Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK): Pete Hegseth Will “Definitely” Be Confirmed Friday

Today on the Guy Benson Show, Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), joined the show with guest host Jason Rantz. Rantz and Sen. Mullin dove into the interview by discussing Trump SecDef nominee Pete Hegseth and the odds that Hegseth will be confirmed following a 51-49 cloture vote to end the filibuster regarding his nomination. Sen. Mullin spoke his praises of Hegseth and signaled that Hegseth will be confirmed, and Sen. Mullin then detailed who he believes will be the next target of the Democrats’ “smear campaign” regarding Trump’s nominees. The pair wrapped the interview by discussing how Democrats struck down the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, and you can listen to the full interview below.

Full interview:

Listen to the full podcast:

Read the full (automated) transcript below:

Jason Rantz: Joining me on the line to discuss all of this and so much more is Republican Senator Mark Wayne Mullen. Senator, thank you so much for coming on. I really appreciate it.

Sen. Markwayne Mullin: Hey, Jason, Thanks for having me on, brother.

Jason Rantz: So let’s talk about this procedural hurdle. You had 51 to 49. Senator Susan Collins of Maine, Republican voted no. Mitch McConnell folks were paying attention to to see how he’s going to vote. He voted yes. Does this indicate that they’re going to vote the same way when it comes to the actual confirmation?

Sen. Markwayne Mullin: More than likely one vote that wasn’t on there is Fetterman. We would be surprised if Fetterman We wouldn’t be surprised if Prettyman actually voted to confirm him on on Friday evening, tomorrow night. The vote right now will happen around 9:00 because of just the way the clock is it. There’s a chance it could happen. Earlier in the day, as the Democrats know, they’re going to lose the vote, send the like, you know, why are we going to sit here and fight for something for 30 hours that’s going to do nothing? At some point they run out of talking points, too. I mean, they’ve recycled their talking points from 2017. I mean, either you’re a you’re a Nazi, you’re pledge allegiance to to Hitler or you have huge character polls, which, you know, none of them actually want to pay attention to their own character polls. And you’re not qualified. I mean, this is the saying. This is rinse and repeat that they’re doing. And as I said, at some point they run out of talking points when they have to argue for 30 straight hours and they could release him. Either way. Pete Hegseth is going to be confirmed tomorrow.

Jason Rantz: So you’re confident of that? He’s going to be confirmed?

Sen. Markwayne Mullin: I mean, we had 50 hard yeses going into it. We could end a vote at 52 without JD voting for it of JD or I say Vice President Vance. Now, I’m sorry, I should know, referring to the other way. So if Vice President Vance decides to come in a vote where could get 53 on a board? But definitely we’re going to get 5152 And, and so he’s definitely being confirmed tomorrow. I think he I don’t know what the White House’s schedule is, but I would be surprised. He was sworn in office on Saturday.

Jason Rantz: So you believe it’s going to go forward? It seems pretty obvious. And the hint will be whether or not the Democrats will go the full 30 hours in debate because no one wants to work late into Friday night. Certainly, they don’t want to work on weekends at all. So we see this going in the right direction. Are there any other confirmations that you are pensive about that you’re wondering whether or not they’ve got all the votes?

Sen. Markwayne Mullin: Yeah, I they’re going to turn their attention from Pete straight to Tulsi Gabbard. Tulsi is hearing in committee is scheduled for a week from today and that’s their next pivot point. Right? You know, so they went from Matt Gates to Pete Hegseth. Now they’re going to go to Tulsi. And then after that, I’m sure they’ll probably move on to Bobby Kennedy. And in any time they do that, it gets more political than it gets than than than anything. And when you’ve played with politics, nothing makes sense. So you really don’t know how votes are going to line out because people are making decisions that aren’t on factual basis. It’s more on emotions. That’s what politics is nowadays and that’s what politics is. So, you know, we’re going to we’re going to be working this weekend regardless because we’re going to confirm Kristi Noem, possibly Sunday morning, but some time Sunday. And then we’re going to go into the next let a slate of individuals that’s been voted out of committee, but the next ones aren’t going to be as controversial as Tulsi. So Tulsi is going to take all the attention of the Democrats at that point.

Jason Rantz: But it seems like Democrats are intentionally derailing this or at least making it go longer than necessary with the cloture vote. I mean, it sounds like Senator Murphy is behind this, but I imagine, you know, you’ve got Schumer and others, so they’re just making this go longer at a time when we probably could use these people in their positions. What is the consequence of even for a day, not having a secretary of defense who is, in fact, their staffer.

