Walker reacts to Wisconsin recall win: 'A victory for the hard-working taxpayers'

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," June 6, 2012. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: Last night's historic victory in Wisconsin for Scott Walker sent a clear message to Democrats and big labor that reforms which yield jobs and profits, well, they are just what the voters want. Now shortly after being declared the winner, Governor Walker quickly called for the state to move forward and work together.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. SCOTT WALKER, R-WIS.: What has made America amazing has been the fact that throughout our history, throughout the more than 200 years of our history, there have been men and women of courage who stood up and decided it was more important to look out for the future of their children and their grandchildren than their own political futures.

But now, it is time to move on and move forward in Wisconsin.

(CHEERING)

Tomorrow is the day after the election. And tomorrow, we are no longer opponents. Tomorrow, we are one as Wisconsinites, so together, we can move Wisconsin forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Now, the question is, did the Left hear that message? And the answer, to no one's surprise is, well, no. Instead, big labor and the left moved to practicing their famed hateful rhetoric that we've all come to know. On Twitter, believe it or not, several tweets explicitly called for the assassination of Governor Walker. Quote, "Somebody going to kill Scott Walker, man?" Read one tweet, posted by a user. Authorities are now investigating these threats.

And now the leaders of the left are trying to spin their epic failure by looking ahead toward the 2012 presidential election. DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz released a statement that said, quote, "If Mitt Romney thinks he's going to be the first Republican to win Wisconsin since Ronald Reagan, he's got another think coming."

Now, wasn't she the one that said Wisconsin was a dry run for November? Now, here with his take on this historic win from last night and what it means for the state, the country and the election, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Governor, welcome back. Thanks for being with us.

WALKER: Sean, great to be with you.

HANNITY: All right. So, I look at the size, you increased the size of your victory from 2010. You look all across the boards here. The President was afraid to even go in and campaign for your opponent. A lot of things happened here. You even got nearly 40 percent of union households in your state. What happened? What does it mean? And is there an impact for 2012?

WALKER: Well, I think there is. And I think it was real clear. Not only did Republican and conservative voters vote for me, many independents and many even in some cases, some Democrats voted for me because they like the fact that of all things, we had the courage to take on these tough issues, the courage to take on both the economic and fiscal crisis in our state, to take on the heat, to take on the special interest and ultimately stand with the hard-working taxpayers. I think people want that and I think they want that not only in my election, yesterday. And they certainly want that in the fall, where, Lord knows, we have even more dreadful news approaching at the federal level. We need leaders of courage to take on these big challenges?

HANNITY: All right. Throughout this process, I mean, sit got pretty mean at the times. I mean, both for you and Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch. You had protesters outside of your house. Your family was harassed. You know, emotions were running very high into the election. Now was at post-election, now you've got these other threats to deal with. What do you think about that? What do you think about what happened to your state in the process? Was it hurtful to the State of Wisconsin that they tried to recall you here?

WALKER: Well, I think what we saw was -- remember last February and March of 2011, you literally had tens of millions of dollars poured into Wisconsin. You had thousands of people coming from outside of Wisconsin. Trying to target our reforms and then to target our Supreme Court race and then to target six state Senate Republicans. And then last fall, they started the recall against me and against Rebecca Kleefisch, our lieutenant governor. Each step of the way, there was more and more passion, much of that was coming from outside the State of Wisconsin. My hope is, the day after the election into the coming days, some of those people will move on to Ohio and Florida and other states, where there will going to be tight presidential elections and allow us here in Wisconsin to focus on what we do, which is to have passionate debates and then move on and move forward.

HANNITY: Am I right, Governor? My interpretation that what happened in your state last night is a crippling blow to organized labor, in other words that people have come to realize that we've got to balance our budgets. And that's on the state level. You inherited a big deficit. And that also means federally. Do you think that the country has come to grips now? Is that one of the messages from last night with the -- go ahead.

WALKER: Yes, I think it is, Sean. And I would add to that a phrase we hear often. I think it was a triumph more than anything for middle class taxpayers. You see, for years, in my state, and I think arguably across the country, middle-class taxpayers have overwhelmingly paid for the expansion of government, for the expansion of big government liberal policies, and once and for all including as you mention, even a lot of private sector union households stood up and said, you know, we are taxpayers, we think this is going out of control. We think this is gotten too big. It is only fair to expect public employees like me and others in the public sector to pay something close to what our neighbors and our fellow citizens do in the private sector. And I think this was a victory for the hard-working taxpayers of our state that, hopefully, a victory for the hard-working taxpayers of America.

