Michael Knowles
Appearances
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
I know this. I'm feeling a little gypped. I mean, I'm very grateful to my friend, Congressman Andy Ogles, for having me last year. It was very cool to be at the State of the Union. But I had to listen to Joe Biden incoherently scream for like 45 minutes. And you guys get to go to the UFC fight of State of the Union addresses. It's going to be super fun.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
They seem to have learned absolutely nothing. I mean, you mentioned some of the members not showing up tonight, but even the Democrat governors who say, no, by golly, we're going to ignore federal law. and we're going to force hulking dudes to crack women's skulls. And they elect David Hogg, one of the least likable Democrats, even among Democrats, to be the vice chairman of the party.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
It just seems like these guys cannot possibly win for losing.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
They told us this in 2004. Ben, you correct me because you probably remember the paper better. It was 2004 or 2006. There was a very prominent political science paper pushed by the left. on this strategy to import people from all over the world and to have a permanent electoral majority.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
And I don't think they were counting on Trump winning 46% of Hispanics or an increasing number of black male votes or anything like that. But I think they were pretty open about it. I don't think they hit the ball. Because it's happening in Europe, too.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
Well, I think the big floating idea is that you could get an announcement of the Ukraine deal, which might surprise some people because President Trump picked that fellow up and flung him out the window the other day during the Oval Office meeting. But again, you know, these kinds of deals are bigger than just one shouting match in the Oval Office.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
So you could see that that would be somewhat surprising. Obviously, President Trump last night implemented these tariffs on Mexico and Canada, which surprised some people because I think some people believed that the tariffs were merely a negotiating ploy to try to get concessions on fentanyl or border enforcement or whatever.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
However, I think Trump campaigned on believing in tariffs in terms of economic theory, like in tariffs for the good of the American economy.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
Right. Of course. But the one surprise tonight potentially could be that Trump, as Howard Lutnick was suggesting earlier today, Trump could roll back some of those tariffs that he announced last night. So that might be somewhat surprising. Otherwise, I'm expecting the pep rally. I don't know about you guys.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
They are quite colorful, though. It's interesting because in recent years, the Democrats, especially the squad Democrats, have worn white to make themselves look like the suffragettes or something. This year, they're wearing pink. Maybe the, I don't know, the purity.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
It's the femininity. No one was buying the white dress.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
the job. It's hard. It's like classifying documents. He just declares it. You know, it's hard to tell exactly what the Democrats are trying to convey with their coordinated outfits, because the white was supposed to coordinate, to convey women's rights, you know, hearkening back to the suffragettes.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
The pink, presumably, is more, and we have Melania walking in now, looking much more elegant than any of the Democrats. Anybody else. But the pink, I suppose, is to communicate women's rights vis-a-vis abortion, I would guess. Hey, there's Ben Shapiro. I know them. Wait a second.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
But I guess that, to me, again, states that the Democrats haven't learned anything from the election. Because abortion was supposed to win in the election, and they lost the biggest election that they'd lost in 20 years.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
So then even this 14th Amendment thing, trying to make an argument that birthright citizenship pertains to anchor babies and illegal aliens, even the New York Times ran a column the other day— making a good point that actually it's unclear from the 14th Amendment. And the Supreme Court has never definitively ruled on that. So I don't know, it seems like they're fishing for an issue.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
So the headline- Not mRNA. Oh, the measles, the MMR. So the headline from foxnews.com was, you know, the measles vaccine is really important and it's crucial to fighting the disease. If you read the column, so the editors write the headline. If you read the column, he never endorses the vaccine. Really? And in fact, he says, really, the best way to fight this is good nutrition.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
And, you know, actually, 98% of deaths disappeared before the measles vaccine. So if you read the text of it, clearly, HHS and the White House want to hedge their bets a little bit in case there is a big outbreak. But what's funny is, if I'm reading the tea leaves, I'm looking to invest maybe in different big pharma companies. I think this health secretary still hates the vaccine.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
At the very least, he is the greatest Kennedy. You know, I don't know.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
Yeah, yeah. And I love that he drove a chainsawed off whale head from Kennebunkport to my hometown.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
Yeah, that's a fair point. We also now, actually, oh, I guess that's Usha Vance. I don't know who the two other women are.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
We've got... Just imagining what would be fun. Long speeches. So everyone's still mingling. This is not kicking off for a little while now.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
Yeah. It is interesting, though, to think in recent memory, we've had a mixture of conservatives and liberals up there on the dais. We've had at least one woman, you know, Nancy Pelosi ripping up the beach. We've had Kamala Harris up there, you know, being Kamala. And now... Just a bunch of Republican dudes, you know, just a bunch of normal looking Republican white dudes.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
And this one, you know, truly, Trump said we get tired of winning, and I almost am tired of winning, and I mean it in a very literal way, and I do have three kids, four and under, and I've been traveling a lot. This news cycle is exhausting because Trump, whether you love him or hate him, you have to admit he has notched so many victories in the first month in office.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
Yeah, we're like 45 days or something into less than that. Less than that.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
And the president needs to be able to run the executive branch. I mean, this is kind of basic stuff. So, you know, the Democrats are whining. I was on a liberal news show recently. They said, oh, isn't there a threat to the separation of powers? And I thought, no, no, there was a threat to the separation of powers. Trump is exerting, actually, his just authority.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
That the executive doesn't have control over.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
But the other crazy thing when they knock Elon and the Department of Government Efficiency Doge has a 100-year-plus precedent. This began really under Wilson. Wilson, the Bureau of Efficiency, that reformed the executive branch. After that, you had FDR, had the Brownlow Commission. That created the executive office of the president. After FDR, Truman had the Hoover Commission.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
Same thing, reorganized the executive. Reagan had the Grace Commission. My favorite example, though, is more recently, Al Gore as vice president. I was just going going to say that. It was Al Gore in the 90s. I actually, oddly enough, was just sitting behind Al Gore on an airplane. Apparently Global Warming doesn't pay anymore because he was sitting right in front of me commercial.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
But Al Gore in the 90s had the National Initiative for Reinventing Government. And it fired a quarter million federal employees and it consolidated 800 agencies. Elon hasn't come anywhere close to that.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
And if you don't look inside the office.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
The 90s are like the new 50s. That's the new era that you look back to sort of nostalgically.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
Now, somebody once told me about that.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
Now we have, ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
This is like the greatest version of when Nigel Farage went to the European legislators and he said, you know, I came here a decade ago and I said we were leaving the EU and you all laughed at me. Who's laughing now? This is Donald Trump's who's laughing now moment.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
You know, my son has a little placemat with all the presidents on the dining room table. And he loves Trump. He loves Johnson for some reason, but he points to Trump better. He loves impeached presidents. Not that Johnson. Lyndon Johnson. But there's one president with two pictures on there. And on the next edition of that placement... Yeah, there'll be two. There are going to be two.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
And, you know, so Trump runs for president at 16, and he says, I'm going to be great, I'm going to be the greatest president, so historic. And he has now made that happen. Yep. He is now one of the most significant figures in American history. There's no question about that, yeah.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
I keep thinking that the sergeant in arms is Senator Bob Menendez. Then I remember that Menendez is out.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
Is that Chip Roy? I can't tell in the sea.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
Rubio nearby. He's recovered from sinking into the couch during that Oval Office meeting with Zelensky.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
It was sort of like that meme of Homer Simpson backing into the bush. He, by the way, is doing great. He's doing a great job. He's doing a great job.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
You're welcome, Brett. You're welcome, Amy. Who are you? The president greeting the Joint Chiefs. Now, I couldn't quite see which justices made it. I did not see Ketanji Jackson. No. I did not see Sotomayor or Kagan. I might have just missed him. It's hard to see. The cameras are moving. Scalia famously would not go to the State of the Union.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
He went in the first few years, and then he said it was just a ridiculous political display and the justices really had no role there.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
Bill Clinton had some doozies in there, so I don't know if it was the longest ever. But, you know, I was there at Biden's last year, and it felt long. At 40 minutes or something. He might have pushed it closer to an hour, but it felt like two days. And this one, I'm not saying there weren't moments that lulled compared to others, but I was engaged for about 92% of this.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
I mean, this was an amazingly well-written and delivered speech. Also, Trump set this... trap for Democrats. Really, the Democrats set the trap for themselves, and he just called their attention to it. When he said, I could get up here, I could cure the worst diseases, I could do the greatest feats, and they would not stand up and applaud.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
And at that point, they said, well, now we're really not going to stand up and applaud. So, you know, just to use the most stirring example, in a night of amazing moments, the one that stole the show was that 13-year-old boy who's been fighting brain cancer. DJ. Special Agent Secret Service. Yeah, exactly. You know, he always wanted to be a cop, and he's now made a member of the U.S.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
Secret Service. And you just think, man, if you can't agree in this country that that is a good thing, we have nothing in common. We have nothing that we can agree on. And the Democrats would not stand up, many of them would not even applaud, a little kid fighting cancer. You know, I...
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
You know what they won't be able to say? They always say after Trump's speeches, it was dark. Dark, yeah. And the reality is, there was nothing dark about this speech. Trump was having a great time. Yeah, he looked like he was having fun. And this, I think, really off-footed the Democrats. Trump was having so much fun.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
And it was infectious, and the audience was having fun, and they did not know how to react to that. So I can't name even a tenth of the examples, but... When Trump goes out there, he says, we killed the top terrorist in Afghanistan. The Democrats, not only do they not stand, they don't applaud. So the Democrats formally come out in favor of the top terrorist in Afghanistan.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
When Trump says we're taking down the cartels, the Democrats don't applaud. Democrats formally come out as pro-cartel. That's a curious political choice. When Trump announces that he brought an American citizen home from a Russian prison, They can't even applaud that. They booed the police. They booed the police.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
You know, Mr. Homan- Mr. Ullman, Ben just mentioned that the Democrat lawmakers are planning to interrupt the speech with all sorts of noisemakers and make a general nuisance of themselves. I know you're busy, sir, but would it be possible for you to deport them as well, please?
