This is a rush transcript from “The Ingraham Angle,” May 12, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
INGRAHAM: We’re going to be OK. All right, Sean. Awesome show. Fantastic.
All right. I’m Laura Ingraham. This is THE INGRAHAM ANGLE from Washington
tonight.
Governor Ron DeSantis signed an executive order last September, calling for
COVID-related penalties to be suspended. But that did not stop authorities
and Broward County from arresting gym owners over not mandating masks. Can
you believe that? Well, that couple and the governor are here tonight with
their response. Wonder what that’s all about.
And Biden bumbles through event after event. Plus why Chicago unleashing
1000 feral cats? Raymond Arroyo explains it in seen and unseen. But first,
no Joe-mentum. That’s the focus of tonight’s ANGLE.
Do you remember that old Cher song?
(VIDEO PLAYING)
INGRAHAM: Well, this is your nightly reminder that the radicals in the
Biden administration have successfully figured out a way to turn back time.
Cher must be happy. But unfortunately, it’s not back to 1989 when she
released that song, but 10 years earlier to that banner year of 1979.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With little hope of greatly increased supplies and much
higher prices for what supplies there are, pressure is building again in
Washington for a new look at gas rationing. There are reports that
President Carter will urge Congress to reconsider the rationing plan they
rejected this spring. Tonight, is gas rationing the answer?
As has become common in many States in the east, cars have been lining up
before dawn. By the time the pumps opened, many had been waiting two and
three hours for gas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: The DOW dropped nearly 682 points today as well. That was despite
Biden officials’ increasingly desperate efforts to downplay the crisis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENNIFER GRANHOLM, SECRETARY OF ENERGY: Things will be back to normal soon,
and that we’re asking people not to hoard and know that every – we are all
over this.
MICHAEL REGAN, EPA ADMINISTRATOR: Folks should follow the advice of the
governors and the Attorney Generals, which they’re asking folks not to
panic.
PETE BUTTIGIEG, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: We are working hard to maintain
safety, while also providing much needed temporary flexibility to minimize
disruptions to the American people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: No, wait, wait, wait a second. Was that supposed to reassure the
public? It was about as believable as Mayor Pete’s last attempt at public
persuasion.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What’s the biggest way that transportation has been
permanently changed by the pandemic?
BUTTIGIEG: We think trains, planes and automobiles, but what about bikes,
scooters, wheelchairs for that matter?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Remember, you can always get on your bike, enjoy the gas
disruptions. Be more like Pete. Biden’s policies are working like a charm.
I think so. Because when more kids finally are getting back to school,
parents are worried now about being able to pick them up.
And just when more adults are finally returning to work, they don’t know if
they can make it home on what’s left in the tank. And just when businesses
are starting to reopen, they can’t find employees. And just when COVID is
finally under control, Biden’s letting hundreds of thousands of health
compromised migrants into the country. The list of Biden’s malfeasance goes
on and on and on.
And of course, the most immediate problem for millions of Americans is this
gas crisis and the skyrocketing cost of fuel. But never fear, because
President Biden is on it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I think what this shows is
that I think we have to make a greater investment in education as relates
to being able to train and graduate more people proficient in
cybersecurity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: That may be true. But how does that help us right now? And even
if that is true, why on earth then are we wasting time and money on all
this indoctrination of our kids with critical race theory?
Today, Biden could have sent a positive signal to the markets that he is
soon ending unemployment benefits, and he’s urging the full reopening of
the U.S. economy. Imagine if he had said that today. He could also say that
he’s resuming the Keystone Pipeline and allowing for new oil and gas leases
on federal lands. Of course, he didn’t.
But let’s be very clear. This is a classic self-created crisis of Biden’s.
Remember COVID was fixed in January, the economic crisis was fixed. All
they needed to do was keep the car on the road. And instead, Biden drove it
right into a ditch. Now we have gas shortages, they are ramping across the
southeastern U.S. right up into DC and Maryland.
And the prices, you’ve seen them. They’ve been almost since Biden won the
election going up. This is a painful and instant tax on everything we buy,
not just fuel by the way. Look at what he has done. Since taking the oath
of office, a gallon of gas is now 50 cents more expensive.
