pres. biden: my fellow americans, it has been the privilege of my life to serve this nation for over 50 years. i revere this office, but i love my country more. it has been the owner of my life to serve as your president, but

in the defense of democracy, which is at stake, i think is more important than any title. host: that was president biden last night in his first public remarks since his decision not to seek reelection. it began to find a legacy of a five decade political career. this morning, we are getting your reaction to that address, and we are doing so on phone lines split by political party. democrats, (202)-748-8000. republicans, (202)-748-8001. independents, (202)-748-8002. you can also send us a text, (202)-748-8003. if you do, include your name and where you are from. otherwise, catch up with us on social media, on x, @cspanwj, facebook.com/c-span. good thursday morning.

a two hour "washington journal." the houses in at 9:00 a.m. eastern, so we are having this conversation in the first half-hour of the program today. that address began at 8:00 p.m. eastern yesterday. here's one of the headlines on it from this morning's papers. "the wall street journal," biden saying it is time to pass the torch. here is more from him last night. [video clip] pres. biden: recently, it has become clear to me, i need to unite my party in this political endeavor. i believe my leadership in the world, my vision for america's future all merited a second term but nothing, nothing could come in the way of saving our democracy. that includes personal ambition. so i have decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to

a new generation. that's the best way to unite our nation. there is a time and a place for long years of experience in public life. there is also a time and a place for new voices, fresh voices, yes, younger voices. and that time and place is now. [end video clip] host: here is a picture from this morning's "washington post." a different shot of that seen in the oval office, seen through a window outside of the oval office, where you can see the president at his desk, and his son hunter biden looking on as the president spoke. some color from a reporter of "the washington post," who described the scene. behind him was a photo of his late son beau biden, who died of cancer in 2015. sitting nearby was his wife, the first lady, and some of his grandchildren.

his son hunter was there, along with his daughter ashley and granddaughter. towards the end of the remarks, ashley reached for the hand of her mother, and when remarks concluded, the family and staff burst into applause. "this has been the owner of a lifetime," biden told those in the oval office. taking your phone calls. as usual, rob, democrat, new york city. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. actually, i may not be calling you for some time to come. i've got an upcoming surgery, so i will make a few quick points. biden is a hero for everything he has done, including opting out of running for the

presidency. kamala will be a fine president, and i think she really need pseudo-not to play any games with this guy, who she is competing with. and she has already started to cover some of the things, like the phony trump university and stuff like that. host: how do you think the president. in balancing those things in the 11 minute address last night? explaining why he talked about his legacy but he did promote vice president harris, did he balance those well? caller: he did, but i would like to make three quick points, he inherited over $200 million from his father, trumpeted, many doubles every seven years approximately. he did not make the money he has

got it he inherited over $200 million. he dodged the draft five times. there was a letter from d octor, and his college grades were sealed. i started to realize, why are republicans -- especially wealthy ones -- so much behind a cloud like this? i realized that he is the perfect distraction from what biden has tried to bring out all along, which is the wealthy do not pay their fair share of taxes. trump is nothing but a distraction. biden was pushing for over $400,000 and comes to be taxed more and to remove the cap on social security, which they stop paying tax on social security up to $170,000. host: we will take your points

and wish you good luck in your health travels to come. a lot of callers and they only have a half-hour in this first segment. let's go to christian, arizona, republican. caller: good morning. thank you. i would like to take the audience on a little bit more of an education moment here. when we always talk about our country, and every single morning we hear the democrats talking about democracy, it is a democrat form of government. well, here is the teaching moment, folks. the democratic party just deemed kamala harris to be the presumptive nominee of the 2020 presidential nomination, so you will soon have your convention, and you will anoint kamala as

the nominee, and she did not go through a primary process for 2024, so this reaffirms that we are a republican form of government, not a democracy. and then when you break down the structure of the branches of government, you have article two elected by the electoral college, and then art of three, which is confirmed by one half of article one, and then you have the other half of article one that is only based on our u.s. census, and then you have the maps drawn out by the states, so on and so forth. host: to your point about kamala harris likely becoming the nominee, it is likely to happen before the convention.

the democratic national committee, their rules committee of the convention approved a process yesterday for selecting the presidential nominee via a virtual roll call, beginning in early august. the vice president has amassed enough to be declared the official nominee by august 7. the story noting that according to rules, any democrat who would like to seek the nomination has until tuesday next week to formally declare their candidacy and obtain signatures from at least 3180 of the nearly 4000 democratic delegates who have endorsed harris, according to the associated press. so that formal process likely happened even before the convention. virginia, shanda, independent. caller: good morning. how are you? host: i'm doing well caller: i've been wanting to

call about a couple of things. host: you did or did not? caller: i did. he basically gave her resume of everything he did for the country. my feeling about kamala is how she is godless at this point. i went to the protest yesterday -- [indiscernible] i hope to see c-span there. also, for our 60 plus crowd, i'm so sorry, reflect on your real lives when you cannot do things anymore because you are older, it is ok to sit down and take a break. you lived a long life. sit down somewhere, and please

change the battery in your fire alarm or replace your firearm. i'm begging you. host: good advice on fire alarm spread can you tell me more about the scene of the protest? some 23 people were arrested according to reports, but it is the picture of american flags being earned at that protest that are getting attention and condemnation, especially from republicans. there is a story in politico about it. take me to being in those protests yesterday. caller: it was really peaceful. a lot of people like media and those for organizations, i asked for their opinion. i don't too much care about the american flag. i don't care about burning the flag. it has something that has been done and something that will always be done.

[indiscernible] you don't really care about it. you are just upset because you love war -- like i said, where i was, it was peaceful. all had to do there was stand there silently, but it was really peaceful. the reason why i felt afraid was because of the police, honestly. and they would not let us march on our original route, so that was something else. and then i did see video at union station where a protester did yank a police officer back, but there is such thing as peer arresting or helping to arrest somebody. it is a tactic. and what are you afraid of? there are enough people there with weapons versus people without that you should not really be afraid of us.

thank you for listening to me, myself and other callers. i appreciated. host: shonda in virginia. benjamin netanyahu's address yesterday before a joint session of congress, if you missed that, you can watch it in its entirety on our website at c-span.org. back to your phone calls about resident biden's address to the nation -- president biden's address to the nation. it was about 11 minutes. this is bob in west virginia, democrat. caller: i have been a democrat for 40 years, but i will tell you what, i don't think i can vote for democrats anymore. they talk about trump being a threat to democracy, but i kind of agree with the republicans. since nobody voted for kamala

but all of a sudden, she is going to be the president? she has no vote? i'm going to change to independent. i cannot vote for kamala. host: this is marie in pennsylvania. republican. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. caller: my name is margie. i did watch biden's speech last night. he definitely was not depressed. i love the part where he is always acting like he is telling the truth. the man has been lying. everything is a lie. i would be less upset if he just admitted that he lost his step. i'm just so tired of the democrats against trump.

