CNN "State of the Union with Jake Tapper" - Transcript: Interview with Congresswomen-Elect Nicole Malliotakis and Nancy Mace

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

[09:33:11]

BASH: Welcome back to STATE OF THE UNION. I'm Dana Bash.

In a year when Joe Biden won the White House, Republicans made a dent in the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives. And they have a record number of GOP women to thank for that who more than doubled their numbers in this election.

Joining me now, Republican congresswoman-elect Nicole Malliotakis of New York and congresswoman-elect, Republican, Nancy Mace of South Carolina.

Thank you both for joining me. Congratulations to you both.

Congresswoman-elect Mace, I will start with you.

Republican women more than doubled their numbers in the U.S. House this election.

NANCY MACE (R), SOUTH CAROLINA CONGRESSWOMAN-ELECT: Right.

BASH: Just 13 right now. It will be at least 28 in the next Congress.

Why do you think Republican women performed better this year than in the past?

MACE: Well, we had more women running this year. And it was an exciting time.

We saw in 2018 a record number of Democrat women run and win. And if women want to have a seat at the table, then we have got to raise our hand and say, we are going to step into the arena, risk it all, and we are going to run. And we have to have more women run to win.

And we can't just do this year in 2029. This is something we have to do especially in the House every two years, when we have our election cycles. But we made a huge difference this year. And if we want to have a seat at the table, women have to run, and they have to win.

And the great thing about this story this year, Dana -- and I'm so appreciative of you having Nicole and I on today -- is that it's not just Democrat women that have a monopoly on breaking glass ceilings. Republican women have been doing it all year long in these elections all across the country.

And, in fact, 26 of the 27 toss-up races here this year were won by women, minorities, combat vets. And, in my case, I was in a lean- Democrat seat that we took back this year. And it's just an exciting time to be part of history, with all these great hardworking women.

[09:35:02]

BASH: And, congresswoman-elect Malliotakis, your mother is from Cuba. Your father is from Greece. You're helping to make House Republicans more diverse.

What do you think this says about the future of the GOP, a future that a lot of people over the past few years have been pretty worried about?

NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS (R), NEW YORK CONGRESSWOMAN-ELECT: Well, look, this is what I have always known about the GOP, that we are a big tent party, that we do have people that come from different places from around the world.

We do incorporate women. And now we're seeing women having a seat at the table, which is tremendous. When you look back in our nation's history, the first female member of Congress was a Republican woman, Jeannette Rankin in 1917. And we have come such a long way from then.

I think it's upon people like Nancy and I to now pay it forward, to recruit other women. One of the reasons why you saw so many women take office on the Republican side was because of the efforts of Leader Kevin McCarthy, because of people like Elise Stefanik, Liz Cheney, Steve Scalise, who went out there and recruited qualified women who have something to share with the American people and who have the experience and the background to be productive participants in the legislative process.

And I think some of the -- one of the reasons why we were so motivated to run is seeing the Democratic women being elected in 2018 that don't necessarily reflect our values, particularly those who are self- described socialists.

Somebody like me, the daughter of a Cuban refugee, I want to be there to be a part of the discussion and the debate and provide a counterview.

BASH: And, congresswoman-elect Mace, this to you.

Democrats still have triple the number of women in the House, triple, that is, compared to Republicans. Democrats have at least 89. Republicans will have at least 28. I say at least because there are still outstanding races.

MACE: Right.

BASH: So, we're obviously talking to you about the strides Republican women made this cycle, but why is that get gap so big?

MACE: Right.

Well, Democrats have just done a better job of recruiting women to run. And I believe the Republican Party, they have finally come around. And we're -- I look at our freshman class right now, and we really reflect the faces of America, the diversity, and the inclusion that we have in the Republican Party. That is our future.

And if we don't get on board with recruiting the right people, minorities, women, veterans, et cetera, then we're going to lose in the future. And I think it's really important that our values of freedom and entrepreneurship can speak to folks all across the country from all walks of life and all the diversity inclusiveness we can have in the Republican Party.

And I know our conservative message, we haven't done as good of a job as a party in communicating it to the masses, because it is a compassionate message. And when you look at all the races that we won this year, that messaging really worked, particularly in my case. We won. We had a very narrow race, but there were narrow races all across the country.

But I think what's important now, too, is, we're talking about the turnout in the election and all the seats that were flipped this year, but there was massive record turnout on both sides of the aisle, 70 to 75 percent in my case.

And I think this is a real referendum from the American people on D.C. to sit down and find where we do agree, where we do get along, and work together. We have got to do that for the -- for hardworking Americans.

