Nov. 8 – Adam Hamilton, Bernie Sanders, Byron Donalds, Josh Shapiro

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0:46Angie's been connecting homeowners with skilled pros for nearly 30 years, so we know the difference between done and done well. Angie, the one you trust to find the ones you trust. Find a pro for your project at Angie.com. This Sunday, backlash. America is back. Tonight, we defeated Goliath. This is all yours. The impossible is possible. This victory doesn't belong to me. It belongs to all of you.

1:16Kristen Welker: A political earthquake not seen since the Watergate era. Democrats seized control of both the House and the Senate, delivering a historic rebuke of President Trump. How far will Democrats go to challenge the president? And can they deliver on their promises to voters? My guest this morning, Reverend Adam Hamilton, the first Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate from Kansas in 94 years. Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Plus, reckoning. Republicans turn on each other after a devastating election night. Who will take the blame? And what does the defeat mean for President Trump's final two years in office?

2:03If I was on the ballot, we would have won. This is close to an extinction-level event for Republicans. It was a Watergate-level repudiation.

2:12Kristen Welker: I'll talk to Republican Governor-elect Byron Donalds of Florida. And shake up. President Trump names Stephen Miller as his new chief of staff. Is the president doubling down on the very policies voters just rejected? Joining me for insight and analysis are Jonathan Martin of Politico, Ashley Etienne, former communications director for Vice President Kamala Harris, and Mark Short, former director of legislative affairs for President Trump. Welcome to Sunday. It's Meet the Press. From NBC News in Washington, the longest running show in television history. This is Meet the Press with Kristen Welker.

2:56Kristen Welker: Good Sunday morning. It was a political wipeout, one of the most decisive repudiations of a president in modern American history. A Democratic landslide with echoes of 1974 in the aftermath of Watergate. Democrats seizing control of the House and the Senate and breaking decades of Republican dominance across the South. In the House, NBC News estimates Democrats could win up to 259 seats, their largest majority in decades. In the Senate, Democrats have picked up seven seats, securing a 54-seat majority. And it's not over. Democrats are leading in two uncalled races in Mississippi and Alaska, where their majority could grow even larger.

3:44Kristen Welker: Democratic leaders are promising sweeping change. We've promised to fight for an affordable America, and that's exactly what we will do. First, we should be very clear that the American people have spoken loudly and clearly. They want change and they are tired of the destruction and the corruption of Donald Trump and this administration. The challenge now delivering on those promises. And that includes a new Democratic senator from Kansas, where Adam Hamilton, a pastor of the largest church in the state, made history winning a Senate seat that Republicans had held for 94 years. And Senator-elect Hamilton joins me now.

4:33Kristen Welker: Welcome to Meet the Press and congratulations on your win. Thank you so much, Chris. It's great to be with you today. Well, it's great to have you here today. You made history on Tuesday night, Mr. Senator-elect. How'd you do it? Well, I'll tell you, it was a lot of people. There were literally thousands of volunteers, people who gave, people who knocked on doors. That was a big part of our campaign was getting the vote out and knocking on doors, getting people to register to vote. But here's the big thing is there was a lot of people in Kansas, like across the United States, who were saying, what's happening in Washington, D.C.

5:08is not OK. This is not who we are. Republicans saying this is not what it means to be a Republican, what's happening in Washington, D.C. Democrats who are clearly frustrated, disappointed, afraid, I think sometimes, of what's happening in our country and just saying we've got to do better. And so I had a chance to, you know, people resonate with that message. It had to do with kitchen table conversations around the cost of fuel, the cost of fertilizer if you're a farmer. But it was also the hidden tariff tax. It was the 60 ,000 people in Kansas who lost health insurance the last year and a half.

5:38So it was these things, SNAP benefits taken away from 20 ,000 children in Kansas. But I think it was also a sense of common decency. This is part of our campaign was, you know, we've got to do better. This is not decent. There was cruelty. There was corruption. There were things happening in D.C. that people were saying, that's just not American. It's not who we are as Kansans. And we have to do better. And I think I think that message resonated with a lot of people here.

6:00Kristen Welker: Well, as Democrats prepare to take over control of both chambers of Congress, there seem to be two priorities emerging, addressing the issue of affordability and investigating the Trump administration. That's according to Democrats. Which do you think is the bigger priority? Well, clearly the bigger priority for me, and I think for most people in America, especially people living paycheck to paycheck, is please help us with the cost of living. I am very interested in ending the war in Iran as quickly as possible. I want to see us claw back tariff policies back to the Congress where it started in our Constitution.

6:41And to be able to say when the president wants to impose a tariff, you've got to make the case for it. You've got to show us who's going to be helped by this. Why are we doing this? How long is it going to last? Who's going to be hurt by it? And so those two things are going to bring affordability back in play. That's about$250 a month between the fuel prices and the hidden tariff taxes. That doesn't count what farmers are paying in the ag industry, what they're paying for the hidden cost of these tariffs in the war. Again, fertilizer, input prices. And then, so we're going to start there. If I spent the next two years, my first two years in the Senate in investigations, I'd be deeply disappointed.