One of the most arrogant and revealing statements made in the last 36 hours
has come from that dim light bulb herself. Energy Secretary Jennifer
Granholm.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRANHOLM: You know, if you drive an electric car, this would not be
affecting you clearly. There is a lot of broader questions in this and we
hope that we’ll be able to see that investment in infrastructure that will
facilitate clean and renewable energy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: That blank eating grin. That was cute. And talk about tone-deaf.
If you drove a Tesla, you wouldn’t be at the gas pump right now. Now, these
people aren’t just incompetent. They’re radical. That combination is
terrible.
Last week after that abysmal jobs report, Biden tried to tell us that the
economy, remember, was going in the right direction. Well, now that
narrative is totally been blown up. Today’s inflation number shows us just
how wrong Biden was, and we obviously didn’t need a stimulus package
earlier in the year. Now, why do we know that?
Well, if you forgot your economics, it’s because you don’t get inflation
when an economy is under stimulated; you get inflation when the economy is
over stimulated, which it is. And to make matters worse, Joe’s freebies
means that, well, they mean that businesses can’t get people back on the
job. But thankfully, states that actually care to grow their economies are
now rejecting this damaging unemployment benefit scheme. And if you don’t
want to listen to THE ANGLE, well, listen to Democrat economist, Larry
Summers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY SUMMERS, FORMER DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: There is a
fiscal theory that looks at the ultimate consequences of deficits, that is
flashing a red alarm. You look at houses, if you look at used cars, if you
look at commodities, if you look at labor shortages, if you look at
businesses reporting price increases, signs are of inflation starting to
break out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Inflation starting to break out. Now if I were Larry, I wouldn’t
expect any White House invites anytime soon. Again, these problems though,
really, they don’t bother the Biden White House that much. That’s why
Granholm had that little smirk on her face.
Either they’re so rich that it doesn’t matter, or they’re hoping to benefit
from a bigger and more powerful central government. After all, their goal,
remember this, very important, isn’t to raise your standard of living. It’s
to get you accustomed to living with less to get you to accept that
America’s best days are behind us. And that we were never that great to
begin with.
Gas shortages are actually part of their policy. Because if they cared
about small businesses or wages going up, giving people jobs, they would
have fought harder to reopen everything early on in the COVID mess.
Instead, they fought to keep it closed for as long as they possibly could
until the red states essentially just shamed them into reopening.
For them, the only potential snag is if this scenario starts costing them
votes, then they’re going to start worrying. That’s why their intent on
taking over state elections with H.R.1. That’s why they have to drum up
racism where it doesn’t exist to try to scare minority voters. And that’s
why they cling to the false narrative about phony threats that they’re
pledging, of course, to save us all from.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you agree with your predecessors of white supremacy
extremists remain the most persistent lethal threat (inaudible)?
ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: I do
believe they do at this time, Mr. Chairman.
MERRICK GARLAND, ATTORNEY GENERAL: The top domestic violent extremist
threat we face comes from racially or ethnically motivated violent
extremists, specifically those who advocate for the superiority of the
white race.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Now, did the white supremacists threatened to shut down the
colonial pipeline? And are those white supremacists committing all that
crime and urban America, suburban America? It’s absurd.
If you feel that things are slowing down, if you feel more unsafe in your
neighborhood, if you feel that your economic power is weakened, that your
ability to travel is hampered. That’s not natural, or just the way things
are. No, none of that is normal. That’s called Joe-mentum.
We were told in November that Joe Biden would calm things down. Well, he
certainly calmed the economy down. It’s not moving. But I think the people
are experiencing other emotions. And that’s THE ANGLE.
Joining me now is Mark Meadows, former congressman and Trump White House
Chief of Staff. Mark, a friend of mine texted me today, and she said in
four months this man and his merry band of radicals have done more to harm
the American economy, the average American family, than I think any leader
in probably the last 100 years in the United States.
MARK MEADOWS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Well, Laura, it’s been 110
days of marching to disaster. We’re seeing the results right before us.
