CNN "The Lead with Jake Tapper" - Transcript: Interview with James Comer

Interview

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BROWN: All right, Jessica Dean, thanks so much.

And joining us now is Kentucky Republican Representative James Comer.

Nice to see you, Congressman.

You are vaccinated. Do I have that right?

REP. JAMES COMER (R-KY): Yes, you do.

BROWN: OK.

COMER: And the day I got vaccinated, I posted it on social media.

BROWN: And what is your message then to those who still don't want to get vaccinated?

COMER: Well, I have been very vocal.

I think that you should be vaccinated. I tell people that, obviously, I'm not a doctor. But every person that I know in the medical profession, they were the first in line to get vaccinated, and they constantly tell people to be vaccinated. So everyone should be vaccinated.

What you have shown on your show already today, it's proved 97 percent of the people who are in the hospital now as a result of COVID were not vaccinated. And that's really unfortunate, because the government has spent a lot of money. We have put forth a lot of effort. Operation Warp Speed was a success in creating the vaccines.

[16:35:06]

And it's to the point where everyone probably should have already been vaccinated, but it's not too late. And, hopefully, we can continue to see an increase in vaccinations.

BROWN: And it is so unfortunate, what you just pointed out, and also that it's become so politicized, right?

I mean, there's this new CBS News poll that shows 29 percent of Republicans refuse to get vaccinated, compared to 6 percent of Democrats. What do you think? Is that why we're seeing a tone change among some members in your party on vaccines, and being more outspoken, taking the virus seriously now? What do you think is behind that?

COMER: Well, first of all, Pam, there are people in both parties that have spread misinformation about the vaccines. But I will say this, that...

BROWN: When you say that -- I just want to be clear. When you say that, on the other side, what do you mean?

COMER: Well, Kamala Harris, if you will remember, during the debate, she said she wouldn't take the vaccine if Donald Trump were president. She said she wouldn't believe anything that Donald Trump said with respect...

BROWN: She said she was -- she was going to listen to the scientists and the doctors. She wasn't going to listen to Donald Trump. And I know that's been a Republican talking point.

But just go ahead.

COMER: Well, the Republicans we met this week, we all see that the Delta variant is spreading. We don't want to go through more government shutdowns.

The Republicans have always been very vocal that we need to keep the economy open. We can't afford to continue to pay people not to work and hand out stimulus checks. We have got to be safe. We have got to be vaccinated, and we have to take this very seriously.

So that's a message that you're going to continue to hear from Republicans moving forward.

BROWN: And I know you want to talk about both sides.

But the evidence, it's very clear, Congressman Comer, that it's largely in right-wing media and Republicans, your colleagues on Capitol Hill, who have been fueling some of the vaccine hesitancy.

And now you have Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, fellow Kentuckian, saying that people should ignore voices that are giving demonstrably bad advice. What do you think about that? Do you think that -- do you agree with Mitch McConnell?

COMER: Well, the data I have seen in Kentucky, two groups primarily that haven't been vaccinated, and that's very right-wing conservatives, as you mentioned, but also minority groups. So -- and, obviously, they're not traditionally right-wing.

So I think we have got pockets of the population out there who just really don't understand the vaccination process. Pam, before COVID-19, I never took a flu shot in my life. It just wasn't something that I did. I'm not anti-science. I'm not -- I don't have conspiracy theories. I just never took a flu shot.

So I think there are a lot of people out there, especially rural Americans, that just before have never taken the shots they weren't required to take. The shots that you're required to take to go to school, to public schools, we have all had, and we have all been vaccinated. But when it comes to flu shots, it's just not something a lot of

American did. And that's something that we in Congress need to continue to educate people on. And I think that another problem has been, when the Johnson & Johnson, which is the shot that I took, two days after I was vaccinated by Johnson & Johnson, they came out and they suspended the shot, the vaccine for a few days because of blood clots and things like that.

That was probably unnecessary by the federal government. We don't have an FDA commissioner right now. And this is something that is a shortcoming of the Biden administration. If Donald Trump didn't have an FDA commissioner during COVID, I can only imagine what the media would be saying.

So we have got to get an FDA commissioner confirmed.

BROWN: Right.

COMER: We have got to, as members of Congress, in both parties, educate people on the importance of being vaccinated.

BROWN: And you're absolutely right, Congressman. And we actually just put out reporting on some key posts, including the FDA commissioner, that the Biden administration hasn't appointed anyone to.

But I have got to ask you before we go about what's going on with the January 6 committee. McCarthy said today the focus needs to be on Speaker Pelosi and all the security failures.

There are other people in your party, as you well know, who have downplayed what happened on January 6, who have said this was just a tourist visit, it was no big deal.

So, who is right? Was it a massive security failure or was it no big deal and just a visit from tourists?

COMER: Well, it was a massive security failure.

I was on the House floor when it all happened. And it was a scary situation. I certainly haven't downplayed it. And no one should downplay it. It's something that should never happen again.

But one thing that McCarthy said that I think the speaker used against Jim Banks and Jim Jordan was part of what they wanted to dive into was, well, why didn't the Capitol Police communicate better with respect to intelligence that they received a couple of days prior to January the 6th?

Why didn't the Capitol Police force have reinforcements there? How could this happen?

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So, I think there are a lot of things that the select committee or a commission should look into. But I have to agree with Kevin McCarthy on the part that, when you

have a select committee, the Democrats traditionally pick their members, the Republicans traditionally pick their members. Obviously, it's going to be political when you do that.

When you have people like Adam Schiff, who, as a Republican, I don't have a lot of credibility on -- I understand the Democrats don't have a lot of credibility in Jim Jordan.

The best thing to do, in my opinion, is to have an independent commission that we know who's going to be on it. It doesn't need to be political people.

BROWN: Well, wasn't that what Republicans voted against, the bipartisan -- oh, you mean like not politicians, not lawmakers, outside people. OK.

COMER: Not politicians, right, outside people, like the September the 11th Commission.

Because any time you have political people -- I don't care if they're Democrats or Republicans -- it's going to turn into a political event. It's going to turn into a political entity. And...

BROWN: And we're seeing that happen, for sure.

COMER: Right. Yes.

BROWN: OK, Congressman Comer, thanks so much for joining us. Nice talking with you.

COMER: Thanks for having me on, Pam.

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