Reelection campaign. I have known jason for years, covered him. He has been an advisor to many campaigns, including President Trumps 2016 campaign and has also worked with ted cruz and others. Jason, thanks for being here. You for beingank here, and thank you for the invitation. Bob it is monday. I just got off the phone about the schedule. A convention is all about trying to win the election, but it is also about, perhaps, reaching out to new voters, more voters. It will President Trump do and say this week to do just that . Jason well, i am really excited about a lot of the new voices and new faces that you will see. The theme is the Great American story, and we will go through and talk about the human stories, how people have been helped by the policies of this administration in the first four years, how President Trump once to lead the nation forward in the next four years. Ants toident trump w lead the nation forward in the next four years. There has been a lot of talk about joe biden, and i think he him,the convention about falling into the Hillary Clinton trap. The problem when you do that, you do not really get a reason to be for a particular candidate, empty calories. This is why joe biden did not get a big ounce in the coals bounce in a big polls coming out of his convention. You had people saying joe biden is a nice guy, but you really did not give people a reason to vote for him and against the other guy. This week, you will see reasons to vote for President Trump. Will be reelected because of the perception of what Trump Supporters look like, what they believe, why people gravitate towards this once in a generation, once in a lifetime candidate and president in donald trump. Youre going to see a lot of voices yes . Bob just to bounce in for a second. You said any party has to give voters a reason to vote for them. That the republican platform is no longer part of the convention. What is it there to not have a platform . Jason we are the ones who have put in what President Trump would like to do. Following up on 2016 on what he ran on, a very simplified theme last time, make America Great again, talking about cutting taxes, trade deals, build the wall, and the America First foreign policy. This time, you will continue to see the jobs message. That is really the differential in this race. President trump is the jobs president. People trust him more. The economy was great before covid hit. He is building it back now. We will talk about eradicating covid, and, bob, a key differential between President Trump joe biden, joe biden wants to go and manage covid. His solution if he were to be elected on day one, if scientists would say to shut it down, joe biden would like Nothing Better than to hang out in the basement. If he were to win somehow, the basement rather than in the white house, shut the economy down for months on end. Eradicatemp wants covid. There is a different path there. Bob can we pause . The president s priority is to eradicate covid 19. That is one of the top items in the agenda that the campaign has released. Will he mandate the wearing of masks and encourage that at the convention, and will he encourage people to socially distance . Will he use the platform for those kinds of positions . Jason so this week at the convention, you will see people at various points unable to be socially distanced from people, so you will see a lot of people wearing masks. Keep in mind, this is a different set up than a typical convention. We do not have a huge auditorium or arena. 15,000 people all packed in. You will see a lot of people wearing masks. A lot of people will be distanced, and a lot of people if they are closer together may have masks on but not distanced, so you will see all of the above. We take this very seriously. We have covid advisors to make safely, handndled out hand sanitizer, obviously hand out masks, and we encourage this, and the president has encouraged this, as well. Bob will the president wear a mask . Jason obviously, when he comes out to speak, he will not be wearing a mask. He has won a mask and has encouraged his own supporters to wear a mask. We have seen emails and tweet messages, things like that, so he takes this very seriously. I want to get back to one thing, bob. Talking about the vaccine, it is the quest for a vaccine to go and get this done. This is one of the big differentials between President Trump and joe biden. We are on pace to get that vaccine by the end of the year. This is the differential between the two. Joe biden would like to manage it. He just assumes it will be here in perpetuity, but donald trump is going to eradicate it. Bob jason, you brought up vaccines. There is some skepticism over vaccines. Will President Trump advocate will he encourage americans to eventually take the vaccine . Jason well, ultimately, it is not up to the president to encourage americans to take the vaccine. Ants the scientists to come out and say that it is safe and approved, and then it is the responsibility of everyone, whether it be the medial or whether it be the elected officials rather than just the president saying, go out and take this. First and foremost, we need a safe vaccine. We already have distribution channels. President trump has been using anddefense production act operation warp speed. Again, the whole point here is eradicate covid. A different approach from joe biden. Bob when you look at the agenda, it does not explicitly say repeal and open late president obamas health care law. What is the meaning of that . Jason some of this is being dealt with in court, in many ways Going Forward as we talk about different measures to be taken to lower the cost of premiums. Obviously, the president has made strong moves on reducing the cost of prescription drugs. There are other things in the works between now and election day on this front. These are positive steps we have taken so far. You will see more things in the coming weeks here. Is the campaigns position and the president s position still to repeal and replace that law . Jason well, i think the mandate, we are against to the unconstitutional mandate and ultimately want to replace it with a Better Health care plan, the Trump Health Care