MSNBC "All in with Chris Hayes" - Transcript: Interview with Reps. Brendan Boyle and Ryan Costello
Interview
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HAYES: Republican Congressman Steve King of Iowa is is a white nationalist. I don`t think he`d argue that point with me. In fact, he`s been on this show and others espousing those views quite openly. In the wake of this weekend`s horrific anti-Semitic massacre in Pittsburgh, there is a renewed focus on Steve King. It was building even before the events of Saturday and a growing call for the Republican Party to do something about him.
Already, the tech company Intel has said it will no longer donate to King`s campaigns because of his previous statements. That is not likely to hurt his reelection chances next week, but what about his colleagues in the House of Representatives, those who do not share his view that white western civilization is under attack?
There, the pressure is building on Democrats and Republicans to expel Steve King from congress. Joining me now are at least two of those colleagues, Democratic congressman Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania and Republican Congressman Ryan Costello also of Pennsylvania. Good to have you here.
REP. RYAN COSTELLO, (R) PENNSYLVANIA: Great to be here.
HAYES: Let me ask you this. The -- let me first start with this, your reaction to what happened in your home state this weekend.
REP. BRENDAN BOYLE, (D) PENNSYLVANIA: Well, the same as everyone, just completely tragic. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to participate in two different vigils one at a synagogue in Philadelphia and the other in the suburbs. And I was really struck by the raw emotion of people who I knew in the crowd. These are my fellow Americans who happen to be Jewish who I got the sense from a few of them felt threatened in a way that they never had before.
There was a piece Sam Stein wrote that I thought captured their feelings as well. And to me, as someone who believes in this country that`s probably one of the most disheartening pieces I`ve ever read.
COSTELLO: I would say in a word, sad. We know we`re in a very politically toxic environment, but when you start seeing violent actions take the lives of citizens and you start asking yourself, how do we get beyond this, it makes you really sad for where we are as a country.
HAYES: You know, I think about South Carolina and Dylann Roof murdered those people in that church, and one of the responses was they took the Confederate flag down from the capital. Now, that Confederate flag didn`t cause Dylann Roof to kill those people, but it was a way of symbolically like we want to stand against this ideology. Keep that in your head.
Should you expel Steve King from congress?
COSTELLO: My answer would be no. He`s going to be -- he`s either going to win or lose an election and the constituents this his district will either vote him in or vote him out. But when he says something that is inappropriate, he should be called out for it.
I believe in the past when he has said things that are inappropriate, there have been public statements made by the speaker. I`ve said in the past, when he says things that are inappropriate, that I disagree with him or I
take issue with him.
HAYES: But it`s stronger than that, right? I mean, what do you think?
BOYLE: Well, the best way would be to vote him out in eight days.
But let me be clear on this, and I don`t say this lightly or throw around the racist word or white nationalist. Steve King is by, his own words, a white nationalist. And I think he is someone who should be unquestionably repudiated by Speaker Ryan. I have not heard that to date. It certainly would be comforting, at the very least, if the speaker were to say that unequivocally.
Unfortunately, in the Trump era, there`s been too many people who will say they`re disappointed, or use some sort of vague words like that and not actually follow it up with any action.
And I`ll say this, too, my biggest concern is not so much Steve King today, it`s the Steve Kings of the future. There is a whole group of Republican aspiring politicians coming up that see the Trump play script, see the Trump playbook, and they want to follow it.
COSTELLO: Well, and I would add to that, Brendan, that leaving aside the aspiring Republican political class, I think that for those that are teenagers and even younger to just be exposed on a daily basis to the kind of rhetoric and -- listen, the biggest threat in the last month was not -- is not the caravan, all right, it`s the IPCC report that came out. And we start focusing on things that -- with these ethnic tinges on them, like, it will end up in a bad place for our country irrespective of politics.
A respect what you just said. And I think tat that as leaders, as elected leaders, that`s where I think we all have to be focused because this is a cultural thing that is generational in its projection, and that`s why we have to rein it in and speak out.
HAYES: I totally agree with that.
BOYLE: I don`t think there is any disagreement.
HAYES: No, I totally agree. I just want to say, I mean, to me, the thing about Steve King is -- like, here`s the thing, is there a view that you can have that`s too odious to be a member of the Republican caucus, right? This is the question. And to me it`s like someone has to draw the line somewhere. I mean, I think the views he has cross that line.
Now, that`s my humble opinion. And they`re worth what I`m charging you for it. But Donald Trump is one thing. Put aside Donald Trump. Someone has to say -- it`s not enough to say, well, he said this, he retweeted this Nazi, then he retweeted this Nazi again, then he praised this other Neo- Nazi. Then he also said, we can`t replenish our civilization with other people`s babies. And then he also gave a far-right interview. Yadda, yadda, we know what he is.
Someone in the Republican Party at the leadership level has to say, like, this is not acceptable and not what the Republican Party stands for.
COSTELLO: I believe that there have been statements in the past by Speaker Boehner and by Speaker Ryan. But ultimately, the voters of a congressional district are going to vote for one candidate or another. If that candidate gets elected to office, if the new barometer for whether they can then serve is, well, we didn`t like what you said so we`re going to expel you. I mean, I don`t think that`s how our republic works. That doesn`t mean that you don`t repudiate someone when they speak out of line.
HAYES: Or you recruit someone to primary them and give them lots of money.
BOYLE: By the way, let`s not sleep on the Democrats` chances in that district.
HAYES: I`m not. JD Shelton has been on the show. He`s been to all 39 counties.
BOYLE: I have seen him on the show, even though it is an R+8 or about a 10 point Republican district, I think particularly in this climate, he has a real chance. And this is an opportunity for Republicans of good conscience, people who are, say, devoutly pro-life conservatives who don`t agree with Steve King when it comes to the racism, nationalism stuff, to take a stand and at least for this election vote for the Democrat.
HAYES: Should they vote against him, Republicans of good conscience?
COSTELLO: I`m not going to tell people who to vote for. But at the same point in time
HAYES: You`ve probably done it before. You`re a politician.
COSTELLO: Let me just say this, we got to be careful -- I know we don`t like to do what aboutism, but there have been Democrats in the past that have said things that are highly offensive. And if we`re going to start kicking people out of office because we`re going to assert someone is an anti-Semite
HAYES: If someone -- believe me, if someone had -- if someone had -- whatever the left version of Steve King`s views were on the Democratic Party, then I think we could talk that. The problem is -- I mean, the facts is there`s no one likes Steve King in the United States congress. There just isn`t. And he has made that very clear. I mean, that`s where we are at this moment.
And to me that`s like the question about what lines the Republican Party are going to draw around what`s accept to believe their brand and what is not.
COSTELLO: Look, I mean, I just saw what he said today at the top of your show. My biggest frustration, which he would wear as a badge of honor, is that we aren`t able to get immigration reform done, which is permanently provide a solution for DACA, give some border security, fix our visa reform program and a couple of other in the immigration space, because the most conservative elements of the Republican Party are unwilling to cut a deal.
And candidly, I get frustrated with the most liberal Democrats because they`re unwilling to cut the same deal.
BOYLE: I will say this, not the most disappointing but one of the most disappointing things about a Steve King type is how little he knows about American history. He happens to be a Catholic American.
HAYES: Yes.
BOYLE: Ironically. I wish he would learn the history of
HAYES: He and I have gone back and forth on this. I don`t think I`ve gotten anywhere.
Congressman Brendan Boyle and Congressman Ryan Costello, thanks for being here.
BOYLE: Thank you.
COSTELLO: Thank you.
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