With COVID-19, with governments shut down state to state, people are struggling, and we have got to come together and work hard for the American people.

BASH: That's a refreshing goal for a lot of people in this city, for sure. And, congresswoman-elect Malliotakis, you are going to be the only

Republican from New York City. And you spent a lot of time in your campaign focusing on your fellow New Yorker, on Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez. She's a member of the so-called Squad. You now say that you want to form a freedom squad.

What does that mean?

MALLIOTAKIS: Well, look, we have a natural alliance that is occurring among the members of this new freshman class.

I think people will be very impressed with this class, by the way. But what I will say is, we have individuals who share similar experiences as my family. As I mentioned, my mother's a daughter -- my mother's a Cuban refugee. My dad is an immigrant of Greece.

We also have individuals like Carlos Gimenez, who came to this country as a 6-year-old boy from Cuba. We have Maria Salazar, who is the daughter of political refugees from Cuba as well. We also have Victoria Spartz, who is from the Ukraine, who grew up under Soviet Union rule. And we have two members who are immigrants from Korea.

I think what you're going to see is a group of individuals who are going to serve as a counterbalance to the values of the socialist Squad. And what we stand for are freedom, liberty. We love this nation. We want to see it prevail. We want to see it remain the land of opportunity, what has, in essence, attracted millions of immigrants from around the world, to pursue that American dream.

We don't believe we should be dismantling the economy. We don't believe we should be destroying free market principles. We don't believe in Green New Deal. We don't believe in packing the courts.

[09:40:00]

I think there's just a stark contrast between what we're offering and what people like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are offering. And that's something that needs to be debated in Washington.

And particularly me being from New York City, in her backyard, where we're seeing that socialist movement grow, six additional members of the New York state legislature, they're putting up a slate of candidates in the City Council, it's critically important that New York City has a balance and someone who is going to offer something different.

BASH: And, Congresswoman Mace, the -- you talked about reaching across the aisle and working together.

MACE: Mm-hmm.

BASH: President-elect Joe Biden said during his Thanksgiving Day address that American people want Democrats and Republicans and independents to come together, work together.

First of all, do you consider Joe Biden the president-elect? MACE: Right.

Well, everything -- I mean, in that direction, he is the president- elect. That's where it's headed. I do believe that we have got the transition process happening now. But the president should also use every legal avenue that he can to present evidence.

If there is voter fraud, we have got to understand what happened this election cycle, if there was improprieties that were occurring state to state.

The American election system is only as good as people's confidence in it. And that should be the way it is, whether it's a Republican or a Democrat, because, if roles were reversed, I think that Democrats would want every legal avenue pursued also to find out if there was any voter fraud, look at the evidence, and have their day heard in court.

I think it's really important that, two years from now, four years from now, when we have the next election cycle, that people have confidence in the process and in the outcome...

BASH: Yes.

MACE: ... because what we can't have happen is allow our disagreements to continue to cause division. We have got to rebuild our country.

BASH: So...

MACE: I am Republican. I'm fiscally conservative.

But I have also worked across the aisle. I passed prison reform legislation that was signed into law this year, something very rare that you see Republicans do. And I think it's really important for us to find those things that we get along on, that we can agree on, and work on them together.

BASH: And you said -- you talked about voter fraud.

MACE: Right.

BASH: There is absolutely no evidence of widespread voter fraud, even a little bit of voter fraud, given all of the cases that we have seen in federal and state courts basically being laughed out.

And on that note, I will go to you, congresswoman-elect Malliotakis.

Does it concern you that the president is undermining the results of an election that both of you won?

MALLIOTAKIS: I don't believe that the president is undermining anything.

I believe that he is within his legal rights to be questioning any irregularities that have -- may have surfaced. Look, this is a legal process. This is the Constitution. This should be all settled in December. And the president said, should Joe Biden be elected by the electors, that he will conform with a peaceful transition. I think that's very important.

But in order for us to work together and to have bipartisanship, we need the public to have trust in our system. And this really is the -- about the integrity of our election system. And like Nancy says, I look forward to working with anybody and everybody who's going to work with us for the American people, when all is said and done.

BASH: I'm guessing it's probably fair to say that neither of you thinks that the election that each of you won was rigged.

I will have to leave it there, but I really appreciate you both coming on. And I want to say thank you and congratulations to you both on your wins. Appreciate it. Thank you.

MALLIOTAKIS: Thank you.

MACE: Dana, thank you so much.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source