On "Forbes Newsroom," Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) spoke about a rumor that fellow lawmakers told her that President Biden's Cabinet threatened him with the 25th Amendment, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to Congress, Vice President Kamala Harris's ascent to presumptive 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, and more.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Hi, everybody. I'm Brittany Lewis with Forbes Breaking News. Joining me now is Congresswoman
00:07Ana Paulina Luna. Congresswoman, thanks so much for coming back on.
00:11Glad to be back.
00:12Busy, busy week, but let's start with news from Wednesday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
00:18Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress. While he was walking in, I saw you shook his
00:24hand. You also posted a photo with him on social media. So were you able to talk to
00:29him? What was meeting him like?
00:30Yeah, I actually talked to him a few times. And honestly, he's really funny. I just told
00:36him first when I first time meeting him, I said, you know, God bless you and everything
00:39that you're doing. But when I was able to chat with him on the floor, I talked with
00:42him a little bit about his KFC comment. And I mean, he seems like he has a very good energy,
00:47you know, very mellow.
00:49He did have a very strong energy. He gave a really impassioned speech that was almost
00:54an hour long. What did you make of his remarks to Congress?
00:57I think that they were right on. And the one thing that I really appreciated is that
01:01and I actually stood up and clapped when he said it is he said, you know, we're not asking
01:05America to put boots on the ground. And I respect that being a veteran, especially with
01:09my foreign policy stance and perspective. So I appreciated it.
01:13During this speech, your colleague, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, she held up a sign that said
01:18we're criminal on one side and guilty of genocide on the other. And there were reports that
01:24you then went over to sit next to her and there was some sort of confrontation. A was
01:29there and B, can you bring us to that moment?
01:32You know, I don't really like to divulge private conversations on the floor. But what I will
01:36say is that, you know, there's a time and a place to make your voices known and heard.
01:42And on the floor, we actually do expect a certain level of decorum. So we're not supposed
01:45to have signs. And we're definitely not supposed to be making protests or political statements
01:50at that time. But, you know, as she did, if you saw in that exchange, did put this
01:55sign down briefly. And I appreciate that. But I also I'm just going to further say that
01:59it's in that I think right now what you're seeing is a lot of tensions, especially in
02:04the Middle East and with good foreign policy, especially foreign policy under a future President
02:08Trump administration. I think that those tensions will subside. And I'm hoping that eventually
02:14what happened, what's happening in Israel will stop. And so I think her and I both share
02:18that same sentiment.
02:20And you did talk about foreign policy at the RNC last week. I will get to that in a moment.
02:24But former Speaker Nancy Pelosi was not a fan of Netanyahu's speech. She did make a
02:29statement on X. She posted this, quote, Benjamin Netanyahu's presentation in the House House
02:35chamber today was by far the worst presentation of any foreign dignitary invited and honored
02:40with the privilege of addressing the Congress of the United States. Many of us who love
02:43Israel spend time today listening to Israeli citizens whose families have suffered in the
02:48wake of the October 7th Hamas terror attack and kidnappings. These families are asking
02:53for a ceasefire deal that will bring the hostages home. And we hope the prime minister will
02:57spend his time achieving that goal. What do you make of her statement?
03:02Well, her own party can't agree on the position of Israel or Israel's even a country. You
03:07know, you have a massive movement within the Democrat Party that refuses to acknowledge
03:10Israel and is actually promoting, I would say, organizations as well as people that
03:16are sympathizers to Hamas. And so it was ironic because you had a number, I think, 20 Democrats
03:21didn't show up. But then also half of the Democrat delegation was actually standing
03:26up and applauding Netanyahu. So I think that it was a terror, a terrible foreign policy
03:30blunder that she didn't show up for this and then that she would choose to use that time
03:34to really attack Netanyahu. But again, Nancy Pelosi also said that, you know, if illegals
03:39don't come here, who's going to pick the crop? So I'm not surprised.
03:43Like I said, you spoke at the RNC last week in Milwaukee praising former President Donald
03:50Trump. A lot of those speeches centered around four more years of Biden, way worse than an
03:56additional four years of Trump. But now there is no Biden. He dropped out of the race on
04:02Sunday. So what's a your reaction to that news? And B, how does the Republican Party's
04:08message change now that the likely nominee is Kamala Harris?
04:12Yeah, so I'm actually very concerned that Biden is even still in the White House. And
04:17I've actually publicly called for his resignation because if he's not fit to seek reelection,
04:22which is what every Democrat was saying, then he's not fit to be in office. And again, I've
04:26been, I think, talking about this for a while. I do believe that there's serious cognitive
04:29issues. And I also share that same sentiment with other Democrats that did not support
04:34support Biden's reelection. So I definitely think he shouldn't be in the office. But,
04:39you know, my second perspective, and I guess answering your question, is I don't really
04:43think that those policy changes at all, or change at all, mainly because what we've found
04:48is that there's been a heavy hand and influence from the Barack Obama administration and Biden's
04:53administration and Kamala Harris was there with him every step of the way. But what I
04:57will say is personally, I have had interactions with Kamala Harris. And what I can tell you,
05:02and I actually just addressed this with reporters outside the Capitol is for a woman that champions
05:06the fact that she is a minority. I'm also a minority woman, but she has done nothing
05:11for Hispanic women and children that have been trafficked at the U.S. Mexico border
05:14because the Democrat Party has really used this open border talking point in an effort
05:19to sway Hispanic American voters, which are now the largest voting minority in the country.
05:23And so, you know, their open border policies are hurting all Americans, specifically the
05:27black community, specifically the Hispanic communities. And yet if you criticize her
05:31for doing anything about that, if you're not a minority yourself, they call you racist.
