| Speaker | Time | Text |
|---|---|---|
|
unidentified
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24 presidential election. | |
| From the Capitol One Arena in Washington, D.C., watch live coverage at 3 p.m. Eastern on C-SPAN, C-SPAN Now, our free mobile app, or online at c-span.org. | ||
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| Washington Journal continues. | ||
| Welcome back for more on President-elect Trump's inauguration tomorrow and the moment we are in in American politics. | ||
| We're joined now by pollster and communications strategist Frank Luntz. | ||
| Welcome back to Washington Journal. | ||
| It's great to do this. | ||
| I enjoy the phone calls. | ||
| I enjoy the give and take. | ||
| I don't enjoy the anger. | ||
| But I'm going to try to get through this segment, lowering the decibel level between America and their political leaders. | ||
| Well, and I know that we've got some special content from you to help us do that. | ||
| But before we get to that, what's your take on this moment? | ||
| You know, President-elect Trump is going to be the first president since Grover, Cleveland to have a non-consecutive term. | ||
| He put his margin of victory in context for us. | ||
| He finished with 49.9% of the vote, just 1.5% above Vice President Harris. | ||
| With this in mind, how should President-elect Trump proceed in tomorrow and also in his first 100 days? | ||
| I'll tell you that I was surprised. | ||
| It's going to be dramatic. | ||
| This is an administration that's going to hit the ground running. | ||
| I know that callers are going to be, some of them are going to be upset with what he does. | ||
| I know that there is among his own supporters a unanimity that they want to act quickly, that they want aggressive, an aggressive approach. | ||
| And I believe that in a democracy, the minority should be heard. | ||
| I believe that in a democracy, we have the responsibility to represent everyone regardless of whether they voted for you or not. | ||
| And in fact, we sometimes forget that. | ||
| But this administration believes that it has a mandate to change, not change, because that's the wrong word, and it's not reform, is to bring about a different relationship between Washington and the public. | ||
| And I'm expecting tomorrow a blow-the-doors off speech and 24-48 hours of really aggressive action. | ||
| His last inauguration speech very famously referenced American carnage. | ||
| What do you expect of the tone tomorrow? | ||
| I think it will be tough. | ||
| Although I got to tell you, he surprises me all the time. | ||
| When I'm expecting someone's going to come out there fighting, there's an appreciation of other points of view. | ||
| When I expect that he's going to take a conciliatory tone, he comes out fighting. | ||
| He's the most unpredictable president in my lifetime. | ||
| And there are a lot of his supporters who like that and a belief that too much predictability is actually not a good thing in American politics. | ||
| Now, President Biden is scheduled to attend Trump's inauguration tomorrow. | ||
| Trump did not attend his inauguration. | ||
| What message do you think this sends going forward? | ||
| It's so important. | ||
| You accept the peaceful transfer of power. | ||
| You accept the fact that there are winners and losers in democracy, and you respect both of them. | ||
| And I wish that we in this country were not just good losers, but also good winners. | ||
| That we recognize that not everyone agrees with us. | ||
| I will get phone calls today from people who disagree with even this opening. | ||
| I'm expecting that. | ||
| I appreciate that. | ||
| That's what's so great about America is that you have the opportunity to articulate a differing point of view, and then you go to work. | ||
| And then you have a meal with your family, and then you go out, take a walk. | ||
| You can disagree, and nothing happens to you. | ||
| And I know we'll be talking about our men and women in uniform, but thank God that's the best thing about our democracy. | ||
| And even countries like South Korea, they can't depend on that. | ||
| We are very blessed to be here. | ||
| I'm blessed to be here this morning, and I look forward to the next 24 hours. | ||
| Let's listen to a portion of President Biden's farewell address. | ||
| You know, it will take time to feel the full impact of all we've done together. | ||
| But the seeds are planted, and they'll grow and they'll bloom for decades to come. | ||
| At home, we've created nearly 17 million new jobs, more than any other single administration, a single term. | ||
|
unidentified
|
More people have health care than ever before. | |
| And overseas, we've strengthened NATO. | ||
| Ukraine is still free. | ||
| And we've pulled ahead of our competition with China. | ||
| And so much more. | ||
| I'm so proud of how much we've accomplished together for the American people. | ||
| And I wish the incoming administration success, because I want America to succeed. | ||
| That's why I've upheld my duty to ensure a peaceful and orderly transition of power, to ensure we lead by the power of our example. | ||
| I have no doubt that America is in a position to continue to succeed. | ||
| That's why my farewell address tonight, I want to warn the country of some things that give me great concern. | ||
