'This Week' Transcript 9-17-23: Rep. Hakeem Jeffries & Rep. Nancy Mace

A rush transcript of "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" airing on Sunday, September 19, 2023 on ABC News is below. This copy may not be in its final form, may be updated and may contain minor transcription errors. For previous show transcripts, visit the "This Week" transcript archive.

JONATHAN KARL, ABC "THIS WEEK" CO-ANCHOR: Presidential candidate, the twice impeached former president. This morning we’ll talk to the top Democrat in the house, Minority leader Hakeem Jeffries. Democrats see Jefferies as a speaker in waiting just five seats away from taking the gavel. He’s leading a strikingly unified House minority while the actual speaker of the House, McCarthy, struggles to keep together a loudly divided Republican majority. While Democrats expressed outrage over the impeachment inquiry, the special counsel, appointed by Biden’s own attorney general, indicted the president’s son, Hunter, on charges that he lied about being drug free when he purchased a gun in October of 2018.

All of this is going down as Congress seems to be barreling towards a government shutdown. If that happens, and it sure seems like it will, Democrats will blame Republicans. But congressional chaos can hurt the economy, and that’s not good for President Biden regardless of who’s to blame.

We’ll get to it all, including Trump’s latest legal troubles, but we begin with New York’s Democratic Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, the top Democrat in the House.

Mr. Leader, thank you for joining us.

I want to start with those new charges against the president’s son, Hunter. As you know, Republicans have been saying that Hunter Biden was getting special treatment. But now that these charges have come out, you hear from the president’s son’s legal team that these charges would never had been brought if his name weren’t Biden.

What’s your sense? Is there something political here? Would these charges have been brought if this was not the president’s son?

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): Well, good morning. It’s great to be with you.

I certainly think that that’s a case that will be made in a compelling fashion by the president’s son’s attorneys. And they should vigorously defend him.

Hunter Biden is entitled to the presumption of innocence. The matter is before a court of law right now. And let’s see hot it proceeds.

I think what’s more important is that President Joe Biden continues to lead us forward. To focus on the things that matter. To build an economy that works for everyday Americans that’s built from the middle out and the bottom up. And to lean in to creating a situation where every single American in every single zip code can truly experience the American dream.

KARL: But is there frustration that you have this indictment coming again out of Biden’s Justice Department that plays right into what Republicans are trying to do, which is to campaign against the Biden family and suggest there’s corruption there. Now you have special counsel indicting the president’s son.

JEFFRIES: Well, if anything the indictment indicates that as President Biden and his administration have consistently said, there is no interaction between the president, the administration and the Department of Justice, which is going to simply follow the facts, apply the law, and president the truth as they see it to the American people.

KARL: Meanwhile you have Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy launching this impeachment inquiry and he did it just days after saying he would not launch an impeachment inquiry without a full vote of the House. Obviously, the voter never happened, and he did it anyway.

What’s going on here?

JEFFRIES: Let’s be clear, House Republicans are in the middle of a civil war. A civil war has the following attributes, chaos, disfunction and extremism. The House Republican civil war is hurting hardworking American taxpayers and limiting our ability to be able to solve problems on their behalf. It’s unfortunate, but as House Democrats we’re going to continue to find common ground with the other side of the aisle, to work with Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans and President Biden. And hopefully the House Republicans will come along so that we can work to make sure we are funding the government, that we have a government that can provide for the health, the safety, the economic well-being of the American people and we can end the partisan, political gamesmanship that right now has captured House Republicans.

KARL: As you know, McCarthy is saying that he is just doing this because he wants to get to the facts. And they’re saying this will give them new subpoena power. But the Trump Justice Department, after the first impeachment of Donald Trump, issued an opinion that the White House did not have to cooperate, did not have to produce documents or compel witnesses to testify unless the impeachment happened with a full vote of the House.

So, what’s your sense, will – will Democrats, should Democrats, should the White House cooperate with – with this impeachment inquiry?

JEFFRIES: The White House has cooperated, and I believe the White House will continue to cooperate because there is nothing to hide. There is no facts in the record to suggest that President Biden engaged in wrongdoing. There are no facts on the record to suggest that President Biden engaged in impeachable offenses. There are no facts on the record to suggest that President Biden broke the law in any way, shape or form.