they wonder why the man almost got assassinated. these words have got to stop. you know what i mean? as for kamala, i don't think the woman has the experience to go up against these other countries. that is where i stand with her. i think it is sad for biden that his own party pushed him out, but that just shows democrats are not for us. it is all about power, and they will shut us down. you watch. this is going to turn into a race thing. host: staying in pennsylvania, tom is in philly. independent. caller: good morning. i agree with a lot of the previous callers. i don't feel kamala harris is qualified for the position. i think it is a matter of

convenience because she was the vice president. i think they are playing on the fact that she is a woman of color, which should not even be discussed in terms of a candidate that is qualified to run. we should not even be talking about race, color, whatever, at this point in our history. the second thing is, the protesters, they are not accomplishing anything by burning american flags. they are upsetting a lot of americans who would just like to stay out of conflicts and let other countries just resolve their own issues. i think trump, you know, he stands for israel but at the same time, he does not want to see conflicts throughout the world. and i think biden, instead of

sorting around the issue, he needs to take a stand on what he believes instead of trying to play both sides. host: your first point, on kamala harris, one person in an op-ed today who believes she is fit and well-qualified, hillary rodham clinton, the former secretary of state, the first lady with an op-ed in "the new york times." this is what she writes -- elections are about the future. that's why i'm excited about vice president kamala harris. she represents a fresh start for american politics. hillary clinton going on to state i know a thing or two about how hard it can be for strong women candidates. i've been called a witch, a nasty woman and much worse. i sometimes shied away from making history. and i was not ready to break a barrier, i was running because i

thought i was the most qualified. it still pains me i could not break that glass ceiling, i'm proud that my two residential campaigns made it seem normal to have a woman at the top of the ticket. ms. harris will have original challenges, but we should not be afraid. it is a trap to believe progress is impossible. time is short to organize the campaign, but the labour party in britain and the coalition in france recently won big victories with less time. it will help to mobilize young voters who need help convincing, but she can run on a strong record and ambitious plans and restore and protect our rights and freedoms. the column goes on from there if you would like to read it, it is in "the new york times." lauren, democrat, good morning.

caller: good morning. i'm a td democrat, totally disenfranchised democrat. please, do not quote hillary clinton anymore. why do you think trump got elected in the first place? joe biden dodged the draft six times, so can we please stop that narrative and agenda? i believe you're going around in the media talking about kamala harris' background and everything she's done in the party. they are doing everything they can. i've never been so bad in my whole life with my own party, and it is getting ridiculous.

joe biden had to quit. why? is he sick. they say no. see competent? they say totally. everything is fine, but he is going to quit anyway. why? nobody will say. because he was getting his butt kicked all over america. they just want to keep the power, and everything else. it is so stupid. host: tuesday? when you say they are going -- who was they, when you say they're going around purging her record? caller: the democratic party. host: mark, ohio, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. finally a democrat with common sense. that's all i have to say. as far as washington, the protester, that is george soros. he is a terrorist. he would like to destroy our country.

why do we let a person like that have an impact of destruction on our country? there's no excuse. host: why do you think george soros would be funding anti-israel protests in israel? caller: he funds everything. he funds that illegals coming across the border. it is so documented. he is a terrorist and why do we let him exist? host: this is ron, nevada, independent. caller: good morning. thank you for having me. i just would like to say we are all in trouble, no matter what. nobody would like to answer how come they can allow these protesters to burn the flag of our own country? isn't that against the law? host: you think the police should have arrested more people?

caller: get them out of here. what are they doing here? why don't they go back to that country? i don't get it. i think we are going the wrong way here in our country. we are in trouble. both ways, no matter what. host: we will go to open phones and a little bit, but i would like to stay on biden's address. caller: i don't understand it. nobody can answer, why are they allowing this to happen? host: margie in virginia, democrat. what did you think of joe biden's address last night? caller: good morning. a long time listener of c-span. i have not been able to get on c-span for years now, but i love his address. it is time for fresh voices and

young voters. this is a vision between hope. with donald trump, is no country for an old man. and, yes, the black women helped to propel president biden to office, and we are mobilized to do the same thing for vice president kamala harris. and her name is not camila. her name is kamala. learn how to pronounce it. thank you so much, c-span. host: margie mentioned former president trump. he was in north carolina yesterday, speaking about president biden at that rally. vice president harris, here's the former president. [video clip] >> biden is running.

i would not say his debate performance was one of the best. do you agree? that is where it all started, the debate. the downfall started that night. the debate, that was a rough debate. he said he had a bad night. no, he had about everything. but it started really with the debate. the game was up. they say the jig was up. it was indeed up, but it started with that, and it only got worse. we were leading him by 11, 12, 13, 15 points and then he decided to get out. they told him, you are getting out. they said, you are getting out. you are getting killed in the polls. you cannot win. so now they bring in this one, who was worse than him. she is worse than him. because he is a fake liberal. she is a real liberal.

she really is. she is much worse than him. if we start beating her in the polls by 10 or 15 points, are they going to bring in a third candidate? trump is killing this guy. all right. out. let's bring a new one. out. out. and that maybe at some point they get one right. when will that stop? you know, the guy had 14 million votes. so much for democracy. they talk about democracy. [end video clip] host: former president trump at a rally in north carolina. this is susan in portland, maine. independent. caller: good morning. i'm glad that you are taking phone calls, thank you. just a couple of points. in regards to who will be the best president, it should not be

based, man, woman, black versus white president. we need a president to can run our country, etc.. a caller mentioned something about a woman and a black woman. that's wonderful, but we have to make sure couple of other things . i'm a woman, so, of course, i'm all about women's rights. it would be wonderful to have a woman president, trust me. however, we have to look at the facts. all i can tell he was an independent, ok, and -- all i can tell you is i'm an independent, and i'm not going by what i hear and media. i'm going on the facts in my life personally. when mr. trump was in charge, when it comes down to the inflation and having extra money, when it comes down to having safety, everything was much better back then,r one. number two, when it comes down

to president biden, him leaving and passing the torch, i do feel like the people, all of us -- it has not been fair because we should have had a chance to be able to vote. that is supported democracy is supposed to be. number 3 -- host: you are talking about the primary? people will have a chance to vote in the general election with the likely democratic nominee kamala harris. caller: well, at this point though, we did not have a chance. host: our independents allowed to vote in any primary they would like in maine? would you have had a chance to vote for joe biden? caller: i'm speaking as an independent looking at democracy, the democrats and republicans. i've just trying to be factual. i'm not able to really vote. it is hard for me to choose one party over the other.

i vote every four years in regards to what i like, and what i like is how it was when trump was in charge regarding the border. another concern i have because i did live in texas for a while. another concern i have, the border. the border is open. there has been four years were the border could have been closed. there was a wall. i'm seeing on the news, a woman in maryland, i lived there also, the mother of five children got murdered. yes, we have crime in america of american crime, but this is not what it is about. i'm talking as an independent mind. i'm not trying to pick sides. i'm trying to be factual. the folks who did die and had no reason to or people who came into our border, they were not

checked for credentials. i believe in america. i have immigrants on both sides. it is all about having america open for folks to come to america and get that american dream. host: it is coming up on 7:30 on the east coast. time to open up the phones for open forum. you can continue to talk about president biden's address to the nation or any public policy issue. we will do that until the top of the hour at 8:00 a.m. eastern. you don't have to just talk about president biden's address next half-hour. it is (202)-748-8000, democrats. (202)-748-8001, republicans. independents, (202)-748-8002. it was israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu who addressed a joint session of congress yesterday amid protests

happening on capitol hill outside the grounds of the united states capital. here is about two minutes of his address yesterday to congress. [video clip] >> for always know, i ran is funding the anti-israel protests going on right now outside this building. there are not that many, but they are there. and throughout the city. i have a message for these protesters. when the terrorists, who murder women for not covering their hair, our promoting and funding you, you have officially become iran's useful idiots. [applause]

some of these protesters are -- amazing, amazing -- some protesters hold up signs proclaiming gaze for gaza --"gays for gaza." they might as well hold signs that say "chickens for kfc." many do not have a clue what sea they are talking about. they do not only get an f in geography, but they get one in history. they call israel a colonial estate. don't they know that the land of israel as were abraham, isaac and jacob prayed, our david and solomon ruled? [applause]

for newly 4000 years, the land of israel has been the homeland of the jewish people. it has always been our home, it will always be our home. [end video clip] host: benjamin netanyahu yesterday for that joint session. if you would to watch the address and it's -- in its entirety, you can do so at c-span.org. virginia, republican, good morning. janice? you with us? we go to brian, illinois, independent. goodorning. caller: good morning. i'm an independent, a retired electrician that voted for

hillary. i think that is the first time i've said that out loud. i voted for her in 2016 and biden in 2020, and i'm likely to vote for trump this time around. it is a positional election. trump is a piece of filth to me. same thing in different ways, largely through being a political hack, imy mind, for his caree and not really representing any sid positions other than what is convenient for him at the moment. so getting to kamala's candidacy, that doesn't change a thing for me. largely because my vote will be based on position. really, it equates to mi better off now than i was four years ago -- am i better off now that i was four years ago?