| This is a dangerous concentration, and that's the dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultra-wealthy people. | ||
| The dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked. | ||
| Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead. | ||
| President Biden there mentioned oligarchy, and yesterday, President-elect Trump held a party for roughly 500 donors, friends, and other supporters at his golf club in Virginia. | ||
| Much has been made of the mega billionaires who will be on the dais at his inauguration and their influence and power. | ||
| What are your thoughts on President Biden's speech and his warnings about oligarchy in particular? | ||
| Both sides have mega-billionaires supporting them. | ||
| And when I was younger, I didn't care that much about the influence of money in politics because I thought that it was a positive. | ||
| It helped people get their message out. | ||
| I'm not as convinced today because I think it drowns out criticism and it drowns out the other side. | ||
| Our Constitution guarantees our right to freedom of speech, but everyone should have that freedom, not just those that have done well. | ||
| But conversely, those that have done well should not be punished for their success. | ||
| I don't believe that just because someone is wealthy that they should be condemned and criticized, which is what's happening right now. | ||
| In the end, you're judged by your behavior, by your actions, by your deeds, rather than then how much money you have in your bank account. | ||
| At least I wish we were. | ||
| You're accurate in saying that both Democrats and Republicans have mega-billionaires and millionaires backing them. | ||
| But the complaint this time around is that some of these extremely wealthy people have different kind of access to the incoming White House. | ||
| Do you agree with that assessment? | ||
| It depends on what industry. | ||
| The Democratic nominee for president was attracting huge donations, multi-million dollar donations. | ||
| And actually, the Democrats spend more than the Republicans for the first time. | ||
| I believe it's for the first time. | ||
| And so we have to look at what the facts are in situations like this. | ||
| Donald Trump has wealthy friends, but so does Vice President Harris. | ||
| Donald Trump has access to many, many millions of dollars in politics, but so does Vice President Harris. | ||
| So I think that if we have an issue with money in politics, we should apply it to both sides, not just one side. | ||
| Reuters reports that Trump is preparing a flood of executive orders and directives that could total more than 100 for day one and beyond. | ||
| Immigration, border wall, energy production, pardons potentially for some people convicted of their actions on January 6th. | ||
| What do you think the public wants from president-elect tomorrow, President Trump, to do right off the bat? | ||
| And what do they not want him to do? | ||
| Number one issue in America is still affordability. | ||
| It's not inflation. | ||
| Inflation is an economic term. | ||
| Can they afford their food and fuel? | ||
| Can they afford their housing and their health care? | ||
| And they want something done with that. | ||
| Number two, in a close second, is immigration. | ||
| Take control of the border. | ||
| Ensure that the people are coming here the right way. | ||
| America is not anti-immigrant. | ||
| They're anti-illegal immigrant. | ||
| They want people to come here to register, to pay their taxes. | ||
| And they welcome people coming here, but not streaming across the border like we've had in the last four years. | ||
| And then number three, it is a little bit about quality of life. | ||
| From education to health care to crime, that they want to feel safe and secure in their homes, on the streets, and in their communities. | ||
| And they don't feel safe right now. | ||
| Now, you have some special shoes on today, as I understand it, which we're going to show in just a little bit. | ||
| Last month, you held a focus group at West Point. | ||
| Here, we're going to listen to a clip of tape where a cadet is discussing his hopes for the new year and his thoughts on American duty and leadership. | ||
| With this being the end of a year and the beginning of a new one, how can we explain duty, honor, country? | ||
|
unidentified
|
It's in our history. | |
| To go back to the Constitution and over 200 years of American history, you know that leaders of character, and from West Point, committed to the values of duty, honor, country is what made America so excellent. | ||
| When you hear American exceptionalism, for me, that's what comes to mind. | ||
| When you hear the story of the Patriots during the Battle of Fort McHenry throwing themselves and their bodies at that flagpole just to keep old gory flying, just so there's one symbol of hope for the Americans out there that the flag was still flying. | ||
| Don't you get emotional telling that story? | ||
|
unidentified
|
A little bit. | |
| When you I hear the story and when I think of those patriots signing that blank check and giving everything up just to keep that flag flying, that is duty, honor, and country right there. | ||
| That is the reason why the Constitution has survived for over 200 years, why the American dream and our excellence and exceptionalism has survived for 200 years. | ||
