Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.), Chuck Todd, Garrett Haake, Brianne Pfannenstiel, Marc Short and Rep. Ross Wilburn (D-Iowa)

Interview

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Thanks for having me.

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I came south to get warmer.

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Well, first there is something to be said about age and wisdom. And I think results matter. Look, I served in Congress for years and watched Infrastructure Week come and go. I watched Joe Biden deliver on a historic infrastructure act that's building roads and bridges across Minnesota, Iowa, and the rest of the country. And I think it's – as you start to see here, where the choice becomes the binary choice, between Donald Trump and disdain for the rule of law and Joe Biden competency and getting things done, that overweighs that.

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Oh, I think they are. They’ve got us out here talking about it. And I spend a lot of time with the President, and he's great. We're talking, we're chatting, and all this. And I think, you know, we all get a little older. That's what happens. But you also gain that insight. And I think when it comes to these issues, working across the aisle to get things done, you see the President just doing this with dignity, doing it with class, getting up every day, doing the work. So, I think he's just doing what he does, and I think it's kind of incumbent upon all of us – look, my mom's 88, still living on the farm, drives herself. Folks are able to do this. So, I think this little bit of ageism that goes to this, if it's not that, would be something else. They attack all of us on something. This is part of it.

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Oh, no. Look, this is going to be a close election. Nobody's denying that. All modern presidential elections are close. We're focusing on the assets of things to get done. Each of us has some of these challenges, but no, they're taking it very seriously. We're getting out there. I think the way they take it seriously, they're continuing to put out incredible policies. For example, the school nutrition program that will extend into the summer is incredible. We see 15 governors, including this state, turn that down. And we got hungry children. The Biden-Harris administration is still working those policies. So, no, I hear David's concerns on this. Nobody thinks this is going to be easy. Nobody thinks this is going to be anything but close. But we're focusing on the things as we move towards November. It's still pretty early here.

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Look, the immigration system is broken. I served in Congress for 12 years. I was there. Remember the Gang of Six in 2018. The fact of the matter is on day one of this presidency, Joe Biden put out a comprehensive plan on immigration reform. He's continued to ask for the resources necessary. Republicans don't want to fix this. Chaos is this – ex-President Trump talks about he wants the economy to fail on this. This is just an issue they use at this time of the year. But there's no doubt, the system is broken. We need to have comprehensive immigration reform. Look, these are asylum seekers, you know, experiencing trauma in their own countries. And we need workers right here in Iowa and Minnesota, especially in protein processing, some of those things. We need to do that. Congress, especially the House Republican chaos caucus, is doing nothing about it.

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It is.

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Well, I think it could be fixed. I think "crisis" is-- you know, we certainly have this – I don't want people living outside in Minnesota right now. I think there's the humanity piece of this, and then there's the right that every sovereign nation has a right to control its borders, as we should. More could be done, but they're doing nothing. Congress is doing nothing. The president's asking for more aid for border patrol, not getting it.

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I think the border, with the folks who do the work down there, are doing a great job. Could we do better? Absolutely. And again, if the executive branch had their way, it would have happened on day one. So, I encourage folks, including the representatives here from Iowa, the senator, get something done. Send the resources over. We in the executive branch, as a governor, whatever, we follow the laws that are written by the Congress. And there is a broken system.

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Look, since October 7th--

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It's a horrific situation, and many of us have dealt with this issue, traveling to Israel, being in the West Bank and Gaza, as I was a member of Congress. But the President has to handle this as Commander-in-Chief. He doesn't get to step back and second guess on this. He's making sure that certainly Israel's an ally, but he's showing incredible concern for the Palestinian people, being very clear that Hamas is not a good actor in this. The Palestinian authority has to figure that out. As far as folks expressing their opinions, I understand their frustration. They have family members there. But the question I would ask is: Is abandoning President Biden means a Muslim ban. If you think, just to be very clear, whether it's President Trump or any of these other folks it's, you know, different flavor of the same MAGA Kool-Aid. They're going to do nothing for this community. They're going to do nothing to try and work for a two-state solution. They're going to do nothing to provide humanitarian aid. Their battle cry is, "Not one penny for anywhere else." Look, they're abandoning Ukraine. They're abandoning Ukraine. They will abandon them. So, I hear the frustration. But the president has great and a lot of experience in foreign affairs. He's working the best he can to bring this thing to a conclusion.

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I think he's calling for a reasonable end to this, that has to be in a place where Israel can defend itself, as well as making sure we can protect Palestinian people, which Hamas has done nothing to do that.

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Stay warm.

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