NBC "Meet the Press" - Transcript: Interview with Dan Crenshaw
Interview
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CHUCK TODD:
So, joining me now, are two Republican members of the House, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, one of the remaining Republican members of Congress who has remained critical of Mr. Trump and publicly supportive of Liz Cheney, and Dan Crenshaw of Texas, who says he's neither a Trump loyalist or an anti-Trumper. And I'm going to begin with Congressman Crenshaw. Congressman, welcome to Meet the Press. And let me just start with whether you agree with the following analysis, which is: Liz Cheney was kicked out of leadership simply because she wouldn't carry the water of former President Trump's election lies. Do you agree with that statement?
REP. DAN CRENSHAW:
No, fundamentally I don't. Look, thanks for having me on. I was a little surprised because I've been so detached from this drama -- and it is drama -- over the past month. But I have followed it. And look, you can't forget that we already had this vote for Liz Cheney. We had this vote and that vote was directly because of her vote for impeachment. And she won overwhelmingly. The Republican conference said, "Look, we disagree," and Liz did not apologize. And she said she would not apologize. And she still won that vote overwhelmingly to be a leader in our conference. You can't forget that. You can't gloss over that fact. But what happened after that, and I think the reason that a lot of our colleagues got more frustrated with her, is because effectively she kept demanding that everybody else start apologizing. So, she refuses to apologize, which is fine. I don't think she should. But then she demands that everybody else does. And I think what Kevin McCarthy was trying to say there was, "Look, there is disagreement and it's time to move on." We can keep having that fight if we'd like, but what is the point and what is the outcome, when in reality we need to be talking about the things that American people actually care about. I've got to tell you, this is not the subject that I'm asked about. I get asked a lot of questions. I'm always doing events. I'm always meeting with people. I never get asked about this. I get asked about -- why is there rising inflation? Why is there a border crisis? What is going on in the Middle East? Why can't we get gas? What is happening to our energy infrastructure? Why can't I hire people? Why are they getting paid by the government to stay at home instead of come to work? These are things that really affect people, not this internal drama. And one of the reasons I agreed to come on your show is basically to say that this isn't that important to people.
CHUCK TODD:
Well, but why should anybody believe a word you say if the Republican Party itself doesn't have credibility? I want to use -- I want you to take a look at what Liz Cheney said to CNN on Friday, because this is her rationale for fighting it. Take a listen.
[BEGIN TAPE]
REP. LIZ CHENEY:
For Republicans to be in a position where we can stop those policies, we've got to be able to tell people, "You can trust us. You can trust us to be based around conservative principles and to reject the lie and to protect the Constitution."
[END TAPE]
CHUCK TODD:
Look, for her and for many Americans, you know, sitting here and saying, "Oh, there's disagreement about the election" -- look, there's not disagreement about the facts. This is, you know, so -- do any of your critiques come across as credible if you can't accept the fundamental fact that our democracy held a free and fair election?
REP. DAN CRENSHAW:
Yeah, but I can speak for myself, of course, and you know where I've been on this issue, I assume, right?
CHUCK TODD:
Well, I do. In fact, in December -- I know how you voted --
REP. DAN CRENSHAW:
You know, I, I, I can stand by everything I've ever said.
CHUCK TODD:
I understand that. But in December, you signed on to that lawsuit that the Texas attorney general filed to question the elections of other states, which seemed to be a pretty anti-federalist thing to do.
REP. DAN CRENSHAW:
Yeah, yeah, and you guys in the press, you guys in the press --
CHUCK TODD:
Why did you sign on to that?
REP. DAN CRENSHAW:
And you guys in the press -- and look, you guys in the press painted that as some extreme action, and of course it wasn't. That amicus brief was a simple question of the Supreme Court in saying, "Can you please speak to this question of whether, of whether process changes in the election last minute, not approved by the legislature, can be deemed constitutional?" It was a question. Now, they didn't want to answer that question. And I said -- and then I said it's unconstitutional for us to overturn the election in Congress. So, I did not vote --
CHUCK TODD:
You don't feel like you fed --
REP. DAN CRENSHAW:
I did not vote, I did not vote to object. I voted to certify.
CHUCK TODD:
But this is the, this is an issue that many people have, is that you're sitting here trying to, trying to say, "No, no, no, no, I just had a specific question," yet what you did gets weaponized by the former president. Did you see the rantings of him yesterday? And to the point where a Republican official in Maricopa County called the former president unhinged. You know, I understand you guys want to put this behind you --
REP. DAN CRENSHAW:
Chuck -- Chuck -- look --
CHUCK TODD:
-- but he is the leader of your party and he doesn't stop talking about this nonsense.
REP. DAN CRENSHAW:
Chuck, the only -- look, he's, he's one of many leaders in the party. He's a former president. We're five months into President Biden's presidency, and there is a time to move on. And look, the -- you guys in the press love doing this, and I, and I get it, right? The press is largely liberal. They're largely --
CHUCK TODD:
No, no, no, no.