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
Should we talk about Al Green getting thrown out? Not the good singer. Yeah, I was going to say, I always liked Al Green. You know, when he stood up there right at the beginning, I just thought, wow, this is he's a ridiculous person. Yes. But but really, he was just by degree a little bit more extreme than the Democrats. Many of them were heckling him tonight.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
And I thought from the moment they started doing that, I said, this is a it's inappropriate. It's ridiculous. but it's just a bad political choice. I agree.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
And Al Green, I think, has already introduced articles of impeachment against Trump. And he's tried to impeach him like 150 times already. So he's a slightly more extreme version of the Democrats. But All the heckling tonight. I just thought, you know, it was going to be a bad night for the Democrats because they lost the Electoral College by a lot. They lost the popular vote significantly.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
And for the first time in 20 years, it was just going to be a bad night. And if they just sort of were even slightly normal, they might have gotten through it and lived to fight another day. But I don't think the median American or even the even the center left American watching that display tonight is taken.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
I think there was that look on some of the Democrat members' faces tonight, which was, and not all of them, but some of them, where they thought, you know, yikes, maybe, just maybe, we shouldn't have raided this guy's house. Like, you know, because Donald Trump woke up today and he chose violence. Yeah. He knew he came to this thing.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
He said, you know, I've paid a lot and I nearly lost my life very nearly on one occasion and almost on another occasion to be here. I've given up a lot for this job. And you people, you tried to throw me in prison four times. You tried to kick me off the ballot. You tried to murder me. You raided my home. And guess what? Guess who's laughing now? Yeah.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
Guess how did he even ask the question of the members? How did that work out? How did that work out for you? You know, I mean, just a political vindication, the likes of which we have never seen in this country before.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
Because I'm pretty sure it was like Italy in the high middle.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
But that's dealing with the disease. The symptom is all the illegals that are here.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
He would have lost the Spanish-American War.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
I stand with the rough riders.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
Are you doubling down on trans?
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
The kind of countries that have ballot drop boxes. Just all over, unsupervised. Widespread mail-in ballots, contrary to the state constitution.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
Consider this indictment of the Democrat Party. They had to find someone who was reasonably normal, and they scoured.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
Anyone we've ever heard of, and anyone that we might have even seen on TV one time, and they came up with the dog catcher from Michigan or whatever. I have no clue what position she occupies.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
Actually, she is like a name. She is a member of the Senate. I didn't even recognize her, though.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
Yeah, she. I feel bad about this. Slotkin ran. I don't feel bad at all. She because also that was a close race and that was very frustrating this cycle. But, you know, it is it is funny because like this woman. So she's relatively new. That is also why people don't like recognize her. She's kind of new to her job. And they do try to pick fresh faces.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
You know, they did it with Katie Britt last year for the Republicans. And this is the worst job in politics. Yeah, it's awful.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
Yeah, that's exactly right. Yeah. You know, Pavel, can you please bring in the basket? A basket? Yeah.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
That is a lot of fruit. I'll say. I had to get the strongest man on this property to even get that thing out there. Pavel, is it heavy? Can you imagine? Can you imagine? I cannot imagine. Having to eat all of that fruit in one day. What about every single day? How many Polish men would we go through? That would be absurd.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
You want to get all of that nutrition, but you don't want to be sickeningly stuffed with fruit or breaking the bank on an absurdly large basket of healthy food or taking the time it would take to eat everything in that basket. Let me introduce to you Balance of nature.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
With balance of nature, fruits and veggies, there's never been a more convenient dietary supplement to ensure you get a wide variety of fruits and vegetables daily. 31 fruits and veggies to be exact. Drew, can you eat 31 fruits and veggies every day?
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
That was quite a display, guys. So are we cutting back to the trash collector from Michigan? No, no, no. The mayor of Michigan?
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
I think it's possible. Last year, I was up there. I was actually sitting right behind Tennessee Governor Bill Lee. And Bill Lee, if you're a governor, it turns out you get to keep your cell phone during the State of the Union. Most people do not. And you get a heads up from Secret Service before the president's about to wrap so you can get out of there before they lock you down.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
So they lock you down in the House chamber and you just kind of sit there and schmooze with the people to your right and left. What's a little weird, not if you're sitting as Ben and Matt were with Riley in the speaker's gallery, but when you're sitting just with the hoi polloi, with the regular, you know, members guests, you're often sitting next to Democrats.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
So, you know, some people who might be fuming about the speech or, you know, it's a little bit awkward, but you make small talk. And, you know, it takes something like half an hour to get out of there. Yeah, of course.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
Happily, because now the Republicans are back in charge in D.C., I think Ben and Matt will be able to broadcast from the Capitol, so it won't take them five hours to get out there, and we might be able to hear what it was like in the room. But of all the State of the Unions that I've watched, one in person, the rest of them on television, I think that was the best one I've ever seen.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
There are a couple theories on it. One is that Zelensky wanted there to be a tense moment to spur Europe to greater aid, because he kind of knew that Trump wanted a peace deal, and if Trump negotiates a peace deal with Putin, then that's going to involve concessions from Ukraine, and Zelensky doesn't want that.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
The other theory that was going around some of the press was that Zelensky was talking to some of his friends from the past Democrat administrations, many of whom have been integral in American policy in Ukraine going back to 2014 even, and that maybe they encouraged him not to play nice with Trump.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
And so then I have this image afterward of, you know, Zelensky running up to Victoria Nuland like, I will kill you. You are going to make me dead. What did you do to me, woman? And so clearly within 48 hours or something, he's back on the horn to the White House. It looks like they have a deal.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
The other, I know we're not allowed to have any historical nuance or anything in here, but... Some of the territories that we're talking about, most notably Crimea, have been contested for millennia, many centuries at this point, and have historically been part of Russia and have been considered very important to Russia.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
And so, like, I know Americans decide they're going to become experts on every issue overnight, but this is a complex issue. And that was kind of Trump's point in the Oval Office is, you know, look, we're going to have to come to a deal here. Unless you want to be like the Democrats and just have it be a meat grinder forever with no end in sight.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
If you are going to have a deal, then you need to figure out what the strategic objectives are and the interests.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
Magaza International Hotel and Casino. You know, part of that, when that announcement came out, everyone lost their minds, as is often the case when President Trump makes big declarations. And some people still haven't learned it 10 years into this thing. But, you know, when Trump throws something out there, he is often negotiating or speaking past the sale to you, Scott Adams' phrase.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
And so in this case, why didn't he bring it up? Because he, well, just look at the news today of the Arab states coming in and saying, no, no, no, hold on. We don't want you. Maybe we'll be involved in this. And maybe that sort of thing is what Trump was actually after.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
Because they were in sort of a stalemate of these two notions and no one was moving. And then Trump just came in and dropped this wild idea. And everyone sort of just stopped and said, wait, what? Wait, hold on. Did I catch that right? We didn't talk about this.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
But he's now going to support... Also, in terms of foreign policy, he presented tariffs in a way that was digestible and common sense to people. First of all, I mean, I've been advocating... throughout the campaign that really the key phrase here has got to be common sense. I'm not the first to notice it. It goes back to Antonio Gramsci and many other political thinkers. But he held on to that.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
And so when we're talking about free trade or tariff theory or these kind of complex economic concepts, it's a little difficult for even someone who's studied economics to really grasp what he's talking about. And so when he says, look,
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
Uh, you guys charge us a lot of money for our products, but you expect us not to charge you a lot of money when you bring your products into our market, which is much more valuable. That's not going to happen. We're going to have tariff parity. Yeah. Okay. And if we get into a trade war, I promise you we're going to win.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
That is really clear, common sense thinking that doesn't require a degree in economics.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
Matt, did you photobomb any of the selfies for this Democrat woman's friend?
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
Well, this is to me the most interesting question because the guy is a good poker player and it's hard to read it. You know, on the one hand, there are people, though I know it's unfashionable in our day and age, but there are people who make a serious principled economic argument for tariffs. And there's a long history of tariffs in the Republican Party.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
Going back to Abraham Lincoln, who said, give me a tariff, I'll give you the greatest country on earth. Now, that obviously fell out of favor in the middle to the latter part of the 20th century. But there is a world in which, and Trump has been, I think, advancing this view, that he really believes as a matter of principle in tariffs, and many of his economic advisors do as well.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
However, Trump is a dealmaker. He has promoted free trade, global free trade, for many years of his career. And so there is also a view that he's kind of bluffing. But the thing is, if he's bluffing, he's doing so in an extraordinarily persuasive way, which... is his great strength on the global stage, is his unpredictability.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
So if you are an adversary of the United States or a trading partner of the United States that's kind of maybe ripping us off a little bit, and you're trying to read Trump right now, at least 10 to 20% of you has to think the guy might just love tariffs and I better play my cards real cautiously.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
Though, again, even on that point, Trump seems to, in recent weeks, and even in that speech tonight, be preparing the American people for some potential short-term economic challenge. He says, look, it's going to be a little tough in the short term. So, again, I don't exactly know how to read it because that might just be him bluffing really well to say, no, I am really serious about this.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
I understand the implications.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
When he promoted no tax on tips, a policy that the Democrats stole from him and campaigned on. That's right. And they couldn't even applaud for it. They looked absolutely ridiculous.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
By the way, that... I agree that Trump has a good gut and everything like that, but I do think he also has strategic sophistication. Maybe that's one area where I disagree. That was clearly a trap, and it worked very well.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
At the MSG rally right before the election, I noticed it. It was the first time I'd seen him in person, I think. Certainly that close, but I think maybe in person. And he gets up on stage, and I realized, oh, I get it now. He's Elvis. That's his thing. He's actually Elvis. It's not that he's Reagan. It's not that he's Bush. He's Elvis.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
And speaking of these great little moments and these great little asides, there's one that no one is talking about, but it killed me, which is that Trump was talking about illegal immigration. And he goes, and these people, you know, coming over, murderers, human traffickers. And then he just points to the Democrats in the room, like these murderers, human traffickers.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
And I thought, well, you know, shoe fits, man.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
Eight years with a third term.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
Though I am hopeful for the reign of Baron Octavian Augustus Trump. And I don't know if it'll be exactly like this. But, you know, Augustus was actually better than Julius in many ways. So we'll see.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
Yeah. Very marvelous night. Marvelous night.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
Mr. Homan, you mentioned just now that President Trump redefined these organizations as foreign terrorist organizations. And a lot of people hear that and they think, well, that's just a kind of new way of describing them. But obviously, that is an official classification that then frees up certain American resources to deal with them.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage: Trump’s Address to Congress
So in case there are any face-tattooed gangsters watching the stream tonight, practically speaking, what does it mean that the cartels can anticipate now that they're designated this way?
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2137 - The Trump-Musk REVOLUTION Continues!
