NBC "Meet the Press" - Transcript Interview with Dick Durbin
Interview
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CHUCK TODD:
You've got it. You got your book plug in. Thank you, Senator. And joining me now on the other side of the aisle is Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois, who also sits on the Judiciary Committee. Senator Durbin, welcome back to Meet the Press. So, I ended with the court with Senator Cruz, so let's start with the court with you. You spoke with Judge Barrett this week. How did your conversation go?
SEN. DICK DURBIN:
It was, it was a good constructive, positive conversation. I asked her, not some deep, legal, philosophical questions. We just chatted for a minute, and I really wanted to try to understand her experience as a person when it came to healthcare because she is being sent on assignment to the Supreme Court by President Trump. And we know what that assignment is -- eliminate the Affordable Care Act, which protects 23 million Americans, and be there if the president needs her on an election contest. How do I know this? Because the president makes no secret of it. He has said it over and over again. So we discussed my experience as a father with a sick child and no health insurance, and we talked about what that meant to families.
CHUCK TODD:
Setting aside the issue of the timing of the nomination, did you find that she's qualified for the job?
SEN. DICK DURBIN:
Well, qualifications are an interesting measure. I voted against her the last time because she literally had no trial experience -- or very little when she was seeking this position. In terms of whether she understands the law, of course. She has been a professor, a Constitutional law professor at a law school. And that's a pretty clear indication of her background.
CHUCK TODD:
What is the Democratic tactics here? And the reason I ask that is, you do have some in your party's base that would like to see you guys go after this nomination, fight this nomination hard. You have others who are looking at the election in three weeks and think, "Hey, don't, don't create a situation that somehow disrupts what looks like a current trajectory for the Democrats." What do you say to those of the base who are worried you're not going to fight this nomination hard enough?
SEN. DICK DURBIN:
Well, I can tell you this: The base is correct in believing that the Republicans have changed the rules. Four years ago, you remember very well, Mitch McConnell and the Senate Republicans, to a person, said that President Obama should not fill the Scalia vacancy and that, in fact, we should wait until after the election and let the American people decide. Now they have completely reversed themselves. What we are focusing on when it comes to the Democrats in the Senate Judiciary Committee is a simple fact. Two Republican senators have said they're not going to participate in this farce. If two more join them, then it's game over. We're now at a point where the American people do have the last word on the next Supreme Court Justice, and take a look at the composition, the Republican composition on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Let's start with Texas. Senator Cornyn is in a very tight race for re-election. He's also in a state where there are 1.7 million people who will lose their health insurance when Amy Coney Barrett votes to eliminate that program, another 12 million who have pre-existing conditions. Now you just go down the table there. I should have started with the chairman, Lindsey Graham, in the state of South Carolina. He has 242,000 who will lose their insurance if Amy Coney Barrett eliminates the Affordable Care Act and 2 million who have pre-existing conditions. Iowa, Joni Ernst, 187,000 will lose their insurance. North Carolina, 500,000 will lose their insurance. So you want to know the point we're going to make? We're making a point that this not only has an impact on the lives of so many innocent Americans, it could impact the members of this committee.
CHUCK TODD:
I want to play a quote for you from former Vice President Joe Biden on this issue of expanding the court. Let me play it for you and ask you about it on the other side.
[BEGIN TAPE]
JOE BIDEN:
You'll know my opinion on court packing when the election is over. Now, look, the moment I answer that question, the headline in every one of your papers will be about that, other than focusing on what's happening now.
[END TAPE]
CHUCK TODD:
Senator Durbin, did the fact that Vice President Biden used the phrase "court packing," was that a tell of where the vice president stands on this? That he doesn't want to see this happen?
SEN. DICK DURBIN:
Well, I can tell you that we're getting this question. It's a common question being asked because the American people have watched the Republicans packing the court over the last three and a half years. And they brag about it. They've taken every vacancy and filled it. Did you know that they've sent to us -- and we have approved only with their votes, I might add -- ten people who have been judged unanimously unqualified by the American Bar Association? Do you know how many judicial nominees who came from Obama who were judged unanimously unqualified? None. So, we are dealing with people on the court, packed into the court, with little or no qualification, who are going to be there for a long time. So it's understandable that Republicans raise the issue of court packing.
CHUCK TODD:
Senator though, the lack of answering this question sounds like -- as if the Democrats are trying to game the results here and just trying to see what happens. And in some ways, it may be that it comes across as a negotiating tool with trying to maybe convince a handful of Senate Republicans to delay these confirmation hearings. Is that what this is? Is this a negotiating ploy?
SEN. DICK DURBIN:
It is not a negotiating ploy. We are dealing with the reality. A lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land. McConnell has changed the rules for the Republican senators. We are running this through at a breakneck pace without the investigation that usually comes with these. And those are the issues. And what we're trying to drive home to the American people is this makes a difference in your life as to whether or not you have health insurance, whether or not, with a preexisting condition you can afford health insurance. And we believe that, once the Republican voters across this country wake up to the reality of the strategy, many of them are going to say to their senators, "Listen, this is not what we bargained for. We may be conservative, but we're not crazy. Our family needs health insurance protection." And when I hear Ted Cruz say, "Well, it really hinges on optimism." I don't know what polls he's looking at, but the ones I look at say three out of four Americans say this country's moving in the wrong direction. Two out of three say it's going to get worse. And why wouldn't they, with the antics of the president -- these super spreader balcony scenes at the White House, dismissing the dangerous nature of this virus, saying that he's had a miracle cure but won't release the results of his testing. I mean, it's understandable people are skeptical of the Republican message and are fearful of what's going to happen if this Supreme Court nominee goes through and threatens their very health insurance.
CHUCK TODD:
Very quickly, I want to ask you about Cal Cunningham, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in North Carolina, a state you brought up just now, earlier in the conversation. He's dealing with some allegations of an extramarital affair, some texts that came out. Are you comfortable the way he has handled this? Do you think he needs to provide further clarification?
SEN. DICK DURBIN:
I haven't followed it that closely, other than through headlines in the Washington papers and Chicago papers. I think he has admitted wrongdoing, apologized for it and the campaign continues. I don't know the impact on voters in North Carolina. They make the final judgment. But he's not been evasive when it was brought to light, and he's faced it squarely. I think at this point, that's the best he can do.
CHUCK TODD:
All right, Senator Dick Durbin, Democrat from Illinois. Thanks for coming on and sharing your perspective with us, sir. Appreciate it.
SEN. DICK DURBIN:
Great. Thanks, Chuck.
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