Tim Scott: Policy positions of Trump admin have not been celebrated the way it should have

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Tim Scott: Policy positions of Trump admin have not been celebrated the way it should have

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., touts the GOP saying, "America still has an appetite for strong center right policies"

This is a rush transcript from "The Story with Martha MacCallum," February 26, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated

MARTHA MACCALLUM, FOX NEWS HOST: Some jokes and a couple of Bourbons to go. Thanks, you guys. Good to see you this afternoon. And good afternoon, everybody. I'm Martha McCallum and today, the story really is CPAC. The Conservative Political Action Conference where the now out of power GOP is rolling out its highly prized opportunities for the potential future leaders and 2024 candidates to get their moment in the spotlight.

Names like Rick Scott and Josh Hawley are on the next roster today, all of whom will be a bit of a warm up act for the reemergence of the former President Donald Trump who will speak on Sunday, and will no doubt get a lot of attention and a huge, warm welcome at CPAC. It's kind of instructive to look back at the now former president back in 2011, five years before his historic run, he electrified the crowd that day in a 15-minute speech and hit on themes that would later take him to the White House. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, 45TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If I run, and if I win, this country will be respected again, this country will be respected. We'll be taking in hundreds of billions of dollars from other countries that is screwing u. We'll rebuild our country so that we can be proud, our country will be great again. Thank you very much. It's an honor. Thank you. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: So, that was five years before he ended up running. But it's very interesting to look back. You see, I believe on the hope there. Well, I know Don Jr. is coming up in a little bit. But there's going to be some big speeches that get underway this afternoon. But I want to go first to our guest, Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina. His name is often thrown into that short list of potential GOP presidential candidates. Senator Scott, good to see you today. Thank you so much for being with us.

SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC): Thank you, Martha.

MACCALLUM: There's a lot to talk about. That's going on today. First of all, just to -- what how come you're not going to speak at sea pack this year?

SCOTT: Well, I'll tell you, I wish I was there, literally. But I had some scheduling opportunities in South Carolina. And as a person running for re- election in 2022. The first thing I should do is take care of my constituents at home in South Carolina, I had a chance to speak at some schools and do some work in the state.

MACCALLUM: So, you're doing business at home, which is always a good idea to take care of first things first.

SCOTT: Yes, ma'am.

MACCALLUM: What do you expect. I did speak to someone you know today who has some familiarity with what the President is going to say on Sunday. What would you like to hear from him? And do you expect that he may say or at least strongly hint that he does want to run in 2024?

SCOTT: Well, I hope the President will take the time to go over the last four years of economic success. He led us to the greatest economy, the most inclusive economy America has ever seen. He created seven million jobs: two-thirds going to women, African Americans and Hispanics. He lifted us all up by focusing his attention on tax reform and regulations coming down in a responsible way.

That combination led to increases in labor force participation, it led to increases in home ownership, and it dropped poverty to the lowest level recorded since 1959. The policy positions of the Trump administration has not been celebrated the way that they should have. I hope he takes the time to let America know every single thing we did in a positive and powerful way on their behalf.

MACCALLUM: So, the senate leader spoke with Brett Baier last night on "SPECIAL REPORT." And I'd like to play this exchange for you and get your reaction to it. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): I've got at least four members that I think are planning on running for president plus some governors and others. There's no incumbent, should be a wide open race and fun for you all to cover.

BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS CHANNEL HOST: If the President was the party's nominee, would you support him?

MCCONNELL: Oh, the nominee of the party. Absolutely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: Tough position. A lot of people have been in, in your party since the election. And particularly since January 6th, we saw the Senate Minority Leader now on the floor of the Senate scathing rebuke of the President. But now, in that position, and the answer to that question, he says, absolutely. He was supportive. What do you think about that?

SCOTT: I was really excited to hear that. One of the things I've said very often is that the road to Socialism for America leads right through a divided Republican Party. What Mitch McConnell said yesterday was very important. We will support our nominee and if President Trump chooses to run the very good chance that he will be our nominee, so more people speaking about a unified Republican Party is the best way to shore up the future of America.

MACCALLUM: I was watching Karl Rove earlier today, and he had his whiteboard out with some of his facts and figures. And he was showing that only one former president in the history of the country out of eight former president or vice presidents who've tried to run, only one was successful after having lost, and that was Grover Cleveland. Do you think that President Trump would be different?

SCOTT: Well, there's no doubt that President Trump received more votes than any other candidate, save the one he ran against. So, yes, America still has an appetite for strong center right policies. And if President Trump focuses on those policies, he does have an opportunity to come back. We are going to have to however, I work on making sure that our messages reaches out beyond the core Republican supporters. If we are not playing the game of addition, it will be very difficult for us to, to win in 2024.