7:15I want to get to work helping the people in my state and helping the people across the country. So what I'm interested in is, yes, let's get guardrails put in place so that we don't see these kinds of things happen again. But let's focus on helping the American people. And I'll tell you, the Democrats, if they don't if we don't figure that out and get to work on helping people, this is going to be a one and done kind of, you know, kind of blue wave.

7:38Kristen Welker: Well, let me follow up with you on that point, because, as you know, one of the debates inside the Democratic Party is just how far to take oversight. There's a discussion about should President Trump be impeached for a third time? President Trump himself this week said that impeaching him would, quote, destroy the Democrat Party. Do you think impeachment should still be on the table? Well, I'm not as interested in impeachment as setting up guardrails. I will say I understand the move and the desire to do this. There are a lot of things that have happened that I think are wrong. But I also feel like there's two things that are at play in my mind.

8:16One is and our campaign was built around trying to bring people together. I don't want to see us spend the next two years dividing our country further. I want to see us come together to look at solving really big problems. But I also think we, again, have to look at what's happened in Washington that's corrupt, what's happened in Washington. I mean, the people I talk to across the state, Republicans and Democrats, don't understand how a president makes a billion dollars in his first year back in office. That's just not right. There's so many things that happened that were not right. And I would say insider trading, we need to address that.

8:46We want to make sure that we're looking at how people in Congress are using information when it comes to making decisions on their investments. There's a lot of things. Term limits. I think these are really important. Age limits. If you look at one of the number one concerns of American people is corruption in Washington, D.C., and that's on both sides of the aisle. And so, yes, we need to address that. But I really want us to focus on what brings Americans together, what heals our democracy, and then what solves problems for the people who are living paycheck to paycheck, who are struggling in our country.

9:17And so I want to see us focus on that.

9:19Kristen Welker: I want to discuss the discussion of leadership within the Democratic Party. You have said you're not going to support Chuck Schumer as Senate leader. Why do you think Chuck Schumer is not right for this moment? Well, you know, I mean, no disrespect for Chuck Schumer. I just really don't. And I've told him that as well. But I think at least where I live in Kansas, he's a kind of polarizing figure when my opponent running against me in both debates mentioned Chuck Schumer far more than he ever mentioned me. It was like 17 or 18 times. And, you know, the TV spots were aimed at, you know, addressing what a lot of people in Kansas feel who may not know Chuck Schumer personally, who don't know him personally, but, you know, that they perceive him to be further to the left and somebody who's a divisive figure.

10:03And what we're looking for is how do we have, what I'd be looking for is a leader who can lead from the center, somebody who can bring Republicans and Democrats together, somebody who can bring the various factions in the Democratic Party together, somebody with fresh ideas. So again, no disrespect for Chuck Schumer, just it feels like there's time for, it is a time for fresh and new ideas and somebody who can unite us instead of dividing us.

10:24Kristen Welker: And so who are you planning to support? Do you have a short list? No, I don't. I'll tell you, I've been a pastor for 38 years. I know probably 10 senators personally, and even those I only know from brief conversations. So, you know, I'm not at a place where I can tell you these are my this is my short list. There are a handful of people that I think are probably, you know, lead more from the center. But I don't know enough yet to be able to say these are the people I would endorse. All right. Well, let me ask you, because President Trump has picked Stephen Miller to be his new chief of staff.

10:53Kristen Welker: Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries posted this in response, quote, Stephen Miller is a dangerous xenophobe and reckless extremist who has American blood on his hands. His presence in government should be eradicated like a malignant tumor. Fire him today. Do you agree with Leader Jeffries? Yeah, I would say about Jeffries, he's going to use language that I wouldn't use. But I do think that Stephen Miller has been a significant part of what's happened in the second Trump administration. The kinds of things that I think do not reflect who we are as Americans, his values, the things that he's pushed for, and the fact that he's being brought in as chief of staff, well, it certainly ties him much more closely to President Trump.

11:38And I suspect I would agree with very little that Stephen Miller stands for.

11:43Kristen Welker: So do you think he should be fired?

11:48You know, he's not even been hired in that role yet, I don't think. But I think he would not be somebody I would be supporting for chief of staff for the president. But the president, I think, makes his own decision on chief of staff. I don't think that's approved by the Congress.

12:02Kristen Welker: Senator-elect Hamilton, thank you so very much for that. We know you are off to church right now. We appreciate your stopping by here first. Thank you so much. Thank you so much, Kristen. It was an honor to be with you on this program. And joining me now is Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Senator Sanders, Welcome back to Meet the Press. Thank you very much. Thank you for being here. Let's talk about this week, Tuesday night, a very big night for progressive candidates. Many of them championed the same populist ideals you have been talking about for years. Here's Politico's headline this week.

