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Ron Paul Leading in New Iowa Poll

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Neil Cavuto: This is outside News Corp Headquarters, the parent company, of course, of Fox News Channel, the most important news network in the world. People agree with that, there you go. And we’re just hours away, really, if you think about it, from the big day itself. And where we stand, we’re in a very busy shopping area on 6th Avenue, they call it the Avenue of Americas in midtown Manhattan. And we’re not too far from Radio City Music Hall. We’ve got a lot of stars and pretty big folks coming in and out joining us here throughout the course of the next 45 minutes or so. But, you know, we never keep that far from politics. Last week at this time I was in Iowa for the big debate. Now, the question in that state is whether a revolution could be in the making, and that fellow on the left you see, is the guy who could be bringing it. Ron Paul is the frontrunner right now in the Iowa caucuses, he joins us right now from Texas. Congressman Paul, it’s very good to have you.

Ron Paul: Thank you, Neil, it’s good to be with you.

Neil Cavuto: Are you surprised that not only are you the frontrunner, but you’ve actually been staying the frontrunner for the better part of a week, which is, at least in recent polling history, unusual. A week and a half or so ago, the pressure was on to maintain it, how do you do about that?

Ron Paul: Yea, I guess I’m supposed to say I’m not surprised and I expected it all. But no, I’m a little bit surprised, but, of course, very pleased. I was always convinced that the message would be very popular and very necessary, I wasn’t quite sure that I would be the messenger that could deliver it. So things are going very well and the crowds are growing bigger, not smaller. The enthusiasm is growing and I’m talking to more than just the young people; the college kids, the retired people are coming on. So there’s been a definite shift here in the last month.

Neil Cavuto: Congressman, you probably heard that Terry Branstad, the Republican Governor of Iowa, said that if you were to win the state, he’s telling a lot of people to ignore that and focus on who came in second. What did you think of that?

Ron Paul: Well, I was surprised, because he’s been pretty generous in the past. And I don’t know whether he didn’t mean it to sound the way it did, but it did sound a little bit strange. But if that was a literal translation, and that’s what he meant, I think it diminishes the whole process of democracy and elections; what’s the purpose of doing it? They say, “Well, he gets his supporters out”. Well, that’s what I’m supposed to do. Maybe I solicited and got and approached people who weren’t the ordinary voters; like the independents and maybe young people decide to come out, and people who have been disenchanted. So I would say to dismiss the election wouldn’t be very good, but I don’t think it’s just the Governor, I think there are others who have hinted that this would be a monkey wrench into the electoral process.

Neil Cavuto: You know, you’re right, it’s not just the established Republicans Guard. They’ve been many, and my colleagues at Fox have made note of it, who said that your win would minimize and even trivialize Iowa in future elections. How do you feel when you hear that kind of stuff?

Ron Paul: Well, first you think, “This is terrible” but on second thoughts, sometimes this sort of helps because it certainly helps the supporters and the people who might not have been paying much attention, they might even become more energized. It certainly energizes me because I might be at a steady pace doing the same thing over and over again and not getting any extra excitement. But then you get to the point and say, “Boy, wouldn’t that be neat if you could really beat them and have them eat a little crow”. So I think this has energized the campaign and the fundraising. The other day, when some of this stuff was coming out, somebody called me and said, “You know what, our fundraising has just gone up again, so they want us to be on television”

Neil Cavuto: So the more this comes out, the more the fundraising picks up?

Ron Paul: Yea, that’s what has happened. So it’s sort of ironic that maybe we need a few more people criticizing what’s going on and express the disenchantment of my election, there would be more fundraising and probably more TV and more votes for us.

Neil Cavuto: So, Congressman, when you do get to a frontrunner status – as you have, and are – invariably they start digging more into the pasts. Your name was associated with these newsletters in the 1990s that are seen by many to be racist, they’re saying that you’re a racist. How do you respond to that now?

Ron Paul: Well, I don’t think anybody calls me racist, I think the charge, which could be a correct charge, is that I was pretty negligent as a publisher of a newsletter, not paying more attention. Because it is a bit ironic that as a civil libertarian, I’m the one that really champions civil liberties regardless of race, creed or color. And even CNN has sort of stirred this pot. They did a poll the other day and they took all the candidates, all the Republican candidates, and I came out the best of all of them in appealing to those in the minorities. So would say that maybe what this will do will stir up the defense, because I address the drug war and how the prison system hasn’t worked, how the judicial system is very unfair to minorities. Nobody else would dare touch that. So, in many ways, what they’re trying to portray me as is exactly opposite of what I am. But I don’t think it will stick, I mean, they’ve been trying to do that for years, this is pretty much an old had because those letters were written close to 20 years ago.