Think about it. We have high gas prices, we have high numbers of illegals
coming across our southern border, we have Israel on high alert. And what
we have is a Biden White House that is so high-minded that they can’t even
connect with the average American voter to say, listen, we understand there
is a crisis. All they had to do is plagiarize.
And frankly, I wish that Joe Biden would plagiarize one more time of the
Donald Trump playbook. We left it there for him. And yet what happens? The
American people are having to pay the price.
INGRAHAM: I think they should actually like, I mean, it’s never going to
happen. But he is all for magnanimity and getting along with people
supposedly, why does they pick up the phone and say former President Trump,
I know we don’t agree on much, but you really had this economy cooking. Do
you have any ideas?
I mean, bring him in for half hour, talk about how we managed to keep the
labor force in the United States tight as a country during the three years
before the pandemic. So to your point, though, Biden has surrounded himself
with total incompetence, Mark. Secretary Pete Buttigieg tried to use the
energy crisis now as an opportunity to look tough on national security.
Check it out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUTTIGIEG: Infrastructure is a national security issue and the reality is
that investing in World Class modern and resilient infrastructure has
always been central to ensuring our country’s economic security, our
national security, and it was, as we’re seeing right now, that includes
cybersecurity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Now, there’s just one problem with that, Mark. NBC is reporting
even that Biden’s proposed infrastructure spending plan boondoggle doesn’t
address securing infrastructure from this type of malicious cyber hacking.
And the President’s budget proposal for next year also doesn’t prioritize
cybersecurity. So was the ball dropped by this administration, and how
they’ve handled this?
MEADOWS: Well, the ball was not only dropped, but it was fumbled over and
over again. They haven’t even found the ball to pick it up to run it into
the end zone. Here is what we have is we have not only an infrastructure
plan that doesn’t actually prioritize the very things that are ailing us
right now. But it’s a false narrative, an infrastructure plan that would
add more to the debt, more to inflation, more to pressures on the hard-
working small American businesses that are out there, and do very little to
stimulate the economy.
When we look at what they propose, it would take over six years to actually
get into the economy with this spending that they’re proposing right now,
Laura. I can tell you that not only is it a disaster, but it’s one that the
Biden administration better get a grip on, or what we will have is there
won’t be a photo op with the Bidens and the Carters. It will be an economy
that mirrors the Carter economy from the late 70s.
INGRAHAM: Well, the problem here for everyone, they have to understand
this, is that if we get stuck in this inflationary trend spiral, then we go
into stagflation, then we see how difficult it is to dig out of it. I mean,
that’s the real danger here and that’s what Summers is worried about and
that’s what Janet Yellen was worried about before they tried to shut her
down after she said that a couple of weeks ago.
MEADOWS: Exactly. They both should be worried about that. I can tell you
that my conversations with President Trump and Secretary Mnuchin, not only
do they understand what the problem is, but they continue to look past it
in this administration not wanting to just revert back to what was working
just a little bit ago. But when we start to see the alarm bells going off,
you and I may be old enough to remember that.
You mentioned the gas lines, where you had odd and even days, most of the
people that are viewing this may not even remember that we not only have
gas line.
INGRAHAM: They are loving it now.
MEADOWS: But we had interest rates that went through the roof, we had
inflation going at the same time, and we had lost hope. And it was a
Republican economy that actually set it on the right way. That’s just
revert back right away.
INGRAHAM: Yes. Well, which begs the question, is this really kind of more
akin to the new normal they want? People not traveling as much, people
don’t have quite as much freedom, people not burning those fossil fuels to
burn up the atmosphere. I mean, they kind of prefer the lockdown life, a
lot of the people on the left, they liked the lockdown. This is kind of a
version of that if people don’t have gas in their cars, correct? I mean,
they are not going anywhere.
MEADOWS: Exactly. Not only do they like it, they promote it, they actually
get the union – teachers union to coordinate with the CDC to make sure that
we keep schools locked down. But even beyond that, what we have is we’ve
got an Energy Secretary that somehow thinking that this is a time to
promote electric cars, and that you ought to just suck it up because if you
don’t have an electric car, too bad. I mean, this is not America.