12:42Kristen Welker: Quote, Bernie Sanders lost the fight in 2016. A decade later, he won the war. Is that how you see this moment, Senator? Well, let's just say I felt very, very good on Tuesday night. Kristen, what I think this election was about is the American people not only expressing disgust with Trump and his policies, but are demanding real change. No more tinkering around the edges. And what the American people are saying, look, we are working long hours. We're worried about our kids. We can't afford health care. We can't afford housing. Meanwhile, the wealthiest people in America have never, ever had it so good.

13:30And right now is the moment where the Democrats have got to stand up to big money, create an economy and a government that works for all of us. And at the top of my list, and I expect to become chair of the Health, Education, Labor, Pension Committee is the need to finally do what every other major country on earth does, and that is guarantee health care to every man, woman and child as a human right through a Medicare for all single payer program. We have also, in my view, at a time of massive income and wealth inequality, need to impose a tax on the billionaire class so that we can build the kind of housing that we need so that we can have universal childcare, so that we can make public colleges and universities tuition free.

14:21Furthermore, we got to raise that minimum wage to a living wage, at least 20 bucks an hour, and make it easier for workers to join unions. Now, these are ideas that I believe, but you know what? These are ideas that the vast majority of the American people believe. So my message is, let us do what the American people want, create an economy that works for Everybody stand up to the billionaire class.

14:45Kristen Welker: Let me follow up with you on that point. This week, you did call for Democrats to use a simple majority to lower the Medicare eligibility from 65 to 55. You've also called for universal Medicare for all. Hakeem Jeffries, likely, of course, to be the next speaker of the House, has said he does not support that. Is it realistic to think you can pass Medicare for all when leader Jeffries doesn't seem to support it? Well, well, you know what the American people do? The last poll that I saw had 66 percent of the American people supporting Medicare for all. What the American people know, and I've been all over this country, Kristen, conservative areas, progressive areas.

15:26This system is broken. End of discussion. The function of health care should not be to make billions in profits for the insurance companies and the drug companies. We are the United States of America, the only major country on earth not to guarantee health care to all people. That is a disgrace. The American people want change. It's too late to think around the edges. We need Medicare for all first year. Lower the age, 65 to 55. Expand Medicare to cover dental, hearing and vision, including all of the children. It's a four year transition program. It's what the American people want. That is what we have got to do.

16:03Kristen Welker: As you know, Democrats are also calling for investigations into the Trump administration. Do you believe that spending two years investigating President Trump and his top officials could jeopardize the mandate to lower prices to make life more affordable? Yes, I do. And I think the senator elect Hamilton made a good point. Do we want to hold the Trump administration accountable for their corruption, for their illegal, unconstitutional actions? Absolutely. But at the end of the day, when you got the highest rate of childhood poverty in America of any major country, when 20 percent of our seniors are trying to survive on fifteen thousand dollars a year, when people are scared to death that Elon Musk and the other billionaires are pushing AI down our throats with cataclysmic impacts on the economy, our privacy rights, on our health, and imposing an existential threat to humanity.

17:02We cannot spend all of our time investigating Trump. We ought to stand up for working class families, make a real difference in their lives.

17:11Kristen Welker: Well, let me ask you, because, of course, President Trump said this week that he would like to work with Democrats. He also just appointed Stephen Miller to be his new chief of staff. You have been critical of Stephen Miller in the past. Do you think you can work with Stephen Miller? Is he the right person for the job? Well, Donald Trump is the president. And I've said this before, Kristen. Trump is many things. I personally believe he is mentally unbalanced, erratic, but he's not stupid and he's a good politician. And I think when Trump looks out in the world and he sees millions of people working for starvation wages, he might not be unsympathetic to raising the minimum wage to a living wage.

18:00He would love, I think, to take credit for doing what every other major country does, guaranteeing health care to all people. So I'm not worried about Miller. Do I think we can work with Trump? Maybe. I'm not by no means guaranteeing it, but it is certainly worth the effort.

18:16Kristen Welker: OK, well, we will be watching closely to see if that is all possible. Senator Bernie Sanders, thank you so much for joining us after a very big week. We appreciate it. Thank you very much. And still ahead, my sit down with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. But when we come back, Florida Governor-elect Byron Donalds joins me next.

18:44Who's ready for a bike ride? Peppa Pig is learning to ride her bike. First, pop on her helmet. Safety first. Then attach the push stick and give her bike a push. And watch Peppa paddle. Her legs go round and round as the wheels turn. With more than 75 sounds and phrases, every ride is a big adventure. Peppa Pig Ready Paddle Go. Available at all major retailers now. Hi, I'm Angie Hicks, co-founder of Angie. From roof repair to emergency plumbing and more, when you use Angie for your home projects, you know all your jobs will be done well. Angie, the one you trust to find the ones you trust. Find a pro for your project at Angie.com.