no. that has to do with being on a fixed income and retiring, but it also has to do with prices. significant inflation but i did not have under trump -- that i did not have under trump. host: minnesota, rob, democrat. caller: good morning. i do think biden's speech was pretty good. i think he hit all the points -- well, he almost hit all the points he wanted to hit. the only thing i think you should have said further was basically the point at where this all started going downhill for him was how he handled the chinese spy balloon business. it was really over from there. host: john, virginia,

republican. caller: one brief thing and that i will get to biden's speech. i don't think benjamin netanyahu did israel any favors. it would have been nicer if he would have come over after hamas had reached some agreement on whatever agreement they reach on cease fire and giving hostages back. this may be a little too political. i don't think he did israel any great favors. on biden's speech, the problem is the idea of it is now time to hand it over to a more useful candidate. that's fine, but if that is your reason, than it should have been done early in the process to get the democrats a chance to vote for who is the right one as a successor, whether youth or

whatever, but just to hand it over and have a coronation, i don't think is a whole lot of good for that position. it is a continuation of trying to highlight the real problem for the president. i'm on a big fan of trump either. i just think they missed the boat on this whole deal. host: this is dee, new york city, independent. caller: good morning. i'm going to make two different points. first, i will question what is going on in the middle east. i believe israel should have a place to call a homeland, but it also believe that the palestinian should have a place, too. so i believe this two state

question of having two people live side-by-side [indiscernible] i support the jewish people and the palestinian people. the reason i cannot vote for trump, you remember [indiscernible] vladimir putin, and he said he trusts russian intelligence. that was a massive thing for him to do. donald trump trusted the soviet union of russia. russia intelligence over his own intelligence. now, what would take me think that would vote for a man like that and support him when he is willing to support vladimir putin, who has killed and murdered people?

so i will vote for kamala any day over donald trump. i will vote for any other republican but not donald trump. he is not qualified to lead us for the future. thank you. host: darrell, california, democrat. caller: good morning. real quick, i would like to respond to a guy who called earlier, asking if burning the american flag is legal. yet, it is legal, it is protected under first amendment as freedom of expression. as sars president biden speech, i think it covered all the bases. -- as far as president biden speech, i think it covered all the bases. people are upset that they did not get a chance to vote for the successor, well if you voted for joe biden, you get a chance to vote for the successor, because

kamala harris is on the ticket who would be the successor, so you already got to vote on that. and there one more thing i would like to mention, if you are going to vote for joe biden, hopefully you voted for him because you trust in to make the best decisions for the country. he just made a decision for the country, so trust his judgment, you know? i respect his decision. host: what do you think about the decision will be upon the presumed democratic nominee kamala harris and for her eyes presidential pick -- for her vice presidential pick? pretty think she should pick? -- who do you think she should pick? caller: i really don't have an idea who she should pick. under the the country is ready for two women.

host: go ahead. caller: the only other people i have heard mentioned, i don't know anything about them. host: your points about two women, laura mcgann in "the washington post" opinion senior editor there, or the headline of her column, she says harris' running mate has to be a man. a female presidential candidate sends a clear message about the difference between the two parties. two women would hammer that message home. if you are interested in reading it, it is a and the washington post." john, republican, california. caller: good morning. how is it going today? host: go ahead. caller: i watched biden's speech yesterday. i may trump guide. i will vote for him, but i

really feel sorry for biden right now. he has been going through old man hell. he's been sharp as attack his whole life, and no all his support group, they have all turned on him. it is just a crying shame to watch what is happening to this guy. i don't approve his policies, but he is a good man, and he has just been treated really, really bad. host: what to you think his legacy will be? looking back 50 years, what will people say about joe biden? caller: he was thrown under the bus. that is his legacy. he served his country very well. he has done many good things in his life and political career. right here at the end, he has just been thrown under the bus by his complete support group. all the people telling him what

a wonderful man he is and what a great person he has been and what good job he has done his whole life, and they have all turned on him. you can see his family sitting there, they are in tears. host: i wish i had the column in front of me, but somebody said that people will not remember how he left, but that he step down and said he is not going to seek reelection, and that the past four weeks is not going to be what people remember but you think it will be? caller: absolutely. that's part of the real shame because the man has served the country well. it is a democratic party. it is the way they do it. that is how they do stuff here in california with the democratic party here. they just turn on their owns and they eat each other. and they have eaten him, and it is a real shame. that is going to be his legacy

when we are all gone. host: jeff, indiana, democrat. go ahead. caller: thank you. i was going to say this. republicans have no credibility about anything to say about whether or not kamala harris is qualified or not because they are willing to vote for somebody who has multiple amounts of [indiscernible] it was really a damaged candidate. and they say they're going to vote for him. they have no quit ability when they talk about anybody being qualified -- they have no credibility when they talk about anybody being qualified for president. the second thing i'm going to say is, no president has control over prices. prices are set by the market. everybody who believes that the president has any control over

the prices you pay at the grocery store or gas pump is telling you the biggest lie in the world. we had a global economic pandemic that disrupted global economic activity. that is what we were recovering from when joe biden took over, and we are still in the aftereffects of it right now. so anybody who tries to say that we had such a great economy 2018 and because of donald trump is alive. that is based on the fact of all the work that was done by the federal reserve and the obama administration to get the economy back on track because of the crash in 2008. so when donald trump took over, he was already handed an economy that was in full recovery. host: about 15 minutes left in this open forum on "the washington journal." any public policy issue you

would like to talk about, political issue. try to keep abreast of a lot of news happening, coming very fast these days, including yesterday that there was a high-profile hearing on donald trump's would be assassin, the attack at his campaign rally, christopher wray, the fbi director, testified yesterday that the gunman searched his internet browser about the shot that killed john f. kennedy. here is part of that testimony yesterday. [video clip] >> in terms of what we have been able to find so far, a lot of the usual repositories of information have not yielded anything notable in terms of motive for like ideology. having said that, it does appear fairly clear that he was interested in public figures more broadly, and i think this

is important, that starting somewhere around my six or so, he became very focused on former president trump in this rally. so one of the things that i can share here today that has not been shared yet is that we have just in the last couple of days found that from our review, to your point about devices, analysis of the laptop that the investigation ties to the shooter reveals on july 6, he did a google search for "how far away was oswald from kennedy?" and so that searches obviously significant in terms of his state of mind. that is the same day that it appears that he registered for

the rally. [end video clip] host: that was the fbi director christopher wray. if you mess that hearing and would like to watch it, you can go to c-span.org. you can also watch the house gavel-to-gavel, including last night's work in which the house voted unanimously to create a bipartisan task force to investigate the assassination attempt on former president trump. it was a 416-0 vote coming less than two weeks after that shooting. that happened yesterday evening. the house back in session today at 9:00 a.m. eastern. we will take you there when they come in for gavel to gavel coverage. that is why we have a two hour show as opposed to our usual three hours. charlie, new york, independent. caller: good morning. real quick about resident biden,

he reminds me of lyndon johnson. did a number of great things for us other than world politics. johnson at least realized he was at a limit, and he said i'm not running, and biden new probably -- you probably, he said he would be a one-time president. in fact, decided to continue. his people around him should have said to him, ok, let somebody else take the torch so that we do not lose to donald trump and go from there. and that never happened. the bottom line, there is a lot of good stuff coming on about kamala harris, but that will die down.

