NBC "Meet the Press" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Ben Jujan and Steve Stivers
Interview
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CHUCK TODD:
Welcome back. Almost lost in the coverage of the pipe bombs and the synagogue massacre is the story we thought we'd be focusing on today, the midterm elections. Before the events of the last 72 hours, Republicans looked as if they had a solid hold on at least controlling the Senate while Democrats remained particularly optimistic about taking back the House. But now it's possible the landscape may be shifting beneath our feet. And joining me now are the two men charged with getting members of their own party elected, the chairs of the House campaign committees, Republican Steve Stivers of Ohio and Democrat Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico. And in the spirit of doing this together they both agreed to come on together. And I appreciate that. Gentlemen, welcome back to Meet the Press.
REP. STEVE STIVERS:
Great to be on.
REP. BEN RAY LUJÁN:
Good morning. Good to be with you today.
CHUCK TODD:
All right. I want you both to react to a woman in Pittsburgh reacting to yesterday's tragic events. Take a listen.
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CHUCK TODD:
Congressman Stivers, this is a woman who is I think connecting all the violence and the anger over the last, the last few days into one. What would you say to her about -- how would you respond to her saying we need leadership here, we need to tone this down? How would you respond to that woman?
REP. STEVE STIVERS:
Well, I agree with her. I think we all need to keep our dialogue civil. And frankly, I've not been shy about showing moral leadership. We are the only major party committee to cut off a candidate for their behavior. A candidate in New Jersey, Seth Grossman, who said bigoted things. We cut him off. We're the only major committee to show that kind of leadership. The Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee continues to support Leslie Coburn and Scott Wallace who have said bigoted and anti-Semitic things. And I think we need to -- we all bear some responsibility. And we need to try to clean up our act and try to bring more civility to the -- to our Congress and, frankly, to our dialogue.
CHUCK TODD:
Before I let Congressman Luján respond to those charges that you threw out there, let me ask you about the president. What role should he be playing here and has he played the proper role yet?
REP. STEVE STIVERS:
Well, you know, I sometimes disagree with the way the president treats people. I thought after the pipe bombs he initially set the right tone of unity and coming together. And I hope that he will continue--
CHUCK TODD:
You said initially.
REP. STEVE STIVERS:
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--on that path.
CHUCK TODD:
That sounds like you didn't think he continued.
REP. STEVE STIVERS:
I said I hope he'll continue on that path.
CHUCK TODD:
Fair enough. Congressman Luján you heard Congressman Stivers there. He says that you have not -- you have continued to back people that he says have trafficked -- trafficked in hate speech. What say you?
REP. BEN RAY LUJÁN:
Well, Chuck, first off, that's simply not true. But, look, with the concerns that, that woman had in Pittsburgh, look, another senseless act of hate has stricken yet another community and a place of worship in the United States of America. And the Congress has a responsibility to act to keep people safe. And it's not too much to expect leaders to bring us together, to unite our country, to find a way to reach out to us to our greater good and make sure that we rise above all of the accusations and the hate and the finger pointing, Chuck. So I am certainly hopeful that we'll see that out of the leader of the free world and that we'll see that out of each and every one of us individually as well as our colleagues.
REP. STEVE STIVERS:
And I would like to say I'm proud of the way Ben responded when Steve Scalise was shot. I mean, we didn't blame Bernie Sanders --
CHUCK TODD:
Right.
REP. STEVE STIVERS:
-- when Steve Scalise was shot. We all came together. I think we can all come together now. It may take us about nine days for that to happen but I think we can all come together now.
CHUCK TODD:
Well, I want to read to you something Dan Balz wrote --
REP. BEN RAY LUJÁN:
It should start today though, Steve. It doesn't have to wait.
REP. STEVE STIVERS:
It should start today.
REP. BEN RAY LUJÁN:
We can start today.
REP. STEVE STIVERS:
Well, I hope that, I hope that the finger pointing will stop and we can come together. I believe we need to come together, Ben.
CHUCK TODD:
I have to tell you, I actually think Dan Balz is the perfect person to insert into this because he writes the following, "This is a time of the politics of the apocalypse. An all or nothing view of the difference between winning and losing an election and of holding power or not holding it. Politicians say that it is time for the country to come together," as you two just did. "But on whose terms?" I think that is the issue. Congressman Luján, what does coming together mean to the Democrats? And then I'm going to ask the same question to Congressman Stivers. I'll start with you, Congressman Luján.
REP. BEN RAY LUJÁN:
Well, look, it's making sure that we're able to reach across the aisle and we can work in a bipartisan basis. What Democrats have been clear about is if we're fortunate to win back the House, which I believe we will, that we work immediately on lowering prescription drug prices for the American people. That we work on a bipartisan infrastructure package to make investments across the country. And that we work together to clean up Washington D.C., to find ways to overturn Citizens United, to address gerrymandering, to improve and increased transparency and disclosure across the government to restore faith in our political process. Those are all areas where we can work together and reach across the aisle and find some common ground.
