Fox News "Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace" - Transcript: Interview with Gov. Steve Bullock
Interview
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Governor, welcome.
GOV. STEVE BULLOCK, D-MONT., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Good morning, Chris. Great to be with you.
WALLACE: You, I don't have to tell you, are not going to be on the debate stage this week for the first Democratic debates. In the meantime, as the governor of Montana, you won't be there but a tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang will be there and self-help guru Marianne Williamson will be there.
How big a blow to your campaign, sir?
BULLOCK: Well, Chris, it certainly disappointed because missing from that stage will be somebody that actually won in a Trump state and we need to win back some of those places that we lost if we're going to win in 2020, someone that has bridge divides, my legislature is majority Republican, but we've gotten meaningful things done, someone from a rural state, which I think is important, and somebody from out of Washington, D.C.
But I don't think that it's a blow to my campaign in the slightest. I mean during that time I'll actually be in town halls in Iowa and in New Hampshire talking to people. And I think that's how both I've won here in Montana three times statewide. I've always put sort of people above sort of the politics or the political party rules and I think that's what people are going to want in a president.
WALLACE: OK. Let -- let's talk specifically about it because it is one of your main selling points that you have run and won in Montana three times, once as attorney general, twice as governor in a state that Donald Trump won in 2016 by 20 points.
The question I guess I have is, what's the practical effect of that, the fact that you won in a red state? How does -- in a practical way -- does that mean that you'd have a better chance than another Democratic candidate of beating President Trump in states that he won in 2016, like Pennsylvania and Michigan and Wisconsin?
BULLOCK: Yes, Chris, I was on the ballot in 2016. He took Montana by 20. I won by four. Twenty-five to 30 percent of my voters voted for Donald Trump. In a practical -- we both have to bring out our base and win back some of those places that we lost. And I can't win in Montana just by going to the pockets of blue. I get all across this state. And I think that we need to make sure that our Democratic nominee can be competitive not only on the coast but, as you know, places like Wisconsin, places like Pennsylvania and I believe I can be that candidate.
WALLACE: You talk about working with and getting bills through the Republican-controlled legislature in Montana, which -- which brings me to Joe Biden, who talked this week about how he used to work with segregationist senators to get legislation through.
That led to a controversy over whether Biden should apologize for those comments. Take a look.
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QUESTION: Are you going to apologize, like Cory Booker has called for?
BIDEN: Apologize for what?
QUESTION: Cory Booker has called for it. He's asking you to apologize.
BIDEN: Cory should apologize. He knows better. There's not a racist bone in my body. I've been involved in civil rights my whole career, period.
SEN. CORY BOOKER, D-N.J., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: For his posture to be to me, I've done nothing wrong, you should apologize, I'm not a racist, is so insulting and -- and -- and -- and so missing the larger point that he should not have to have explained to him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Governor, what do you think of what the former vice president, Joe Biden, said? And do you think some of your Democratic rivals in the field are too focused on ideological purity over practical politics?
BULLOCK: Well, Chris, I certainly work to maintain decent relationships in my state house, and I think that the vice president's illustration of the we need to work with other individuals and folks that we may not agree with all the time is a valid point. And that's what I do here in Montana. I might not have chosen those specific senators from a perspective of giving the shout out to who he's been able to work with.
WALLACE: Let's -- my guess is, most people don't know where you stand on issues, so let's do a lightning round and the point of a lightning round, let me explain to you, since it's our first time, quick answers, and I'll give quick questions to give a sense of where you stand on some issues.
Medicare for all.
BULLOCK: I think we ought to have access and affordability for everyone. You can do that by providing a public option, negotiating drug prices, ending surprise medical billing. But you don't need to disrupt about 156 million people that have health insurance on the private market right now. We should be driving down those costs.
WALLACE: The green new deal.
BULLOCK: We need to take action on climate. And it has to be immediate and durable. We can't wait another three decades by any means. The scientists say we have to be net zero by 2050. I think we can do it a lot sooner.
So that aspiration behind it, I agree with the specific policy proposals. I think needs a heck of a lot of work.
WALLACE: Immigration, you said last year that you would not send Montana National Guard to the southern border as part of President Trump's effort, but don't we need to secure our borders, sir?
BULLOCK: Look, yes, and Democrats certainly, and I believe in border security and keeping families safe and also growing our economy. But this 18th century solution, let's just build a wall to a 21st century problem, I don't think is the way to go. This is a humanitarian crisis and we're actually, in many respects, we're exacerbating that crisis. We're not actually helping it.
WALLACE: What limits, if any, on when a woman should have an abortion?
BULLOCK: Forty-five years ago, the Supreme Court said that in Roe versus Wade that this ought to be a decision made by the woman in consultation with her doctor. If she so chooses -- also her family and faith.
I've stood behind that and I think that's where we need to go as a country.
WALLACE: But the Roe system -- the Roe decision did set up a system of trimesters. And, over time, the court has basically said there are, you know, there are more protections for women in the first trimester and perhaps in the second than there are in the third. Are you saying that a woman should have a right to an abortion right up until the moment of birth?
BULLOCK: No. What I'm saying, Chris, is we ought to follow Roe versus Wade. You're absolutely right, in the third trimester there's balancing and only in cases necessarily of a woman's -- when the health is endangered, and I think that's what most places have done.
WALLACE: All right, I want to delve into one last area with you because it's an area where some of your critics say that you have flipped as you've decided to run for president, and that is the area of guns.
Back in 2016, you opposed universal background checks and you said that you would expand Second Amendment rights in your state of Montana. But more recently you now support universal background checks, you support a limit on the size of gun magazines, and you oppose -- or rather you support a ban on some semiautomatic weapons.
Why the change of mind, sir?
BULLOCK: Yes, and, Chris, I have been both a supporter of the Second Amendment and I've also vetoed bills that I don't think makes sense.
You know, I've had to lower the flags five times just since Parkland. I think if we ever looked at this as a public health issue and not a political issue, we could make strides. Like even Republicans and NRA members believe that guns should be kept out of the wrong hands and universal background checks. We ought to move forward in that.
Red flag laws. When you look at being able to remove a gun where an order of protection is in place. Places like Walmart and Dick's have banned the selling of assault weapons, assault rifles, and it's about time we take a look at this as well.
You know, when I was growing up, the NRA was a gun safety organization and a hunting organization. Now it's nothing more than a political organization trying to divide us. We need to figure out, addressing it from a public health perspective could actually make a meaningful difference in keeping our families and our communities safe.
WALLACE: Governor Bullock, thank you. Thanks for sharing part of your weekend with us. This is the first, but it won't be the last time we talk with you, sir. Safe travels on the campaign trail.
BULLOCK: It's great being with you this morning, Chris.
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