Vice President Mike Pence told Fox Business on Friday that Republicans have big plans on several key issues that they are working on unveiling in 2020, ahead of the upcoming election, that will hopefully seal the deal on getting President Donald Trump re-elected.
When asked by Fox Business host Stuart Varney if tax cuts 2.0 were coming, Pence responded, “Oh, they’re absolutely coming.”
“I expect we’ll be talking about that before this election year is out,” Pence responded. “It’s one of the reasons why we’re going to focus so much energy on making sure that not only do we get President Donald Trump four more years in this White House, but we’re going to make sure that we reelect a Republican Senate and elect a Republican House of Representatives.”
“Stuart, you were there every step of the way,” Pence continued. “You saw the incredible progress we made when we had a Republican majority in the Senate and a Republican majority in the House.”
Pence highlighted four key issues that Republicans were going to focus on unveiling plans for ahead of the 2020 elections.
Pence said, “We’re going to lay out our vision on tax reform, on healthcare, on infrastructure, on prescription drugs, and we’re going to go out there and fight every day, as I said, to get this president four more years but also to make sure that we have Republican allies in the majority in the Congress to help us bring it about.”
STUART VARNEY, VARNEY & CO. HOST: And here is the president of the united — Vice President of the United States, Mike Pence. Almost got it wrong there, Mr. Vice President, but we’re glad you’re with us.
MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you, Stuart. Great to be with you.
VARNEY: What’s the move —
(CROSSTALK)
PENCE: It’s a great week for America and a great week for President Donald Trump.
VARNEY: Are you guys doing high fives in the White House? What’s the mood?
PENCE: Well, as I said, I mean, in that State of the Union address on Tuesday night, the president focused on the American people, the incredible progress that we’ve made. This is a blue collar boom, more than seven million jobs created. The jobs report that came out today, another 225,000 jobs. The wages are rising most rapidly for hardworking blue collar Americans. Add to that, we’ve rebuilt our military, standing tall in the world, standing —
VARNEY: It’s impressive.
PENCE: — standing with our allies, standing up to our enemies.
VARNEY: Yes.
PENCE: Strong conservatives through our courts, the president’s acquittal, and now — and now ending the week confirming that Americans are winning like never before, and it’s thanks to the leadership of President Donald Trump.
VARNEY: Now, I have to tell you, Mr. Vice President, that Speaker Pelosi says there’s no blue collar boom and that President Trump did nothing for the economy. Your response, please?
PENCE: Well, it really is remarkable the Democrats are actually out arguing against an economy that is expanding all across this country. You know, Stuart, I travel on a very regular basis and I have working Americans coming up to me every day talking about the fact that they got more money in their pockets, their kids are able to find jobs when they come out of school, and that’s all confirmed in the January jobs report again today.
I mean, I have to tell you, I mean, one of the numbers that is most exciting, and it’ll be exciting to your viewers, is the labor participation rate continues to rise. I mean, literally where we saw the economy under the last administration, an administration that tried to tax and regulate and bail us back to a growing economy, thanks to the president’s agenda of less taxes, less regulation, free and fair trade, unleashing American energy, now we see three — you know, three and half million Americans have come back into the workforce and even more in the report that came out today, and wages are rising across the board rapidly but most rapidly for hardworking blue collar Americans.
I mean, if Democrats want to argue against this economy, we’ll make that argument every day between now and November. And it’s just going to be one more reason why we get four more years from President Donald Trump in the White House.
VARNEY: Forgive me, sir, but I want to go back to the State of the Union message and Speaker Pelosi standing there ripping up the four pages of the president’s speech. Now, you were standing right there. You appeared very stoic. I didn’t see much change of expression on your face. What we’re you thinking when you saw the speaker rip up the speech?
PENCE: Stuart, I honestly didn’t see her do it. I was focused where the president was, and that was out on the ovations and the crowd and in the gallery. I was enjoying looking up at the inspiring Americans that he had introduced to the country.
But I must tell you, when I learned moments later that she had literally torn up the president’s State of the Union address on national television, I thought it was a new low — a new low for a Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.
And I’ll also tell you, you know, the contrast between President Trump’s State of the Union address that he made all about America, all about the American people and the progress that we have all made under his leadership and having Speaker Nancy Pelosi try to make it about her, I think it tells you all you need to know about this radical leftist Democratic Party which seems to never seize any opportunity —
VARNEY: I agree, yes.
PENCE: — to try and distract from the extraordinary progress that the American people have made under the leadership of President Donald Trump.
VARNEY: The aftermath of impeachment and the aftermath of ripping up the speech is President Trump getting personal and saying that Speaker Pelosi is a horrible person and appearing to question her faith and her prayer.
Do you want to get involved in that kind of personal tit for tat or do you want to stay out of it?