CHUCK TODD:
Congressman Stivers, what does it mean to you --
REP. STEVE STIVERS:
Well, I do think --
CHUCK TODD:
--coming together, on whose terms?
REP. STEVE STIVERS:
-- I do think we need to come together not on any one's terms but on America's terms. We're Americans first. I agree with Ben that infrastructure is something that we all need and we need to come together on. Lowering prescription drug costs. I'm not sure why Ben didn't talk about lowering health care costs. We need to come together on lowering health care costs. And I think we can do that. We need to listen to each other no matter who takes the majority. And I think we're going to hold the majority. But no matter who takes the majority --
CHUCK TODD:
Right.
REP. STEVE STIVERS:
-- it will be a razor-thin majority. And hopefully that will mean people will come together, Republicans and Democrats, to get things done. But I do worry about, you know, making sure that we do it in a way that we are focused on getting things done, not on just abolishing ICE --
CHUCK TODD:
Alright.
REP. STEVE STIVERS:
-- or doing the things that are on the extreme.
CHUCK TODD:
Congressman Stivers, I want to ask you about an ad that you're running last week. One of the people targeted by the pipe bomb assailant was George Soros. Here's a part of an ad that you're running in Minnesota against the Democratic candidate there named Dan Feehan paid for by the NRS -- NRCC. Take a listen.
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CHUCK TODD:
Why do you target George Soros?
REP. STEVE STIVERS:
Well, you know, our independent expenditure arm is independent. But, you know, that ad is factual. And, you know, it also has nothing to do with calling for violence. That ad is a factual ad.
CHUCK TODD:
Congressman Luján, do you believe that their -- that attacking folks of big money, you guys do it too, I guess, with the Koch brothers and things like that, are we inadvertently putting, putting people, private citizens, in the crosshairs of politics that don't need to be?
REP. BEN RAY LUJÁN:
Well, look, Steve, I think on all sides we need to evaluate how people are being targeted. Even this morning Kevin McCarthy pulled down a tweet where he was targeting George Soros as well as Tom Steyer and a few other leaders like Mr. Bloomberg across the country. I think that both committees should begin to look at how they operate into the future and what's going on even during the rest of this election cycle. But, look, we built a strategy at the DCCC surrounding our candidates talking about their personal stories and records of service. Men and women who have served the United States in the military, C.I.A. officers, F.B.I. agents. People who have committed them -- their selves to keeping our country safe. And we're going to continue to run ads that are touting --
CHUCK TODD:
Okay.
REP. BEN RAY LUJÁN:
-- their positive stories where our candidates are connecting with the American people.
CHUCK TODD:
Let me ask you both --
REP. STEVE STIVERS:
Ben, Ben your ads in Colorado and in Washington have been called sleazy and personal attacks. I mean, I admit it happens on both sides. We probably both need --
REP. BEN RAY LUJÁN:
Steve --
REP. STEVE STIVERS:
-- to figure out how to clean things up. But it's -- that's a fact --
REP. BEN RAY LUJÁN:
Steve, we're --
REP. STEVE STIVERS:
--and that's not us. That's the media calling it that.
CHUCK TODD:
Let me ask you --
REP. BEN RAY LUJÁN:
Steve, you're running, we're running, well hold on, Chuck on that.
CHUCK TODD:
Go ahead.
REP. BEN RAY LUJÁN:
Steve, you've also been running racist ads in New York, in Penn -- in Cincinnati, Ohio and out in California. You can do something to pull those down. And I just think on all sides that everyone should monitor the tone here. Again, no more finger pointing, Steve.
REP. STEVE STIVERS:
I --
REP. BEN RAY LUJÁN:
Let's make sure that we look within ourselves and we find the greater good there, Chuck.
REP. STEVE STIVERS:
I agree with you, Ben. But let's, let's both look within ourselves.
CHUCK TODD:
All right. Steve Stivers, Ben--
REP. BEN RAY LUJÁN:
Amen to that.
CHUCK TODD:
-- Ray Luján, Congressman Stivers, I fear you're right. It may be nine days before everybody is willing to, to sort of calm things down. But let's hope there's a little more calm before the next nine days.
REP. STEVE STIVERS:
I hope so.
REP. BEN RAY LUJÁN:
It doesn't have to wait, Chuck.
REP. STEVE STIVERS:
I hope so.
REP. BEN RAY LUJÁN:
We can start today.
REP. STEVE STIVERS:
You should, Ben.
CHUCK TODD:
All right, I will let you both go there --
REP. BEN RAY LUJÁN:
We should, Steve. We should.
CHUCK TODD:
I hope --
REP. BEN RAY LUJÁN:
We should.
REP. STEVE STIVERS:
We both should.
CHUCK TODD:
I hope everybody is safe in the campaign trail over the next nine days.
REP. STEVE STIVERS:
Thank you.
CHUCK TODD:
Gentleman, thank you both for coming on. When we come back --
REP. BEN RAY LUJÁN:
Thank you as well, Chuck.
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