Elise Joins WTEN's Empire State Weekly 08.24.2024

thank you for coming in today great to be here John as we are uh taping this I haven't seen you in a while it's going to have you in the studio uh Democrats wrapping up their convention let me just start with the most topical thing I I I I wrote down the quote John Kennedy the senator said he called it a baloney blizzard uh he's always interesting with his descriptions are you watching at all the Democrats and what they're doing and and what's your reaction how this week's going for them so I've been watching it like the rest of Americans but what I'm hearing from my constituents is they continue to be concerned about the inflation crisis prices at the grocery store they're concerned about the Border crisis and the American people are smart they know that it's a direct result of failed policies of Joe Biden and kamla Harris and on those top two issues kamla Harris was designated as Biden's borders are so she is responsible for the millions of illegals who have poured into this country and it's impacted every District including mine in Upstate New York and then on the inflation piece if you look at Joe Biden's uh Hallmark legislative Victory it was the inflation expansion act the deciding vote that passed that was kamla Harris because the VP cast the deciding vote so notice they're not discussing uh that aspect of her record at the convention but the American people are smart and it's our responsibility as policy makers to talk about the differences of four years ago when the economy was booming under President Trump the world was at peace and we had the most secure Border in our nation's history versus where we are today if you go back five six weeks it looked like things were fantastic for the GOP uh all the the polls had it going for Donald Trump against Biden uh did it bother you a little bit that they they did this switch at right before the convention and and got him out and got her in or is is it all fair in politics well it is certainly unprecedented and the media hasn't given a Second Glance I appreciate you asking that question because this is the first time ever that there's been a candidate for the president of the United States without a single vote cast among primary voters so no Democrat primary voters across the country were able to make their voices heard uh and they just swapped out kamla Harris so while the media tends to attack Republicans for attacking democracy we are fighting to save democracy to save our constitutional republic and there's nothing more undemocratic than swapping out one candidate for another without anyone being able to vote I know you don't want to criticize uh the person at top of your ticket but was it a tactical error on on Trump's part doing that debate so early uh because it it what it's what set all this emotion where Biden has the bad night the party sort of panics and now here we are and now sudden the polls are were even in a lot of States no I don't think it was a tactical error look president Trump has always said he'll debate debate anytime anywhere and in kamla Harris's case he has challenged her to three debates she's refusing to do any of the additional debates other than the one that she's negotiated so it's important for the American people to see at the presidential level when it's a neck-and-neck race to really make a decision on the next president and boy did President Trump win that debate and the world saw what we have known for well over I would say say 2 years that Joe Biden is physically and mentally unfit for office and yet the media would not allow us and would criticize those of us who spoke out about that saying oh no no you can't you're being aist we're just talking about facts that matter and the rest of the world sees that as well in a weak commanderin-chief it seems like when when uh former president Trump talks about things like the Border uh grocery prices he he's going to win when he stays in those boxes but sometimes being Trump trump being Trump He he'll talk about things outside that become just red meat for for the for the media to talk about do you sometimes want to call them up and say please stay on message and don't wander off and start making comments about the way people look or nicknames or those kind of things well president Trump is always on message on the issues what's interesting to me is at the various rallies and events that I've participated in which are very many at this point uh in support of President Trump he'll talk about all these substantive policy issues he'll talk about his record he'll talk about his plans in his second term and then when we read the news coverage after the fact they don't even cover the policies that he's discussed every single rally every single event that he does he talks in depth about border security policies so returning to his successful policies ending Catch and Release restoring rain in Mexico building the border wall supporting border patrol compared with what we have today which on day one Joe Biden and KLA Harris opened the Border wide open he talks about inflation policies with strong economic growth uh remember he passed pass the historic tax cuts he supported made in America manufacturing he supported Farms across this country that's particularly important for my district so he is focused on the substance we win on the substance that's why the mainstream media at the national level is so focused on covering anything but the substance of the issues they're certainly presenting at the convention uh KLA as a um as a new Choice uh different than what