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20:01Kristen Welker: Welcome back. Republican Congressman Byron Donalds made history this week, winning his race to become Florida's first black governor. And Governor-elect Byron Donalds joins me now. Welcome back to Meet the Press and congratulations on your win. It's going to be back with you, Kristen. Thanks for having me. Well, thank you so much for being here, Mr. Governor-elect. So in addition to the history that you have made, 2027 will be the first time in U.S. history where there will be multiple, five in all, Black governors serving at the same time. What are you feeling in this moment? Oh, it's really a matter of personal pride.

20:46I think it's a matter of pride for black Americans all through the country. I think it's also something to demonstrate that whether you're talking about here in Florida, just to the north of us of Georgia, I believe it's out in Nevada or even in Wisconsin, you have a situation where Americans from all walks of life decided that this is going to be their decision. I think it demonstrates again in our country that despite all the vitriol around race in America and in politics, that people just want to have leadership that's going to get the job done on behalf of their communities, on behalf of their state.

21:18So for myself personally, it's a high honor. But for the people of Florida, it demonstrates that they don't really care about skin color. They care about meritocracy. They care about getting the job done. The people of our state voted out and clear. They want to make sure that Florida continues to be a common sense conservative state. And my job as governor is to make sure that is a reality.

21:37Kristen Welker: All right. Well, let's talk about the path forward for Republicans after this week's losses by Republicans. Vice President J.D. Vance came out with a post that's getting a lot of attention. I'm going to read part of it. He says, the reason we lost is the war. If you'd like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next six years was worth it, then do so. But everyone knows why we lost. Do you agree with Vice President J.D. Vance? I think it's a little bit broader than that, Christian. At the end of it all, it's about gas and groceries. You know, as I traveled the state of Florida, all 67 counties went from everywhere between Mariana and Panama City and Pensacola down to Palm Beach, Broward County, Miami-Dade County.

22:23People in our state were thinking about the cost of food, the cost of gas, the cost of insurance. They just want to have lower prices. They want to make sure that their kids and themselves have an ability to build a great life. And I think that's really at its core what this is really all about. It could be Iran. I mean, we'll take time to dissect all of that. But at the end of the day, people want to know that they can afford their lives. And I think that the mission for Republicans is to get back focused on just on the cost of living for the people of this country. That's what we are going to do as Florida's next governor.

22:53We're going to be laser focused on the accountability issues that really were the number one issue in Florida's election. And it was not even close.

22:59Kristen Welker: Well, and you are arguing it's much broader. Let me ask you, though, the vice president saying that it is the fault of the war, can he realistically distance himself from the Iran war, from these losses, given the fact that he was put in charge of trying to negotiate an end to the war? honestly kristen that's a question for the vice president and that's more about presidential politics um as governor-elect of florida my mission is to make sure that we lower insurance costs in our state that's what we're going to be focused on about lowering the cost of building housing in our state we're going to lead an all-of-government effort around permitting reform that way you can lower the government side of construction costs thereby lowering the cost of construction housing for the people of our states those are the things that i get to be focused on I'll leave the presidential politics in the hands of President Trump and Vice President Vance.

23:53But I think at the end of the day, when I talk to voters and I talk to a lot of voters these last two years, my campaign, we knocked over two million doors in my campaign for governor. And the first, second and third was affordability, cost of living. People want to make sure that that is allowed to continue in our country. They want to be able to put food on the table and a roof over their heads.

24:11Kristen Welker: Well, on that point, I want to play a little bit of what the current governor of Florida had to say about this week's losses. Take a listen. I've criticized some of our Republican congressmen and Senate candidates running around the country trying to blame the high gas prices on Biden. Gas was three dollars a gallon a year and a half ago, and now it's four and it's four because of the Iraq war. So when you gaslight people, they don't trust you on anything else. Did Republicans gaslight the American people in the economy? I actually don't know what the governor is talking about when it comes to that one.

24:51I didn't really hear any Republicans trying to blame gas prices today on what the Biden team was doing. I think if you're talking about the cost of living overall, the fact that prices have not really come down in our country. Yes, the major lying share of that is because of the 9 percent year over year inflation from the Biden years. But gasoline prices have gone up recently. Yes, it's because of what's going on in the Strait of Hormuz. I actually just read an article from the Wall Street Journal about this. The insurance costs of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz have gone up substantially, even though there's more oil going through the strait today than there was pre-war.

25:24And so I think that, you know, the number one thing we want for our state and for our country is we do want those gas prices coming down. That conflict's coming to an end. We'll see those gas prices come down very, very rapidly. But I didn't really hear Republicans blaming gas prices on Joe Biden. I didn't hear that.

25:39Kristen Welker: And we did, we should note, have a number of Republicans on this program who pointed the finger at Joe Biden. But I think the question becomes, Governor, do you believe Republicans, the president, should take responsibility for the economy in order to win back the trust with voters that that was clearly lost in this election cycle? Oh, I do. Absolutely. And I think you look at the election results, they speak for themselves. Like I told you, Kristen, it's gas and groceries. That was on the mind of everybody. I couldn't help but miss. But I did listen to what Senator Sanders was talking about, about their proposal for Medicare for all.

