Sen. Ted Cruz outlines his tax reform plan

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Sen. Ted Cruz outlines his tax reform plan

Texas senator speaks out on 'Hannity' about big tasks the GOP needs to get done

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," September 13, 2017. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: Welcome to "Hannity." This is a Fox News Alert. President Trump is telling Congress, Do your job, get to work on passing historic, Reaganesque tax reform that the American people voted for and they will benefit from.

Now, tonight on this program, we will offer up solutions and we will explain why this is needed now more than ever. And more importantly, we will continue to hold Washington accountable. And that is tonight's important "Opening Monologue."

All right, President Trump is pushing for sweeping tax cuts and major tax reform. Why? To unleash the American economy and provide relief to the American people. Why? Because millions of Americans desperately need the health and the growth of the economy.

Now, the president sat down with a group of bipartisan lawmakers at the White House earlier today, and here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We have four principles for tax reform. Make the tax code simple and fair. Cut taxes substantially. It'll be the largest tax decrease in the history of our country for the middle class. Encourage companies to hire and grow in America, and by doing that, we're going to have to reduce the taxes for companies.

TRUMP: Another bipartisan project that is urgently needed is infrastructure and infrastructure investment.

TRUMP: It's time now to build new roads, new bridges, airports, tunnels, highways and railways all across our great land.

TRUMP: We don't want to forget DACA. And it's already been a week-and-a-half and people don't talk about it as much. We want to see if we can do something with regard to immigration, with regard to the 800,000 people that are now -- young people. They're not children anymore. They were children. Now they're young people. But we want to see if we can do something in a bipartisan fashion.

TRUMP: We want to get our country working again and competing again worldwide. And there'll be nothing that can stop us.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

HANNITY: Now, notice, but for DACA, the president was echoing everything he promised you in the campaign. Now, the president also wrote on Twitter earlier today, "The approval process for the biggest tax cut and tax reform package in the history of our country will soon begin. Move fast, Congress." And he added, "With Irma and Harvey devastation, tax cuts and tax reform is needed more than ever before. Go, Congress, go."

Now, President Trump is right. The time for tax reform is right now. We did not do this since 1986! And tonight, the president dined with Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi.

Here's what's happening. Look, the president is reaching across the aisle to try and get things done because, let's face it, Republican leadership in Congress -- they have failed miserably and at every turn.

Now, Republican failure -- they've broken promises. They have now left the president with no other option if he's going to keep his promises to the American people. They have proven themselves to be incompetent, ineffective. And the president -- frankly, I don't blame him -- he's done waiting and he's forging ahead with or without Mitch McConnell. We'll have more on him in just a second.

But first, let's look at some of these statistics on how massive and how burdensome this tax system in this country has now become. Now, according to Republican members on the House Ways and Means Committee, the current federal tax code -- look at this, over 70,000 pages! Who could ever comprehend that?

Now, put that in perspective for you -- back in 1913, when the income tax was introduced, it was only 400 pages long. Now, the Tax Foundation also has an estimate that Americans spent 8.9 billion hours in tax preparation last year! And that translates to over $400 billion in lost productivity.

Now, the president understands this all has to change, because unlike the vast majority of politicians in the swamp and the sewer and the so-called policy wonks in D.C., well, the president -- he's actually run a business. And here's what the president has been calling for. Pay close attention.

He wants bold tax cuts and tax reforms. He wants an emphasis on benefiting the middle class, including middle class tax cuts. He wants seven brackets to go to three brackets to make it easy and simple. He wants that 15 percent corporate tax rate. Why? Because that makes American businesses more competitive on the global stage.

And of course, he's been talking about allowing multi-national corporations -- what? To repatriate trillions of dollars that they have sitting overseas at a low rate. And that way, they can invest in American workers and build factories and manufacturing centers right here in Michigan, in Wisconsin and Ohio and Pennsylvania.