INGRAHAM: She was laughing. There was a snide laughter. I found that
reaction again to be the most revealing perhaps of the last 36 hours by
Jennifer.
MEADOWS: It was appalling.
INGRAHAM: It was absolutely appalling. People are suffering out there.
Mark, thank you. And the great reset that we’ve been warning you about is
now being openly discussed on the global stage. Victor Davis Hanson, Dinesh
D’Souza explain how power hungry bureaucrats are now looking to use COVID
to crush our freedoms. Stay there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
INGRAHAM: Global elites have never seen COVID as a crisis to solve, but one
to exploit, in order to completely reorder the global economy. Now what
does that mean? It means eliminating national sovereignty and that entire
concept in dramatically reducing your standard of living. They call it the
great reset. And the plan was heralded in today’s “New York Times”.
“Experts call for sweeping reforms to prevent the next pandemic. Swift mask
mandates and travel restrictions, an international treaty and the creation
of new bureaucracies are among the recommendations presented to the WHO.”
Well, if you’re wondering how this will predict or address the next
pandemic? Well, it won’t.
As with climate change, it has nothing to do with science or public health,
it’s about transferring wealth, power, decision making from American
taxpayers to UN bureaucrats, and the details get more frightening from
there.
According to the “Times”, “An international council led by heads of state
to keep attention on health threats and to oversee a multibillion-dollar
financing program that governments would contribute to based on their
ability.” Their ability? Well, that sounds nice until they give up the
game.
“The panel is recommending a fundamental transformation designed to ensure
commitment at the highest level to a new system that’s coordinated,
connected, fast-moving, accountable, just and, of course, equitable.” Then
come the threat. “Both of the reports supported the creation of an
international pandemic treaty that would establish consequences if
countries failed to live up to their commitments.”
In other words, obey the WHO, Bill Gates, Klaus Schwab, the World Economic
Forum, China, or pay the price. And here’s my counter proposal. Nothing. We
give you nothing. OK. We take better care of our people, we decouple from
the WHO and from China.
Joining us now, Victor Davis Hanson, senior fellow at the Hoover
Institution; and Dinesh D’Souza, conservative author, filmmaker, host of
the Dinesh D’Souza Podcast.
Victor, these plans are what you and I have been talking about for years
and years and years. They never liked the concept of national sovereignty.
They’ve always wanted to get rid of it.
VICTOR DAVIS HANSON, SENIOR FELLOW, HOOVER INSTITUTE: That’s the medical
version of the International Criminal Court or the Paris climate accord. It
doesn’t work. We had something like it, Laura. It was called the $5 billion
year World Health Organization. How did that work out? They lied about the
origins of transmissibility, and the nature of the COVID virus. It was
completely corrupted by the Chinese. And we had all of these scientists,
some of them very prominent, Dr. Fauci, [ph] Dr. Bassick., Dr. Collins,
they all have various roles in supporting and subsidizing in an
international fashion enhancement of function viruses at the Wuhan lab.
And there is only two things that have kept this thing from killing
everybody on the planet, if that’s an exaggeration. But it was private
enterprise. It was Donald Trump’s travel ban that stopped easy access from
Wuhan, the side of the infection, but more importantly, the Moderna and
especially the Pfizer vaccination, the Johnson & Johnson.
2 billion vaccinations are going to – are just about ready to sweep the
globe. I think we’ve already had over a billion. Those were private
companies that were given incentives on their Operation Warp Speed, and
liability help, legal help, logistical help in every country that used the
status model, whether it was the European vaccination, or the Chinese state
vaccination, or the Russian state vaccination. They either didn’t work or
there were a little bit dangerous.
So we know what the status model and the International status model,
whether it’s [ph] HWO, or the EU didn’t work. And our model did and why we
would give up sovereignty would be very – is bizarre. It would be very
dangerous.
INGRAHAM: Right. But Dinesh, the left doesn’t want America to be
preeminent. When you and I were in college in the 1980s, Dinesh, that was
the same deal back then, right? They were with Reagan. They didn’t like
this idea of Ronald Reagan in this defense shield or Reagan as a muscular
foreign policy for the – they didn’t like that. They didn’t want that, they
never did.