Hallelujah. Fantastic news. Praise be to Donald President Donald Trump. That's not a phrase I get to say very often. I don't know the circumstances. I don't know the deal. We'll learn those later. And I don't care. Mark was in bad health. He was wrongfully detained for years. This is an American patriot. This is a fantastic human being. He was a teacher to one of my sons.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2137 - The Trump-Musk REVOLUTION Continues!
He was an integral member of our community in Moscow when I lived there. And this is just fantastic news for anybody who cares about patriotic Americans.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2144 - More Trump WINS: Joy Reid GONE!
I think some people are a little mixed up on this because we're trying to map left and right in the American context perfectly onto the College of Cardinals, and that doesn't really work. There are some cardinals who are hard leftists who probably want to change doctrine, who want to do things that faithful Catholics would probably say it is not possible to do, actually.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2144 - More Trump WINS: Joy Reid GONE!
You know, doctrine can develop, but you can't change doctrine. The Pope is not permitted to just, like, make stuff up. You know, that's not how infallibility works. So there are some who are legitimately leftist.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2144 - More Trump WINS: Joy Reid GONE!
Likewise, there are cardinals who are traditionalists, and they're real conservative, and they love the traditional Latin mass, and they enjoy pre-conciliar rites and liturgies and all that sort of stuff. I myself am an attendee of the traditional Latin mass, and so these are really wonderful cardinals, but they don't have huge numbers. And then,
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2144 - More Trump WINS: Joy Reid GONE!
They're all the cardinals in the middle who are kind of conservative. Even with some of the news reports out of this pontificate, the Catholic Church remains a rather conservative institution.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2144 - More Trump WINS: Joy Reid GONE!
For all that's been said about Pope Francis being a leftist and soft on LGBT issues and whatever, you know, Pope Francis also said that gay marriage is no mere political issue, but rather a machination of the father of lies that seeks to deceive and confuse the children of God. When he was asked about gay marriage, he said, God can't bless sin.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2144 - More Trump WINS: Joy Reid GONE!
The most famous phrase he used last year was this phrase, frociagine, which means there's – I actually can't even say it probably on the air, but there's too much – homosexuality. It's a slur for homosexuality. So, you know, don't believe everything you read in the newspapers.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2144 - More Trump WINS: Joy Reid GONE!
But that means that in the middle, you got the people who are kind of a little bit conservative or kind of want to maintain the status quo of Francis, which is a bit more liberal, or even just cardinals who want to be left alone and want to be able to control their own areas and, you know, just not have to deal with interference from Rome so much. So the top candidates right now, and who knows, uh,
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2144 - More Trump WINS: Joy Reid GONE!
Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, he is a progressive. So he would be in the Francis Lane or further than the Francis Lane. You've got Cardinal Peter Erdo in Hungary. He's viewed as much more of a conservative. I was just with the Hungarians the other night at CPAC in D.C. Great, wonderful conservative country and could be a real... Real good choice.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2144 - More Trump WINS: Joy Reid GONE!
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, he is the Vatican Secretary of State. He would probably be a continuation of Francis. So definitely a little bit more on the liberal side of things. Some that the conservatives are hoping for would be like Cardinal Burke.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2144 - More Trump WINS: Joy Reid GONE!
who is an amazing, wonderful, faithful Cardinal, uh, very Orthodox has raised certain questions about Francis's pontificate, uh, from the more traditional side of things. Uh, Cardinal Sarah is a, is a big favorite of conservatives. He would be the first black Pope. Uh,
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2144 - More Trump WINS: Joy Reid GONE!
And it's kind of funny because the progressives would all hate the first black pope and the conservatives would all love the first black pope, which just goes to show you how the Catholic Church continues to mystify many people around the world. But probably Cardinal Serra is a little bit too old. He's 79 years old now. It seems unlikely.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2144 - More Trump WINS: Joy Reid GONE!
And then one candidate who is really interesting, he's been talked about, and he comes from a really hot part of the world that's been important to the church from the very beginning, and certainly today, is Cardinal Pierre Battista Pizzabala, who has a delightful and whimsical last name, Pizzabala. Also, he is the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, and he is considered more conservative.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2144 - More Trump WINS: Joy Reid GONE!
He seems to be open to the traditional Latin mass, which is so important, especially to many young people in the West. But He's dealing with the most difficult, complex area in the entire world. So he also has great skills at diplomacy, and he could be a really interesting choice. Those seem to be the candidates right now. But then, of course, who knows? The Holy Spirit might surprise us.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2144 - More Trump WINS: Joy Reid GONE!
And actually sometimes, Ben, as you saw after the conclave that followed the death of Pope Pius XII, sometimes you get the white smoke, but then the black smoke comes up again. And, you know, it's kind of unclear. Do we have a pope? Do we not have a pope? So it's all very confusing. If... If this is the end of Pope Francis's earthly sojourn, and we're getting reports, you know, he has bronchitis.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2144 - More Trump WINS: Joy Reid GONE!
He only has one full lung. He has reportedly received a blood transfusion, at least one. He's been on oxygen, seems to have mild kidney failure. You know, the man is 88 years old in ill health. We all shuffle off our mortal coil at some point. If that happens, the conclave will kick off. So a lot of people... especially who are hoping that the papacy might move in a new direction.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2144 - More Trump WINS: Joy Reid GONE!
They notice that Pope Francis has appointed the majority of the cardinals. He's been a pope since 2013, so that's a really long time. However, a lot of the places that Pope Francis has appointed cardinals are the New World. And these New World cardinals... They ain't leftists. You know, the German cardinals at this point are so far left, it's hard to recognize them as Catholic.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2144 - More Trump WINS: Joy Reid GONE!
But in the new world, these are pretty hardcore Orthodox traditional people in many ways. So the conclave will kick off and all the people in the red hats will go into the room. And there's no politicking officially, no campaigning officially, but I've never been inside one of these rooms. So, you know, who knows? I'm a little skeptical. And this could go on for days. could go on for weeks.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2144 - More Trump WINS: Joy Reid GONE!
We just don't, you just don't know. And there will be, at that point, obviously the funeral for Pope Francis, those rights have already been put into place. They've been planning this for some long time. I'm seeing mixed reports that the Pope has received last rights. So even that is a little bit unclear. But if I were a gambling man, If it be not now, you know, it will come.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2144 - More Trump WINS: Joy Reid GONE!
It seems that Pope Francis has lived a good long life. And so whether this is tomorrow or weeks from now or even months from now, this is probably happening soon.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2168 - TRADE WAR: Trump Declares Massive Car Tariffs
You know how right now on social media, everyone is turning every image ever produced into a Ghibli-style Japanese anime picture? Basically, this movie was like you took the original Snow White and just put everything through this filter. of liberalism. It wasn't through a filter of Japanese anime. It was through a filter of liberalism.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2168 - TRADE WAR: Trump Declares Massive Car Tariffs
So from the casting to the class politics, the sexual politics, the regime politics, everything about it was liberal. The most obvious difference being, and I don't know if we're allowed, can we point out that Snow White is generally understood to be a very, very white person. And in this case, they decided, nope, no, that doesn't make any sense.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2168 - TRADE WAR: Trump Declares Massive Car Tariffs
So they, you know, I don't think that's, we're allowed to say that, right? I was referring to the movie as sand beige and it was so noticeable off the top, but it's no really knock on her. If you did the autobiography of Malcolm X, would you cast Tom Hanks? If you remade Moana, would you cast a little Irish guy? No, you wouldn't. So that was off the top.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2168 - TRADE WAR: Trump Declares Massive Car Tariffs
And then from there, the sexual politics, the regime politics, the class politics, it all was just bad.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2168 - TRADE WAR: Trump Declares Massive Car Tariffs
Sorry, she renders me almost speechless. She's right. There are spoiler alerts here if you intend to see the movie, which most likely 100% of your audience does not. They replace the prince with a common criminal. So there is a prince-like figure. But he's no longer a prince. He's a criminal.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2168 - TRADE WAR: Trump Declares Massive Car Tariffs
And I think this plays first into the class politics of the left, which hates even the very idea of aristocracy or nobility. Then on the sexual politics front, she's right. They clearly want to diminish the love story. I think after the backlash from those comments a year and a half ago, whenever they were, they did beef up the love story a little bit. But nevertheless, he plays an ancillary role.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2168 - TRADE WAR: Trump Declares Massive Car Tariffs
And you see this in the fuller scope of the sexual politics. One of the most annoying contrivances of Hollywood in the last 10 years is the notion that a woman can physically beat up a man. You saw it in Star Wars. You see it in practically every movie out of Hollywood. And they go for that. You know, this little girl is physically beating up men with crossbows in armor. It's totally preposterous.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2168 - TRADE WAR: Trump Declares Massive Car Tariffs
Then the common criminal comes in. He does sort of win her heart. They team up together. And this leads you beyond the class politics, even to just the regime politics. In the original fairy tale, going back to the 19th century and then up through the 1937 movie, it's about a kingdom. You know, she's a princess. Her father is a king. She's inheriting a kingdom.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2168 - TRADE WAR: Trump Declares Massive Car Tariffs
Here, they've kept the minimum amount of kingliness that you possibly can to maintain the story. But they've replaced all of those elements with lowercase d democratic elements. So the way that she wins over the kingdom is not by taking her rightful throne. It's by flattering the guards who are trying to kill her. It's basically by being a good retail politician.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2168 - TRADE WAR: Trump Declares Massive Car Tariffs
The fact that she can shake hands and kiss babies is how she does it. The way that she defeats the queen is not through some deus ex machina, as in the original movie, And it's not through any kind of orderly politics. It's by effectively leading an insurrection of the mob of people to go in and push her out.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2168 - TRADE WAR: Trump Declares Massive Car Tariffs
So, you know, I know that this is reading a little deeply into a kid's movie, but obviously these choices were made for a reason. Every deviation from the original story was done for a reason. I guess what's so tedious about this movie is that every single deviation was in favor of liberalism and a radical kind of liberalism at that.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2168 - TRADE WAR: Trump Declares Massive Car Tariffs
So it just takes a beloved movie and makes it much more boring and much less realistic, kind of like society on liberalism.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2168 - TRADE WAR: Trump Declares Massive Car Tariffs
The movie is problematic, certainly for the laugh. There's no question. She hit on a great point there that I actually had escaped my memory, which is when Snow White stumbles upon the dwarves' house in the original, what does she do? She sweeps the floors, she cleans, she cooks, and the dwarves really like this, and they all live together, and it's really nice. The change in the new movie is...