And of course, he's also pushing energy independence. Why? Because there are literally millions of high-paying career jobs available. And the Treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin -- he's saying the administration wants to make these tax cuts retroactive. Wow! People start spending money.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz -- who will join us in just a minute -- he's also offering up his own tax reform plan. Now, here's the senator explaining today what you, the American people, need and why you need tax reform. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

SEN. TED CRUZ, R-TEXAS: Our economy since World War II has grown on average 3.3 percent a year. And yet for the past eight years, we've been mired in stagnation.

CRUZ: From 2008 to 2012, the economy grew on average 0.9 percent a year.

CRUZ: Ronald Reagan was elected on a promise of tax cuts, of tax reforms. We saw historic tax reform in '81 and '86. And by the fourth year of Reagan's presidency, 1984, we went from stagnant economic growth, less than one percent a year, to 7.2 percent a year -- massive, booming growth lifting millions out of poverty, increasing significantly median incomes!

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

HANNITY: Senator Cruz is right. In the Reagan years, Reagan went from 70 to 28 percent top marginal tax rates in this country. OK, how did it result? Government doubled the revenues that they had in eight years, 20 million new jobs were created.

And by the way, Here are the highlights of what Senator Cruz is proposing. This makes perfect sense, and it's simple and it's easy and it's basic and it's fundamental. A low flat tax rate, tax returns that can be filed on a postcard, immediate expensing for businesses, a low corporate tax rate, repatriation, ending the death tax, getting rid of the alternative minimum tax.

Now, President Trump and Senator Cruz's philosophy on tax reform is simple. They want to get the government off your back and let you keep more of your hard-earned money in your wallet, spend it the way you want.

And as we've been seeing, President Trump is working nonstop. He wants to get his major agenda items passed with members of Congress, meeting with them day and night and by taking his message on the road and speaking directly to the American people.

Now it's time for Congress. I cannot believe they have no urgency. Get your job done! And I'm specifically talking about, you, Senator Mitch McConnell and the never-Trumpers out there like, let's see, John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Jeff Flake -- oh, Ben Sasse. We'll add him to the list.

You know what? It's now or never. And by the way, no more excuses as to why you can't keep your promises. Oh, it's so hard! Well, for seven-and- a-half years, you promised to repeal, replace ObamaCare, and you couldn't get it done.

No more blaming the president like Mitch McConnell did last month, and he said the president had excessive expectations, and well, he doesn't understand the parliamentary procedures and the difficulties of legislation because he's never done this before. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AUG. 7)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, R-KY., MAJORITY LEADER: Now, our new president has, of course, not been in this line of work before and I think had excessive expectations about how quickly things happen in the democratic process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: That's so pathetic! That's the swamp! That's the sewer! And now, according to Roll Call, Senator McConnell is now saying tax reform may have to wait until next year? This is pathetic! It's inexcusable! It's unacceptable! Why did we elect you?

Now, it's time for an ultimatum. Senator McConnell, other Republicans, if you don't get the urgency to work for the American people, if you don't pass tax reform by the end of this year, you need to resign, go home, play golf, and get out of the way and let's get people in those positions that can serve the American people.

I'm tired of the complacency and business as usual. You know what? It's not been working. Congress is now failing the American people -- 50 million Americans in poverty, 50 million on food stamps, 90-plus million out of the labor force, lowest home ownership rate in 51 years. Really?

This is why, Congress, you have an approval rating that hovers around 15 wonderful percent. It's why Mitch McConnell has a dismal 18 percent approval rating in his own home state of Kentucky!

Now, instead of whining and complaining and pointing fingers about why you can't pass legislation, you people in Washington and Congress, time to roll up your sleeves, get in a room -- I'll send you pizza and beer -- and turn off the air conditioner, like our framers and founders, and get to work and don't leave the room until you build consensus to help people.

You know what? It's not like these issues or ideas are new. Just like with ObamaCare. What have you been doing? You've been promising and promising and running and elect us and elect us. The American people -- you've been doing this for years! And you know what? You said you're going to do this. You said you'll cut taxes. You said you'll pass reform. You said you'll repeal and replace. Where is your sense of urgency? Every American I know has a sense of urgency on their job. Where's your accountability?

