On Monday’s On The Record with host Tucker Carlson, conservative radio host and author Laura Ingraham said she would “seriously consider” becoming President-Elect Donald Trump’s press secretary if offered the position and defended chief strategist Steve Bannon against the media smear campaign.
Asked if she would take the position of White House press secretary if offered the position, Ingraham said she may.
“I have my company, Lifezette, radio, Fox. I write a bunch of books. It’s a big decision, but I’m at the point where if my country needs me and if I can do something to actually, you know, advance the Trump agenda which is stuff I have written about now for 15 years, trade, immigration and renewing America, then I obviously have to seriously consider that.”
Carlson asked if rumored hawkish Cabinet picks would signal a change in the Trump administration’s foreign policy.
“So you can learn a lot about how one plans to govern by the way that he hires,” Carlson said. “Early in this race, Donald Trump laid down a marker on foreign policy against the Iraq War and foreign adventurism in general, and a lot of the neocons in Washington didn’t like it—at all. And still don’t like it. I am reading now that John Bolton and Rudy Giuliani are under consideration for Secretary of State. I like them very much. They are very smart. They are on the other side of this debate. What does this tell you about where Trump intends to?”
Ingraham said Trump’s agenda will more closely resemble former President Ronald Reagan’s policies than George W. Bush’s.
“I think Trump’s agenda is going to be Trump’s agenda. If you go into the Trump administration, you are not going to be pushing someone else. Economic renewal and pragmatic foreign policy,” Ingraham replied. “I think closer to Reagan than to George W. Bush. Peace through strength. Rebuilding this economy. Sending a strong message to our adversaries and our allies that we take care of business at home. We honor our commitments to our allies. But, let’s face it—if Americans don’t have faith that the economic system here is going to work for them, then we’re going to have a lot of semantic debates about American intervention around the world. So I think—Trump made that clear during the campaign that we have got to get this country going again, to make sure our military and men and women in uniform are properly cared for and do all that it’s a lot to do.
“But, you know, it’s not 1985. We don’t—we have $20 trillion in debt and we have to be very honest with ourselves and with our allies and our adversaries about what’s possible,” she added.
Asked if she felt former Breitbart News executive chairman Steve Bannon’s appointment as chief strategist was a “divisive,” Ingraham firmly said no.
“No. You you know what I’m concerned about?” she said. “People on the outside of this administration are going to try to blunt the effectiveness of the Trump team.”
“Bannon. Kellyanne. Steve Miller. Dave Bossie. And, I think, Reince Priebus all together ran a really successful operation that beat the Clintons, the Obamas, and the Bushes,” she continued. “Media, Hollywood, academia. All of them. The entire U.S. press corps.”
“That core group of people are stellar, and they did a stellar job. Stellar job,” she added.
“The smear campaign going on about Steve Bannon—I have been around Washington for a long time. I don’t like these smear campaigns. Unfair. People are tired of them,” Ingraham said. “He is a very smart person. He built a media company with an idea… I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. I get it. I understand that. I think people should take a breath, give him a chance. He’s a really good person and really smart.”
“I don’t know enough to render a judgment,” Carlson said. “I will say Stephen Miller is one of the smartest people I ever met.”
“Brilliant, 30 years old,” Ingraham agreed. “This is a good team.”
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.