Jake Tapper chatted with Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND) in the State of the Union classroom. Burgum's one of the folks on the long 'short list' of potential vice presidential candidates for Donald Trump.
Here's some of the interview, including questions I wish had been asked.
Tapper started by asking if Burgum was "comfortable with" Trump comparing the Biden administration to the Gestapo, referring to a comment Trump made talking to donors. Burgum said Trump talked for a long time, teleprompter-free, on lots of stuff, and it was "largely very upbeat." More to the point, he said
...I mean, this was a short
comment deep into the thing that wasn't really central to what he was talking
about. But I understand when -- and I think Americans understand, a majority of
Americans feel like the trial that he's in right now is politically motivated.
And if it was anybody else, this trial wouldn't even be happening. So I
understand that he feels like that he's being unfairly treated. And I think
that it's reasonable that someone who's being kept off the campaign trail as
the presumptive nominee has got some frustration about that.
Tapper followed up with "So, a public trial with witnesses, a jury, a defense counsel, that's
like the Gestapo, the Nazi secret police?" Oh, that's not what he said, Burgum countered. Not only that, but
And he wasn't referring
to this trial when he made that -- made that comment.
Oh - which trial was he referring to, then?
But I do think that
people understand. I mean, I'm a business guy. This is a business filing case.
If it was anybody other than a presidential candidate, this would be a misdemeanor.
How it got turned into 34 felonies, when there isn't even a -- the alleged
crime, which is -- they haven't even convinced anybody there was a crime. But
if it were, it would be a Federal Election Commission crime. And that would be
pursued by the federal courts, not by a county DA in New York.
Tapper noted some unspecified polling showing "a plurality of the American people think
that President Trump did commit a crime when it comes to this case. And if you
add in those who think it was unethical, but not illegal, it's a vast majority." And he asked, "...if Donald Trump becomes a convicted felon because of this
case, will that affect your support for him for president?"
Well, if he becomes a convicted felon in this case, that's a -- just a
travesty of justice, because, as I just said, when you have got a business
filing error that is for something that was -- again, it's not illegal to pay
people for nondisclosure agreements.
That happens all the time. I'm sure this network and others have done
that. So that's not illegal. And then you have got a -- again, they're trying
do this. And the only reason this trial is happening right now, it's the only
one that could actually be brought forward. The other four couldn't be brought
-- the other three of the four couldn't be brought forward before the election.
So,, this one is largely intended to try to achieve a result before the election.
And then you can be assured, as Americans would know, that any kind of appeal
would be pushed until after the election. So that's why everybody sees this as
politically motivated. And, like I said, a filing error is not something that
would affect any American people that are trying to put food on the table and
gas in the car. It doesn't affect them. And so this is why the outcome of this
trial is not going to change a lot of people's minds. It might actually in some
ways help President Trump because it reinforces the idea that the Biden
administration is willing to use lawfare to try to attack a political opponent.
Um, Governor - the question was, if Donald Trump becomes a convicted felon because of this case, will that affect your support for him for president. Can I get a simple yes or no answer?
There was some pushback by Tapper that Biden has nothing to do with DA Alvin Bragg, and that it's more than a 'business filing error', and the evidence Tapper's seen so far "suggests
there at least was some political motivation to this, and they hid it so as to
hide that from the public. That's a little bit more than just checking the
wrong box on a form. But let's move on..." to the comment Trump made about the Dems basically having a 40% head start because of civil service workers, unions, and "the welfare. And don't underestimate the welfare. They get the welfare to vote."
Tapper asked if the 100,000 folks getting Medicaid in Burgum's state are being paid to vote for Dems.
No, and I don't think that's the intention that he meant when he said
that...
Well, what do you think he did mean when he said that?
Burgum talked about open borders, and "national security and public safety" and "inflation touches every single American, the wars that are breaking out around the world." And then he talked about student loan debt, which has nothing to do with "the welfare" as anyone describes it.
But then you throw on top of
things like the student loan debt, and you start trying to give away hundreds
of billions of dollars of taxpayer money, and it's not even -- it's like we're
borrowing to give it away. It's not tax and spend. It's borrow, borrow from the
Chinese, and give it away. When you see those, those citizens understand those
are like preelection payoffs. Those are like, hey, folks, please vote for us
because we're -- we're relieving your debt. So, at what point does it cross
over, programs like student debt, to just vote-buying? And I think, again, the
people that are working hard and are paying off their debts and aren't getting
don't loan relief are saying, hey, this is just isn't fair. And, in America,
people want things to be fair, not unfair. And I think it's clear that there's
vote-buying going on at a scale like we have never seen before.