Neil Cavuto: You’re right, I think the bigger point is that, leaving aside the racist charge, which I think those who have looked at your record might think otherwise. But I think what they’re trying to say, Congressman, and this is a wrap that you’ve confronted, that you’re detached, you’re aloof, or that you’re not paying attention to these details and sometimes your name or your very person can be dragged into something that you’re not. And that as President, this could be a problem. What do you say to that?

Ron Paul: Well, I would say that maybe that’s part of human nature, because I think Obama was charged with a few associations that he was not very proud of. So no, I think that if somebody thinks I’m perfect, then they’re going to be disappointed. I’ve done a lot of management when it comes to my businesses, my medical profession, and my congressional offices, and we get pretty high marks. But to say that I was never negligent … you know, back in those days, I was practicing medicine and though I was involved with the letters, especially on the economic issues, and wrote about the financial bubbles which you and I have talked about so often, I did participate in that. But to really pay the close attention … and then you also have to see this in context. I’ve been publishing a letter Freedom Report, plus an investment letter since 1976, and I would say percentage wise, this is probably 1/00th of 1% or even less of all the thousands and thousands of pages written. And most people see those letters as being investment letters, they were hard money newsletters. And that’s almost anybody that knew anything about it said, “Oh yea, he had a newsletter, and it was a hard money newsletter”.

Neil Cavuto: Let me switch gears a little bit; Donald Trump announcing he’s an independent now. Many say he’s greasing his skids for a potential independent run for President. What do you make of that?

Ron Paul: Well, to each his own, I don’t know, he may do it. I doubt if he’ll do it, but if he really wanted to be President, why did he walk away, why did he become concerned that he couldn’t do it as a Republican? So I have no idea what he’s going to do, and I don’t think he’ll be calling me for advice. I don’t think he’s going to come and ask for an appointment to come see me to get any advice or any endorsement, I’m not expecting that to happen.

Neil Cavuto: But why have you never kissed his ring like virtually all the other candidates have?

Ron Paul: Well, I just didn’t think it was necessary or appropriate. How could he endorse what I’m doing? I mean, my positions are pretty much opposite of what he talks about. He doesn’t believe in free markets, he likes the Federal Reserve, he’s not a free trader, he likes tariffs. So there’s not much that we have in common.

Neil Cavuto: Alright, so we won’t be seeing you at the Trump Tower anytime soon, Ron Paul.

Ron Paul: Pardon me?

Neil Cavuto: We won’t be seeing you at the Trump Tower anytime soon.

Ron Paul: Oh no, not likely. If he wants to converse, I’ll be glad to take his call.

Neil Cavuto: Very good. Congressman Paul, thank you very, very much. When we come back, we’re going to …

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This is a rush transcript. If you notice any errors please report them using the “Help improve this post” link at the bottom of this post.

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Ron Paul: I’m a Challenge to the Status Quo

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John King: It is incentive that gives the Republican establishment heartburn, Ron Paul is in contention to win the Iowa caucus. That voting in Iowa is just two weeks from tonight, and Congressman Paul is looking to build his already strong base in that state with this new TV ad.

Voice: It’s the story of a lost city, lost opportunity, lost hope. A story of failed policies, failed leadership, a story of smooth talking politicians. Ron Paul, the one with a plan to cut a trillion dollars in year one, eliminate the waste, balance the budget. Ron Paul, the one you can trust, the one who will restore America, now.

John King: So, is Ron Paul the one? The Texas Congressman and presidential hopeful joins me today from Hampton, New Hampshire. Congressman, it’s good to see you. Iowa votes two weeks form tonight, and the establishment here in Washington, and the Republican establishment in Iowa, has the case of the jitters right now. I was just in Iowa last week, there are some people who think you have the possibility to win that state, and if not, they expect you to be very strong in the top two or three. I want you to listen to this editorial in the Des Moines Register just the other day: “The torpedoes are now in the water for Paul, and one of them is labeled, ‘A Paul win hurts the Iowa caucuses’… I’ve heard similar worries from GOP leaders in Iowa, who fear that Paul’s crazy train will haul the caucuses out to the political fringes and derail, forever stranding Iowa’s coveted status.” Why are they so worried about you?

Ron Paul: That’s sort of entertaining, that’s so much for democracy. As long as democracy goes their way, it’s okay. But if you get enough support from the people and you win elections, then it doesn’t mean anything. So I think they see me as a challenge to the status quo. There are a lot of people I challenge, everybody from the military-industrial complex to the banking system to the bail outs to our foreign policy. It’s a big deal because I want changes, but that’s what the American people want. The American people are with me, and that’s why I believe I’m going up in the polls.