Now, the president can't do everything on his own. You need to hold up your end of the bargain. You need to accomplish something for once!

Here with reaction, Texas senator Ted Cruz. Senator, are my expectations out of whack?

SEN. TED CRUZ, R-TEXAS: Sean, you're exactly right. Your expectations are what the American people are rightly demanding. We need to get the job done. We've got a mandate, an overwhelming victory from the voters in November. They've given us a Republican president, Republican heads of every agency and Republican majorities in both houses of Congress. We don't have any more excuses. We need to get the job done.

And the big four that we promised the American people is repeal the train wreck that is "Obama care." We've got to get that done. Major tax cuts, major tax reform -- we got to get that done. Regulatory reform, getting Washington off the backs of small businesses and job creators. And confirming constitutionalists to the U.S. Supreme Court and the federal courts.

If we do those four, this could be the most productive Congress in decades. And if we don't do any of them, it will be a heartbreaking missed opportunity.

HANNITY: Listen, I see that your plan and the president's plan are almost identical. I can live with either one and the American people would benefit. You add energy independence to that.

CRUZ: Absolutely.

HANNITY: You're right about justices. You build 400 miles -- 300 miles of the wall. You show you're getting that job done. And Republicans can have the best year they ever dreamed of in 2018!

CRUZ: Yes.

HANNITY: But it's not happening. And I -- do you agree that the Republicans, especially in the Senate, have pushed the president into the arms of the Democrats now, and he's got to look for alternates?

CRUZ: Well, look, I think the president is frustrated. I think the American people are frustrated because we're not getting the job done. On "Obama care," we came one vote short. It was beyond -- it made your head explode. But let me tell you, on "Obama care," we're going to get the job done. I believe failure is not an option. I've told Mitch McConnell, I've told other senators we need to keep at it until we honor that promise, and critically, we lower premiums and give people more choices, more options, put you in charge of your health care.

On tax reform, we've got to do it. And what the president just said that you aired earlier on the show, simple and fair. Put it on a postcard. Get rid of those 9 billion hours that we waste filling out forms, paying accountants, paying lawyers. Make it simple, fair and focus on jobs.

HANNITY: All right...

CRUZ: Let small businesses create more jobs, raise wages. If we get the economy booming, we cut taxes, repeal "Obama care," we'll have a terrific election in 2018. If we don't get any of it done, we'll have a terrible election in 2018!

HANNITY: Senator, here's your plan. Now, it's what I've been saying. It's what the president has been saying. It's simple! Give the middle class a tax cut, corporate tax cuts, repatriation, file on a postcard. I agree with you 100 percent. And you add that to energy jobs and you've got millions of Americans now working. And you got money flowing in to Washington. You guys will have more money than you ever dreamed of. And Newt Gingrich told me he thinks it's about a 50 percent shot we get that done. Those aren't great odds to me.

CRUZ: Well, and let me emphasize a couple of points from the tax speech I gave today. Number one, the president said today he wants a big, big tax cut. There's some Republicans in Congress that are talking about making tax reform revenue-neutral. Revenue-neutral means they're not cutting taxes. They're just moving money around from one bucket to another. We don't need revenue-neutral. We need a big tax cut on you, on families who are struggling, on small businesses. We need a Reaganesque tax cut that unleashes incredible growth.

And I laid out today how we do it. We do that under the budget rules by having a 30-year budget window, which means we can have a big tax cut that isn't revenue-neutral that lasts for 30 years and unleashes booming growth.

Let me make a second point, which is something I called for today, which is total expensing, immediate expensing of capital expenditures. What that does, if you're a farmer, it lets you buy a new tractor. If you're a steel worker, it lets the company invest in a new steel factory. If you're a truck driver, it lets you buy a new truck.