MACCALLUM: So, speaking of that, some other items of business that are very big and important right now, is this COVID Bill, $1.9 trillion.

SCOTT: Yes.

MACCALLUM: Do you think that the country needs a $2 trillion debt on its back in addition to everything that has already been spent here? You know, everybody from the Fed Chairman and many other prominent people think that we do, do you believe that?

SCOTT: Absolutely, positively, unequivocally not. There's no way we need that level of spending, number one. Number two, less than 10 percent of their package actually goes to help COVID victims now, much of it's not even spit until 2022 or beyond, less than one percent actually focuses on vaccines. This is more of a Democrat liberal wish list than it is a COVID relief package for those impacted by the virus.

MACCALLUM: Just quick last question, what goes through your mind when you hear the president, President Biden say, you know, tell me what you would cut? He says, I asked you, you know, who are you going to deny in this package? What would you say to that?

SCOTT: Well, I'd start with the minimum wage. That would be the first one. And I would continue with every other policy position that has nothing to do with targeted temporary relief for small businesses and employees.

Bottom line is this, Martha, we are heading very quickly to a place where the vast majority of Americans will have received the vaccine, which means the second, third and fourth quarter of this year, the economy is going to explode in a positive way. We don't need to spend $2 trillion on top of the $4 trillion we've already spent on COVID. Take it from Larry Summers on the left economists under President Obama, he says this is far, far too much money.

MACCALLUM: Yes, that's a great point. It's always good to have you with us, Senator Scott.

SCOTT: Thank you, Martha.

MACCALLUM: Thank you so much for coming by today. We'll see you soon. You bet.

SCOTT: Yes, ma'am. Take care.

MACCALLUM: So, the next big speaker to take the stage at CPAC -- you take care too, sir -- is going to be Senator Rick Scott of Florida and we're going to take you there. So, perfect time to sneak in a break and we'll be right back with more of THE STORY after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: We are back here on THE STORY we understand Florida Senator Rick Scott is just taking the stage areas so let's listen in for a bit CPAC.

SEN. RICK SCOTT (R-FL): -- what they are. We're not going to stand down and we're never ever going to retreat. Let me make sure that three things are abundantly clear right up front. First, both of the impeachment of President Trump were nothing more than unserious political vendettas and political theater. This lacerate should have been conducted the other end of Washington at the Kennedy Center instead of the U.S. Capitol. It was a waste of time and money, and was all about politics.

Second, President Trump did something that has never been done in our lifetime. He stood up to all of establishment Washington and said "no." No, I will not accept business as usual. No, I will not allow any net bad trade deals that favor Communist China and hurt American workers. No, I will not cozy up to Iran or back down from supporting Israel. No, I will not support unnecessary foreign wars or giveaways of American treasure or lives. No, I will not stop pushing for secure borders.

And no, I will not accept your political correctness or the push to silence conservative voices in America. Now, of course, President Trump has flaws, I have flaws, we all have flaws. I've known him for many years. By the way, you can make sure when he speaks, or he'll probably call me tomorrow, he'll say, nice speech, Rick, except for that part about I have, that he had flaws. You know, that's going to happen. But look, it was high time for someone to go to Washington and say no. And I'm thankful and glad the President Trump had the guts to do it.

Third, the Democrats control all the power to lever, that levers of power in Washington, and then lift the left, new left no longer believes in any tolerance in the promise of America that our nation was exceptional, exceptional, or in the American dream. It's time for all of us to wake up to reality. They want to silence you. If they can silence a former president, what makes you think you're not next? They want to take away your freedom of speech. They want to take away your religious liberty. They want to take away your right to bear arms.

They want to get you fired from your job. They want to get your bank to drop you. They want to make you unemployable in the future. And you know what, they got a lot of friends in corporate America, they're absolutely will absolutely willing to help them.

They don't simply want to silence concerns. They want to destroy us. And yet, in the face of this mortal threat to our nation, our very existence, some prefer to fanned the flames of a civil war on our side. That's foolish. It's ridiculous. We have absolutely serious work to get done.

We don't have time for that. Let's be honest, the Washington establishment, breathe a sigh of relief when President Trump left town. There are plenty of people in Washington are hoping that we can go back to regular order. Go back to where the Republican Party used to be.

They want to retreat to a safe space. Look, we can go backwards, we can go to dial up Internet, we can go to flip phones, we can go to typewriters. This is absolutely not the time to go backwards. We have in front of us massive challenges and massive opportunities. I'm going to focus on the massive opportunities we have.

We will not win the future by trying to go back to where the Republican Party used to be. If we do, we will lose the working base that President Trump so animated. We're going to lose elections across the country. And ultimately, we're going to lose our nation.

