Posted on 11/24/2002 10:00:53 AM PST by madfly
Personal Story: Interview with Tom Tancredo Bill O'Reilly
11/21/2002
Fox News: The O'Reilly Factor
O'REILLY: Thanks for staying with us. I'm Bill O'Reilly.
In the "Personal Story" Segment tonight, as you may know, Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo has criticized both Republicans and Democrats for doing very little about the chaos on U.S. borders. Now we learn that top Bush adviser Karl Rove told Mr. Tancredo he is unwelcome at the White House.
The congressman joins us now from Denver.
All right. So tell us about this dustup with Rove.
REP. TOM TANCREDO (R), COLORADO: All right. Well, that happened, actually, quite some time ago.
I think it was probably last April when I did a story -- I mean, I did an interview with "The Washington Times," and my comments in that -- in the paper caused Mr. Rove to give me a call the next day. And I was just leaving my house, you know, with my cell phone, took the call. It says, "White House."
I think, "Wow. This is" -- and it's Karl Rove, and he -- he was very upset, of course, and, during the course of the conversation, he said -- well, I -- he said, first of all, that I was being disloyal to say the kind of things I said because I am, of course, concerned about this immigration issue. It's huge. I lay it at the feet of Republicans, Democrats, the Congress, and the administration. He was very mad about that.
I told him, "I am not disloyal to the president. Disagreeing with the president does not mean you're disloyal. I happen to agree with the president 90 percent of the time, probably 99 percent of the time. In this case, we disagree. And the issue is so big that I'm not going to walk away from it because it happens to be the White House that I'm having a fight with. I don't like this. I didn't want to pick the fight, I assure you."
But he then said -- at some point during the conversation, his comment was, "Well, don't ever darken the doorstep of the White House." That was -- that was his direct quote.
O'REILLY: So no Christmas party for you huh?
TANCREDO: Well, that's it. I was wondering what -- my wife was really upset about that. She likes the Christmas party.
O'REILLY: Yes. Was there a specific comment you made to "The Washington Times" that...
TANCREDO: Yes.
O'REILLY: What was that?
TANCREDO: Yes. I said that, if we have another event like 9/11 and if we have not done any more to protect our borders than we have done, "at that time -- and, by the way, still at this time -- "and if this event was perpetrated by someone who has come across those borders illegally or who is here legally but then overstays the visa and all of the rest of that stuff and we don't catch it, then I'm saying that the people who are killed in that attack -- we are -- the blood of those people is really on our hands in the Congress and in the administration because...
O'REILLY: All right. So he didn't like...
TANCREDO: ... frankly, who else are you going to blame?
O'REILLY: ... that because, as you know, Malvo -- subsequently, John Lee Malvo, another INS botch -- and, apparently, by his own admission, he killed 10 Americans and wounded three others. I guess he is the trigger man now for most of these things.
TANCREDO: Yes.
O'REILLY: Not the -- not only the Bush White House -- and, by the way, we called Karl Rove, and he has no comment on you. But he doesn't like you. But he doesn't like me either, I don't think.
TANCREDO: I get that feeling.
O'REILLY: Yes. I mean, you know...
TANCREDO: The president has -- you know, frankly, Bill...
O'REILLY: What are you going to do? You've got to be honest, and, if you believe what you believe -- and I think you're a sincere man -- I mean, it's your duty to speak out, even if they don't like it.
But here's the rub. Most Americans agree with you, Congressman -- and they agree with me -- that the U.S. military should be moved to the borders to stem the flow of illegal immigration, not to shut the borders down but to plug the holes. Now you just got back from the border today, right, or you were there yesterday?
TANCREDO: Last night. Last night.
O'REILLY: What did -- did you see any improvement at all?
TANCREDO: Nothing. Not only that, it is getting worse. The cartels that have been running drugs across that border for years are now running people across the border. They have taken over the illegal immigration part of this thing because it's become very, very lucrative.