HANNITY: You know, it was an interesting, in the exit poll last night, they asked the question who people would vote for and it was Obama, Romney, they didn't put in the word undecided in there. Which I found pretty interesting. So, I thought it was somewhat a skewed poll. Is Wisconsin now today more in play for Governor Romney than it was before yesterday?

WALKER: Oh, absolutely. And in fact, for all the hype about the exit polls. Remember, the exit polls early on suggested it was a neck-and-neck race and would be possible that I could lose. And at the end, obviously it was a bigger margin that I won in 2010.

So, I would be careful about reading too much in the middle of those exit polls. I think Governor Romney has a clear chance. He went from six months ago, where he was almost a foregone conclusion, the president would carry Wisconsin, to one where I think it's going to be incredibly competitive, just as it was for President Bush back in 2000, in 2004, where Wisconsin was the closest blue state in America. I think it will be just as competitive in the 2012 election. But the key for Romney is, for Governor Romney, is he has to make the case to voters here and across the country that he's in a position where he's going to push the same sort of bold reforms that we did here in Wisconsin because I think, not only can they work for America. I think now more than ever, we desperately need to have them work for America.

HANNITY: How angry is the left and organized labor that, you know, here the president was last Friday, Minneapolis, he's in Chicago, he's in the area. And the only support he gives your opponent is a last-minute tweet. You know, I thought that was pretty weak. And now organized labor, they're mad. They felt that they put their necks on the line for him. And they spent a lot of money supporting him. And they felt like in their hour of need that President Obama abandoned them. Do you think he might have lost some support as a result of this?

WALKER: Well, I can understand why they would, just from a purely, from a political standpoint, I can understand why any group would felt they were an ally of any candidate, would feel frustrated if that candidate, particularly in this case, the president promised in the primaries four years ago, that he would stand up with organized labor, any time collective bargaining was challenged. Whether you agree or disagree that was a good policy or not, that's what he said back then. So, I can understand why those labor leaders will feel that way. I think it's going to backfire. And I think not only with the union leaders. I think a lot of people in my state and a lot of other swing states, more than anything, they are looking for political courage, running away from someone you claim you believe in at a time when they need you the most, isn't political courage. I think it's a careful calculation.

HANNITY: It's interesting, because in November of 2007, I found a quote from Obama to labor supports, he said, look, if American workers are being denied their right to organize in collectively bargain when I am in the White House, he said, I will put on a comfortable pair of shoes myself and walk the picket line with you as president of the United States. And I don't think a tweet meets that standard.

Let me ask you one last question about this. The big talking point of the left is that, well, we were outspent seven to one. I look at them money and my math is little bit different here. And that is that when you add all the money, the unions spent, in this effort to recall you, the numbers are quite equal. If that's the standard, then President Obama, you know, outspent, you know, John McCain, three to one back in 2008.

WALKER: There is no doubt about it. You go all the way back to last February, which is really when this started, the big government union bosses put millions of dollars in to try and fight our reforms, they spent millions on the state Supreme Court race last Spring attacking me. They spent tens of millions of dollars in the summer, trying to take out six state Senate Republicans in recall elections, targeting me and of course, starting late last fall, they started the recall process. So they have been engaged for a year and-a-half, they poured not only millions of dollars but thousands of bodies here in the state of Wisconsin. We had to be up against that and all the earned media that they got from the protest. And yet, once we got the truth out, that was our secret weapon.

HANNITY: Yes, it's true. You know, I think the best thing to come out of this Governor, because I think every state needs to balance its budget. We have to come to grips nationally with entitlement spending. And I think the best message here is that the people of Wisconsin send the message to politicians, if you do the right thing and you balance the budget and you stand on your principles, we are not going to abandon you. And I think that might help other politicians that have a tendency to buckle grow a little bit of a spine, as you showed throughout this process. So, congratulations. And we appreciate you being with us.

WALKER: Thank you. And I certainly hope so for the sake of that, not only for my state but for the sake of this country. Thanks, Sean.

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