This is a rush transcript from “The Story with Martha MacCallum” November 2, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
MARTHA MACCALLUM, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: I'm ready. Looking forward to you
think we're all ready thank you Bret great to have you in New York tonight
and good evening to you everybody. I'm Martha MacCallum in New York City
and this is THE STORY.
On this election eve we're just now hours away from the final days to vote
and the candidates are sprinting with all their might as the clock winds
down knowing that every single interaction could be a possible vote and
that the counting is actually already underway tonight in many states
because of the way the nature of this election this year.
President Trump holding five rallies in four states today, all in states
that he has won in 2016. Right now he is in Travers City, Michigan he has
held 18 rallies in five days hoping to bring home voters and to fire the
polls once again on his side.
And then you've got his opponent the Former Vice President Joe Biden
started his day in Ohio then headed back to Pennsylvania where the two
candidates are separated by just less than three points. That has narrowed
quite a bit over the last several weeks and Pennsylvania is clearly a very
big focus tomorrow night.
Joining me now we have got a great team for you this evening, Karl Rove
Former Deputy Chief of Staff under President George W. Bush and Former DNC
Chairwoman Donna Brazile, both are Fox New Contributors and both have a few
elections under their belt. Great to see you both tonight, thank you very
much for being here.
Donna, let me start with you. You know just watching the Biden folks across
the map today, they are sounding extremely confident that they are going to
get to 270 tomorrow night. Are you as confident as they sound?
DONNA BRAZILE, FORMER DNC CHAIR: Well, I know the difference between 2020
and 2016 when the Clinton Campaign was confident but didn't have all of the
ballots in the bank and all of the voters. I'm confident that the Biden
Campaign are out there right now trying to just make sure that everybody
gets their ballots in as well as get people to turn out tomorrow. So we are
confident, but not overconfident and God knows, unlike four years ago, we
are not arrogant.
MACCALLUM: Karl, what is your sense on the Trump side? I've spoken to some
people at the campaign there? There are some states they feel good about
and some they are not so sure about tonight.
KARL ROVE, FORMER G. W. BUSH DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF: Yes, I think that first
of all, buoyed by the enthusiasm of the crowds that he's drawing. They have
confidence in their ground game. I've been talking to few of the people
involved in it and they have good reason to be comfortable or confident
about their ground again.
But that only matters if the race in that state is close. A good ground
game could buy you a one or two points or maybe 2.5 points but it can't buy
you five and the utility of having a ground game is, there may be a bunch
of states that are going to be decided by various slim margins.
I think this race tomorrow there at least what I get from the Trump people
is, they are hoping this race tomorrow has some surprises, always have them
but they're hoping for surprises and some places that the Democrats may be
a little too overconfident about.
MACCALLUM: And what do you think, Karl, just staying with you for a moment
before I go back to Donna. What is your assessment of these close states I
mean, look at North Carolina, you look at Georgia, look at Arizona what are
you seeing out there tonight?
ROVE: Well, we saw what could be happening when we got down at 7:30 pm on
Friday night, the Seltzer Poll, the Iowa Poll there is a bipartisan
agreement that is a very good poll. It's made some very tough calls that
have been proven right.
And what it showed is that over the month of October that Trump made a
dramatic move and is now in front by I think at seven points. So there is a
lot of reason for them to be excited about things like that, whether it is
going to be enough, I don't know.
And let's look this election has been stranger than anyone in our lifetime
because it was conducted during a moment of a pandemic with a unique person
occupied in the Oval Office and highly surprised candidate taking the
Democratic Nomination.
Loses Iowa, loses New Hampshire, loses Nevada, and wins in South Carolina
and bam it's over. This race has been so unpredictable and conducted in
such an unusual way. With two very different strategies and incompetence
saying I'm going to be out there every day on the stage and his challenger
saying "It's better for me to hang out in my basement and minimize my
public exposure for as long as possible." How it is going to turn out,
anybody's guess.
MACCALLUM: So thrilled, I mean, you go back to New Hampshire, Donna, when
Joe Biden I remember you know looking at my phone and that message coming
across that he was leaving the state and he was maybe not coming in the top
three that night in New Hampshire.
He had lost in Iowa as well, really put all of his chips that night on
South Carolina. That was the key to turn it around. Obviously, he had
tremendous support in the black community in South Carolina that was a big
part of that. We are hearing some nervousness from some Democrats. I want
to play a couple of sound bites here from Jim Carville and David Axelrod
and get your reaction to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID AXELROD, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER PRESIDENT OBAMA: To look deeply into
these numbers is that where the falloff is appears to be among African-
American voters. You know, that is a concern.
