Fox News "Hannity" - Transcript Interview with Steve Scalise

Interview

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I want to start with you, Congressman Scalise. I haven't had a chance to chat with you on air and Nancy Pelosi called you an enemy of the state. And so, I want to ask, one of the enemies of the state, Steve Scalise, what your reaction is to this whole little scandal, that she embroiled herself in?

REP. STEVE SCALISE, R-LA: Yeah, Jason. This is another one of those Marie Antoinette moments where, you know, liberals -- this is classic liberalism. They want the rules to apply to everybody but them. You know, you have to close your shop, you can't go to church, but they can just go show up.

Look, every storefront ought to be able to be open, there are safe protocols to do this. You've got states like California that are crippling their businesses, they're just shutting down businesses left and right that are dying on the vine, and yet here she can go and get her hair done but nobody else can. That's what I think angers people the most, is that they have this attitude that the rules apply to you but it doesn't apply to them.

We've got to get this economy back open and get schools open safely. There's protocols to do it, but these states like California and New York that are killing businesses left and right, some of those jobs will never come back. Those families that their careers are gone, that's I think what's angering people the most is that they want to have two different set of standards, one for you and one for them.

CHAFFETZ: Yeah, now, Rachel, you know to hear Nancy Pelosi say it, it's this vast right-wing conspiracy that, you know, somehow is engaging in this. She didn't use those exact words but that's the impression she gives.

But, you know, why was this place even closed in the first place?

RACHEL CAMPOS-DUFFY, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: It's such a great question, and the other question that people frankly are asking is, you know, she wasn't wearing a mask. People aren't surprised she's not wearing a mask. I, by the way, had to wear a mask when I got my hair washed. I thought it was ridiculous too, but I had to apply -- follow the rules because the owner of my salon is petrified of being shut down if I don't wear it.

And the question I had and so many others had when they saw her just saunter through there without a mask is she supposed to -- she's an elderly person. She's in the high risk group. She's not afraid of getting COVID.

So, it comes to the point of why are we shutting the salons and why do we have these onerous stupid rules? Is it about slowing the disease or slowing down the economy? Is this political or not?

When she -- when she said she was set up, she didn't just insult that salon owner, her former hairdresser, she also insulted every other salon owner and hair stylist across the country, every business owner.

She is an elitist, no question about it, and that Marie Antoinette moment as Representative Scalise said will be long remembered by everyone who is struggling through all the rules that she has imposed.

CHAFFETZ: Yeah.

Now, Congressman, she said it was a setup. So, you know, that's her excuse. I mean, she was set up. She just fell for this entrapment that this salon owner in her home district set up for. What's your reaction to that?

SCALISE: Yeah, it just doesn't pass the smell test, Jason, this idea that that she's the victim.

And the salon owner, some person who's probably struggling to get by right now because you know her business like so many others are just shut down or limited in how they can -- how they can actually make money and have a living, and then she's going to blame her when she knew what she was doing.

I mean, look, how many times have you heard her chide President Trump or anybody else for not wearing a mask and there she is not wearing a mask, walking past people, not getting her hair washed, walking past people. Again, whatever the rules are, make them apply to everybody. I would -- I want to see us have more open rules where we know the safety protocols.

We know the risks that are out there, but we also know that people are dying because businesses are shut down. People are dying because they're not getting their mammograms and their cancer screenings.

We've got to get this economy safely open. Kids that aren't going to school, by the way, it's doing damage -- long-term damage to these kids that aren't being allowed to go to school. We should have a debate on school choice right now.

If your system's taking your money and not educate your child, shouldn't you be able to send your child somewhere else where they'll educate your child safely?

CHAFFETZ: Last thought from Rachel. I got about 10 seconds, Rachel.

CAMPOS-DUFFY: If Nancy Pelosi can get a blow out and break the rules, then all of us can go and vote in person. And I think Americans are sick of the hypocrisy, whether it's funerals for some and no funerals for others, whether it's protesters are okay if you're a Democrat, it's okay to protest without a masks, but if you're a Republican, you can't.

We're sick of the hypocrisy and it's making people question what are these rules, why are they in place, and is there another sort of political strategy behind a lot of it?

CHAFFETZ: Yes, Congressman Scalise, Rachel, thank you both for joining us tonight.

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