We're not going to let that happen. Now, let me paint you a picture of where adversaries want to take this country. Let me describe for you what the price of failure is. If we fail, our children will learn that throwing a threat, throwing a brick through a shopkeepers window and looting the store, well, that's a mostly peaceful protest.

The left will tell our kids, it's actually the right thing to do because of the terrible oppression in this racist country. If we fail, how many selfless police officers are still going to be around to protect us and put their lives on the line if we, once we've demeaned and defunded them. If we fail our armed forces, they're going to use the politically incorrect pronouns that Pelosi asked them to do. But our military is going to cower in the shadow of Communist China. Communist President Xi, he said, he hopes for a win/win. Oh, there's going to be a win/win. Hunter Biden's going to win and get richer.

And as Communist China wins and becomes the most powerful country in the world. If we fail to lead our country to the future, Democrats will lead us into the past, eroding our economy and our culture. And we will become another decaying example of Socialism. We say that again. If we fail to lead our country to the future, Democrats will lead American to the past. They'll ditch Capitalism. Even though Capitalism has lifted more people from poverty to prosperity than any idea in American history.

Calling someone a Capitalist will become an insult. In fact, it already is on some college campuses. But don't worry in their phony, Washington-run Utopia, Chuck Schumer will tell you what kind of work you're allowed to do. AOC will tell you how you're allowed to do it. Nancy Pelosi, Nancy Pelosi will tell you how much you'll be paid for it. And Kamala Harris will tell you how little you're allowed to keep after you pay your "fair share."

In a Socialist system, politically incorrect thought can't be tolerated, because truth can't be tolerated. So, don't think out loud, don't suppose you have freedom to worship, or that the churches they closed down during the coronavirus are essential. Don't complain about men and women's sports. Don't think you have the right to bear arms. Like socialist dictators, our adversaries will confiscate your weapons. If any of this sounds impossible to you, you got to wake up this stuff's already happening.

I had a reporter the other day asked me a typically uninformed question. He said, do I believe that in order to appeal to more voters, we need to moderate our values or compromise on some of our principles? My response? Hell no. Just the opposite. I believe we need to start, we need to start acting like we really believe our principles. America with all of our shortcomings is the greatest country in the world.

America is in fact, not racist. We need to stand up and say our fundamental principles are not, not only right and true, they are the only ideas that work. We choose our children's education. We respect our law enforcement. We thank God every day for our freedoms.

The American family is an idea that works. We believe family should be the center of our lives and is crucial to civilization. Religious liberty is an idea that works, but Democrat mayors and governors say you can protest, but you can't go to church, our flag. That's an idea that works if we all respect it. It's why my father chose to put his life on the line and serve this country in World War II, and why I had the opportunity to serve in the U.S. Navy.

Unlike many of the woke athletes in the NBA in the NFL, and the NFL, we stand for the flag. Why is our nation so divided? Well, our unique individual differences, as human beings become divisions without our flag, our national anthem, and our unique American identity. Our nation's founders were brilliant man who designed a system that works is the best system of governance in world history. And the memories of the men who built it must be honored and will never allow history to be erased.

We believe strong borders work, individual responsibility works. We believe our children have the right to be born and go to the school of their choice. School choice works, lower taxes work, the Second Amendment works. Funding our police works. Capitalism works. Standing up the Communist China dictators, buying American, and shutting the door to Communist Chinese products, you better believe that works.

We believe that freedom, not Socialism, is always a new idea. These are our principles and we will never compromise or moderate them to appease anyone. We care too much about each of our families and our countries to compromise or peace. These principles can and will lead us to a majority coalition in America. Are we perfect? No but we are free to repair false and the conservative principles that beaten Our hearts are the only ones that actually lift people to better lives and build a great and compassionate nation.

But the left so called progressive ideology, that old broken down idea called socialism has not only never worked, it has destroyed more countries, families, and lives than we can count. Venezuelan children are starving today. That's socialism. Refugees are risking their lives today to fleek Cuba's squalid hospitals ration food, and relentless oppression. That's Socialism. Communist China's jailing and murdering its own citizens today, because they've spoken the truth about the Wuhan virus. That's Socialism.

Let me leave you with this. We have generations of young people who have effectively been brainwashed by the liberals who have captured our education system. They're now attempting to capture the boardroom of every corporation, and even our military leadership.

Many of these young people were not taught our real history in middle school, high school or college. They think Socialism is a cool new idea. Think about that, the most disastrous and discouraged idea of the 20th century, an idea that always leads to poverty and oppression, they think it's as new as the iPhone 12. It's now on each of us to explain why the Democrats old socialist plans are coming disaster.

