Fox News "The Ingraham Angle" - Transcript: Interview with John Kennedy

Interview

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INGRAHAM: Who was right? And who was wrong?

Joining me now with a final warning is Louisiana Senator John Kennedy, serves on the Senate Budget Committee, and he voted properly, on this particular so-called infrastructure bill.

Senator, your message tonight, to your 18 or so colleagues, who took this path, to help Biden, threw him a lifeline, and now, we see what's going on, going at $3.5 trillion now.

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): Well, I can just share with you my perspective, Laura. Early on, I was a likely yes, on this bill. I mean, who's not for infrastructure? I'm for children and prosperity too.

But then I got a copy of the bill. And I realized pretty quickly that if you look up "Stupid stuff," in the dictionary, there's a picture of this bill.

They told us it was a real infrastructure bill. It's not. Only 23 percent of the bill is real infrastructure. The rest is Green New Deal and welfare.

They told us the bill was paid for. It isn't. We're going to have to borrow maybe up to $400 billion to pay for it.

They told us there was no - there were no tax increases. There are. My state's going to have to pay $1.3 billion, in new taxes, on our petrochemical industry.

They told us, as you pointed out, that the Democrats were really wary of this bill, and then it would, if we pass this bill, it would make it harder for them to pass their $5 trillion tax and spending binge reconciliation bill. Well, if that's true, how come every Democrat voted for this infrastructure bill?

And finally, they told us that it's not going to add to inflation. But it will.

INGRAHAM: So, what happened with your 18 colleagues?

I went through that list. And maybe with exception of a couple, Senator, I would say it was pretty much the same people who wanted Jeb Bush to be the nominee, in 2016. It was kind of like a Venn diagram. It was mostly Jeb Bush people, which is fine. But Mitt Romney was actually arguing that this thing would save $500 billion.

So, you're saying this. The CBO agrees with you. But they're arguing numbers that are just false. What is that going to do, to the credibility of the Republican Party, on fiscal responsibility, going forward, sir?

KENNEDY: Well, I don't know why it passed with 60-plus votes. I don't know. Day-drinking, maybe?

All I know is, for example, inflation alone, which is a horrible tax, on Middle America, they told us "Oh, this isn't going to add to inflation," and but it is. I mean, I don't like to brag about all the expensive places I've been. But earlier today, I went to the gas station. This bill's going to make it worse. It's going to make it worse for groceries too.

And look, I'm for infrastructure. I'm just not for infrastructure at any cost. I'm for infrastructure. I'm not for infrastructure, no matter what. And we're going into a fight now, with the Democrats, over raising the debt ceiling.

INGRAHAM: Raising taxes.

KENNEDY: And the argument, and--

INGRAHAM: Raising taxes too.

KENNEDY: --and taxes. And the argument that I'd like to make is, which I can make, this, Senator Schumer, this debt is yours. This debt is yours.

But the truth of the matter is that on this last bill, the infrastructure bill--

INGRAHAM: No.

KENNEDY: --this debt belongs to both Democrats and Republicans.

INGRAHAM: Yes. Yes, Senator, first of all, we appreciate your common-sense approach to this. It's common sense. It's facts versus fiction. And we appreciate that.

The Republicans gave Joe Biden a lifeline. And I can't tell you how angry so many people are out there, about that one fact. It's fraudulent. And it's false. And all 18 think they're going to skate for six years? They're not. People are going to have a long memory about this.

Senator, thank you. Thank you for being here.

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