John King: We’ve had this conversation a few times during the campaign, and it is fair to say that you are less “out there”, if you will, in this campaign, than you were in the last campaign. And you get amused by this and watching it in the debates. However, there’s still a question of whether, even if you perform well in Iowa, even if you win Iowa, can you grow to the point of being the Republican nominee. I ask in the context of this: we had a new national poll this week, and we asked Republican voters “Who would you vote for under no circumstances?” In other words, which Republican would you never support? You, sir, top that that list. 43% of Republicans said they could not support you under any circumstances. Does that number suggest that while you’re growing in popularity, you can’t grow enough to win the nomination?

Ron Paul: No, it doesn’t mean that, and those aren’t permanent numbers. But you might say, “What about the young people coming in to voting now, how do I do with them?” I do exceptionally well. What about independents? I do exceptionally well with independents. What about the willingness of the Democrat to vote for me versus the other ones? All of a sudden, there is the coalition. What surprises me is really that parties are supposed to try to build, and the Republican Party would like to build so they don’t have to fight for these elections all the time. So I have young people, I have independents and a lot of Democrats who come my way. Why wouldn’t they ask me a question like, “What is it they like about you, because we like to build our party? But they never do. What they want to do is say I never count, and lock me out and say, “Oh, if you were elected, it’s just a fluke, we don’t want your people in our party. We have a closed-knit party and if these new young energetic people come in, that’s bad for the party”. I don’t really understand that, so I don’t understand the rhetoric about building the party and then saying, “Well, we don’t want Ron Paul’s people coming in because they might take over the party”. Well, what if we have an influence and what if we believe in liberty and peace and prosperity and sound money; what’s so dangerous about that.

John King: Some of those young people … I was struck by it when I was in Iowa last week. It’s a lot like it was for President Obama back in 2008. They support you, not necessarily the party, it’s more personal than it is the party. A lot of them say if you don’t win the nomination, they would like you to run as an independent, as a third-party candidate. Would you rule that out, sir?

Ron Paul: Well, I have no intention of doing it because I’m concentrating on doing very well in these early primaries. So I don’t have plans to do that, it doesn’t even cross my mind as planning to do that.

John King: But you don’t say never?

Ron Paul: Well, I’m not an absolutist to say “nothing, I’ll never do this, I’ll never do that”. You know, when I left Congress a long time ago, I had no intentions of coming back. But if I would have said, “I’m never coming back to this place”, you know, 12 years passed and I ran again. But I had no intention of coming back when I left. So I don’t think it’s good to say I absolutely won’t do anything.

Ron Paul: If you look around the internet, because you are now rising in the polls, you are being taken more seriously. Not only by your rivals for the nomination, but a lot of things that have maybe come up in past campaigns are being regurgitated, just like they are for Speaker Gingrich, like they are for Governor Romney. And some of them are some pretty provocative and outrageous statements that have shown up in newsletters under your name over the years. And one that’s made its way around the internet from the Ron Paul Political Report back in 1992 was this: “Order was only restored in L.A. when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks.” I know you have said this is not you, this is someone writing in your name, but I want to give you an opportunity, because this is making the rounds. How do these things appear under your name?

Ron Paul: Everybody knows I didn’t write them, everybody knows what is my nature, everybody knows that is not my position. That was some 20 some years ago and that’s the best they can do and they have to discredit me on that rather than talking about the Federal Reserve and the foreign policy and the welfare and the debt. No, I was a publisher of a letter and they appeared, they shouldn’t have appeared. But, you know, it was just not me that wrote them and I have disavowed them. So you’d think after 20 some years … but nobody is going to believe that stuff. People who know me know it can’t possibly be true.

John King: Congressman Paul joining us tonight from New Hampshire. Sir, we appreciate your time.

Ron Paul: Thank you.

John King: Thank you.

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This is a rush transcript. If you notice any errors please report them using the “Help improve this post” link at the bottom of this post.

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“Ron Paul Leads in Iowa. How Can We Bring Him Down?”

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Ali Velshi: You think you got a chance of winning in Iowa?

Ron Paul: Those odds sound pretty good. I guess we certainly do have a chance, but I think we have a little bit of work to do, we still have a couple of weeks. I think we’re in a good position and I’m really enjoying it because I think the American people have come around to believing that government is not our answer, and my offer of the freedom philosophy is something that is very attractive.