PENCE: Well look, the American people know what’s going on here. My wife was in New Hampshire last night, and she heard from a lot of great folks that turned out for a Keep America Great rally, how much they appreciate all this president has endured over the last three years.
I mean, when you think about the progress we’ve made, rebuilding our military, reviving our economy, strengthening our liberties with conservatives on our courts, America respected in the world again, it’s important to remember that every day since our inauguration day Democrats have been trying to overturn the results of the last election. It was two and a half years of the Russia collusion hoax until the Justice Department found no collusion, no obstruction, case closed.
And then it seemed like it was just a matter of weeks, Stuart, before all of a sudden over a phone call with President Zelensky of Ukraine we were back on the impeachment express and the sham investigation followed by a partisan impeachment.
It was just a great moment this week when we saw the United States Senate vote to acquit the President of the United States of America. It’s over, and I don’t think any American would begrudge the president’s strong feelings about those who have spent so much energy in the last three years trying to stop him and this administration from turning this country around.
VARNEY: I want to turn to the virus, the Coronavirus.
PENCE: Right.
VARNEY: A ship doctor — cruise ship doctor in New Jersey this morning, two plane loads of American evacuees arrive — are supposed to arrive in California shortly. I just want your assessment of how we, America, has dealt so far with this virus?
PENCE: Well, President Trump took decisive and unprecedented action cancelling air flights, limiting access to this country from people coming from China now a week ago, and we continue to believe that the threat to the American public is low. That being said, we had meetings yesterday in the Oval Office with the CDC officials. The president spoke to President Xi last night.
Look, our hearts break for the people of China and the loss of life in the wake of this Coronavirus, and what the president made clear to President Xi is the United States is ready, willing, and able to work through the World Health Organization to provide assistance as they — as they get this Coronavirus under control.
But the American people can be confident President Trump is going to continue to put the health and safety of this country first, and the decisive action he’s taken to date we believe continues to keep us in a posture where the threat to the American people is low but we’re going to remain vigilant and remain aggressive to keep it that way.
VARNEY: Would you mind if I did a quick lighting round? OK, I’m going to do it.
Sorry about that, Mr. Vice President. First of all, Joe Biden?
PENCE: You know, candidly it is remarkable to see the disarray in the Democratic Party and that to see that what I think Bernie Sanders actually called it a mitigated disaster for their party —
(CROSSTALK)
VARNEY: OK.
PENCE: — in Iowa. Look, Iowa’s a great state. They’re great people, but obviously Joe Biden’s showing in the Iowa caucuses just tells you this is a party that more and more reflects the radical Democrats in the Congress of the United States, and we think that’s going to continue to propel and confuse their nominating process.
VARNEY: Mike Bloomberg.
PENCE: You know, honestly it’s hard for us to see the appeal of that candidacy. I mean, the American people know that we’ve got a president in the White House, an accomplished business leader who brought what he likes to call the American model to bear on reviving the American economy. I don’t think they’re going to be drawn to a business leader that’s interested in more taxes, more regulation, and taking us back to the failed policies of the past.
VARNEY: Tax cuts 2.0, are they coming?
PENCE: Oh, they’re absolutely coming. I expect we’ll be talking about that before this election year is out. It’s one of the reasons why we’re going to focus so much energy on making sure that not only do we get President Donald Trump four more years in this White House, but we’re going to make sure that we reelect a Republican Senate and elect a Republican House of Representatives.
Stuart, you were there every step of the way. You saw the incredible progress we made when we had a Republican majority in the Senate and a Republican majority in the House. We’re going to lay out our vision on tax reform, on healthcare, on infrastructure, on prescription drugs, and we’re going to go out there and fight every day, as I said, to get this president four more years but also to make sure that we have Republican allies in the majority in the Congress to help us bring it about.
VARNEY: I got to point out, Mr. Vice President, that Speaker Pelosi gave all the credit for the market and the economy to President Obama. Lighting response to that?
PENCE: It’s just — you know, honestly it is amazing to think that the last administration that tried to tax and spend and regulate us back to a growing economy resulting in less than two percent growth for eight years — the slowest economic recovery since the Great Recession — now can look at this booming American economy. More than seven million jobs created, wages rising, and think they had anything to do with it.
I mean, the American people know what the president said in the State of the Union was true that if he — if President Donald Trump had not been elected to the White House, if we hadn’t had allies in Congress willing to cut taxes, rollback regulation, unleash American energy, and fight for the kind of free and fair trade that you see in the USMCA, in the phase one China deal, this country would be in a very, very different place. We’d still be struggling economically as we were in the last administration, and the American people know better. They know this economy is booming. It’s a blue collar boom, and they know the credit goes to President Donald Trump.
VARNEY: Mr. Vice President Mike Pence, thank you very much for being with us, sir. Appreciate it.
PENCE: Thank you, Stuart. Good to be with you.
VARNEY: See you soon. Thank you very much.
