Monday on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” Democratic National Committee chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) said presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton was “the most admired and respected woman in the entire world.”
Partial transcript as follows:
ANDREA MITCHELL, MSNBC HOST: Joining me now is Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Chair of the Democratic National Committee. The Republican National Committee is going to open its convention tonight trying to connect failures in foreign policy, tragedies abroad, tragedies at home, violence, terror attacks. All lying at the feet of this White House and this Democratic nominee. How are you going to counter it?
REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN-SCHULTZ (D-FL), CHAIR, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: Well, the Republicans have absolutely no credibility when it comes to anything related to protecting our national security. They’re about to nominate the most divisive, dangerous, unqualified, unprepared candidate for President of the United States in any major party’s history.
MITCHELL: He’s projecting strength, he’s projecting that he’s a strong man, that this president somehow signals weakness. And, in his defense, what they’re arguing is that ISIS has been spawned by a premature withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan on their watch, and yes, it started under a Republican administration. How do you counteract that?
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Bluster is not a substitute for expertise. Donald Trump has no plan. Yesterday on 60 minutes he actually said that he would declare war on ISIS, but at the same time he would not commit a lot of troops. I don’t know how you do both.
He also at the same time said that he was going to separate us from our NATO allies. This is a man who has consistently expressed his opinions based on his good brain, and that he places his own expertise with that good brain over his — our military generals. He said he would know what to do better about ISIS than our generals. The man has no credibility, and that’s why a huge number of Republican elected officials who have credibility are not coming anywhere near this convention, because they don’t want to be associated with Trump.
MITCHELL: He is the most unpopular Republican nominee since we’ve been polling. She comes in second as the most unpopular. I mean, the negatives in Hillary Clinton, 67% don’t trust her, 55% now are not happy about the emails. The damage from Comey, how are you going to counteract that?
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Hillary Clinton is the most admired and respected woman in the entire world. There’s a reason for that, and it’s because she has spent her entire life standing up for the values that we as Americans embrace, and that are the reasons we make a choice in our president.
She’ll continue to make sure we can help people reach the middle class. She’ll focus on making sure we can continue to strengthen our diplomatic alliances around the world. She has the credibility that we need in a President of the United States. Contrast that with what’s going on this week which is why we at the Democratic National Committee are here all week to underscore that we are better than this. American’s know we are better than this, and we have to make sure that we don’t let Donald Trump anywhere near the White House.
MITCHELL: He’s going to be giving a speech, we’re told, that will have the echoes of Richard Nixon’s acceptance speech in 1968. Richard Nixon won that election, and went on to get reelected. So, how do you counteract the strong man image in this time where Americans are jittery, they’re concerned.
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Americans are looking for a president who can keep us safe, and who is also going to keep us safe in terms of our national security challenges, and make sure that we have opportunities to have safety here at home. That means you can have a good job that pays you well, that you could have a good roof over your head, that you can continue to have access to quality, affordable health care, a strong retirement security and education that you could afford that won’t bankrupt you into adulthood.
Donald Trump stands for the opposite of all of that. Hillary Clinton will lead us forward and make sure we can continue the progress we’ve made.
MITCHELL: Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Congresswoman, thank you very much for being here.
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