Fox News "The Ingraham Angle" - Transcript: Interview with Reps. Steve Scalise and Andy Biggs

Interview

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INGRAHAM: Well, the gloves are off, and the State of the Union in the House Chamber has officially been canceled. Very adult of Nancy Pelosi. But if you thought Trump was backing down, think again. There's going to be some version of the State of the Union next Tuesday, whatever they call it. It's not called the State of the Union, but it's not going to be on Capitol Hill.

Here now, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise and Congressman Andy Biggs. Congressmen, you both offered the president an alternate location. Congressman Scalise, where?

REP. STEVE SCALISE, R-LA, HOUSE MINORITY WHIP: Frankly, I think the president ought to do a State of the Union, and let him choose. We've talked but a number of locations. But ultimately it's the message that is so important.

This is about securing the border of our country. Clearly Nancy Pelosi doesn't want the American people to hear the president's message. But you know what, Laura, the American people want to hear the president's message. Nancy Pelosi can't stop this. It just shows how petty she is and how disgraceful this action is. She will go down as the first speaker in the history of our country -- George Washington gave addresses to Congress. This is a constitutional requirement. She's now going to have stain on her record.

INGRAHAM: He could do it in writing, though, right?

SCALISE: The President is still going to give a State of the Union, and frankly I think a lot more people will listen to it now and hear the message about why it's so important to protect our border.

INGRAHAM: Why is she afraid of the people hearing the president and what he's going to say? Congressman Biggs, you have an idea. What is it?

REP. ANDY BIGGS, R-ARIZ: Yes. We've invited the president to come to Arizona. It's a border state. It's a great backdrop. He is loved in Arizona. I don't want it to be a rally. I want it to be a true State of the Union, but let's do it -- why not do it in a friendly environment? Bring the Democrats in. Maybe they'll go to the border and see what's really going on and understand the crisis as well.

INGRAHAM: Very interesting. Congressman, also a surprising twist, there appear to be some defections among the Democrats who may have just had about enough of this shutdown. Watch.

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INGRAHAM: I think the president is getting some push from certain quarters, it's all turning against you. Everyone is blaming you. You've got to give in. You've got to stop. I think he's doing exactly what needs to be done. It's a lot like the Obamacare thing. The longer you let this thing play out, the more clear it becomes what a crisis this is and we need to do something.

SCALISE: Laura, the American people are for securing the border. And if you look, President Trump is gaining momentum because people are seeing what this is about. Frankly, these kind of actions by Nancy Pelosi only heighten the awareness of what's going on. And the more she does this, she's got more of our own Democrats in her party that are moving away from her. They are taking a dangerous position by opposing border security. They are on the wrong side of this issue.

INGRAHAM: They don't want a wall. Repair some existing fences. But the 30 more centrist Democrats wrote a letter to Pelosi, right? That's not nothing. There are cracks in this resolve on their part.

BIGGS: Yes. I talked to them on the floor. I try to get out of my echo chamber, and a lot of them are like, well, you know, maybe we need to move on. And I think that's part of it. They just want to move on and resolve it. And I'm not sure how keen they are on building a wall. They just want to resolve the issue to get the government open.

INGRAHAM: I also think, look, a lot of people, it's been a month they haven't been paid. That's a rough deal for a lot of people. They need to get paid. And they need to have their jobs, and they want to do their jobs. And really, it's not great for this to continue to go on for anybody.

SCALISE: We need to reopen the government and we need to secure the border. We can do both. President Trump has worked overtime to come up with different ideas. Nancy Pelosi has not offered one single alternative. And now she thinks by holding the State of the Union hostage, she's going to be able to win this. The people in this country want to see the border secure. She is on the wrong side.

INGRAHAM: Freshman Congressman, Democrats on the House government -- or Oversight Committee, I guess, right, it's the Oversight Committee. So you've got Ilhan Omar, she's from Minnesota. She's quite a firebrand. And a number of others who are -- they've got them all. Pressley, a Democrat, Ayanna Pressley from Massachusetts, Tlaib, these are far left, very popular in their own way. How's that going to be different on committee life?

BIGGS: You know what, the reality is they have kind of stacked that committee for the one reason they are there. It's to impeach the president. If they can't impeach them, they want to force him out somehow. That won't happen. The bare minimum is to try to embarrass him. That's really what it is. And they want to further try to delegitimize President Trump. That's the whole purpose of that committee now. That's the way they've structured the rules and their membership. That's where they are going.

INGRAHAM: Well, we are going to be following at every step of the way. We hope the president delivers the State of the Union. I hope he delivers it at Ellis Island. How about that. That would be great.

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