We've got to explain why a globalist social, why global socialism is destined to fail even more spectacularly in today's fast moving world that has in the past. That is what I'm going to fight for. That is what I'm asking you to fight for. Our battle to win the future starts today. In Washington, they're doing the opposite, looking backward and formatting circular firing squad.

They are busy assigning blame and avoiding responsibility. You and I don't have the time to waste going backwards. The people in Washington have that covered. All we've got is us, the power of our ideals and the truth, and that is plenty. Now it's time to get to work, making this great country better than is ever been. Thank you. God bless you and God bless this great nation. Have a great day!

MACCALLUM: Rick Scott of Florida, he's been governor of Florida, now Senator of Florida. Florida, so much of a focus during COVID-19 for the way that they have really kept the state open. Rick DeSantis, the Governor there spoke earlier today, and of course, this meeting takes place in Orlando, Florida, which has really become one of the centers of the Republican Party. And now, we're getting ready for Josh Hawley, the Senator from Missouri.

So, both of these men considering races for president in 2024, Josh Hawley burst onto the scene, a young Senator from Missouri has made a big impact. So, we're going to listen to what he has to say, as he gets ready to take his moment here at CPAC, which really has a long history of being a place where you can make your name where you can put yourself on the map, as people start thinking towards the next presidential election. Let's listen to Josh Hawley from Missouri.

SEN. JOSH HAWLEY (R-MO): Speaking of being canceled, the last six weeks, the radical left, their corporate allies, the liberal media have tried to cancel me, censor me, expel me, shut me down, stop me from representing the people of Missouri, stop me from representing you, and guess what? I'm here today. I'm not going anywhere. And I'm not backing down. Not a chance. Not a chance. And neither are you, am I right?

You're not going to back down. You're not going anywhere. I just want to say to those people who say to us, oh, you're the past, your moment has passed. It's over. It's Joe Biden's America now. I just want to say, we're not the past. We're the future.

We represent the future of this country. We represent the next generation of this country. We represent what's coming next. And there is no way that we're going to back down. We're not going to back down to the world mob. We're not going to back down to the cancel culture.

We're not going to be told what we can say or do but listen, we've got to be honest. And we got to face the challenges that are in front of us. And I tell you what, you know this or you wouldn't be here, you know that we are facing a crisis in our country. This is one of the great moments of crisis in American history. We're facing a fight for the Republic itself and we are facing an unprecedented alliance of radical liberals and the biggest most powerful corporations in the history of the world.

They are standing together, you know who I mean, people like Google, Facebook, you heard of them, Twitter. These companies have more power than any companies in American history, and they're aligned with the radical left to try to impose their agenda on this country. They want to run this country, and if we don't do something they are going to. And we've got a word for that, it's called oligarchy.

And that's what we're facing in America right now. And we've got a basic choice. We can have a republic where the people rule or we can have an oligarchy, where big tech and the liberals rule. And that is the choice, that is the challenge that we face today. It's a perilous moment.

We have to stand up and take our stand on the Constitution of the United States and the Declaration of Independence. Because last time I checked, the Declaration of Independence said that our inalienable rights to life and liberty come from God and not from government, is that right? I mean, am I forgetting something?

And I also thought, last I checked, I thought that the declaration said that our rights come from God, not from Google, is that right? I mean, last I checked -- but that's the fight of our time to make the rule of the people an actual thing, again, to restore the sovereignty of the American people.

You know what, that's always been the fight. That's the fight of liberty. That's been the fight of liberty since the beginning of human history. You've always got a small group of people who think they know best, and they ought to be in charge, and they ought to be able to tell us what to think and do. And today, that's the big corporations and the liberal elites. That's the oligarchy.

And what are we fighting for? It's the same thing our founding fathers fought for. We're fighting for the rule of the people. We're fighting to be able to have our own say. We're fighting to be able to run our own government. We're fighting to have real self-government in America. And that's what we're about.

You know, you can see where the oligarchs want to take us. Just look at the last two months. The last two months, the big tech corporations have deplatformed conservatives, left and right, shut them up, shut them out, shut them down. Heck, they censor the President of the United States, if they can censor him, they consider any American citizen.

And I've got my own experience with this, unfortunately. You know, on January the 6th, I objected during the Electoral College certification, maybe you heard about it. I mean, I stood up. I stood up. And I said, we ought to have a debate about election integrity. I said, it is the right of the people to be heard. And my constituents in Missouri want to be heard on this issue.

And so I did what, by the way, I did what our Democrat friends, my Democratic colleagues have done in every single election where Republican president has won in the last 20 years. You know, they've objected to 11 different states, and certifications over the last 25 years, three different presidential elections.