We care about jobs here in America, Main Street jobs, manufacturing jobs, union jobs, blue-collar jobs. Immediate expensing unleashes incredible growth. I think that's a very important part of tax cuts and tax reforms that we're pushing forward.

HANNITY: Senator, you mentioned that you still think the window's open on health care. One of the proposals -- and as a conservative, I always kind of like the idea of sending stuff back to the states...

CRUZ: Absolutely.

HANNITY: Lindsey Graham has that proposal. I talked to Dave Brat and I talked to Mark Meadows. They support it, but they said the devil is in the details.

CRUZ: Sure.

HANNITY: Something that could work, is that maybe the alternate, maybe you get it done by the 30th using reconciliation or considering reconciliation?

CRUZ: I think Lindsey Graham's proposal could easily be part of the solution. I am a big, big believer in federalism, sending things to the states, empowering the states. You know, that's something -- if Lindsey's proposal brings a few moderates on board, great. And let different states have different approaches. Let a John Kasich in Ohio have one approach, and let a conservative like Greg Abbott in Texas have a different approach. That's why we've got 50 states.

HANNITY: Absolutely.

CRUZ: And...

HANNITY: That's why I'll move to Texas.

CRUZ: ... and I think we're close on ObamaCare. You know, I think we're --

HANNITY: I'm -- Senator, I want to say one last thing. I don't -- I'm really -- like, I can't tell you the type of feedback I'm getting from my audience in radio and TV. They are livid! They're apoplectic. And I will say this. You -- on health care, you keep saying on the economy, Keep your promises. The Freedom Caucus is working day and night with you and together to keep their promises. If these guys don't wake up, you're the only few people I trust in Washington now. It's really despicable.

CRUZ: Well, Sean, the role I'm trying to play is do everything I can to help and encourage the president to go in a positive direction, not a negative direction, and to bring Republicans together, talking to conservatives and moderates and leadership and the president and the administration saying, Everyone, look, if we do our job, just keep our word, the economy booms...

HANNITY: That's it.

CRUZ: ... we see more jobs. And that's a win-win for everyone!

HANNITY: Why does it have to be so hard?

CRUZ: Yes.

HANNITY: Senator, I do appreciate you keeping your promises. It means a lot to us. Thank you.

And when we come back, Dr. Sebastian Gorka calling out the D.C. sewer, swamp. He's next.

Later, Hillary Clinton still blaming -- on the blame game book tour! You're going to see Lanny Davis try to defend that and much more straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity." Former deputy assistant to the president Dr. Sebastian Gorka had an interesting message for D.C. Republicans in a recent LA Times interview. Now, just take a look at the title of the piece. Sebastian Gorka says the GOP did not win last November, Donald Trump did. He joins us now to explain what he meant. He's also the author of "Defeating Jihad."

Dr. Sebastian Gorka, certainly, I would argue the president, and even today, was on message with the promises he made. To me, the Republican Party has no identity right now. They're not fighting for anything that they promised. You agree?

SEBASTIAN GORKA, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT: Absolutely. Look, the president won the election. The rank outsider, the man who was anti-establishment as far as the right is concerned and the left is concerned -- he won an agenda of make America great again, not make the Republican Party great again.

And the sad thing is, Sean -- and this is the wakeup call and this is why he met with Schumer and Pelosi last week -- the GOP doesn't understand. It isn't the Republican Party that won last November the 8th. It is a New York real estate billionaire who won. And there's a reason for that, because they haven't served the nation's interests for more than a decade.

HANNITY: You know, look, let's be honest here. Pelosi and Schumer -- they hate him, too.

GORKA: Right.

HANNITY: And they're political opportunists. And come 2020, there will be nothing he did that they're going to like and they will support the Democrat. Knowing the president as well as I do, I suspect, knowing Donald Trump, that he's basically sending a loud message, Get your act together or I'm going to find another way. I still think there's time and hope, but probably, the time is getting short now.

