Transcripts For CSPAN Campaign 2020 South Carolina U.S. Sena

The motto of this great state, South Carolina. But it might as well be the theme of my entire life. I am the son of a team mom. I was raised by grandparents, with a fourth grade and eighth grade education. I went to yale, i went to georgetown law school. I worked on capitol hill be right i worked for the private sector. Now im a candidate for United States senate. Excuse me if i pinch myself. I have lived the American Dream and spent my entire life fighting for others to make sure they do the same. We have been divided for too long. Too many folks here in South Carolina lack the opportunity to live the American Dream themselves. Tonight, you will probably hear from Lindsey Graham and he will scare you to vote for him. I hope tonight to inspire you to support me. Thank you, sir. Senator graham, you have one minute. Sen. Graham you have nothing to be afraid of. Thank you for tuning in. Thank you to everybody who has gotten me here. We live in difficult times. 2020 is the most incredible year. We are being challenged like no other time. Coronavirus has turned our state and our nation upside down. Mr. Harrison lost an aunt. The president of United States is in the hospital as i speak. We are going to get through this. When i was 21, my mom died and 15 months later my dad died and i was in charge of a 13yearold sister. But i made it. We got the drug therapies that are working, a vaccine is around the corner. This is a big choice of an election. Capitalism versus socialism. Conservative judges versus liberal judges. Law and order versus chaos. You know where i stand. Thank you very much. Gentlemen, thank you for being here this evening. It is our hope and expectation to give our nation an example of what civil discourse looks like, and how to engage in passionate, but respectful debate. So i thank you for that in advance. Senator graham, the first question to you. In the last 24 hours the list of Public Officials infected by covid19 has grown exponentially. People of faith and goodwill are praying for everyone infected to make a full recovery. Thatt cannot be ignored many of the people infected attended large gatherings and completely disregarded the protocols put out by the cdc. Hasquestion is, how politicization of the virus response federally and in our state . President wilson got the spanish flu after world war i be rated world war i. I doubt anyone attacked him. All i can say is the the virus is a problem that came out of china and not trump tower. We are getting vaccines ready any month now hopefully sooner. , the drug therapies are working. The one thing i want people to know is that the virus is serious, but we have to move on as a nation. When a military member gets an infection you do not shut down the whole unit. We are going to have a hearing for Amy Coney Barretts, the nominee of the Supreme Courts it will be done safely. , the one thing i find odd, nobody asked me how are you doing, senator graham went to when 200 people showed up and broke my window. My liberal democratic friends never mention the virus when people are roaming the streets rioting and burning down cop cars and breaking windows, it is a problem, it is a problem for the nation, it is something we are going to get through, but i promise you we are not going to stop doing our job in washington. As chairman of the Judiciary Committee, i promise you we are barrett ont judge the court safely. Thank you, sir. Mr. Harrison, same question. Mr. Harrison this question is about the coronavirus, not the Supreme Court. This has impacted me personally. My grand aunt gladys passed away this july in a nursing home by herself. That is the story that so Many Americans are experiencing right now. And part of why we are experience at, no, we are not going to blame the president. We should not blame anybody for the inception of this disease. But where blame should come is how we handled this disease, whether or not we take it seriously. I am taking it seriously. That is why i put this plexiglass up. It is not just about me, it is about the people in my life i have to take care of as well, my two boys, my wife, my grandmother. We have to address the issue here in South Carolina. We have had 750,000 people unemployed because of south care in South Carolina. We had 3000 die, over a hundred thousand affected. Lets take this seriously and do all we can to take care of ourselves and each other. I want to ask the next question, a followup about coronavirus and the impact specifically here in South Carolina. Governor mcmaster asked South Carolina schools to resume five days facetoface instruction and i have talked to teachers and parents who want to do the same if it is done safely. Here is the concern. Senator graham, you and your colleagues had a coronavirus test yesterday or today, and other officials we are hearing about. You get results in hours. In South Carolina people are , waiting for days or more than a week to get results. We know how critical that is, in terms of containing the virus. The question is, should we ask our teachers to return to class for five day facetoface instruction without having access to widespread Rapid Testing to quickly identify and contain those cases in schools . Sen. Graham i think we should allow parents to make a decision about what is best for their children and if a teacher does not want to go back to a classroom, i will not make them. I have supported the distillation that increased on appointment benefits because people lost her job through no fault of their