Fox News "The Story with Martha MacCallum" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Marco Runio
Interview
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RUBIO: First of all, the term impeachment has lost all meaning. It's thrown around cavalierly. Impeachment is an extraordinary measure. It's an extraordinary remedy. It basically means we are going to throw out the results of the last election and I would think that at a minimum, it's divisive. It divides the country deeply and it takes a tremendous amount of energy.
While you're working on something like that, you're not getting anything else done like funding the government as an example, which is something we should be doing around here.
And so, the question becomes if you're going to do something that extraordinary and that divisive, shouldn't, before you go out running your mouth about it, you have some facts before you, shouldn't you wait, for example, before the transcript of this call comes out.
Shouldn't you wait to see if after we talk to the director of national intelligence, after we talk to the inspector general, after potentially we get a chance to see, as I hope we do, the complaint that's been filed.
And you saw and I think all the members, but some of the members that came out in the hallways after that decision and they were saying we need to do this because I don't like the president's policies. Well, not liking the president's policies are not grounds for impeachment, they are grounds for campaigning against him next year. But --
(CROSSTALK)
MACCALLUM: But what about the -- Senator, what about what he did admit to, the president, he said yes, he did bring up Joe Biden and the possibility of an investigation on the phone with him. And obviously he's the front runner, at least at this point, and the 2020 election. Do you have any problem with him bringing that up with the prime minister of Ukraine?
RUBIO: Sure, I don't think you should have done that and I've said that. But that's different from saying -- but that's not what they're saying. They're not just -- what I'm hearing voices out there saying is not only did he bring it up, but there's a quid pro quo.
Well, there is no evidence of that, maybe there will be, but right now there isn't --
(CROSSTALK)
MACCALLUM: Yes. That remains to be seen.
RUBIO: And I think it's important. Look, this is not something you throw around lightly and I'm not saying -- we'll see what the facts are. I'm not taking a position one way or the other. The position I'm taking right now is we want to know facts. We want to see the transcript of that call, we are going to wait until we get more facts, we have both of those relevant individuals --
(CROSSTALK)
MACCALLUM: Understood.
RUBIO: -- coming in the intelligence committee that I sit on --
MACCALLUM: Yes.
RUBIO: -- and that's what they should be based on.
MACCALLUM: OK. I want to ask you about Hong Kong because I know that it's an important subject to you. What we've been watching unfold there. Here's the president talking about Hong Kong today at the U.N. Watch.
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TRUMP: We are also carefully monitoring the situation in Hong Kong. The world fully expects that the Chinese government will honor its binding treaty made with the British and registered with the United Nations in which China commits to protect Hong Kong's freedom, legal system, and Democratic ways of life.
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MACCALLUM: Some observers wish the president -- they want him to be stronger on this issue of China and Hong Kong. What did you think about that statement, was that enough for you?
RUBIO: Those are pretty strong words and that happens to be the correct position.
Look, the Chinese right now are trying to do a trade deal, an agreement with the United States. They are trying -- they are going over the world talking about how they are the defenders of the international system.
What Hong Kong proves is the Chinese communist party is not someone you can trust in any deal. You can find the best deal in the world, they proven, not just on Hong Kong, but how they treat their illegitimate claims to the South China Sea and other measures that they easily violate these deals when it's convenient upon them.
The second point that I would make is the reason why the United States treats Hong Kong differently, meaning we don't put tariffs on stuff out of Hong Kong, we don't subject them to the same scrutiny, is because Hong Kong is supposed to be autonomous.
If Hong Kong is no longer autonomous, then it should no longer receive the -- China should no longer receive the benefits of that autonomy. And I have the bill that will require and I believe will pass the Senate and the House and that the president will sign, that requires the Department of State to go every year and certify whether or not Hong Kong remains autonomous.
MACCALLUM: All right. We'll watch that bill as it moves through. Before I let you go, quickly, this is a picture of the Venezuelan delegate at the U.N. today reading Simon Bolivar and basically snubbing the president as he spoke today with regards to Venezuela, what do you think about that?
RUBIO: Well, it's par for the course, but that's not the Venezuelan representative. It's a representative of a crime family, the Maduro regime, a legitimate government of Venezuela, the one that we and 50 some odd countries recognize which is the Guaido government.
And by the way, yesterday, a major development, 16 countries in the western hemisphere invoke the Rio Treaty, which means they now have a legal framework for them to impose the same sanctions that America has imposed on that regime, so that regime is more isolated, and in more trouble than ever.
MACCALLUM: Yes. The president definitely put a hand out to the people of Venezuela today in support and we will see where that goes as well. Senator Rubio, thank you. Always good to see you, sir. Thank you for being here.
RUBIO: Thank you. Thanks.
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