They now -- it's only a thousand or $1,500 for a Mexican, but it is $30,000 for a Middle Eastern or an Asian. So they now run the show down there, and, believe me, they have organized it. They -- it is much more dangerous on the border. It is absolute warfare going on down there.
You cannot -- some of the ranchers on that border -- I do not know how they live there. How would you like to have your 13-, 14-year-old son, grandchildren, having -- if they go one mile from their home, from Grandma's house to Mom and Dad's house, they have to be armed. They have -- they cannot go alone. The harassment -- the threat to the land --
It's just amazing what's going on down there. This is a security risk. People are coming across that border who are OTMs -- that's the way they refer to it, Bill -- other than Mexicans. They are Middle Eastern. They are Asian. They are Chinese. They're coming in huge numbers. They...
O'REILLY: And, mostly, you were in Arizona, right? That's where you were...
TANCREDO: Yes, I was right by Douglas. Right by Douglas, Arizona.
O'REILLY: Right. Now the -- look, we believe you because we heard from everybody down there and nobody says it isn't happening. Everybody says it is. Everybody says...
TANCREDO: Yes.
O'REILLY: ... it's a disaster and it continues to get worse, even after 9/11, and we're sitting here going why won't they move the troops to the border? So you're saying now that the drug cartels have taken over the human smuggling because it's so lucrative...
TANCREDO: That's correct.
O'REILLY: ... and, therefore, they're more dangerous because they're more armed. They've bribed everybody they can in Mexico. They've got no problem over there. And they're coming over, and it -- the stakes are even higher. Now when...
TANCREDO: That's because we now have people...
O'REILLY: ... you present this evidence -- when you present the evidence and all the things that you've accumulated, the Border Patrol backs you up, everybody backs you up, and then you say to your Republican peers, "We need to move the troops to the border," you still don't get any support. What do they say to you?
TANCREDO: Well, what they say is, "Tom, that's an action that" -- you know, here's what the exact
I can give you the quote, as a matter of fact, from the head of the Homeland Defense Agency, Mr. Ridge. He said, when we asked him this, "Why will you not put troops on the border? It is our only hope to defend that border, and we can do it with technology and resources," and he said, "Congressman" -- he said, "There are political and culture reasons why we can't do that." Political and cultural reasons.
Now I want -- you know, somebody else is going to have to go and explain to people who are harmed as a result of people coming across this border that there are political and cultural reasons why we can't protect them. I'm not going to do it.
I'm going to do everything I can, no matter how obstreperous I become -- and I know this is going to get ugly. I know this that we may...
O'REILLY: It's already gotten ugly.
(CROSSTALK)
TANCREDO: ... in this.
O'REILLY: It's...
TANCREDO: It's already gotten ugly.
O'REILLY: But at least Ridge is honest.
TANCREDO: The only thing...
O'REILLY: At least Ridge is honest. He's telling you, "We want Hispanic votes."
TANCREDO: Yes. Straight on.
O'REILLY: Right. "We want Hispanic votes in the Republican Party."
TANCREDO: It's political and cultural reasons.
O'REILLY: And, culturally, we don't have a tradition in this country -- although Teddy Roosevelt did move troops to the border. He was the last...
TANCREDO: Sure.
O'REILLY: ... American president -- of course, if you read the Constitution, one of the mandates of the military is to protect and secure the borders of the United States. So there's no problem...
TANCREDO: Isn't that ironic? Isn't that ironic that Mexico uses troops on their border -- all the time on their side of the border?
O'REILLY: Yes. And they're getting paid by the cartel. Their troops. They're getting paid to bring the stuff in here, and we can't...
TANCREDO: On the northern border, yes, you're right.
O'REILLY: All right. Now, look...
TANCREDO: But they -- they will use their troops on the southern border to stop immigration from Guatemala. They will round up...
O'REILLY: Congressman, what I'm going to do is...
TANCREDO: ... Guatemalans.
O'REILLY: What I'm going to do is, on our Web site, billoreilly.com, we're going to have a link to Governor Ridge where people can give their opinion and a link to you. We're going to set that up tomorrow.
TANCREDO: Great.