own. I have been trying to get our ppe, masks, gloves, back in america and let American Textile Companies Make it here at home so we are not so dependent. One thing we are not going to do if im your senator is shut the country down, we are going to open up safely and get back to business here in South Carolina, shutting the country down has an effect of its own, alcoholism up, domestic violence. So we are going to handle this virus, but this issue of how to rebuild america, who do you trust, donald trump, who gave you the best economy before the virus . If the democrats take the house and take over the senate and biden is president , god help us all. The most liberal agenda in the history of american politics coming out of the house and senate. Medicare for wall takes away your private health care. They are going to stack the Supreme Courts. You have to understand what is at stake here. The same question, should we ask our teachers to return to five day facetoface instruction without having access to Rapid Testing . Mr. Harrison as the father of two boys and one in first grade for the first time, it is hard teaching your kids from home. It is very, very difficult. And if nobody has an appreciation of teachers, or did not before coronavirus, they better have an appreciation now. We need a strategy. A 50 state strategy. The failure of leadership we are not blaming anybody for the inception of this virus but the failure of leadership, the senate failed to act. The white house failed to act. Governors have failed to act. We need leaders who are going to step up and act. We need testing here in South Carolina. We need to make sure we have a mandate that says folks, please wear your mask so we can bring down the transmission of this virus, and then open our economy back up. Right now, so many families have so many issues they are dealing with. 750,000 people unemployed. Senator graham said over our dead bodies would we allow extension of the unemployment benefit. Folks need that money and we need leadership to get those things that are necessary for our families to open back up. Moderator you have 45 seconds for a rebuttal. Sen. Graham i supported phase 3 but i said if you pay people more work not to work then to wear, it will be a problem and it turned out to be true. Joe cunningham understands, a democrat in charleston, and is it has been hard on hotels to get back in business when youre paying people more to be unemployed than to be employed. I want to help people and be responsible and i want us to go back to school. We passed a very robust package. Im willing to do more. But ladies and gentlemen, this virus is going to pass. What kind of country are you what kind of country are you going to have when liberal democrats run the house, and the senate and take over the white house . They will do away with the electoral college. They will pack the Supreme Court with liberals. That is what is at stake in this election. That is what is at stas election. Moderator let me ask a quick followup, you say the issue is about paying people more when they are not working versus what they earned by going to their jobs . Governor mcmaster has said protocols are in place at the department of employment to make sure benefits are terminated for anyone who refuses to return to work, so a lot of people we have heard from want to understand why you are taking that position if we are putting protocols into prevent your concern . Sen. Graham well it helps to a baxley run a business. My family has run a restaurant, a bar and a liquor store. When you are paying 23 an hour not to work it is hard to get people to come back and they get mad if you asked them to come back to work for 18 an hour. I saw this coming and joe understands that what we have done is if you pay people more not to workbench work, i have run a business and i know what it is like to compete your own government. I can say for Small Business in South Carolina we have to be generous to people who have been unemployed through no fault of their own but you cannot pay them or not to workbench work and im for making you whole not forgetting a pay raise and unemployment and my liberal democratic friends do not understand that, i do and my family ran a business. Moderator thank you, sir. He did not mention you directly but if you would like therese bonds to an the next answer if you like to respond in the next answer we can come back to. Good to have you both with us here live across the state. Mr. Harrison, senator graham, good to see both of you again. Senator, your Judiciary Committee will hold hearings on Amy Coney Barrett the judge barrett, the president s nominee, for the United States Supreme Court and there is a good chance that she would be confirmed on the high court which would give the Supreme Court a definite tilt toward the conservative side. Confirmed, that conservative tilt there is talk ,ould do away with roe v. Wade the law which guaranteed women the right to an abortion. If it does not do away with that and overturn it completely and might chip away at it. Mr. Harrison, senator graham, my question is does a woman in this country have the right to control her own body . Abortion . E wants an moderator mr. Harrison . Mr. Harrison i believe she does. Men have rights to control their bodies and women should have equal rights to control their bodies as well. At the end of the day this is a hard issue. I believe it is between a woman, her doctor and her god. Politician should not be anywhere in it. We need to make sure that abortions should be rare. We should look at