So I did that. I said, I want to have a debate on election integrity. And what was the result of that? Oh, you know what the result was, I was called a traitor. I was called a seditious. The radical left that I should be resigned. And if I wouldn't resign, I shouldn't be expelled from the United States Senate. Well, as I said, a moment ago, I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying right here. I'm going to stand up for you.

Because if we can't have free and open debate in this country, we're not going to have a country left. If we can't have free and open debate, according to the laws in the United States Senate, what good is the United States Senate? Why do you send anybody to Washington at all? I thought it was an important stand to take. And for that, the left has come after me. They've tried to silence me. They canceled a book, a book I was writing called "The Tyranny of Big Tech." These people have no sense of irony.

It's still going to get published, by the way. It'll be out soon. Not long the way. They did all of that. It didn't work. But listen, that's just that's just a slice of what they've done. A lot of people have had it a lot worse. I mean, they've made lists of Trump voters, you know this. You'll find online lists of Trump voters so they could go and try to punish them. One outfit in Washington's keeping a list of everybody who ever worked for Donald Trump, including White House interns, interns, to try to make sure they can never get another job in Washington again.

I was struck by this story about a gal named Cara Dumaplin. She's just a lady with a business online. She does a consulting on how to get babies to sleep. Now listen, before you say what do we care about that? I've got three little kids at home, including a newborn.

My baby Abigail, my wife and I welcomed her on November the 9th, so she's just over three months old. Thank you. So we're really interested in sleep. I can tell you, the Hawley household we care about sleep. My wife knew of this gal, Cara Dumaplin, who had an Instagram online thing where she counsel people how to get their babies to sleep. It was great.

She had like 4 million followers. What happened? She supported Donald Trump. So what do they do, they came after her. They came after her and tried to shut down her accounts, tried to run her out of business. I just heard this morning, just this morning, that a Christian worship leader at a church in this country, who has albums, worship albums he put out. He just got a call this morning from his corporate distributor. And they told him, they're not going to distribute his next album. What was his sin? He supported Donald Trump in the election.

This is what corporate America and the radical left is doing. This is what they're doing left, right, and center. And they're going keep on doing it unless we do something about it. And the real question is, how do we get here? How do we get to this point that these oligarchs, these massive corporations in hock with the left can do what they're doing? And you know the answer to that.

The answer is, is that the policy experts in Washington, DC, and the elected officials there for decades on end have let them do it. They have given them the power. How did big tech gets so big, Washington gave away the store. That's how they got so big. Washington subsidized Google and Facebook, Washington subsidized Twitter. And what are these companies, these other mega corporations, these multinational companies, what have they done to repay the favor?

Now, you know, they've shipped our jobs to China. They paid our workers poverty wages. They have violated all of the principles that we hold, dear. That's what they've done. That's what these companies, that's what they love to do. And the left is just fine with it, because the left and these companies together, these oligarchs, they can impose their agenda on the rest of us. And that's exactly what they're trying to do. So what are we going to do about it? I mean, that's the real question, isn't it?

In this moment, in this moment of crisis, our country needs us to take a stand. In this moment of crisis, our country needs us to stand up and to say, we will not be ruled by giant corporations and the liberal elite. We will not be told what to do by these modern day oligarchs. What we need is a new nationalism, a new agenda to make the rule of the people real in this country, and give the people America back.

Give it back to them, give it back to you. No more rule by oligarchs, rule by the people. That's what we've got to do. And I can tell you how I would start, I would start by breaking up the big tech corporations, just break them up. Break them up in the name of the rule of the people. For the good of the American people and our liberty, we need to break those corporations up and cut them down to size.

You know what, the Republican Party once upon a time we were the party of trustbusters. You know what, I mean, we invented the concept basically. It's time to reclaim that legacy. It's time to reclaim that legacy. And not just for big tech but for all of the huge multinational corporations that have sold us out to China, that have sold out our workers, that have sold out our jobs. They need to be broken up. And we need to have free fair competition in this country again. That's what it means for the people to roll.

We've got to stand up to China and not allow them to continue to push us over to take our jobs to cheat on trade. We got to put American workers first. Not illegal immigrants. Can I just say, by the way, on that subject, just on the subject of immigration. You know, we get told all the time. Well, if you believe in a border, if you think that borders actually matter, if you think that citizenship actually matters. Well, my goodness, I mean, you're a bigot. You're backwards.

Can I just say, can I just try to enlighten our liberal friends for a second? We believe in borders because we believe in citizenship. And we believe in citizenship because we believe in America.

Citizenship -- where I come from in Missouri, I grew up in rural Missouri, small town right in the middle of Missouri. It's a working class town, full of good folks, working hard to make it every day. And I can just tell you where I grew up, we believe in citizenship because we're proud of it. We're proud to be Americans.