HANNITY: You're absolutely right. This is the man who closes the deal. And he sent a very clear message. The viewers need to understand -- I saw a lot of stuff on social media that the president has caved and he's giving in to the Democrats. The opposite is true. He will keep to his agenda. That's the message he sent me the day after I left the White House. He said, I'm staying on the agenda, and I'd like you to help me. And I said, I'm going to help you.

He's not going to give up. But if he has to work with somebody else to get things done, he's going to do that, Sean, because he is results-oriented. And he doesn't matter...

HANNITY: You know --

GORKA: He doesn't care -- it doesn't care whether he's got an R behind your name or a D behind your name. He wants to make America great again.

HANNITY: Is this statement true, that Republican inaction and failure and lack of vision and lack of urgency has pushed Donald Trump into the arms of Democrats? Is that a true statement?

GORKA: I think it misrepresents what he wishes to do. He hasn't -- he hasn't pushed -- this was his call. They didn't invite themselves to the Oval Office. The president of the United States invited them. And you know, they say -- some people said he was firing a shot across the bow of the GOP. Wrong. Donald J. Trump fired a torpedo into the hull of the GOP to say, Guys, wake up.

HANNITY: Wake up.

GORKA: I'm serious...

HANNITY: Wake up.

GORKA: ... about what I want to do.

HANNITY: Oh, listen, I think his more important issue is serving the American people. He's got to fulfill his promises, whether they do or not. Dr. Gorka, great insight. Always good to see you, my friend. Thanks.

GORKA: Thanks, Sean.

HANNITY: When we come back, Hillary Clinton continues -- we're now up to 42 specific excuses, blaming everyone but herself for her election loss. You don't want to miss this. Lanny Davis, Caley McEneny (ph) will debate and face off. A "Hannity" shoot-out straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity." So Hillary Clinton continues to blame everyone and anything for her loss in 2016 in the election except, of course, herself. Now, earlier today during an interview with Matt Lauer, Clinton refused to take any responsibility for losing! Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT LAUER, NBC NEWS: When it comes to the self-inflictd wounds, when you look at the list of them -- and you go through them in the book -- did you make enough mistakes yourself to lose the election without any of the other things you talk about?

HILLARY CLINTON, D-FMR. PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Well, I will say no, Matt. I don't think that will surprise you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: No, Matt, I didn't do anything! And there's more. So while Hillary Clinton won't take responsibility for her loss, she is more than happy to blame the left-wing destroy Trump establishment media. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: I don't think the press did their job in this election, with very few exceptions.

The other guy's running a reality TV show, which is, like, hard to turn away from. And whatever he says, we think it's kind of goofy, but hey, it's good TV. And she's over there, saying, OK, here's how we're going to raise taxes on the wealthy. And here's what we're going to do to close loopholes and here's where I think I can do it. And you know what? She's going to win anyway. So let's cover the other guy because he's a lot more fun.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Talk about denial. Here with reaction, RNC spokesperson Kayleigh McEnany is with us, and former special counsel to President Clinton, probably Hillary's best friend, Lanny Davis.

All right, Lanny, I'm going to go as fast as I can. Sexism, racism misogyny, xenophobia, suburban women, Comey, FBI, Russia, Putin, WikiLeaks, DNC, Obama, Biden, Sanders, Weiner, Electoral College, polling data, cable news, New York Times, fake news bots, Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, TV executives -- I'm keeping going here -- anti-American forces, Democratic documentaries, low-information voters, people wanting change, people that assumed she'd win, of course the Republican Party, contest forums in Macedonia, Infowars, Guccifer, D.C. leaks, Jill Stein, Bannon, voter I.D.'s, Chief Justice Roberts, Kris Kobach, Citizens United, and colluding Trump officials. Why isn't she on the list? And by the way, why isn't Trump on the list, because he beat her soundly?

LANNY DAVIS, TRIDENT DMG FOUNDER: I have no idea why you just read that list. But first off, good evening, Sean, nice to be with you.

HANNITY: Just for your entertainment purposes.