was there before without throwing Biden out of the bus so to speak um as a Republican isn't bother you that you're saying wait do you want to wave a flag and say wait she she's been there for four years so there's nothing new when they when they talk about day one we're going to do this where they've had their day one already it was a thousand days ago right they did have their day one kamla Harris is Joe Biden's open borders are she was the deciding vote for the inflation expansion act which is causing this very painful inflation she has taken the position to defund the police prioritizing criminals over law-abiding citizens that's really important for voters across this country of all political uh backgrounds who are concerned about the skyrocketing of crime she owns those positions it's amazing to watch the media try to wipe that away and the other thing that's interesting is she was the wor viewed as the worst vice president in my lifetime unable to do interviews unable to tackle substantive issues and then now to be presented as a presidential candidate when you're unable to Be an Effective vice president that's a bridge too far I think for voters um how has your life as a congresswoman changed when I when you and I first met 10 years ago down in your office you were I think 29 you just gotten in you were the youngest uh and I think Casio Cortez ended up taking that title from you about being the youngest woman elected but I remember back in those days I was kind of dealing with one PR person and now there's M now you've got a a much bigger role in the party you must be a much bigger Target as well I mean do you see the things on social media or do you just try to shut the door and not look at the things because you you certainly must become a Target well certainly I'm grateful for the opportunity to continue to be the voice for New York's 21st congressional district that's my number one professional job and I'm blessed that my colleagues that is House Republicans elected me to serve as their conference chair uh I'm the highest ranking woman in the United States Congress and it's the first time that a New York Republican has been in top elected leadership in a 100 years John so to give this District a seat at the highest level it's just an honor of my lifetime and I'm able to deliver significant results to this District are there you know people that Target Us online and otherwise um there are but I realize that I work for my 700,000 constituents who I represent and we're I'm really honored to earn overwhelmingly their support election cycle after election cycle and yes the Democrats always tend to import some radical from New York City who has no ties to Upstate New York but we have consistently showed that we're able to earn not just Republican votes but also we win independence and we win about 20% of registered Democrats in my district well New York played a big role with those congressional seats flipping the last time around uh we're already seeing a lot of money come into New York and Upstate New York for some of these congressional seats usually we're such a blue state it doesn't matter but now it does matter doesn't nationally there's there's a lot of races here congressionally speaking that are it could go either way and we're going to see a lot of outside money coming in right yes um and you point out the road to the majority runs right through New York that has been the case both actually every election cycle but in 2010 and 2022 the last two times it's flipped from Democrat to Republican no state has picked up more congressional seat seats than New York state for Republicans uh so we are ground zero in terms of defending the house the good news is uh we have Fair district lines I was the leader in terms of U making sure that we had a strong legal process and strategy to have Fair District Lines not just to promote Republicans but to make sure New Yorkers had a fair voice representing their communities we have strong candidates in Mark Molinaro in the upper Hudson Valley like Mike Lawler in the lower Hudson Valley you have Brandon Williams in Syracuse and we swept Long Island which is increasingly becoming Republic and it's also interesting nationally there is a phenomenon that Republicans are doing better and better in blue States like New York and California because people are seeing the double whammy of bad uh Federal policies from Democrats at the federal level coupled with catastrophic State policies with unified Democrat government so that's given us an opportunity to show We're the Party of Common Sense and results and um dialing back a little bit when Donald Trump was looking for a vice presidential candidate every short list I seem to see that had more than two names on it if it got to between three and four or five names Alise stonic was popping up on there maybe behind JD Vance and a couple others were you flattered by that did it ever get to a point where you were being vetted or having conversations with people or um where was your stance on all that well first of all it was an honor to be considered it was an honor to be the finalist the only woman who was in the group of finalists we have a lot of great talent in the Republican party and I'm friends with and have worked with all of the names that were mentioned on the big list and also as the list got smaller uh the campaign of course did vetting and what an honor for me to be considered I just turned 40 years old this year John so 10 years of experience but also uh I continue to have a very strong relationship with President Trump and I think he's