MSNBC "All in with Chris Hayes" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Brian Schatz
Interview
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HAYES: Now, the Republicans desperation makes some political sense analytically speaking. 538 reports today the Democrats could have huge opportunities to win GOP House seats while the non-partisan Cook Political Report just moved to seats closer to Republicans and four close to the Democrats. In Utah Republican Congressman Mia Love is down by six points, in Utah. In Montana, Congressman Greg Gianforte, the one who body slammed a reporter and then lied about it is tied with his Democratic challenger. Another new poll shows Iowa Congressman Steve King in an overwhelmingly Trump friendly district up by just a single point against his Democratic opponent. I`ll be talking more about him and his white nationalism later in the show.
All of that and more is why Republicans are trying so hard to whip their base into a frenzy. As Democratic Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii tweeted "remember that we close on health care and corruption and they can close with whatever toxic racists do they want. Senator Brian Schatz joins me now. Senator, what do you make of this strange desperate gross closing argument from the Republican Party?
SEN. BRIAN SCHATZ (D), HAWAII: I think you hit it exactly on the head. It`s strange, it`s desperate, it`s toxic, it`s awful. And what it shows is that the Republicans realize that all of their actual ideas both in terms of what they want to do in the future in terms of cutting Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, and in terms of what they`ve done over the last two years in terms of the largest upward wealth transfer in American history and the attempt to take away healthcare protections for people with pre- existing conditions, everything that they`re actually for is totally unpopular. So they`re left lying about what they`re for or trying to distract us with racism and xenophobia.
HAYES: You know, you mentioned health care. This is I think my favorite little nugget from this campaign so far. There are a number of Republican members of Congress who are running in competitive districts whose Democratic challengers have been saying there -- they voted to take away protections for pre-existing conditions. All of these members, I think there`s seven of them have then said, no, no, no, that claim that I voted for that, that gets four Pinocchios in the Washington Post fact checker. That claim itself is a lie, completely invented that has prompted the fact- checker to tell them to stop saying it and they have all refused.
SCHATZ: Yes, they`re -- I mean, they`re just left with lying. I mean Josh Hawley for instance, the Attorney General in Missouri is a guy who`s on the lawsuit to eliminate protections for people with pre-existing conditions. I mean, the gall of these people is incredible but it really shows that they have literally run out of ideas. I know how these guys work. They sit down, they try to figure out what they`ve done that is popular, they run a poll, they sit down with their operatives and they figure out what they`re going to talk about.
If they`re at the point where they`re talking about a caravan of people 1,000 miles away of unarmed individuals, if that`s the thing they`re closing with, it means that nothing that they are for, nothing that they plan to do and nothing that they have done is at all popular and that`s why we`re going to close on the following message. We`re going to protect your health care and they`re corrupt and we are here to stop them.
HAYES: What do you think about the President`s appearance in Pittsburgh today? It was notable to me that no one else joined him. Other Republicans and Democrats both alike declined to join him at that. Lots of people in the community obviously protesting his appearance today. What do you think?
SCHATZ: Well, I want to talk a little bit about the protests and I just saw a two-minute clip from your network and I was touched. I was nearly in tears to watch these individuals. It was not a typical sort of political protest. It was quiet. They were singing. Apparently, some people are observing their own religious traditions and there`s a sense that something bigger than politics is going on. We have to tap into our collective humanity and it`s not just about rejecting Republican policies over the last two years or what they want to do to us over the next two years, now we have to rebuke the way they`re conducting themselves over the last seven days of this campaign.
HAYES: Yes, what do you mean by that? What does it mean if they win this way?
SCHATZ: Well, it means that lying will have been successful. It means that racism will have been successful. It means that appealing to our most base instincts will have been successful. But remember, all of the positions are minority positions. All their positions are unpopular. So that the only way that they`re going to be successful in this election is if people don`t show up.
And I understand it`s a Midterm and I understand that you know, young people and presidential voter types who only show up every four years are not expected to turn out, but we can take this country back if we show up and we absolutely have to show up.
HAYES: Last point here and I thought you would appreciate this data point. You talked about Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid. This is from one of our producers at a Texas early voting spot in Texas 32. Talking people suburban early voting spot today, GOP woman said she was -- has a sign for Pete Sessions in her yard, that`s the Republican. Voted straight our ticket but was spooked at the last minute by T.V. mailers saying he was going to take away Social Security and Medicare, so she voted to Colin Allred who`s the Democratic challenger which is sort of music I think probably to your ears.
SCHATZ: Yes, and that`s because it`s true. You know, we are out there telling the truth about what they want to do. This is not a rhetorical flourish, this is not a talking point. This is what Mitch McConnell promises and this is what Paul Ryan has been dreamed -- has been dreaming about since he was in college.
HAYES: Sitting around kegs I think is the phrase, particularly, dreaming cutting Medicaid. Senator Brian Schatz, thank you for joining me.
SCHATZ: Thank you.
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