plan, and you see more things coming up on that very shortly here. Disagreement, any jason, inside the campaign about having mike pompeo, a National Security official, speak at an event . Jason not at all. I think secretary pompeo is doing great work for the american people, and if he wants to show up and voices personal opinion, so be it. I do not see a problem with that. Remarks webe the hear from secretary pompeo as we talk about some of the great progress we have made around the world in restoring some of the friendships that i think were damaged during the Previous Administration but also making other folks pay their fair share and also widening out the global terrorism and even working on peace, as we saw with the israel and United Arab Emirates deal last week. Secretary and trump speak to specifically the shooting in wisconsin over the weekend, a black man, by White Police Officers . Jason you will hear a lot about law and order and a lot about what President Trump has done in these first four years, again whether that be leasing reform it is pretty noticeable that from all of the rhetoric we hear from joe bidens camp, i did not see him getting reform done during his eight years in the white house. Maybe the white house has a basement, and he was camped out there. He might know better than i do. These are the things that President Trump has gone and gotten done. With the shooting in wisconsin, it is too early. I do not want to offer political commentary on that. I want to make sure we have the facts. Mr. Meadows was briefing the president. He is in north carolina. I do know that senator scott will talk about what unites us as americans. I want to take an opportunity to mention last week. This is one of the key differences between last week and this week. Too much was really identity politics, too much in people trying to put up false divides, to say this is what divides us as americans. We heard a lot of grievances. We heard about it as a grievance fest. This week is about what brings us together. Senator scott, very powerful remarks, and i do not want to get ahead of his speech, but you will be impressed. Same thing with President Trump. I spent a few hours with him as he was working on his speech. I think this would be about what unites us as americans. Vaccinesought up earlier after you brought up the topic. There is also this q and on conspiracy. Qanon on signs. Vice president pence has disassociated himself with it. Will President Trump do the same . This is a group that has said to be a risk to domestic terrorism. Hyperbole, is not but you are literally the first person in the media who have on, and theout qanao first person who has asked me about it. This will be my firstqanon my non answer. For may be a dog whistle some people to go down the rabbit hole. The conspiracy theories, that is not the world i live in. I live in the real world, where bob so you believe it is crackpot, as you said . Not believe conspiracy theories. If they have been labeled something by a Law Enforcement agency, i would take those allegations seriously, but it is not something i have researched or spent a lot of time on. Again, i am in the real world, trying to help President Trump turn out the can turned out voters. Worldell, in the real right now, we have a Postal Service hearing on capitol hill. Are you worried about trump voters being able to receive their ballot by mail . Jason well, i do worry about democratic governors who are coming and trying to change up the entire Voting System, like what we saw in nevada. A lot of folks may have heard some rhetoric and hyperbole, but broken down with what is the play here, here is the concern. For example, in nevada, signed into law something where they would completely move nevada to a vote by mail. They would keep a couple of inperson polling stations open, so this universal vote by mail, you are sending out a lot of ballots to people whether they have requested them or not, so you do not know if they still live there. The potential for fraud is very big. We saw earlier this year in pennsylvania, there were a lot of problems with the primary. Vote by mail, over a 20 error rate. They say she won that race. I am not sure she did. They do not count them at the end. Here is the problem. The six states that are fully vote by mail as it is right now, so you have washington state, oregon, colorado, a couple of other states. The secretary of state of washington says it takes between five and 10 years to really get this right. Democrats are trying to rush this through in a number of states in five to 10 weeks, so the concern here, in my opinion, is not so much on the post office. The concern is on these governments who have been able in a case like nevada, lets take a real world application here. Hold on. I have got to make one point here. So we talk about the ballots at the postmark. Says that the statute you just have to have it postmarked by election day, and then you should then, obviously, that ballot is going to count. That is part of the rules. But if it is not postmarked in nevada, you can still turn that in up to three days after the election with no postmark. That is like keeping it open until you have enough votes to go and count them. Most americans strongly oppose this kind of shady maneuver and politicalvesting, operatives handling things. Hearing what the message for the Trump Supporters would be, take advantage of vote by mail if that opportunity comes your way. But, but, and this is the key here, make sure your vote is received and counted, so show up to your polling precinct and ask. Do you have me checked off . If they do not, make sure you vote. I would be extra careful on this. Make sure that your vote counts. Nothing is more important on november 3. Bob so if you are an older voter, you want them to mail in their ballot and then show up at the polling location, even if there is concern about the pandemic for some older voters . Jason unless youre able to get confirmation from the registrar or the secretary of state. In florida, you can call the county registrar and see if your vote has been received. If they have received your vote, youre in good shape. You do not have to. If you do not get