The following is a transcript of an interview with DNC chair Jaime Harrison that aired Sunday, Aug. 28, 2022, on “Face the Nation.”
Welcome back to Face The Nation. We go now to the head of the Democratic National Committee, Jamie Harrison. He joins us from Columbia, South Carolina. Mr. Chairman, great to see you. Good morning.
DNC CHAIRMAN JAIME HARRISON: Thank you so much for having me.
MAJOR GARRETT:
So you heard in our battleground tracker that there’s momentum Democrats have. Do you believe that momentum is real? And is it so real, Mr. Chairman, you’re prepared to predict this morning, Democrats will retain their slender majority in the House of Representatives.
HARRISON:
That momentum is real. And I’ve been predicting since I became chairman, that Democrats are going to keep their majorities in the House, that they’re going to grow the majorities in the United States Senate. And we’re going to pick up some governors’ mansions along the way.
MAJOR GARRETT:
So our battleground tracker shows that 33% of the country believes Democrats have a plan to battle inflation, meaning the vast majority of Americans don’t believe Democrats have a plan to deal with inflation, the number one economic issue in the country. Now I know, you’ll probably refer to the Inflation Reduction Act, Mr. Chairman, I invite you to do that. But also polling tells us that after the American Rescue Plan, and the infrastructure plan, either you didn’t sell it, or the American people didn’t give Democrats credit for it, what’s going to be different?
HARRISON:
Well, listen, you know, in the end of the day, this is about the accomplishments of this administration. And they’re vast when you take a look in historical perspective of what Joe Biden has been able to do in two years., you know, there’s some presidents who’ve served for eight years can’t add up to what Joe Biden has been able to do the inflation Reduction Act, the American rescue plan, the bipartisan infrastructure law, the PACT act that helping our veterans Violence Against Women Act reauthorization, the CHIPS and science act, I can go on and on and on. And we’re seeing record job growth, we’re seeing the lowest unemployment that we’ve seen. And this is this is the package that Joe Biden has done, because his focus has been on improving the standing of all of America’s people. And that’s what we’ve done. That’s part of our plan. And we’re seeing gas prices right now go down. We’re seeing now that seniors are so excited that prescription drugs costs are going to go down, capped at $2,000. For the first time ever, Medicare’s going to get an opportunity to negotiate lower prescription drugs. We would have gotten insulin prices down for all Americans, but the Republicans voted to take that out of the legislation. So in the end of the day, Major, what we’re seeing is that the American people are waking up to how Democrats under Joe Biden had been delivering for the American people, while the Republicans definitely don’t have a plan. They – the only plan they do have is how to gut Social Security and Medicare. You can ask Rick Scott about that. But Democrats are fighting for the American people each and every day.
MAJOR GARRETT:
Mr. Chairman, the President took pains to highlight abortion as an issue in the midterm elections this week. When you think about the history of these midterm elections, when that history is written, will abortion or the economy be more important?
HARRISON:
I think abortion is going to be extremely important. And because, you know, the reason why so many people come to America is because we are the land of freedom. It’s liberty and justice for all. And abortion is about privacy and freedom, freedom of women to control their own bodies. For the first time in 50 years, these extreme MAGA Republicans have chipped away at a freedom that we’ve had as American people. And women are upset about it. Men are upset about it. And you’re seeing it in special election after special election. You saw it in Kansas, that people are rising up because they know it’s a slippery slope. You take away privacy and freedom rights, you chipping away at voting rights, you’re going after people’s freedom of speech. I mean, that is not who America is. But that’s who the MAGA extremists in the Republican Party’s want America to be. Joe Biden is standing that in that gap and saying, “You will not do this.” You will not do – President Joe Biden is there. “You will not do this on my watch.” It’s about protecting freedom. And that’s what the Democratic Party is doing each and every day.
MAJOR GARRETT:
Mr. Chairman, earlier this week, the President referred to the MAGA Make America Great agenda as almost like, quote, “semi fascism.” You heard the President’s inaugural address the same way I did. In that Inaugural Address. President Biden said we should not view each other as adversaries in this country, but his neighbors and we should treat each other with dignity and respect. How does semi fascism as a label for the Republican Party fit with that Inaugural Address?
HARRISON:
Well, the one thing that President Joe Biden has been is always been consistent, and he has always been somebody who does what my grandfather used to do, which is speak it plain, say it plain to the the American people. And what we see right now is a full frontal attack by these extreme MAGA Republicans in this country –
MAJOR GARRETT:
And so you, Mr. Chairman, you embrace –
HARRISON:
– freedoms as a people –
GARRETT:
Mr. Chairman, you embrace the rhetoric, “semi fascism” to describe the Republican Party?
HARRISON:
Well, it’s not about the embracing – its calling what what it is what it is, in the end of the day, we are a country built on freedom. And when you chip away at that, when you see the bullying that takes place in place like Florida with DeSantis, when you see them chip away at privacy rights when they try to demonize the other, that the attacks on transgender kids and their families, the attacks on marriage equality that we’re hearing from the Supreme Court.
This is not who America is. We’re about freedom and rights for all of America’s people, not just a select few. But the Republicans are turning a blind eye – this extreme agenda, and this is what this election is all about. It is the great contrast between a party, the Democratic Party, that is standing up for the hopes and aspirations of the American people and protecting our rights as Americans and our freedoms. And a Republican party that is focused on fear, that’s focused on fraud that is focused on just getting power.
GARRETT: Mr. Chairman –
HARRISON:
– what party do you ever see you ever share? The party of Reagan would actually celebrate when they stall the PACT Act in the United States Senate. But that’s what we have in this – in today’s Republican Party.
GARRETT:
Mr. Chairman, will President Biden run for re-election and should he?
HARRISON:
The President has consistently said that his intention is to run for president in the United States. And I can tell you, the Democratic National Committee will be fully behind behind him and Kamala Harris. This President has a record of achievement, and America needs President Biden to continue that effort.
GARRETT:
Can you tell us what the status of the Iowa caucuses is? The Democratic National Committee has continued to delay a decision about that. It appears that Iowa will lose its first-in-the nation caucus status. True?
HARRISON:
No, that is not true. Listen, in the end of the day, the DNC is focused on these midterm elections, and we’re going to allow the presidential cycle scheduled to be determined after we’re done. And the end of the day for us at the DNC –
GARRETT:
Mr. Chairman, thank you for that. I know Democrats and I will listen to you very, very carefully. Mr. Chairman, thanks so much for your time, and we will be right back.