JAMES CARVILLE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Somebody needs to fix that thing
Tonto (ph). Democrats get on it and make them get some energy down there in
South Florida because we got to build up a big margin there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: Donna, do you share their concerns?
BRAZILE: Yes and no, look, I recognize that we have to get people out,
whether it is a Burke county, Charlotte, down there in Broward, Fort
Lauderdale, Miami-Dade, of course I always tell people when you look at
Florida, don't forget Pinellas, Hillsborough go all the way up to Balusha
Duval County a County that we almost forgot and then there is Lion County,
Tallahassee.
Karl Rove is familiar with all of those counties they will all matter on
election night. But here is something that we should all take a deep
breath. This election has been unusual. It's been tumultuous. What Joe
Biden did this summer by communicating directly to voters in their living
rooms, and in their work place, wherever they are from his basement where
his patio didn't really matter?
He was able to raise a tremendous amount of money get his message out. The
fact that we have over 95 million Americans who have already cast their
ballots, 70 percent of the total people turned out in 2016 indicates that
this was an effective way to reach people.
In the closing hours of this campaign, I do believe that we will see long
lines tomorrow. So everybody bring a snack, bring something comfortable,
wear comfortable shoes. We have good weather in the majority of the states
where, you know, we will be looking for the turnout, but the most important
thing is stay in line. Stay in line. You have the right to vote.
MACCALLUM: Yes. Karl, one of my questions is looking at the turn out and I
asked this yesterday too, and Chris Stirewalt's reaction was he just thinks
there is a tremendous amount of turnout still to come tomorrow.
But what if there isn't? What if everybody changed the way that they vote?
And you know, obviously, there is going to be a lot of people coming out
tomorrow, but what if the numbers aren't as expected?
ROVE: Well, I think they will be and I will tell you why? People tend to
vote in a way that they want to vote and routinely vote so big changes in
how they vote what that is illustrative of his enthusiasm? Everybody wants
to vote in this election.
Given a choice between mail-in ballot on Election Day or early voting
location, they are going to find a way to vote. So I don't think it is just
going to be people who say I'm comfortable with mail-in ballot who turned
out at higher numbers or people who said I want to vote early and turned
out in higher numbers.
I think it is going to be people who say by - I like voting on Election
Day. We're going to see a big turnout among them. We have been in a secular
period since 1996 where every presidential election since then with the
exception of one has shown an increase in the percentage of voting age
population that is turning out.
I think we're going to set a record tomorrow. Martha, I would like to say
something quickly about African-Americans and Hispanic turnouts. I have
talked to some Democrats and some reporters who are covering Georgia and
covering Florida, and I detect that there is concern among Democrats.
In Miami they're on the record Democrats are saying we are worried both
about the percentage that Trump is going to get among Latinos, particularly
Cuban and Venezuelan Americans who are wired up because they see a big
difference on these men when it comes to the policies regarding their
former home countries.
And also concerned about the lack of enthusiasm among African-American
voters it shows how particularly in Georgia where if you want to win as a
Democrat, you have got to have about 32 --31-32 percent of the early vote
is African-American.
It is about 28 percent now. And I'm sure there is a big, huge turnout but
the percentage that a Democrat would need to win Georgia is below what
historically has been thought to be the norm.
MACCALLUM: And have a look at some of those Georgia numbers this afternoon
and they do look like they are lower as Karl aptly points out. I have a
conversation Donna before let you go with Congressman Clyburn last night.
He was very fired up about what he sees as voter suppression in South
Carolina. Let's just play that and I want to get your thoughts on that
before I let you go.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D-SC): In my opinion Joe Biden not to be successful on
Tuesday is voter suppression to be successful and complaints all day today,
professional football players, from our home state cannot go because their
ballots have not been delivered to them.
Because they have not voted, means they did not request the ballots that
they have not received, to know whether they have dropped those ballots in
the mail, I think many of them drop in the mail and they have not shown up.
So that is a part of voter suppression that's taking place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: Donna, what do you think about that?
BRAZILE: Well, you know I read earlier today someone that I'm sure Karl
Rove is familiar with, Ben Ginsburg who was one of the lawyers for the Bush
Campaign back in 2000. He is an incredible individual, voter suppression is
real but here is what I want to tell the viewers out there.
