Scott Colom says he notched his upset victory ‘the Mississippi way’: Full interview

[0:00] Joining me now is the Democratic Senator-elect from Mississippi, Scott Colombe. [0:04] Senator-elect Colombe, welcome to meet the press and congratulations on your historic win. [0:12] Thank you so much. I'm honored to be here. [0:14] Well, we are honored to have you here. You were going to be in person, but your flight [0:18] got canceled, of course, part of this ground stop. Thank you so much for making the interview [0:22] work regardless. Well, in January, you will become Mississippi's first black senator since [0:30] Reconstruction in a state that President Trump won by nearly 23 points. How are you reflecting on this [0:37] moment? Well, I'm reflecting on the people that made it happen. The people of Mississippi really [0:44] got behind this campaign in an amazing way. They donated. I got contributions from all 82 counties. [0:50] They volunteered. They sent postcards. They knocked on doors. And I'm so happy that the credit is going [0:57] to them because they really did something historic. And they did it by working together. [1:02] And together, there's nothing Mississippi can't accomplish. I tell people all the time, [1:06] there's nothing wrong with Mississippi that can't be fixed with what's right about Mississippi. We just [1:10] have to do everything in our power to work together on the things that actually matter. [1:14] Well, Democrats did have significant wins all across the South, including yours. How do you think [1:22] Democrats should make sure that these wins are lasting and not a one-time victory? [1:30] Well, I'll tell you, you know, in the South, we had to do more with less. In Mississippi, [1:36] we got it out the mud. We didn't have a bunch of resources. There wasn't a bunch of campaign money [1:40] spent to win Mississippi compared to other states. But that meant we did it the Mississippi way. And I'm [1:46] proud of that. What we need to do now as a Democratic Party is understand we can't continue to allow that [1:52] lack of investment to occur. We need to put senators like myself in positions where we can deliver for the [1:59] rural South, where we can be leaders in ways that show the voters in rural America that we care about [2:04] them, the voters in the deep South that we want them to be successful. And if we do that, I think we can [2:09] have a competitive election every cycle and put ourselves in positions where we can have a durable [2:14] majority. Well, let's talk about the leadership battle playing out right now inside the Democratic Party. [2:19] Senator Chris Van Hollen is challenging Senator Chuck Schumer. You have said, quote, [2:26] I don't like that our party is represented by two people that live in the same borough. Now that you [2:32] actually have a chance to weigh in, are you planning to vote for Chuck Schumer? [2:37] Well, you know, I had a senator that I developed an election with during my campaign suggested me [2:45] to be in listening mode. You know, they said, listen, that's how you got elected. You were known as a [2:49] listener. And at this moment, you need to listen to your colleagues, the ones that you know, the [2:54] ones that you don't know well, listen to them, understand what the needs of the caucus are, [2:58] who has the ability to lead. And so that's what I'm going to do. I think there's other ways to [3:02] make sure that rural voices and voices in the deep South are put in positions where they can deliver [3:08] for that area. And that's one of my commitments to the people of Mississippi and the people of the [3:12] deep South in general. I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure we are a party that delivers [3:17] for the deep South and that we have a voice at the table that allows us to be productive. [3:23] Well, and I know you're in listening mode, but does any of that indicate, are you voting for [3:27] Chris Van Hollen? Well, I got to be honest with you. I don't know either one of them that well. [3:33] So I'm going to listen to what other people tell me about them. And I'm going to figure out [3:38] what are the things that people are doing well in leadership, what are the things they're not [3:43] doing well and find out how we can work together to achieve results. But my job is to represent [3:49] Mississippi. I told people in Mississippi that I was going to do everything in my power. I would [3:53] work with anyone to deliver for our state. And I'm going to keep that commitment. [3:57] Okay. Sounds like you don't rule out voting for either one of them. Yes or no. You're not ruling [4:02] out either one of them. [4:03] I'm listening mode. Okay. I'm listening mode. All right. Let's stick through what you're going [4:08] to do when you get here to Washington. You, of course, made affordability the centerpiece [4:13] of your campaign. And that was really highlighted in an ad that your campaign ran that wound up going [4:19] viral. I want to play it right now for our viewers. [4:22] The price of beef continuing to go up. [4:25] You know, you have so many proteins to choose from. [4:27] Pick another protein? Shit. I'd rather pick another senator instead. [4:31] Pick another protein? She done lost her damn mind. I'd rather pick another senator. [4:40] Pick another protein? What the? [4:43] Pick another senator instead. [4:47] All right. Well, now you are going to be here with the chance to do something about it. What is [4:54] the first thing? What's your top priority, Mr. Senator-elect, that you're going to tackle [4:58] to try to bring down prices? [5:01] Well, we got to get the tarot policy back in Congress. You know, that's what's been driving [5:06] going to cost that in the war in Iran. And what we have to understand is the Constitution [5:10] is clear. Tariffs are supposed to be determined in Congress. And I'll tell you, as I, you know, [5:16] talk to more and more of the new Democratic senators and the ones that are currently in [5:22] the Senate, everybody's in agreement that we got to get the tarot policy back. We got [5:26] to fight for low tariffs to lower costs. That helps our farmers because they lost customers [5:31] as a result of these tariffs. And we need to do everything in our power to help them get [5:34] those customers back. And, you know, the other thing I think is important is we got to put [5:38] money in people's pockets. You know, we got to raise the minimum wage. It's been much [5:41] too long. I