Click Here to Watch Sen. Barrasso.
WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) appeared on ABC’s “This Week” this morning with guest host Jonathan Karl.
Transcript of Sen. Barrasso’s Interview:
JONATHAN KARL: That was Donald Trump back in December, offering what would become one of his core campaign proposals, and one of several ideas that put him at odds with long-standing Republican Party policy. How does the party now square its core beliefs with Trump’s campaign promises? Joining us now, the man who will be responsible for reconciling those differences, Senator John Barrasso, the chairman of the Republican Platform Committee at the convention this July. Senator Barrasso, thank you for joining us. I want to begin right with that, what we heard on the Muslim ban. This was something that Donald Trump talked about over and over again, and yet, I recall you standing there with Senator Mitch McConnell, when he called that proposal something completely and totally inconsistent with American values. Well Trump has won, where does the party now stand on that Muslim ban?
SEN. JOHN BARRASSO: You know, the platform is about the core values of our party. It’s who we are. It’s what we stand for. And I met with Donald Trump about it and he understands that the platform is very important to the Republican Party. It’s going to be a conservative platform, it’s going to be positive, optimistic, looking to the future, focused on things like jobs, the economy, and national security. And what he was focused on with that ban is national security. The platform is going to be focusing on growing the economy. We have too many Americans who are suffering, stagnant wages, this 1 to 2% economic growth that we have here cannot be the new normal for America. So the platform is going to be something that all Republicans can be proud of and national security is going to be a big part of it.
KARL: But I asked you very directly, where does the Republican Party now stand on the idea of imposing a temporary ban on Muslims coming into this country? Donald Trump won, 60% of Republican voters in exit polls agreed with him on that proposal, you called it un-American, where does it stand now?
SEN. BARRASSO: Well, the platform committee will meet in Cleveland, in July, for a full week before the convention, it’s 112 members of the platform committee. And we’ve asked Donald Trump to allow the process to play out—he has agreed to do that. And I’ve asked him personally to embrace the platform, and I believe he will. National security will be a big part of it.
KARL: Okay, getting to the economy, another core issue here is the question of reforming social security and Medicare. That was a big part of the Republican platform four years ago, you have called social security and Medicare out of control entitlement programs, but look at what Donald Trump said about Republican proposals to reform social security and Medicare.
KARL: So where does the Republican Party now stand on social security and Medicare reform?
SEN. BARRASSO: We want to protect and reform social security and Medicare so it is there for future generations. There are 10,000 baby boomers turning 65 today. So we need to deal with that in a way, and the way to grow the economy is to have actually more people working. I mean that’s what you do. You get more tax payers out there. More people working, more people contributing to the system, and these systems have served the American people very well over the years. People like them. They need to continue and be reformed and strengthened so they’re there for future generations. And I believe that will be part of the Republican platform coming out of the convention.
KARL: Okay. I want to move, got several more of these, but we’re running out of time. Immigration, of course Donald Trump also talked about deporting the 11 million undocumented immigrants in this country. Where does the Republican Party stand on that issue right now?
SEN. BARRASSO: Well, I believe that immigration will be an important part of the platform. The delegates will decide at the convention exactly how to deal with this. We talk about border security and whether that’s a physical wall on top of an electronic wall on top of e-verify…
KARL: I’m talking about deporting those that are here illegally.
SEN. BARRASSO: The platform committee is going to meet on talking about all of these things, and there’s going to be agreements with Donald Trump, there’s going to be disagreements. The platform is the core values of the Republican Party and it’ll be reflected, I believe, in what we’re able to craft together and yeah, we’re going to have to work our way through the maze of the platform discussions. But the Democrats, they’re looking at having to work their way through a mine field, which could be explosive. We are much more united as a party than the Democrats are. They’re deeply divided and I believe we’re going to come out of Cleveland united so we can win in November and get the country headed in the right direction. Two out of three Americans believe the country is heading in the wrong direction. It’s critical that we win in November. We cannot afford as a country, another four years under Hillary Clinton like the last eight years under Barack Obama. We cannot afford a third Obama term.
KARL: All right. Well Senator Barrasso, you’re going to have your hands full in Cleveland, we look forward to watching it every step of the way. Thank you for joining us and happy Memorial Day weekend.
SEN. BARRASSO: Well, thank you, too, and let us never forget those who have sacrificed their lives so we can be here today free in the United States of America. Thank you.
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