NBC "Meet the Press" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Dan Sullivan
Interview
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CHUCK TODD:
President Trump was not invited. He spent part of the funeral tweeting and left the White House during the funeral, by motorcade, en route to his Virginia club to play golf. When he turned in, Henry Kissinger was speaking, in case you're wondering. Later in the day, as cable TV played Meghan McCain's "America was always great" remark over and over, the president tweeted then retweeted simply, "MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN," in all caps. We have a lot to get to this morning beyond the funeral. And joining me now is Republican Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska. Senator Sullivan, welcome back to Meet --
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
Chuck --
CHUCK TODD:
--the Press.
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
Good to be on the show. Thanks for having me.
CHUCK TODD:
Look, you have, you have said he was your mentor, Senator McCain, became a friend. He sort of put his arm around you when you got elected.
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
Early on, very early on.
CHUCK TODD:
And you have your -- he's nominated you to replace him as head of the International Republican Institute that goes out there and promotes democracy, the vision that John McCain, I think, was trying to lay out for people yesterday. What did you take away from the service?
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
Well, first of all, I thought it was a beautiful service. And first, more than that, my condolences to the McCain family, Cindy McCain, the children. I think that they showed great grace, strength, dignity. And I think the service, really, the whole week, has been about unity. There's been, as you mentioned at the outset, some discussion about the tension between President Trump and John McCain. But this notion of unity is really what I've been seeing. And it's unity behind the values of a great American. And that's John McCain: courage, someone who loved freedom. You know, he loved freedom, probably, more than anybody, because he had it taken away.
CHUCK TODD:
That's right.
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
Service to our nation, and mentorship, as you mentioned at the outset, with me. You know, it's not just me, but Democrat and Republican senators. So I thought it's been a very, very important week to kind of look at these values that he represented. He wasn't a perfect man, he's the first one to admit that, and celebrate those. But the notion of unity, I think, was actually much stronger than some of this tension that you report on at the outset.
CHUCK TODD:
Let me ask you this, though. How do you make sure that yesterday wasn't a funeral for another era of politics, that this idea that, you know what? This is -- the Donald Trump style of politics is now how you win. And John McCain was trying to send the message, no, no, no, no, no. Don't go down that road. How do you prevent yesterday from being, essentially, a memorial service for that?
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
Well, look. John McCain was a fighter. There's no doubt about that, right? But he also was somebody who famously said that, "Honesty, integrity, is the core value and keeping your word in the Senate." I actually believe that, on a lot of issues, there is bipartisanship in the way that Senator McCain has folks --
CHUCK TODD:
I believe there is, too --
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
-- it doesn't get reported on all the time. You know, you're going to have Amy Klobuchar on after me. She and I worked together.
CHUCK TODD:
The president won't embrace it, though. The reason it's not getting reported on, the president won't embrace it, so you guys can't-- you're not doing it.
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
Well, let me give you a couple examples right now of bipartisanship that I think is important, that McCain and Trump area focus. We just passed the National Defense Authorization Act. I think 85 senators voted for that. That was a McCain-led bill on the Armed Services Committee. It was all about rebuilding the military. It was all about implementing a new strategy that the president has put out. That was very bipartisan. We've -- We're right now, and you follow this, Chuck, we're working on appropriations bills. It's the first time since 1979 that we're actually getting appropriations bills, all of them done. That's Republicans and Democrats in the Senate. The president's been pushing that. Certainly, John McCain was somebody who believed in that -- on that part of regular order. So my point is is that you're right. The message of working together, particularly in the memory of John McCain, is important. But I do think that a lot of that is happening. And do we have principle difference on some issues? Absolutely, we do. But a lot of those have been with us for a while.
CHUCK TODD:
How do you explain the president's behavior and how he comported himself this week in regards to John McCain?
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
Well, look, we know there's been tension between them. I would say that the Trump administration, overall, was very engaged. You had an important speech that the pres-- the vice president gave at the ceremony of laying in state in the dome. Yesterday, there was a number of folks from the administration there.
CHUCK TODD:
You kind of gloss over it. Why? He's the President of the United States. It was -- it it it --
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
What what I'm trying to -- Chuck, I'm not trying to gloss over it.
CHUCK TODD:
I know.
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
I'm not trying to gloss over it. But here's what I think is more important. Yes, there was tensions between the president and John McCain. This week, though, has been all about John McCain and the unity of his vision of courage, of patriotism, of freedom, of service before self. And I think that's the lesson that we should take away from the week. That's what I want. I think that's what the family wants to take away.
CHUCK TODD:
What about President Trump? What should he take away from yesterday's service?
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
Well, I think there's a lot of things that the president can learn about. You know, look, the book on John McCain, his great life, it's been written, right? It's been written. But for all of us, you know, whether you, me, or the president, or other Americans who were watching that, you know, we're still an open book. And I think there's a lot of things that all of us can do: the president, myself, other Americans who are watching this. One of the things that John McCain was all about, he knows -- he knew that he was not a perfect man. He knew he made mistakes. But as President Obama and President Bush emphasized yesterday, he was always looking for improvement in himself and his country. And I think that's something we can all take away, whether it's the president or anyone else watching these important, beautiful services.
