Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees: Interview with Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA)

Interview

These are very high stakes, Anderson. I mean, we're talking about just paying our troops and this used to be the party of national security. But the party that used to champion national security is now against paying our troops. They won't stand up to Russia. They refuse to even meet with Zelenskyy who is fighting for democracy and freedom, principles that used to matter to the Republican Party. And you've got one Republican senator from Alabama, who knows a lot about coaching football, nothing about serving in the military, and he is single handedly decimating the leadership ranks of our military and crushing their families, too.

So this is really serious. I mean, if you just look at the national security implications, this is a bigger gift to Russia and China than they could ever have imagined.

And I'm not -- Anderson, I'm not a partisan hack. I mean, I think some of my greatest accomplishments like passing the 988 National Mental Health hotline, I've done those with Republicans -- Republican veterans, but you can't defend this right now.

I mean, this is -- when I look at the threats to our national security, the Republican Party has become a great threat to America's national security.

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Yes, I do. I mean, and you hear -- I mean, Republican veterans walked out of the House today, and just were assailing the fellow members of their party saying that they are helping China. That's what Republicans said about fellow Republicans on the House steps this afternoon, and it just shows you how much they are in disarray, and how high the stakes are for our country.

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Democrats have always stepped in to save us in situations like this. But you have to have a Republican Party that's willing to compromise, that's willing to work with us. I mean, their Defense Appropriations Bill right now has all these, you know, crazy provisions. Like they're trying to ban books and everything through the Defense Department, that are never going to -- that are just total nonstarters with any sensible Republican or any reasonable Democrat.

So the Republicans have to be willing to compromise. That's what's happened in the past and it is not happening today.

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It tells the world that America is not a reliable partner, that America does not take seriously the values that we have stood for, for two centuries, that we're not willing to stand up to the greatest enemies that we face like Russia and China, and that we can't even get our own house in order.

And we're just talking about national security here. What about the fact that the so-called compromise bill that they have put forward to fund the government would cut 60,000 seniors off of meals-on-wheels? I mean, I remember when my grandfather depended on meals-on-wheels to eat every day.

It's going to cut 800 Customs and Border officers. I thought this was the party that cared about border security. I mean, it's just a mess. Anderson, and it's dangerous for our country.

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Well, actually, the problem is right now in the House knows that the majority of Republicans actually support it, but they're not willing to say that publicly.

When we go in --

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Yes, because they're afraid of their constituents, because instead of going home to their districts, and explaining to them why this is important, why funding Ukraine, supporting Ukraine is a great investment in our national security, because they refuse to explain that to their constituents, you have these terrible poll numbers.

And you have a whole bunch of Republicans who behind closed doors say they're all with the Ukrainians, and they're with us, and they agree with the Biden administration on their Ukraine policy, but then go out five minutes later on TV and say something completely different.

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All the time. All the time. I mean, we have a classified briefings on Ukraine. We have for months now on the House Armed Services Committee, and sometimes they come in with legitimate questions, you know, concerns. But when those questions are answered to their satisfaction behind closed doors, it doesn't affect what they say on TV.

And that just lack of basic political courage to just simply tell the truth is a real problem if you're trying to actually make a deal to fund the government.

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