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2168 - TRADE WAR: Trump Declares Massive Car Tariffs
She just decides to take a nap. And if that is not the depiction of modern feminism, I don't know what is. You don't have to contribute anything. You're perfect just the way you are. You're entitled to everything in the world. You're going to be a girl boss. She does become a girl boss in as much as when the dwarves wake her up. She just bosses them around and tells them to clean the home.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2168 - TRADE WAR: Trump Declares Massive Car Tariffs
And so you wonder, OK, well, why are these dwarves? dwarves tolerating her. I know she towers over them, but even at that stature, she's not going to go pick minerals out of the mines as this random podcaster suggests.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2168 - TRADE WAR: Trump Declares Massive Car Tariffs
Of course, you know, when this podcaster lady or Rachel Zegler, for that matter, when they scoff at the notion that Snow White would need a man, what they're missing is that also implicit in this story and in all of these great stories is that men need women. Men don't need women in the same way that women need men. Men and women do different things because men and women are different.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2168 - TRADE WAR: Trump Declares Massive Car Tariffs
But this is part of that leveling impulse of liberalism that you're seeing on the sexual front, the racial front, the regime front, the class front, is this notion that we're all basically just indiscernible individuals. There's no difference in physical strength between this criminal, this outlaw, and a damsel who was raised in a castle.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2168 - TRADE WAR: Trump Declares Massive Car Tariffs
There's no difference, frankly, in stature between the dwarves and the tall people. It's all just kind of the same. This is why I say it makes it so tedious. One, we know that it's not true. So when we watch these scenes, we just don't believe them. But two, it just takes away the spice of life. There was a time when we said, vive la différence.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2168 - TRADE WAR: Trump Declares Massive Car Tariffs
There was a time when the left at least pretended to believe that diversity is our strength. But here you have just this bland homogeneity where I can't tell the difference between a prince and a criminal and a dwarf and a snow white princess.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2168 - TRADE WAR: Trump Declares Massive Car Tariffs
There were actually raucous rounds of applause in the theater. Of course, I was the only person in the theater, so maybe that might explain it, but probably in other theaters around the country.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2168 - TRADE WAR: Trump Declares Massive Car Tariffs
That is sadder than when the original Snow White eats the apple.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
That's true.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
Now eradicate ill health from your body forever with balance of nature.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
You know, there's a big debate that's been on the right, and it's become more emphasized in recent years. And it's actually a very old debate between the classical understanding of freedom and the more modern understanding of freedom. And the way that it's usually summarized is by Lord Acton, who says that freedom is not the ability to do what we wish, but the right to do what we ought.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
And I certainly subscribe to that view of things. But what that means is exactly what Jeremy was just saying, which is that The ways in which our freedoms have been restricted in recent years, by Joe Biden certainly, and by many liberals, is that he denied us the right to do what we ought to do. He said if you go to your church, you're going to be spied on by the FBI.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
He said that if you run a Catholic hospital, we're going to sue you, even if you're nuns. He said if you go pray peacefully in front of a Planned Parenthood abortion mill, we're going to throw you in prison. He was denying you the right to do what you ought to do. You see this in the attacks on marriage, the attacks on education, the attacks on children.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
We could be here all night listing these attacks on what we have a right to do. Now we have the right to do those things. President Trump has passed a number of executive orders that have really taken the government out of the business of oppressing Christians and families and kids and all the like. But that means that now we have to go to church. That means we have to form our families.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
That means we have to educate our kids. We do have the right to do those things. We do have our freedom back. But that freedom doesn't mean anything. It's kind of like with free speech. Free speech doesn't mean anything if you don't have anything to say. So you have to live out those substantive goods in your life.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
As we celebrate the victory of our 47th president, there's no better way to celebrate than to introduce the 4547 Patriot Edition American Whiskey produced by the team at Wise Spirits right here in our hometown of Nashville. Their masterfully handcrafted American whiskey pays homage to the very essence of our great nation, celebrating its rich history and vibrant culture.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
Each batch is carefully selected from the finest barrels, with each drop representing a testament to precision and quality. The best part is this whiskey is made by patriots, for patriots, and embodying the spirit of the American dream. Also, it's tasty. which is the first thing I look for with whiskey. I have had the pleasure to enjoy 4547 whiskey.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
And you know, I think that a great whiskey really compliments a great cigar. So you can have it on its own, but if you want to pair it, it goes great. Experience the 4547 Patriot Edition whiskey, where every sip tells a powerful story of heritage, craftsmanship, and indomitable pride. Here's to freedom, to tradition, and to the spirit of America.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
4547 Patriot Edition American Whiskey, crafted with honor, inspired by courage, crafted by wise spirits. Nashville, Tennessee.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
Sometimes you pop it up but the infield fly rule goes into effect and no one even knows what's happening in the game anymore.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
Let's go. Thank you. You can just Venmo me for about $15 for that. Sounds good.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
I think it's 21 now.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
It might be a disadvantage, though, if she actually has talent. To your point, Ben, on reading, one thing I would say, especially if your daughter's 14, which is great, love that. I was a political junkie from the age of at least six. I was like campaigning for Bob Dole in my first grade classroom. I was more excited about Bob Dole than Bob Dole was. So I'm all about it.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
However, now it's very easy to become famous or infamous at a young age because of social media and cameras. And she should resist that urge because you have to read like anything because no one reads anything anymore. So if you read one book, you will know much more than most people.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
However, if you want to have a view of politics that is solid, that is stable, that will deepen over time, of course, but that is grounded in something, You have to read like a billion books, and it's just not possible to do that at age 14. So I would recommend figuring out what she thinks, get the book learning, get a little practical learning.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
I think working on a congressional campaign is the best political education out there. I worked on campaigns as a teenager and in my 20s. It taught me a lot that you can't learn in books. And then when she's ready,
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
you know, I don't know, 16, 17, maybe a little later, maybe 28, 29, then she can make a big splash and she'll be ready to go and she'll have something that distinguishes her from everybody else.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
Listen, I'm not saying... Wait, you said they shouldn't be? I said, I didn't say they should never be at a wedding, but sometimes you throw on the tuxedo, you have a few Coca-Colas, it's a late night wedding, and I don't want the little wedding kids.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
That's why marriage exists. In like Pakistan, not in America. What are you, a limb?
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
Look at what you started. Look at this.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
You know, Ben, you said something there. You mentioned human centipede. You were evoking images that are disgusting and obscene. And I want you to get your head out of the gutter. And I want you to get your minds on the gutters when I tell you about Leaf Network right now, okay? Leaffilter.com. Thank you so much. Good night, folks. Leaffilter.com slash backstage. Does anyone here own a home?
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
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The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
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The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
You know, I see your point, Jeremy, which is that for 99% of colleges and in 99% of classes maybe even within colleges, you're not gonna be able to get that great education. I disagree with my fellow conservatives. They sometimes say, only go to college if you're gonna study engineering or if you're gonna study business or something. I think that's the exact opposite reason to go to college.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
You should just get a job or an apprenticeship or go to trade school to learn a job. That's great, that's awesome. There's totally a place for that. If you want to get a university education, the point of it is not instrumental or utilitarian. It's not just to make some money or something like that.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
The point is to get at the truth, and the way you do that is to immerse yourself in philosophy and in literature and history. You can still do that at some universities. There are good ones. I mean, there's Hillsdale, Ave Maria, Franciscan. There are a handful you can name. Even at the big brand name schools, there are at least a few professors left.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
And then my final point on this, if you find yourself at a woke college that doesn't have great classes, at the very least, you can understand that every man is my teacher and I can learn something from him. One of the greatest advantages. Not for $250,000 freaking dollars. Books are free. That's true. Listen, you really do need teachers and mentors and things.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
I agree, quarter million bucks, find scholarships and things like that. But all of that to say, if you're at the woke college, you're making a financially reasonable decision, You can benefit greatly from being around people who are radically leftist because you can understand their arguments much, much better than they understand your arguments. It will give you an advantage.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
That is how we win back culture. It is how we make the best of our... Hold on a second, is he? Or just don't go to college.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
Wow. Wow. Fighting words. Did we just find the one Ben Davies fan at the entirety of CPAC? That is outright. You know, sometimes people infiltrate these events. You know, the leftists or this kind of disreputable or all these kind of people. And I found my least favorite infiltrator, and that is the fan of Ben Davies. Though he does run most of the show, if I'm being totally frank about it.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
He runs a lot of it.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
Well, my favorite what story? Funny Trump story. My favorite funny Trump story? Like a personal Trump story? I haven't really interacted with the man all that much. However, there was one great time when I, well, I can't say I wrote a book, but I did a book called Reasons to Vote for Democrats, a Comprehensive Guide. We have scholars in the audience, I see. That's great. A blank book.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
Ben Shapiro blurbed it as thorough. And anyway, I did it. We sold a bazillion copies. I ended up getting a big book deal out of it. Then I ended up on television, on cable news one morning. And the most important viewer of the Fox News morning show was watching from the White House. That was President Trump. And he endorsed the book. It was really, really great.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
And people wrote about it in the newspapers. But the thing they didn't write about is he also... quoted the thing that I said right beforehand. I think I was talking about his Syria policy or something. But the way he quoted it made it seem like I was the president. It was like Michael Knowles, my administration is bombing Syria. And I thought, man, this is really cool.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
The president is making it sound like I'm the president. That's a really gracious thing for him to do. And then he plugged the book. So from my personal standpoint, that's my favorite funny Trump story. But I don't know. There are about 10 billion others for everyone else in the room. Thank you.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
Of the 45, 47 whiskey?
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
Yeah. Do we have an extra glass? Do we have like a cannon that I could blast? I haven't had a single sip. There you go. This is your whiskey now. Thank you. I'll put it. Someone, here we are. Wow, this is great. We're giving people booze. Is this legal? This is certainly not legal. I'll walk it down. You know, conservatives, we're people people. The libs, there you are, sir. Enjoy. I love it.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
It's like a family, man. Did you get his ID at least? Yeah, he's like 45 or something. How many laws are we going to break during this show?
