'This Week' Transcript 3-10-24: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Rep. Nancy Mace & Kara Swisher
Interview
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From some of us who've been raped, it can take 25 years to get up the courage and talk about being a victim of rape. And the first thing that happens when a woman comes out in public and says she's been raped, what is the first thing out of someone's mouth? Is that it didn't happen. This is why women do not come forward. They are afraid.
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Well, I will tell you, I was raped at the age of 16, and any rape victim will tell you, I've lived for 30 years with an incredible amount of shame over being raped. I didn't come forward because of that judgment and shame that I felt.
And it's a shame that you will never feel, George, and I'm not going to sit here on your show and be asked a question meant to shame me about another potential rape victim. I'm not going to do that.
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No, you are shaming me.
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Right.
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It's not a criminal court case, number one. Number two, I live with shame, and you're asking me a question about my political choices trying to shame me as a rape victim and find it disgusting.
And quite frankly, E. Jean Carroll's comments when she did get the judgment joking about what she was going to buy, it doesn't -- it makes it harder for women to come forward when they make a mockery out of rape, when they joke about it. It's not OK.
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It makes it harder when other women joked about it and she's joked about it. I find it offensive. And also I find it offensive that you are trying to shame me with this question.
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You are. I have dealt with this for 30 years. You know how hard it was to tell my story five years ago when they were doing a fetal heartbeat bill, when there were no exceptions for rape, incest or life -- or -- and -- rape or incest in there? I had to tell my story because no other woman was coming forward.
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No rape victims were represented. And you're trying to shame me this morning.
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And I find it offensive. And this is why women won't come forward.
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They are judged, and they're shamed, and you're trying to shame me this morning. I think it's disgusting.
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I told my story. It took me 25 years to tell my story. I was judged for it. I still get judged for it today.
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It was not a criminal court. This was -- this was a -- it was a civil court.
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And, by the way, she joked about the judgment and what she was going to do with all that money. And I find that offensive.
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But as a rape victim who's been shamed for years now because of her rape, you're trying to shame me again by asking me this political question.
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I think it's offensive. As a woman, I find your -- I find it offensive. For my political choices --
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I have endorsed the man that I believe is best for our country. It's not Joe Biden. And you looked at the dueling rallies yesterday in Georgia. Laken Riley's family was with Donald Trump. They weren't with Joe Biden. The same guy yesterday that apologized for calling her killer an illegal, who was an illegal. And here you are trying to shame a rape victim. I find it disgusting.
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You are. The question -- it is. It is.
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You're asking a rape victim.
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You're questioning my political choices because I've been raped. I think that's disgusting.
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You're shaming me. You're trying to shame me.
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You are. That's exactly what you're doing.
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And I think it's disgusting.
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I did.
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I just answered your question.
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He was not -- he was not found guilty in a civil -- in a criminal court of law. He -- it was a civil -- it was sexual abuse. It wasn't actually rape, by the way. And E. Jenn Carroll joked about all the money she's going to get and made a mockery out of -- out of this case. And I think that's offensive.
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There is a reason why women don't come forward. And when you have someone who says that they're raped and they make a mockery out of this civil court judgment, it's offensive to other women. It makes it harder for other women to come forward when another woman has made a mockery of it.
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They're judged and shamed, like you're trying to shame me this morning.
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And they're judged.
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He defended himself over that and denies that it ever happened. But he was not found guilty in a criminal court of law. It was a civil judgment over sexual abuse.
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This is different. And -- and they didn't even input all of the evidence into the -- the civil case either because some of the information she provided wasn't even accurate or correct. But to sit here and ask me, as a rape victim, to -- to try to shame me for my political choices, is wrong. And I think it's offensive. And you --
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And I'm going to because I find it deeply offensive.
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I find it offensive, as a rape victim, that you're trying to shame me for my political choices. And I've said again repeatedly, E. Jean Carroll has made a mockery out of rape by joking about it. I don't find that funny. Rape is not funny.
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Rape is serious.
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Rape is serious. It's not funny.
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And it -- it shouldn't be made a mockery of.
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But if you want to defend a woman who made a mockery out of rape, then you go ahead and do that. I'm not going to do that.
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Not in a criminal court of law. This was a civil judgment over sexual abuse, not rape, by the way, and she made a mockery out of it. So, which one are you going to --
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That is a civil judgment, not a criminal court. They're two very different things and you know better.
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And what you've done is offensive to women who have been raped. What you've done this morning is offensive.
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We've got to hold not only the president accountable and ensure that he doesn't hold office again in the future, but also we need to hold members of our -- of our Congress, even in my own party, accountable for the rhetoric and the actions that led up to Wednesday's events.
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Well, I listened to my voters. I listened to my voters in South Carolina. And they've moved beyond January 6th. I said my piece on January 6th. I was -- I was very clear about how I felt about it. And I also, as you stated, I voted to certify the electoral college for every single state in the country.
But something's happened between now and then, and that was Joe Biden. And I listen to my voters. They move on. They don't -- they don't ask me about January 6th. Maybe that's what you in the media -- you guys talk about in your cocktail parties, but voters are not talking about it.
They ask me about February 22nd, the day that Laken Riley was murdered by an illegal immigrant. They ask me about October 8th, the day that Maddie Hines, a South Carolina girl, four-year-old girl, murdered by an illegal immigrant who was deported under Donald Trump and allowed back in under Joe Biden's administration. They're talking about the over 8 million illegals who have come across our southern border in an invasion of our country and an actual threat to democracy, allowing that to happen. That's what they talk about.
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I was very clear. I just said that.
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Well, voters...
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Voters held him accountable through our Republican primaries this year. He's won overwhelmingly. America supports him. They're not looking back. They're looking forward.
Since January 6th, we've had three years of Joe Biden. The American people do not like or support it. You've seen the polling. You cited the polling in your show today showing that Trump is beating Joe Biden on all of the critical issues that the American people care about, talking about immigration, the border, inflation, et cetera.
He's very strong on those issues, stronger than Joe Biden, and that's -- I listen to my voters. I talk to South Carolinians every single day, and they support Donald Trump. He's going to win our state overwhelmingly in November.
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The American people have held him accountable through the ballot box, just as they will hold Joe Biden accountable in November at the ballot box.
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Well, here's the thing. You know, the court cases, the lawsuits, that has nothing to do with you or me or the -- it doesn't affect the American people. The chaos that Joe Biden has created by having a wide-open border affects every single American. We see it -- we saw it affect Laken Riley's family on February 22nd. We've seen it affect Maddie Hines' family in South Carolina.
We've seen the violence right here in New York, in Times Square, where illegal immigrants beat up two New York Police Department cops. These things affect -- fentanyl crisis affects everybody. Ten years ago, I couldn't tell you what fentanyl was. Today, last year, I knew two people personally who died of fentanyl overdoses.
So the chaos that Joe Biden has created over the last three years has made Americans rethink who they want to have president. And we have two back-to-back presidencies to compare. They've both been president, and the American people, I believe, right now, are overwhelmingly choosing Donald Trump regardless of how you feel.
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I didn't say I was comfortable with -- you're putting words into my mouth.
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You're -- no, you're putting words into my mouth.
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I support Donald Trump for president. I just endorsed him...
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... a few weeks ago.
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In a civil judgment, not a criminal court case. But you go ahead and keep shaming women who have been raped. Good luck with that.
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