how we expand adoptions. How we have contraception and educate our kids. But at the same time we should be safe. If it is the law of the land which is at this time. What we need to do is look at health care. And particularly health care for women. Here in South Carolina we have some of the highest infant mortality rates in the country. Two years ago here in South Carolina 14 of our 46 counties had no, zero obgyn. Many of our hospitals and some of our world committees are closing now. Many hospitals in some of our Rural Communities are closing. What are we going to do do tackle disparities in health care that women and minority women in particular are experiencing now . Senator graham has a failed and 25 years to address these issues. Moderator senator graham . Mr. Harrison well, amy barrett is one of the most qualified people in the history of the nation to be nominated and she will get on the court as the chairman of the Judiciary Committee ive tried to be fair when it comes to judges and when president obama won, i recognize he won the election and i voted for some ir and kagan knowing that they were liberal justice i voted for Justice Sotomayor Justice Kagan knowing that they would be liberal justices. But heres what bothers me. My opponent, supported the filibuster of George Justice gorsuch and the [indiscernible] judge kavanaughs life. Im sponsoring a bill [inaudible] abortion on demand at 20 weeks. We are one of seven nations in the world that allows babies to be aborted at 20 weeks the fifth month of pregnancy and my [inaudible] this is a radical we are dealing ath, amy barrett will be thoughtful to liberalism and she will decide based on what the statute says and what the constitution says and she wont make things up. Im your only bet in this race. From the state and Government Politics reporter, joe . Senator graham, you say youre moving forward with the confirmation because of how democrats treated justice kavanaugh. Mr. Harrison you said filling that Supreme Court she see should not be rushed before the election. Previous norms for can firming previous norms for confirming judicial appointments, what should new rules be . 19 judges have been confirmed in an Election Year when the president of the party was the same as the senate and that is nothing unusual and we will have a airing beginning october 12 it will be done safely. Again, we can conduct a hearing safely but no democrat seems to say anything about a mom coming up into my yard and attacking republicans. Amy barrett will be treated respectfully i hope for following the norms of the community in terms of the opportunity to question her. I want to complement President Trump for sending over this virus and i hope she is not treated like this fine woman and i hope shes not treated like cavanaugh and yes yes seven children and all of that does not matter, what matters is will she apply the law to the facts and im looking forward to it. And one of my legacies as United States senator is that ive tried to be fair, not only to democrats when they appoint judges, ive been a leader on getting conservative judges on the screen court and the best is yet to come. Moderator thank you, sir mr. Harrison . Sometimeson listening to senator graham reminds me of playing monopoly with my son. He changes the rules every time he gets. Senator, you said use my words against me. You said it after the kavanaugh meetings. Not before the kavanaugh hearings. After the kavanaugh hearings. Your promise was that no judicial nominee should be considered or approved or what have you, in the last year of an election. And you even named President Trump when you set it. So this is my thing, my grandfather always taught me, a man is only as good as his word. Senator, how good is your word . You made a promise to the American People and you made a promise to the folks in South Carolina you would not be doing what youre doing right now, and that is the problem i have. I think the greatest heresy you could do as a Public Servant is to betray the trust of the people you took notes to serve. That is what you have you took it out to serve. And that is what you have done. Or the amount and stand up and say im going to do Something Else. But dont go and blame it on Something Else for flipflop youre making on yourself. Said in august we will see what the market will bear if an opening comes about and we are going to do what we have the Constitutional Authority to do it and this is what i can say about judges, when president obama was president , i honor the fact that he won the election. For two people i would not have chosen. And i watch as democrats try to destroy two people after another. The first filibuster in the United States senate. Amy barrett iss highly qualified and im the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, the president has every right to do this. If you are counting on mr. Harrison to vote for conservative judge or making mistake and you can count on me. He did mention your name, 45 seconds. Listen, this is not about democrats versus republicans, it is about right versus wrong. If you establish a precedent, if youve established a standard, you should stick by it. One thing we have not seen with senator graham now and the Senate Republicans in control is this type of urgency to address the coronavirus. Right19, right down now theres a bill city on Mitch Mcconnells desk. This data suffering. Our businesses this state is suffering. Our businesses are suffering. There is not enough tests. The urgency is to push the Supreme Court justice even when they have two