26:17This is going to be the next battle line in American politics. It's going to be over health care. And let's be very clear. If you want to talk about the rising costs in our country, health care is centered to all of it. And we are living under Democrat health care policy here in the United States of America. It's been 15 years since Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act, was passed. We were promised that premiums were going to go down. We were promised you could keep your doctor, you could keep your plan. None of that occurred in health care in our country the last 15 years. And instead of fixing the Affordable Care Act, having market-centered reforms that can stabilize health care costs, lower health care costs in this country, you have Bernie and the Democrats now want government takeover of all health care in our country.

26:57We know that would be a failure. care would be rationed to the people of this country. They would not be able to have the free-flowing access that they currently have today. The prices would get significantly higher. Of course, nobody would have to pay that directly, but it would all be paid for by future debt on the backs of our children. That's the wrong way to go. If Republicans, in my view, want to be serious about anything, we have to start having this real political conversation and economic conversation around health care to stabilize health care costs, lower health care costs. And there are there are major Republican policies that can actually stabilize and lower health care costs in this country, provide more access to the people of our country, and that will help make lives better.

27:37Kristen Welker: Governor-elect Donald, quickly before I let you go, President Trump announced on Friday he's promoting Stephen Miller as White House chief of staff. Miller is, of course, the architect of the White House's immigration policies. If you look at the exit polls, nearly six in 10 respondents said the policy has gone too far. Is elevating Miller the right move after these midterm elections, Mr. Governor-elect? Well, I think what the president is looking for with Stephen Miller is somebody who's going to be supportive of him and supportive of his agenda. That's what his chief of staff is supposed to do.

28:14I think if you're going to talk about enforcement measures, that's something where the president and his team are going to take a look at the entire playbook and then make the necessary adjustments. Let's also be clear, Kristen, that securing our border is still popular with the American people. We saw that in the polling. Immigration deportations and immigration controls are still popular largely with the American people. We saw that in the polling as well. So I think even though the Democrats had a big night on Tuesday, that does not mean that the country is now all supportive of all the Democrat policies.

28:43That's simply not true at all. The American people, in my view, spoke loud and clear. They want lower prices. They want a stabilized cost of living standard so they can afford their lives. They also still want the border security measures and the common sense immigration policies from the president of the United States because they do remember the Biden years and that cannot return to this country.

29:03Kristen Welker: Very quickly. Final question. Are you still supporting Vice President J.D. Vance for the next president, as you've said in the past? Oh, listen, Chris, now we'll leave 28 to 28. Right now, I'm focusing on my job, making sure that we build a government here in the great state of Florida to transition from Governor DeSantis to make sure that Florida remains the best state in all of America. Are you open to DeSantis? Are you open to Governor DeSantis? In the past, you've said you'd lean towards supporting Vance. I mean, Chris, in the 28th, it's still 2026. We haven't even crossed the new year. And like I said, we have a government to prepare for.

29:43That's my focus. We'll see what happens down the line with the nomination for my party. Only thing I know is it's going to be to be a robust conversation, a robust debate. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

29:54Kristen Welker: All right. Governor-elect Donald, thank you so very much for joining us this morning. Really appreciate it. Thank you. And when we come back, my interview with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro is next. Who's ready for a bike ride? Peppa Pig is learning to ride her bike. First, pop on her helmet. Safety first. Then attach the push stick and give her bike a push. And watch Peppa paddle. Her legs go round and round as the wheels turn. With more than 75 sounds and phrases, every ride is a big adventure. Peppa Pig Ready Paddle Go. available at all major retailers now. Hi, I'm Angie Hicks, co-founder of Angie.

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31:26Kristen Welker: Welcome back. On Saturday, I sat down with the Democratic Governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, And I began by asking him whether he saw Tuesday's results as a win for Democrats or a loss for Republicans. I think there was absolutely a repudiation of Trump and Vance, but there was absolutely a core group of Democrats. Let me just focus on governors for a moment who went out and were very specific about what they were going to do, the change they wanted to bring about, the things that we could do as governors to bring down costs and increase opportunity. I think it's interesting that of the 10 biggest states in America, nine of them are now led by Democratic governors and 75 percent of the American population is led by a Democratic governor.

32:13So, yes, there was absolutely a repudiation of Donald Trump. There was also an acknowledgment that Democrats had better ideas who were on the ballot and a better approach to governing and getting stuff done.

32:24Kristen Welker: As you have said and Democrats have said, part of the agenda includes oversight and investigations. How should Democrats make sure that oversight doesn't come at the expense of taking action on the economy? We've got to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. I don't think just because you're pursuing oversight, it means you don't care about cutting costs. I think we do both. And, you know, I think Hakeem Jeffries has made very clear that both are going to be on the agenda for the first 100 days and for these next two years. And I think there are leaders in place who can both ensure that there is actual accountability and to make sure that costs are being cut, policies are being passed or at least put on the president's desk.