DAVIS: I was entertained. But let's take the occasion for a historic moment, and that is there's something that Hillary Clinton and President Trump agree on, which Clinton has said publicly now. And that is the poor, I would say reckless judgment of James Comey. And I don't know whether he deserved to the fired because of the Russian investigation. That sounds like a poor decision by the president which led to the Mueller appointment, but I do think he should have been disciplined because of his recklessness and the way he handled Hillary's email investigation, and President Trump and his deputy attorney general agree with that statement. So let's start out on what we agree with.

HANNITY: All right, Lanny, this is what I love about you. I didn't ask you any of those questions.

DAVIS: I made you speechless. It's a historic moment.

HANNITY: I didn't ask you that question in any way, shape, matter, or form.

DAVIS: You did not.

HANNITY: And the fact that Comey exonerated Clinton before he even did the investigation is pretty amazing.

All right, Kayleigh, maybe you'll answer my question because Lanny has no desire to answer it.

(LAUGHTER)

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, RNC SPOKESPERSON: I'm ready to answer it. Yes, Sean, it's incredible. She blames Comey. As you point out, he exonerated her months before he had even interviewed her. Instead of blaming Comey, she should be crediting him with her evasion of just, but instead she blames him.

And let's just debunk this myth right now, Lanny. The "New York Times" Nate Cohn, obviously no friend of Republicans here, said I even question this so-called Comey defense because his poll showed the day the Comey came out with that announcment that Trump was winning by four points in Florida. Trump was already on the upswing. I would advise Hillary Clinton to take a self-reflective moment and blame herself for the election loss rather than some faux reasoning for James Comey.

DAVIS: Of all people that Hillary Clinton will not be taking advice from, Kayleigh, with all due respect, is you.

MCENANY: Well, she'd probably be in 1600 Pennsylvania if she did.

DAVIS: We do agree, and, Sean, I believe you agree, that when the deputy attorney general criticized Comey for poor judgment, for violating the rules, and that he deserved to be disciplined, I can show you data that on the day that Comey wrote his letter Hillary Clinton was ahead in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan but six to eight percentage points, and within two days of that letter, she plunged. So that's one answer.

HANNITY: Lanny, I hate to say this, the emails she deleted were under subpoena. That would be obstruction. Mishandling of classified information, that's a felony. Destruction of classified information, top secret special access program information, that also is a felony. Hillary Clinton also has problems, $145 million dollars kicked back to the Foundation, destroying BlackBerries with hammers, BleachBit, acid washing, the emails that she did delete.

DAVIS: I've heard you do this before.

HANNITY: Lanny, you can laugh all you want. I would be in jail and Kayleigh would be in jail and you would be bailing us out because I'd make you.

DAVIS: If you were right, Mr. Justice Hannity, of course. But there's a lot of disagreements between your accusation --

HANNITY: Now you're going to say Comey has exonerated her?

DAVIS: Let me go back to answering your question and to respond to Kayleigh's comment.

HANNITY: That would be a first. Go ahead.

DAVIS: Hillary Clinton has said I take responsibility for my mistakes, and I made many mistakes. But on October 28th, she's winning by a substantial margin. It is a simple fact that the data cannot be disputed.

HANNITY: They're crimes.

DAVIS: I know that you conclude that, but you're not a jury.

HANNITY: Now you're going to rely on Comey to exonerate her.

DAVIS: But we are at least saying that the facts, the data shows on October 28th she wins. By October 30th, she's plummeted. And one thing happened, the reckless judgment of James Comey 10 days from an election violating all the rules. That's the singular event. But she has taken responsibility for her mistakes.

MCENANY: I just want to debunk one --

HANNITY: It's a crime, though. Go ahead.

MCENANY: It is a crime, you're right. And I just want to debunk one of the many things that Clinton has blamed really quick. She blames the media for covering her emails obsessively. Until about five weeks ago, I was a member of the so called mainstream media on every single night, and I can count on one hand, Sean, the number of times an entire segment was devoted to her emails. I can count that on one had.

HANNITY: Thanks for being with us.