You have the right to vote. You have the right to stand in line. Before the
polls close you have the right to cast your ballot. Don't be afraid to get
out there and vote. In terms of the African-American communities Hispanics
and others, we know that this election is going to be one in the margin.
What we saw in 2016 is that the turnout was not as great as we experienced
in 2008 and 2012 and one of the main concerns of the Biden Campaign was to
target those voters and frequent voters. So I'm confident that we're going
to have a good turnout tomorrow night.
MACCALLUM: I for one cannot wait to see these actual numbers start to be
counted and some percentages start to roll in on some of these states.
Tomorrow night I think we are all ready to get this thing moving. Thank you
so much, Donna Brazile and Karl Rove great to have both of you with us
tonight.
BRAZILE: Thank you, Martha.
ROVE: Thanks.
MACCALLUM: So coming up I'll speak exclusively with Vice President Mike
Pence who will take a quick break from the campaign trail and tell us how
his ticket is feeling on this election eve?
And then Pollster Robert Cahaly of Trafalgar Group getting a lot of
attention in this cycle he says that his polls shows President Trump
running ahead in Pennsylvania. He also says that the president will need to
win there by a wide margin if he is to overcome the fraud, as he puts it,
that he expects to see and the keystone state. He has got some heat for
that comment. We're going to ask him to explain what is underneath it when
we come right back? Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACCALLUM: Pennsylvania and its 20 electoral votes is a big prize and both
candidates are giving the state overwhelming attention in this final push.
My next guest polling shows President Trump two points ahead in the
keystone state. But he says this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT CAHALY, FOUNDER, THE TRAFALGAR GROUP: The way I look at Pennsylvania
is unfortunately I think he has got to win by four or five to overtake the
voter fraud that will happen there. It is very systematic in Pennsylvania.
I think it is achievable to get to four or five but I think that's the kind
of margin he needs to have in Pennsylvania to survive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: Here is the president speaking in Scranton, PA, earlier today,
watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: He said how is he going
to do in Pennsylvania? He is going to win in Pennsylvania except for the
cheating and we figure we have to leave 5 percent for the cheating that's -
-. Can you believe it? For the cheating that takes place in Pennsylvania.
And the guy meant it a very great pollster but he predicted to win the
whole election.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: So joining me now is the pollster mentioned by the president
Robert Cahaly Chief Pollster and Found of the Trafalgar Group, Robert
thanks for being here tonight and good to have you with us. Some listen to
that and say it is anticipatory to say that there is going to be cheating
when we haven't seen it happen yet. Why are you so confident of that?
CAHALY: First of all, Pennsylvania has a long history of this, especially
in the Philadelphia area. If anybody has any questions about that, they can
check at my Twitter and I have all lists of that four or five major
newspaper articles that cover this.
But more importantly is the Supreme Court ruling for Pennsylvania in the
state. I mean, this is how this is institutionalized. Think about this.
They have literally ruled that they will accept ballots up to seven days
with unclear or no postmarks. That is like opening the door to the bank,
turning off the cameras, leaving the wallet open and saying OK, well nobody
should steal. Come on! You can't do that. That is absolutely insane.
MACCALLUM: And they have also said that you don't have to match the
signatures, right? So they're not going to look to see if the signature on
it matches a prior signature of that voter. I really don't know how you can
throw out those two things and say that you are running a sound election.
It seems be on understanding that you could get away with that.
CAHALY: That is my whole point. Even if you want to debate what is
happening in Philly, what had to happen in Philly I mean they have
literally set the stage to where this is not going to be difficult to do?
That is why I say that he is got to win it by that kind of a margin. That
is a very hard thing to overcome. Come the day after the election, they
know how many votes they have to get? I mean, if you can put ballots in the
box for another four days.
MACCALLUM: Well, that is why everybody has got to watch this process very
closely in a legal way to have both sides, making sure that they are
looking at everything and that all of this is on the up and up because it
could very well come down to Pennsylvania.
Tell me what - before I let you go, you say that President Trump is going
to win in Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Iowa, North Carolina and Arizona, but
what do you see happening in the rush belt states and in Nevada at this
point. Have you looked at your latest numbers?
CAHALY: We show him winning Michigan. We show - we're going to have some
more polls in Nevada, Wisconsin and Minnesota tomorrow.
MACCALLUM: What about Wisconsin?
CAHALY: We're going to have another poll in Wisconsin tomorrow.
MACCALLUM: All right. Look forward to it. Robert, thank you very much. Good
to have you with us tonight.
CAHALY: Thank you.