33:11I would just say one more thing about accountability. It is very important that it is real accountability that informs the American people and changes some of these corrupt practices. Not just accountability, and I mean this with the most respect, that gets headlines on your news program. I think it has to be about real accountability. I'll just give you one example, and sadly there are hundreds of examples. The defense secretary at the president's direction are blowing up fishing boats in the middle of oceans. There has been no accountability for that. There have been no oversight hearings about that.

33:51There's been no real questioning about why that's happening. It is critically important that Secretary Hegseth answer those questions, that anyone in the White House that was part of the chain of command to order those strikes answers for it. And that ultimately, it's not just about the headlines that come out of it, but real accountability for how our military is conducting itself. Again, I don't want to suggest that's the most or the only thing, most important or the only thing we need to do when it comes to accountability. But it's one example of the serious approach we've got to take to ensuring accountability.

34:25Kristen Welker: Do you think Secretary Hegseth should be impeached? Is that accountability? I mean, look, that's a question for Congress to determine. But there has to be real questions asked. There has to be real accountability. I would just tell you, from my perspective, he is completely incompetent. He's like an eight-year-old playing with toy soldiers every day. He is someone who I think is making America less safe. And there has to be real accountability. If the Congress determines that the best approach is impeachment, then they'll do that. It does seem, and you're closer to this than I am, it does seem that there is a growing consensus amongst not just Democrats, but Republicans as well in the current Congress, not even the new Congress, that his time as defense secretary should be up.

35:10Kristen Welker: Well, there's, of course, a robust discussion within the Democratic Party about potentially impeaching President Trump. Do you believe that President Trump has committed impeachable offenses in his second term? So, again, I think there has to be real accountability. We've just spent a few moments talking about that. And it will be up to the Congress to determine, since that is a political tool of Congress, whether they want to go down that path. Here's what I will say. Over the last hundred years, one of the worst decisions ever by the Supreme Court of the United States has been to grant to the president absolute and total immunity for any crimes he may commit.

35:50It is clear that this president is corrupt. Kristen, he's put$2 billion in his pocket during his time as president. That's$2 billion that has come out of our pockets. It's$2 billion that has led him to not regulating AI. It's$2 billion that has led him to making decisions that are against America's national security interests. selling chips to China, as an example, which undermines our national security, but probably indirectly enriches the president or his children. And so I think there has to be accountability for that. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has taken away legal accountability. The Congress has to hold him accountable.

36:34They'll determine what the best approach is.

36:36Kristen Welker: Let's talk about your fellow Pennsylvania Democrat now, Senator John Fetterman, who has broken with the Democratic Party at various moments, have been critical of the Democratic Party as well. Now that Democrats have a comfortable majority in the Senate, do you believe that Senator John Fetterman still belongs in the Democratic Party? I mean, I have no idea what John is going to do. Probably wouldn't shock you. He has not confided in me what his political plans are. But here's what I would say. The good people of Pennsylvania have just voted. And they don't want people enabling Donald Trump anymore.

37:15They want real accountability for Trump. They want people who actually show up in their communities every day and do the hard work to make their lives better. And I think John's got a lot of work to do to earn the trust of the people of Pennsylvania, re-earn the trust of people of Pennsylvania. He's got to show up and he should speak to the people of Pennsylvania about what his plans are.

37:36Kristen Welker: Do you think that Senator Fetterman should face a primary challenge in 2028? I think there's going to be a robust primary challenge. That's what you're anticipating if people reached out to you about that? I think there's no question that people are lining up to run, and he has to decide if he's going to run. If Senator Fetterman decided tomorrow to become a Republican, would you be comfortable with that? Would you support that? Well, no, because the people of Pennsylvania elected a Democrat to that seat. So he would have a lot of explaining to do. As you sit here today, are you more likely than not to run for president in 2028?

38:12I mean, look, first off, I'm humbled you'd even have me on your program, let alone ask me that question. And I appreciate the support we have received in Pennsylvania overwhelmingly from Democrats, Republicans, independents. I'm also grateful for the opportunity to do something that Democratic governors in my lifetime have not been able to do, and that is govern with a legislative trifecta. So a big part of my focus right now is on figuring out how we advance policies like raising the minimum wage and many other things that have been blocked by Republicans who've controlled my legislature for generations.

38:46That's where my focus is. And maybe getting a little bit of sleep after the election.

38:51Kristen Welker: Sleep sounds good. Do you commit to serving your full four-year term? Well, I committed to run for governor, and that's the work I'm focused on doing. And if I've got something to say about my future, I'd love to come back on your show and talk about it. Does Vice President Kamala Harris's decision on whether to run for president impact your decision at all? I think everyone should make their decisions on their timelines in a way that they see fit. And you can watch my full interview with Governor Shapiro, including his thoughts on expanding the Supreme Court and whether he supports Medicare for all legislation on meetthepress.com.

39:27Kristen Welker: When we come back, history was made this week in the midterms. Our Meet the Press Minute is next.

