Meet the Press - July 30, 2023

Interview

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Great to be on with you again, Chuck.

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Well, let's be clear about that point, Chuck. There's been a five-year investigation -- five years -- by a Trump appointed U.S. attorney. This investigation started during the Trump administration. And they've come forward with not one shred of evidence tying President Biden to any of this.

I am encouraged that in sharp contrast to President Trump -- you just detailed his mountain of legal problems, where President Trump is fighting and pushing back and obstructing -- Hunter Biden's come forward taken responsibility, paid his late taxes. As you just discussed with Chuck Rosenberg, I think the hiccup in the Delaware district courthouse will get ironed out pretty quickly. And I don't think President Biden needs to say anything more than he has. There is no evidence --

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They are.

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They're going to accuse him of all sorts of stuff --

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Correct.

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I think he's been perfectly clear. And I think, frankly, what makes the American people turn towards President Biden in the reelection campaign is that he has spent his time focusing on what they're concerned about. Not relitigating the 2020 election, not focused on grievance politics, as you showed in Erie last night. President Biden has delivered on an astonishing array of things that Trump promised to do, but Biden has actually done.

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I don't know. If you look back at Bill Clinton and the experience of the impeachment, ultimately it did. Frankly, I think President Biden has an incredibly strong record to run on. And there was great economic news last night -- last week that reinforced that the ground is shifting in his direction in terms of economic growth, unemployment. Three quarters of Americans showed in a recent poll they feel better about their economic condition. Consumer confidence is the highest it's been in years, so the ground is moving in his direction. But if the Republicans want a sharp contrast that Joe Biden's delivering on infrastructure, on high quality manufacturing, on making us stronger on the world stage, and they want to engage in political theater, an impeachment inquiry is probably the best thing they could do to hurt their chances next fall.

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It's an interesting question that I haven't engaged with before. We have been engaging on trying to get the Supreme Court to adopt a code of ethics, as you referenced. They are the only members of the entire Federal Judiciary not covered by a code of ethics. Members of Congress have to fully disclose their assets, their stock holdings, their dealings, and those of their spouses --

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That may be worth looking at because frankly, as you referenced, Jared Kushner wasn't just a private citizen he worked in the White House and engaged in economic --

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-- you can't pick and choose.

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Just look at the endorsements President Biden is getting earlier in the cycle, more broadly than ever before. Look, we've had contested primaries with sitting presidents. You've never seen a sitting president have as weak a field of potential opponents -- Marianne Williamson, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.-- as he has now. And the endorsements President Biden has earned from the building trades, from climate activists, from reproductive rights activists, the base of the Democratic Party -- as broadly as I've ever seen in my life -- is endorsing President Biden because of what he's gotten done.

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It doesn't have me nervous, frankly. President Biden has the strongest record of legislative accomplishment since LBJ, and you're beginning to see the impact: 13 million jobs created by the private sector, 800,000 good manufacturing jobs, 35,000 infrastructure projects out there in the country. Dean Phillips can't cite anything like that. President Biden has made us stronger on the world stage. The Vilnius Summit showed his agility, his capabilities, the strength with which he's helped rally NATO to the defense of Ukraine, and the strength with which he's delivered on things Trump promised, like rebuilding infrastructure, cutting prescription drug prices. Where Biden has delivered, gives him an incredible record to run on.

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Look, I think the best test of whether or not someone is really capable of fulfilling their constitutional duty is an election. Having --

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That's right. I mean, I don't disagree. Look, I talked to Minority Leader McConnell after the incident this week where he froze in a TV interview. He seemed fine.

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We spoke the next morning--

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I feel like he's going to continue to be the Republican leader through the rest of this Congress. And what happens after that, I don't know.

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Thank you, Chuck.

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