MSNBC "The Ed Show" - Transcript

Interview

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Joined tonight on this program by Keith Ellison of Minnesota, co-chair
of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Congressman, good to have you with us. You know --

REP. KEITH ELLISON (D), MINNESTOA: Always a pleasure, Ed.
SCHULT: You know, it`s pretty frequent, in fact, it`s almost weekly
that some jug head of the Republican Party comes out and makes a statement
like this and then hides behind his statement.

Is this part of their plan? Am I off-base when I say that this is no
longer the Tea Party or the fringers, this is the Republican Party strategy
and it goes all the way to the top?

ELLISON: I think that they have a strategy to try to convince the
American people that the president is not one of us. One of us is said
with a wink and a nod. And it has to do with feelings of people`s latent
fears about immigrants, about Kenyans, about people of color. You know,
income issues and class.

I think, basically, they`re in a very difficult position, because if
they were being forthright about their economic policy, what they would
have to say is that we believe that rich people don`t have enough money and
poor people have too much. They can`t say that.

So what do they have to do? They have to whip up people`s latent
fears and anxieties about the changing demographics of America and so they
say the president`s emblematic of that, connect him to those fears, and
then try to get votes that way, basically by dividing an alienating
America. It`s just Willie Horton, 2012.

SCHULTZ: Let me say this. In this broadcast right now, this segment
on THE ED SHOW is a classic example. I should not have referred to the
congressman from Colorado as a jughead, I should not have done. But this
is who I am, I`m passionate, I love the country and I get involved in the
issues.

But I`m not alone. This is what other Americans do. This is how
other Americans respond when they hear people come out and say outlandish
things about our president, our elected president, our legitimate
president.

I spoke with Bernie Sanders today. He says that the counteroffensive
has to continue for the Democrats. Well, do you think that the Democrats
have to answer to these folks every time that they hear something like
this?

ELLISON: You know, Ed, I think we`ve got to talk about solidarity as
Americans. I think we`ve got to talk about how we as Americans -- all
colors, all cultures of faith, no matter when we got here, if we are
Americans and legally engaged in American activity and we`re doing what
we`re supposed to do as Americans -- then we all count and we all matter.
And I think that this message of trying to divide people based on, you
know, all kind of factors that people like the congressman don`t want to
actually say. He doesn`t really want to say he was caught pandering to
people`s ugliest impulses, so he just hides behind that statement. But the
reality is, is that it`s divisive and he`s trying to divide Americans and
therefore distract Americans.

But I think Bernie`s right. We`ve got to take this thing forward. We
can`t just counter what they say, we have to make an affirmative argument
that we are together, we are Americans, we are proud of our country, and
that we`re not going to throw anybody under the bus.

SCHULTZ: But, Congressman, isn`t it hard to get together? Look at it
from their perspective.

ELLISON: It`s hard, but we`ve got to do it.

SCHULTZ: OK. But if they think that the president is not American,
if they think the president is not legitimate, if this is what they say
behind closed doors and the truth doesn`t come out until they get recorded
and it gets public -- how do we expect these people to work with the
president or with the Democrats if they think that the president is un-
American and bad for the country? They`re just going to say, hey, we`re
just going to wait this thing out and try to beat him at the polls. We`re
not going to try to get anything done, because we don`t think he`s an
American anyway.

You see my point?

ELLISON: Ed, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle told me
everything I need to know when they were willing to default on America`s
debt last year -- last August, in exchange for concessions.

When they were willing to let America be downgraded, from AAA to AA-
plus -- you know, I came to the conclusion that any hope for bipartisan
cooperation was going to be slim to none. When they let the FAA expire and
wasted a bunch of money because they were trying to play games with the
FAA. When we come -- we`re on the two-month, run a month-to-month basis
with the transportation bill.

I mean, I don`t hold out any illusions that we can work with these
guys in a constructive way. We`ve got to win at the polls and let that be
the deciding.

That`s sad. I wish we could get some cooperation. I`m ready to
cooperate. The president`s ready to cooperate, but if you`re looking for
cooperation from the other side, I don`t think we`re going to see it.

SCHULTZ: Not with that attitude. Congressman Keith Ellison of
Minnesota, good to have you with us tonight on the program. Thanks so
much.

ELLISON: Thanks, Ed.

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