The following is a transcript of an interview with Democratic Rep. Sean Maloney of New York that aired Sunday, Oct. 30, 2022, on “Face the Nation.”
MARGARET BRENNAN: Welcome back to FACE THE NATION. We go now to the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, New York congressman Sean Patrick Maloney. Good morning to you.
REP. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY: Good morning.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to start where we just left off with our other guests. How concerned are you about the risk of political violence? And can you say, unequivocally, that you and your fellow Democrats will accept the outcome of your elections?
REP. MALONEY : Of course, we’ll accept the outcome of the elections. Always have, always will. And- and we’re very concerned about the integrity of our elections, especially when people are trying to intimidate people with weapons, when they’re engaged in these tactics to try to undermine confidence. Now we’re- we’re going to accept the results of the election. That’s- That’s the American way.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, I’m glad you said that, because there’s been a lot of attention drawn to comments by some Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, who just released a tape statement online, where she was talking about upcoming elections. And she said, “Right wing extremists already have a plan to literally steal the next presidential election, and they’re not making a secret of it.” I understand hyperbole, but would you agree that that’s not helpful in the current environment to talk about plots to steal elections?
REP. MALONEY: Yeah, no, I don’t understand what that means, and I didn’t see the comment. Let me- let me tell you what I think. What I think is that it’s perfectly legitimate for both parties to make sure that voting is fair, that there’s no fraud, that when votes are cast, that people have a right to cast them or don’t. And that’s normal. And in a close election, you might have a recount, you might have other examination of absentee ballots, that’s all run of the mill stuff. What’s different is people showing up with weapons and sitting in the back of a pickup truck next to a Dropbox trying to scare the tar out of people who are just exercising, exercising their vote. What’s different is when a president, for the first time in our history, says he was cheated out of the results when he knows that’s a lie. So let’s- let’s not- let’s not let’s not pretend for a minute that both sides have the same, the same amount of accountability for the loss of confidence in our elections. One side has been out there for a couple of years now doing everything they can to pretend Joe Biden didn’t win fair and square when he did. And that’s the difference.
MARGARET BRENNAN: On that topic, Democrats shelled out about 53 million to support 13 Republican candidates during the primaries. I know you’re part of strategy here, and the strategy was to elevate less electable Republicans in order to benefit Democrats, and some of this worked for you. But in at least two races, these guys have realistic shots at a victory. I’m looking at John Gibbs in Michigan, for example. Do you take responsibility for helping election deniers?
REP. MALONEY: Well, at the DCCC, there’s only one race in the country, one where we- where we engaged in the- in the tactic you’re talking about. And what we did was we ran an ad that’s true, that said he’s too extreme for Western Michigan. And we ran that general election ad about two weeks early. And Hillary Scholten has been beating him consistently since she became our nominee. She’s a strong pro-choice Democrat–
MARGARET BRENNAN: So you stand by that strategy?
REP. MALONEY: and she’s going to- and she’s going to beat him. What I can tell you is that in a budget of $340 million, we spent about $400,000, running a true general election commercial two weeks early, calling John Gibbs an extremist which he is, and- and that’s all you’re talking about. And I can’t be – I can’t answer to what governors did or what senators did or what other people did. But the committee I ran in a budget of $300 million, put $400,000 into speeding up a general election ad that was truthful, and we’re going to win that race.
MARGARET BRENNAN: The top three issues when we talk to voters that they tell us they’re concerned about our economy, inflation and crime. Half of voters, according to our poll, think Democrats would cut police funding. Now I saw an ad the DCCC just bought in your district. And it opens with you talking to a policeman, you are keenly aware of this. Why hasn’t your party been able to shake that perception of being soft on crime?
REP. MALONEY: Well, because a lie gets halfway around the world before the truth gets its shoes on as the saying goes. In my own case, I brought $7 million for local police departments, supported the Invest to Protect Act which will fund all the police departments in my district, all under 125 officers. That’s the most important support we’ve done for police in 30 years. And if you care about rising crime, my goodness, we should listen to police who are begging us to do something about the gun violence, which is at the heart of so much rising crime. And of course the MAGA crowd is in the pocket of the NRA won’t touch the common safe bipartisan gun safety legislation which we passed through the House. So we have a record of results supporting good policing, and-and-and going after gun violence. And that’s what people need to know.
MARGARET BRENNAN: In our poll 46% of voters believe Republicans’ economic policies will help them, only 40% say the same about Democrats. 53% of voters believe gas prices will go up under Democrats, 21% say the same of the- of the GOP. I mean, since you’re- you’re talking strategy here in these closing days, how do you change these perception, and how do you get out younger voters?
REP. MALONEY: Right. Well, what people need to know is that we have a plan for cheaper gas, cheaper groceries, cheaper housing, cheaper health care, we have a plan for safer streets, supporting good policing and attacking gun violence, which is so much of the problem, and supporting our freedoms, our reproductive freedoms and our voting rights. And that’s, those are real plans. Now, you can take a poll and you can- you can take a snapshot at any given time. But of course, your former guests had no plan for the economy. They have no plan for gun violence, they have no plan to move our country forward, protecting voting rights, protecting reproductive freedoms. So- so what I would say is don’t punish the people who are fixing your problems and don’t reward the people who are trying to exploit the problems for their own political power. That’s really the difference right now. We’re-we’re engaged in the hard work of bringing our country forward. The other side’s working on their own power.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Congressman, thank you for your time this morning. We’ll be right back.