campaing hard with JD Vance JD is also quite young he's working hard uh he tells a great American story in terms of his background in his life story and there's lots of ways to serve so I'm really looking forward to continuing my job currently in New York 21st congressional district uh to help save this country and help elect President Trump your name recognition went off the charts uh I don't know how many months ago it was now when the uh College presidents came into a hearing and you asked them Point Blank about anti-Semitism and policies of school isn't this a violation were you surprised how that took off and really resonated with a lot of people those that your questions and and how they were answered um I was not surprised after sitting in that hearing what surprised me was just how morally bankrupt the question or the answer were from those University presidents two of whom are now former University presidents along with columia so Harvard and Penn's presidents were fired as a result of that Committee hearing and it was a very straightforward question it was not a question I prepared I had not gotten direct answers for them throughout the hearing and it was the last question almost no one was in the hearing room and it was this does calling for the genocide of Jews violate your University's code of conduct that's an easy yes answer you ask any of my constituents they know the answer is yes a farmer a mom a subur a manufacturer they know the correct answer is yes and to have the presidents of the supposed most elite universities one of which I graduated from hesitate and say it depends on the context the world heard interestingly though they did not realize what they were saying was so morally wrong uh but it really created an earthquake that has been long overdue in higher education we have to get back to educating our kids not to sharing far-left propaganda we had an attempt on the Pres former president's life it seemed like for about 10 minutes that the rhetoric got dialed down would you like to see both sides stop with the the comments of if this person gets elected it's the end of the world that kind of thing because yeah yeah the average person knows it's it's hyperbowl but somebody who's maybe not all there uh sees that and thinks well I'm going to act on this I have to do the right thing and stop this person well we need to condemn any calls for political violence and there's been an instance in my district where you had a Democrat Council from a town uh from potam in St Lawrence County in my district who uh compared the assassination attempt against President Trump as putting down a Rabbid dog what is important though is elected officials of both parties condemned that rhetoric so it's very important for us to condemn any calls for political violence there's going to be a robust discussion of the issues as there should be the American people want to hear about these policies and want you know a vision to save this country but there should be no tolerance for for any cause of political violence uh in terms of the assassination attempt it's very important for us to continue to ask tough questions of the Secret Service for why there was a failure to protect the perimeter uh initially their first response was to blame local law enforcement it turns out that local law enforcement as far as we know had provided concerns about the perimeter so that's why that Congressional committee is so important to get those answers to make sure that we can protect candidates for the highest office not just in this country but the leader of the Free World world and final final minute or so what we'll Circle back to the beginning what does Donald Trump have to do to win this race in your opinion uh Donald Trump will win this race focused on the issues which he is doing focused on securing the Border focused on growing the economy and stopping this runaway inflation focusing on peace through strength which he delivered I worked very closly with him on National Security issues since I represent Fort Trump the world was at peace compare it to today where you have the Middle East engulfed in terrorist attack from Hamas against our most precious Ally Israel you had Putin invading Ukraine and of course the catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan so we went on the issues and we need to make sure that we have a secure election that is constitutional and according to election Integrity we work on that in New York state and I know that you have uh folks across this country that are making sure that every legal vote is counted but only the legal votes got you and last question if I have you back here in 10 years assuming I'm still around here um am I going to be talking to uh speaker of the house stepanic or presidential candidate stefanic I don't know John I take it every two years uh I never thought I would be elected to congress let alone be in leadership in the United States Congress let alone be considered for vice president so I try to do the best job I can every day as well as being the best mom I can be to my son Sam who's turning uh three in a couple days who's turning three fantastic congratulations on that by the way thank you I think it all goes back to all Academy for Girls when you you were campaigning on getting a vending machine for the uh for the girls that's right and we delivered that and they were able to you know uh pay for some of the middle school student council budget Doritos can get you a lot of votes I think right yes all right at least the finally thank you so much for coming in we appreciate it thank you