39:39Kristen Welker: Welcome back. Tuesday's midterm elections broke barriers with voters electing the first Muslim U.S. Senator, Abdul El-Sayed, the first Native American Senator, Peggy Flanagan, the first openly gay male Senator, Chris Pappas, and the first black woman governor, Keisha Lance Bottoms. Nearly six decades ago, Shirley Chisholm made history as the first black woman elected to Congress. And on Meet the Press, she discussed her groundbreaking run for president. First of all, gentlemen, you have to really recognize that I'm doing something in this country that's never really been done before. It's a question of inculcation, reorientation, and education.

40:18Never before in this country, ever since the inception of the republic, have you had a woman seriously running for the presidency? I'm not talking about someone nominating someone at the convention as a mere gesture of symbolism and tokenism. I'm talking about someone that has been going out on the highways and byways for the past seven and a half months and saying to the American people that indeed this is a multifaceted society that Mrs. Chisholm also can be considered a person that can run for the presidency of this country. I was breaking a tradition, a tradition in which only white males have only been the gentlemen in this country that have guided the ship of space.

40:52So you don't expect people, black, white, men or women, to suddenly overcome a tradition that has been steeped ever since the inception of this republic. So I understand that. I've broken the ice.

41:02Kristen Welker: When we come back, a political earthquake. Did Democrats win or did President Trump lose? The panel is next.

41:15Kristen Welker: Welcome back. The panel is here. Jonathan Martin, politics bureau chief and senior political columnist for Politico. Ashley Etienne, former communications director for Vice President Harris and Speaker Pelosi. and Mark Short, former Trump director of legislative affairs. Welcome to all of you. Jay Mart, you wrote that this week amounted to a political realignment. What a week it was. How do you see this moment in American politics? Well, you know, there's some midterms that are larger in history. Certainly 1974, the Watergate babies, 1994, Newton and the Republican Revolution. I think this will go down in history as a transcendent midterm.

41:54I think it's an extraordinary event because it's one of those rare votes of no confidence in the party in power. If we were in Britain, Donald Trump would be moving out of the White House right now because he's been basically repeated by the country. Obviously, he has two more years because we're not in the U.K., but he's going to be the lamest of lame ducks without either chamber or Congress. And frankly, his party's deep in the hole in both chambers of Congress. There's not a lot that I think can get done. But from a political standpoint, I think this reorders the 2028 race. I think it emboldens Democrats to get in.

42:31I think it widens the Democratic field and livens it. What's to lose now? This is a campaign worth running, a nomination worth having. On the Republican side, I think on Monday, J.D. Vance was almost a sure thing to be the nominee. I'm not sure today he is a sure thing to be the nominee. I think it'll also encourage folks to get into the race potentially in 2028 on the Republican side. Still think he's the most likely nominee, but, boy, I think there's more of a competition now. And the idea of Trump doing a simple coronation, I think, is probably now out the window. And this is more of a race.

43:01Just lastly, though, the big question is, is 28 a nomination that is worth having for the Republicans? Or are they facing a replay of 2006 and 2008, a bad midterm and a devastating general election two years later? And once you lose the White House, too, that's the risk right now for Republicans if they don't change their ways and find a path to claim 270 electoral votes. But if you look at Texas turning blue, Georgia, North Carolina turning deeper shades of blue. I'm not sure whether they go to get 270 electoral votes in two years.

43:34Kristen Welker: Well, so I want to talk about 2028. I do want to take a moment just to talk about the path forward right now, Ashley Etienne, because there's a real question about what Democrats are going to do with their mandate. Is there a risk in overreach? You heard Adam Hamilton, you heard Senator Sanders also saying, let's be very cautious here. Voters put us in place to deal with the economy. And oh, by the way, the Democratic Party is not very popular when you look at the polling heading into Tuesday. Yeah, there's definitely a risk of overreach here. You know, you don't want to over index on going after Donald Trump in an environment where people are trying to keep food on the table.

44:15But if you take a step back, the NBC exit polls showed that 90 percent of the country found that corruption was the most critical issue going into the to the voting booth. And so they're seeing it really in two different ways. One is government corruption. One is corporate corruption, where these corporations have rigged the system and the American people are paying the bill for it. So my advice to the Democratic Party is you've got to do D and all the above strategy. You've got to hold Trump accountable. You've got to hold these corporations accountable and you've got to move very fast and quickly on cost.

44:45But here's what the American people need to to know is that Donald Trump has made clear to us that he's going to be an obstructionist. He said that if Democrats will send him bills and he's going to send them back a veto stamp, you might recall an election night. He posted a picture of a hat that said veto on it. So Democrats objective is going to be to prove to American people and make clear to the American people. If nothing moves that Donald Trump is to blame for it, that's got to be the message going into 2028. If there is no improvement.

