Michael Knowles
Appearances
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.