Transcript: New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on

The following is a transcript of an interview with New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, on “Face the Nation” that aired on July 28, 2024.

ROBERT COSTA: We go now to New Mexico’s governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, who is a member of Vice President Harris’s campaign advisory board. Good morning, Governor. Great to have you with us here on Face the Nation.

GOVERNOR MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM: Good morning, Robert. 

ROBERT COSTA: We know you’re with the vice president. You’re a hearty supporter on her advisory board. But I want to begin with the news of the week, for history, which was President Biden’s decision to exit the race. You were on a call with President Biden and Democratic governors a few weeks ago, where CBS News reported that you expressed concern about the president’s performance at the time and whether he was able to win. Can you tell us what exactly you said and what were your concerns, to help us understand why this week played out as it did?

GOV. LUJAN GRISHAM: Well, I don’t know that any of my statements had anything to do with what’s played out, but it is clear to me, or was then, that there was a shift. And New Mexico is a bellwether state, you know, with the largest percentage of Hispanic voters per capita in the country, and that there was a bit of a, if you will, stalling out and that I found very concerning. That was confirmed by national polling that had Biden beating Trump by one percentage point among Hispanic voters. And since his personal decision to certainly put democracy first, I will say, I’m seeing a re-energized- particularly with young voters, which I think is now playing out in national polling, showing Harris beating Trump with Hispanic voters by 19 percentage points. 

ROBERT COSTA: How is Vice President Harris playing out on the issue of immigration and the border in your state? Of course, a border state. You heard Senator Graham earlier in the program, he just kept coming back to the issue of the border with Vice President Harris. Are Democrats ready to counter the Republican attacks? And are you confident that she, personally, can address this issue in an effective way for New Mexico?

GOV. LUJAN GRISHAM: Well, let’s do a couple of things. First, I’m going to answer the question. Yes. There’s renewed enthusiasm because what the Hispanic voters here want is a prosecutor who’s got a history in a border state dealing with border and immigration issues that can cause risk, like her prosecution successfully and transnational gangs on drugs and guns. But they also want someone who is going to be balanced on immigration policy. And that’s what the Biden-Harris administration brokered with Congress. And this is the second time we’ve seen Trump and his cast of characters be really clear. They don’t want immigration reform. They want fear, they want division, they’re going to continue to demonize Hispanics and Latinos and immigrant communities. And you know what they see? They see someone who’s tough, fair, balanced, pragmatic, and somebody they can relate to in terms of her own family. That motivates Hispanic voters.

ROBERT COSTA: Senator Graham called Vice President Harris the border czar, that wasn’t in her title. She was given responsibility to deal with the root causes of migration when it comes to the border. Your voters in New Mexico, I’ve spoken to them. They see you as a straight talker. What’s your grade, straight talk, politically speaking, of how she handled the issue of migration during the last three and a half years? 

GOV. LUJAN GRISHAM: Well, as a straight shooter, thank you, Robert, and thank you New Mexico voters. We have to be engaged in better diplomacy in Central America and South America. She did that very effectively. And in fact, we had meetings of the Americas and Latino leaders from south of the border, and those have been incredibly promising. They’re trying to create a label that really belongs squarely with the president and Stephen Miller themselves. They want to be dictators, they want to be dictators on the border. They want to demonize immigrants, they have been incredibly racist, they’re gaslighting, and they have done absolutely nothing on the border that makes any sense in the last administration. They want to do mass deportation. Here’s something that I think is really important and telling about this issue. Right now, border crossings are as low as they’ve ever been, certainly lower than they were in the Trump administration. And we’ve seen a 55% decrease, and we’ve seen the right public safety activity at the border in this administration. 

ROBERT COSTA: But what about more Border Patrol agents? There has been reporting, including a leaked phone call of you speaking about you need more from DHS, you need more border patrol. You’ve been positive about the administration so far in this conversation, but you’ve often been urgent about your need for more resources at the border. Does this administration need to do more for you and your state in terms of allocation of resources in agents or not?

GOV. LUJAN GRISHAM: They do, and they’re going to get that opportunity if Republicans in Congress weren’t directed to make sure that they did not do anything to pass a bipartisan border deal that put 1,500 more Border Patrol and 1,200 more ICE agents. You bet. And the shift of Border Patrol by President Biden into ports of entry is exactly what we needed, so that we can focus there. And then you minimize, right, you can’t seek asylum if you’re not coming in a port of entry. That gets at coyotes and those inappropriate crossings. So they both did something based on my urging, and they’re on the right side of this new border deal, which will get done when Harris is president, we take the House and we keep the Senate. 

ROBERT COSTA: And on the search for a running mate for Vice President Harris, Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, from the Sunbelt, your region of the country, is at or near the top of the list based on our reporting. How much of a help would it be for Arizona, for New Mexico to have someone like Senator Kelly on the ticket? Would you recommend he’s picked by Vice President Harris? 

GOV. LUJAN GRISHAM: Well, my recommendations really shouldn’t matter. This is a personal decision, by candidate Harris and the vice president, and I respect that. She’s going to make a perfect balance ticket choice. But, look, this is one of the highest per capita enlisted and veteran communities in the country, New Mexico. You’ve got a, a veteran, you’ve got an astronaut, you’ve got someone who’s got a very strong public safety record. Got someone who understands the West, who understands water. It’s not just immigration. He would be an incredibly strong pick. You know, the very first images from spa- space were captured from New Mexico in the 40’s. This would be a very strong pick. But she’s got a really deep bench, which is, I think, another really important facet in this race. The Democrats have people who are ready to move the country forward. She’s about progress and the future and Trump is about none of those things.

ROBERT COSTA: Governor, we really appreciate you taking the time. That didn’t seem like an endorsement of Senator Kelly, but something close to it. We will have to check in. Well, something close, it was a positive–

GOV. LUJAN GRISHAM: He knows I love him. Come on, he knows I love him. All right.

ROBERT COSTA: All right, governor, we’ll be right back, and thanks again.