| And all of us here at West Point are committed to that because we know that America needs leaders of character and that is what I and everyone else here has been called to do. | ||
| So if America needs one reason to hope for this new year coming up, it's that everyone here is committed to that same excellence, that same leader, committed to be that same leader of character through our values of duty, honor, and country. | ||
| Now I want to get your follow-up response to that, but first I want to have a look at your shoes. | ||
| You have some really special shoes that you are wearing that actually have West Point. | ||
| You can show them off there for the camera, a pretty cool design. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Tell us a little bit about that project. | |
| I was attending the Army-Navy game. | ||
| And I'm going to say something that is, I shouldn't say, I watched Army march into the field. | ||
| I watched Navy march onto the field. | ||
| And I didn't care for one moment. | ||
| I'm Army, beat Navy. | ||
| But for one moment, and by the way, I'm wearing a beat Navy t-shirt under here. | ||
| I will not do that to viewers. | ||
| This is a Sunday. | ||
| This is a family show. | ||
| But I keep it that close. | ||
| But for one moment, I didn't care who won. | ||
| Because in watching these men and women march onto the field, America won. | ||
| And so I wear this stuff with me. | ||
| I look forward to celebrating what these academies represent. | ||
| It's more than duty, honor, and country. | ||
| It's selfless sacrifice. | ||
| It's character and conviction and courage. | ||
| It's a willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice for the people beside them and for the country they represent. | ||
| These academies are exceptional. | ||
| They are extraordinary because the students who attend them, the cadets, are exceptional and extraordinary. | ||
| You were talking about leadership and courage, and so was the student who was just featured in that clip. | ||
| I want to read a portion of the Special Counsel Jack Smith report that came out this week saying that the through line of all of Mr. Trump's criminal efforts was deceit, knowingly false claims of election fraud, and the evidence shows that Mr. Trump used these lies as a weapon to defeat a federal government function foundational to the United States democratic process. | ||
| How do you reconcile that report with what these cadets are asking for in terms of leadership from any leader in the United States government? | ||
| The great thing about West Point and the Naval Academy and the Air Force Academy, there's not a shred of partisanship. | ||
| There's not a shred of politics that they serve the Constitution, which I don't think that Americans know this. | ||
| Their responsibility is not to President Biden or President Trump. | ||
| It's that sacred document that's what? | ||
| 10 blocks from this, where we are in the studio. | ||
| And every time I bring them to Washington, I take them to that document and I step back and I let them look at the Constitution and all that it represents. | ||
| And I thank God for that piece of paper because it has created the most exceptional, extraordinary country and the most wonderful young people who serve. | ||
| And I wish and I hope and I pray that we get a chance to have this conversation. | ||
| We won't. | ||
| You and I won't be here. | ||
| But we're going to celebrate our 250th birthday shortly. | ||
| I hope that we get another 250. | ||
| And the key to that is accountability, personal responsibility, and most importantly, the truth. | ||
| And these are the things that are taught at West Point. | ||
| I wish all the callers, all of us, focused on the truth, because that's what makes for a strong country. | ||
|
unidentified
|
All right. | |
| Well, let's go to some callers. | ||
| Just to refresh our numbers, Democrats can call in at 202-748-8000. | ||
| Republicans 202-748-8001. | ||
| And Independents at 202-748-8002. | ||
| Mike is in Chatham, New Jersey on our line for independence. | ||
| Good morning, Mike. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Frank, thank you for being on, and good morning to everybody there. | |
| My key question is, how would you rank President Biden as a president from A to F? | ||
| Now, I'm not going to mention immigration and all the thoughts that basically everyone knows about. | ||
| What I'm going to talk about is the segment you raised about character. | ||
| Now, let's talk about character. | ||
| Character is responsibility. | ||
| Truth. | ||
| I think the biggest and egregious fault of Biden was claiming that he could run for reelection, yet he was essentially deceiving the American public. | ||
| I think that is a major character flaw. | ||
| And essentially, that man should have never even considered running if he had the interest of the American people at heart. | ||
| That's how I want you to rate President Biden on character. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| Adaf. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| He should not have run. | ||
| It was a mistake for him to do it. | ||
| And I know why he did it. | ||
| He did it because he thought he was the only one who could defeat Donald Trump. | ||
| And he waited too long to make that decision. | ||
| And that debate was truly historic. | ||
| If Biden had not debated Trump, he would not have dropped out. | ||