a straight answer, make sure your vote has been received and then counted, absolutely. Bob jason, you have just encouraged voters to vote by mail and then check with their voting precinct. Do the delays inside the Postal Service at this moment present a challenge than to the trump that is, a campaign through you, encouraging voters to vote by mail . Jason the testimony from louis dejoy but also some recent comments that the concerns raised about the post office and delays heading into the fall with some different reforms, number one, those were made before dejoy took over. Anything that could possibly interfere have been postponed, as he testified written and verbally that he believes the post office will be able to handle things. President trump has been very forthright that he would like the post office to get the necessary funding, but here is the point, bob. We cannot talk about one thing without talking about other. Nancy pelosi and democrats brought folks back to talk this week about postal funding, and really, if we are just being honest here, their scheme to go and change the Voting System. Why are we talking about that . It had republican support, 25 billion for the post office. That is what it was. Jason ok, look. Got mitt romney, on the impeachment vote. But the fact of the matter is why is nancy pelosi not back actually trying to do something about these unemployment benefits, about making sure these are locked in so we do not have to go this roundabout way with the e. O. s . But i think it is shameful that nancy pelosi and the democrats do not want to go provide help for people, and i am glad that President Trump is pushing it, but we should not be remaking our Voting System with weeks to go. The maloney district. Bob jason jason remember 2000, with the hanging chads . Not haveou said, we do time to go over every single detail, and the Washington Post though you have offered all of these anecdotes, which we do not have time to go through, that there is no evidence of widespread fraud. Jason hold on, hold on. So what would you call patterson, new jersey . Bob jason, there is no pattern of widespread voter fraud. Jason, what is the solution to what you are saying . What is the Campaign Position on all of this . President trump has said he would like to see Law Enforcement officials show up at polling locations. You are the Campaign Senior strategist. Do you agree with that position . Jason i think we need to make sure that the polling locations are safe. People know that there are Law Enforcement officials nearby if there is ever any incident or something that is getting out of hand, and i think that is what President Trump is speaking to. Bob what does that mean, out of hand . At a polling location . Are a democrat like joe biden, you may want to go and sent in social workers. But things getting out of control or people do not feel safe to go and vote, that might be a situation where you need to have Law Enforcement. Campaign working with get ministry should on this project, on this idea . Jason i am not aware of any conversations on this. That sounds like something that the Police Departments and local safety procedures, local Law Enforcement efforts would be dealing with, not something that the administration would be. Let me just make sure, bob, that it is clear what President Trump is advocating for. Number one, he wants to make sure we get the funding for the Postal Service. He once the employment benefits. That people are being taken care of. He wants to make sure that everyone can legally vote and vote only one time. You want to make sure that the people vote and that those about count. He wants to make sure that people cannot manipulate ballot harvesting is a bad idea. You would not take a winning Lottery Ticket and handed off to a local Democratic Party operative. We have to have rules, postmarked by ace a specified day. You dont start counting ballots that do not have a postmark on them. These are the principles that President Trump is looking for, making sure there is a fair electoral process, and here is the key, bob. You have to make sure that states are able to handle it. Under the failed administration of governor cuomo, they were unprepared. In california, half a million ballots got all screwed up. The rampant abuse in patterson, new jersey, and this is one of the things changing the system. Philadelphia this year. You still had dozens of people who showed up and voted even though they had already voted by absentee ballot. Not because they called up and said, hey, it wasnt there, but because they wanted to bob with this issue you are taking, is it fair to say on Election Night, if the president is behind in returns, he will not concede on Election Night . Jason i think the question is going to be what joe biden is going to do. I am not sure if he will be awake yet. He usually cuts out pretty early. But as far as President Trump, it is more of a concern that the democrats are going to have in this. We just want to make sure that the votes are counted, that they are counted fairly, one person gets one vote, and everything is aboveboard. I think that is the president s objective here. Now andon, between november, you have time to spend a lot of money. How much money is reserved for fault television spending, and two, where are you spending . Jason good question. I think we have about 185 forion, 190 million election day. When we look at the pathway, we feel very good about the states President Trump care carried last time, the southern part of the country. Arizona, texas, georgia, north carolina. We feel good about where we are in florida. We feel good about where we are right now and are confident we are going to win it. We do not have to spend a lot of money there. Ohio, one of the states that the president won last time. We will be making visits there. The states in the upper midwest, the midatlantic, pennsylvania. If President Trump is able to hang onto those previous states i mentioned, then he just needs to win one, wisconsin, michigan, pennsylvania, so we have another a couple of pathways. Democrats cannot afford to lose a single one of those states. Minnesota, you are an expert of the map and following