Fox News "Sunday with Chris Wallace" - Transcript Interview with Chris Coons
Interview
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
WALLACE: Our next guest has known Joe Biden for more than three decades and is one of his closest allies in Washington.
Joining us now for Wilmington, Delaware, Senator Chris Coons.
Senator, welcome back to FOX NEWS SUNDAY.
SEN. CHRIS COONS, (D-DE): Thanks, Chris. Great to be on with you again.
WALLACE: Republicans say one of the things they're going to hit at this convention, at their convention, are things that Democrats didn't talk about this last week at their convention. Here is President Trump on the issue of urban violence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If you want a vision of your life under Biden presidency, think of the smoldering ruins in Minneapolis, the violent anarchy of Portland, the bloodstained sidewalks of Chicago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Why didn't Joe Biden talk about the alarming spike of violence in our cities?
COONS: Well, Chris, what we heard from Joe Biden Thursday night was an inspiring, energetic, hopeful and uplifting speech. In response to press inquiries over recent weeks, he's made it clear he doesn't support defunding the police and he doesn't support violent protests. What he does embrace is the tens of millions of Americans of all backgrounds who have taken to the streets in peaceful protest over recent months speaking to the long unaddressed issues of racial injustice and inequality in our country.
WALLACE: But, Senator, we're not talking about protests here. We're not talking about defunding the police. We're talking about crime. And let me put up some very troubling numbers.
Chicago has seen a 50 percent increase in homicides this year. In New York, murders are up 30 percent. In Portland, there have been often violent protests, protests that become violent for 86 straight days. Police there have declared riots at least 13 times.
Why does Joe Biden think it's happening and what will he do as president to stop it?
COONS: Well, three things, Chris.
Joe Biden is someone with a long record of supporting appropriate community policing. Just because Joe Biden and Kamala Harris see a path forward in which they will reform policing to make it more just and more appropriate in our multi-ethnic, multi-faith community doesn't mean that they fail to support police.
But, second, in the city of Portland, sending in federal law enforcement that was over militarized and wasn't asked for or welcomed by the mayor or the governor helped accelerate demonstrations that had become violent riots. So, frankly, as someone who was responsible for the second largest law enforcement agency in my state, I'll say that there are situations in which federal law enforcement is welcome and needed in situations. This was one of them. Where, frankly, the way President Trump send in heavy-handed federal law enforcement simply made things worse.
I think the record of both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in terms of community policing, getting a handle on violent crime, is a great record for them to run on. And, more than anything, their tone was optimistic, was unifying. And as you just showed, President Trump has had a divisive, angry tone that at times has a racial tinge.
WALLACE: OK.
Let me ask you about another issue that Republicans are going to hit Democrats for. They say that -- that it -- your convention last week you ignored the threat from China.
Here again is the president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: China was never mentioned in any way, shape, or form. China will own our country if he gets elected. They will own our country. And we're not going to let that happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Now, Mr. Trump hit China what that travel ban in January. He imposed stiff tariffs as part of trade negotiations. Joe Biden, routinely on the campaign trail, dismisses the idea that China is serious competition, his praise, for the United States. They're going to say that Joe Biden is soft on China.
COONS: Well, nothing could be further from the truth. Let's be clear, what Joe Biden says on the campaign trail is he believes in us. He believes that the American people, the American worker can outcompete China, but he is very clear-eyed about the threat and the challenge that China -- that China presents to the United States.
Look, I have commended President Trump for --
WALLACE: So why didn't he say anything about it -- Senator, why didn't he say anything about it at the convention?
COONS: He has said a lot about it on the campaign trail and he has detailed plans for how to strengthen our global network of alliances to effectively stand up to China. I'll remind you, back in January and February, as the pandemic was spreading around the world, it was Donald Trump who was saying positive things, cozying up to Xi Jinping and it was Joe Biden who was sounding the alarm bells about this pandemic.
Donald Trump, our president, failed to act responsibly as this pandemic was beginning to impact Americans. Today we have five and a half million infected Americans, 175,000 dead Americans because of the bungled federal response. You can't simply blame China as a way to get our country out of this pandemic --
WALLACE: OK.
COONS: And the recession and the chaos that's resulted from President Trump's failed response.
WALLACE: Senator, let me -- let me pick up on -- let me pick up on the coronavirus, because Joe Biden was asked -- this will obviously be perhaps the biggest, single issue in the campaign. And Biden was asked on Friday how far he would go to fight the coronavirus.
Here's his answer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN: (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would be prepared to do whatever it takes to save lives because we cannot get the country moving until we control the virus.
DAVID MUIR, ABC NEWS: So if the scientists say, shut it down?
BIDEN: I would shut it down. I would listen to the scientists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Joe Biden is really prepared to shut down the country, to shut down the economy again?
COONS: What Joe Biden said there was he will listen to public health experts. He will listen to Dr. Fauci. He will listen to leaders from the NIH and the CDC. That's something Donald Trump has demonstrably failed to do. Donald Trump's like a man whose lost on the highway and refuses to ask for directions.
In fact, worse, he has peddled quackery. He has advocated for solutions like Hydroxychloroquine, which the FDA has said not only don't work but are harmful. If public health officials say that's the only way forward, he's willing to do it. He's willing to lead.
Donald Trump failed to confront this pandemic. Countries similar to ours, like Canada or Japan, at similar stages of development --
WALLACE: Right.
COONS: Have gotten a handle on this virus. The number of deaths, the impact on their economy, far less.
WALLACE: Senator --
COON: What Joe Biden is showing his leadership and a willingness to trust science.
WALLACE: Senator, I've got one minute left and I want to ask you one more question.
You've known Joe Biden, as we've said, I think for 34 years.
COONS: Yes.
WALLACE: You are close to him politically, personally. No question, he delivered a -- an effective speech on Thursday night, but it was a prepared speech and he was reading from a teleprompter. Sometimes when he is speaking off-the-cuff gets tangled up in his words and sometimes he loses his train of thought.
Why is that?
COONS: Well, two things.
One of the most inspiring moments of the entire convention was when Braden Harrington (ph) of Concord, New Hampshire, talked about how Joe Biden, who met him at an event, didn't just take a minute and smile and shake his hand, but took him backstage, sat with him, talked with him, because they share a common challenge, overcoming stuttering. Joe Biden is someone whose heart is good, who's got deep empathy for others, who's rooted in his faith and who is motivated by care and concern for others. I wish I could say the same about our president and his uneven relationship with the truth.
But when Joe Biden occasionally miss speaks as he's engaged and connecting with the American people, I know what his heart is motivating him to do, to fight to protect our health care, to fight to help us build our economy back better and to fight to save America's position in the world as a beacon of freedom.
WALLACE: Senator --
COONS: All of those are good instincts.
WALLACE: Senator Coons --
COONS: I'm, frankly, happy to forgive the occasional stumble because I know where his heart is rooted.
WALLACE: Senator Coons, thank you. Thanks for joining us today. Always good to talk with you, sir.
COONS: Thank you, Chris.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source