'This Week' Transcript 1-28-24: Sen. Tim Scott, Gov. Gavin Newsom & Gen. CQ Brown
Interview
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Yes, ma'am. Thank you for having me.
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You know, myself and all the voters that support Donald Trump, supports a return to normalcy, as it relates to what affects their kitchen table. The average person in our country, Martha, isn't -- they're not talking about lawsuits. As a matter of fact, what I have seen, however, is that the perception that the legal system is being weaponized against Donald Trump is actually increasing his poll numbers.
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I don't have a -- the Democrats don't pause when they think about Hunter Biden and the challenges that -- that he brings to his father. The one thing I think the electorate is thinking about most often is how in the world will the next president impact my quality of life? How will America regain its standing in this world? They were better off under Trump, and they're looking for four more years of low inflation, low crime, low unemployment, and high enthusiasm for our country. We haven't had that in the last four years.
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Yes. Yes.
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Yes.
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Well, there's two things for sure. Number one, Donald Trump gets more earned media, probably a billion dollars already, because of who he is and what's going on around him, number one.
Number two, I think he was outspending Iowa and New Hampshire by his opponents. One thing we know for sure, as this race turns to South Carolina, that the enthusiasm in South Carolina for the former president has never been higher. I've seen polls that suggest he's up by 20 points. I would make a prediction that he wins by more than 20 percent in South Carolina.
But, yes, there's only been two competitions so far. Here's what I'll tell you. My theory is a simple one. When I dropped out of the race in November, it was because the writing was clear on the wall then. It is now more clear that what Republicans, conservatives, and a lot of independents want today is four more years of Donald Trump.
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Well, the numbers coming out of New Hampshire were really impressive. I'm not an analyst. You're an expert at this, Martha. But I will say, one of the things I found to be surprising and positive is that amongst millennial voters, President Trump won 58 to 38. It was a 20-point gap among young voters. Among women voters, in New Hampshire, where liberal, Democrats and independents voted in the Republican primary, President Trump beat Nikki Haley among women.
So, when I think about the fact -- when I think about the fact that African Americans, at the highest level in my lifetime, is looking at a Republican over 20 percent, Hispanics over 40 percent. This is a good time to be running as a Republican.
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Sure.
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Well, here's what I can tell you, both candidates, and all candidates, should focus on the issues without any question. But Nikki Haley talks about the president's age and a competency test. I think that turns off senior voters. It's one of the reasons why --
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It's --
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Well, it's one of the reasons why senior voters support Donald Trump.
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But let's
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His language is far more provocative than mine.
But this is not about simply my opinion of one candidate. I also think that talking about someone's age is inappropriate when especially they are competent, qualified, and ready to go to be the next president of the United States.
And, by the way, Martha, Republican primary contests are Republican primary contests. Seventy-plus percent of Republicans in New Hampshire supported the president. This race is over from a primary perspective.
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We should turn our attention to Joe Biden. The economy is devastating for poor Americans.
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Yes, ma'am.
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Listen. I would love to spend -- if we have an hour to chat together, I'd spend lots of time breaking down who believes what. Here's what's more important than this --
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Yeah, actually --
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It's your show. You get to decide what we talk about.
I will simply say that the American people are more concerned about tomorrow than they are yesterday. And because of that, the race that we're seeing coming to light today is Joe Biden's four years versus Donald Trump's four years. We don't need to litigate what happened in 2020.
What we should be focusing on, what I'm focusing on is what's going to happen in 2024 and beyond for one reason. As a kid who grew up in poverty, in a single-parent household, the one thing I wondered in the poorest communities in North Charleston was, was the American dream real for a kid like me?
In today's America, the devastation of crime and chaos is eating the lunch of too many poor people living in tough neighborhoods. I want to make sure that we have law and order and opportunity, abundant opportunity for all Americans.
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Yes, ma'am. Thank you, Martha.
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