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
Can I get a cig? Any zins? I need someone to give me a zin, actually.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
My confirmation saint is Thomas, but I don't know which one it was, because I was a punk kid, I was 13, I became an atheist, and I don't remember if I picked Thomas because I was doubting, or because I had heard vaguely of this man, Thomas Aquinas, and I heard he was a smart guy, and I thought I was smarter than I was.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
But it all really comes full circle, because doubting Thomas, he's called doubting, But of course he says, you know, let us go with the Lord. Let us die with him. That's a great show of faith. And St.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
Thomas Aquinas is one of the most intelligent people ever to live and was right about everything and was certainly a lot more correct about ultimate things than some punk 13-year-old atheist who happily came out the other end. And by the way, Thomas means twin, so I think I can claim them both. At least I choose to. Thank you very much.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
Thanks, everybody. Thank you. See you guys.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
Well, you're a man, so that makes sense. I know we can drink this delicious 45-47 whiskey. Can we smoke the Mayflower cigars, too, or is that... Are we... Washington, D.C.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
The Democrats must be thrilled. I don't know. I don't know if they are.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
My favorite thing, this is very difficult, because I loved when President Trump, Napoleon posted on Twitter and through social. I thought that was great. I loved when J.D. Vance gave lectures on Thomistic philosophy to that CBS news lady on television. That was great. But my favorite thing, I think, my actual favorite initiative for the first 30 days has got to be the presidential pardons.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
I loved, I felt politically it was very important for the J6 pardons to go through. My favorite pardons though, my absolute favorite, The pro-lifers who were unjustly imprisoned by Joe Biden and the Democrats, they are American heroes. I ran into one of them outside, John Hinshaw. He might be in this room right now. These are American heroes. These are deeply virtuous people.
The Ben Shapiro Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
They were trampled on by their government, and Donald Trump rectified a major, major wrong. He deserves a lot of credit for it.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
That's true. And the cigars.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
Now eradicate ill health from your body forever with balance of nature.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
You know, there's a big debate that's been on the right, and it's become more emphasized in recent years. And it's actually a very old debate between the classical understanding of freedom and the more modern understanding of freedom. And the way that it's usually summarized is by Lord Acton, who says that freedom is not the ability to do what we wish, but the right to do what we ought.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
And I certainly subscribe to that view of things. But what that means is exactly what Jeremy was just saying, which is that The ways in which our freedoms have been restricted in recent years, by Joe Biden certainly, and by many liberals, is that he denied us the right to do what we ought to do. He said if you go to your church, you're going to be spied on by the FBI.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
He said that if you run a Catholic hospital, we're going to sue you, even if you're nuns. He said if you go pray peacefully in front of a Planned Parenthood abortion mill, we're going to throw you in prison. He was denying you the right to do what you ought to do. You see this in the attacks on marriage, the attacks on education, the attacks on children.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
We could be here all night listing these attacks on what we have a right to do. Now we have the right to do those things. President Trump has passed a number of executive orders that have really taken the government out of the business of oppressing Christians and families and kids and all the like. But that means that now we have to go to church. That means we have to form our families.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
That means we have to educate our kids. We do have the right to do those things. We do have our freedom back. But that freedom doesn't mean anything. It's kind of like with free speech. Free speech doesn't mean anything if you don't have anything to say. So you have to live out those substantive goods in your life.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
As we celebrate the victory of our 47th president, there's no better way to celebrate than to introduce the 4547 Patriot Edition American Whiskey produced by the team at Wise Spirits right here in our hometown of Nashville. Their masterfully handcrafted American whiskey pays homage to the very essence of our great nation, celebrating its rich history and vibrant culture.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
Each batch is carefully selected from the finest barrels, with each drop representing a testament to precision and quality. The best part is this whiskey is made by patriots, for patriots, and embodying the spirit of the American dream. Also, it's tasty. which is the first thing I look for with whiskey. I have had the pleasure to enjoy 4547 whiskey.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
And you know, I think that a great whiskey really compliments a great cigar. So you can have it on its own, but if you want to pair it, it goes great. Experience the 4547 Patriot Edition whiskey, where every sip tells a powerful story of heritage, craftsmanship, and indomitable pride. Here's to freedom, to tradition, and to the spirit of America.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
4547 Patriot Edition American Whiskey, crafted with honor, inspired by courage, crafted by wise spirits. Nashville, Tennessee.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
Sometimes you pop it up, but the infield fly rule goes into effect and no one even knows what's happening in the game anymore.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
Let's go. Thank you. You can just Venmo me for about $15 for that. Sounds good.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
I think it's 21 now.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
To your point, Ben, on reading, one thing I would say, especially if your daughter's 14, which is great, love that. I was a political junkie from the age of at least six. I was like campaigning for Bob Dole in my first grade classroom. I was more excited about Bob Dole than Bob Dole was. So I'm all about it.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
However, now it's very easy to become famous or infamous at a young age because of social media and cameras. And she should resist that urge because you have to read like anything because no one reads anything anymore. So if you read one book, you will know much more than most people.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
However, if you want to have a view of politics that is solid, that is stable, that will deepen over time, of course, but that is grounded in something, You have to read like a billion books, and it's just not possible to do that at age 14. So I would recommend figuring out what she thinks, get the book learning, get a little practical learning.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
I think working on a congressional campaign is the best political education out there. I worked on campaigns as a teenager and in my 20s. It taught me a lot that you can't learn in books. And then when she's ready,
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
you know, I don't know, 16, 17, maybe a little later, maybe 28, 29, then she can make a big splash and she'll be ready to go and she'll have something that distinguishes her from everybody else.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
Listen, I'm not saying... Wait, you said they shouldn't be? I said, I didn't say they should never be at a wedding, but sometimes you throw on the tuxedo, you have a few Coca-Colas, it's a late night wedding, and I don't want the little... A wedding for children, that's why marriage exists. Like Pakistan, not in America. What, are you a lib? There's a total lib over here. That's on the position.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
Look at what you started. Look at this.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
You know, Ben, you said something there. You mentioned human centipede. You were evoking images that are disgusting and obscene. And I want you to get your head out of the gutter. And I want you to get your minds on the gutters when I tell you about Leaf Network right now, okay? Leaffilter.com. Thank you so much. Good night, folks. Leaffilter.com slash backstage. Does anyone here own a home?
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
We got some homeowners here. Do other people want to own homes when the interest rates come down and anyone can afford anything again? Yes, there are many people who want to do that. You can protect your home. You can never clean out gutters again with LeafFilter, America's number one gutter protection system. Schedule your free inspection.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
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The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
You know, I see your point, Jeremy, which is that for 99% of colleges and in 99% of classes maybe even within colleges, you're not going to be able to get that great education. I disagree with my fellow conservatives. They sometimes say only go to college if you're going to study engineering or if you're going to study business or something.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
I think that's the exact opposite reason to go to college. You should just get a job or an apprenticeship or go to trade school to learn a job. That's great. That's awesome. There's totally a place for that. If you want to get a university education, the point of it is not instrumental or utilitarian. It's not just to make some money or something like that. The point is to get at the truth.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
And the way you do that is to immerse yourself in philosophy and in literature and history. You can still do that at some universities. There are good ones. I mean, there's Hillsdale, Ave Maria, Franciscan. There are a handful you can name.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
even at the big brand-name schools there are at least a few professors left and then my final point on this if you find yourself at a woke college that doesn't have great classes and at the very least you can you can understand that every man is my teacher and I can learn something from him one of the greatest about for 250,000 freakin dollars that's for free that's true listen
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
You really do need teachers and mentors and things. I agree, quarter million bucks, find scholarships and things like that. But all of that to say, if you're at the woke college, you're making a financially reasonable decision,
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
You can benefit greatly from being around people who are radically leftist because you can understand their arguments much, much better than they understand your arguments. It will give you an advantage. That is how we win back culture. It is how we make the best of our... Hold on a second, is he? Or just don't go to college.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
Wow. Wow. Fighting words. Did we just find the one Ben Davies fan at the entirety of CPAC? That is outrageous. You know, sometimes people infiltrate these events. You know, the leftists, or this kind of disreputable, or all these kind of people. And I found my least favorite infiltrator, and that is the fan of Ben Davies. Though he does run most of the show, if I'm being totally frank about it.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
He runs a lot of it.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
Well, my favorite what story? Funny Trump story. My favorite funny Trump story? Like a personal Trump story? I haven't really interacted with the man all that much. However, there was one great time when I, well, I can't say I wrote a book, but I did a book called Reasons to Vote for Democrats, a Comprehensive Guide. We have scholars in the audience, I see. That's great. A blank book.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
Ben Shapiro blurbed it as thorough. And anyway, I go, I did it. We sold a bazillion copies. I ended up getting a big book deal out of it. Then I ended up on television, on cable news one morning, and the most important viewer of the Fox News morning show was watching from the White House. That was President Trump. And he endorsed the book, and it was really, really great.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
And people wrote about it in the newspapers. But the thing they didn't write about is, he also... quoted the thing that I said right beforehand. I think I was talking about his Syria policy or something. But the way he quoted it made it seem like I was the president. It was like Michael Knowles, my administration is bombing Syria. And I thought, man, this is really cool.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
The president is making it sound like I'm the president. That's a really gracious thing for him to do. And then he plugged the book. So from my personal standpoint, that's my favorite funny Trump story. But I don't know. There are about 10 billion others for everyone else in the room. Thank you.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
Mm-hmm. Of the 45, 47 whiskey? Yes, please. Yeah. Do we have an extra glass? Do we have like a cannon that I could blast? I haven't had a single sip. There you go. This is your whiskey now. Thank you. I'll put it. Someone, here we are. Wow, this is great. We're giving people booze. Is this legal? This is certainly not legal. I'll walk it down. You know, conservatives, we're people people.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
The libs, there you are, sir. Enjoy. I love it. It's like a family, man. Did you get his ID at least? Yeah, he's like 45 or something. How many laws are we going to break during this show?
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
Can I get a cig? Any zins? I need someone to give me a zin, actually. Hello.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
My confirmation saint is Thomas, but I don't know which one it was, because I was a punk kid, I was 13, I became an atheist, and I don't remember if I picked Thomas because I was doubting, or because I had heard vaguely of this man, Thomas Aquinas, and I heard he was a smart guy, and I thought I was smarter than I was.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
But it all really comes full circle, because doubting Thomas, he's called doubting, But of course he says, you know, let us go with the Lord. Let us die with him. That's a great show of faith. And St.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
Thomas Aquinas is one of the most intelligent people ever to live and was right about everything and was certainly a lot more correct about ultimate things than some punk 13-year-old atheist who happily came out the other end. And by the way, Thomas means twin, so I think I can claim them both. At least I choose to. Thank you very much.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
Thanks, everybody. Thank you. See you guys.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
I know we can drink this delicious 4547 whiskey. Can we smoke the Mayflower cigars, too, or is that... Are we... Washington, D.C.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
The Democrats must be thrilled. I don't know. I don't know if they are.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
Michael. My favorite thing, this is very difficult, because I loved when President Trump Napoleon posted on Twitter and through social. I thought that was great. I loved when JD Vance gave lectures on Thomistic philosophy to that CBS news lady on television. That was great. But my favorite thing, I think, my actual favorite initiative for the first 30 days has got to be the presidential pardons.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
I loved, I felt politically it was very important for the J6 pardons to go through. My favorite pardons though, my absolute favorite, The pro-lifers who were unjustly imprisoned by Joe Biden and the Democrats, they are American heroes. I ran into one of them outside, John Hinshaw. He might be in this room right now. These are American heroes. These are deeply virtuous people.
