Meet the Press - March 31, 2024 Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), Katie Rogers, Jeh Johnson, Ramesh Ponnuru and Savannah Guthrie
Interview
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Happy Easter to you as well. And thank you so much for having me back.
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Well, I certainly hope so. The fact of the matter is all of us, every state in the nation, all 50 of us, will take our turns needing this kind of assistance. It may be gust storms in some places. It may be a flood or here in this part of the country, hurricanes. We all are subjected at one time or another to some kind of calamity. And we have seen this before. I will always remember how some of my colleagues failed to come to the assistance of a certain part of the country until it came to their backyards. And then, all of a sudden, they saw the need for it. So when I hear my colleagues that talk about Baltimore in this instance, I remind those, especially here in South Carolina, we got a pretty big port here, a very important port.
And we've got a very big bridge that we look upon with pride. What were to happen – if that were to happen, what would our response be? So let's just remember that everybody gets their turn in need of assistance. And we ought to be rallying around Maryland, rallying around Baltimore, doing what is necessary to get that economy back running again, to get those people back on the jobs. Just remember that port is closed. A lot of people are out of work. And this is not the time of year you want to see that happening.
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I think so, but not to show force, but more to show unity, unity of purpose, to show defense of democracy. That's what's going on here. Three former presidents, all three of whom have had their challenges, but every one of them stood for what is right in this country, and that is to protect this democracy. And putting themselves below the needs, the dreams, the aspirations of the American people. So what we saw in New York last Thursday was a show of unity and a show of defense of democracy. And that is what we need in this country at this particular juncture.
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Well, I have not analyzed it to that extent. But I'll tell you this. What is happening is wrong. And we need to make it right. And that's what President Biden is trying to do, trying to make it right. And I would say that that poll showed much – more of a dissatisfaction with Netanyahu than with the people of Israel. We stand with the people of Israel. We do not like the fact that this country's policy is a two-state solution and Netanyahu has undermined that two-solution for as long as he's been in office. He sold his soul to the right-wingers in Israel in order to maintain power for himself. And those people are opposed to his two-state solution. Biden is for a two-state solution. Democrats are for a two-state solution. That it is the only way for us to move forward. And so this drop in support has nothing to do with the people of Israel and everything to do with Netanyahu.
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Well, the leverage, it had to be used. And I think the president is using his leverage. And I remember the president –
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Well, the question is: what were the agreements last year and the year before? And whether or not we are going to keep our word. We cannot go back on our word and expect for other people to keep theirs. So we have to keep our word. And so I have no idea what may be in these deals, what the president may be living up to. But the fact of the matter is, we must not lose our integrity as a nation. And we've got to stand in support of Israel.
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No, that was not the case at all. When someone picks up the phone and asks you, "What are your suggestions as we're about to get these lines drawn?" I offered my suggestions. And I certainly didn't ask for my district to be turned into a minority – a minority district. And that's what it is. People keep publishing that I have a majority minority district. That is absolutely not true. Check the numbers. So when you hear people misrepresenting, and that's been going on throughout this whole nation for several years now, a conversation. Yes, I offered my suggestions. Did they follow my suggestions? Absolutely not.
And so when you say you spoke to me and that there's an agreement, that is absolutely not true. And I told a young lady who came to me with that story, who happens to be from South Carolina, or at least she used to work here in South Carolina, she was looking to make a headline rather than to make any headway. And so I would say that I was not surprised at this. Remember the court did the same thing up in North Carolina the last time around. They allowed North Carolina to go forward with their gerrymandered district that were unfair. And so I was not surprised at this at all.
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Well, let me say first of all, I stand in support of our leader Hakeem Jeffries. He is in those meetings. He is doing the negotiations. If he were to call me and say, "Look, I would like to have your vote in support of Johnson," he has got it. If he says to me otherwise, I'm going to follow his lead. So I'm not in those meetings. And I have no idea exactly what the result of those meetings may be. But I stand in firm support of the leadership of the party.
And let me say if I might, you mentioned South Carolina. I want to mention something about North Carolina. Come Thursday, the president is going to be back in North Carolina with 30 – I’m sorry, $20 billion to fight climate change and to lower the cost of energy in North Carolina. And I might add, Joe Biden did not win North Carolina the last time around. But he is demonstrating once again that he is going to be a president of all the people, irrespective of whether or not they voted for him in the election.
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I sure hope it's possible. I know this. We are now calling Easter "Resurrection Sunday." And I would hope that we can resurrect those things that have made this country great. I often said that this country has no need of being made great. We are great. We've all got to work together to make this country's greatness accessible and affordable for all of its citizens. Be it education, energy, health care, whatever it is. Those greatnesses must be made available to everybody. And we ought to do that on a bipartisan basis.
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Yes, let's the contest. I love the contest. I love campaigning. But when the campaign is over, let's work together. And let's do what is necessary for this country to maintain its greatness. I have nothing against Republicans. My parents were Republicans. I work very closely with the Republican governor of South Carolina because we want to make sure that energy, and broadband, health care, education get to everybody.
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So I would hope that we convene in a bipartisan basis, resurrect the goodnesses of the American people and maintain the greatness of these United States of America.
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Thank you very much for having me.
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