NBC "Meet the Press" - Transcript: Interview with Bill Cassidy
Interview
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SEN. BILL CASSIDY:
Thank you, Chuck. Good to be with you.
CHUCK TODD:
I want to start -- you know, Congressman Anthony Gonzalez, one of the Republican House members who voted to impeach, was censured by the Ohio Republican Party this week and called a traitor by a candidate for the U.S. Senate that hopes to be your colleague in 2023 in the United States Senate, Josh Mandel. Can you explain the fervor that seems to be inside this party to punish people like yourself and anybody that crossed the president here?
SEN. BILL CASSIDY:
Well, I have found that there's a lot of misinformation out there that when you listen to people, they know you're listening, and then you present, kind of, the other side, you get people who are least neutral, but oftentimes, "Hmm, I didn't know that." And they'll agree with you. For example, if I'm asked about voter fraud, I point out that Giuliani under oath said there was no fraud. And now outside the courtroom he says, "Stop the steal." But inside, he says there was no fraud. I'd point out that Sidney Powell in March said that no reasonable person would've believed what she had said. No reasonable person. She's playing people for a sap. And so once they hear that, that kind of gives them a gut check. So when you go through those facts and others that I could list, then there's a reconsideration. I'm confident that that process will continue.
CHUCK TODD:
How should that process continue because, as you saw in our opening piece there, look, more elected Republicans, and I'm leaving you out of this because you -- when you're asked, you address the issue. But a lot of Republicans have chosen not to, right? They've chosen to say, you know, in the face of these Trump conspiracy theories, they just want to, you know, "I'm not looking backwards, I'm looking forwards." Is that a mistake?
SEN. BILL CASSIDY:
I can't speak for other people, but I do find being honest with the American people always works. And if you give them the facts, they will flip their mind. If they ask about the constitutionality of the impeachment proceedings, I just say, "Watch the YouTube of the first day of the impeachment and you will come away convinced that it was constitutional." And so the more you hit that, these are good Americans. The more they do their investigation, the more they will come to understand, and I think as -- at least that it's reasonable to hold the position, as I, as Representative Cheney. And that's our process of getting to a better place.
CHUCK TODD:
Do you still feel welcome inside the Republican Party?
SEN. BILL CASSIDY:
Absolutely. I feel incredibly welcome. Believe me, there are some people that are still upset with me. And there are some people who are very pleased. I was at an airshow at Barksdale Air Force Base yesterday in Shreveport, Louisiana. I'm always struck when I see one of those young airmen or airwomen. They take an oath to support and defend the Constitution. Almost every American wants to support and defend the Constitution. Once we begin to see it in that light, folks are kind of okay with where I am. I'm okay as well with this process that we're working through.
CHUCK TODD:
You know, Lindsey Graham said he doesn't believe the Republican Party can grow without Donald Trump. Look, this debate is there, right? "You can't win with him, you can't win without him." Where are you on this?
SEN. BILL CASSIDY:
Yeah, so the policies really worked. Before Covid hit, we had the best economy we've had in my lifetime. Now, I would argue that there are some who still see him as the messenger of that set of policies that they felt was incredibly positive for our country. If you look at polls, there's a whole group of folks that agree with Liz Cheney. And so, for us to win in 2022 and 2024 we need everybody. We need those who feel as Liz. We need those who feel as Lindsey. Now ultimately, it's about the policies. You see that Cheney, Cassidy support those policies. Those policies are our ticket to victory. And I think those policies are the ones that bring us back in 2022.
CHUCK TODD:
I want to play something that Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said earlier this week about working with the Biden administration. Take a listen. Okay. He said 100 percent of his focus was on stopping the new administration. The next day, he kind of walked it back and said he was -- he says he wants to do business for the president, but he needs to be moderate here. Do you feel as if he has given you openness to work across the aisle? Do you feel as if you can cut a deal? If you guys come to an agreement on an infrastructure plan, that leadership will support you in this?
SEN. BILL CASSIDY:
Absolutely. And I give an example. On the Asian hate crime bill, Mitch came to our conference and said, "Let's -- we don't like the way the bill starts off, but we can work with Democrats and get to a better place." On infrastructure, he has made it clear. If we can find something that actually spends money on infrastructure, roads and bridges -- imagine that, as opposed to what the Biden plan does which is spends a trillion on things which have no relationship to infrastructure -- we can cut a deal. I don't think Mitch or any Republican is for the $7 trillion in spending the administration has proposed for this year alone. I think that's the thrust of his comments.
CHUCK TODD:
When you heard that President Biden said he is not going to deficit spend, does that tell you that this bill's going to get smaller because there have been Democratic senators that have been a little nervous about some of these tax increases? Does that indicate to you that maybe a smaller deal is in the works?
SEN. BILL CASSIDY:
Any time you're talking about $7 trillion in spending in one year and you're not going to deficit spend, grab your wallet. I don't care who you are. And so, of course, they're nervous because you're talking about spending that inevitably ends up hurting the economy. Republicans showed that when you let the American people keep their own money and invest in that which they wish to invest in, the economy takes off with record low unemployment for Blacks, Hispanics, veterans, high school drop-outs, you name it. The Biden administration is trying to trickle down through Democratic-leaning organizations. I think everybody has a pause about $7 trillion spent in such a way.
CHUCK TODD:
I want to ask you about the pipeline. You're on the energy committee. This cyber attack on this Colonial Pipeline. Obviously, it goes through the state of Louisiana. This moves oil here all up and down the East Coast. Look, this critical infrastructure held by private companies where we're not 100 percent sure they're doing everything they need to be doing, how do we fix this?
SEN. BILL CASSIDY:
Yeah, so Congress has attempted to fix that. There's been problems in the past with sharing classified information with private entities. And Congress has passed a law to fix that. But it's going to take an ongoing relationship. By the way, a bipartisan relationship, in which we better equip small businesses and large businesses to withstand cyber attacks. Chuck, the implications for this, for our national security, cannot be overstated. And I promise you, this is something that Republicans and Democrats can work together on.
CHUCK TODD:
All right, Senator Bill Cassidy, Republican from Louisiana. Appreciate you coming on, sharing your perspective with us, sir. Thank you.
SEN. BILL CASSIDY:
Thank you.
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