House Majority Leader Steve Scalise appeared on NewsNation’s Katie Pavlich Tonight on May 21 to discuss the work Republicans are doing with President Trump, including efforts to lower costs for working families and prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Scalise contrasted what he described as the GOP’s commonsense agenda with what he called increasingly extreme rhetoric and policies from Democrats.
Scalise said that Congress should allow the president to continue his approach in the Middle East. “The president’s been trying to wind this thing down. You saw him just in the last few days talking about trying to get this negotiated to a ceasefire in the Strait of Hormuz, working with the neighboring countries in the Middle East to get a peace agreement. So, I think Congress needs to continue to let the president do what he’s doing to, number one, make sure Iran does not have a nuclear weapon. That’s the main objective. And then ultimately get this resolved peacefully. And then let’s move on and see great things happen in the economy.”
He also addressed differences between Republicans and Democrats ahead of November’s elections: “But at the end of the day, it’s going to be a dogfight going into November. And really, this, Katie, is going to be a contrast election… It’s a contrast between what Republicans are doing, working with President Trump to make life more affordable for families, and the Democrat Party that’s gone off the rails with… leftist policies all around… government-run grocery stores, higher taxes, open borders.” Scalise said every Democrat voted against tax deductions for senior citizens and increased pay for workers.
Scalise discussed concerns about political rhetoric leading up to violence: “It’s dangerous… President Trump has had three — not one, not two— three assassination attempts on his life. And people that tried… are using exact rhetoric… from those Democrat elected officials.” He added that solving differences should happen at ballot boxes rather than through violence.
He also spoke about participating in Congress’s annual charity baseball game: “We practice at six in the morning…. We want to win. We want to beat the Democrats…. But it’s also a great cause…. We raised last year over $2.5 million for local youth charities…. It does bring everybody together.”
Scalise currently serves as U.S. Representative for Louisiana’s 1st district after replacing Bobby Jindal in 2008; he previously served in both chambers of Louisiana’s legislature according to Wikipedia. He was born in New Orleans and resides in Jefferson according to Wikipedia. Scalise graduated from Louisiana State University with a Bachelor of Science degree.