this. Minnesota has been democrat. Tate that Ronald Reagan you had a candidate in mondale from there but could not win it in minnesota. We have done three poles in the last weeks that have shown President Trump tied or within the margin of error, so we feel very good about that. Wisconsin. We are in good shape in michigan. We have had two poles in the last week that have had us within a couple of points, so we feel good there. As the economy recovers, particularly michigan, we think that is a state that holds a lot of promise. Dont just take my word for it. Biden is spending there. They are in trouble there. Pennsylvania is a big one. That is a state that, admittedly, we won that one, so it is a little bit cheaper to spend and focus on other areas. We will win pennsylvania. He is the one who directed us to go back and back, and that worked out for him. The polls have shown us tied or slightly ahead. So democrats have some challenges. They have to sweep all of you are of those who have a chance of winning. Bob jason, this convention is going to feature many members of the trump family, judge mary barry. You saw her critical comment about the president s character mary trump. E has judge mary trump been invited to the convention . Jason he is very proud of what she has accomplished as a judge. Rivalries go all of they back all of the way back to literally the first family ever. These things happen. When someone gets to the white house, they get more contentious. Criticism about brother barack obama. And they amplify sibling rivalries, but nothing anything of particular concern. Question about steve bannon, with whom you have worked professionally on a podcast. Have you spoken to him since his arrest on fraud charges . Jason i am not, and i hope steve has the opportunity to tell his side of the story. He is someone who has shown me grace and kindness. These are some pretty serious charges. So i think that that is something that he will have to overcome. Bob when you look ahead to the debates, jason, just in the final minutes, what is your advice to Vice President pence as he prepares for senator harris . Jason you know what . I shared that with him last week. We were chatting about it. To give you the big scoop here, but people underestimate Vice President pence. I do not think anyone expected him to come out and chop up tim came like he did four years ago. Didhop up tim kaine as he for your years ago. The governor of the state of indiana. I would say since you brought up the debate, and i mentioned this to deposed a couple of weeks ago, joe biden is a good debater. He is good at this. He has been doing it 47 years, and he will go to the basement in practice this. I think joe biden comes in as a favorite when it comes to debates. This is what he knows how to do. I literally watched all of his 1987, and he to gives the same answers over and over and over, so they kind of wind him up behind the podium. He knows exactly what he is going to say. He has been saying the same for decades. That comes from practice. It andll be much better, i tell the trumps apart is to not set the bar low for joe biden. He is actually going to be good. Very political move, lower the expectations for your own candidate, and play up the abilities of the other candidate. Jason bob jason, make a little news here. Jason i have got to sign off on that. Bob your argument that he is such a great debater, president s struggle in the first debate. Do you take that same view . Do you have that same concern when you look at president obama, who was seen by some who thought he struggled in that debate and many others, going back years . Jason on the same topic, you can be aware of what the historical trend is an communicate that directly to the president. Also knowing that this is about a contrast of ideas. This is about two competing visions, and as much as joe biden did not want to tell folks last week about what he would really want to try to do as president , we will have the opportunity in the debates to fill in the gaps there. He is not going to be able to slide by with a lot of the pablum and the platitudes that we saw from the democratic convention. This will be a real contrast of ideas. Are people going to show up to vote on november 3, saying i am going to vote for a guy who is going to raise my taxes or shut down the country the same day he is sworn into office . There is a key difference here. Timejason, that is all the we have this afternoon. I appreciate your coming by as this convention begins. Jason bob, i appreciate it. Bob and thank you all for joining the livestream, coming back to Washington Post live, a few days after the dnc, and now the rnc. We are doing our best to provide you with coverage from all sides, both sides, to give you an indepth view of what is happening with these campaigns in this historic time. We will be back at 3 00 p. M. With roy blunt and jim jordan. You may have spotted him at the white house over the weekend, the republican from ohio. Other guests include asa hutchinson, linda mcmahon, a longtime supporter of President Trump, and she works with one of his outside groups. Also, kellyanne conway, the counselor to the president , senior counselor who made news over the weekend that she will be leaving the white house at the end of the month. House minority whip steve scalise. A lot of information. Stay tuned to Washington Post live and, of course, the print edition and online. For now, i am robert costa. See you soon. Announcer this week, it is the republicans turn. Tonight, the Republican National convention. The nextr vision for four years. Hear President Trump and Vice President pence except the nominations, tonight at 8 30 p. M. Eastern. The evening session kicks off. Watch live on cspan, Live Streaming and ondemand at cspan. Org, or listen with the free cspan radio app. He span, your unfiltered view of politics. Cspan, your unfiltered view of politics. Announcer you are watching cspan, your unfiltered view of government. Provided by america as Cable Television companies as a Public Service and brought to you today by your cable provider. We are talking to two shannon, an Advisory Board member for black voices for trump and also a speaker of