And when you come to America, you join a family. And in this family, we stick up for one another, we protect one another, we believe in one another. That's what citizenship means. That's why it's worth protecting, what's why we need a border. Do you agree? I mean, that's what it is.

And we've got to resist the attempts of the oligarchs to divide us, you know, they will only succeed at the end of the day. They will only succeed, if we do nothing, and if we allow ourselves to be divided. You can see what their strategy is. I mean, we saw it this whole last year. We heard endlessly from corporate media, from big tech from the left, how terrible our country is.

We heard that we are systemically racist. You heard that once or twice. We heard that the real founding of the country wasn't in 1776, it was in 1619 or whatever. You know, we heard that America is founded in lies and evil. I mean that was, that's what we've been told. All of that is false. All of that is a lie. America is not a perfect place, but it's a good place. More than that, it's a great place. It's the greatest nation in the history of the world.

And part of standing up to the oligarchs in tech and in the media, and the liberals is reclaiming our history and saying it is good, and we are proud to be Americans,. We're proud to have come and to have lived in a country that started with nothing and became the greatest country in the face of the earth. We're proud to live in a country that liberated slaves, that liberated a continent that was under the thumb of Nazi dictatorship that rebuilt the entire world after World War. We did all of that, this nation did all of that.

And are we perfect? Of course, we're not perfect. It's like your pastor says at church, have you heard this? Said, have you ever been to a perfect church? Answer? I mean, I have never been, maybe you have. The answer is no, of course not. Why, because it's full of people. You know, every church is full of people. America is full of people, but it's full of good people. It's full of good people who continue to seek the lights, and continue to strive towards that more perfect union.

And my friends, it's up to us to stand up and to remind our fellow Americans of what we believe together, of what we love together, and to tell the oligarchs who want to rule this country that their day has passed, that we are going to stand for the liberty that our forefathers fought and died for, and we are going to make it real again in this day.

We can do it. We can do it. You know, it seems now in this moment, like the oligarchs and their allies are so powerful. But the truth is, is that the strength of America is always in the unheard voices of its people all across this great land. The strength is in you. The strength is in us together. And I just want to close with a line I've thought a lot about, a quote from Daniel Webster, who in some trying years of his own, that he knew, a trying time before the beginning of Civil War. He used to end his speeches in the United States Senate by saying "union now, union forever."

What he meant was is that for those who said that America's time had passed, that the country was hopelessly divided, that it was irredeemable, sound familiar? He said, no, union now, union forever. I just want to say my friends America now, America first, America forever. God bless you. It's great to be with you. Take care. Thank you so much.

MACCALLUM: All right. Senator Josh Hawley getting the crowd up on their feet in Orlando, Florida for CPAC. Let's get some quick reaction from our panel this afternoon. Charlie Kirk, who also spoke at CPAC today, he's the Founder of Turning Point USA, Ben Dominant, Publisher of the Federalist and Jessica Tarlov, Head of Research at https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__BUSTLE.COM&d=DwICAg&c=cnx1hdOQtepEQkpermZGwQ&r=tgDLkJy54PfJyWJwul3dKe54qGxqO7b7d5vjo7RcZds&m=Dgjq_BFiVWhZ2Ek05in1omXCN-97ooa36eM0H02ROIE&s=vKEWrAWQ2c0G5sPlYmura_LaXQHMGjF1IZ94VnwJ13w&e= , both are Fox News Contributors. Great to see you guys, all of you.

Ben, let me start with you. This has always sort of a testing water for future potential candidates. What do you think today?

BEN DOMENECH, PUBLISHER, THE FEDERALIST: Well, I think you saw in those last two speeches, Martha, really a reflection on how much Donald Trump has changed this party. Rick Scott came up as a popular technocratic governor of Florida, a former, you know, top executive who had been active in the business world for so long. He was viewed as someone who was very much at the center of this new conservative generation of leaders.

Now, he sounds a lot more like Josh Hawley and Donald Trump than maybe he did at the beginning of his career. It's a reflection of how much Trump reordered the priorities of the party. So Rick Scott speaks to culture war issues. And in Josh Hawley speech, I think you saw why his appeal continues much to the consternation of I think a lot of the people in Washington including some Republicans.

He certainly is, I think speaking in this vein to a lot of people who would consider him very viable for the 2024 nomination. But both of these men are reflections of what Donald Trump did to change, not just the conservative movement, but the entire Republican coalition.

MACCALLUM: Interesting. Jessica, you know, one of the things that I was looking at today is a poll that shows what Democrats care the most about, what troubles them the most in the country, and 72% said Trump supporters. When the same question was asked of Democrats, of Republicans, I should say, they talked about immigration, you know, there was a lot of policy issues that were high up there. Why are so many Democrats so worried about Trump supporters?