DINESH D’SOUZA, CONSERVATIVE AUTHOR & FILMMAKER: Yes. I’m a little
suspicious of the all of the sudden talk about moving on to the next
Pandemic and planning for the next pandemic, because this is all coming on
the eve of bombshell revelations that the virus might well have been
manufactured in the Wuhan lab, manufactured by Chinese scientists working
in collaboration with American scientists funded by the U.S. government.
So if some of the same pompous people who have been coming as the rescuers,
telling us how to deal with the pandemic and we might need to wear masks
until kingdom come, some of these people might have been complicit in
creating the virus in the first place. We now know that there are labs that
deliberately create extremely dangerous viruses. Now they do it not as a
biological weapon, they do it to study the viruses. But there are enormous
risks attached to all this and those risks are not disclosed to the
American public.
So I think right after COVID came out, there was a kind of rather odd,
confident declaration by the health community and by the media, that this
obviously came out of a market in Wuhan, even though there is exactly zero
evidence that that was the case. So the bottom line of it is we need to
find out about this pandemic before we start worrying about the next one.
INGRAHAM: Now, it’s just another giant power grab. And Victor, speaking of
this, you mentioned the messaging from our medical elites, and they’ve
already done a really good job of scaring Americans into submission. And
many are not in any hurry at all to return back to what was the old normal.
A new survey is revealing that 71 percent will wait six months or more to
stop social distancing. What? So this is they’re laying the groundwork,
Victor. This is like Americans are submissive now.
HANSON: And that’s our version, Laura, because it’s even worse in Europe.
So this idea that internationalism is going to be a medicine or some kind
of dose that’s just going to stop the American nationalist’s populist
singularity is crazy. There’s no accountability in international group.
At least, we, in America, our scientists are ultimately subject to U.S.
law, the courts, et cetera, our Congress. But there was 100 virologists who
signed that letter for Dr. Dossett that said there was no chance that this
virus was ever manufactured by scientists. It had to come from an animal.
So that was an international team of the best people, they were wrong. And
so all throughout this crisis, we’ve seen politics worth any international
consensus, because there’s no arbiter, and there’s no auditor, there’s no
censor of them. They’re not accountable to anybody, but the world.
INGRAHAM: We’re not in control of our own destiny. Yes. Do Americans
watching tonight, do you want to be in control of your own destiny? Or do
you want some bureaucrat in Germany or in Belgium to make your decisions
that affect you and your family? I mean, I’d rather take the chances on my
own judgment. Thank you very much.
Dinesh, by the way, we have to mention this really quickly, but this
mandatory COVID vaccine issue is popping up in state after state. With some
states now really wanting to force this on residents, including younger
residents. Biden was practically begging children to get the vaccine today.
Oregon is demanding its 70 percent of its population get the vaccine and
other states are also putting in place high, high thresholds.
So Dinesh, this is forcing you to do something, perhaps against your will
to get your freedom back.
D’SOUZA: I mean, how interesting it is that they feel the need to do this.
Think about in any other area of life, the government doesn’t have to tell
you. They don’t have to tell you, listen, make sure that you eat a couple
of meals a day, otherwise you might starve. Make sure you put on your pants
before you go out into the street. Make sure that you go to bathroom once a
day. The government doesn’t need to mandate these things. Why? Because it’s
quite obviously we need to do these things for our health.
And the bottom line of it is with the virus, they haven’t made the case,
they haven’t been able to show people — in fact, I think that they’ve
scared people by saying things like even after you take the vaccine you are
still going to have to wear masks, you’re still going to have to socially
distance. So the number one obstacle to making people — to getting people
to make the decision to go vaccinate is the government’s own warnings that
taking the vaccination may really do you know practical good whatsoever.
LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST: They sound too often like they are — it’s
like pressure salesmanship. When someone is pressuring you to buy something
at a store, pressure, pressure, pressure, don’t you kind of recoil, like
why are you pressuring me? I will make my own decision about the dress or
the shoes. But it’s the constant sell job by Hollywood and business. It’s
very odd.
