Transcript: Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” August 25, 2024

The following is a transcript of an interview with Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that aired on August 25, 2024.

MARGARET BRENNAN: We’ll go now to the Republican Governor of Oklahoma, Kevin Stitt, of Oklahoma City. Good morning, Governor.

GOVERNOR KEVIN STITT: Good morning. It’s a pleasure to be with you.

MARGARET BRENNAN: One of the biggest drivers of inflation right now is the cost of housing. I know that in a previous life you founded a mortgage company. So I want to talk about another issue that’s also happening in Oklahoma, which is the housing shortage. Donald Trump was asked earlier this week what his plan was, when he was campaigning in Nevada. He said he would like to free up more federal land for housing. Is that enough?

GOVERNOR KEVIN STITT: First of all, thank you for having me. Let me tell you this: As a businessman, before I became governor, I was in the mortgage business. And the last thing you want to do is follow Vice President Harris’ plan, which is to put $25,000 more in every person’s pocket to buy homes, because if you increase demand without fixing…

MARGARET BRENNAN: – This is for the new owners–

GOVERNOR KEVIN STITT: — For first-time buyers, that’s right. But if you increase demand without addressing supply, what happens to prices? You actually make the problem worse, housing prices go up. So the solution that President Trump is talking about is the right solution: eliminate building permit reform. Reform building permits. Make it easier for developers. Make it easier for people to develop and build homes. Remove regulations. These are free market principles that we believe in and we know that this is the right way to do it. I mean, when you think about it, listen to it.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Sorry. The vice president said she also wants to create 3 million homes, so she’s talking about increasing supply. But on that front, the Republican Party platform, because we went and looked at it, says that Republicans will lower mortgage rates by reducing inflation. That’s really a Fed decision, right? But also opening up federal lands to allow for new housing, that sounds a lot like the Harris plan, and then promoting homeownership through tax incentives and support for first-time buyers, that sounds a lot like the Harris plan as well. So what’s different?

GOVERNOR KEVIN STITT: First of all, there are so many programs for first-time buyers right now, and my question to you, and this is a great question for Vice President Harris, is who’s going to build the 3 million homes? I mean, fundamentally, we either believe in a free market system or we believe in government intervention, so the bottom line is you’re going to drive up costs. The reason we have 20% inflation under a Biden-Harris administration right now is because of all the attacks on energy, for example, the bureaucracy, we need permitting reforms, we need deregulation. We need to unlock American businesses to meet the needs of the American people. Basically, when you have municipalities blocking new development for lot sizes and for first-time buyers, that’s what you need to do. By increasing and injecting more money and giving… think about it for a second, this ticket, and I know Governor Walz, I’m friends with him in the National Governors Association. He’s a nice guy. I’ve met Vice President Harris a couple of times. She seems like a nice person, but if you think about the Democratic candidates, they’ve never worked in the private sector. Their policies show that. You can’t give every first-time home buyer $25,000 and expect home prices to go down. That’s not how economics works. That’s socialism. That’s communism.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, yeah, it’s not clear what the Republican platform means when they talk about tax incentives and helping first-time buyers. So it’s not clear what their detailed option is when they say they’ll help first-time buyers as well. But on the economy, your state has a law that prohibits goods and services from increasing more than 10 percent in an emergency. The Harris campaign wants federal restrictions on those kinds of price increases. Why are you opposing that at the federal level, if you have something to do at the state level?

GOVERNOR KEVIN STITT: Well, what we’re talking about at the state level is that if we have a natural disaster, like a tornado hits one of our communities, we don’t want people from out of state coming in and price gouging roofing materials. So when I declare a national order and I say this area of ​​the state has been hit, it’s only for a short period of time. It could be for a month, and it’s just to protect people from those who are really coming in and trying to make money off of this disaster. So that’s totally different than what I see in this administration that Vice President Harris is recommending. So she’s saying, here’s the problem that doesn’t make sense to the American people, and you need to question her about it. Okay, she’s going to tell grocery stores that the most you can pay for milk and charge for milk is $1.99. But what will happen to farmers if costs are higher than that?

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah.

GOVERNOR KEVIN STITT: Okay, what do they say they’re going to do?

MARGARET BRENNAN: I would love to ask those questions.

GOVERNOR KEVIN STITT: What is price control then?

MARGARET BRENNAN: I asked you a question. You support President Trump. You had previously supported Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and he had warned Republicans against this plan.

(BEGIN SOUND ON TAPE)

GOVERNOR RON DESANTIS: You’re not going to talk about the border, you’re not going to talk about the economy. You’re going to talk about all these things to make this election a referendum on Donald Trump, when if I’m the nominee, we’re going to focus only on the issues that matter to the American people.

(END OF SOUND ON TAPE)

MARGARET BRENNAN: Is President Trump putting obstacles in his own way with his own message?

GOVERNOR KEVIN STITT: I’m not going to defend what Vice President Harris said at the convention against President Trump, or what President Trump says about it. This is not about winning a debate. And I think the American people are really tired of that. It’s about policy. And Vice President Harris’ policies have led to a 20% increase in inflation. And I think ultimately, the American people, when they ask themselves were they better off under President Trump, they’re going to say yes, and so President Trump is the candidate. He has the best policies, and I believe he’s going to win in November.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Governor. Thank you for joining us. We’ll be back in a moment.