| The American people would not have seen that difference. | ||
| And it would have changed the election. | ||
| But that's what history is about. | ||
| Events strung together to give us a new narrative about what's going on. | ||
| And I think that that will be the thing that soon-to-be former president will regret that instead of going out with this whole list of accomplishments, he will end his administration having to defend why he stayed in so long and sought to get the Democratic nomination. | ||
| That's significant. | ||
| Peter is in Valley Cottage, New York on our line for Republicans. | ||
| Good morning, Peter. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yeah, good morning. | |
| Happy New Year, Frank. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
|
unidentified
|
A couple of things. | |
| Why did President Trump get elected? | ||
| President Trump got elected for two reasons. | ||
| Number one, inflation. | ||
| And number two, the border situation. | ||
| Yes, it's true. | ||
| The economy is doing well. | ||
| People have to remember that the 2017 tax cuts are still in effect. | ||
| And also the sanctions or the tariffs that President Trump put on China are still in place. | ||
| But the spending that they did in 2021, they passed that other COVID bill, which put trillions of dollars into the economy. | ||
| And inflation reduction, even Larry Summers, who was President Obama's Treasury Secretary, said that all that spending was going to be inflationary. | ||
| When President Biden came in, inflation was 1.4%. | ||
| He got it up to 9%. | ||
| So the American people, who are not really very astute like a lot of people like yourself, about how the economy works, but they feel it when inflation hits them. | ||
| And responding to Peter, let's go ahead and let Frank respond. | ||
| You're absolutely dead on. | ||
| And I apologize for interrupting, but I want actually to applaud you for your understanding. | ||
| Joe Biden made a big mistake when he said that inflation was transitory. | ||
| Because if you can't afford food and fuel, if you can't afford housing and health care, it's not transitory. | ||
| It affects your quality of life. | ||
| And the people in Washington never understood that. | ||
| You're correct about the spending. | ||
| One of the things that make people angriest about Washington is wasteful Washington spending. | ||
| And they're frustrated with it. | ||
| But I'm going to tell you something that we're just learning right now. | ||
| If you the public does not want further tax cuts, but they don't want a tax increase either. | ||
| And this is a warning to the people in Congress as they decide what they're going to do at the end of this year. | ||
| We have to address this debt. | ||
| It is out of control. | ||
| I think your next guest will agree with that. | ||
| On the left, on the right, we are in trouble. | ||
| We spend so much. | ||
| But the idea that people are going to be taxed more, they can't afford it, not with inflation. | ||
| And whatever party, if a party advocates a tax increase, they will be punished at the next election. | ||
| You're talking about the fact that Congress is going to be debating whether or not to extend certain provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. | ||
| And can you talk a little bit about some of the ideas that have been floated for how to extend these tax cuts as Republicans have said they want to do, even though it's estimated to cost anywhere between $4 and $6 trillion? | ||
| Well, then you have to also think of how much it costs the average taxpayer if they're affected by this, if their taxes go up, whether income or business taxes, and this affects small businesses, family-owned businesses. | ||
| And so the Republicans have to decide how much they want to push this. | ||
| Democrats have to decide whether they really want to go on record saying, however much you're taxed, we think you should be taxed more. | ||
| There are so many economic disputes that are coming right now. | ||
| The public wants to protect Social Security. | ||
| They want to protect Medicare. | ||
| In the end, and this is really controversial, you really can't affect the debt until you start to look at programs like Social Security, not now, but heading off into the future as America gets older. | ||
| And I don't know how they're going to solve it because this building right behind you, they're so divided and so distrustful, and they campaign at the drop of a hat. | ||
| One of the cadets who's down here in Washington, by the way, the cadet that you showed is actually here in D.C. meeting with generals and admirals and senators and congressmen, both sides of the aisle. | ||
| They're asking the question, who is serving? | ||
| You don't get elected to have the title. | ||
| You get elected to do your job. | ||
| And I don't know if they can do their jobs. | ||
| Rachel is in 4E, Texas, on our line for independence. | ||
| Good morning, Rachel. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Hello. | |
| I understand that illegals that's working over here, when they get their checks, they get tax withheld out of their checks. | ||
| That helps pay for Social Security. | ||
| And they claim they get free insurance. | ||
| Well, they don't get free insurance, but you cannot be turned down any emergency room you go to. | ||
| And this thing about getting, they're paying them $750 a month. | ||