REP. DAN CRENSHAW:
-- pro-Democrat.
CHUCK TODD:
Don't start that. That is --
REP. DAN CRENSHAW:
There's a lot of, there's a lot of --
CHUCK TODD:
That is the laz-- look, there's nothing lazier. There's nothing lazier than that.
REP. DAN CRENSHAW:
It is. I mean, there's a lot of, there's a lot of --
CHUCK TODD:
Excuse me --
REP. DAN CRENSHAW:
There's a lot of reasons to keep this alive.
CHUCK TODD:
I understand -- what you're trying to appease --
REP. DAN CRENSHAW:
And there's a lot of people in my party that take the bait. I'm not going to take the bait here --
CHUCK TODD:
I'm not trying to bait you. I'm trying to -- I'm trying to figure out --
REP. DAN CRENSHAW:
I'm not going to take the bait here. What is the outcome you're looking for?
CHUCK TODD:
Why do you, why do you appease -- why do we sit here and have a political party that is basically rallying around this bizarre lie and mythology that the former president is doing, and you guys just want to say, "Hey, pay no attention to this," that, that somehow we in the press are bringing that up. It's the former president.
REP. DAN CRENSHAW:
Well, I already, I already debunked, I already debunked the notion, I already debunked the notion that there's, that there's no space in the party for that. Remember, Liz won that first election --
CHUCK TODD:
She's not there now.
REP. DAN CRENSHAW:
She won that first leadership vote. Okay? Well yeah, but I told you why. I helped you understand why, and what I'm trying to help you understand is that these are not the phone calls I get, about this, about who's the leader of the party, what's happening with Trump. My Republican supporters do not ask me about Trump. They don't ask me about what he said. They're not riled up about it. You know what they're asking about? What are we doing about over a quarter million illegal crossings on our border in the last two months? That's what that's what they're asking about, how is that sustainable? What about my inflation, what about my savings that are now less valuable because of rising inflation, because we're spending money that we don't have? My small business can't hire people, because they're getting paid more to stay at home, and we said this would happen. We said this would happen, and now our economy isn't recovering, and what do you think about the jobs report recently?
CHUCK TODD:
So are you very -- so you must be --
REP. DAN CRENSHAW:
This is what people care about, Chuck.
CHUCK TODD:
-- upset with the former president that he can't let the party, let the party go. I mean, I don't understand. You keep putting this on the press. Is it not the former president?
REP. DAN CRENSHAW:
I'll tell you what. If, if former President Trump, if former President Trump asked me, I would say, "Form-- Mr. President, please keep talking about the border. Please keep talking about these issues." That's what I would say to him, for sure.
CHUCK TODD:
So you believe he's the legitimate leader of the Republican Party?
REP. DAN CRENSHAW:
I mean, I don't mind saying that.
CHUCK TODD:
And you believe he's a legitimate leader of the Republican Party?
REP. DAN CRENSHAW:
Do I believe -- well, hold on. I believe that you're not going to excommunicate a former president, right? And I refuse to, I refuse to go into this sort of black-and-white thinking about, it's either totally one thing or totally the other. These are complex human relationships that involve millions of people. And I have always said, look, I do not think Trump is the devil, and I won't say that. I don't think he's Jesus either. You know, I'm a rational human being about this, okay?
CHUCK TODD:
I get that.
REP. DAN CRENSHAW:
And I'm going to agree where I agree, and I'm going to disagree where I disagree. And I refuse to allow this drama to engulf us. That's what Kevin McCarthy was saying. I fully agree with that. And there's no point in relitigating some of these things. Look, look, and I said this to Liz, and I said this to Adam: you're not going to get the colleagues who believe in that stuff to apologize to you --
CHUCK TODD:
Okay.
REP. DAN CRENSHAW:
-- to agree with you. Look, I, I, I,I stand by everything I've ever said --
CHUCK TODD:
Okay.
REP. DAN CRENSHAW:
-- and done, and that's kind of, that's all I can speak for. And I speak for constituents who care about those issues --
CHUCK TODD:
All right.
REP. DAN CRENSHAW:
-- that I've told you about. And I think those are the issues we should be debating on this program.
CHUCK TODD:
Okay.
REP. DAN CRENSHAW:
You've got a great show. You've got a lot of listeners. Let's debate environmental policy. Let's debate healthcare policy --
CHUCK TODD:
Okay, Congressman, I --
REP. DAN CRENSHAW:
-- border policy. I'll go toe to toe with you on all of those.
CHUCK TODD:
I, I, I -- we would, we would love to see that. Contact the former president about that situation. Anyway, Congressman Dan Crenshaw, I do appreciate you coming on and sharing your perspective with us. I think that's very important, so thank you.
REP. DAN CRENSHAW:
Well, thanks for having me.
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