i wonder about her winning because there is significant prejudice against a woman being number one, and a black person, being number two. and the anger for a lot of people who are angry people who support trump, i really feel that they basically hated the fact that barack obama was president because he was a black man, number one, but, number two, because he let the bankers go free. so many people were hurt by that. host: are you old enough to remember lbj making that announcement in march of 1968? caller: i am, frankly, i'm over the age of donald trump and joe biden.

there is nobody who should be running for president over that age. people are forced to retire at the age of 70. host: what do you think of the significant of lbj making that announcement and then the convention happens in chicago in the summer of 1968 with so much focus on the protests at that convention in chicago, and joe biden decides he's not running again, and, second, the democratic national convention is in chicago, although, the drama of it is expected to not happen on the nominee side, and kamala harris is expected to get that nomination from a virtual vote that will happen in the weeks before that, but just the significance of that happening and then back to chicago again? caller: i think democrats always make mistakes continually. frankly, they had the wrong candidate at times, and they had

the wrong candidate, and in some ways, they had the wrong candidate, and harris did not even get a vote basically or any delegates when she was running with the barriers of the candidates, but i will say this, predominately, all men have been president throughout the world, and maybe a woman could be better, because unlike you and me, we never bore a child. maybe a woman who bore a child would keep people out of wars i would not kill men and boys. it is a pathetic situation. host: sounds like the birds are

chirping in new york this morning, charlie. caller: five i -- bye. host: maryland, republican. good morning. caller: if i could take you back to the debates, the democratic debates leading up to the 2020 election. [indiscernible] i think she backed biden in a corner when she backed out and left the race i basically forced him -- and i like kamala harris. i think she is a nice lady, but she backed him in a corner when she said that he should choose a woman of color. even being a republican, i vote for who i think is the best person for the job. i think we should continue on that path to vote for whoever

you think in your heart is the best person for the job. regardless of their race, position. or what they may think. that being said, if i could go off that subject for a while, i have called and a couple of times, -- i have called in a couple of times and consider myself a john mccain republican. i'm a vietnam veteran, i'm 77 years old. after what trump said about john mccain, not only when he was in the senate, but when he was in his grave, and he did that twice, and out to listen to j.d. vance -- i was a marine -- who was a former marine, tobacco trump after stash to back -- to back trump after some of the mean things he has said,

including about kamala, i don't think there's any room for that in these debates and these talks when they are on tv and that these different gatherings, these different town halls or whatever they are. i don't see how j.d. vance or any former military could get behind trump, and that being said, if you look at some of the expressions on j.d. vance's wife when they are on stage with trump and his family, i think she is a nice lady, and i think she's very uncomfortable and that company. so i think in her heart, i'm wondering just how much support she feels for trump and his thoughts and ideas for where this country should go. host: george in maryland.

this is neci, michigan. good morning. caller: donald trump called america stupid country. back in 1998 when he was asked if he would run for president, if you would run as democrat or republican, he said he would run as a republican because they are dumb and stupid people. so who are the stupid people, the republicans? because anybody with sense would not vote for donald trump. i feel like they should vote for kamala harris because she was a prosecutor, a da, a senator, and now she is vice president, so she is more than qualified for the position, first of all. second of all, donald trump is a convicted felon.

so who would you vote for if you had sense? and you would not be in the dumb or stupid column. did you vote for, kamala harris or donald trump -- who would you vote for, kamala harris or donald trump? host: to the northwest, minnesota, carrie, republican. caller: good morning. good morning. i would like to bring up a few things, and i hope you guys get to it. right now i know she just got nominated, but we should dive into kamala's record in the senate, where she passed no bills, signed 164, did not get one through, missed 45% of the votes in the senate while she was there, and became vice president, had one job, the border job, failed at it, and then she said in an interview that she would provide free medicare to everyone of the 20

million illegal aliens she would let in. i think when you go through kamala's socialists -- which she is -- she was rated the top liberal senator in the united states senate. she beat bernie and elizabeth warren. i think the concern is to the american public, you have to break down what her actual beliefs are because the policies she is running on, her platform -- the other guy said it. she is saying, vote for me, i am black, i, woman. that's fine, but that does not matter when it comes to performing the job of president. and she has been a failure in the senate, a complete failure as a vice president, and her policies, if you start revealing them, will really flip people up. host: couple minutes left. thomas, maryland, democrat.

caller: good morning. can you hear me? host: yes sir. caller: i have three points i would like to make, when trump was president and we had the pandemic, there was nobody working, there were no cars going down the streets, so gas prices had to come down because nobody was using cars. people were given money to pay their rent. sure, everybody was happy. my next point is that when trump talks about the country, he never mentions that we were in that period of time. he also is using racist calls for people to say that kamala was dumb as a rock, things like that, but how can he call anyone dumb when he stood in front of

a camera and defamed the military generals? how can he call anyone dumb when he could not get into the military and had to have his father's money buy his way through that? we know for a fact that donald trump has had many bankruptcies. he has tried to cheat people, young people, who were trying to go to college with a fake college. he did not want to show his taxes because when they did show them, they showed he was cheating. host: thomas in maryland-, our last caller in this first segment of "washington journal." the houses in at 9:00 a.m. eastern today. we will go there when the gavel in. on c-span3 today, a hearing on

national security and industrial policy. that is before the senate banking committee. officials from the defense, commerce and treasury departments testifying at that hearing at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span3, c-span.org, and the free c-span video app. next this morning, a conversation on the presidential history of decisions on not to seek reelection. we will be joined by lindsay chervinsky of the george washington presidential library at mount vernon. we will discuss president biden's announcement and put it in historical campaign 2024, yesterday's speech by israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu before congress, and take your phone calls. stick around. we will be right back. >> american history tv,

saturdays on c-span2, exploring the peoples and events that tell the american story. we will feature president lyndon johnson's march 1960 eight address to the nation where he announced steps to limit the war in vietnam and his decision not to run for reelection. watch american tv series historical convention speeches. this week, former nixon aide and media commentator pat buchanan speaking at the 1992 republican national convention in houston, after losing the party's nomination to george h.w. bush. then hillary clinton at the 2008 democratic national convention in denver, after losing the party's nomination to illinois senator barack obama. then a look back at betty ford and rosalynn carter's 1984

conference on the private lives and public duties of first ladies, with a discussion of the roles of first ladies since then. watch american history tv, saturdays on c-span2 and find a full schedule r program guide or watch online anytime at c-span.org/history. >> the house will be in order. >> c-span celebrates 45 years of covering congress like no other. since 1979, we have been your primary source for capitol hill, providing balance, unfiltered views of government, all with the support of america's cable companies. c-span, 45 years and counting. powered by cable. >> washington journal continues. host: joining us for historical

perspective on president biden's decision not to seek reelection, lindsay chervinsky, director of the george washington presidential library at mount vernon. first explain what this decision by joe biden looks like through the eyes of an historian. guest: i was struck by, it was really and extorted every moment. you study power, the presidency, there is a certain type of personality, a certain amount of ego -- and i don't say that negatively -- but a certain amount of ego to do the job. to want the job if these crazy times, and to believe you are the right person to be making the nearly impossible decisions that will come across the president's desk. that type of personality really has a hard time of stepping away from that power, across human history, let alone american history.

