.-ELECT TONY EVERS:
-- and I'll represent all the people.
CHUCK TODD:
And if he doesn't veto this legislation, do you plan to sue? Do you really think you have standing?
GOV.-ELECT TONY EVERS:
Well, all, all, all issues are on the table. I'm not making any promises one way or the other, but we're looking at all issues, all options at the table. I need to stand up for the people of Wisconsin. There's 2.6 million people that voted in this last election. And they expect me to do that. So I'm going, we're going to pursue this.
CHUCK TODD:
Governor-elect Tony Evers, Democrat from Wisconsin, thanks for coming on, sharing your views. Good luck when you take, when you actually take the oath.
GOV.-ELECT TONY EVERS:
Thanks Chuck.
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