MSNBC "The Ed Show" - Transcript

Interview

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Joining me now is Maryland Congressman Chris Van Hollen, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Chris, good to have you with us tonight.

REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D), DCCC CHAIRMAN: Good to be with you, Ed.

SCHULTZ: Is Gingrich the threat in all of this or - or is this just where Republicans are? This is about as right-wing a stuff as we"ve ever heard, talking about a Kenyan worldview, and of course the trickle down is the fear that we see in our public school system. What do you think?

VAN HOLLEN: Well, that"s right, Ed. Look, the only silver lining here is that Newt Gingrich is reminding the American people about what kind of Congressional leadership they got last time they put the Republicans in control.

After all, it was Newt Gingrich that tried to shut down the government, which meant that we couldn"t sent out the social security checks. People were scared they weren"t going to get their Medicare payments. And Newt Gingrich was the guy in charge.

Well, this will hopefully focus American"s attention on exactly what will happen if you put the Washington Republican leadership back in charge. You"re going to get more the same. You"re going to get the same old economic policies that we got for eight years under the Bush administration, and you"ll get the same kind of rhetoric and constant investigations that you got under Gingrich instead of focusing on the country"s problems.

SCHULTZ: What about their strategy on the right? Early 2009, the first guy to come out and take a swipe at President Obama was Dick Cheney, and that went on for about four, five months. And then it was kind of transferred over to the Senator from South Carolina, who gave us the Waterloo comment. And then of course it was "No" agenda to everything that the Democrats and the majority has proposed, and you know, led by President Obama.

So now we have got - Cheney"s pretty much out the mix. Here comes Newt with some of the most radical stuff we"ve ever heard. Is this a reflection of the Republican Party?

VAN HOLLEN: Oh, I - I think that it is. I mean, look, we all know that they"ve moved very far to the right. I mean, the strange thing is that they said to the American people, they"re trying to say to the American people, look, we learn from their mistakes, but what we"re hearing is that they"re even farther out of touch, they"re even farther out of mainstream than they were before.

I mean, this is really some wacky stuff, as you pointed out. And they plan to translate that stuff into policies that are going to affect the lives of the American people. And, look, when it comes to jobs, we"ve been fighting very hard to shut down these perverse loopholes that reward American companies that ship jobs overseas.

They"re saying, no, let"s keep those jobs on, and they"ve got these third party groups like Americans for Prosperity who only care about their own prosperity, their own special interests, who are fighting this.

People need to understand, there is a reason these third-party groups are spending millions and millions of dollars to try and defeat Democratic candidates. It"s because they liked the economic agenda they got under George Bush. They liked what they got under Newt Gingrich.

So beware, this is an early indication, what Newt"s telling us, of - of where they would take the country.

SCHULTZ: Do you think the president should respond to this comment of a Kenyan world view?

VAN HOLLEN: Well, I agree with Robert Gibbs. It is just so far out

there -

SCHULTZ: It"s kind of psycho talk, isn"t it?

VAN HOLLEN: It"s psychobabble, and, you know, I think that if you just let it sit out there, the American people will see it as such. And so I don"t think it is useful to get into a debate with Gingrich when he - when he throws that kind of stuff out there. I really think that people will see if for what it is, and, again, remind them of what they got the last time they had the Republicans in charge of Congress.

They got Newt Gingrich, and then they got eight years of policies that - working with George Bush gave us an economy that ended up losing over

600,000 jobs after eight years, having absolutely no -

SCHULTZ: Yes.

VAN HOLLEN: -- well, flat incomes and a big effort to privatize social security, which is what they intend to try to do again.

SCHULTZ: There"s no doubt.

VAN HOLLEN: So, look, this is - this is all a flashback, and, again, the only good news in this is that it"s a clear reminder to people, beware what you do, and beware because these guys are telling you exactly what they"re planning to do, and it"s not a pretty picture.

SCHULTZ: Congressman, good to have you with us tonight. Thanks so much.

VAN HOLLEN: Good to be with you. Thanks, Ed.

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