to see it happen is really an extraordinary moment. host: stepping away from power earlier this week on twitter. you make comparisons to george washington and his decisions to step away from power, 1783, 1 797. remind viewers of the history here. guest: the history and the contacts are so important. 1793, the revolutionary war had ended, that you as head its independence from great britain. washington traveled to annapolis to return his commission, to basically go home. there were immediately these parallels to the great generals that had come out of retirement again and again to defend rome and then go back to his farm. it was an amazing thing to do, amazing for washington do not try and stay on as the military dictator, not stay on as the leader in some fashion. while we, in retrospect, say

that was the expected thing to do, it was not at the time. to add to that, in 1797, after serving two years as president, which washington was called to do unanimously through the election, he retired and went home. this was before the 22nd amendment. he could have easily won a third term. even his opponents wanted him to serve a third term. for him to give up power at a time when he could have remained president's entire life, effectively been king and all but name was remarkable. and it was remarked upon by people across the globe. i am not saying that biden is exactly like washington, by the act of being able to step away from that power especially in that moment. washington was living in the age of napoleon. in this moment, biden's main opponent tried to start an

insurrection to overthrow the results of the election. that context is so essential. host: we are watching today in real time their reactions to joe biden's decision to not seek reelection. you say it was remarked upon, george washington's decision. what was the reaction at that time that we still remember so many years later? guest: after he returned his commission, he was immediately called the father of the country, and this was before he even became president. that gives you a sense of his stature, reputation, how trusted he was, how revered he was. this was before he had this enormously powerful position. when he decided to step down as president -- the evidence of this is not fantastic -- but reportedly king george the third said he was basically the most impressive man in the world. that is my language, but essentially that.

those are a couple examples. they were not exaggerating. this is how they genuinely felt about washington at that moment. host: it seems like the historical assessment, george washington would have won, had he run for president again? guest: yes, he would have. it may have not been unanimous, but it would have crossed his mind. host: president is seeking reelection after washington, james pohl, buchanan, rutherford b hayes, calvin coolidge, lbj, now joe biden. how many of them do you think stepped down because he didn't think they would win again if they ran? guest: i think probably most. the only one that maybe could have won again is polk. he came into the presidency saying he wanted to do a number of things, had done a number of

them. overseeing the end of the mexican-american war, which expanded the united states. somewhere expanded about that but also didn't reignite the debate over slavery, whether these new territories would be free or enslaved states. that could have potentially been used against him. you make a really good point. a lot of times, presidents, especially in the 19th century, it was not quite so rare for presidents to be one term, whether their party decided not to go with them or they decided not to run, health was very unpredictable. it was a small number, and that is worth noting. host: coming to the next level, the vice presidency, a column in today's wall street journal, for a vice president, hard to succeed. noting that 1988 with the last time a vice president succeeded directly to the presidency by election. of course talking about george

h.w. bush. bring us back through history of vice presidency were able to make that jump before george h.w. bush. guest: it is a really smart column because the vice presidency is a terrible job. it is just awful. john adams, the first vice president to, i suspect, harris, has suffered under the expectations of the job. the only constitutional responsibility -- what else are you supposed to do with your time? sometimes they have been good governing partners. vice president's in the 19th century just stayed at home, they didn't come to washington, d.c. it has been a really weird position. early on, it was expected that the vice president would be a good stepping to a presidency. john adams became the second president after serving as

washington's vice president. thomas jefferson did, as well, but they were actually of different parties, so they ran against each other while actually serving in the same administration. there have been a handful of other presidents who have succeeded to the office but it is not a great place to launch a political career because there is very low visibility, there are not portfolios built in, you don't have a constituency like you but if you were a governor, senator, congressman, so it can be difficult to get attention because you have to demonstrate loyalty while also trying to be your own person. it has not proven to be particularly effective. where vice president may be have found success is doing something else in between there vice presidency and coming back. we saw this with richard nixon and of course joe biden. host: you also may be bound to

comment on the washington post, cites calvin coolidge. the role of the vice president involves little more than waking up and checking the president's health in the newspaper. guest: [laughter] it is a really good quote. there have been some colorful ones. john adams said the american people invented the most useless office for him imaginable. i think it was john nance garner who said i'm not going to use -- i'm not going to use the actual phrase -- but he said the office was a warm bucket of spit. he used a different word. vice president have not particularly enjoyed that position. host: with us this morning is lindsay chervinsky, executive director director of the george washington presidential library at mount vernon. about 15, 20 minutes for you to call in. phone number explained as usual.

democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. john is in buffalo, new york. independent read good morning. caller: good morning. i have something to piggyback off of this topic and i think it is relevant because when we are stuck with right now in this election of the vice president being basically the democrats only choice is the broken two-party system. we don't technically just have two parties but really you cnn excluded a major candidate from the debates. everything else that is not a democrat or republican is looked at as a joke, could never win the presidency.

i wanted to hear your guest's position on whether or not we were to have a more open s ystem, more open election, when joe biden stepped down, possibly four or five legitimate democrats could have been on the ballot for people to choose from . maybe people don't like kamala harris but they will not vote for donald trump. host: the political party system? guest: i agree it would be great to have lots of different candidates. when you are talking about is kind of like a parliamentary system like we see in great britain, france, or germany, where they have to have coalitions you have a governing block. the institution a process at the state level in particular that breaks down how elections are

actually going to work. if we want to have lots of parties, we have to start embracing election reform at the local and state level, that makes it possible to start building up those coalitions in our local governments, state governments, and that will trickle up to the federal government. right now the reason that third parties are seen as a joke, in terms of the way the balloting process works, the primaries work, and critically, the way the electoral college votes are counted in states, it tends to be a winner take all system. it is not possible for a third party to gain traction regardless of who they are. i would love to see that. i think that would make congress more effective, would make people feel more represented. if that is something you like, talk to your local representatives about how they can explore different types of election reform to make that possible. host: bring it back to mount vernon.

george washington had anything or two to say about political parties, did he not? guest: he really oppose the concept of political parties, felt like it would divide americans, they would be focused more on what they had that was different between them and what was similar. it was important for him to remember, being one union was much more important than being a bunch of parties or states. he did become more partisan in his final years in office, but he would have much preferred the system you are talking about, where there are lots of different groups, more fluid, people can make compromise and work together. host: eddie on x wants us to stayn george washington, how presidents are compensated for their work. he writes, locked it and almost put himself in the poor house to be a public servant, saying that biden has made out much better. how was george washington compensated? guest: this is a really

interesting question. presidents were paid $25,000 initially. that was an enormous sum at the time. the way the payments and things were paid for was quite different. for example, that $25,000 had to pay for the rent for the president's house in new york and philadelphia, had to pay for all the food for the official evidence, pay for transportation and lodging if you went somewhere to meet with american citizens, and it had to pay for labor if he hired people. washington owned a number of enslaved individuals and he brought many of them to the president's house which meant he had free labor and didn't need to compensate them for their time and effort and energies. that has been reformed over time. the presidential salary today, if we look at on wall street or at a law firm, is actually relatively low. for example, the state department pays for state

dinners. other forms of compensation, recognizing that certain activities are official. it's important to acknowledge that most people in office, whether congressman or president or supreme court justices, they don't make a lot of money based on their actual salary. they make money on writing books, speaking engagements, things they do outside the office. you can feel one way or the other about that. if you don't want them to do that, we do have their salaries to compensate them in line with other types of well compensated jobs when the to encourage the best people to take those positions. host: that salary today is still four $100,000 a year? guest: i think that is the correct number. that is a lot of money, i am not suggesting it is not, but if we look at the other opportunities available to ambitious, successful people, that is less than some of those other things, and it is worth noting that. host: waterbury, connecticut.

