The Nixon, Obama Debate; Or, I am not a crook/dictator — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:03and I want to say this to the television
2. 0:05audience I made my mistakes but in all
3. 0:08of my years of public life I have never
4. 0:11profited never profited from public
5. 0:14service I've earned every cent and in
6. 0:17all of my years of public life I have
7. 0:20never obstructed justice and I think too
8. 0:23that I could say that in my ears the
9. 0:26public life that I welcome this kind of
10. 0:28examination because people have got to
11. 0:30know whether or not their presidents a
12. 0:32crook well I'm not a crook I've earned
13. 0:35everything I've got to your question
14. 0:42what could you do
15. 0:43first of all couldn't you just have them
16. 0:44down here and refuse to let them leave
17. 0:47the room until you haven't you know the
18. 0:51I mean Jessica I I am NOT a dictator I'm
19. 1:01the president so ultimately if Mitch
20. 1:04McConnell or John Boehner say we need to
21. 1:07go to catch a plane I can't have Secret
22. 1:10Service block the doorway right so they
23. 1:14know I understand and and and i and
24. 1:18Mithen some of the conventional wisdom
25. 1:21that's been floating around Washington
26. 1:22that somehow even though most people
27. 1:27agree that I'm being reasonable
28. 1:29that most people agree I'm presenting a
29. 1:31fair deal the fact that they don't take
30. 1:33it means that I should somehow you know
31. 1:38do a Jedi mind-meld with these folks and
32. 1:42convince them to do what's right well
33. 1:45you know they're elected we have a
34. 1:50constitutional system of government the
35. 1:52Speaker of the House and the leader of
36. 1:55the Senate and all those folks have
37. 1:58responsibilities what I can do is I can
38. 2:01make the best possible case for why we
39. 2:03need to do the right thing I can speak
40. 2:06to the American people about the
41. 2:07consequences of the decisions that
42. 2:11Congress is making or the lack of
43. 2:13decision making by Congress
44. 2:16but ultimately it's a choice they make
45. 2:20and the this idea that somehow there's a
46. 2:24secret formula or secret sauce to get
47. 2:27Speaker Boehner or Mitch McConnell to
48. 2:31say you know what mr. president you're
49. 2:33right we should close some tackle tax
50. 2:36loopholes for the well-off and
51. 2:38well-connected in exchange for some
52. 2:40serious entitlement reform and spending
53. 2:43cuts of programs we don't need you know
54. 2:47I think if there was a secret way to do
55. 2:51that I would have tried it
56. 3:01you
57. 3:06I have never obstructed justice and I
58. 3:10think to that I could say that in my
59. 3:12years of public life that I welcome this
60. 3:15kind of examination because people have
61. 3:17got to know whether or not their
62. 3:19presidents a crook well I'm not a crook
63. 3:21I've earned everything I've got