mean, I think LeBron James was with the Cavaliers the first time, last time [5:45] we raised the minimum wage. He's been with four different teams since then. So we got [5:49] to put money in people's pockets. We need to raise the minimum wage. And those are the [5:53] things I'm going to do to help Mississippi move forward. [5:55] Let me ask you on the tariff policy, because even President Biden kept some of President [6:01] Trump's tariffs in place. Are you open? Are you willing to keep some of President Trump's [6:07] tariffs in place? Are you planning to try to scratch all of them? [6:11] Well, listen, I'm not a fan of tariffs. Tariffs are a tax. Everybody's been paying more for [6:18] everything because, you know, that makes things more expensive. And I'm not a person that I'm [6:23] a person that understands what taxes mean to working people. Now, at the same time, I'm [6:26] going to listen to industries in Mississippi and industries across the Deep South and make sure [6:31] we do what we can to keep manufacturing our country and use tariffs in a way that benefit [6:37] our country. But I think generally we need low tariffs. And I will work with anybody to [6:43] have tariffs be effective for our free market economy. [6:46] All right. Well, you have described your day one priority as reversing the Medicaid cuts [6:51] from the so-called one big beautiful bill and restoring Affordable Care Act subsidies. But [6:57] as you well know, doing so would add hundreds of billions of dollars to the deficit. So how are you [7:04] planning to pay for all of that? Well, I'll tell you this. I'll work with the people and people in [7:10] Washington to make sure we pay for what we need to make sure people have affordable and accessible [7:15] health care. I think that one of the things that really bothers me in our tax system is when you [7:20] have, you know, billionaires who borrow against our stock. And so therefore they don't get income [7:26] and they want to keep their income minimum and they don't have taxable income as a result of that. [7:31] I think that's really, really wrong. Right. And we need to make sure people are paying their fair [7:35] share in our system. We need to make sure our tax system isn't used in ways to protect people from [7:41] actually having to pay income. So you would raise taxes, you know, billionaires. You would raise taxes, [7:45] Mr. Senator. Billionaires should not be able to borrow against their stock so that they don't have [7:53] the income that actually reflects what's going on in their portfolio. So my thing is we need to have [8:01] a fair tax system. And I'm not here to look out for the billionaires in D.C. and New York. I got [8:06] elected to look out for working Mississippians and they need affordable and accessible health care. [8:10] All right. Well, some of your colleagues have talked about the need for Medicare for all. [8:15] Would you support Senator Bernie Sanders legislation, which effectively would eliminate [8:22] private health insurance? Well, on the campaign trail, what I said is the first thing we got to [8:28] do is counseling these Medicaid cuts coming next year, because 10 million Americans are going to [8:32] lose. 10 million Americans are going to lose health insurance. In Mississippi, it's going to be at least [8:37] another hundred thousand. And we're going to have at least eight rural hospitals at risk of closing. [8:41] So that's step number one. Now, step number two for me is, as I campaign, there are people that told me [8:47] that they enjoyed their private insurance. And if they want to keep their private health insurance, [8:50] you know, that's OK. No. So I think the long term probably solution is some sort of public option [8:56] where people can buy into a public system if they want, because I do believe everybody should have [9:01] access to affordable health care. All right. Let's stay on the topic of health care. Some advocates say [9:05] Democrats should make a priority of restoring nationwide abortion rights and lifting restrictions on federal [9:13] funding. You've described yourself as personally pro-life. But let me ask you, would you vote to [9:19] restore nationwide rights to abortion and lift federal funding? Well, what I would say is I am [9:26] personally pro-life because I'm a Christian. But I've also said as the father of two daughters that I [9:31] believe that I don't want anybody telling them what to do. I believe reproductive freedom. And there are [9:36] certain values I have. Like I don't believe in late term abortions. I don't believe I believe that [9:40] people that, you know, have get pregnant from rape or incest. And by the way, I've had that happen [9:45] as a district attorney. I've had people who were, you know, were impregnated because of incest. And [9:50] I don't believe that they should be able to force me to have that child. So, you know, I think that [9:55] what I'll do is I'll study what's right for my values and for Mississippi and try to represent those [10:01] values in D.C. to the best of my abilities. Big discussion over whether to get rid of the [10:05] filibuster, obviously, which requires 60 votes to get most legislation passed in the Senate. [10:12] Would you support abolishing the filibuster? Well, here's my position. The purpose of the [10:18] filibuster is to try to push bipartisan compromise. And it gives influence to people like myself in [10:26] Mississippi and rural states, the influence to maybe, you know, represent our voices in D.C. in [10:31] ways that make us effective. You know, as someone who made history and election, people thought that [10:35] was not possible. I still believe that bipartisanship is possible. I still believe [10:40] we're a country where people can work together to get results for our country. I'm just going to [10:45] be meeting my colleagues on both sides of the aisle. And I'm hopeful that we can work together [10:49] to deliver results. Now, what I don't think should happen is the filibuster should be used to just [10:54] stop progress all the time and be used as a political tool to try to make the other party look [10:59] bad. I don't support that. And there's been times in the past that happened. And we need to put [11:03] pressure on both parties to work together to get results for people. [11:07] All right. Senator elect Scott Colombe, thank you so very much. And congratulations again [11:12] on your historic win. We really appreciate your being here.