Gentlemen, thank you, great to see you.
And is the president being controlled by his staff? We are going to show
you some troubling video tonight. Raymond Arroyo has it all. “Seen and
Unseen” and the Golden Globes cracking up, so sad. Stay there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
INGRAHAM: It’s time for our “Seen and Unseen” segment where we unpack the
cultural stories of the day. For that we turn to FOX News contributor
Raymond Arroyo. All right, Raymond, I want to take your pulse on Biden’s
performance today. Look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Most of these pharmacies
are close to family — a family home as the kids’ school is to their family
home. We’re also going to be getting vaccines to pediatricians and family
doctors.
I’m encouraged not just because of a solid meeting with — with — the
Republican leader in the House. Generically, I’m encouraged.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAYMOND ARROYO, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Generically, I’m terrified, Laura.
He couldn’t remember Kevin McCarthy’s name.
INGRAHAM: Well, I think he meant “generally,” but we are nitpicking here.
Raymond, what impression does that leave on the voters?
ARROYO: Look, for those who see it, and that is a huge question, about 95
percent of people probably only see 10-second soundbites of the president
daily. So most people won’t see him struggling and losing his way. But
whether this is covered or not, Laura, it’s deeply concerning, and the more
people see it, the more concerned they’ll become. Here is a largely unseen
moment from today that tells a much bigger tale.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You guys are bad. I’m not
supposed to be answering all these questions. I’m supposed to leave.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ARROYO: I’m supposed to, I’m not supposed to — you’re the president of
United States. Who’s telling you you’re not supposed to do anything?
Probably Jen Psaki, Laura, who said the White House didn’t want him
answering questions last week. I say free Joe Biden. But the staff is
clearly running this show. This is yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I’m just waiting for them
to tell me when we get going here since we’re live streaming this. The
basic scientific research that companies like Pfizer and others are going
to be doing with their —
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: MRNA.
BIDEN: MRNA vaccines.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: That is hard to say.
ARROYO: Oh, boy.
INGRAHAM: Backwards.
Raymond, I watched every minute of today and, I’m sorry, the gas shortages
are scary. That’s terrifying. What else?
ARROYO: I agree, especially for the nurse standing by. Anyway, speaking of
stumbles, the Golden Globes have really fallen off its axis. NBC has
decided not to air the award show next year, Laura. Netflix and Amazon are
distancing themselves from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association that
runs the Golden Globes until they diversify their membership and welcome
more black members. Tom Cruise returned his three Golden Globes in protest.
So I got a good deal at a Malibu garage sale the other day.
INGRAHAM: You got your — there you are. Good for you. They look good on
you, Raymond, those awards.
ARROYO: Thank you.
INGRAHAM: Fantastic. He should have given them back just for being a lousy
actor. No, I’m just kidding, totally kidding, Tom.
Other stars are speaking out as well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATT DAMON, ACTOR: The HFPA is something that has been around since I kind
of came in, and they are kind of a unique and eccentric group. If they go
away, I don’t think anybody is really going to lament that. I don’t think
the world needs to mourn the death of an award show.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ARROYO: Yes, especially considering the quality of the films Hollywood has
been producing in recently years. And let’s face it, NBC is canning this
show, Laura, because their ratings have dropped by 63 percent this year,
6.9 million people watched. That’s a low point. And I love how Hollywood is
all upset now about the Golden Globes. They’ve been playing this old group
of aged foreign journalists for all these years. They are 87 members of
this thing. They have been giving them free hams and dinners and trips to
the sets to buy Oscar momentum. This is like Cher waking up and being
shocked that she is in her facial reconstructive surgery clinic. Come on,
tell it to someone else.
INGRAHAM: Ouch. This is the second Cher mention of the show tonight.
That’s something of a record for us.
ARROYO: We are working to three.
INGRAHAM: But Matt Damon, is he just getting around to the idea that the
award shows are stupid? Because going back to ill Will Hunting, it was kind
of over then, wasn’t it?
As long as we are being very catty, because we love “Good Will Hunting,” in
Chicago, 1,000 feral cats have been released into the city, to, what, go
after the rodent problem, Raymond?