tony is next. caller: what an interesting topic we have here. my question today is, i am a longtime democrat. i live in a democratic city, etc. i supported biden, democrat party here. i think you need to address the elephant in the room. joe biden has dementia. my wife died of dementia. i have seen the different stages of it. joe is in the middle of it. maybe the lady could tell us, why is it that this is not being explained? why are we being told, great career, stepping out of the way. if that is true, the gentleman that did, the inspector general

that did the research on him for the documents cases, he was incapable of standing trial. is he capable of standing trial? what is going on? host: we will take the question. lindsay chervinsky, ej and the presidency. guest: age is a challenging subject because people don't age the same, everyone ages differently. nancy pelosi is 84 and she is still sharp as a tack, no one would doubt her efficacy and her position. and of course age can change rapidly. a conversation that took place with someone last year may not necessarily apply to this year. in terms of competency to stand trial, i'm a doctor but not that kind. i wouldn't want to presume to say whether someone is or is not competent to stand trial. that was actually not what special counsel hur said.

he said he felt like he would be too sympathetic to the jury because the jury would conclude that he is an old man with a poor memory which is a different legal distinction. in terms of age and the presidency, that is something worth talking about. i don't know that we want to put age limits on something because it can be a very personal thing. but this is a relatively modern conversation. through most of the 19th century, health was so unpredictable, and someone who was young and hearty could die next week. people didn't talk about health and age because they knew they couldn't predict it. it wasn't until woodrow wilson, fdr died in office, eisenhower had a number of health scares, that this became a regular topic in elections and when considering candidates. host: before joe biden, where was the previous president where it had a good amount of focus,

ronald reagan? guest: ronald ragan was the last time that we as an american people were talking about the president's age, both in his reelection campaign, when he had that amazingquip in his sec. debate, that he wouldn't hold his opponent's youth and experience against them. there were a number of reports of people around him, suggestions that he was starting to show signs of alzheimer's. i should say that his family has denied that, about others around him said that was the case. the challenge with a disease like alzheimer's, you cannot actually dig into the brain, so you don't know until later. so these conversations are difficult, they can depend on the person, the day, and are really tricky. host: less than 10 minutes left with lindsay chervinsky with the george washington presidential library. for viewers that have never been

to the library, what will they find their? guest: it is fantastic. it is by appointment. people are welcome to come on open houses. otherwise, it is available to researchers, people looking to learn more about history. we have incredible resources in terms of books, great collection of revolutionary-era maps. wonderful documents and materials about washington's life, the people that lived and worked at mount vernon including the enslaved communities. and we have begun to collect as many of his original books as we can. when we cannot get the original that he actually owned and touched, we are trying to acquire the same edition, so we can re-create his library as it was when he died. host: what have you done with your research, what was your focus? guest: that had a fellowship in 2015 when i was working on my

dissertation and my first book. it is a full circle moment for me. after that, i was at the center for presidential history, historian at the white house historical association before going out on my own and doing a lot of writing and speaking. it is really fun to return here. feels like coming home. host: you missed a chance to talk about "making the presidency." guest: that is my new book, coming out september 5. i did most of that research at the international conference. it looks at the john adams presidency and what it takes to ensure that the presidency works and survives once washington leaves. he was so unparalleled in his stature, a lot of the american people genuinely were not sure that it would work for anyone else. john adams established a number of critical norms and precedents that are with us today, including most importantly, the

first and second peaceful transfers of power as the bedrock for a democratic society. host: making the presidency, john adams and the prece dents that formed the republic. point pleasant beach, new jersey. republican. good morning. caller: good morning. a couple of points. listening to president biden yesterday and that speech, the only reason he is leaving is because they were either going to invoke the 25th amendment, or they were going to use the doj, who has been covering for him and his corrupt family the last couple years, and they probably blackmailed him. he has had dementia since 2019, the first time he ran. they were losing in the polls and that is what they did. he is talking about saving the world with democracy. they are using the doj against

president trump you legally. his family is a bunch of crooks. i love my country. we have become a little self-righteous. we should worry about what we do at home. i want to say one more thing to your guest. she is the head of the george washington museum. i guess you know that george washington, i heard before he didn't like parties. he also didn't want to get involved in european wars. he didn't want to get involved in that. israel, to me, is a separate thing, an ally. ukraine is a fair weather ally. they wanted to interfere in our election to stop trump from getting in. host: we will take your point. coming back to george washington and foreign entanglements? guest: it's really important to understand that washington was not an isolationist. washington did not want to send troops to europe to defend

france, when france had provoked war against great britain, but he was not suggesting that we hide behind our oceans. he believed it was essential to have robust trade and engagement with allies across the globe. it is impossible to know when anyone from the 18th-century would say if they came to the 21st century, other than, what are airplanes, what is electricity? i think he would have no problem with those engaging in trade, whether food or supplies or arms, to allies like israel or ukraine, because it is good for the american economy, good for the american worker, which is one of the things that washington would have been most focused on. host: to the caller's point about how joe biden made this decision to not run for reelection, not the first caller to bring this up this morning on the program. what do you think historians will remember here, these four

weeks in which the president declared he would run for reelection, absolutely was going to run -- how he left over that he decided not to seek reelection? guest: i think it depends on what happens next. one of the things that is remarkable about this moment, the role that nancy pelosi played. she was probably most instrumental in getting him to step down as opposed to the department of justice. if harris wins, most of this bickering and the conversation, his reluctance will be forgotten. it will be seen as he did the right thing to put her in a position of power. if she loses, i think there will be questions about should he have stepped down sooner, should he have given the democratic party a chance to have a robust primary? i also want to address one more thing. the department of justice is really filled with a number of patriots work hard on behalf of the country. i think it's important to note,

in the last couple of weeks, prosecutors have heard convictions against a democratic senator, bob menendez and hunter biden. if they are being waged against political figures, it is worth noting that those two are democrats. it's important for us to think responsibly about the department of justice. it is in office filled with a really good people who are doing their best. host: last call from south bend, indiana. this is adam. you are on with lindsay chervinsky. caller: thank you for having me on. one of the things you discussed earlier was the idea that all election reform needs to start at the state level. i can see that being true with things like ranked voting, but right now it feels like donald trump or anybody other than trump. now there is more hope on the kamala side, from her campaign.

one of the things where i feel like we let our people down, citizens down, we don't educate about how our actual elections and funding takes place. would you mind discussing, talking about the different thresholds in the popular vote, when a candidate from a third party hits 5% of the popular vote, they become a minor party status, which gives them primary funds, gives them some ballot access that expands, limits their demands on time and resources just to get on state ballots, or what were to happen if they ever got to a 20% number, becoming a major party, matching political funds for the entire election cycle itself. that is all i have, thank you. host: can you do all of that in less than two minutes? guest: [laughter] i will see what i can do. i am not an election lawyer, not an expert on the different state

requirements for voters. take that as you will. it seemed like a call there was extreme we knowledgeable about these things. one thing that is worth noting, there is a public financed election option, but in the several rounds, candidates have gone away from that because it is public financed and they cannot take pac money. most candidates would prefer to take the pac money. in terms of how a candidate gets on at the state level, a lot of that depends on state to state. the constitution says the states basically control their elections. there are those various tiers of when a candidate kicks in as when they can go on the ballot, how many signatures they need, what percentage they need to be involved in debates traditionally, although that is not a hard and fast rule. it is very complicated. i agree, a lot of it is a lack of education. i can certainly learn more

myself, as well. but just understanding the basics of how our government works -- i understand why -- but they are often angry at the wrong person, thinking certain people have the power to control something or not. so i think we need to do a better job of educating our citizens, increasing civics education, may be simplifying it a little bit so it is easier. host: a good follow-up on x. lindsay chervinsky is the executive director of the george washington presidential library at mount vernon. appreciate your time this morning. guest: thank you so much. host: coming up in our last half hour the program this morning, republican congressman ralph norman of south carolina. we will talk about all the news of the day and take your phone calls right after the break.