MACCALLUM: Interesting to watch you called the 2016 race correctly and
we'll see you if you guess 2020 right starting tomorrow night. So next up
we've got one-on-one with Vice President Mike Pence as Joe Biden sharpens
his attack on the administration on his final full day of the campaign.
Stick around. He is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETE BUTTIGIEG, BIDEN 2020 CAMPAIGN SURROGATE: If there is one thing that
Donald Trump is very good at, it is taking credit for what others have done
in the economy. He inherited the Obama/Biden expansion, slowed it down but
the economy continued to expand until his disastrous handling of the
pandemic ran it into the ditch that is now in where we still have something
on the order of 20 million Americans out of work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: Trump Campaign firing back at that comment today, Mr. Murtaugh.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIM MURTAUGH, TRUMP 2020 COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: They have no idea what
they are talking about when they talk about the Biden economy. The Biden
economy was stagnant, wage growth was stagnant. When President Trump took
over the economy skyrocketed, wage growth from the bottom half of wage
earners rose faster than those at the top of the scale. The president we
just saw the other day, record GDP growth the biggest record growth in one
quarter in American history.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: Biden 2020 Campaign Surrogate Pete Buttigieg back with us
tonight, good to have you back here, sir.
BUTTIGIEG: Nice to be with you.
MACCALLUM: You heard Tim Murtaugh take issue with your characterization of
the Biden/Obama economy. How do you answer what he said there?
BUTTIGIEG: I guess he thinks we are all stupid. Look, we can look this up.
These are matters of simple fact GDP growth under Obama faster than under
Trump. Look at the first three years. And if he's trying to sell us on
third-quarter GDP growth this year, if he's trying to use the 2020 economy
as an example of an economic triumph, he's living on a different planet
than the rest of us.
The only reason those numbers are what they are because it is a partial
comeback from the blood bath that was the second quarter. We are still down
as come I think, anybody knows. We're still down.
MACCALLUM: Well, I think anybody will understand that obviously when you
sat down on an entire economy the way that we had is going to take a while
to come back.
BUTTIGIEG: Exactly that is the amazing thing, right? We were down--
MACCALLUM: Right. So the amazing thing you know some would say that its
come back two-thirds from how far it was down. By any estimation from what
happened, that is a strong number to be up 33 percent of the bottom
everyone understands that it's not back where it was but we all understand
the world we live too. So we get what's going on.
BUTTIGIEG: We understand there was an economic disaster touched off by the
mismanagement of the pandemic. But again even pre-pandemic--
MACCALLUM: You characterize it however you want. Anybody who was president
was going to have to go through that economic dive and come back.
BUTTIGIEG: We'll except in other countries it didn't happen quite like
that, did it?
MACCALLUM: Well, we have the most diverse country in the entire world we
have a set of complex problems with our population.
BUTTIGIEG: So we should settle for less?
MACCALLUM: Absolutely not.
BUTTIGIE: So we should settle for worse numbers?
MACCALLUM: Well, you know everyone is saying is that there is only one way
to know how anyone would have handled - and we don't have two presidents at
once. You know everyone is going to obviously vote.
BUTTIGIEG: And that is why I preferred to voted for the first three years
because that is a little more apple to apples.
MACCALLUM: Listen just a second, please. This is what the - Editorial Board
said and they've just endorsed President Trump for something done anything
in along those lines for Republican since 1972. They said under Donald
Trump the economy pre-COVID bloomed like no time since the 1950s.
Look at your 401(k) over the past three years, unemployment for black
American is lower than it has ever been under any president of either party
and appellation in hourly worker has some hope. Now, you know it's not a
ringing endorsement across the border, but on the economy, they felt very
strongly about that.
So you know that is another account that would say that economically and
even in the polls, that is an area where the president seems to be doing
better even though Joe Biden is doing much better on COVID.
BUTTIGIEG: So do yourself a favor if you are sitting at home, Google stock
market Obama versus Trump, stock market growth Obama versus Trump let's say
and click on the first two or three articles, look at the charts and you
will see that it was slower under Trump.
Now look, I'm not saying that, you know, there is nothing for them to talk
about. The American people have obviously done some amazing things in order
to try to come back from this pandemic.
For the president though to try to take credit for it, given that they
underperformed the Obama/Biden economy whether you're looking at GDP growth
or stock market growth and here's another one remember when Donald Trump
promised that his economic policy would give us 4, 5 or 6 percent growth,
none of that happened pre-pandemic.
MACCALLUM: It was pre-COVID. We have a little bit of a surprise that we
have all been living through for the past year so it is pretty tough to do
apples and apples on that comparison. Thank you very much.
