a lengthy list of Republican officials took to Twitter to beseech President
Trump to specifically call out the white supremacists for these Republicans it's
clear the president's statement yesterday was far too vague Senator
Marco Rubio tweeted it's very important for the nation to hear the president
describe events in Charlotte's Ville for what they are a terror attack by white
supremacists New Jersey Governor Chris Christie a friend of the presidents
wrote quote we reject the racism and violence of white nationalists like the
ones acting out in Charlottesville everyone in leadership must speak out
Colorado senator Cory Gardner a Republican wrote mr. president we must
call evil by its name these were white supremacists and this was domestic
terrorism those are just three of many joining me now is president Trump's
homeland security adviser Tom bastard mr. boxer thanks so much for joining us
the president decried hatred bigotry and violence on many sides on many sides
Republican officials as you heard just there did not think that was sufficient
on behalf of the White House are you prepared to unequivocally condemn the
white supremacists racists Nazis and alt-right marchers yeah absolutely I am
Jake and let me start by thanking you here and taking a moment to pass my deep
condolences and the White House's deepest condolences to the family and
friends of the woman who was was tragically killed yesterday and to the
family and friends and fellow servicemen that served with the two police officers
who died responding to this terrible violence yesterday it needs to be said
to put this into context this wasn't just some fighting this turned into a
unacceptable degree of violence at all levels and ended in the most tragic way
possible and we have two police officers dead Florida the core backbone of the
homeland security community we all weep and pray for them as sometimes these
these losses aren't noted enough in this political hyperbole we have a young
woman here that passed away and we have others critically injured so let me
start with that and then let me answer your question I think the president
United States and I appreciate the mayor yesterday and this morning talking to me
but earlier on your program here a moment ago saying this isn't about
President Trump this is about a degree of violence and a hatred that cannot be
tolerated in this country I for one was with the president
yesterday and proud of the fact that he stood up and calmly looked into the
camera and condemned this violence and bigotry in all its forms this racial
intolerance and racial bigotry cannot be condoned well you say that the president
was clear in condemning this bigotry but listen to this this is from an infamous
neo-nazi website quote Trump comments were good he said he loves us all also
refused to answer a question about white nationalists supporting him no
condemnation at all when asked to condemn he just walked out of the room
really really good god bless him unquote mr. BA sir
that's a neo-nazi website celebrating how equivocal and vague the President of
the United States was are you willing to at least concede the president Trump was
not clear enough in specifically condemning white supremacy no you know
the words of the ignorant bear little with me and should bear less with you in
the media unfortunately they don't and what I would say is that the president
not only condemned the violence and stood up at a time in a moment when calm
was necessary and did and didn't dignify the names of these groups of people but
rather address the fundamental issue and so Jake what you need to focus on is the
rest of his statement the president didn't just call for human beings to
respect one another which is pragmatist core fundamental bare-minimum but he
called for ideally Americans to love one another for all God's children to love
one another that is a fundamental assault on the
very nature of the hatred that we're seeing here and I guess you're going to
continue to press in the words he didn't say what I'd like you to focus for just
a moment on the rest of the statement that he did say this is the kind of
reputation of hatred that needs to be covered more I think its leadership well
it's not really what what I think it's about what Senator Marco Rubio and
Senator Cory Gardner and senator Orrin Hatch and Senator Ted Cruz and Governor
Chris Christie and Congressman Pete sessions and on and on and on what they
think yeah I don't they have gone from they have gone public making it very
clear that they don't think President Trump was specific enough in condemning
white supremacists so it doesn't really have any effect or barring what I think
I'm asking you all these Republican officials who want
the president to succeed are saying this didn't go far enough
yeah I think you should give yourself more credit because what you do think
does invade and pervade the things you say on air and the things that you cover
I also think that what you believe and what you think is important as the
president does as well he believes all Americans should have a conversation and
a open debate on this matter this is unacceptable
this violence cannot stand he made that clear yesterday I think that the other
statements that you've highlighted Governor Christie and the other leaders
in the party that you've quoted have all said things similar they've all
denounced the violence denounced the groups that showed up and by the way we
had protesters and counter protesters that showed up yesterday this is the
very challenge that confronted the mayor and his police officials and Fire
officials the National Guard officials that were called out in advance these
were people who showed up intentionally looking for trouble
these were people that showed up to protest a statue I'm sure there were
good people in the group that had various opinions on the removal or
maintenance of the statue but what they were what they what they found when they
showed up were groups from outside that showed up on both sides looking for
trouble dressed in riot gear prepared for
violence it's not tolerated it's not tolerable I think what you saw is
Republican unity in terms of denouncing it and I think you saw the president
stand up very clearly and not only benefit but rise to a presidential level