| They're paying illegals, that's not true either. | ||
| And we all know if Garland hadn't drug his feet and the Supreme Court justice, our Supreme Court justice, denied or delayed Trump's trial, he would not be president today because he did cause an insurrection. | ||
| And Rachel, did you have a question for Frank? | ||
|
unidentified
|
I was just wanting to ask him, does the illegals that cannot file taxes, but they get taxes withheld out of their check does not go toward Social Security. | |
| So what are we going to do when we don't have that extra money coming in when they get to court all these illegals? | ||
| By the way, that's one of the issues. | ||
| This is one of the challenges I face now. | ||
| Viewers who've known me for 25, 30 years know that I've had increasing health issues, and there's no way in heck that I'm going to miss C-SPAN the day before the inauguration. | ||
| And I recognize the caller's concerns. | ||
| In the end, that's why the public wants a permanent idea of the results that people, and I'm going to actually, I've got the polling data for you. | ||
| Okay. | ||
| The public wants to build a security barrier. | ||
| The public wants to allow those who came under the DREAM Act to legalize that and allow people to pursue citizenship. | ||
| And they want to open up legal immigration. | ||
| Building a barrier is what the Trump people want. | ||
| The DREAM Act is what Democrats want. | ||
| And everyone, most people are not hostile to immigration. | ||
| They just want it the right way. | ||
| You combine those three together, you get 80% support. | ||
| More than two-thirds of Democrats, Independents, and Republicans. | ||
| Immigration is solvable. | ||
| You can't get everything you want. | ||
| It's that Rolling Stone song. | ||
| But if you try, you just might get what you need. | ||
| And they can do this if they're willing to compromise up there. | ||
| By the way, I'm sitting here on this studio, so you all know. | ||
| And that's not actually the Capitol. | ||
| That's a screen that looks like the Capitol. | ||
| And yet, when I look at that building, I see the men and women inside. | ||
| I see the congressmen. | ||
| I see the senators. | ||
| And I look at it and I think, please get along. | ||
| Well, and they did it, actually. | ||
| They were able to come to a bipartisan immigration deal last year. | ||
| So, I mean, we do have some precedent for that, even though it didn't become law. | ||
| And then what happens? | ||
| It gets politicized. | ||
| President Trump is a candidate wanted to emphasize immigration on the campaign. | ||
| So he suggested that members not support it. | ||
| Now he has a responsibility to fix it. | ||
| The public believes that he can. | ||
| The American public is, they don't want these mass deportations, but other than that, they essentially agree with what he's trying to do. | ||
| And they disagreed with what Biden did not do. | ||
| But you don't do it out of hate. | ||
| You don't do it out of anger. | ||
| You do it to protect the American way of life, to protect those who come here the right way. | ||
| And the biggest surprise to me, Latinos voted more Republican this time than in any time in modern elections. | ||
| The people he would think would oppose the president actually supported him because they agree with his approach. | ||
| Our caller mentioned the contributions of unauthorized immigrants to Social Security benefits. | ||
| And here's a story about that in the New York Times, pointing out that undocumented workers often pay taxes that help fund programs like Social Security, even if they can't collect from them in the future. | ||
| The Social Security Administration receives billions in free money each year from an unexpected source, undocumented immigrants. | ||
| The group paid an estimated $25.7 billion in Social Security taxes in 2022, according to a recent analysis from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a left-leaning tax research group. | ||
| Since unauthorized workers cannot collect retirement and other Social Security benefits without a change in their immigration status, the billions they pour into the program effectively act as a subsidy for American beneficiaries. | ||
| Let's go to Mike in Chillicothe, Ohio, on our line for Democrats. | ||
| Good morning, Mike. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good day. | |
| I'm here in Lick Skillet, Ohio. | ||
| How you doing? | ||
| Fine, thank you. | ||
| Go ahead. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yes, Frank, they're with, you know, we've come a long way since Nixon and Kissinger stood on the Great Wall of China and then sent to Reagan to ask Gorbachev to take down that wall and now we're building one. | |
| And plus, he repealed the fairness doctrine. | ||
| We need to reinstate that. | ||
| And then we need to talk to Clarence over there at the Supreme Court and those other justices about Citizens United and all the gridlock, the finger pointing, the dark money, the division, the diversion, the other tactic, the use, scare tactic. | ||
| You're covering a lot of points there, Mike. | ||
|
unidentified
|
What's your question for Frank? | |
| Does he think our recruits are young men that's joining the military, it appears to me with some of our foreign policy, they've been used as spearheads for corporate international fascism. | ||