When we come back, more controversy brewing over at ESPN. One of their hosts not calling President Trump a white supremacist. Tomi Lahren, Gina Loudon, and Danielle McLaughlin all join us straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity." Now for months ESPN has faced criticism for mixing liberal politics and sports. And now one of its hosts under fire after she called President Trump a white supremacist.

On September the 11th, SportsCenter anchor Jemele Hill tweeted, quote, "Donald Trump is a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself with other white supremacists." ESPN did issue a statement reading in part "The comments on Twitter from Jemele Hill regarding the president do not represent the position of ESPN. Now, we have addressed this with Jemele, and she recognizes her actions were inappropriate." No word if she will face any disciplinary action from ESPN.

Earlier today, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders responded. Here's what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think that's one of the more outrageous comments that anyone could make, and certainly something I think it's a fire-able offense by ESPN.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Keep in mind only a few months ago Jemele Hill defended a Colin Kaepernick tweet and comparing, quote, "Runaway slave patrols to police officers."

Here now with reaction, Fox News contributor Tomi Lahren, psychology expert Dr. Gina Loudon, and author, attorney, and political liberal analyst Danielle McLaughlin. Here's the most amazing thing, and I can't take it anymore, Danielle. I don't like that conservatives, that the president -- this is a lie. And this is a narrative that happens every two years and every four years. Republicans, conservatives, the president are racists, sexist, misogynistic. You know what, stop lying about who we are because none of us, Tomi, we're not racist, nor is the president, nor the people around him.

And I'm not saying for this woman to be fire. I'm saying that the left does this every single election cycle. And I've never heard you say for them to knock it off.

DANIELLE MCLAUGHLIN, LIBERAL POLITICAL ANALYST: I'll say it right now, knock it official. I don't think it's fair for anyone to be characterizing the president that way. I think he gave folks a little bit of red meat with his on both sides comment in Christian, which he did, in fairness, walk back.

I will say, though, that the idea that someone from the White House podium calling for the firing of a private employee is ridiculous. Can you imagine if Josh Earnest had said Donald Trump shoud have been fired for the birther conspiracy from "The Apprentice"? I don't think that's the place of the White House.

But I will say that this is not a helpful comment.

HANNITY: Tomi, you understand this. Dr. Loudon, you understand this. As conservatives, they say one thing that is viewed over the line, and fire them, boycott them. Tomi?

TOMI LAHREN, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, it's happened at ESPN before. I think we remember what happened to Curt Schilling because of a post that he made on Facebook. Again, it was not on the channel, but his repercussions were far more strict than the little talking to that they gave the other host over at ESPN. And I can't help but think maybe there is a little double standard going, and maybe ESPN really values diversity, but not so much diversity of opinion. I think that sounds more correct to me.

HANNITY: Dr. Loudon, isn't there something wrong if you're so willing to lie about other people? I'm leaning on your psychology background and your doctorate here.

DR. GINA LOUDON, PSYCHOLOGY EXPERT AND RADIO HOST: Yes, there's definitely something wrong with somebody who is going around name calling instead of acting professional. Having said that, she has the right to say it.

But here's the thing, Sean. It's as if ESPN doesn't realize that the Trump voter is their audience. If you look at the NFL players, you look at the PGA, the LPGA even, very frequent voters, very conservative people, and those are your ESPN viewers. And so if they were going to do anything with this particular commentator, they may want to think of replacing her just because she is bashing their own audience. This is why the left continues to lose, and this is why conservatives tend to build their numbers.

HANNITY: Dr. Loudon, I think we conservatives are far more tolerant of freedom of speech, expression, and thought. I don't do boycotts and I don't call for firings. Imagine if a conservative had said whatever similar during the Obama years. What would the reaction be?

LOUDON: Well, there's always a hypocrisy, Sean, and we're used to it. But here's the good news. You watch this decay of the leftist media over the last eight to 10 years as they continue to spout their bigotry and to be so intolerant. And it's left a really good place for conservative media, and conservative media is continuing to fill those voids.