Sen. Markwayne Mullin: For President Trump, what happens is he’s got to work with Joe Biden’s team Still, there’s left over because they have an acting secretary of defense and they will have an acting CIA director, which, you know, Ratcliffe got confirmed today, but he’s not sworn into office yet. They have an acting homeland. They and so they have an acting position. And every one of these people. But they’re not Trump’s people. Like today, President Trump got a classified briefing, right? By whom? It was not his team that he can trust. And so who who was the person that did that? So they’re playing games in typically what’s happened prior to President Trump being put in office. 2017, there was kind of a gentlemen’s agreement between Republicans and Democrats that you get a cabinet in place with Obama. We did it in like 15 days. You put that you put their cabinet in place and then you can fight about the depth, sex and the judges and some of the other individuals, the lower the lower ones. But their cabinet picks are there, especially if they’re a member of Congress or a former member of Congress, which that would be. Tulsi Gabbard. Right? That would be Kristi Noem. That’d be Elise Stefanik. That would be, you know, obviously John Ratcliffe and Marco Rubio. You would you typically in Chrystia already said, Chris, you know, when you just kind of push those individuals all the way through because they’re former members of Congress, what you’re seeing here is they’re there, as I said, the rinse and repeating, But really, it’s more than that. They’re jockeying for position. Jason, what’s happened here in the Democrat Party is they have no one left on the bench to run against President Trump in four years. And so you have a bunch of senators that’s trying to take that leadership role because remember, they don’t actually have primaries in a Democrat presidential elections. They they they crown their prince or princess. And that’s what they did with with Hillary. That’s what they did with Biden and that’s what they did with Harris. And so since since none of those since those three don’t exist anymore, there’s no one left. I mean, you saw they had slim pickings to begin with when they chose Harris to replace Biden. She was the only person who had worse numbers, and then Biden was Harris. So so you have you have these you have all these Democrat senators now that are jumping up and down wanting attention so they can be the champion of the Democrat Party. What they don’t realize is the position that they took underneath Biden. And when Trump was in office is exactly why they got kicked out office.

Jason Rantz: Senator Mark Wayne Mullin joining me on the line, Republican from Oklahoma. Let’s turn our attention to a vote last night that failed. Democrats did not want to get on board the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which is aptly titled It’s Exactly What You Think it Is. If a child is born alive, you actually have to care for it. You cannot just continue your abortion post-birth. Democrats argue, Senator, that the law is already clear, that they cannot just allow a child to die after it’s been born. If that were the case, then they should have no problem with this bill. So what was the arguments that they were making?

Sen. Markwayne Mullin: But they’re not telling the actual truth. There are several states out there that that is a law that they have to they have to try to save a child’s life during a botched abortion. There are several states, including Minnesota, that in that state they are they can’t give lifesaving assistance if it’s if it’s an abortion because it’s a fetus at that point. And they have deemed a fetus any time it’s going through that abortion process. So the doctor, if you want to call a doctor, I don’t know how you call a doctor, a doctor who’s appropriately taken the life of a baby out of a womb. And they still have the term doctor. I don’t understand that. But a doctor and a nurse is in that room. What they do, if they ever attempt to start saving the life, then that child comes from a fetus according to their term, to a child, and they have to render support at that point. Yet they actually never touch the child after it is born and it’s a botched abortion. And say it’s in the waste pile. Even at that child is crying. They simply walk away and it’s still considered a fetus and it was aborted and it’s never considered a baby. So they don’t have to they don’t have to perform life saving measures. It’s the most disgusting practice that any person can imagine. I mean, you’re talking about genocide. I know this typically or to a race or to religion. But that is kind of the same concept. They’re ripping a baby out of a womb that’s still alive. And they let it they let it die outside the womb rather than trying to provide life saving measures And in it And if it in if they didn’t believe that to be the case in this and it was already law, then why wouldn’t they just support the Born Alive Act? It makes no sense, like you said.

Jason Rantz: Senator, I have only about two minutes left. Today, a judge, district judge right here in Seattle actually said of the birthright citizenship executive order that it was blatantly unconstitutional. It’s not a shock that that’s what a judge would find. It seems like this is expected to go to the Supreme Court to weigh in. But what’s your reaction to the initial rejection?

Sen. Markwayne Mullin: Unfortunately, when you see this, they say it’s blatantly unconstitutional. They don’t quote the entire Constitution as they do. They will leave a certain portion of the Constitution out, especially to which they are quoting to to render their judgment. I believe you’re absolutely correct. This is going to go to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court ruled hold President Trump’s executive order. This is something that should have been done a long time ago. We we have people taking advantage of the law just like they did asylum, and it’s causing serious problems. And so there’s there’s certain standards that’s got to be meet. There’s certain requirements got to be met for an individual to actually have birth rights to enter the United States. And the president, I think, is spot on on this. Of course, you have a radical judge is going to have this, you know, this this ruling. But you can find radical judges that should be removed from the bench, by the way, which I think there’s got to be some reform to this, because you don’t.

Jason Rantz: Might not have any judges in Seattle if you do that.

Sen. Markwayne Mullin: I. I don’t disagree with that. But either you’re either, you know, Department of Justice is supposed to be for the people and easily interpret the Constitution. That’s it. And when the judge is making political decisions from the bench, you’re no longer representing by a bipartisan opinion. They’re representing their opinion, which is a biased opinion. And a judge should never do that. It should be based on law and law only. And if they get overturned by a Supreme Court, especially more than one occasion, I think they’re their their seat on a bench should be seriously looked at and there should be qualifications for them to hit at that point. And in this case, that’s the same thing. If they didn’t find a judge in Seattle, they’re going to find a judge in San Diego. They’re going to find a judge in some liberal court that’s going to put a stay on it.

Jason Rantz: Well, Senator, we have to let you go. But in 10s, you’re an undefeated MMA fighter. Is there anyone in the Senate who can give you a run for your money? I’ve always wanted to ask you that question.

Sen. Markwayne Mullin: Well, I don’t know. You know, Dempsey Dempsey seems like a tough guy. And, you know, former Navy Seal. So if we ever fight, we’d have to be in a padded room with no weapons. And I think I’d fare pretty good at that point.

Jason Rantz: There you go. Senator Mark Warner, thank you so much for stopping by. I really appreciate it.

Sen. Markwayne Mullin: All right. Thank you.