Pennsylvania state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta joined Yahoo Finance Live to discuss the results of the election, his outlook for a Biden Presidency, and how he is working to bridge the divide between Republicans and Democrats in his state.

Video Transcript

SEANA SMITH: So let's just start with Trump's campaign, what they're doing in the state of Pennsylvania, going to court to trying to stop the certification of the election results in your state. What's your reaction to that?

MALCOLM KENYATTA: My reaction is that, you know, Donald Trump is the only one who doesn't understand what the rest of the world understands. Joe Biden is the President-elect and will be sworn in as president on January 20. And what the president is doing right now will not change the outcome of the election, but it will be a source of continued misinformation and disinformation that pulls our country apart at a time where we really need to be pulling together.

ADAM SHAPIRO: You've been a fierce advocate for the men and women that you represent. And if you watch some of the videos before the election, you were fighting on this issue about counting every vote. What do you say to the people in rural parts of Pennsylvania who voted for President Trump about unifying? How do you bring those people to the table?

MALCOLM KENYATTA: Well, I think the first thing we have to do is have Republicans accept the results of the election and begin to work with the administration, talking about things that we really should have mutual interest around, like getting the COVID-19 pandemic under control. Pennsylvania has lost too many people because of this-- because of the mismanagement that we've seen.

And I think that particularly our farmers have been hurt dramatically, as I know you all have covered here. Trump's trade war, his tariffs has really destroyed a lot of industries here. And so I think there is a lot that we can get done, and I know that President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will lay out plans that really make life better for folks all across Pennsylvania, including in our rural communities.

SEANA SMITH: What would you like to see President-elect's-- Biden's-- what would you like to see his priorities-- what would you like to see from his policies, just in terms of what we hear first?

MALCOLM KENYATTA: So I think, you know, the first thing is what the vice president has said many times, that his cabinet, his administration is going to look like America. I think that that is going to be key, to have people in place who come from a variety of different lived experiences and who bring with them, you know, technical and specific knowledge as well that is going to help them at a moment where we're facing a number of intervening crises.

The other thing is I think we really have to get this pandemic under control. I mean, this can't be said enough. If we ever want to see our economy firing on all cylinders again, we're really going to need to do something about this pandemic.

And then thirdly, there are a lot of small businesses, in particular, Black and brown business owners, that have been completely devastated and hurt very deeply from this pandemic. So many businesses may never reopen. And so the question becomes, how do we make sure whatever the next stimulus package-- that it has support for states and municipalities, that it has direct money that's set aside for minority businesses, for those mom-and-pop shops, for those small enterprises that are in a variety of different fields? That's how we get our Main Streets and our Elm Streets back to where they need to be and actually help working people in communities like mine.

ADAM SHAPIRO: We hear a lot out of Washington about what people say behind closed doors. What a Republicans that you work with at the state level saying about, one, the attack on the Pennsylvania political process, but also what you just brought up-- this stimulus that not only Pennsylvania needs, but that so many places need to get small businesses back up and running?

MALCOLM KENYATTA: Well, unfortunately, the Republican caucus in Pennsylvania, as I've said many times, you know, has really become a cult. You know, today, 20 members of the House stood doing a press conference saying they want to audit the election, which is really ironic because it doesn't seem like they want to audit the part of the election where they retain the House majority. They believe they trust those results, but they don't trust the results in elections that they lose. So unfortunately, they are parroting a lot of the same misinformation, disinformation, and really lunacy that we're seeing out of the president. That's unfortunate.

And a lot of them will say publicly the same thing that Mitch McConnell says about not wanting to support states. But we, in Pennsylvania, as I think everybody knows-- we're going to have a lot of serious conversations about what our budget will look like next week. And I don't know how we really deal with the massive holes that we're going to have in our budget without direct support from the federal government. And so I think in public, they're saying no. But I believe privately, they and everybody else should want to ensure that states and municipalities aren't-- you know, don't continue down the path that we've been on over the past couple of months.

SEANA SMITH: Are you confident that President-elect Biden will be able to lean on his experience and years in Congress and really reach a hand across the aisle to those GOP senators and really bring them together here, just in terms of being able to reach a deal and reach one that satisfies both Republicans but also Democrats?

MALCOLM KENYATTA: I think that the Vice-- President-elect-- see, I have to get used to that. I think the President-elect has a real history of getting things done, and he's done that in Congress that is controlled by Democrats, controlled by Republicans. And as vice president, we know that he was instrumental in negotiating a number of big packages, including, you know, the first stimulus that we saw out of the Obama-Biden administration. And so I think he is particularly well-situated to do this.

We will see what happens with control of the Senate after those two runoff elections in Georgia. And those, obviously, are going to be critical to whether or not he's negotiating with a Democratic-controlled Senate or Republican-controlled Senate. But I think either way, the President-elect has made it clear, he's going to be a president for all Americans.

When I talk about money to Pennsylvania, I'm not saying we should give money to Pennsylvania to only support Democrats in the state. This is for every single one of us, for all the small business owners, irrespective of political party, who are hurting right now, for all workers, irrespective of how they voted, who really want to make sure they have a job with good benefits to take care of their families. I mean, these are the types of things that I know he will center in his policy and his rhetoric and in how he governs and leads.

ADAM SHAPIRO: Very quickly, your future-- I realize you represent the people of your district. But down the road, would you go to Washington, or do you want to stay in Pennsylvania politics?

MALCOLM KENYATTA: Well, you know, there's-- in 2022, there are going to be a number of opportunities on the ballot, including running for re-election. You know, I'm going to take a good, hard look at everything and ask the question, how do we ensure that working people-- working people-- actually have a seat at the table? You know, coming from a working-poor family in Pennsylvania, knowing what it means to be on the margins of our society, but also knowing what it means to pull people together to get big things done, you know, that's a perspective that can be helpful in a lot of different places. And so you know, I think the best thing you can do is try to be the best at the job you have right now, and I'm going to focus on doing that.

SEANA SMITH: All right, well, State Representative Malcolm Kenyatta, you've been called one of the rising stars in the Democratic Party. So certainly, we will be watching you very closely, and we hope to have you back on the program sometime in the future. We really appreciate you taking the time to join us.

MALCOLM KENYATTA: Absolutely, anytime. Thank you.