'This Week' Transcript 3-17-24: White House Security Communications Adviser John Kirby, Rep. Mike Turner, and Rep. Ro Khanna

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Good morning.

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I think -- you know, first of all, I want to congratulate you, Martha, that you correctly identify that the president’s statements concerning bloodbath were about what would happen in the auto industry, if actually the Chinese manufacturers who are coming into Mexico were permitted to import into the United States, which I’ve read the transcript. As you said, I was not at a rally. But it is incredibly important that that be accurately portrayed.

I think, certainly, there are statements that he makes that, you know, many Americans would not agree with, and many Americans would agree with it. When you talk about what’s happening at the border, this is absolutely a crisis that’s created by this administration. Eight million people have come across the border, almost the entire population of Ohio.

Director Wray of the FBI saying that this absolutely represents a national security threat, that there are people who come across the border who have ties to terrorist groups and organizations. We just last week had a hearing about this in the Intelligence Committee that was a public hearing. So the public could hear this threat. I think this represents the concerns that people have --

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Well, I, of course, have disagreed with those in the past. I think the American public disagrees with those.

But I do think that people see that Donald Trump is the only candidate in this race that’s going to be able to fix this crisis. Joe Biden created the crisis at the border. We’ve seen nothing like it, 8 million people. His own FBI director saying it’s a national security threat, that we have the highest threat of a terrorist attack in this country right now as a result of the people that come across the border. I think that is --

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No, I did not. It would not have fixed the problem at the border. In fact, it would have codified Joe Biden’s policies allowing millions of illegal aliens to come in across the border every year. This is a – this a process that is a result --

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This is a process, as you know, that -- that’s a result of Biden’s executive directives, executive orders. He opened the border and it’s his -- he has created this crisis.

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Well, as you know, he did not call for the storming of the Capitol, and we have had a number of these cases, that there have been questions concerning how those cases have been prosecuted, and the individuals, where there have been cases even overturned.

Now you would think, of course, that Donald Trump would have very strong emotional feelings about the individuals who have -- who’ve been in jail and have gone to prison over these. Over these events that occurred on January 8th --

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No, I don’t -- I don’t believe they’re hostages. I believe in our judicial system. And I believe, though, Martha, as you’ve seen, because you’ve reported them, some of these cases have been overturned. Some of the -- even the legal construct of the basis of a number of these cases have been overturned.

This is going to be, you know, a continuing legal process and I – and this person – this -- you know, this president obviously has very strong personal views on this.

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Sure. Well, Martha, I think, you know, we have to first start with, that China, as a country, is not like us. It’s an authoritarian regime that has self-identified as an adversary to the United States. It has banned Twitter. It has banned Facebook. It has banned YouTube in China.

It understands the power of social media and social media apps. And it certainly seeks, in a number of illegal ways, to obtain the data of Americans that it can use as part of its perpetration of this greater surveillance society that it uses to control its own population.

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When President Xi stood next to President Putin in Russia, he openly stated to the world what his intentions were. He said that we, the two of them, are going to bring about change that hasn’t happened in 100 years. That’s the battle between authoritarianism and democracy and that’s certainly what we’re seeing in China’s -- both economic, its propaganda, and certainly its military buildup that is part of its self-declaration as an adversary of the United States.

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Well, you know, Martha, this -- what you see is a structural relationship for which there is not divisions, and there are great concerns about the individuals' privacy and issues of data between TikTok and the communist Chinese party. But where you have even more importantly here is that this is a propaganda tool, these algorithms, this influencing through social apps, being in the hands of a self-declared adversary of the United States, one that has banned TikTok, banned Twitter, banned -- sorry, not (ph) TikTok -- banned Twitter, banned Facebook and banned YouTube, understands the use of these tools to be able to manipulate a society.

And that certainly is one the greatest concerns that we have.

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Well, that -- I don’t think they’ll lose their livelihood. They have obviously undertaken a livelihood that is communicating to people through social apps and social media, and this is not a ban on TikTok as you know. This is actually a piece of legislation that requires that the Chinese ownership of TikTok be divested so that we would sever that relationship between Chinese ownership, the Chinese government, the Chinese communist party that is of such troubling concerns.

And, you know, India has previously banned TikTok over the exact same concerns.

These are concerns that as you look at what China is doing around the world, their propagation of a surveillance society, their even illegal means in which they’re acquiring data on Americans and people around the world, their use of propaganda, their own banning of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube because of their concerns of the voices of democracy being heard, you can see what a great concern this is to our country.

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Thank you, Martha. Thank you.

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