JESSICA TARLOV, HEAD OF RESEARCH, https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__BUSTLE.COM&d=DwICAg&c=cnx1hdOQtepEQkpermZGwQ&r=tgDLkJy54PfJyWJwul3dKe54qGxqO7b7d5vjo7RcZds&m=Dgjq_BFiVWhZ2Ek05in1omXCN-97ooa36eM0H02ROIE&s=vKEWrAWQ2c0G5sPlYmura_LaXQHMGjF1IZ94VnwJ13w&e= : Well, I think it's more that they're worried about resurgence of Donald Trump himself of him running again in 2024, potentially winning. And, frankly, the damage that he and key acolytes, like Josh Hawley have done to this country over the last four years and potential to do more in the coming years.

I think Ben is absolutely right, that both Josh Hawley and Rick Scott are reflective of how powerful Donald Trump still is in the Republican Party. It is clearly his party, even though he lost by a tremendous margin. It was almost crazy to me to listen to the two of them talk about policies that failed at the ballot box, where record numbers of Republicans turned their back on a party that they have been a part of for decades because they don't see themselves reflected in that rhetoric.

And I understand that CPAC is the red meat base. And I think it was really telling to listen to Senator Tim Scott right before when you interviewed him, talking about how he's at home working in his district, and he is someone who might run. But he won't be running on the Donald Trump platform, he'll be running on traditional conservative principles, not what we're seeing today from someone like Josh Hawley.

MACCALLUM: Sorry, I don't mean to cut you off. We're just a little bit short on time, and I want to get to Charlie. Charlie, 10 million more people voted for President Trump than last time, there was some movement away from him in the suburbs, but he picked up votes in other places. Your thoughts as you look at this this afternoon.

CHARLIE KIRK, FOUNDER, TURNING POINT USA: He won Florida by more than he did in 2016, not to mention how much better in the House of Representatives, Republican broadly. And look, I think you start to see a theme, a through line today, which is that the populist energy that President Trump really generated the last couple of years. These leaders in the conservative wing of the Republican Party want to build on that. And I think they also want to give specific policy proposals of how that can be implemented in either the statewide or in US Congress.

But I'll say this, that I believe that as the conservative movement gets even better at articulating these policies, and persuading the greater population around them, these are very popular policies. I would say to Jessica, it was more about Trump's personality and Trump's policies.

Trump's policies were very, very popular, especially in immigration and trade, challenging corporate interests and representing the muscular class in America. And I'm very pleased to see Senator Hawley and Senator Rick Scott, not just turn their back on that, but want to embrace it, articulate it, and hopefully build the coalition even more.

MACCALLUM: All right, Charlie, Ben, Jessica, thank you all for being with us. I know you're watching this along with us, and we appreciate you weighing in afterwards. Hope to see you soon. Thank you all.

TARLOV: Thanks, Martha.

MACCALLUM: So, you think thousands of students who were really excited that they were going to get to go back to school this Monday, are now getting let down as the teachers unions claim that actually they are not going to go back on Monday. They have more demands. We're going to speak with the leader of one of the Philadelphia unions, coming up next. And then, constitutional attorney and former teacher Leo Terrell wants to weigh in on the students who are caught in the middle, next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTIANE DANILO, PHILADELPHIA SCHOOL DISTRICT PARENT: At this point, I don't expect to go back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: Tough news, Monday's returned to the classroom has been put on hold, again, for roughly 9,000 young students in Philadelphia. The City School District and the teachers union are deadlocked over how to safely reopen, and they're delaying in-person learning for children pre-K through second grade in the first wave to go back.

Dr. Robin Cooper is the President of CASA, which represents Philadelphia School Administrators. She says safety measures are not yet up to par. Dr. Cooper, thank you very much for being here today.

DR. ROBIN COOPER, ADMINISTRATOR, COMMONWEALTH ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL: Thank you for having me.

MACCALLUM: So my first question for you is, you know, obviously this is such a blow to these children and to their families, what do you say to them and do you recommend that they, you know, seek another option?

COOPER: No, I don't. I don't recommend that they seek another option. I think it's important to note that everybody wants to go back. Administrators want to go back, I represent administrators. I know that all staff members want to go back in their heart is in the schools. We want to go back when it's safe, and we want to make sure that the district is responsible and making certain that the environment is safe for all students, all employees so families can feel comfortable with their children back to school.

MACCALLUM: So far, the district has spent $65 million on preparing the schools for people to go back. They've done extensive work on ventilation. They work to ensure healthy air flow, along with guidelines from the EPA. I mean, I guess the question is how much is enough to spend in this effort to get -- how much would be enough to get the teachers and the administrators to say, OK, we'll go back.