ARROYO: Yes, well, at least the cats are very well disciplined. I have to
say.
(LAUGHTER)
INGRAHAM: You are awful! They are actually —
ARROYO: What’s next. When I read this story, I thought, OK, it’s a humane
society saying if you care for the cats, you can loose them in the streets.
It’s called cats at work. Are we going to have felons at work where you
adopt a felon and they’ll protect your property? Where does this end? It’s
a crazy idea. It’s not good.
INGRAHAM: No, but they have a real rat problem. They have a real rat
problem, and they have a lot of unwanted cats. So it’s kind of a work study
— work project for the cats.
ARROYO: I’m sorry, I have to interrupt, Laura. I’m getting a FOX News
alert. Chick-fil-A — Chick-fil-A is announcing that they will no longer be
giving customers extra sauce with their meals. Sauces will be limited, one
for entrees, two for meals. Labor shortages and supply chain problems
necessitated the decision. The sauce bin at Chick-fil-A could be called
Joe-empty, because he started with gas, and now we’ve made our way to the
sauces.
Let me tell you, Laura, the culture always has implications politically. If
they start rationing chicken nuggets, it’s over. There will be a revolt in
this country.
INGRAHAM: Precisely. Remember, but Michelle Obama got control of the girth
— the national girth problem with Let’s Move. So I don’t even think we
need talk about that, Raymond.
ARROYO: Yes. I’m going to do my jumping jacks.
INGRAHAM: Thank you very much, Cher, Chick-fil-A, and cats all in one
segment.
Despite Governor DeSantis calling for all COVID violations to be halted, a
gym owner couple in Broward County was arrested three times for violating
mask mandates. That couple and Governor DeSantis join us in moments with a
response. That’s next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
INGRAHAM: Last September Governor Ron DeSantis stepped in to help Florida
residents who were facing absurd COVID penalties.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RON DESANTIS, (R) FLORIDA: All outstanding fines and penalties that
have been applied against individuals are suspended. I think we need to get
away from trying to penalize people for social distancing and just work
with people constructively.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Despite that, some vindictive Florida counties are still
punishing their own residents, like in Broward County where former gym
owners Jillian and Mike Carnevale face possible jail time, unbelievable,
for not complying with local mask mandates. Jillian and Mike join me now
along with their attorney Cory Strolla. Also with us, Florida Governor Ron
DeSantis, who’s been following this story very closely. Mike, I want to
start with you. You’ve been arrested three times over the masks?
MIKE CARNEVALE, PERSECUTED BUSINESS OWNER: It’s hard to believe, isn’t it,
Laura?
INGRAHAM: No, I just can’t even believe this is the United States of
America when I’m hearing this. What happened?
M. CARNEVALE: So two months after gyms reopened in south Florida, Broward
County came down with a mandate saying the official coverings had to be
worn during strenuous exercise. We filed a lawsuit against Broward County
for this, 24 hours after the lawsuit was filed, we were arrested. We were
arrested three times in total. They seized our business. They offered us 10
days in jail. We declined, and now I’m looking at six months in prison.
They also arrested Jillian here as well.
INGRAHAM: Jillian, does this seem like the country you grew up in?
JILLIAN CARNEVALE, PERSECUTED BUSINESS OWNER: Definitely, definitely not.
It barely feels like America.
INGRAHAM: Cory, what are the prospects here of getting any assistance or
help?
CORY STROLLA, ATTORNEY REPRESENTING CARNEVALES: Well, we really at this
point have to rely on governor DeSantis, and I hate to put it in his lap
and his executive general counsel’s lap, but we’ve got a political activist
judge that originally told Mike and Jillian before I was ever retained that
the state was offering a diversion program, and the judge said he was going
to personally decline it, and it was the judge that said the only
resolution he would approve is a 10-day jail sentence for Mike in jail, and
that is before Jillian’s case was transferred in.
So the way Broward state charged it, Mike is facing actually two second-
degree misdemeanors for a total of 120 days in jail, and Jillian is facing
one for a total of 60 days in jail, all for basically not having people
where masks while exercising. That’s what we’re talking about.
