CNN "Anderson Cooper 360" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Stacey Plaskett

Interview

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I'm joined now by Delegate Stacy Plaskett, who represents the U.S. Virgin Islands in Congress and was an impeachment manager for Democrats earlier this year when Donald Trump was impeached for inciting the insurrection. And Congresswoman Plaskett, you know, if I had told you, when you were an impeachment manager on the Senate floor, that three months later, the big lie on the election would be so pervasive that Republicans would lose their jobs in leadership for not supporting it. What would you have said?

DEL. STACEY PLASKETT (D-VI): I'd say, I'm not surprised.

BERMAN: Really? Why? PLASKETT: You know, well, I mean, you watched during the impeachment,

that individuals who agreed with us and even Kevin McCarthy, who had a colossal fallout argument, person match with the President, on the day of the insurrection on January 6th, went to the floor to say that he was responsible. And then several days later, mea culpa, he was following the trail of Donald Trump going to Mar-a-Lago and asking for forgiveness.

If that's what the leadership was doing right there several days after the insurrection, and then on the impeachment floor, you had senators who agreed privately that we had in fact made our case, but that they would not vote with us, and then you have Mitch McConnell, basically summarizing our opening and closing statements in agreement with us and then saying why he was not going to support it.

Of course, this is of no -- this is not a surprise.

[20:10:10]

PLASKETT: The Republicans are following what their message is. They have decided that their message is obstructionism, is a big lie, is divisiveness, is tribalism, is in some instances dog whistling, and in some corners of the Republican conference, outright white supremacy, anti-Semitism and racism.

BERMAN: Do you feel as if the big lie on the election is spreading? Do you feel as if more people, more Republicans believe it today even than may have believed in early February?

PLASKETT: I'm not necessarily sure if that's the case, I do believe that the Republican Party itself, those in elected positions are more concerned about retaining their power than speaking the truth, more concerned about being a part of the G.O.P. than they are about the direction of this country.

We've seen this time and time again, they have in the instance of President Biden putting forth the American Rescue Plan, voting against the Rescue Plan, and then each one in their own district touting the benefits of it.

We'll probably see the thing -- same thing on the American Jobs Plan, that they have just become a party of obstruction of no-ism. They are not a party that wants to get to yes, that wants to support the American people. They want to support themselves and their quest for power.

BERMAN: You know, Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger said of his own party, he said, right now it's basically the Titanic. We're like, in the middle of this slow sink. That was the quote there. What does that mean?

You know, you can be a Democrat who opposes Republicans on policy, but still think the two-party system is important. What does it mean for American democracy, not the Democratic Party, but democracy if the Republican Party is in a slow sink? PLASKETT: Well, what it means and the trouble it is for democracy is

not that particularly a party is being divided over ideology and direction, which, you know, happens through generations and through time.

But the problem that is happening within the Republican Party is that divisiveness is what is over democracy itself, over what makes us America. Are we going to be -- continue to be a country of laws? A country that has full fair elections? That expands the amount of people that are able to vote? That allows new ideas and innovation to be a part of our country? That tries to uplift the middle class?

Or are we going to hold on to our own power, whether it means stopping the very things that the founders fought so hard for? That being elections, that being the ability of all of us to pursue happiness.

And we're seeing that the Republicans that is the fight that's going on within their party, and that's why the demise of the party is troubling because it is those who are fighting to retain that democracy it appears to be on the minority side right now, at least within the leadership of that party.

BERMAN: Delegate Stacey Plaskett, we do appreciate talking to you. Thank you for your time.

PLASKETT: Thank you.

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