The Matt Walsh Show
Daily Wire Backstage Live at CPAC: The Fight, The Wins, The Future
They were trampled on by their government, and Donald Trump rectified a major, major wrong. He deserves a lot of credit for it.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
No one really landed a blow. The funniest part was at the end when the senators were all itching to get out of the hearing to go vote on a separate matter. And that one senator asked like five questions in a row and then said, OK, I got to go. I don't even want to stick around to hear the answer.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
I thought Kennedy was going to have a lot more trouble when he was first announced as the pick for HHS. But as we said last time on the show, Megan, Pete Hegseth was obviously the canary in the coal mine. He was one of the controversial nominees. The controversial nominees are Hegseth, Tulsi, Kash Patel, and Bobby Kennedy.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
They scheduled Pete Hegseth first, then they had a bunch of boring nominees that we all knew would get through, like Marco Rubio, and then they had the rest of the controversial ones scheduled for later. Hegseth sailed through.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
It was a little tricky, but there was never any real doubt that he was going to make it through, and so I think it's a lot easier for all the other controversial nominees, including Kennedy. If I were Bobby Kennedy, I'd be feeling very good this afternoon.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
This was Kennedy's one mistake during the series of traps and gotcha questions is he was asked, do you know how many kids are born on Medicaid in the country? And it's one of these, you know, what's the capital of Uzbekistan kind of questions. And Kennedy didn't know the answer. He said, I don't know what the answer is.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
And he made the mistake that people sometimes make when they're in a negotiation. In a negotiation, whoever gives the first number loses. And I think it's true here in Senate confirmations. If you don't know the answer, don't give an answer. So he said, I don't know, 30 million.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
and the answer was one and a half million or something like that so ok they showed that he didn't know one statistic i don't think that's really gonna hurt him all that much in the end i agree some republicans are a little on the fence the reason that i would have been on the fence and that conservative
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
Republicans would be on the fence is because Bobby Kennedy has been in favor of abortion for his whole career. That was what really worried me. And I know a lot of pro-lifers as well. And Kennedy was clear as day here. Kennedy said, I believe that every abortion is a tragedy and I support President Trump's agenda. To me, it was a little strange that these Democrats kept hammering Kennedy. I know.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
You know, they said, are you just here to enact Trump's agenda? And Kennedy was nuanced about his answer. But of course, the correct answer is yes. I didn't win the election.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
I think the American people were persuaded. Whether the Democrats were, certainly they were not. Whether the fence-sitting Republicans were, that remains to be seen. But I suspect they will get in line. But the way some of these senators were speaking about vaccines, about government organizations, about mandates, I thought... Have you not been around the last five years?
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
Did you not pay attention to what happened in the election? You know, we remember COVID. We remember when Bobby Kennedy was right about the COVID vaccine and all you people and Dr. Fauci and the CDC, all of you just lied to us. In some cases, you knew that what you were saying was not true or was not based on reliable science, and you just said it anyway.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
so sorry excuse me if i'm willing to favor the views of the supposed conspiracy theorist bobby kennedy over the supposed geniuses like dr fauci because as kennedy made clear in this hearing he was called a conspiracy theorist recently for his views on covid he was proven 100 right so my my thought to these squishy republicans is vote against bobby kennedy if you want but you're going to have to answer the american people whose views on this matter are perfectly clear
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
That's right. This was a realization I had during COVID, and I was not the only one, that the difference between a conspiracy theory and the truth very often these days is about six to nine months. The fact, you just alluded to, Megan, that the CIA now says, according to reporting from The New York Times, that they have come around to the idea that COVID might have come from a lab leak in China.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
Gee, really? That's amazing. You now, you, the CIA, the preeminent intelligence agency in the entire world, you, the New York Times, the paper of record, you've just now figured out what everyone with two brain cells to rub together knew and said openly five years ago that you all called us conspiracy theorists for saying five years ago? That's out.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
You know, we saw the left overplay their hand on insults like racist and sexist for years and decades even. And now those insults don't really stick anymore. I think the same can be said of conspiracy theorist, which is why Bobby Kennedy took that invective and he ran with it today. And the Democrats were left sputtering.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
yes i i love the line he said there when you litigate against these companies you get a phd in corporate capture and that obviously has happened i don't know anyone who has any familiarity with washington who would disagree with kennedy that major corporate interests have captured a lot of the agencies that are supposed to regulate them and there there's a real irony here for the the former democrats who are sitting there supporting kennedy many of whom voted for donald trump
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
is they believed for so many years that Republicans were the party of the establishment and corporate power, Rich Uncle Pennybags, and Democrats were the ones speaking truth to power, independence from the outside, man. And in reality, all of those Democrats who were grilling Kennedy today were effectively working on behalf of some of the biggest corporate interests in the country.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
Even to zoom out a little bit, when President Trump just passed his executive order, ordering the agencies to stop transing the kids, to cut out the so-called gender-affirming care for little kids.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
The people who are arguing against that on behalf of transing the kids are arguing on behalf of big pharma getting little kids hooked on expensive medical treatments that they will have to pay a lot of money for for the rest of their lives.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
so you're right you you did see a fight here just beyond republican versus democrat you saw a fight beyond corporate power i think very corrupt corporate cap power in this case versus independent-minded people who want to make america healthy again it just so happens that the dems were on the side of the corporations and it was the republicans who were trying to bring some accountability to those corporations yes okay and that brings me to ron wyden
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
you notice ron wyden didn't attempt to correct kennedy's correction because wyden did know of course he did know and so to kennedy's actual point when he says no vaccine is totally safe and effective for everyone that is just obviously true okay and most americans agree with that now to your point at the top of the show megan the fact that doctors in hospitals try to give newborn babies hepatitis vaccines
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
I remember we asked when one of my children was born, I guess it was our first kid, we said, why are we giving the kid a hepatitis vaccine? He's probably not gonna be sharing needles or going to brothels anytime soon. Why does he need the vaccine? And the insinuation was, all but stated explicitly,
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
Because, I don't know, maybe your husband cheated on you, or maybe he's going to cheat on you, or who knows? I don't know. And you think, well, that is so deeply offensive. This is obviously unnecessary. This precious little kid, I don't want to give this kid drugs that he doesn't need when he's nine pounds or something two days after birth. That is the mainstream position now.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
I think that the Democrats and the Squish Republicans have not caught up with the tectonic shift that has happened in politics. They're still considering politics from 10 or 15 years ago. But after this election, issues like mass deportations, that is now the mainstream position of most Americans.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
Issues like questioning the overprescription of vaccines, the regulatory capture by big pharmaceutical companies, that is now the mainstream position for most Americans. I think that these senators who haven't gotten the message, they're just so profoundly out of touch. And if they continue to remain out of touch, it will be at their own electoral peril.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
Certainly not. And Kennedy had her number and you could tell that Senator Warren's fingers were just itching for the tomahawk when he called her out. She raised her voice. She got a little red in the face. But but Kennedy was absolutely right. He he seemed almost perplexed when when he said, hold on, you're asking if I'll if I promise not to work for the drug companies. OK, I won't.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
But now you're holding. Now you're asking, will I work against the drug companies? As the HHS secretary, I'm just going to follow the science. And now you're asking if after I leave, you're clearly, you, Senator Warren, are clearly just shilling for the big pharmaceutical companies. And so this is the real dynamic at play here. Every nominee is going to be different.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
Every agency is going to be different. But in this case, it's not Democrats versus Republicans. In this case, it's not even leftists versus conservatives. It's not over some ideological issue. The sole pushback that Kennedy is getting, but it's from a powerful force, is from the pharmaceutical companies operating through the politicians that they have bought off and that they control. That's it.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
So, the question that remains to be seen is, can Bobby Kennedy, With the backing of Donald Trump, who just won a landslide election with the popular vote for the first time for a Republican in 20 years, can he overcome one single lobby in the country? And that is the pharmaceutical lobby. We're about to get a measure of their relative power in the U.S. Senate.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
And I think ineffective snide comments, because what was he really getting at? The question was, will you fire any of the 91,000 employees, these bureaucrats, many if not most of whom don't even come into the office anymore since COVID at HHS? And Kennedy said, no, I'll fire people who are bad at their jobs. Did these Democrat senators not pay attention to the election?
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
Donald Trump ran on firing bureaucrats. The American people voted to fire bureaucrats. That is one of the main reasons that we want Bobby Kennedy in this role, that we want all of these agency heads because these bureaucrats are ineffective. They're costing the government a lot of money.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
They're working against President Trump, as they did in the first term, and they're undermining what the American people want. So when Kennedy comes out and he says, yeah, I'm going to fire people who are bad at their jobs. And then the response, well, is that going to be based on your opinion or your political agenda? Hold on. What's the difference?