| How do you feel about that? | ||
| I don't know what you're talking about. | ||
| I will tell you that first off, the women at West Point. | ||
| Let's play this other clip from your focus group at West Point since we were just, since he was, our caller was just mentioning the military academies. | ||
| Let's have another clip. | ||
| So tell me what the environment is like here. | ||
| Most people have heard of this place, but they have no idea what happens here. | ||
| They have no idea about the magic or the chemistry or how you all relate to each other. | ||
| Can you explain it to me? | ||
|
unidentified
|
In itself, just the words honor code can sound very rigid, but in my opinion, I would say that it's a promise. | |
| It's a promise to the person next to me that I'm going to do my best every day to be the best version of me and that you're going to do your best every day to be the best version of you. | ||
| And that's what creates the trust in the teams that everyone thinks is so like, how does West Point build these teams? | ||
| It's because we have a mutual trust and we have that promise that I'm going to do my best every single day for you. | ||
| Okay, so what can America learn from West Point? | ||
| I know you're humble. | ||
| I know that this is a question that you kind of don't want to answer, but I'm asking you to answer. | ||
| What can the United States of America learn from the United States Military Academy at West Point? | ||
|
unidentified
|
I think the ability to trust one another, that trust that mutually binds us together, would be probably the largest thing that an average American citizen could take away. | |
| Be able to look to your neighbor to your left and right and understand that they're there for you and they have good intentions. | ||
| Be able to work for each other and support each other. | ||
| Dr. Luntz, I've echoed that, that American values are exceptional. | ||
| They're unlike any others that we see in the world. | ||
| And if Americans could tap into that and remember who we are as a nation, the values that we have, the promise that she shared that we have with each other to be the best versions of ourselves. | ||
| I'm watching them, and they're here. | ||
| The people that you're seeing on TV are actually here in Washington meeting with Democrats and meeting with the Republicans and not making a political or partisan judgment. | ||
| They're meeting with people in the military, people in business, people in politics. | ||
| This academy is so exceptional because of the people who present their skills, the capabilities. | ||
| We've got a couple of Fortune 500 CEOs who are going to talk to them because they understand what the sacrifice of those men and women work 80, 90 hours a week. | ||
| It's not just intellectual, it's also military training, which is so essential right now, and their physical capabilities. | ||
| I'm embarrassed. | ||
| I'm fat, I'm slow, and I'm old. | ||
| And when I'm around them, I feel, and they're strong and they're vibrant and they, and they're the best of what we have. | ||
| And what I love most is when I'm in a room with cadets, I'm the worst human being in that room. | ||
| That honor code, lie, cheat, or steal. | ||
| I trust them. | ||
| I don't lock my doors. | ||
| I leave my wallet out because I know they have my back and they have America's back. | ||
| And that's what makes them exceptional. | ||
| No matter what happens in this country on shows like this, in that building over there, they will defend the Constitution and they will bring our young men and women home safely. | ||
| Marie is in Baltimore, Maryland, on our line for independence. | ||
| Good morning, Marie. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Can you hear me? | |
| Yes, I can. | ||
| Go ahead with your question for Frank Luntz. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, this is what I want to say. | |
| I grew up in a family with nine daughters, a mother, and a father. | ||
| And my parents died with character. | ||
| But my mother and father always taught us, all my sisters, that what you do as a young woman will follow you as an old woman. | ||
| That has always been the truth. | ||
| And I taught my daughter that. | ||
| I think the whole United States of America has lost. | ||
| It's nice what people can do for power food, but what we teach our children at the dinner table as they watch us means more than anything in the world. | ||
| I'd rather be poor living in a box with my parents than for my father to have no character. | ||
| The whole United States has lost because now, what will we tell our children? | ||
| That the United States put a man who has no character who is a sexual assaulter fellow as a president. | ||
| Explain that to the children. | ||
| I'll let you respond to Marie's point, Frank. | ||
| Character counts and character counts when no one's looking. | ||
| How we behave towards each other, how we show each other respect. | ||
| It's more than just having each other's back, it's lifting each other up. | ||
| So I'm watching what you're doing here. | ||
| You bring accountability to the questions. | ||
| You are showing articles to say, wait a minute, take a look at this perspective. | ||
| You're not necessarily considering it. | ||
| This is what's supposed to happen in this country. | ||
| If I make a claim, I should be challenged. | ||