Ali Velshi: You actually want to close a lot of federal agencies, and there was an interesting poll in the Des Moines Register that I want to show our viewers about the number of people who agree with you. 60% of respondents agree with closing the Department of Housing and Urban Development; 57% respondents agree with closing the Environmental Protection Agency; 54% respondents agree with closing the Department of Education; 45% respondents agree with closing the Department of Energy; 42% respondents agree with closing the TSA, we can discuss what you can do with that, if you can get rid of the TSA. 36% respondents agree with closing the Federal Reserve.

Here is the issue: places like the EPA have 17,000 employees, HUD says that they got 8,900 employees. What do you do in a tough economy like this with the unemployment rate where it is, job creation not where it is? And you’re advocating a whole lot of people losing their jobs.

Ron Paul: Well, you go through attrition and you let them go and you reduce the number of people that are working for the government. Because many of us who see government as the problem, and people working for the government as being non-productive; it takes money out of the private economy, puts it in the government, and then the bureaucrats do damage to the economy. So you lose twice. But it’s not like putting them on the street on the first day, but there is attrition and they go back into the workforce. But we’ve gone through periods like this, and the example I’ve used frequently is, after World War II 10 million people came home and we didn’t have any work program. And all of a sudden they had jobs again because the government got out of the way.

Ali Velshi: I believe there has been some resurfaced talk again about some things that were written in a newsletter under your name. I know you’ve started to address this, but in 2008, The New Republic, James Kirchick attributed some comments to you in newsletters where you refer to disturbances in Washington’s Adams Morgan as “Animals taking over the DC zoo”. Referring to African Americans you said Martin Luther King seduced underage girls and boys. You talked about Ronald Reagan proclaiming Annual Hate Whitey Day with Martin Luther King Day. And you advocated prohibiting AIDS patients from eating in restaurants. These things were published under your name.

Ron Paul: Yea, but I didn’t write them and I disavow them.

Ali Velshi: But you’re a presidential candidate. That’s tough, right? I mean, it kind of comes back to bite you that you made money off of things that were published under your name that were hateful and racist.

Ron Paul: Yea, but this has been addressed for 20 years and nobody accuses me of that type of beliefs or language. I’m a true civil-libertarian and I think people dig these up when people think, “Oh, his economic policies are winning, his foreign policies are winning, his monetary policies are winning”. So they have to dig these things up which they really can’t pin on me because they’ve been disavowed and they’re old, they’ve been re-hatched. Just go back and read all the articles and there are all the explanations. So yes, it wasn’t good, but I didn’t write them and those aren’t my beliefs, so I sleep well.

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This is a rush transcript. If you notice any errors please report them using the “Help improve this post” link at the bottom of this post.

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Ron Paul to Sean Hannity: You’re Missing the Point

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This is a rush transcript. If you notice any errors please report them using the “Help improve this post” link at the bottom of this post.

Ron Paul: Everybody wants to be a powerful executive and run things. I, as a President, wouldn’t want to run the world, I don’t want to police individual activities and lifestyle, and I don’t want to run the economy. So that’s an entirely different philosophy, but it’s very, very much in our tradition, and in the tradition of our constitution.

Sean Hannity: Welcome back to Sioux City, Iowa. Tonight, the GOP presidential hopefuls took to the stage and they were outlining their visions for getting America back on track. And joining me now is the man you just heard from, that’s Texas Congressman Ron Paul. How are you, it’s good to see you.

Ron Paul: Good, good to see you.

Sean Hannity: Thanks for being with us. I noticed you never gave a full answer to – I think it was Megan Kelly’s question – will you promise, if you don’t win this nomination and if you’re doing very well here in Iowa, that you will support the Republican nominee and not run third party?

Ron Paul: Well, I’ll give the same answer I’ve given about 39 times now, that I have no intention of doing that, I plan to do my very best and see what happens in the next two months. So I’m not making pledges.

Sean Hannity: I don’t want to push you too hard, but when you say “no intention” it leaves the door open.

Ron Paul: Yea.

Ron Paul: So you’re leaving the door open?

Ron Paul: I don’t like absolutes, I don’t like to say, “I absolutely will never do such-and-such”, so I’m just avoiding the absolutes.

Sean Hannity: But you absolutely support the U.S. constitution?

Ron Paul: Yea, that’s true. That’s a little bit different than pledging to politicians.

Sean Hannity: But the thing is, you know that if you ran third party, and I think what people are looking for an answer, you would probably siphon off some of the anti-Obama vote. I don’t think there’s any debt about it.

Ron Paul: But wouldn’t it be fair to ask the moderate Republicans that are competing the same question? John Anderson dropped out and ran and that’s a significant event.