CHUCK TODD:
All right, something else that the president said this week about the November elections. He said, and it was in a meeting with evangelicals. He said, if the GOP loses in November, quote, "They will overturn everything quickly and violently." And then he added, "These are violent people," referring to Democrats. Is that --
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
I don't --
CHUCK TODD:
--is there any basis here?
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
No---
CHUCK TODD:
Do you understand what he's referring to?
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
I don't know.
CHUCK TODD:
Why is he speaking to evangelicals this way?
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
I've -- I've not seen that quote. And I don't think, you know, Democrats are violent people. What I do -- I mean, and I haven't seen that quote. What I actually do think is important for the president, other Republicans, to talk about, I know you're going to talk in the panel, this fall is what we have accomplished, right? I mean, one thing that is very important for the American people, in addition, as I mentioned, rebuilding our military, is growing the economy. I mean, we are, we are hitting an economy that is the strongest we've seen in decades: consumer optimism up very high, 4.2% GDP growth. And these are because of policies, policies of less government, more freedom, tax reform, regulatory reform. And Chuck, here's an important point. You know, on the Democratic side, we're starting to see leaders being elected in primaries who have a very different view of the economy --
CHUCK TODD:
Yeah.
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
-- more focused on even the idea of socialism.
CHUCK TODD:
Okay.
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
Let's have that debate in the fall. That's an important debate to have --
CHUCK TODD:
Let me--
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
-- on the vision of growing the economy. I think our vision is working, and it's strong.
CHUCK TODD:
Let me ask you a few questions that may come up--
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
Sure.
CHUCK TODD:
-- in the next few months. Jeff Sessions, the current attorney general, do you believe he's committed any fireable offenses?
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
I support -- I supported Jeff Sessions when he was nominated. I certainly voted for him. And I think he's doing a good job.
CHUCK TODD:
Do you think there's any reason for the president to remove him?
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
The president has the constitutional authority--
CHUCK TODD:
I understand that.
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
--to remove him?
CHUCK TODD:
Do you think there's any fireable offense?
DAN SULLIVAN:
As I mentioned, he can do it. Would it be politically wise? I don't think so. And I support Jeff Sessions and the job he's doing right now.
CHUCK TODD:
You have been helping Brett Kavanaugh prepare for the confirmation hearing. You're also on the Judiciary Committee. Let me just ask you --
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
I'm not on Judiciary.
CHUCK TODD:
I'm sorry about that. You were preparing him for that. I conflated those two things. Let me ask you this. When he says he believes in precedent, all right, when we hear that, that's supposed to be code for he's not for overturning Roe v. Wade. Is that how people should interpret, when he says he is a believer in precedent overall, that that's what every American should take away, that Brett Kavanaugh does not want to overturn Roe v. Wade?
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
Look, I've known Brett Kavanaugh for a long time. I think he was an inspired choice. I think he'd make a great justice on the Supreme Court. He's been an outstanding federal circuit court of appeals judge. He's a man who's got a lot of humility, which, as you know, is kind of a rare quality in this town. I did talk to him about precedent. Like Judge Gorsuch, now Justice Gorsuch, he actually wrote a book on it. He's been very focused on it. With regard to Roe v. Wade, I didn't get into the details, when I met with him, of asking about that.
CHUCK TODD:
Okay.
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
But I mean I -- so --
CHUCK TODD:
You see how silly this is, though, to average Americans? They don't understand why we can't get a simple answer to this question from Supreme Court nominees. And I know this is a thing on both sides of the aisle. But why can't we get that answer to this simple question about Roe v. Wade?
DAN SULLIVAN:
Which simple question? Whether --
CHUCK TODD:
Which is, does precedent equal meaning he doesn't want to overturn Roe v. Wade?
DAN SULLIVAN:
Well, I think he's going to be asked about this a lot during the whole week. So we're going to watch on that. But I think that, you know, he's focused. This isn't just Judge Kavanaugh. You know, Justice Ginsburg, when she went through her confirmation hearing.
CHUCK TODD:
I'm aware. No I --
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
She famously said, "I am not going to predict what may or may not come before the court. Because that would be prejudging it. And that's not the role of a judge." I do think, on some key issues, Judge Kavanaugh, for example, his skepticism on the power and authority of federal agencies is something that we need on the court, something that is consistent with the Constitution. And these are questions he's going to be asked about. But I think he's going to make an outstanding justice.
CHUCK TODD:
Will he recuse himself on anything involving subpoenas involving the Mueller investigation?
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
I think he'll look at what the ethics are with regard to a Supreme Court justice. You know, there's been previous questions. Justice Kagan had a similar question on Obamacare-related litigation. And he'll do what the codes of conduct and ethics of a Supreme Court justice require.
CHUCK TODD:
Well, she did recuse herself on quite a few issues. So we'll see what he does there. Senator Sullivan, I'm going to leave it there, republican from Alaska.
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
Okay, Chuck.
CHUCK TODD:
Thanks for coming on, sharing your views.
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
Great to be on the show. Thanks.
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