| I have the freedom to make the claim, and you have the responsibility to challenge me. | ||
| You have Republicans, Independents, and Democrats. | ||
| You go back and forth. | ||
| Everyone's voice is heard, and everyone is respected. | ||
| And everyone gets a chance to ask a question. | ||
| This is democracy at its best. | ||
| I want to make sure that C-SPAN is protected. | ||
| I want to make sure that it's strong, that hosts like you hold us accountable and responsible. | ||
| This is the way it's supposed to be, and it's not this way in too many places. | ||
| Well, in that regard, though, Maria was asking, given some of the things about President-elect Donald Trump, his convictions, the multiple accusations of sexual assault or harassment, and related to what those cadets were saying about character. | ||
| What are your thoughts? | ||
| I never combined the two, ever. | ||
| And I've been asked that before. | ||
| Just as they defend the Constitution in a show like this, at this moment, I look at the country when America represents not just the people who occupy that building or occupy the White House. | ||
| And I ask Americans to aspire to something better, to something greater, and take responsibility for their actions and demonstrate accountability in everything that they do. | ||
| Ed is in Columbia Station, Ohio, on our line for Republicans. | ||
| Good morning, Ed. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yes, good morning, audience. | |
| I'm a 30-year vet and 65, yeah, great shape, whatever. | ||
|
unidentified
|
What I'm getting at, you talk about accountability. | |
| How about the press? | ||
| President Biden, who's almost this is last day or so, he wouldn't even won the first election if they would have even released that laptop. | ||
| Remember, they did a poll, you're a pollster, two weeks after the election was over. | ||
| They sat on that for four years. | ||
| And this guy, even when he was young, never was never had it. | ||
|
unidentified
|
He was a gripter his whole 50-year career. | |
| The guy, and then the media sat for the last four, this whole last four years that they just lost, and when he ran against Trump, they sat, he remember that campaign out of the basement Colby used. | ||
| This new four years that he won, he barely did anything, did nothing, and they all talked from all the fake news. | ||
| The deep state covered him, covered his butt. | ||
| The journalist, he got away with everything. | ||
| So, Ed, what are you hoping for Frank to address here? | ||
|
unidentified
|
But the Democrats got what they want, and even that border deal. | |
| An answer. | ||
| Sure, go ahead. | ||
| Let Frank respond to some of your point, Ed. | ||
| And I respect your service very much, sir. | ||
| And I'm sorry to interrupt, but he doesn't have a question. | ||
| He wants to be heard. | ||
| And the problem in America is that we're not seeking information. | ||
| We're actually not seeking the truth, capital T, capital T. We're seeking our truth. | ||
| There's something that Paul Simon wrote, and I think it's in the boxer, the song. | ||
| A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest. | ||
| He never had a question. | ||
| A lot of your callers on both sides don't have questions. | ||
| They simply want to be heard. | ||
| And C-SPAN gives them that ability to be heard. | ||
| But that's the core of anger in this country. | ||
| The feeling that we've been ignored, forgotten, and even betrayed. | ||
| This is a gender issue. | ||
| This is a racial issue. | ||
| This is an economic, an educational issue. | ||
| And the goal should be that people feel represented. | ||
| They don't have to vote for everything you agree with. | ||
| They don't have to put everything into legislation. | ||
| But I'm hoping that over the next few years, if that voice can be heard and people feel like they matter, then some of this decibel level will be decreased. | ||
| I'm not confident, but that is my hope. | ||
| Let's go to Jim in Plainfield, Illinois on our line for Democrats. | ||
| Good morning, Jim. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Hi. | |
| Frank, you're pretty much a comment, Spencer, so I appreciate listening to you. | ||
| But Jack Bauer from 24 can't save this country. | ||
| We've lost our democracy. | ||
| Congress behaves like we're watching a Jerry Springer show. | ||
| In order to improve it, we add Dodge. | ||
| That's like Jerry Springer too hot to handle. | ||
| We have a debt ceiling that changes as many times as our Department of Defense has been married. | ||
| We have a cabinet pick from Kennedy and a reality. | ||
| Jim, we are running low on time for the segment. | ||
| Can you ask your question for Frank? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Okay, let me just end with this. | |
| Our President Carter died. | ||
| California's hurting fires. | ||
| We're going to raise the flag to full mast. | ||
| We're going to end with this has never unknown history, a crowd ever seen like this before. | ||
| My question is, what's going to happen if a Democratic governor calls in the National Guard to stop the deportation, and you have the federal government bringing in the military? | ||
| What's going to happen? | ||
| I don't know. | ||
| I know that we have reached the point, the breaking point in this country. | ||
| And I think you're going to see that over the coming weeks. | ||
