CNN "State of the Union with Jake Tapper" - Transcript: Interview with Senatorial Candidate Jon Ossoff

Interview

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TAPPER: Welcome back to STATE OF THE UNION. I'm Jake Tapper.

These are contests that could define Joe Biden's presidency and your future.

In two days, George's two run-off Senate races will decide the balance of power in the U.S. Senate and how much the next president will be able to accomplish when it comes to health care, or COVID, climate change, so many other huge issues.

Joining me now is Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in Georgia Jon Ossoff.

We should note, we have repeatedly invited both Republicans, Senator Perdue, whom Ossoff is running against, and Senator Loeffler, to join us. Repeatedly, they have declined every time, including this Sunday.

Mr. Ossoff, thanks so much for joining us.

President Trump is coming to Georgia to hold a rally tomorrow night. We know that, historically, he's been pretty good at driving up Republican turnout. Are you concerned that his visit will motivate his base to show up on Election Day? [09:35:10]

OSSOFF: No, I'm not.

And thank you for having me, Jake.

I'm not concerned about that. What I can't figure out is, given that Mitch McConnell is currently snubbing and disrespecting President Trump, overriding his veto of the NDAA and refusing to move the $2,000 stimulus checks that President Trump and president-elect Biden and the American people support, why President Trump wants to work so hard to try to save Mitch McConnell's majority, when McConnell is treating Trump as an irrelevant lame-duck president.

TAPPER: Interesting psychological warfare there by you.

Your opponent, Senator Perdue, says he's quarantining after he was in close contact with somebody who tested positive for coronavirus. He's campaigning remotely now. What's your reaction? Do you think this might affect the race?

OSSOFF: Well, I hope that David and his wife, Bonnie, remain healthy and free of COVID. And I wish the best for their staff and supporters.

And this just speaks to the need to take this virus very seriously, to fully resource the public health response, to get economic relief to people who are hurting, because this disease continues to ravage Georgia. It continues to ravage the country.

I'm glad they're taking those precautions. And I urge everybody who's tuned in right now into this new year to take precautions, maintain social distancing, follow CDC guidelines to stay healthy.

TAPPER: You attacked Senator Loeffler this week, Loeffler, who is running against Democrat Raphael Warnock.

You said that -- quote -- "Kelly Loeffler been campaigning with a Klansman" -- unquote.

That's not true. I mean, there -- it is true that a former member of the Klan took a photo with Senator Loeffler at a campaign event. Her campaign says she didn't know who he was at the time, and she has condemned him.

I'm sure you have taken photos with thousands of strangers. Isn't it important for candidates to tell the truth?

OSSOFF: It is.

And it's even more distressing that this isn't an isolated incident. Kelly Loeffler has repeatedly posed for photographs and been seen campaigning alongside radical white supremacists.

And I believe they're drawn to her campaign, because her campaign has consisted almost entirely of racist attacks on the Black Lives Matter movement and on the black church. And so the fact that these elements continue to be drawn to her, to

support her, to campaign alongside her, to appear in photos next to her is deeply distressing. And it's happening at the same time that Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue and Georgia Republicans are mounting a vicious assault on voting rights in Georgia, lawsuit after lawsuit to disenfranchise black voters, purge the rolls, remove ballot drop boxes.

And I believe that one of the reasons we're seeing such record- shattering turnout in Georgia right now is that Georgians are defying those efforts to rip away their voting rights and standing up and saying, we're going to make our voices heard.

TAPPER: All right. But, just to be clear, she was not campaigning with a Klansman. That wasn't true, what you said.

Stacey Abrams, who I'm talking with shortly, refused to concede the gubernatorial election in Georgia in 2018. She didn't challenge it, but she didn't say that Kemp was elected legitimately.

President Trump has not conceded Georgia in 2020. You have been attacking Republicans constantly for voter suppression in Georgia. Win or lose, are you going to accept the results of the election on January 5?

OSSOFF: I will. And I believe that we will win on Tuesday because of the grassroots momentum, the unprecedented movement energy in Georgia right now.

Look, this is the state of Georgia. Think about how far we have come, Jake. We're the most competitive battleground state in the country. We're hosting two United States Senate run-offs for control of the United States Senate. The Democratic standard-bearers are the young Jewish son of a journalist -- excuse me -- the young Jewish son of an immigrant mentored by John Lewis and a black pastor who holds Dr. King's pulpit at Ebenezer Baptist Church.

We are bringing so many young people into the electorate. We are empowering people to make their voices heard. My campaign made a million phone calls to voters yesterday alone, knocking on tens of thousands of doors.

We have hired thousands of young people, predominantly people of color, to organize their own communities and their own peer groups. And it feels in Georgia like we are on the cusp of a historic victory that will usher in a new era in American history, after four years of gross incompetence and racism and hatred and bigotry.

TAPPER: Lastly, sir, you would be the youngest U.S. senator elected since 1981 if you win. You have never held elected office before. You had worked as one of thousands of Capitol Hill staffers. And then you ran a documentary film company.

During the 2020 primary, Pete Buttigieg suggested that his privilege as a white man may have played a role in his success. And I wonder, do you feel the same way about yourself? OSSOFF: The opportunities that I have had in my life have put me in

the position to pursue this service that I seek to render to the state of Georgia.

[09:40:03]

Both of my parents were the first in their families to graduate college. My mother immigrated to this country alone as a young woman when she was 23 years old. And I'm grateful that their success allowed me, for example, to graduate college without debt, a privilege that so many Americans don't have, to pursue service in public service and as a journalist.

I lead a business that's exposed war crimes, political corruption, judicial corruption, human trafficking.

And now I want to serve the state of Georgia in the U.S. Senate so that others can have the opportunities to pursue their dreams, so that we can expand the Pell Grant program, so that young people don't have to take on debt to get a four-year degree from a public college or an HBCU, to raise the minimum wage, so that people working an honest week's work don't just barely survive, but thrive.

I have a heart for the people of Georgia and a heart for justice. And I look forward to serving them in the U.S. Senate.

And I thank you for having me on the show, Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Jon Ossoff, thank you so much. Appreciate your time.

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