Exclusive: Gov. Scott Walker fires back at pro-union mob

close

Video

Exclusive: Gov. Scott Walker fires back at pro-union mob

Wisconsin governor sounds off on protestors, NY Times attack

This is a rush transcript from "The Kelly File," February 17, 2015. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

MEGYN KELLY, HOST: Joining me now, Governor Scott Walker. Grandma and grandpa, Governor? Really? Your mother and father are being subjected to protesters on the front lawn of their own home? Were they there at the time?

GOV. SCOTT WALKER, R-WIS.: They were. I think my dad said this morning when I talked to him, he turned his hearing aid down a little bit. My mom is so wonderful; she was actually half tempted to send them some chocolate chip cookies outside because she sends those to our neighbors all the time. But my neighbors are kind of bummed because normally she's dropping off chocolate chip cookies. It was a little hard for her to go out and do that.

KELLY: I mean, where they, was this a nothing burger for them, or were they a little put off? I guess your -- how old are they, in their 70s?

WALKER: Yup, they're in their mid-70s. Unfortunately, four years ago, they had some experience in this. They were living there since I started out as governor; they've lived with us, when my parents moved in. My kids were still in high school back then. We tried to come home each night. We had points where there were literally thousands of protesters in the height of it, four years ago. My mom not only had a protester out in front of her house, she had someone chase my youngest son and her down the aisle at the grocery store, just to yell at them four years ago. I think those sorts of things, they'll backfire.

KELLY: I mean, governor -- it's too much, right? It's like these folks have a right to be angry if they don't like the state budget proposals and they're controversial, they're gonna make cuts to the colleges in Wisconsin. But don't you think it goes too far, whether the politician is a Republican or a Democrat, to go to a person's home?

WALKER: Four years ago, in the height of the protests, I had someone who -- a Republican lawmaker who was from Janesville, used to be a union member -- actually, a union leader, at one of the unions where the old GM plant was. He said we would protest by the plant, we would protest by the manager's office, we would never go to the manager's personal home because that's crossing a line. But that's what they did with repeatedly, with the protests, with the death threats. We haven't had those kinds of threats that we had four years ago, but we have some of the same sorts of personal protests out in front now.

I just think in the end, it back fires because good people at least here in the Midwest, realize you can have your disagreements, but really taking it out in front of someone's home, particularly with elderly parents, that's a little too much.

KELLY: Right and apparently they have not yet apologized; I guess they don't feel any remorse about Pat and Lou, sitting inside looking out, saying, oh, no. Let's talk about other potential backfiring. Because -- last week, Governor Howard Dean, your friend, who used to govern the state of Vermont, basically told the world, they need to worry whether you are a dumb-dumb because you did not finish college, you left in your senior year, and here's what he had to say about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "MORNING JOE"/MSNBC, FEB. 12)

HOWARD DEAN, DNC FORMER CHAIRMAN: Scott Walker, were he to become president, would be the first president in many generations who did not have a college degree.

The issue is, how well educated is this guy? And that's the problem...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you serious?

DEAN: I am absolutely serious.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you serious?

JOE SCARBOROUGH, CO-HOST: I like that line, that's a good line.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

KELLY: He said there are a lot of people who are going to worry about that. And you say?

WALKER: I said it's interesting, that's kind of the elitist government knows best, tapped down approach from Washington we've heard for years. I don't know about you, Megyn, but we've had an Ivy League trained lawyer in the White House for the last six years who was pretty good at reading off a teleprompter, but done a lousy job leading this country. I'd rather have a fighter who's actually proven he could take on the big government special interest and win.

I think there's a lot of Americans out there that scratch their head and say, we have people who help found Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, plenty of other successful business enterprises across the country that did the exact same thing I did, have an opportunity to start a career, an opportunity to start a business, senior year of college and went out and did it.

I've got two sons in college, I hope they finish, I expect that. My wife and I helping to fund their pathway along with the hard work they put in. So we value college for those who pursue that career. But in the end you don't have to have that to be successful like many Americans have over the years.

KELLY: You know this is what's going to happen; even the Washington Post ran a long article last week about how questions linger about your college experience. I mean, it's been no mystery that you did not finish college. But look at this, "A Scott Walker mulls White House bid, questions linger over college exit." And they had a quote -- do you remember Michael Fleet? He taught you a class on politics of the third world. And he went on record saying, you, governor; you seemed utterly bored in class. What say you?

WALKER: Yeah, it's one of those amazing things where I think the more the left works themselves up in a thither, like you saw at the protests in front of my home, like you see with issues like this, they think there has to be more to this, that somehow I couldn't have possibly left to take a job at the American Red Cross, there had to be something more to the story.

KELLY: Well the intimation is you were bored when you were 19 about third world politics, so therefore, you cannot fight ISIS.

WALKER: Yeah. An early-morning class where half the students were probably asleep, I don't know. That's not an uncommon practice. I think people want to judge what you have done lately. To me, in terms of world politics, I would like to have a governor just like Ronald Reagan who was a governor back before 1980, come in with a strong sense of leadership, that time to take on the soviets and others who were adversaries of the United States --

(CROSSTALK)

KELLY: I got you. I'll say for the record, maybe Michael Fleet was boring. I mean, we don't know.

Let me ask you this. You got into some trouble for not coming out, straight out and answering the question on evolution when you were across the pond. Some said, hey, you want access to the red button on the nukes? You got to answer everything. You came out and sort of tried to do it after the fact. But do you wish you had been clearer when you were asked that question?

WALKER: No, I think what I should have said is, I was there on the taxpayers' dime to do traded investment, I told that group upfront that's why I didn't talk about foreign policy. I think the taxpayers of Wisconsin would have been upset saying why are you off talking about political questions? I have no problem answering the question; I answered it like you said, after the fact. I think God created the Earth. I think science and my faith aren't incompatible. I think those are pretty strong statements. But I also think if you're there on official business, you should stick to official business and not take the bait from reporters out there, particularly from some from the UK.

KELLY: Governor Scott Walker, great to see you.

WALKER: Thank you, Megyn.

Content and Programming Copyright 2015 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2015 CQ-Roll Call, Inc. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of CQ-Roll Call. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.