Governor, do you believe citizens in your state who have met the requirements of various student loan debt-relief programs should continue to be saddled with debt that was supposed to have been discharged years ago?
Tapper's comeback was actually quite good, I think - take a look.
Does that offend you more than Donald Trump telling a room full of
donors, wealthy people, millionaires, billionaires, that he's going to cut
their taxes? Is that -- is that buying votes any different?
Here's how it went after that.
DB: Well, first of all, I just reject the whole premise of this idea of
wealthy donors. I mean, the room of people that were there yesterday are all
people that were job creators. These are -- these are Americans that were --
took risks, that...
JT: So, they're not wealthy?
DB: ... sometimes risk everything they had to start -- to start a business.
Well, they're wealthy now because the American system of capitalism worked for
them to create jobs, to help them build their communities. These are among the
most generous people in the country. They're the ones that are giving back to
their -- to philanthropic efforts and building strong communities. They care
about their kids and their grandkids. Because they have been successful and
because they have worked hard is not somehow that they should be disparaged. This is what we should be celebrating. These people represent the American
dream. And part of the way the American dream works is when we have low taxes
and low regulation. And Joe Biden wants to -- he's proposing the largest tax
increase in the history of America, and proud of it.
Here's another easy one that Burgum should have been able to answer, but struggled with. Tapper asked about Trump's comments about what happens if he loses, and whether he'd accept the results or if there'd be violence. In a nutshell, Trump's not promising we'll be spared a repeat of January 6th, and of course, there are his comments that he'd 'spare' (pardon) the J6 rioters. He wondered if Burgum, who has spoken against the J6 mob, was concerned by Trump's rhetoric.
He started talking about the 1960 election when Nixon conceded to Kennedy. And he talked about 2000 when we had the hanging chads. And then he talked about 2016, and suggested that CNN "challenged" those results.
And when Tapper tried to get him focused on what might happen next January, not about 60-some-odd years ago or 20-odd-years ago or eight years ago, what happened?
Yes, well, I'm -- I'm looking forward to next January, when Vice
President Harris certifies the election for Donald Trump. I mean, the American
people are the ones that get to decide these elections. But for both parties
and for all Americans, we have got to make sure that every county, every
precinct is beyond reproach, and that everybody can be confident in our country... It can be done. It's done
all over the nation, except, in some cases, we have got -- we could have a
handful of counties that this election could turn on again, and we have just
got to make sure that, when it's done, both sides feel good about how it was
counted.
And what does that have to do with Trump pardoning J6 rioters, not committing to accepting the results of the '24 election, or promising to not provoke violence like he did in 2020? That would be absolutely nothing.
Simple question for the governor: Do you disagree or agree with Snitty Snitty Bill Barr that "there was no significant fraud that would have changed the results" of the last election?
DB: Well, again, we're talking about - what are you talking about, what happened before the ballots came in or after they came out?
JT: I'm talking about the results of the 2020 election.
DB: blah, ditty blah, ditty blah blah blah. We're talking about making sure that the 2024 election is secure. And there's no need to keep relitigating 2020. We got to talk about the policies that are going to help people understand. And again, how do we make America safe? How do we get our economy
strong again? How do we secure our borders? President Trump is going to is going to do all those things. And this is a
unique point in history, because we haven't -- since Grover Cleveland, we
haven't had a former president running against a current president. So, Americans have got a better chance than ever to say, was I better off under
President Trump than I am under Biden? And the answer for the majority of
people is that they were better off under President Trump.
Governor, is there a reason why you won't just answer the question you're asked? Did someone tell you to do that, or are you doing that on your own?
One last chance for him to do that, with this: "So, just quickly, if you could, if President Trump asks you to serve as
his vice president, will you say yes?" For Burgum, that means dropping 300 words without ever
Well, I think any of that right now is all speculation. I mean, as you
opened the show, talking about the veepstakes and the group of people on stage,
you couldn't get it -- if you had had any more on there, they'd have been
falling off the stage. And prior to that, he said there was 50. So, I think the
short list needs to be modified. Maybe there's a list of 50. If I'm on it, who
would know?
And then, for good measure, he threw in another 2oo-some-odd words, none of which was 'yes'. For all I know, he's still talking.
Gov. Kristi 'The Hunter' Noem's and Sen. Tim Scott's veep interviews are on the way.
See you around campus.