Sean Hannity: But “no intention” means the door is open, so you’re saying tonight that the door is open a little?

Ron Paul: Well, I cannot conceive of it.

Sean Hannity: You can’t conceive of any …

Ron Paul: I cannot conceive it, I have absolutely no plans or thoughts of doing it.

Sean Hannity: Alright, a lot came up tonight and it got very heated on the issue of national security and Iran. Let me ask you this question: with Iran killing Americans in Iraq (you argue we shouldn’t have been there in the first place) but they’re also fighting proxy wars through Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations. They were planning an assassination of a Saudi Ambassador on our soil, they clearly have said they want to wipe Israel off the map. Why do you think it wouldn’t be dangerous if they got that nuclear weapon?

Ron Paul: Well, I don’t want them to get the nuclear weapon and it would increase the danger, but I don’t think we should deal with that. But as far as thinking that that should be the whole issues, I think you’re losing the point, because there are a lot of nuclear weapons around the world. And, matter of fact, those quotes about wiping Israel off the map, just as a favor to me, look it up and check the real interpretation. They talk about getting rid of the regime, those people in Jerusalem.

Sean Hannity: I have gone back on numerous occasions, he has said “eliminate the state of Israel, wipe them off the face of the earth”.

Ron Paul: It literally says getting rid of the regime and remove it from the pages of time, it is a lot different than Israel being wiped off the earth.

Sean Hannity: He’s also a holocaust denier.

Ron Paul: Okay. I think they’re acting in self-defense. [Ayud Barack] said that they’re acting logically and they’re acting in their self interest, and if he was an Iranian, he would probably think the same way. So they have a lot to contend with. And [Barack] said they were surrounded by nuclear missiles, why wouldn’t they have a natural … But there is gross distortion that they’re on a verge of a nuclear weapon, there is no evidence that they’re on a verge of a nuclear weapon, and we shouldn’t be ready to start another war.

Sean Hannity: You talk about the declaration of war, I’ve read the constitution, it doesn’t say you have to use any exact words. And George Bush got the authorization for the use of force. If you’re going to use force, that seems, to me, to meet that definition.

Ron Paul: Yea, but it was explicit to go after those responsible for 9/11, and I voted for it, I voted for that.

Sean Hannity: Did I hear you say tonight, and I wrote it down and I wasn’t sure of the context because, I will admit, my attention was diverted, that we killed millions of Iraqis?

Ron Paul: When Albright was asked the subject that when we were bombing during the 1990s, they said that 500,000 Iraqi children died because of our bombing and sanctions and blowing up their water plants and all. And she says, “Well, that’s the price to pay, we have to”. So for 10 years we were bombing them, and don’t you think we would be annoyed if somebody bombed us for 10 years. So in comparison, they can say that we have killed a lot of people. We drop drones on Pakistan, what if they did that to us, wouldn’t we be annoyed? And that’s not self-defense.

Sean Hannity: You know, I’m a believer that no country has shed more blood in defense of freedom for Muslims around the world than the United States, nor has there ever been a country that has accumulated more power and abused it less than us. This came up in 2008 when you ran, and I’ve asked every question to Newt Gingrich involving his background, his controversies, everything. Same with Mitt Romney. And I really admire your fierce supporters, but when I brought up the issue of your newsletters from the early 1990s, and some really outrageous things that have been written in there. And you had gone on record saying you had no idea what was in them. That kind of surprised me. Why do you not take responsibility for the things that were in your individual newsletters?

Ron Paul: In 2002 [2001], the Texas Monthly reviewed that and they wrote a long, long article, and that’s a real liberal newspaper. So you read that and you’ll that I did not write it and I do not support those views and they’re painted as something that maybe I’m racist or something.

Sean Hannity: But there were some pretty racial things in it.

Ron Paul: I’m the greatest defender of civil liberties, especially when it comes to the inequities in our judicial system. With blacks, the imprisonments for the drug wars, the number of blacks to get the death penalty.

Sean Hannity: I got to know, do you know who did write it, and do you repudiate what was in your newsletter?

Ron Paul: No, I do not, and I don’t believe any of that stuff that they’ve quoted. How about tomorrow? Remember, December 16th, the anniversary of the Tea Party, very important day. That was when the Tea Party Movement was started 4 years ago. That’s the modern Tea Party Movement.

Sean Hannity: And for all your supporters, I asked every other candidate questions of controversy as well. It was good to see you, Mr. Paul.

Ron Paul: Thank you.

Sean Hannity: Hang on for one second. And we still have lots more to come tonight as we are live in the spin room. We are in Sioux City, Iowa.

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