of calling for a counter message of love and dignity and respect for fellow human
beings how many people did the counter protesters kill yesterday mr. boxer well
I'll tell you one death is too many Jake but that was invited to kind of
reservation was the victim I was a founder i don't--i the victim one on one
drama Jake I don't I don't I don't for one minute I don't for one moment and I
won't allow you for one second to put me in a position of being an apologist for
somebody who is now a charged murderer this individual should face swift
justice the president knighted States shares that view I know he does I share
that view deeply and I don't want to be put in a position I won't allow you to
put me or him in a position of not finding that finding that justice as
swiftly as possible just think they just decried bullshit
only for a moment you just decried bow ties here we have a situation mr. boxer
work we're Nina no I don't I don't I don't pay alright Hank and others went
to Charlottesville Virginia chanting anti-semitic anti African
American and other racist slogans provoking the temple of Charlottesville
Virginia making them feel intimidated yes violence did break out the one
person was killed by one of these alt-right Klan Nazi protesters and you
just decried both sides of this and no issue no no I didn't and you're making
this issue a little bit distorted so what i would do i is the individual to
committed murder yesterday what i would do though is quibble with this notion
that any of this is acceptable these groups showed up spewing hate these
groups showed up looking for violence what i think it's just important for
people to understand what groups are of course the groups that showed well I
heard to the groups that class yesterday I think it was pretty graphically
evident why you're talking about the model not seeing it good idea Nazis are
you talking about the can approach one of the one of the things that I think
the mayor will make clear to you and probably stated earlier on your program
I know he and I talked about this morning was the difficulty he had in
planning for this event this was an event in which we anticipated violence
in which he anticipated violence in which there was violence being rehearsed
and planned for in events that preceded the the events of yesterday I know the
mayor and others sought relief in federal court to move this protest
because they anticipated violence I know the mayor and the governor acted very
responsibly by calling up the National Guard in advance of yesterday's event so
I don't assign blame or swage blame or try to press blame to different groups
Jake the point I'm trying to make here is that what we saw yesterday was an
unacceptable planned demonstration of violence and what I would say is with
respect to murder and I'm a little bit indignant over the way you phrase that
apology if I took it the wrong way but I place the blame most squarely and
most directly on the murderer that's sitting alleged murderer that's the the
driver of the vehicle it's no no no question in my mind the driver that
vehicle acted with intent that is the driver of that vehicle
he is rightly accused of being a murderer and I was I would one more
point point out that the Attorney General yesterday after the president
went on national television and pledged all the federal support that he could
muster for this and that was necessary put out a press release last night that
the US attorney and the FBI and the Attorney General are all pursuing this
is a civil rights investigation we'll see where the fact take us on all the
people involved yesterday and on the driver of the vehicle if that were to
bear out with the facts that could carry a much different penalty as I understand
it there's a second degree murder charge now there's evidence to support the
civil rights abuse or a hate crime abuse that that investigation could lead to
that could carry a death penalty as my understanding I wanted that's the
appropriate and swift justice that I'd call for and I won't condone any act of
murder and I certainly won't be put in a position of defending it I guess one of
the issues that is being voiced by the Chris Christie's Marco Rubio's Orrin
Hatch's of the world is that there seems to be a moral equivalence being made
here between the counter protesters and the neo-nazis Klan members and all right
supporters and there's this additional context of course to all of it the
president refusing to condemn white supremacists and David Duke on this very
show a year ago a year and a half ago his retweeting white supremacists the
top White House advisors Steve ban and who said his former employer Breitbart
was the platform of the alt-right and take a listen to White House adviser
Sebastien Gorka just this week telling Breitbart radio the radical Islamic
extremists are the only problem while white supremacists are not take a listen
it's as constant oh it's the white man it's the white supremacist that's the
problem mode ISM surely it's not the position of
the Trump White House the white supremacists are not a problem
certainly not I'm not certain the context of that Gorka quote I can tell
you that where I spend a great deal of my time and a great deal unfortunately
of the American taxpayers resources is combating a global jihadi terrorist
problem that Jake as you know is plagued the nation eventually huge as US or
international problem of course and it's something that we focus a great deal on
in fact we make difficult decisions every day and how to balance and
rebalance the use of those resources to confront our enemies we've got
nation-state problems in North Korea and we've got asymmetric terrorists global
jihadi problems that have spread across the entire globe and what we do is we
try to apply those resources in a way that is risk-based and focused on the
threat I don't understand what and don't have the context for what
dr. Walker was speaking to a moment ago but I will double down and be very clear
and direct with you for a fourth time but the violence we saw yesterday is
unacceptable there is no equivocation in my mind and my voice or in my eyes and
so if I haven't made it clear enough to you I'll answer it a fifth time and I'll
do it all day but I think what's important for you and your viewers to
understand is that the president feels that way as well I think what you're