BUTTIGIEG: I'm talking about the first three years.
MACCALLUM: Good to have you here, thank you very much.
BUTTIGIGEG: Thanks.
MACCALLUM: So Vice President Mike Pence is coming up on this election eve
right after this. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACCALLUM: In the final hours of this contest President Trump and Joe
Biden are separated by less than three points in the average of polls form
six key battleground states in a race that is shaped up to be tighter and
has tighten over the last two weeks. And certainly more so than many people
expected it to be. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every one of these battleground states are going to be
extraordinarily close tomorrow night, even if they all end up moving in one
direction.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: Here now with (inaudible) obviously from NBC. Here now with
their predictions for tomorrow night, Sean Spicer former White House press
secretary under President Trump and author of Leading America and he's also
former RNC and Juan Williams co-host of The Five and Fox News political
analyst. Gentlemen, thank you very much for being here tonight.
Juan, let me start with you, your reaction to what Chuck Todd had to say,
which is you know, pretty obvious to most of us who are looking at these
numbers. These battleground states are clearly tightening up.
JUAN WILLIAMS, FOX THE FIVE SHOW HOST: That is why they are battlegrounds,
there's no question about it. And the thing about it is this late date, it
is hard to really plug in to say, oh, this poll is definitive or not. So
you just look at the general average and the trends, Martha. And what it
does sustain is that in all of these states. We are talking here Wisconsin.
We are talking Michigan. We were talking Pennsylvania in particular, that
Rust Belt span. Joe Biden seems to be maintaining a lead and in some sense
growing the lead.
MACCALLUM: So, Sean, looking back to 2016 and it was a similar
environment, how do you compare the two as we head into tomorrow in terms
of the substance of Joe Biden's lead versus Hillary Clintons?
SEAN SPICER, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY, AUTHOR LEADING AMERICA:
Well, it's a great question, Martha. I think the last time we felt good,
but we are a little you know concerned about where we were. This time the
president's ground game as I've said before I think it's going to make the
difference.
You look at the trend in all of these battleground states whether Arizona,
Florida, North Carolina, it consistently moves in the president's
direction. And he won North Carolina -- excuse me, he won Florida by 1.2
percent last time. You know, when you are talking about that kind of
percentage, you look at the early vote coming in. I think he's going to
take Florida's 29 electoral votes and you move up the coast.
I feel good about where we are in North Carolina. And if he can take
Arizona which has been moving in the right direction and capitalize in
Pennsylvania, where Republicans have done a fantastic job with voter
registration and to get out the vote effort, its games set match. Because
that's all the president needs to get to 270.
Remember he's got a cushioned of 36 electoral votes that he had from last
time. He doesn't need to win Michigan or Wisconsin. It would be nice, but
he doesn't need to. And right now he put Iowa six electoral votes into that
column, there's another six are available in Nevada where he's been
trending well. There is a lot of options right now. And I think the
president's team feels very good about where they are.
But this is all going to come down to Election Day turnout. The early vote
definitely favored the Democrats. The Republicans held their own in a
states like Florida. With their in-person early vote, not necessarily
absentee vote, how many people turnout tomorrow is the name of the game?
MACCALLUM: So, Juan with regard to Pennsylvania which is really where Joe
Biden has put all of his chips in these final days. So, clearly when they
sit in their meetings, on their Zoom meetings are wherever they are right
now, they are saying you need to be pulling in Pennsylvania. We got to have
you there, you know, four times in four different places on the last day,
why?
WILLIAMS: Because they see that, Martha as a way to break the back of any
hopes that President Trump has two a path to that 271 Electoral College
votes. So they see that as a bull work. But I would just say, you know,
when look at that, also keep in mind that he was over in Ohio today. You
think, why is he in Ohio? But again I think that they see that as a
possible win for them. And similarly why was Barack Obama, you know down in
Florida, Georgia?
I just think that you see the Biden team with the perception that they are
expanding their method to. They are playing offense but the president's
playing defense in their minds. So, I think that is the way to keep in in,
you know, the way to interpret, at least, what we see in terms of those --
the travel itinerary.
MACCALLUM: And Sean, the Trump team got to be concerned when you see
pretty much every single poll amazingly stable all the way throughout. It
shows Joe Biden ahead. I mean, you can say the trend is working, but it has
to get there, you know, it can be working in the right direction and not
make it all the whole way.