>> book tv, every sunday on c-span two major leading authors discussing their latest nonfiction books. we will revisit our 2019 interview withamala harris who was a senator at the time and is now the vice president and presumptive 2024 democratic nominee for president. in the discussion about her book, she reflects on her upbringing and how it has fluenced her governing style. then retired centcom commander kenneth mckenzie, looking at more in the 21st-century and u.s. military erations in the middle east. 10:00 on afterwards, reporte peter goodman discusses his book "how the world ran out of everything,"ooking at the global supply chain, how it works, and what happens when it doesn't. watch tv every sunday on c-span2, and find the full schedule on your program guide,

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browse through our collection of products, apparel, books, home to core, and accessories. there is something for every c-span. and every purchase helps to support our nonprofit operation. shop now or any time at c-spanshop.org. >> washington journal continues. host: we will come back to our program republican south carolina representative ralph norman. let's start with joe biden's announcement, speech last night. did you want, what did you think? guest: i cannot watch joe biden anymore. really, his words have no meaning. it is sad for him -- i heard about his family crying on the sidelines watching it, that he will no longer be president. for him to talk about his legacy, it is a failed

presidency. i can't imagine any wife allow a husband, joe biden, the public has had a front row seat. call it dementia, cognitive deficiency the last two years. he couldn't find his way off the stage, read a teleprompter. two now act like he is getting out because it is time to pass the torch. the reason he is getting out is because he was forced out. they did the polls and he was going to lose. to be honest, his words have no meaning. host: agree with speaker johnson that joe biden should resign and not serve out the rest of his term? guest: he, like when he was running for office in 2020, he was in his basement. i got calls over the last week, where is he?

who is in the white house? you look at who his replacement is, who has been running the country while he has been awol? i just hope we can get through these next months, not with the country more in danger. i don't know who makes the call. he obviously cannot make a rational call. i am ambivalent on that. host: let's get to prime minister benjamin netanyahu's speech in congress yesterday, your reaction to that, also what was happening outside. protests on capitol hill. guest: benjamin netanyahu gave one of the best speeches i think i've ever heard. it was strong, to the point. he stressed, israel is the only democracy in the middle east. he stressed, we have been allies for a long time. he stressed the fact of the abraham accords.

he noted the fact of the capital being moved to jerusalem. all the things that he said in such a strong way, as only benjamin netanyahu can say. we have not had a talk like that in a long time. happening outside when they burn the flag, no reason to put up with that. we have reports of them beating up police. that is going to change under donald trump. people will have consequences. they can protest, and they were here in the cannon building, just went into the atrium and started screaming. peaceful protest is just that. what happened outside the capitol was not peaceful. i think these protesters are probably paid by some outside group. donald trump will not tolerate that. host: should the president of the senate, vice president have been in the chambers yesterday? should kamala harris have been there?

guest: she was at a sorority, i guess fundraising, speaking. she was never going to be there, just like the border. she doesn't care. she laughs her way through problems that americans face. imagine, the prime minister of the only democracy in the middle east, israel, our friend, and she is not showing up. but it doesn't surprise me. she is far left, has gone off the rails in terms of what they are doing for the country. god help us if she is elected. host: you were a stage in one of the longest supporters of nikki haley during her primary campaign. we talked to you during the iowa caucuses of your support, your concern of donald trump at the time. do you have concerned now about donald trump, what did you think about how that primary campaign ended for nikki haley? guest: well, nikki haley has

been a friend of mine since she came into the state legislature in 2005. nikki haley did a good job. nikki haley proved to be a worthy candidate. she is the only candidate that best to 12 other republicans. this was never about donald trump. donald trump did a great job as president. the fact that she doesn't make it, competition is good. i supported nikki haley because of what you did during her term as governor, what she did when she served under the trump administration as ambassador to the united nations. i called president trump, when i decided to go with nikki, and then when she got beaten, i called him. i felt she was a worthy candidate, and she is. she would give us youth, eight years, and we would get the country back on track. donald trump look get the country back on track. i fully support him. i'm excited about his campaign.

he and j.d. vance will win the race. he will be a great vp. host: was j.d. vance the pic that you wanted? guest: i wanted nikki haley initially. that didn't work out. i think nikki haley will be on the trump administration. donald trump has been great welcoming people back in. a campaign is just that, a rough and tumble bloodsport. after it is all said and done we unite. i have never seen a convention as united as republicans are, particularly with president trump, his speech was unbelievable, great, unifying. just what the country needed. host: 20 minutes with representative ralph norman, republican from south carolina. if you want to join the conversation, (202) 748-8000 for democrats. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. as folks are calling in on the

budget, appropriations side here , what is going to happen with the upcoming appropriations bill? is congress going to be able to do its job this year? they were not able to do it in previous years. guest: the problem in previous years, we waited until the last minute, the committees had not met. this year, we passed four appropriations. interior last night. are the cuts enough to get this country about on on firm financial footing? no. would i rather have us sit here in august and hammering the details out particularly on the farm bill, snap, a program that my state has a lot of interest in, as well as all over the country? mike johnson, hopefully, if we

can come up with cuts on the balance of the big bills, mainly the farm bill, i think it will be a win. we have to address this problem with spending. anyone that comes into my office that wants a subsidy or handout, my question is where are you going to get the money? we have to start cutting, particularly the woke items out of the budget, appropriation bill, and we have to take this seriously. $39 trillion in debt is not something that i want to continue, and it is growing substantially every month. host: congressman ralph norman of the palmetto state. robert is in the tar heel state, greenville. independent. go ahead. caller: yes, congressman. you said our president elect is going to laugh her way through. well, yours is lying his way

through. donald trump is a liar. i don't know how you can look in the mirror --do you have a family? do you realize what you are leaving your family with donald trump? he is a liar, cheat, con man grifter. look at the people he has surrounded around 10. him. host: we have your point. congressman norman. guest: obviously, you and i have a disagreement. if you think the last three and a years under joe biden has been a -- i'm a developer. i have land underwater. i need to sell you that to build high-rise condos. that is a laughable statement. the hardest question democrats have to answer, anybody like you who supports joe biden, name me and accomplishment, one thing.

i asked a democrat to name me 10. crickets. name me five. higher inflation, higher interest rates? destruction of cities? he cannot name one. you and i have a different opinion of president trump. you and i have a different opinion of where this country is going. yes, i do have a family, that is why i'm serving. it is not any other reason but to get this country to a point where we can save our republic. under joe biden, the republic will not be saved. host: republican line. patrick, good morning. alabama. caller: good morning, ralph, how are you doing, buddy? i woke up this morning getting ready to start another day and i got fired up right off the bat. buddy, what i was wanting to talk about, this year, when i

thought this morning, is that not against the law? i understand barack obama is muslim heritage, he supports iran, he brought all of that stuff to america, transgender, all of the wild theories. in america, you have the right to vote who are who you want to. if you want kamala harris, her liberal ways, that is your choice. if you like trump, if you like faith, family, freedom, that is your choice. host: that is patrick in alabama. barack obama is not muslim. we will let you jump in here, congressman norman. guest: patrick is right. if you want to further destruction of our cities, kamala harris was a part of that, when she helped to put up bond money for those that destroyed our cities. if you want 15 million plus

illegals, 350 which are known national terrorists from over 160 countries, kamala harris is your person. if you want more government regulations, more banning of oil and natural gas, which this country has an abundance of, kamala harris is your pick. if you want higher interest rates, kamala harris is your pick. there is no way this country, i think, is going to put a lady like that, with a track record she has. all we have to do is stick to her record. her record is what americans need to see. she has been a part of the failed biden-harris administration, pure and simple. so i agree with you. host: eric and washington, d.c. line for democrats. caller: good morning. why would you be so disrespectful?