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
You know, that's the those are synonymous or Trump's agenda. Well, you know, Trump picked me for the job. So I don't you know, three ways of saying the same thing. Will you exercise your judgment, Mr. Kennedy, as the secretary of HHS to lead the department? Yes. Got you there.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
the we're waiting to pop some champagne a little later today over here at the daily wire this has been a hobby horse of ours for some time now a lot of people probably first even came to be aware of ben shapiro when he was calling out the trans ideology on tv and a trans identifying man threatened to beat him into a pulp and send him home in an ambulance my first campus speaking tour my first or second it was very early on was called men are not women and other uncomfortable truths at the time that was uncomfortable to people
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
Nobody has done more in the country than my colleague, Matt Walsh, to bring attention to the trans issue with this movie. What is a woman? The rally to end child mutilation. You've seen lawmakers now taking action since then. But this has been a long journey. I mean, we're talking about eight or 10 years that that conservatives and to give credit also.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
feminists, also people who care about women's rights, also people who just care about the well-being of children, all sorts of people across a broad ideological coalition have said what radical ideologues are doing to little kids, the kind of medical experiments that are ruining their lives based on no kind of science whatsoever. In fact, the largest data set we have
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
on trans procedure outcomes long-term shows that not only do they not help, but they actually make anxiety worse. Horrifying kind of medical experimentation. Worse than what we did in this country with lobotomies in the 1950s. That is coming to an end. You're seeing that now in the UK, in Sweden, in Finland. This is a cross-civilizational kind of movement to restore a little bit of sanity.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
And Trump is putting the final hammer down on this. We're not going to mutilate kids because of people's ideological fantasies or sexual fetishes or anything else. That is over at the federal level. Now I want to see that matched at the state and local level. A major, major important victory.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
Yeah, that's that's right. This is just the cherry on top of what has been an amazing first. What are we at? Nine days in office. The winds just keep on coming. Even I, I was very hopeful about the Trump administration and he has surpassed even my expectations here. And I think some of that talk early on about acquiring Greenland, about renaming the Gulf of Mexico.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
about designating the mexican cartels terrorist organizations about retaking the panama canal you know some of this talk about really throwing around america's weight and the power of the white house in ways that we haven't seen explicitly in many years in many ways i think that was setting the stage for some of these kinds of issues for this exact executive order which is to say F A F O. Okay.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
Don't think that I'm joking. Don't think I won't do it. The fact that when Columbia rejected those flights of criminal migrants that were going back down to them and Trump immediately slapped 25% tariffs, economic sanctions, threatened to jump the tariffs to 50% a week later. This is him saying, guys, I'm really not bluffing. Okay.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
And unpredictability is one of Trump's great geopolitical strengths. And he, he had seven, eight days already to say, guys, please do not test me. I'm, I am pleading with you. Don't make me do to you what I am threatening to do. I think if I were an institution receiving federal money that was harming and abusing children in the way that the pro-trans crowd has, I would be very, very cautious.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
That's right. Immigration and law and order. And so what a what a beautiful statement from Lake and Riley's mother and a beautiful act to sign this law. The Democrats had made a deal. They said, look, we are going to keep the border open and we know that's going to bring some criminals in, but it's going to help us
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
electorally and it might give us a permanent electoral majority and yeah some americans are going to be murdered and some americans are going to be raped and some americans are going to be run roughshod over but you know you can't make an omelet without cracking some eggs That was it. That was the calculation that the Democrats made. It's hideous. It's evil. It's deeply immoral.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
That was their calculation. And Trump today said, no, no more. The best argument against the Lake and Riley Act that you could hear, I believe it was Adam Schiff who made it for these from the Democrats in Congress and in the Senate. They said, we won't vote for this law because we don't want to arrest a dreamer for stealing a tube of toothpaste. Give me a break.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
First of all, the dreamers are in their mid forties now. Second of all, no one is is stealing a tube of toothpaste. OK, the man who murdered Lake and Riley stole hundreds of dollars of merchandise from a Wal-Mart and they let him off the hook because the Democrats didn't want to enforce immigration law for selfish, partisan.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
There was also an appropriate. That's right. They let him off again. And the central political insight here that Trump has that is lost on the Democrats or the Democrats don't want to acknowledge is people who habitually commit crimes are going to keep committing crimes. It's actually an insight about human nature, which is why this legislation should be such common sense.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
If you break into our country illegally, first of all, you should just be deported for that. But even if you won't be deported for that, if you then go on to start committing other crimes, it's going to be a good bet that you're going to keep doing that. One does not commit theft and commit lascivious acts and then just out of the blue for no reason straighten up and fly right.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
That's not how it works. And so this should have been passed unanimously in the House and Senate. The fact that these Democrats, the many, many Democrats voted against this is a national disgrace. It's a scandal. They should be ashamed of themselves. They should resign if we had any integrity in our government.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
At least, though, there is the beginning of a restoration of common sense and dignity in our government.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
Exactly right, Megan. And part of the reason that Trump can do this is because he received a mandate from the American people. Things had spun so far out of control. And there were a lot of people who said, I've never voted Republican before. I've been told Trump is a bad guy. I don't know. You know, is he really going to protect this group or that group or the American interest?
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
And they voted for him on a gamble. And he has proven them right. He has proven himself worthy of their trust. If the man did nothing more in office than he's done in the first nine days of his second term, frankly, he would still be a successful president. And obviously, he's just getting started. I think he has proved his supporters right. He's proved his naysayers wrong.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
I can't wait to see what happened next week.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
Thank you, Megan. Great to be with you as always.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
Well, this is the advantage of having a guy who was a Democrat for his whole life be your nominee, is that his supporters were Democrats for their whole lives, and Democrats are a little bit unruly. And so in this case, that actually redounded to our benefit because they were applauding. I feel really good about Sheldon Whitehouse.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
And I could be proven wrong on this, but they say that jazz is not the notes that they play, but it's the notes that they don't play. And that's how I felt about Sheldon Whitehouse's line of questioning so-called today. What was the one thing he didn't say? He didn't ask RFK a single question.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
So on the one hand, he was really playing up how people are concerned, Mr. Kennedy, and people are afraid of some things you've said. But then Sheldon Whitehouse filibustered himself. Why? Because he didn't want to make RFK answer any questions. He didn't want to put him in a bad spot. I think Senator Whitehouse was sending a clear message today.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
to the Democrats and to some of the fence sitting Republicans that he would be a pro Kennedy vote if it comes down to it. The rest of the crew, I thought, didn't really land much of a punch. You had Ron Wyden, who to me sounded a little more like Ron Wyden today. Am I right? He was just complaining the whole time. He didn't really land a blow on him.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
Elizabeth Warren was funny because she first asked Kennedy, do you promise once you leave HHS not to work for the pharmaceutical industry? And he said, yeah, I certainly promise that. They wouldn't hire me. I don't like them. And she said, great. Next question. Do you promise not to work against them? And Kennedy basically laughed. He said, hold on. I can't work for them or against them.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
Can I do anything after? i leave hhs so i don't think that really landed at all the silliest moment was tina smith a democrat that i didn't even really know about in the senate i think we have this is this the ssri thing The SSRI gal. Stand by.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
I love Kennedy's answer, which is, what are you talking about? There are HIPAA rules. We can't actually go into the medical files of a lot of these shooters. And there has been an association shown with a number of these school shootings. So this woman went on and she went on to talk about her own experience with SSRIs.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK Jr. Spars with Dem Senators Trying to Smear Him at Confirmation Hearing, with Michael Knowles and Link Lauren | Ep. 994
And I thought it really undermined her argument because she was not particularly articulate. She was interrupting him. I thought she sounded downright unhinged. And if her argument was, listen, I've been on powerful psych drugs for a lot of my life and see, I'm proof that they're all great. There's no question about them. Not the best argument, Senator. So I felt hers really fell flat.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Megyn Kelly's Instant Analysis of Pete Hegseth Hearing and Dem Absurdity, with Michael Knowles, Dakota Meyer, and Rob O'Neill | Ep. 982
Megan, is it wrong that I'm most scandalized in that stupid question by the inability of a sitting U.S. senator to know what a hypothetical is? Tim Kaine said, if such and such occurred, that would be disqualifying, right? And Pete rightly said, Senator, you're asking me to engage in a hypothetical. And Tim Kaine, with this unearned haughtiness, says, I don't think that's a hypothetical.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Megyn Kelly's Instant Analysis of Pete Hegseth Hearing and Dem Absurdity, with Michael Knowles, Dakota Meyer, and Rob O'Neill | Ep. 982
That's literally a hypothetical. That's how the English language works. That is not up for debate, Senator. You know, this is supposed to be the greatest deliberative body in the world. These people have a loose grasp on the English language. We haven't even gotten to Maisie Hirono yet. No serious country would ever have Maisie Hirono as a senator. It was appalling, Megan.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Megyn Kelly's Instant Analysis of Pete Hegseth Hearing and Dem Absurdity, with Michael Knowles, Dakota Meyer, and Rob O'Neill | Ep. 982
Wait, there's more. She pressed him on Greenland, too. She has us invading Greenland in Sod 18.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Megyn Kelly's Instant Analysis of Pete Hegseth Hearing and Dem Absurdity, with Michael Knowles, Dakota Meyer, and Rob O'Neill | Ep. 982
How about a trade, Megan? Listen, I love Hawaii. It is one of my absolute favorite places on earth. I'm beginning to think we might have made a mistake in 1959. So what if it's just a fair trade to Denmark? Denmark gets Hawaii, they get Maisie Hirono, and we get Greenland.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Megyn Kelly's Instant Analysis of Pete Hegseth Hearing and Dem Absurdity, with Michael Knowles, Dakota Meyer, and Rob O'Neill | Ep. 982
