'This Week' Transcript 6-30-24: Sen. Chris Coons, Steve Bannon & Anthony Fauci

'This Week' Transcript 6-30-24: Sen. Chris Coons, Steve Bannon & Anthony Fauci

This is a rush transcript of "This Week" airing Sunday, June 30.

ByABC News

June 30, 2024, 9:17 AM

A rush transcript of "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" airing on Sunday, June 30, 2024 on ABC News is below. This copy may not be in its final form, may be updated and may contain minor transcription errors. For previous show transcripts, visit the "This Week" transcript archive.

JONATHAN KARL, ABC "THIS WEEK" CO-ANCHOR: Joining me now is Delaware Senator Chris Coons, a national co-chair of the Biden-Harris campaign.

Senator Coons, thank you for joining us.

I assume you have spoken to the president since that debate. What is he telling you about his performance?

SEN. CHRIS COONS, (D) DELAWARE & BIDEN-HARRIS CAMPAIGN NATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD CO-CHAIR: It’s great to be on with you this morning, John.

And as that clip just showed, he was comfortable, he was proud that he gave a strong speech at a campaign event in North Carolina. He gave a strong speech in New York. He’s had a great few days, and it’s building on a great few years. No one has been a stronger and more consequential president in my lifetime than Joe Biden.

And, Jonathan, as you’ve seen over many years, it is always a bad bet to bet against Joe Biden. I was with him when he announced in Philadelphia in 2019, and most of my colleagues said, oh, he’s too centrist, he’s too white, he’s too moderate. And I was with him in New Hampshire when folks counted him out in the primaries. And I was with him when he was sworn in as president. And he gave a stirring speech, trying to call us together after the three crisis he inherited from Donald Trump. A crisis of a pandemic that was mishandled, an economy that was heading straight down and, frankly, the assault on the Capitol on January 6th, which led to a crisis of democracy.

And I was with him when he got done the big bipartisan things he said he would do, signing into law an infrastructure bill, signing into law an investment in manufacturing, signing into law a bill to bring down prescription drugs and to combat climate change. Joe Biden has an incredible record, and he knows, as the American people do, that when you get knocked down, you get back up and you fight harder. That’s what he’s planning to do.

KARL: But – but, Senator, as – as you have obviously seen, there is a loud course of people that agree with a lot of what you just said, who were so alarmed by Biden's debate performance that they say it’s time for him to drop out of the race.

I want to read you just three from the pages of “The New York Times” editorial page. Tom Friedman said, “To give America the greatest shot possible of deterring the Trump threat in November, the president has to come forward and declare that he will not be running for re-election and is releasing all of his delegates for the Democratic National Convention.” “The New York Times” editorial board, “To make a call for a new Democratic nominee this late in the campaign is a decision not taken lightly, but it reflects the scale and the seriousness of Mr. Trump’s challenge to the values and institutions of this country and the inadequacy of Mr. Biden to confront them.” And Maureen Dowd, another columnist, “He,” Biden, “is jeopardizing the democracy he says he wants to save.”

Now, these are all people who want to stop Donald Trump. Not stop Joe Biden. Is the president listening whatsoever to what these people, who have supported him, are saying?

COONS: Look, Jon, the most important swing state is Pennsylvania. That’s where I campaigned all day yesterday. And the most important newspaper in Pennsylvania is “The Philadelphia Inquirer.” And they said after that campaign debate, the folks, the leaders of a political party who ought to be going to their nominee and saying, you have no business running for president is Republicans who should be telling Donald Trump to drop out of this race after the torrent of lies and vengeance and anger that he unleashed on that debate stage.

I think the “The Philadelphia Inquirer” got it right and “The New York Times” got it wrong.

KARL: But – but – but I'm not asking you who got it right or wrong. I'm asking you, is President Biden at all listening to, considering, what these people are writing? Again, allies of him in the past who were pleading with him to step out of the race. Is he – is he – does he hear it? How’s he reacting to that?

COONS: Well, the folks that you’re citing there, Jonathan, are “The New York Times” editorial page.

KARL: Well, you know it’s not limited to “The New York Times.”

COONS: There is not one single senior Democrat, there’s not a single governor, there’s not a single senator, there’s not obviously his vice president who endorses him and supports him.

I'll remind you, Donald Trump’s biggest distinction from Joe Biden is the views of those closest to him. Don’t take my word for it. Donald Trump’s own vice president, chief of staff, secretary of defense, and national security adviser all refuse to support him and have said he is unfit to serve as president again.

The stakes of this race couldn’t be higher. And the only Democrat who’s ever beaten Donald Trump is Joe Biden.

KARL: Well, let me –

COONS: He is our candidate for November. And he has the best shot to beat him.

KARL: Well, let me ask, you don’t think that Joe Biden is the only Democrat that can beat Donald Trump, do you?

COONS: I think he’s the only Democrat who can beat Donald Trump.

KARL: Really?

COONS: And let me tell you, he had the single best day of grassroots fundraising after the debate. The first poll that we saw after the debate showed Joe Biden gaining ground on Donald Trump.

I understand there’s a lot of hand wringing and concern and pearl clutching amongst the commentariat. That’s great. That’s expected, frankly.

I remember the 2022 midterms. Every editorial page was saying we were going to hit a red wave. It was going to be a bloodbath. We’d lose four or five seats in the Senate.

I went and met with Joe Biden to express my concerns that his focus on democracy, his focus on the threats to democracy by the Republicans running for Senate and secretary of state were too great. He said, Chris, have confidence in the American people. They’re seeing this clearly.

He was right. I was wrong.

KARL: Do – do they –

COONS: We won those midterms decisively and added to our majority in the Senate.

KARL: Do – do the president’s advisers – his political advisers, the campaign, do they bear any responsibility for what happened Thursday? They, obviously, had six days to prepare the president. They designed these rules, these rules that were – that were asked for by the campaign and – and accepted by – by the Trump campaign without change, do – do those advisers bear some responsibility? This was, and I think you would acknowledge, this was a bad night for Biden. Do they bear responsibility?

COONS: Look, I think it was a weak debate performance by President Biden. He had a scratchy, roughy voice. Excuse me, scratchy, rough voice. He answered a few questions in ways that were not the most forceful.

But I think, side by side, Donald Trump had a horrifying debate performance where, yes, he spoke plainly, but what he said was lie after lie after lie that left most of those who watched either confirmed in their opinion to vote for Joe Biden or alarmed at the prospect of Donald Trump.

The polling I've seen after the debate has actually moved in the direction of Joe Biden.

So, I do think it’s for Joe Biden to make any decision about his campaign, his debate prep, his path forward. But I was reassured that the next day we would see the Joe Biden who I've seen day in and day out on the world stage, who gave a compelling, strong speech on the beaches of Normandy, who was in command of the room at the G-7 in Italy.

KARL: OK.

COONS: And on that campaign stage in North Carolina, I saw a forceful, engaged and capable Joe Biden.

KARL: All right.

COONS: That’s the president I've served with. That’s the candidate who’s going to carry us to victory in November.

KARL: All right, Senator Coons, thank you very much for joining us.

COONS: Thank you.

KARL: Up next, the powerhouse roundtable, including someone who planned to vote for Biden, who now says he should step aside.

And later, my interview with Trump confidant Steve Bannon. He’s set to report to federal prison tomorrow. Find out what he says about Trump’s plans for retribution. We’re back in just two minutes.