45:14Kristen Welker: Can anything get done? President Trump just named Stephen Miller as his chief of staff. I'm told by some allies of the president, look, he's worked on Capitol Hill before. He does have the capacity to get stuff done. How do you see it? Look, I think he chose Stephen for a couple of reasons. One is to change the narrative quickly. So we're not talking about what a debacle Tuesday was. And also because he's anticipating a fight. And I think you're going to see that. I mean, even in Ashley's answer, we're hearing that there's things we want to do proactively, but we have to hold corporate America accountable.

45:41We have to go after the administration. And that's what you're going to see pretty quickly. But, Kristen, I don't want to leave too quickly from what happened on Tuesday, because this was just a complete annihilation of where Republicans were. And I think we lost our way on so many issues. We lost our way on government getting involved in the economy. We lost our way in abandoning the pro-life and pro-family cause. We've lost our way on national security. But when you look at actually the complete wipeout, take North Carolina for one second, focus on it. North Carolina went to have a Democrat win by 60-40 margin in the swing state.

46:13The House, we lost the chairman of the Republican Congressional Committee. The House went from 10-4 Republican to 10-4 Democrat. At the same time, they passed three measures on the constitutional ballot to limit property taxes, to limit income taxes, and pass voter ID by wide margins. So basically, voters were voting for conservative issues, but saying, we're done with all of you because you've abandoned us. And not just that, but there were a few thousand votes from having a 14-0 Democrat congressional delegation. It was almost a complete extinction event. And I have bad news for you, Mark. The Democrat actually, Roy Cooper, won by 20.

46:49The Republican didn't even get 40. He got 39. The one bright spot, Kristen, was Florida. Byron Donalds hangs on. Actually, Moody hangs on. It's the one vestige of red that you can see on the American political map. It's the last bulwark for the Republican Party. I got news for the GOP. You pursue Stephen Millerism in 2028, you're going to hand Florida over to the Democratic Party. You have an all blue map. because Miami-Dade will collapse for the Republican Party if Stephen Miller's view on immigration prevails and is the order of the day in 2028.

47:19Kristen Welker: So you take me to my next question because someone said to me that the next nominee for the Republican Party has to be someone who has a vision to rebuild the party, not take the mantle from Trump, and that that changed on Tuesday, Jay Mark. Yeah, there's no question about it. And what I wonder about is that in the back of the minds of a lot of Republicans, and Mark knows this, do they think 2020 is even worth it? If you were to put some of these folks on truth serum, whether it's Sarah Huckabee Sanders, David McCormick, the senator from Pennsylvania, do you just wait it out, Kristen, and just wait until 32?

47:52Because nobody can escape the big, beautiful, golden handcuffs with Donald Trump in 28, and so he may as well be on the ballot in 28, and if that's the case, you're going to lose, too. Democrats want to run against Donald Trump. They will forever. They'll keep doing it for as long as they can. And they're going to go back to that same play call every single time. And the Republicans know that. And if that's the case, if you're, I don't know, Marco Rubio, do you say, J.D., hey, pal, have a ball. It's all your turn in 20. We'll see you in 2032.

48:22Kristen Welker: Is that what you think is going to happen? And is there a path for J.D. Vance at this point in time? He's trying to blame Iran. I agree with J. Mark. Can he distance himself? It's a much more open field after Tuesday. Is it worth it, though? It's a great question. I'm not so sure that blaming the Jews the day after the election was the right call for J.D. Vance. I don't think that was really what... And I also don't think Americans were saying, hey, I really want the election analysis of the vice president of the United States. Yeah, and the Iran war. It diminishes the position. But look, I think it's going to be an open competition.

48:51But, Kristen, I think a challenge for anybody is that if you try to break from President Trump, he's going to come after you. And if you cleave yourself to him and he's at 31%, 32 % approval, that's going to be a really difficult path. And so I think it's going to be a challenge. I think, as J. Mart says, there's going to be a lot of people who say, you know what, I'm going to wait and go in 2032.

49:09Kristen Welker: Yeah, I thought it was notable that Governor Josh Shapiro, when I asked if he was going to make a decision based on Kamala Harris, that everyone should make their own decision, clearly not closing the door on a run. How do you see what happened on Tuesday shaping how the Democrats are viewing 2028? As Jay Mart said, he thinks it's going to be a big wide open field. I mean, I think the biggest takeaway for me is always bet on black. If you look at what we saw happened just on Tuesday. We've got a situation where investing in black voters has really put the entirety of the South in play. I mean, it was incredible from Texas to Georgia to Florida.

49:47And so the way that I see it is, you know, black voters could be the solution to Democrats' electoral challenge. Just by taking the South, all those states, you put 100 electoral votes in play for Democrats. So the question is at this point, whether or not the Democratic Party will heed that and invest in black voters today leading into 2028.

50:08Kristen Welker: All right. And whether we're going to see a new strategy unfold of investing in the South, thank you so much for a fantastic conversation. And as we go, we want to note that we are celebrating 79 years of Meet the Press. We want to say a very happy 79. That is all for today. Thank you so much for watching. We'll be back next week because if it's Sunday, It's Meet the Press. Happy birthday. Thank you.

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