COOPER: Well, it's important to note that we looked at a few things, first of all, the vaccination, the ventilation and vetting of ventilation reports. So the vaccinations that's currently underway. We say we're right here. We have one opportunity to get this right. The vaccinations are here, allow employees to get the vaccinations, and then check the ventilation and to vent those air balanced ventilation reports.

If those ventilation reports say that --

MACCALLUM: But, Dr. Cooper, you know, we've seen all across the country. I'm sorry, we have a delay. All across the country, kids have gone back to school. And the transmission is extremely low in schools. In fact, I had one doctor told me, you know, you've got health care workers back at work, social workers back at work, daycare workers back at work, and the teachers are no different in this situation, in terms of what is safe for them.

COOPER: Sorry for cutting you off. If we had a responsibility to get it right, why not take our time and get it correctly? We should go back to school when it can be done safely and responsibly. I think that's telling that you give --

(Inaudible)

MACCALLUM: Yes. Well, I guess your description of safe and responsible is different than the CDC's, because the CDC says it is safe for everyone to go back. Dr. Fauci said that school should be back in action, and every other essential worker community in the entire country has gone back except for some of the city teachers unions.

I thought this was so interesting. This is a Philadelphia Catholic school principal. He says, it's expensive to run the school during the pandemic estimates that he has spent $100,000 on everything from upgraded bandwidth, to touch-less water filling stations.

But he says, Nativity has steady enrollment, a supportive parent-based, and a parish-committed to keeping students and staff safe, despite the extra costs. So, they've got 26 new students enrolling, many of them from public schools, so they're abandoning the public schools because they're not giving them a place to go to school. And, you know, they usually get about five new students, they've got 26 knocking on their door saying I'd like to come here. What do you say about that?

COOPER: I think that parents should stick it out what public schools because we are going to get it right. We have a mediator, TFT has a mediator that is working with the school district, working with the city. We have one opportunity to get it right, because Dr. Fauci also has not been in Philadelphia where we got the mold wrong. We had the lead situation wrong. We get asbestos wrong. So we have an opportunity to do right --

MACCALLUM: I doubt there's a new situations since COVID, yes. All right. Well, $65 million ought to be able to fix that. So somewhere, there's a lot of money and not a lot of solution for these poor kids. And everybody's heart just breaks for these students who have emotional problems. They've been out of school for almost a year. It's just a terrible, terrible situation. And we need to do better. Thank you very much.

COOPER: Thank you. You are more welcome.

MACCALLUM: Thank you very much for being here. All right, let's bring in Leo Terrell, who is a former teacher himself, and then he became a constitutional attorney and a Fox News Contributor. Leo, you listened to the conversation, what do you think?

LEO TERRELL, CONSTITUTIONAL ATTORNEY: Shameful. You know, I love teaching more than I do the law. And education, Martha, everyone knows, is a key to break the poverty cycle in big democratic city. She talked about getting it right, Martha. You hit all the right questions. All the science says that schools are in the best place, and I don't even know what she was talking about.

What her medical reliance as to why she wants to keep the schools closed. The sad part about it is that, the teachers love being paid while working less. And they have forgotten, and they have put their personal goals ahead of the kids. It is embarrassing for people of all colors, to children to be denied a quality education.

That's the reason why I'm on this program right now, because I receive that quality education. There's going to be a two-year backlog, Martha, of these kids be denied a basic education, which is really a fundamental right of every American.

MACCALLUM: Yes. I read a study the other day that said, you're looking at a generation of young people who have an inability to support themselves or to raise their station based on their education, which is really heartbreaking. I'm also a product of public schools. And, you know, I know the good work that they can do.

But you also heard that when I suggested that maybe some of these people want a different choice, then they want to have more options. No, no, no stick with the public schools. Just give us a chance to get it right.

TERRELL: Let me be very clear. One of the reason why I became a Republican is because school choice, giving these kids an opportunity, other than public school, Martha, is the way for kids and their parents to elevate themselves.

And to take away, let's be clear, the political clout of these teacher unions that control Democratic city is way out of control. And I am a strong proponent of school choice, especially forget the ZIP code, let these kids get a chance to go somewhere else other than the public schools. I guarantee you, those teachers unions will offset change their tune if they know there's competition in play.

MACCALLUM: Yes. No doubt, Leo, very wise. Thank you very much. Everybody pays their tax dollars, they ought to be able to put them where they want in the school system. Thanks, Leo, down at CPAC.

So that's "The Story" of this Friday, February 26th, thank you for joining us this afternoon, everybody. Good to have you with us. "Your World with Neil Cavuto" get started right now. And stick around for "The Five," I will see you at 5:00 as well. See you then, everybody. Have a great day.

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