INGRAHAM: This is insanity. Governor DeSantis, it sounds like Broward is
thumbing their nose at you. You’ve been very pro-reopening, getting rid of
these mandates. What the heck is going on here? And what can you do?
GOV. RON DESANTIS, (R) FLORIDA: Well, it’s a total overreach, Laura. This
is exactly what we ordered against last summer, many, many months ago. And
so I was actually just recently briefed on this case, and we looked at it.
And so I’m glad you have Mike and Jillian on, and I’m also glad to be on to
be able to say that effective tomorrow morning, I’m going to sign a
reprieve under my constitutional authority. So that will delay the case for
60 days against both of them. And then when our clemency board meets in the
coming weeks, we’ll issue pardons not only for Mike and Jillian, but for
any Floridian that may have outstanding infractions for things like masks
and social distancing. The fact is —
INGRAHAM: Wow.
DESANTIS: — it’s not even right to be wearing masks when you’re
exercising. The World Health Organization advises against it. It’s not
healthy for people to be doing that in the first place. So it was a bad
restriction. But these things with health should be advisory, they should
not be punitive. And so we are happy to use our constitutional authority. I
think they’ve been treated poorly, and fortunately they’ve got a governor
that cares.
INGRAHAM: Wow. How does that feel, to the Carnevales? You just got your
reprieve on national television.
M. CARNEVALE: Thank you so much, Governor DeSantis. We appreciate that a
lot.
J. CARNEVALE: Thank you.
INGRAHAM: Well —
STROLLA: Yes, thank you. Thank you, Ron.
INGRAHAM: You built your business with literally your sweat, and governor,
I know you’ve seen this all across the states. Small business owners,
American, native-born individuals coming here as immigrants, they work
their tail off for these businesses, and then they lose everything because
of a mask mandate?
DESANTIS: Yes, well, it’s not right, and obviously we are going to be able
—
INGRAHAM: We lost the governor, but that, I’ve got to say, was wild. The
Carnevales did not know that that reprieve was coming. The clemency board
will meet. And, Jillian, police say that your arrest, by the way, on August
7th, they say was warranted because you brought workout equipment outside?
Wait a second, knowing what we know about outdoor spread now, this is
absurd. They arrested you for something that is not dangerous and that is
healthy to be outside exercising. You were arrested for that. I didn’t even
know that until I just saw that.
J. CARNEVALE: That’s correct. I was arrested outside of my closed business
during a peaceful protest.
INGRAHAM: Cory, you’ve represented a lot of people. We’re looking at the
video now. Nice barbells. Looking at the video now, this is — all these
judges who have done this, all these politicians who have tolerated this
and who have advocated this, they’ve all got to be thrown out of office.
This is such an overreach, it’s sickening.
STROLLA: I can’t agree more. And to say that my client belonged in jail
for something that was actually taken back when Broward finally did realize
you don’t have to wear masks while exercising, and you have a judge that
wants to put them in jail when the state was ready to possibly going to
throw out the case is ridiculous. So these political activist judges and
prosecutors need to be removed.
INGRAHAM: We have final words. Do we have the governor back? Governor,
your back. Final words on what you will no longer tolerate — we’ve got 20
seconds — in this state.
DESANTIS: No fines, no penalties. We’ve got to move forward as a state. We
are the oasis of freedom. That’s why Florida is doing well. So let’s build
off that and let’s not go backwards on any of this stuff.
INGRAHAM: Hear, hear. Fantastic segment. This put me in a really good
mood. Mike, Jillian, Cory, and Governor DeSantis, thank you for stepping
in.
In moments, a warning about how social media is brainwashing our kids.
That’s next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
INGRAHAM: Time to highlight the role social media is playing to brainwash
our kids. Look at this viral Instagram post from an account called Diet
Prada depicting two young women spewing anti-Israeli propaganda. Here’s one
of the exchanges. “Aren’t Israelis and Palestinians just fighting over
religion?” “They not fighting. Israelis are the oppressors and Palestinians
are the oppressed.” A sober reminder, pay attention to what your kids are
exposed to online. That is particularly vile.
Gutfeld takes it all from here.
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