ICYMI—Hagerty Joins Mornings with Maria to Discuss Second Trump Assassination Attempt, Houthis’ Ongoing Attacks on Israel, U.S. Budget Deficit, Looming Government Shutdown

NASHVILLE, TN -United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations, Banking, and Appropriations Committees, today joined Mornings with Maria on Fox Businessto discuss the second failed assassination attempt on President Trump, dangerous rhetoric coming from the Democrat Party, the Houthis' continual attacks on Israel, the growing U.S. budget deficit, and a potential government shutdown.

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Partial Transcript

Hagerty on the second assassination attempt of President Trump: "I just thank God that President Trump is safe. You know, I talked to him just after he was shot last time in Pennsylvania, and he said, 'Bill, God held me in the palm of his hand, but for a millimeter, I wouldn't be on the phone with you right now.' This is another call far too close, and the rhetoric here in America has got to calm down. When you think about what we're seeing in the media, likening Trump to Hitler, the type of rhetoric that's coming from Democrat leaders and politicians, we really need to tone it down. Get down to policies. Get down to basics. Stop the personal attacks. Stop the attacks in the courtroom, and really get down to what the voters want to hear, rather than everything that's creating this zone of danger around President Trump."

Hagerty on the current rhetoric within the Democrat Party: "It is just unbelievable that they continue to jack this up. The Democrats will stop at nothing for power. You know what's interesting, Maria, and I remember this very vividly, President Trump called me on the night of my election in November of 2020. He called to congratulate me, and I said, 'Mr. President, you're ahead by 700,000 votes in Pennsylvania. I'll be calling you to congratulate you later tonight.' And he said, 'You know, Bill, if I win, it's not because President Biden was my opponent.' He said, 'My true opponent was the media and Big Tech.' I've never forgotten that. I've never forgotten that, Maria. The media and Big Tech."

Hagerty on House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries' tweet post-assassination attempt stating that 'we must stop' MAGA Republicans: "You've got to ask yourself: Where is leadership? Is this nothing but just an all-out thirst for power? And they're willing to sacrifice, and show hatred for half of America. It's so sad."

Hagerty on the Houthis' attacks on Israel and U.S. drones: "Well, let's go back to, and I'm going to borrow one of Vice President [Kamala] Harris's terms, the 'root cause' of what's happening in the Red Sea right now. The root cause is Iran, and this is the Biden Administration's policy of appeasement. Under President Trump, we had maximum pressure on Iran. The Houthis were out of business, as were Hezbollah and Hamas. As soon as the Biden Administration comes in, as soon as the Harris Administration comes in, they release all the sanctions. Now, Iran is pumping at full blast. Revenues have been flowing in to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars. Iran is the greatest state sponsor of terror. The Houthis are one of their beneficiaries. These are not Iranian, I mean, these are not Houthis' rockets. These are not Houthis' technologies. This is Iranian technology and funding that's driving all of this. The Biden Administration needs to shut Iran down. They won't because they've waged war on domestic energy here. They're trying to maintain oil prices in America for the election. The result of that is unrest around the world. We're seeing it take place right now with the Houthis firing in the Middle East. We need to step up and stand strong against this. We should have shut the Houthis down from the get go. This talk of escalation, go right back to the source. It's Iran. Shut down Iran…You can't get them [Biden-Harris Administration] to say the word Iran. Yet, what we hear is that the Ayatollah is on the verge of nuclear breakout, and if he has a nuclear weapon, the situations are going to become far worse in the Middle East."

Hagerty on Kamala Harris's false claim about American servicemembers in combat zones: "There have been claims that she doesn't read her briefs. As I heard that, I thought exactly that. I can't believe that she doesn't know this, and I can't believe the moderators won't fact check her when you have a gross miss like this."

Hagerty on the growing U.S. budget deficit and noncitizens voting in elections: "The Democrats in the Senate are unwilling to do anything. We've had our Appropriations bills ready for months. Chuck Schumer continues to just bring show bills and radical nominees in front of us. He's cruising towards shutdown, and they don't want to do anything to acknowledge what the real threat is at our southern border. What they're really trying to do, and we've forced them to vote on this. Maria, you and I have talked about it before, they want these people to come in here so they can get them into these states that are losing population, so they can increase electoral votes there. Clearly, they want to register them to vote. That's happening in certain states right now. This is deeply concerning to Americans. The Democrats do not want to act. We're going to come to a crisis point here very, very soon. It's going to be interesting to see what comes out of the House."

Hagerty on the looming government shutdown: "It's a state of play that's been going on long since I got to the Senate, but the time has come for the American people to speak out. I think that they are. I hope that my colleagues in the United States Senate will get the word. This has to come to an end. These Continuing Resolutions are as reckless as they can possibly be. We have the Appropriations bills ready to go. Chuck Schumer needs to get the word. Bring them to the floor. Let us do our work. Let's act responsibly in the United States Senate."

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