MSNBC "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell" - Transcript: Interview with Marc Veasey

Interview

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LONG: Wow, grocery workers getting above $15 an hour, that`s a data point that I did not expect. Heather Long, thank you very much. Joining us now is Democratic Congressman Marc Veasey of Texas. He is Vice Chair for Strategy at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Congressman Veasey, welcome to the "Last Word."

OK. So congressman Maloney has said that if the election were held today, Democrats would lose the majority. Are you that pessimistic?

REP. MARC VEASEY (D-TX): Look, you always have to take - holding on to your majority very seriously. But I also think that we do need to make sure that we`re counting these economic numbers that you just talked about - I mean, 5.4 percent unemployment, you`re looking at job growth in a very spectacular way here.

Even in Texas, we were doing very well here and had a lot of growth before the pandemic and continued to have some growth even during the pandemic. And things are really picking back up here. It`s something that you can almost physically see when you go out and about in Dallas and Fort Worth every day. And so we need to make sure that we`re touting these numbers, and that we`re talking about the president`s infrastructure plan, because it`s going to put even more people back to work.

And if you`re conservative, hey, I think, that you got to be happy, because the last time the economy was doing this remarkably well, and it turned around so quickly, you had a president saying that it was morning in America, and he`s someone that is obviously very well liked on that side. And I`m talking about Ronald Reagan.

And so, every - these are numbers that everybody should be able to get behind.

CAPEHART: So when congressman Maloney says to your conference that we have to "course correct," what does that mean? Does that mean talking more forthrightly about the President`s economic agenda? Or is it something else?

VEASEY: I don`t want to guess at exactly what Chairman Maloney was speaking about. But I think that, that we need to drive these numbers home and talk about the fact that the economy is doing so well under Biden. And one of the reasons why it`s doing so well is, I believe, is that he took getting shots in people`s arms very seriously.

The last president really sort of wavered on this and, and told people that maybe COVID really wasn`t real and that - you - take Lysol, it would fix it. I mean, just a bunch of crazy things like that. And having a president be very serious about this and speak to the American public in a very sobering way, I think helped drive the numbers up, which in turn, helped bring the unemployment rate down. And again, we need to make sure that we are driving that message home.

CAPEHART: All right, Vice Chair, I hear what you`re saying. But you got two things that are going against you. One is historical, it`s the midterm jinx. That not since 2002, has a president in power in their first term has had his party not lose the majority. That was when President George W. Bush was in the White House, he didn`t lose the majority in the House. He actually gained seats in Congress.

And the other thing, which is even more potent, is that you`re now facing redistricting. And I remember talking to election forecaster, Rachel Bitecofer in preparation for my show, "The Sunday Show," where I asked her, OK, so which House races are you looking at? Which one should we be paying attention to?

And she said that is almost impossible, one, because of redistricting. And two, once the districts are redrawn, Democrats stand to lose 10 seats in the House before a vote is even cast. So how do you go up against those two twin tidal waves?

[22:10:00]

VEASEY: Well, first of all, let me just say, we got to put the guardrails back up on the Voting Rights Act. I don`t think that there`s any question about that. I`m from a state that was under Section 5, that was under preclearance. And it`s one of the reasons why the Democrats have the amount of seats that they have in Texas right now. The Republicans were going to draw a far more seats for themselves in 2011, but we were able to get that overturned, because of Section 5.

If we`re not able to put the guardrails back up on Section 5 and get the John Lewis Act passed, then you`re going to see the Republicans attempt to draw three new seats in Texas alone. And if you look at Arizona, you look at Florida, you look at North Carolina, you look at Georgia, they really want to try to run the score up in those States. And when I say run the score up, not just Democrats versus Republicans, they`re going to be discriminated against Hispanic and Black voters in these States by taking away their opportunity to choose the representative of their choice.

And so, we absolutely have to take that seriously, because we`re going to redistricting, I don`t want to - definitely don`t want to underplay redistricting. Its looming very large in 2022.

CAPEHART: Congressman Veasey one more question for you. And it pertains to Congresswoman Debbie Dingell of Michigan, who was warning the party in 2016. Hey, hey, hey, pay attention to Donald Trump, the guy - he could win. Well, now she is saying that Democrats aren`t "breaking through." Why don`t you think Democrats aren`t breaking through? I guess, particularly, they`re in Michigan in Debbie Dingell district?

VEASEY: We should always listen to Debbie. She`s one of our DCCC Co-Chair. She does a great job. She has her pulse on the people of Michigan and does it in a great way. And, you know, we need to sit down and talk and see what we need to do. I mean, look, it`s 2021. We have until November of 2022 before we have an election.

But we`re going to we`re talking about these things now. We`re talking about messaging. There`s going to be a lot that`s going to be done between now and the end of the year to get ourselves and find out what`s - what is important for the American public? I think, obviously, again, driving these numbers home on the economy, and what Biden is doing is going to be hugely key.

But there`s a lot going on right now in America. People are concerned about COVID-19 and what have you. But once we get into full campaign gear, it`s my opinion, that the American public is going to be paying very close attention to the Democrats. And when we roll out what we`ve been doing, and what the President`s been doing, I think it`s going to be something that a lot of people are going to like, not just Democrats either, Jonathan. I think that it`s going to have broad appeal, mass appeal, and that we will see those results play out in 2022.

CAPEHART: Congressman Marc Veasey, we will find out and we`ll have you back to give us your assessment. Thank you for joining us tonight.

VEASEY: Absolutely.

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