STUART VARNEY (HOST): What is this, what Stacey Abrams is saying, she [inaudible] the legitimacy of Brian Kemp. What does that tell you about the way the Democrats are going into 2020?
JEFF BALLABON (TRUMP 2020 CAMPAIGN ADVISER): Well, this is very troubling, I mean, this may be good, in their mind, for the party, but it's terrible for democracy and it's terrible for our country. This issue of building resentment at the notion that somehow there's a plan to steal your vote -- steal the votes, when it's just not true. We see massive attempted voter fraud on the Democratic side, we saw it in Florida, their only excuse is, it's not fraud, it's incompetence.
VARNEY: Well, hold on a second, Jeff. “Massive voter fraud” --
BALLABON: Attempted. Attempted.
VARNEY: Attempted. We saw it in Florida. What do you mean?
BALLABON: Well, I mean, their only excuse for it was, it's incompetence. But, you know, they knew going into this that [Rick] Scott had the votes. They knew that [Ron] DeSantis had the votes. But, the point of all these efforts, what Abrams said in Georgia, and what they're doing in Florida, is to undermine Americans' faith in our democracy and the democratic process. And that's really their agenda here, they're going to stoke the flames of resentment, which -- you know, they're calling for resistance. This is terrible for our country. It's terrible for the discourse, and it's leading, in some places, to violence.
...
VARNEY: Would you, as an adviser to the [Trump] campaign, would you say -- would you have the courage to say to Mr. President, “tone it down a little bit”?
BALLABON: I think the president, immediately after the election, it may have been his first public appearance, he called for a reduction in the tone. Remember? He sort of issued an olive branch to the media by saying, you know, if you tone this down, I won't feel like I'm forced to respond in kind. And, of course, the media didn't tone it down, and, of course, he responded in kind. And so, I would like to see all the tone come down somewhat. But right now, he's the one with the big pulpit, he's the one with the big platform, and when the media keeps on relentlessly attacking -- and, by the way, this Democrat message of resistance and resentment is one that the media keeps on pummeling us with, so he's responding in kind. I would love to see the rhetoric come down. I think the president would love to see the rhetoric come down. But, right now, he's got the only voice that's being listened to that counters the left's rhetoric.