O'REILLY: And we're going to have Americans who are interested get to give their opinion directly to Governor Ridge and directly to you. So then you can use that in any kind of legislation you may have proposed. And, Congressman, we appreciate it. We think you're right on on this issue, as you know, and we are going to continue on this story.
Thanks very much.
TANCREDO: Thank you.
O'REILLY: And I'm you can't go to the White House Christmas party, but I won't be going either. So maybe I'll come down there...
TANCREDO: Maybe we'll still get invited. Who knows?
O'REILLY: Yes. We'll have our own party.
Upcoming, as THE FACTOR moves along, it's all over. The bachelor has proposed on ABC TV, But some Americans think this is just atrocious. We'll be right back with that opinion in a moment.
Ahhh, pulling out the DNC James Carville playbook, I see. If someone disagrees with you, imply there's some sort of bigotry at play.
Bush's flawed thinking -- that Hispanics somehow approve of breaking the law -- is racist in and of itself. Many immigrants find their way to the US legally, and we should reward their respect for the law by NOT respecting others' disregard for the law because Karl Rove says so.
So rewarding lawbreakers for the Republican Party's sake is noble? What happened to standing on principle?
Oh I forget, Karl Rove is in charge of policy these days.
You hit it right on the mark. We weren't the only ones to make that oath. Here's a quote from another concerned American whose article I read, "Mr. Charles added, 'Mr. President, you placed your hand on the Bible and took an oath to "protect and defend" the Constitution against all enemies, foreign or domestic...'"
Crisis not solved by abandoning Constitution
I spent four years in the service and I speak out when I determine our country is being placed at risk. Glad to hear more people speaking out.
If you know what the rats are going to do if W embraces Tancredo, and you know that its's going to be effective to the extent that you lose power permanently (like in California), why would you want to do it?
Look what all of the anti-illegal Mexican rhetoric did for the GOP in California.
If Texas and Florida go the same way, the GOP will not win the Presidency again for decades.
A little less shrillness and a lot more patience will work a lot better in the long run.
Anybody can run around saying kick all the illegals out and put troops on the border when he has a safe district to run from.
It takes a leader to solve national problems without giving up power in the process.
If Dubya doesn't shape up and stop alienating his base, we may have Hillary Clinton in the Oval Office. It won't be anyone's fault but Dubaya's.
Principle over politics and pandering. Apparently Bush, Rove, and the Bush-bots are racist enough to think that Hispanic voters support illegal immigration. We both know that the GOP base doesn't support it.
If Bush pushes amnesty for illegals, he can kiss his base goodbye.
How can pointing out the obvious be considered "shrill"? Tancredo's just calling as he sees it and wants something done. Bush doesn't want to do anything about it because he values the votes of those who support lawbreakers rather than those who make up his base of support.
Polls show that the American public agrees with Tancredo, not Bush, over illegal immigration. If Bush caves into Rove's stupid plan, Bush can kiss the base goodbye. And it won't be anyone's fault but Dumbya's.
No more RINO/Rove Republicanism. We gave Bush his Senate and House. Time to pay the conservatives back or pay the consequences on election day 2004. We've been waiting since 1994.
De-elect that RINO George W. Bush in '04.
I'm thinking about it. If the Republicans want to see the chances of Bush the Younger's reelection hopes for his second term go the way of his daddy's, all they have to do is stay on their present course. That goes for both the BushBots at FReep and for the local Repubs for whom I worked on this last election.
Maybe another Democratic win in '04 will get their attention....No more Republican lies! [They're beginning to sound like Democrats....]
-archy-/-
When Tancredo made his first appearance on O'Reilly's show, he told Tancredo he wondered why a story like this wasn't being reported in the Media. He promised, on the spot, to CONTINUE to cover this story and has kept his promise. That impresses me to no end! It shows that he doesn't wait to see if the higher ups want him to back off a story that the rest of the newsbots weren't touching and still aren't adequately reporting on. It's great to know that when Tancredo calls him with the latest, Bill invites him on the show.
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