Fox News "Fox News Sunday" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Thom Tillis
Interview
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
WALLACE: Now let's turn to North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis, vice chair of the Senate Republican campaign effort.
So, Senator, let me start with you where I ended with Van Hollen. Are you going to hold onto the Senate on Tuesday night, if so what's your new majority going to be? And give me your two best shots and picking off Democratic seats.
SEN. THOM TILLIS, R--N.C., NATIONAL REPUBLICAN SENATORIAL COMMITTEE VICE CHAIR: We're not only going to hold a majority, I think we're going to add to it. I believe that states like North Dakota, Indiana, Missouri are all trending in a positive direction. Our incumbents are doing very well.
There may be a special election in Mississippi that will take another three weeks to sort out but I'm also confident that we'll have a Republican coming back in that state.
The map looks very good to us in about five or six different states and Senator Van Hollen knows that. They've got a tough call and I think we are going to come out successful on Tuesday.
WALLACE: As I discussed with the Senator Van Hollen, President Trump this last few weeks has been making immigration and the caravan coming up from Mexico his top issue. Here he was earlier this week talking about a possible confrontation between the migrants and the thousands of soldiers he is sending to the southern border. Here's the president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They want to throw rocks at
our military, our military fights back. We're going to consider and I told them consider it a rifle. When they throw rocks like they did at the Mexico military and police, I say consider it a rifle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Now, the president walked out back on Friday saying he was talking about making arrests of the migrants, not shooting them. But no concerns on your part about the president's rhetoric and some of the actions he's taking on the southern border potentially turning off independents and moderate Republicans?
TILLIS: Well, what the American people need to know that our men and women in uniform are some of the most disciplined, trained professionals in the history of warfare. They're going to treat those members of the caravan with respect, but the president is right that we have to secure the border and I think that putting troops down there to make it very clear that we want people who have a legitimate claim to asylum to come through the process and get that asylum granted. This caravan is not the way to do it, and I think the American people are concerned with it.
You can see the change in the rhetoric on the part of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle from -- well, just let them across the border to now discussing the president's tactics. I believe that the president is right and doing everything he can to stop the illegal crossings.
WALLACE: Senator, Republicans have a great story to tell in the economy but the president doesn't seem especially focused on that.
Here he is at a rally on Friday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We have the greatest economy in the history of our country, but sometimes that's not as exciting to talk about the economy, right?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: In reaction, a top aide to Republicans, Speaker Paul Ryan tweeted this almost plaintively. We are going to spend all day and weekend talking about the strong economy, right?
And Republican Congressman Ryan Costello, who's retiring, accuses the president of political malpractice.
Question, are you sure that focusing on immigration over the economy is really the right strategy, the best strategy for Republicans?
TILLIS: Well, I think people are taking 30-second sound bites. I was at a rally here in Charlotte a week ago, and the president spent a good portion of his speech talking about 7 million jobs created. One of the strongest and fastest growing economies we've seen in decades. Record unemployment for African-American community, for the Hispanic community.
He's spending a lot of his time on that, but when you have to boil it down to 15 or 30-sound bites, they're going to pick the piece that seems like he is not talking about that.
Let me tell you about something else. He also spends a lot of time on the stump talking about how we have to protect pre-existing conditions and it's a false narrative for Democrats to come in and say if you like Republicans we are going to take that away, we are doing everything we can, including myself. I filed a bill to make sure that we protect pre-existing conditions.
If people look at the totality of an hour, hour and 15-minute long speech, you're going to see the president spent the bulk of the time talking about reduce regulations, increase jobs, reduce unemployment, better stature against NATO, taking North Korea and taking China to task on their bad behaviors -- all that comes out in his speech.
WALLACE: Well, you have taken us directly in the direction I wanted to go, which is health care, which Democrats are making their top issue and here is former President Obama on the campaign trail this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT: When I was president, Republicans voted more than a dozen times to get rid of protections for people with pre- existing conditions. Last year, they fell one vote short. One vote. If they win back this Tuesday, they will finally succeed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Senator, the fact is that the repeal and replace bill with Republicans pushed repeatedly significantly reduced protections for people with pre-existing conditions.
TILLIS: Well, Chris, that's actually one of the reasons why I think it was a courageous vote. The first thing we have to do is take out the underpinnings of the Affordable Care Act so that we can put a health care policy in place that's sustainable.
What Senator Van Hollen failed to mention about rising premiums over the past few years is that we've significantly reduced the rate of growth and one of the reasons why that growth has spiraled over the years because of the Affordable Care Act. We want to replace the Affordable Care Act with a program that will work, that will provide people who have pre-existing conditions with health care, that will allow young adults under the age of 26 to be on their parents health care policies but something that will work, because if we continue down this path, we're going to have a health care crisis, not only among those who are serviced by the Affordable Care Act, but the broader health care market in this country is headed for disaster if we don't recognize we've got to fix it.
WALLACE: But, Senator, and I've only got about 30 seconds here. I don't want to get too deeply in the weeds, but repeal and replace bill would have allowed states to get waivers for Obamacare and take people with pre- existing conditions and put them in risk pools where they would have to pay a higher premium. And your bill, yes, it says we are going to cover everybody with pre-existing conditions, but we're not necessarily going to cover the condition that they have that's pre-existing. So, yes, we'll cover people who have cancer, but we won't necessarily -- their insurance won't cover cancer treatment.
TILLIS: Even -- even if some states opted not to cover, not covering the way we would want them to, I think they would get unelected very quickly.
This is a very popular policy with the American people which is exactly where the Democrats are trying to create this false narrative that people in Washington and the statehouses want to take it away. I simply don't see any path either on the basis of good policy or good politics.
So people with pre-existing conditions are going to get covered and our Republican majority that we're going to secure next week is going to work to that end.
WALLACE: Senator Tillis, thank you. Thanks for your time.
TILLIS: Thank you, Chris.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source