05:36And so I will be very critical of her on her foreign policy, on her border perspective
05:41and her her failure to secure the border.
05:43So let's talk about Harris first. You said you had interactions with her. What have those
05:47been like? And if they were one on one, I actually had one very well known and actually
05:53documented and filmed interaction with her where I ran into her at the airport back in
05:57I think it was twenty seventeen when she was twenty sixteen when she was running. But what
06:01I will say, excuse me, several years ago when she was running. But the point is, is that
06:05she actually I guess because I'm younger, she asked me if I wanted a selfie and I didn't
06:10want a selfie. I wanted to talk to her about what was happening with women and children
06:14at the border. And she completely the minute I wanted to ask her questions and mind you,
06:19at that time, I mean, I wasn't elected to office. She actually tried to pawn me off
06:24on a staffer and she refused to answer those questions. And honestly, her staffer got pretty
06:29aggressive. And so I just think that she's one of those people that can't answer for
06:33her own actions and her decisions. And as a person who prides herself on being a prosecutor,
06:38it's really, really sad that she had this position bipartisan to be able to help women
06:43and children. And she did it. I know you said earlier you have concerns about President
06:47Biden's cognitive abilities. He did address the nation from the White House last night.
06:54Did you catch those remarks and what did you think? Yeah, I caught the remarks. And again,
06:59he went back to the same rhetoric that I think was responsible for getting President Trump
07:03almost assassinated. Again, this whole threat to democracy tone and I think underlying message
07:09in that this is really an important decision. And if democracy is on the line, right, they
07:13like to say that. But I think either which way, I mean, Biden himself, his own family,
07:18the party decided that he should not seek reelection. And yet they're still trying to
07:22say and pawn him off as if he's capable of making decisions moving forward in our country.
07:27And I just don't think that that's the case. And so, you know, he used his position and
07:31platform to get behind Kamala Harris. But what I will also tell you is it still seems
07:34like there's people within the party that don't want Kamala Harris. And that's why you're
07:38seeing I think them actually. What are they phoning in the delegates? And so they're trying
07:43to prevent there from being any controversy with another pick. And so, I mean, look, moving
07:47forward, whether it's Kamala Harris, whether it's Gavin Newsom, whoever it is, the polling
07:51is still showing in our favor. President Trump just literally took a bullet for democracy
07:55in his own words. He's been tried and tested on foreign policy. And frankly, I don't want
08:01someone in the White House who's going to laugh their way through foreign policy.
08:04And going back to President Biden, if you don't think he's fit to serve right now and
08:08he doesn't step down, which I mean, he didn't last night. Do you think that the 25th Amendment
08:14should be invoked?
08:15Most certainly. In fact, what I'm hearing is that that is actually what his cabinet
08:20used to threaten him to drop out of the presidential.
08:23Who are you hearing that from?
08:24Yeah. Yeah. I'm actually hearing that from my colleagues on the other side of the aisle.
08:30So Democratic members of the House are saying that the 25th Amendment was threatened to
08:37get President Biden to step down.
08:39That's the rumor mill. Yes.
08:41Interesting. And I have to ask, obviously, are there any names to those people?
08:48Can't do that.
08:49Got it. Got it. I do want to go back now to the RNC.
08:53Arguably one of the biggest pieces of news to come out of the event was that President
08:57Trump did pick his running mate, and that is Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio.
09:02What do you think of that choice?
09:04I think J.D. has an incredible story, and that's the American dream story.
09:09And that's exactly why he is such a lethal running mate and threat to, I think, the narrative
09:14that the left has really tried to paint Republicans as that.
09:16You know, they try to say that we're a big corporation, big business, when in actuality,
09:20we actually are working for the common man.
09:22So J.D.'s story is very relatable for most people that haven't had it easy.
09:27And you know, I think that he has an incredible family, and I look forward to being on the
09:31campaign trail with both him and President Trump.
09:33Congresswoman, I know you and I have talked a lot about reproductive issues on this program.
09:38J.D. Vance has been getting pilloried for past comments he's made.
09:43He said before that it doesn't make sense that Democrats who are, quote, childless cat
09:47ladies who are miserable at their own lives are leaders in this country because they don't
09:52really have a, quote, direct stake in it.
09:55And this has deeply offended women on both sides of the aisle.
09:58Even Jennifer Aniston weighed in.
10:00What do you make of those remarks?
10:02You know, I probably would say that for those people that get offended on certain comments,
10:07yet will sit there and call Republican, you know, domestic terrorists, say that people
10:11should be attacked them every step of the way.
10:14I just I think that this is the double standard that politics will try to use to sway people
10:19to not get them to vote for, for example, J.D.
10:21Vance and Trump ticket.
10:23But I'll also put this out there and that what I'm hearing from the Trump campaign is
10:27that he is going to be great on issues like IVF.
10:31And I think he's made his position very blatantly known, especially on Roe v.
10:35Wade, and that it is a state's rights decision.
10:37So as you're stating, the pivoting talking point for Kamala Harris and the Democrats
10:41are going to try to paint Republicans as anti-woman.
10:44So they'll take quotes like that.
10:45They won't show the policy or the perspective backing it.
10:48But I'm sure J.D.
10:49Vance will be on a tour as well.
10:51And as you're seeing, he has incredible support from his own wife, who's a very accomplished
10:55attorney, family woman.
10:57And so I look forward to seeing how they're going to be messaging on that as well.
11:01Congresswoman, per usual, I'm always appreciative of our conversations.
11:05Thanks so much for joining me.