SPICER: That is right, it does but at the end of the day, you know, you
want momentum at the right time. You want to peek at the right time. You
mention Pennsylvania, I agree with Juan. There is a reason that the Biden
campaign is there. Those 20 electoral votes are crucial. There was no doubt
about it. I mean, that is equal to the 10 in Minnesota and the 10 in
Wisconsin, carrying Pennsylvania is going to be key to carrying the
presidency.
(CROSSTALK)
MACCALLUM: What about Ohio? What about the time they spent in Ohio? They
obviously think that that is worth it.
SPICER: Look, they made a stop there but pulled their staff out weeks ago.
The Trump campaign knows that Ohio, they've been keeping their team in
there. They know what is going on, but Ohio has been trending in the right
direction. And the Biden campaign, I think made a stop there so that they
cannot get accused of losing it the way that Hillary Clinton with Wisconsin
but the fact of the matter is, the ground game in Ohio has been
spectacular. That's not going to be an issue tomorrow night. It is all eyes
on Pennsylvania.
MACCALLUM: So, you know, when I look at what President Obama has been
doing at this point, Juan, he was in Philadelphia. He did the same thing
for Hillary Clinton. Now he was down to Florida today, in Miami trying to
get the Miami-Dade voter to turnout for Joe Biden. But I just have to
wonder, you know, because we saw that 7 percent decline from the Obama
election to Hillary Clinton's election where people stayed home because
they didn't want to vote for her.
And I'm wondering, you know, the problem for them is that President Obama
is not on the ballot. And no matter how much they get him out them and how
happy people are to see him, they are going to be pulling that lever for
Joe Biden who is not President Obama.
WILLIAMS: Well, your point on the money. It's not President Obama but
remember he was part of that Obama/Biden ticket and I think secondly you
are really looking at turn out to pick up on something Sean was just
referencing. So, you know, I think that the Trump people are really
pointing at energizing their base to try to get their base out tomorrow in
big numbers across the country.
But when you see Obama, I think he is energizing not just the black and
Latino vote, I think he's after people who are moderates, sometimes
suburban housewives who may have voted for Trump last time but are looking
again to restore the sense of normalcy or however you want to put it. Just
to send some stability back to the White House and see Obama as classier
version of a president.
So I think he's out there sending a message in those local media markets
that's pretty effective. And again, it is not that people are pulling the
lever for him but I think it reminds them of what existed before Trump.
MACCALLUM: Juan using the ever popular phrase suburban housewives which is
really popular with those suburban housewives, let me tell you. President
Trump has used it too and you know, Sean, all the stuff about -- don't you
want your husband to go back to work in Michigan? And you've got 47 percent
of the workforce is women in Michigan. Wait a minute come I would like to
go back to work myself, thank you. SO, I'm wondering about --
SPICER: Can I -- one quick point.
MACCALLUM: Yes, go ahead.
SPICER: No, It was going to say the one thing that's interesting is that,
again, it's always not a zero something game. I think the president is
going to outperform what he did on the black vote last time he got 8
percent last time, especially with black men. There is a really good chance
that he's going to do really, really well for a Republican, which doesn't
mean great, but means good for Republican.
MACCALLUM: Right.
SPICER: I think, he's going to do very well with the Hispanic votes,
especially in a place like Florida where you got, you know, the Puerto
Rican community, I for a quarter endorsed by the Puerto Rico's governor.
That's going to help them in their cementing that Cuban vote in south
Florida. That's going to be key to the president's victory.
And those two things could outweigh some losses in other places. Again, I
mean, you look at a place like Pennsylvania, those fracking comments at the
end are going to be a big deal. The president's ground game, I think it's
going to be critical. This is it, the president's folks the Democrats have
done a good job of cannibalizing their Election Day voters and got them to
vote early. That was a good move. This is all now about can the president's
campaign get their Election Day voters out?
MACCALLUM: All right. That is what it's about for sure. Thank you very
much. Good to see you both, Juan, Sean, thanks, guys.
WILLIAMS: You're welcome.
MACCALLUM: That was a great day. I'm looking forward to it. All right, so
more Democracy 2020, right after this. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACCALLUM: So, Joe Biden made his closing arguments in Pennsylvania today
and it was largely focused on the coronavirus. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: Donald Trump waved the white flag of surrender to this virus. I'm
never going to raise the white flag to surrender. We are going to beat this
virus. We will get it under control, I promise you. The first step to
beating the virus is beating Donald Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: National correspondent Jacqui Heinrich has been with the Biden
campaign throughout these entire process. She's done an amazing job. And we
are now one night, Jacqui, from this election. So you are in Pittsburgh
where the former vice president held his third camping event of the day.