you ought to tone the rhetoric down. if you disagree with the policies, that is fine and dandy. but for you to speak the way that you speak toward this guy --and i would tell this to kamala and joe biden. you have your opinion, i have mine. if you really look at it, congress controls the purse of everything. the president signs it. he has nothing to do with anything that comes down with oil prices, anything. you are so disrespectful. it hurts my heart. you are an american but people have the right to their opinion. i want you to say that, when you have people knocking around your state with a confederate flag, not an american flag. talk to those people and tell them to put it down. they are traitors. guest: it's amazing that you say i am being disrespectful. his record is disrespectful for

america. you say the house controls the purse strings, you are lying. guess who vetoed every conservative bill that we put toward him? joe biden. you talk about being disrespectful. you say it is time to put a quote bullseye on donald trump. how inflammatory is that? i disagree. he has been a failed president. i would challenge you, name how you are better off under joe biden and then you were under donald trump? the facts are the facts. they have covered up the fact that he has had dementia. he has not been cognitively there to represent this country and lead the free world. it is an embarrassment. i disagree with you on being disrespectful. i will continue to say the facts. you have to be aware of what this man has done to you and your family because it has not been good for any family, not

good for america. it is time to let somebody who will put strength back into a country that has been great, over 250 years. host: i want you to respond to the lead editorial, editorial board of the wall street journal, certainly a conservative bent. they write, interestingly, that kamala harris has confounded the gop, seems to have caught republican by surprise. one paragraph mentions nikki haley, we talked about already. they write ms. harris is truly not pitching the campaign as the future versus the past, new generation versus the old. her relative youth at 59 with a 78-year-old mr. trump. that has often work for democrats. recall bill clinton, barack obama. nikki haley warns republican that the next party to select a

nominee from the next generation would have a political advantage, and here we are. guest: the wall street journal is a great publication. as far as the age, i have been a big proponent of term limits. i had a bill put up, two terms in the house, two terms in the senate for members. you reach a certain age -- if you are a commercial airline pilot, you cannot fly anymore. i would make the argument, in the political arena, there is an age that you need to bow out. crony capitalism has killed this country. be countries putting up their candidates to do their bidding for the. nikki haley is a talent. she bested 12 others, she is young. that is a good thing. but the editorial board, they have their opinion, but donald trump, even though he is

elderly, look at what he has done. you can take a cognitive test on his memory. but his judgment is great for this country. i had not read the editorial, but i agree, nikki haley is an upcoming leader. she showed that during the campaign. host: considering your feelings on term limits, is there an age on the supreme court that you should bow out, step down from service on the supreme court? guest: absolutely. i don't know what that magic number is. is it 75, 80? we are living longer now. the same applies to the supreme court. you look at ruth bader ginsburg, others reached an age, where the only thing that took them out was death. i don't think that is fair to the american people, not fear air to the complexities.

it is something that should apply. term limits should apply to congress. i hope that we will get there one day. host: a few minutes left with congressman ralph norman, the house coming in at 9:00 eastern. we will go there for gavel-to-gavel coverage when they do. congress already starting its day. we will let you go when congress comes in. emma is waiting for you in baltimore, maryland. independent. good morning. caller: good morning. i noticed the gentleman would make a response about what the trump or biden administration when due, and he answered after they hung up. i will answer briefly. he reduced medicaid, expanded medicare for the elderly, got rid of student debt, burning

debt, who could not find jobs after going to college. he reduced the number of people coming over the border by 50%. even though it is not the best, it did happen. your statement about biden's family crying in the background, after you admitted that you did not look because you were tired of hearing from him. how could you even though that someone was crying in the background? i listened to his speech last night and there was no one crying in the background. you just simply lied. under trunk, there was an increased tax for the middle class. my taxes went up. people say that my taxes have gone down. i don't know about those people, but what i do know, and middle-class, and our taxes have gone up. we have had to pay more taxes every year since donald trump passed the tax act.

my taxes have not gone down. he was disrespectful to our troops. under his administration, there was a racial divide, nasty racial divide. i am an independent but i do support harris. i do support biden's decision. host: there is a lot there. let me give congressman ralph norman a chance to respond. it may have been from the pool report, talking about what is in the room, but this is the headline. biden family cries, staffweeps, commiserate with white house staff. talking about what was going on in the oval office and the white house during that speech. congressman norman, go ahead. guest: emma, you have every right to have that view. you are not an independent. you are a full-fledged liberal,

call it what you want. i could take everything that you mentioned, and you mentioned the border. immigration is down. that is just not true. you take the student loans. that is using tax money to pay loans off. how does that fit with the plumber who never went to college? how does that fit with the electrician who went to a technical college? how does that fit with someone who never went to college to have to pay for other people, when they took their loan out, that is their obligation to pay back. we have a difference of opinion. america was not built on what the biden administration tried to destroy. businesses. you mentioned the taxes coming down under biden? that is not true. you have every right to your opinion. we could put a board up of actual facts versus the reality.

you have a right to your opinion but you don't have the right to quote your own facts. most of what you said it was not right. host: south carolina. philip in donald's, south carolina. independent. when is your question or comment? caller: my comment is, rep. norman just there analyze. the republican party is a bunch of lawyers. -- liars. he knows it. he says america was better under donald trump. america was failing under donald trump. he just sits there and tells a boldfaced lie. guest: well, the trial donald trump was the weaponization of the judicial department, every other agency under this administration. i went to the trial. a judge who was anti-trump from

the beginning -- they are not prosecuting them one that should have been prosecuted. hunter biden, they have not gotten to the bottom of his yet. you and i have a difference of opinion, which is fine. you can have your opinions. my question for you, are you better off under biden then you were under trump? i find it hard to believe that you think the economy, interest rates, crime is better under the failed biden-iris administration than donald trump. but you have your right to your opinion. host: rick in baldwin, missouri. republican. go ahead. rick, are you with us? north carolina. this is taylor in whittier. caller: good morning.

i just had a question, a couple questions for the goofball you were interviewing. host: let's not insult our guests. marsha in fort collins, colorado. republican. caller: hi, rep. norman. i have a question that i don't think is being asked enough. if joe is unfit to be a candidate for the democrats, then why is he allowed to be in office and running the country? that makes no sense to me. i just cannot believe the corruption that is going on, how they have done this to biden. guest: um, my comment is, they took biden off the ticket because he could not win. all they want to do is to

maintain power. we have known joe biden cognitively was not there. the question came up, who do you replace him with, kamala harris? that is what they chose to do, which is fine, she has the delegates. but think about this. joe biden is the man they went with all during the primary. he got all the delegates, all the money. think of those people who have been disenfranchised. the only reason he is not on the ticket is they know he cannot win. i would make the same argument with kamala harris. i don't think she can win, but we will find out. they had pretty much handed the torch off to her, but her policies are the same as joe biden. she is a part of the biden-harris failed administration. he has not run the country for i guess the last two and a half years to be honest with you. it is not good. america is a dangerous position with the leader of the free world in this condition. host: congressman, 30 seconds or

so before the house comes in, getting ready to wrap up its work before the august recess. what are your plans for the august recess? guest: coming back to washington in the middle of next week. this is an election year, so i getting in the district of my home in south carolina. it will be a welcome time to do that. host: ralph norman, republican from south carolina. we appreciate your time on the washington journal. that will do it for us this morning. we now take you live through the house chamber for gavel-to-gavel coverage. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2024] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captioning made possible by th, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of