- The Press Secretary Hogan Gidley.

Hogan, welcome to Faith Nation.

- Thank you so much for having me.

It's great to be with you.

- Those chants, of course,

receiving a lot of attention today,

even criticism from fellow Republicans.

Illinois CongressmanAdam Kinzinger saying,

"The chant was ugly andit would send chills

"down the spines of our Founding Fathers."

Today President Trump agreed saying

that he wasn't happy with it.

- Said he wasn't happy with it.

He also said he didn't like it.

And he said, when asked, "Ifthese chants happen again

"at a rally what will you do?"

And he said, "I'll doeverything I can to stop it."

I mean, it's very clear that action,

that chant was wrong.

The President made thatknown to the well today.

We received a lot ofquestions about it, of course,

since last night.

We got in late yesterday evening.

We talked about it on the plane

and he knew that that was wrong,

and so he told everybodythat he felt as though

it was something he wasn't happy about.

I mean, the conversation hadtaken a turn at that point,

he wanted to try and outline exactly

what these Congresswomen had done

over the last several years.

The history of anti-Semitic remarks,

the history of comments about how horrible

they think this country is.

And then it was a little sidetracked,

but he disavowed it, we're moving on.

- Hogan, some of his critics are saying

that he should've rightthere in that moment,

he should've stopped, heshould've shut down the chant.

What do you say to those critics?

- It's never good enough for the critics.

But listen, I was in the room,

it was tough to knowwhat they were chanting

for quite some time.

I think it's a 12-second spread there.

But when he caught what they were saying,

he told me, he said, "I justwanted to push right through."

You saw him stoic,

he didn't stand back andnod in agreement or laugh.

He knew that was a serious moment

but he wanted to continuewith his message.

And the message has been very clear.

That there is a group inthis country on the left

that is so ungrateful and so disrespectful

to a country that hasoffered them more opportunity

than they could ever getanywhere on the planet.

I mean, if you think about it,

Ilhan Omar is a refugee,

now an American citizenand a Congresswoman.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez got financial aid

to go to college and then was a bartender

and now is in Congress.

How is that not a great story?

How is this not the greatest country

in the history of the planet?

I mean, I talked to BenCarson about this yesterday

and I don't want to betraya secret conversation,

but he said, "Listen, Hogan,I came from abject poverty.

"I actually saw serious, sincere,

"debilitating racism, butI didn't let it stop me."

He turned into aworld-renown neurosurgeon,

and now he's a Cabinet member

for our President of the United States.

He's not the victim here, he's the victor.

He still thinks this country is amazing,

despite the hardships.

And I will say, all nationsexperience dark days

and dark times.

That's not unique to America,

that happens across the globe.

What is unique to America isthat we come out stronger,

more together, and better on the back side

of that adversity.

And that American way of life,

it makes us a beacon of hope,

a beacon of love,

and a beacon of greatnessacross this planet.

- Hogan, final question.

To the point of his supporters,

the economy is booming,the labor market is strong,

yet we're talking aboutracism in this chant.

How much does this concernyou as we head into 2020?

- Well I obviously can'ttalk too much about 2020

and Hatch Act, and everything else

because I'm not on the campaign.

But what I can tell you iswhat this administration

wants to do is take the message directly

to the American people ofjust how much we've been able

to accomplish and how this administration,

with the President at the head,

has turned around acountry that was facing

horrible economic conditions.

It's now seeing record highs.

Unemployment is incredible numbers

for African Americans, Asian Americans,

Hispanic Americans, women noware employed in record numbers

for the first time in like 50 years.

Wages are going up.

I mean, the story wehave to tell is so good

and we're so excited about it.

And that's what the Presidentwants to focus on here.

But the greatness of this country is gonna

be a pillar of this campaign.

Because when you havecomments coming from the left,

like AOC, that this place is garbage,

and from Ilhan Omar laughing off Al-Qaeda,

and saying, "In the 9-11Attacks, somebody did something."

That's a serious difference in the vision

of what this country is.

And when we chant, "USA!"

It offends a lot on the leftbecause they just don't like

what this country is, and that's a shame,

because it's the greatestplace ever devised.

- Well Hogan, we're justgonna have to leave it there,

but we'd love to have you come back

to talk to us again.- Any time!