Good evening to you.
JACQUI HEINRICHS, FOX NEWS NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Martha.
Yes, Joe Biden is on his way here to his third and final event. His second
stop wrapped up just as short while ago. It was a drive-in really at the
border of two neighborhoods, one mostly white and wealthy and the other
mostly black and lower income. And Joe Biden focused on calling out what he
sees as bad behavior that has been normalized by President Trump.
He kicked off a number of moments he says defines his presidency, including
during the first presidential debate when asked to address the hate group,
the proud boys. The president told that group to stand back and stand by.
Joe Biden said that Trump refuses to denounce white supremacy. He can't say
the words black lives matter and he said that Americans deserve a president
that people can look up to.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: Look, we are done with the chaos. We are done with the racism. And
we are done with the tweets, the anger, the hate, the failure, the
irresponsibility. Donald Trump has done more harm to black American than
any president in the modern history. This is the same man who started the
birther movement against my buddy Barack Obama. This is the first man as
man who went the first black woman running for vice president, he looks at
her and he calls her a monster.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEINRICHS: Biden promise to address issues disproportionately affecting
black Americans, including the pandemic, lack of economic opportunity and
police and justice reform. And his comments come as Senator Harris works to
with black voter turnout in Philadelphia where soft or black support for
Hillary Clinton contributed to her 2016 lost.
Democrats were also reportedly spook by weaker than expected turnout among
black voters and other key cities like Miami. So Biden will wrap up his
campaign in Pittsburgh, the same place that he started in August of last
year. You will remember in that first campaign speech he said that
President Trump won through white working-class voters who he says they
abandoned the president and his administration abandon through policies
that mostly favored wealthy people and Wall Street.
Biden calls himself a union man. He said if he's going to beat Trump in
2020, it's going to happen here in Pittsburgh. And in that speech he took
bailed shot at Hillary Clinton, saying that voters here just didn't think
she understood them. So Biden's final pitch is one of unity trying to tell
voters of all stripes that he sees them.
MACCALLUM: Jacqui, thank you very much Jacqui Heinrichs in Pittsburgh in
the Pittsburg tonight with the Biden campaign. We have hope to bring you an
interview with Vice President Mike Pence at this time, but unfortunately we
had technical difficulties at the rally in Traverse City, Michigan and he
could not hear us. We couldn't hear him. So, we are sorry about that but we
look forward to talking with him soon.
But the good news is that our friend Britt Hume has jumped into the chair
to join us with his thoughts tonight. Brit, you have spent many nights the
hour. I have too by this time looking ahead to Election Day tomorrow. It is
interesting listening to Jacqui Heinrichs report from Pittsburg and Joe
Biden, his closing argument sort of twofold. Is that COVID was mishandled
and he has -- you know, it is time to put behind us the chaos, put behind
us the tweets, put behind us the racism. You heard his list there. How do
you think he's doing in his closing argument?
BRIT HUME, SENIOR FOX NEWS POLITICAL ANALYST: I think those are the right
argument to make. The best notion that Donald Trump mishandled the COVID-19
outbreak is widely held. It is consistently shows up in the polls and the
majority of people think.
And my part that I think Trump has a defensible case on that issue, but I'm
not sure he's made it very well. In the meantime, of course, these all
division, the stripe and the two (inaudible) and the controversy, and the
turmoil, and the meanness of these past several years and I'm not blaming
Trump exclusively for this. That some people want to see the end of.
So if you come along and say this guy blew the big health crisis, and he
divided us terribly and I'm going to end all of that, that is probably, you
know, an appealing argument to a great many of people and that is what he's
been running on.
MACCALLUM: What is your feel for this race tonight as we get it?
HUME: Well I think, you know, I'm not -- I think the pollster had probably
learned some lessons from four years ago. And we will find out how well
they learn them and what they were come tomorrow or tomorrow night or maybe
beyond tomorrow night.
But there are some very interesting things happening. I mean, for example
we are given to believe by the Trump campaign that they have gone out and
register thousands if not millions of voters who for Trump but didn't vote
in 2016. How many of them are out there? Who knows? How many will actually
end up voting, we don't know that either.
But you know, when pollsters are doing these surveys and their basing it on
likely voters, they ask a lot of questions and one of the questions is, you
know, did you vote the last time? And if you didn't, you may not be
included in the likely voter survey. So we don't know. There may be a big,
you know, Trump vote out there that we don't even know is they are. I don't
know that. You know, I don't know what to know or what to think about that.