Easy. So she was terrible. She was just so... She thought she was scoring points.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Megyn Kelly's Instant Analysis of Pete Hegseth Hearing and Dem Absurdity, with Michael Knowles, Dakota Meyer, and Rob O'Neill | Ep. 982
Yeah, I think that Kirsten Gillibrand began her line of questioning trying to persuade people that women do belong in combat. And I think by the end of it, she had people wondering if women belong in the United States Senate. That was really awful. I think I think we need Senator Megyn Kelly to go restore the reputation of women in the deliberative body. She did not persuade anybody of anything.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Megyn Kelly's Instant Analysis of Pete Hegseth Hearing and Dem Absurdity, with Michael Knowles, Dakota Meyer, and Rob O'Neill | Ep. 982
Even to raise this point of women who are in the military who are mothers, that maybe it's not the best idea to go send our mothers out there to go catch bullets from jihadis. Maybe there's something a little weird about that. It's so disingenuous, the objections that she's making. Because when it comes to all of these questions, until very, very recently, we didn't have women in combat.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Megyn Kelly's Instant Analysis of Pete Hegseth Hearing and Dem Absurdity, with Michael Knowles, Dakota Meyer, and Rob O'Neill | Ep. 982
Everyone agreed. Republicans, Democrats, independents, women should not be in combat catching bullets from terrorists. Until very, very recently, we all agreed men who think that they're women don't belong in the military. They belong in counseling because there's something that's gone wrong in their heads.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Megyn Kelly's Instant Analysis of Pete Hegseth Hearing and Dem Absurdity, with Michael Knowles, Dakota Meyer, and Rob O'Neill | Ep. 982
until very very recently we all agreed that DEI and all other forms of political correctness and and methods of promotion that are not based on lethality and merit have no place in the military everyone agreed with that until the Obama administration basically and and so to suggest now
The Megyn Kelly Show
Megyn Kelly's Instant Analysis of Pete Hegseth Hearing and Dem Absurdity, with Michael Knowles, Dakota Meyer, and Rob O'Neill | Ep. 982
That that to want to rewind the clock back to those long ago days of what, 2013 or something, that that is somehow regressive and beyond the pale. It's just absurd. I mean, this is the kind of radicalism that the American people rejected at the ballot box in November. And I don't think the mood has changed between that time and Kristin Gillibrand's shrill line of questioning.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Megyn Kelly's Instant Analysis of Pete Hegseth Hearing and Dem Absurdity, with Michael Knowles, Dakota Meyer, and Rob O'Neill | Ep. 982
I want to say the following terrible things about Pete. I don't have to. I love terrible things about Pete. And he got so far away from the microphone every time he spoke. You couldn't hear him at all. His staff put a note in front of him saying, get in front of the microphone.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Megyn Kelly's Instant Analysis of Pete Hegseth Hearing and Dem Absurdity, with Michael Knowles, Dakota Meyer, and Rob O'Neill | Ep. 982
Good. It was better for them. It was better for the Democrats that people not hear their ridiculous arguments. On this point of rhetoric and oratory and showmanship, this was the point – I forget which Democrat senator raised it about Pete Hegseth. I think it might have been Mark Kelly who said, look, I'd vote for you for Pentagon spokesman, but I'm not voting for you.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Megyn Kelly's Instant Analysis of Pete Hegseth Hearing and Dem Absurdity, with Michael Knowles, Dakota Meyer, and Rob O'Neill | Ep. 982
to be the head of the Pentagon because you know you're just a smooth talker basically and that manifestly was not true he just also happens to be a good communicator he's a guy who has multiple degrees from very prestigious institutions who has served in combat who has led troops who has fought for veterans who has gotten legislation advanced he is a really serious and accomplished guy oh and he also happens to be a good communicator
The Megyn Kelly Show
Megyn Kelly's Instant Analysis of Pete Hegseth Hearing and Dem Absurdity, with Michael Knowles, Dakota Meyer, and Rob O'Neill | Ep. 982
Maybe that would be a nice thing. The U.S. senators don't even know how to use a microphone. Maybe it would be good in an era when the American people so distrust our institutions to have a guy who is competent, intelligent, educated, right-minded, and also able to speak to people in a persuasive way as he did during his confirmation hearings.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Megyn Kelly's Instant Analysis of Pete Hegseth Hearing and Dem Absurdity, with Michael Knowles, Dakota Meyer, and Rob O'Neill | Ep. 982
Look at Tim Kaine. Tim Kaine doesn't say boo because everything that Senator Mullen said was obviously true. This is not even the sort of thing that only the senators know about. This is widely known in Washington, D.C. Anybody who's ever spent any time around Capitol Hill knows this.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Megyn Kelly's Instant Analysis of Pete Hegseth Hearing and Dem Absurdity, with Michael Knowles, Dakota Meyer, and Rob O'Neill | Ep. 982
The percentage of senators who sleep with staff members or lobbyists or members of the media is pretty significant and the number of senators who show up to Voterama, maybe they've had a few drinks. It's a lot and that's why all of those democrat senators were dead silent. He was great because they were puffing themselves up so much as these arbiters of morality. These are the kinds of people
The Megyn Kelly Show
Megyn Kelly's Instant Analysis of Pete Hegseth Hearing and Dem Absurdity, with Michael Knowles, Dakota Meyer, and Rob O'Neill | Ep. 982
who support murdering babies and castrating little children. But all of a sudden, they have such moral authority, they're going to castigate Pete Hegseth, a man who has quite clearly turned his life around. They're going to attack him for past misdeeds. And then you get Mullen in there. He says, hey, guys, I'd like to enter into the record this giant mirror. Do you remember who you are? Yeah?
The Megyn Kelly Show
Megyn Kelly's Instant Analysis of Pete Hegseth Hearing and Dem Absurdity, with Michael Knowles, Dakota Meyer, and Rob O'Neill | Ep. 982
Okay, great. Please usher along our Secretary of Defense.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Megyn Kelly's Instant Analysis of Pete Hegseth Hearing and Dem Absurdity, with Michael Knowles, Dakota Meyer, and Rob O'Neill | Ep. 982
I loved the correction when the chairman said, I'd just like to point out that Pete Hegseth has managed many more people than the average United States senator. These people who sat in judgment of Pete today had absolutely no credibility to attack him. They didn't bring the goods.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Megyn Kelly's Instant Analysis of Pete Hegseth Hearing and Dem Absurdity, with Michael Knowles, Dakota Meyer, and Rob O'Neill | Ep. 982
Pete Hegseth is going to be the Secretary of Defense, and the rest of Trump's nominees are going to have a much easier time because of it.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Megyn Kelly's Instant Analysis of Pete Hegseth Hearing and Dem Absurdity, with Michael Knowles, Dakota Meyer, and Rob O'Neill | Ep. 982
Great to be with you. Thanks, Megan.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Megyn Kelly's Instant Analysis of Pete Hegseth Hearing and Dem Absurdity, with Michael Knowles, Dakota Meyer, and Rob O'Neill | Ep. 982
Okay. Well, I think it's unanimous. I did zero, too.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Megyn Kelly's Instant Analysis of Pete Hegseth Hearing and Dem Absurdity, with Michael Knowles, Dakota Meyer, and Rob O'Neill | Ep. 982
They all jumped out of the screen at me and made me turn down my earpieces because of how shrill and awful they were. But in terms of impressing me in their questioning, absolutely not. Pete did even better than I thought he would do. As you say, Megan, they didn't lay a glove on him. Pete Hegseth will be the next Secretary of Defense.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Megyn Kelly's Instant Analysis of Pete Hegseth Hearing and Dem Absurdity, with Michael Knowles, Dakota Meyer, and Rob O'Neill | Ep. 982
People had questions about Pete's qualifications for the Pentagon going in. I don't think people really have questions about that right now. I think, in fact, the result of this hearing is that people have questions about the qualifications of these Democrat senators. It was humiliating. They went absolutely nowhere. So Pete was the first confirmation hearing.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Megyn Kelly's Instant Analysis of Pete Hegseth Hearing and Dem Absurdity, with Michael Knowles, Dakota Meyer, and Rob O'Neill | Ep. 982
and many people were suggesting he would be one of the more difficult. Notice, though, how these hearings have been scheduled. It opened up with Pete, and then all the rest of them, today, tomorrow, Thursday, were relatively easy. These are kind of shoe-in people.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Megyn Kelly's Instant Analysis of Pete Hegseth Hearing and Dem Absurdity, with Michael Knowles, Dakota Meyer, and Rob O'Neill | Ep. 982
In terms of Tulsi, in terms of Bobby Kennedy, in terms of Kash Patel, some of the more controversial nominees, you'll notice that they were pushed a little bit later in the process. I think Pete Hegseth was the canary in the coal mine. I think that the Trump team wanted to see how much pushback they would get from the US senators. Pete absolutely knocked them down.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Megyn Kelly's Instant Analysis of Pete Hegseth Hearing and Dem Absurdity, with Michael Knowles, Dakota Meyer, and Rob O'Neill | Ep. 982
It was a complete strike down the bowling alley. Not one of them was left standing afterward. So not only does this bode very well for Pete, not only does this bode very well for the shoe-in nominees that Trump has coming up, but I think even the more controversial ones are going to make it through a major, major win for the Trump transition.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Megyn Kelly's Instant Analysis of Pete Hegseth Hearing and Dem Absurdity, with Michael Knowles, Dakota Meyer, and Rob O'Neill | Ep. 982
was a complete joke so it was fitting that tim kaine looked like jack nicholson's joker from the tim burton batman someone needed to hand that man a comb before he walked into the hearings and he goes there with that wild look on his face and he says you think you're cleared just because you were cleared of charges against you He didn't say anything.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Megyn Kelly's Instant Analysis of Pete Hegseth Hearing and Dem Absurdity, with Michael Knowles, Dakota Meyer, and Rob O'Neill | Ep. 982
He just said, yeah, that's literally what it means, Senator. But then he goes on, as you say, he's preening about this. This is a man that we've only ever heard of because of his political alliance with the Clintons. This is also a man who voted in federal law to abolish the definition of marriage.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Megyn Kelly's Instant Analysis of Pete Hegseth Hearing and Dem Absurdity, with Michael Knowles, Dakota Meyer, and Rob O'Neill | Ep. 982
So listen, I'm gratified that Tim Kaine has had this sudden change of heart, and he now takes so seriously the sanctity of marriage. And also, I'll give Tim Kaine credit. His attack on Pete Hegseth's personal life was by far the strongest of any of the similar attempted attacks from the other Democrat senators. And the fact that Kaine's was the strongest shows you just how weak it was.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Megyn Kelly's Instant Analysis of Pete Hegseth Hearing and Dem Absurdity, with Michael Knowles, Dakota Meyer, and Rob O'Neill | Ep. 982
But the rest of them, Elizabeth Warren, Gillibrand, for goodness sakes, Mazie Hirono, They didn't even come close. So the Democrats came out there. Tammy Duckworth, give me a break. It was really, really weak. And so I'm actually surprised because knowing that Pete's was going to be the first confirmation hearing. the canary in the coal mine, I expected the Democrats to make this Kavanaugh 2.0.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Megyn Kelly's Instant Analysis of Pete Hegseth Hearing and Dem Absurdity, with Michael Knowles, Dakota Meyer, and Rob O'Neill | Ep. 982
However, Pete Hegseth had a real advantage going into this hearing, which is that people thought because he's a good-looking guy who smiles well and did a morning TV show, people thought that this guy was kind of dumb or incompetent. And they failed to look at his resume, which kept coming up today, to realize he's extremely educated. He has served his country honorably.
The Megyn Kelly Show
Megyn Kelly's Instant Analysis of Pete Hegseth Hearing and Dem Absurdity, with Michael Knowles, Dakota Meyer, and Rob O'Neill | Ep. 982
He's been under fire literally on many occasions. And he was not going to be pushed around by Kristen Gillibrand or Elizabeth Warren or certainly not Tim Kaine. It looked, from the perspective of Pete, it looked like he was shooting fish in a barrel.