'Incredibly alarming': Ex-Pence adviser is concerned by Trump's debate answer

Taylor Swift's surprise endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris following last night's debate may be dominating the headlines this morning, but the vice president has also enjoyed a boost in support from an unlikely place in recent weeks. Republicans, ranging from former Trump staffers to former Vice President Dick Cheney, have all thrown their support behind Harris as they look to distance themselves from Trump. Joining me now, former adviser to Vice President Mike pence, Olivia Troy, as she's part of Republicans for Harris, attended the debate last night and was a guest of the Harris campaign. If I'm correct there, what did you think? How do you think she handled herself? One of the things we were talking about earlier is the mixer muted, but the facial expressions were not. And Kamala Harris was putting her facial expressions to use when Trump was saying all sorts of things. Yeah, I felt like, you know, when she was reacting, I felt like she was reacting like the rest of us in the audience were reacting because we were all kind of having the same reaction of some of the things that he was saying. And quite frankly, I had a lot of disbelief on some of the things he said on the world stage. And I could just I was picturing World leaders around the globe just watching this develop and sort of being in shock over it. Yeah. And, I want to play this. You know, you expressed concern about Trump's affinity for dictators. You saw Kamala Harris say that last night. He mentioned, Viktor Orban, the Hungarian autocrat, multiple times last night. And then he said this about Ukraine. Let's watch this. Do you want Ukraine to win this war? I want the war to stop. I want to save lives that are being uselessly people being killed by the millions. It's the millions. It's so much worse than the numbers that you're getting with your fake numbers. Just to clarify on the question, do you believe it's in the U.S. best interest for Ukraine to win this war, yes or no? I think it's the US best interest to get this war finished and just get it done. Olivia, you were a national security advisor to Vice President Pence. How concerned are you that Trump could not give a straight answer there? No, that's incredibly alarming. And what that tells me is he did not want to go against Putin. That's the message to the American people in the world right there. And when I look at him, I mean, he verified for us that those are his alliances and his loyalties are to dictators around the world, right to Putin and Viktor Orban. He talked about Viktor Orban, I think, in his response, like the entire time, in a minute. I mean, I think that shows the world that that's who he's mentioning. He didn't mention any other worldly, any other world leader while on the stage. Right? He didn't talk about he didn't laud anyone else. He was looking at these authoritarian like people. And I think he sees himself in this vein. It's disturbing. And I want to read some of what the Wall Street Journal editorial board said following the debate, saying she won the debate because she came in with a strategy to taunt and go Mr. Trump into diving down rabbit holes of personal grievance and vanity that left her policies and history largely untouched. She always takes the bait. Miss Harris set the trap, so he spent much of the debate talking about the past, or about Joe Biden, or about immigrants eating pets, but not how he'd improve the lives of Americans in the next four years. I mean, when you've lost the Wall Street Journal as a Republican, what does that say? Yeah, I mean, I think it speaks volumes. I think, you know, she was incredibly effective at talking about her vision, her plans for the country to the audience that needed to hear it, which is a people that were tuned in. But she was also incredibly effective of just giving him enough rope. Right? I mean, like, she like, go ahead, just let him talk. And I just kept saying, just keep letting him talk and he'll just portray himself to be what he is. I just say like, think about having to work in the white House with him because that's what it was like every single day I think about watching the person that's supposed to be running and leading our country and behaving in that way, because what you saw last night on that stage is exactly who Donald Trump is. Do you think he'll do another debate? I think, you know, he was clearly angry last night. I mean, when he showed up in the spin room, you could see that he was just frustrated about the situation. and I you could see the anger sort of developing on stage in the moment. I think that's TBD, to be honest. Yeah, but we'll see what the poll numbers say, because that might drive a lot of this. If he sees the poll numbers dip, he may want to do another debate. Olivia, stay with me. My panel is back for more on, the showdown last night. And Bryan Lanza and Alicia Johnson are back with me and Brian, let me go back to you. Do you want Donald Trump to do another debate? Yeah, I think they already have one. They at least during the Biden-Harris campaign, they already have the third one scheduled later this month. And so if she doesn't want to compete in that debate, it's really not surprise she didn't want to compete in the Fox debate. I once you what do you think? Well, I mean, I think there's history with Fox News not being able to actually fact check Donald Trump. So I can understand that. But Vice President Harris and the campaign, well, the campaign said last night that they are ready for the second debate whenever Donald Trump will agree to it. It's clear. Thank you, Olivia, for your point, that he was really upset, which is why he ran to the spin room to try to create and control a narrative. But I actually don't think it helped that they could harm him even more. And Vice President Harris was quite disruptive on that stage and disrupting the way in which he always tries to dominate women. Right. And with you sitting here, Olivia, I'm just thinking about the range in which this coalition that wants to not only vote for Vice President Harris move past Donald Trump, it ranges from Republicans who are tired of him, who have the courage to stand up. You, as well as Dick Cheney and Liz Cheney all the way over to the left, to their love, uncommitted voters who said they still