MACCALLUM: Yes.
HUME: And of course you see these spontaneous demonstrations in favor of
Trump in the form of these motor rallies that are broke out spontaneously,
no effort from the campaign all across the country, people lining up in
these long (inaudible) caves with Trump banners and so forth. I don't know
what that tells you, but it is not something that we are accustomed to
seeing is it?
So there's crosscurrents here. Trump has made up some ground in my view. We
don't know yet whether that is the normal tightening you see at the end of
the race or whether it means something more. We will find out.
MACCALLUM: Yes. Before I let you go, I want to play this Bernie Sanders
sound bite because there's been a lot of questions obviously about Joe
Biden and where he would be as a president, you know, with Kamala Harris by
his side as vice president if they do win tomorrow night. This is
interesting. Let's hear it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): We understand that electing Biden is not the
end of all, it is the beginning, OK? And I think as a result of the work
that all of you have done Biden's proposals in this campaign were much
stronger than they were in the primary. We are not giving up on our agenda.
We organize our people to make sure that Biden becomes the most progressive
president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: Do you think they will have the poll to do that, Brit?
HUME: Well, I have my doubts. Actually, the -- probably the best thing
that can happen to Joe Biden would be for his party not to get control of
both Houses of Congress. Because I think Biden, by history, is not hard
left. He is left, but not hard left. Bernie is hard left. And he made peace
with Bernie by, you know, including a lot of Bernie Sanders ideas in his
Party's platform.
So, I think what would happen is if they don't get control, Biden has an
excuse that may satisfy the left. If he get control of everything, he
doesn't know what the left wanted, they may be held to pay for him.
MACCALLUM: Brit, thank you. Great to see you as always.
HUME: You bet. Thank you.
MACCALLUM: A pleasure great to have you here tonight. So it is the last
full day of the campaign for President Trump. Up next, he's in Kenosha,
Wisconsin, you can see them setting up there. He's going to hold the fourth
rally of the day and we've got (inaudible) after that. We will be right
back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACCALLUM: President Trump gearing up for rally number four of the day.
He's in Kenosha County Wisconsin tonight where he beat Hillary by 238 votes
in 2016. He won the state by a similar razor-thin margin. Senior
correspondent Mike Tobin live in Kenosha for us tonight where he has spent
a lot of time this year. Hi, Mike.
MIKE TOBIN, FOX NEWS SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, should be noted that
by Wisconsin standards, the cold temperatures here aren't really that cold
and it certainly has done nothing to cool down the excitement. You cans see
we have a packed venue here at the Kenosha Municipal Airport and I had a
conversation with a number of county clerks earlier today who held a
videoconference and they said the interest in this election is unlike
nothing they have ever seen before.
Milwaukee County alone, people were requested some 2.1 million early
ballots and so far 1.9 million of them have been returned. George
Christianson (ph), in the Milwaukee County clerk estimates voter turnout in
Wisconsin will be somewhere around 89 percent. Now, Kenosha is very
significant because most of you never heard of Kenosha before the police
shooting of Jacob Blake, the riots, the arson that followed.
The case of Kyle Rittenhouse, who incidentally made his initial appearance
today, he's being held on $2 million cash bail. But the Rittenhouse case,
who shot three people in all the chaos following the riots or during the
riots, in that case, the chaos that followed -- the chaos that followed in
the police shooting with Jacob Blake provide a platform for President Trump
to make his case about law and order, what you hear him making time and
time again.
It should also be noted that when President Trump won Wisconsin, he did not
win the population centers of Milwaukee. Milwaukee County, Dane County,
Home of Madison, deep blue Dane County and frankly speaking with Andrew
Hitt, the Republican chairman here in Wisconsin, they don't expect to win
the population centers this time around either. They expect to draw some
votes but if President Trump is going to win, he's going to have to win the
rural counties like you did last time. He's got to win counties like
Kenosha.
So, we are looking at that, we got a lot of people with a lot of excitement
and what will be the penultimate appearance of President Trump and
President Trump by the way is running late, Martha.
MACCALLUM: All right. Mike Tobin, thank you very much in Kenosha Wisconsin
tonight. That is THE STORY of November 2nd, Monday night. Tomorrow is
Election Day. THE STORY continues. I will see you all day tomorrow on
Election Day. We'll keep up our official coverage with Brett and me at 6:00
p.m. Eastern, tune in everybody, exciting night tomorrow. Good night.
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