This is an illegitimate impeachment inquiry. It’s a product of the House Republican’s civil war. Why in the world, in the middle of all the issues that we are trying to tackle, all of the problems that we are trying to solve on behalf of the American people, would House Republicans inject this illegitimate impeachment inquiry in the middle of us trying to do the business of the American people. It’s quite unfortunate. It’s wrong. It’s distracting. And it should end now.

KARL: So, are you going to be able to do the business of the American people. It seems like we’re headed towards a government shutdown. What’s going on? Are you having backchannel conversations with McCarthy or – or with Republican moderates? Where is this going?

JEFFRIES: Well, it’s my expectation that we will continue to have conversations as we move forward. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, has our full confidence. And we are ready, willing and able to talk about moving America forward.

You know, we have a vision to put people over politics. That’s what we should be doing. That’s why we were sent to Washington, D.C., not to make an ideological point, but to make a difference. And we’re going to continue to focus on making life more affordable for everyday Americans, lowering costs, better paying jobs, safer communities, defending democracy, fighting for reproductive freedom, and, of course, building an economy that works for everyday Americans. And we urge our Republican colleagues in the House to join us. Stop fighting each other in the reckless, reprehensible Republican civil war and let’s get to the business of the American people.

KARL: You and McCarthy both talked about working together when he became speaker. If it comes to this motion to vacate, you hear Matt Gaetz and – and other McCarthy critics saying that they are moving in that direction. They’re going to try to remove him as speaker. Will – will you? Will Democrats help bail McCarthy out? Are you going to be there to – to help him, are you going to go along with the effort to – to oust him?

JEFFRIES: Well, we haven’t given it any thought one way or the other because, Jon, as I've indicated, we’re going to continue to focus on solving problems for the American people. Now, if that moment presents itself, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. But what we should be focused on right now is avoiding an unnecessary government shutdown that will hurt the ability of our economy to continue to recover, which President Biden has led a tremendous recovery to date. And that shouldn’t be interrupted because of partisan, political gamesmanship.

KARL: OK, we – obviously this is happening against the backdrop of the UAW strike. Are you going to Detroit? Are you with the autoworkers on this?

JEFFRIES: I'll be heading to Detroit a little later on today. Looking forward to standing in solidarity with the United Auto Workers who are fighting for the fundamental American dream, which is quite simple, if you work hard and play by the rules, you should be able to provide a comfortable living for yourself, for your family, educate your children, purchase a home, and one day retire with grace and dignity. That’s the principle upon which the United Auto Workers are standing, and I stand with them.

KARL: How long do you think this is going to drag on?

JEFFRIES: Well, I think it’s all of our hope that it will end sooner rather than later. But record profits have been generated. Incredible economic prosperity has been generated for the corporations upon whom the UAW works with. And so I think it’s only fair that everyone share in those record profits in the prosperity that has been created. That’s a fundamental American principle. That’s why we were able to build in the aftermath of World War II the great American middle class. And we need to keep that going for everyone.

KARL: But, see, I have to ask you something that your predecessor, Nancy Pelosi, said this week, she was asked a very direct question about Kamala Harris as – as Joe Biden’s running mate. Let me play the exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CNN ANCHOR, ANDERSON COOPER: Is Vice President Kamala Harris the best running mate for this president?

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): He thinks so. And that’s what matters.

CNN ANCHOR, ANDERSON COOPER: But do you think he is the – the best running mate of –

PELOSI: She’s the vice president of the United States. And what people to say to me, well, why isn’t she doing this or that? I say it’s because she’s the vice president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KARL: But why couldn’t she directly answer the question about whether or not Kamla Harris is the best running mate for Joe Biden?

JEFFRIES: Far be it for me to ever speak for Nancy D’Alesandro Pelosi, the greatest speaker of all time. She’s very capable of answering that question on her own. I will say that Vice President Harris has been a great vice president. She’ll be a great running mate. She’s been a tremendous partner in the things that President Biden has been able to accomplish, which has been phenomenal. Not just rescuing the economy in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, but fixing our crumbling infrastructure, clean water in every single community, bringing domestic manufacturing jobs back home to the United States of American through the Chips and Science Act, standing up for our veterans, gun safety legislation for the first time in 30 years, and, of course, capping the price of insulin at $35 per month for millions of Americans. President Biden has led that effort. House Democrats and Senate Democrats have worked with the administration to get those things done.

KARL: OK.

JEFFRIES: Vice President Harris has been a tremendous partner.

All right, Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader in the House, thank you for joining us.

JEFFRIES: Thank you, Jon.

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.