| But if we can get affordability under control, if we can stop the chaos and the fentanyl, I hear stories of families all across the country burying their kids because of fentanyl that's coming across the border. | ||
| And I've been alive for 62 years. | ||
| I remember the drug crisis in the 1980s. | ||
| Just say no. | ||
| And it's worse today. | ||
| It affects everyone today. | ||
| This government has to prove that it is efficient, effective, and accountable. | ||
| And the things that they do have to be meaningful and measurable. | ||
| We have to be able to feel it in our day-to-day lives, and we have to be able to prove that it's actually happening. | ||
| So you have two callers, back-to-back, Democrat and Republican, both of them not wanting to ask a question, wanting to make a statement. | ||
| As a pollster, I hear them. | ||
| As a human being, as an American, it causes me pain. | ||
| As someone who wears West Point shoes and gets a chance to teach West Point cadets, I'm probably too down on America, but I could not be more supportive of those military academies, what they do for this country. | ||
| Last caller for now, let's hear from Ed in Roselle Park, New Jersey on our line for Republicans. | ||
| Good morning, Ed. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning. | |
| Mr. Lawrence, my question is regarding the Doge group, start with Elon Musk and whatever, and how successful you might think they're going to be. | ||
| And my other question is regarding President Biden's pardons recently, the extent and nature of them, because I was quite shocked by some of them, and I just wanted your thoughts on that. | ||
| They both. | ||
| Before you answer Ed's question, two questions, because Ed mentioned spending and the Doge Potential Commission, we also had a post on X from MLB who says, it's not the spending that's the problem, it's where we spend our money that's the problem. | ||
| Subsidies for big oil, big pharma, and big agriculture are what enrages the working American public. | ||
| Please address facts. | ||
| Linked to what Ed was saying. | ||
| Whoever sent that is correct. | ||
| It's not just a spending for a bridge, so-called bridge to nowhere. | ||
| It's not just about naming some school somewhere. | ||
| It's about the small spending, the big spending, and the sense that we don't know where the money is going. | ||
| We work darn hard, and our money gets taken and used by these politicians. | ||
| The public is going to, they make fun of Doge. | ||
| The public wants it. | ||
| The public wants Elon Musk and the vaccine Ramaswamy to get their hands inside the government and shine a bright light on where the money goes and most importantly, what it does. | ||
| We measure inputs. | ||
| We don't measure outputs. | ||
| Does it actually work? | ||
| So the caller is correct. | ||
| That email is correct. | ||
| Why do we increase Social Security beyond inflation? | ||
| How do we get Medicare costs so that people get the choice and control they want, the affordability they need, and the quality they deserve? | ||
| By the way, delivered by the doctors and hospitals they trust. | ||
| It's a very simple process, but actually getting there has become really difficult. | ||
| I do hope the President and Congress work together. | ||
| I do hope that there are some Democrats who join with the Republicans. | ||
| I do hope that this administration hears the voice of Democrats. | ||
| I'm not confident of it. | ||
| Just quickly before we let you go, Ed's other question was about President Biden's pardons. | ||
| Just as I'm, I don't know, you're aware that I'm not going down certain roads. | ||
| I'm not going to do it for Biden either. | ||
| That we are one day from this inauguration. | ||
| We're one day from celebrating the peaceful transfer of power. | ||
| You don't have that in other countries. | ||
| I'm so grateful to be here. | ||
| I'm literally grateful to be here at this moment. | ||
| And I say to the students who look at me and think I'm too negative, it's because I want something better. | ||
| But that's what makes America so great. | ||
| You don't just want it. | ||
| You can actually go out and try to achieve it. | ||
| You get the freedom to do so. | ||
| And we get the freedom to criticize if we don't. | ||
| I love it here. | ||
| I appreciate this show. | ||
| I think you're awesome. | ||
| I think you handled this so great. | ||
| I don't have the patience you have. | ||
| So thank you for this honor. | ||
| Well, thank you for being here. | ||
| Frank Luntz is a pollster and communications strategist. | ||
| Really appreciate you visiting us at Washington Journal again. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| All right, we're going to continue our conversation about Donald Trump's inauguration coming up tomorrow with David Korn, Washington Bureau Chief for Mother Jones. | ||
| He's going to be up next. | ||
| We'll be right back. | ||
|
unidentified
|
A new chapter in U.S. history begins this Monday with the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump. | |
| Witness Democracy in Action with C-SPAN. | ||
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| We'll bring you the swearing-in ceremony as Donald Trump takes the oath of office, becoming President of the United States, followed by his inaugural address. | ||
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