want to vote for Vice President Harris. They want to see more, obviously, on the issue in Gaza. And then you have Taylor Swift endorsing her. I don't know what's more disruptive in our politics than a coalition and a candidate that can bring all of them together and that is Vice President Harris. Yeah. I mean, Olivia being in the room, what was that moment like when, Trump and Harris went after each other on the issue of abortion? I think, you know, I think she was incredibly compelling, and I think she was speaking on a very personal level to the American people. I thought she was very effective on that. I could feel the emotion and look, I am a conservative leaning voter on the issue, but I respect her for the fact that she understands how to speak to all of us and unite us on this issue. And I'm talking to conservative women across the country. I'm going to Arizona later this week. I'll be there. I was with Republican women last week on the issue of reproductive rights. And look, there is a growing coalition here of people who really are feeling like she has welcomed us into this and into this party. And she's saying, like, I'm going to be a president for all of you. Yeah. And she hit on that issue very early on in the debate, which means a lot of people were paying attention. And, Brian, on that point, I did want to ask you about that because, you know, Trump called his answer on abortion, quote, perfect. But when the moderators pressed him on whether he would veto a national abortion ban, he refused to answer. I think he said it in the past that he wouldn't sign the national borders ban. And I think JD Vance has also stated that. I think what he said last night is, is like, why are we here? But he didn't say that's not he didn't say he would veto it if it got passed and got to his desk. He didn't say whether he would veto. I was answering the question, Jim, thank you for giving me the opportunity. I think what he was saying, if you're not going to answer the question, I am on the job. I'm about to answer the question. But you keep on jumping. When I say I'm about to answer the question. That's the time you let me answer the question. Yeah. Well, so as I was as I was saying and trying to answer your question, your deeply thought in question, I think what he was, what he was, what he was trying to say last night. And I think what he has said is like, listen, he goes the country does not support late term abortion. I think 91% of the country feels later abortion is a horrific no, no. He said that. He said that they're in some states, they're executing the babies after they're born, which is false. So. Well, yeah. Well, let me finish my answer. Jim. I understand you don't want to hear it because it's inconvenient, but I'm still going. Okay, well, Brian, if you're not going to tell the truth, I've got to jump in. I'm sorry. Jim, do you want. You want the truth or do you want me to answer your question? We want the truth. Yes. And I'm trying to give you with an explanation, but you constantly keep interrupting. Which leads me to believe you don't want to hear the answer because it's inconvenient to you. So for the fourth time, I'm going to try to answer this question. You know what he said about abortion? What his position has always been. He's always been proud of repealing abortion. He said it early on that he gave the list of people from the Federalist Society who were going to return it to the states, and that's what has happened. And he's very comfortable with the states making the decision. He's very comfortable with some states being as liberal as California and taking the position they want to. And he's very comfortable with states, as you know, as Arizona is sort of being more conservative as Texas, where he lies on the issue and what he believes on the issue, it should be pushed back to the States for them to decide what he says at the national levels. He said he doesn't believe a national a national abortion ban is going to hit his desk. I believe that, too. I think you believe that having covered the hill yourself, Jim, you know that there's never going to be any legislation that goes to his desk on abortion because there's never been any legislation to go to the desk of any president since the overturning of Roe v Wade. So as incomplete in your answer, President Trump has actually stated his position now for, you know, now for the fifth time, where he stands, he has stated in the past he does not support a national abortion ban. JD didn't say. He didn't say whether he would veto that. I mean, I'm just I let you talk there. I guess it's a little technical word, I guess in my in my view, when you say you're in this eight C span, Brian, and when I ask you a question whether he's, you know, why he didn't say whether he would veto it. You can't just go on and on forever. I mean, I did ask Jim. I just infused when I say he's not going to sign the national abortion ban. What does that mean to you? You're still not answering the question. Well, can I want to jump in here as someone who actually in addition to presidential politics, I worked for Planned Parenthood for six years. And I know that Republicans have been planning for this moment for decades. And of course, they're not going to introduce a national abortion ban while President Biden is in the white in the white House. But as soon as Donald Trump, if he had the chance to be in the white House, they would propose it. And Donald Trump has only tried to moderate his position on abortion because it has been a losing issue since the 2022 midterms, and blue states as well as red states. And so women voters, Democrat, independent and Republican voters know very clearly where Donald Trump stands. He threw his vice president candidate under the bus. He will sign a national abortion ban. And that's why women are galvanized across the country with you. Yeah, I'm going to agree. And look, the devil's in the details. All you have to look at, look at the plans and project 20 and 25, it's very clear how controlling they want to be when it comes to reproduction. And to me, it's appalling. When you read the text on that and it says, you know, it refers to monitoring miscarriages and abortions across the country, that is extra level government overreach. I mean, that is not traditional Republican platform values of limited government. Let's be clear about that.