trying to get at and what you're trying to drive here is is why the president
didn't say something different or say something more I believe that the subset
of all the groups and all the people who might justify their insanity or violence
are covered by the president has cleared denunciation yesterday and I think
declaring racial bigotry unacceptable was a very very smart and calming thing
for the president to do it was a leadership decision that he took I think
it's also important to remember that he spoke in the moment and at a time when
calm had not yet been restored and so to the extent that there were groups
clashing at the moment in time of the context of his remarks I think you
should think that through or your viewers should as they understand it
interpret his remarks that's not a moral equivalency
it's not a moral equivalence equivalency to to to preach love either it's not
meant to not condemn hate but it's meant to offer a counter view that could allow
us to move forward and heal I guess the point is and this is again a point being
made by Republican officials like Marco Rubio Ted Cruz Cory Gardner and others
is that when you just condemn groups as opposed to specifically white
supremacists Nazis Klan members it creates this vagueness that if I read
you in that neo-nazi website quote allows neo-nazis to think he's not
condemning us he's Condesa he's condemning anybody that was violent and
that's the problem and you on the show today
have said that you condemn groups and condemn actions and contend bigotry but
I haven't heard you say I condemn white supremacists I condemn neo-nazis I
condemn me all right I haven't heard that and I think a lot of people were
upset a lot of Republican officials they didn't hear it from President Trump but
I don't want to belabor this point okay well well I think you bill it I think
you've belabored it so let me say I condemn white supremacists and racists
and white Nazi groups and all the other groups that espouse this kind of hatred
and exclusion I can't be clear okay let's turn in North Korea because
President Trump escalated his war of words with North Korea on Friday take a
listen he utters one threat in the form of an overt threat which by the way he
has been uttering for years and his family has been uttering for years or if
he does anything with respect to Guam or anyplace else that's an American
territory for an American ally he will truly regret it and he will regret it
fast so I just want to understand what the president's redline here clearly he
seems to be saying that the US would respond military if North Korea were to
attack the US an American territory an American ally but he also earlier that
we talked about threats if North Korea were simply to issue another verbal
threat something that they've been doing for years quite frankly would the u.s.
take military action or is it actually an action that is the redline
well one thing that's very clear I was with your question till the very end
there I think President Trump has wisely not drawn red lines help us wisely
avoided them in fact the one red line that he did inherit from the last
president he enforced and I think what's clear is the president wants to match
his rhetoric with his actions and be as measured as possible but also and I
can't stress this enough to look into the camera to look into the eyes of the
leadership in North Korea and say with no unwavering resolve that it is
unacceptable that they continue to pursue a nuclearized ICBM program in the
Korean Peninsula in North Korea this is something that President Trump has
inherited he inherited frankly the last three presidents so this transcends
partisan politics behaving in ways that try to deploy and employ diplomacy in
words without the necessary military action and might to give the space
necessary for those talks and resolutions to succeed and at this point
President Trump has not just issued tough talk he's responded to it and so I
think the context of the clip that you just played there bears some repetition
the context here is the growing escalatory and very provocative
unacceptable threat from a North Korean leader who at this point seems not to
recognize the clearly outmatched position that he and his people sit in
any escalation any conflict that he would try to pick with the United States
or his allies would lead to his rapid and immediate defeat and for him to
continue to threaten the United States of America Guam its allies partners in
the region South Korea and Japan it's just unacceptable and so what what I
think is important here is that the president has stated and has not backed
away from his statement that he has at this point reached the conclusion that
this leader needs to hear that he is not anymore going to talk about passive
solutions and he is going to demand change demand the denuclearized North
Korean government and by the way and by the way this president who some
people some commentators who have said I said wouldn't be able to galvanize the
world or perform on the world stage President Trump has now gotten China
Russia and the entire membership of the UN Security Council to come together
with unity condemning not only condemning but also calling for the same
goal in North Korea this is an opportunity for this president to lead
he's lead he's led in North Korea he's leading in South America is leading here
in the home front and I think yesterday what you'll see here was a theme of
unity he went to the Middle East and called for love and a cessation of
violence he called for love and a cessation of violence yesterday here in
Bedminster with respect to Charlottesville and he's calling for a
unity and peace in the North Korean Peninsula and he's got every foreign
leader those in the Security Council and others on his side and with him as he
leaves this world towards that vision of peace and love and so I know that's
going to be hard for people to hear I know that's going to be hard for you and
others to hear but that is exactly the theme and the message that you need to
carry for president Trump's leadership it's not hard for me to hear at all 15
to 0 vote in the United Nations Security Council as we've been reporting since it
happened last weekend Tom Bossert White House Homeland Security Advisor thank
you so much for your time today Thank You mr. fabric