I like to say that every time the left spouts their mantra, another conservative gets their wings. And I really believe this is no exception to that.

(LAUGHTER)

HANNITY: All right, it's a wonderful life, Dr. Loudon. Tomi, I assume, and I don't know for sure, I know I've been a target of all of this, and fire Hannity and boycott Hannity. And the left isn't really tolerant. I've seen horrible things about you and Dr. Loudon, myself on social media and by these groups that are funded seemingly from Soros type of people.

LAHREN: Of course. And I'm not someone that has gone to bat for what I believe in, I've had to feel the repercussions. So I'm not somebody that calls for boycott or calls for firings either, and I would never do that. I have been very vocal about that.

But I will say this, kind of what Dr. Gina was talking about there, the Trump voter is a sports watcher and we're folks that enjoy watching ESPN, love watching the commentary. And I wouldn't call for a boycott, I wouldn't call for a firing, but I would just say to ESPN, your numbers are not going to lie, because we're going to start turning off the TV. And that's how we're going to voice our opinion, that's how we're going to use our freedom of expression, our freedom of speech. So watch you. You might be losing a big chunk of your audience, and we're not going to feel bad for you when you do.

HANNITY: And, Danielle, last point to you. It hasn't been helping the NFL. Colin Kaepernick and all these players, it seems that a lot of people are reacting. Ratings are down from last year and last year was nodd not a good year for the NFL.

MCLAUGHLIN: I'm a free speech absolutist like many conservatives even though I'm not a conservative. And I think --

HANNITY: A lot of your fellow liberals are not.

MCLAUGHLIN: Well, maybe that's a discussion for another day.

HANNITY: Nobody defends me when I'm being boycotted from the left. Very few, Lanny Davis.

MCLAUGHLIN: I don't think that if you hear something that you don't like, you should call for the firing of that person. That's one of the foundational values of this country. And I don't like it when it comes from the left or the right.

On Colin Kaepernick, he has the free-speech right to protest, to take a knee, which I personally think is a very reverential thing to do obviously when you listen to the National Anthem. People have the right to like it, to not like it. His employers, a private entity, have the right to hire him or not. And maybe this is the free market talking, but I will defend his right to take that knee until my last breath.

HANNITY: It looks like the conservatives are the ones that are open- minded, the ones that believe in freedom. All right, guys, good to see you all. Thank you for being with us.

When we come back, Daily Caller has a huge, explosive report about Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Shultz's former I.T. aide. They are reporting he tried to hide a secret server. This gets bigger every day. Sara Carter, Gregg Jarrett, they're next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity." Luke Rosiak is an investigative reporter with The Daily Caller. There's an explosive report out today about Debbie Wasserman Shultz and her former I.T. staffer. Rosiak reports that, quote, "Exclusive DWS I.T. guy was banned from House after trying to hide the secret server." Luke goes onto explain in the article, quote, "Now indicted former Congressional I.T. aide Imran Awan alleged routed data from numerous House Democrats to a secret server." Fox News has not been able to independently verify this, but if that is true, that is beyond damning.

Here with reaction, Fox News anchor, attorney, Gregg Jarrett, Circa News, Sara Carter. Gregg, if that's true, to me that means one thing, that there's a chance other countries could have been fed this information, that the security concerns we had may be real.

GREGG JARRETT, FOX NEWS ANCHOR AND ATTORNEY: Absolutely. He was downloading huge quantities of sensitive documents to a secret server. And that puts a lie to what Democrats including Debbie Wasserman Shultz have been claiming all along that there were no security breaches. Clearly there were.

It also suggests to me that this is a guy who probably is planning to flip, to implicate Democrats who were either wittingly or unwittingly complicit in his criminal activities. Why do I think that? Because his wife who is safely ensconced in Pakistan has now reportedly decided to turn herself in to American authorities. She wouldn't do that unless an immunity deal was in the works to implicate people like Debbie Wasserman Shultz.

Now, did Russians actually hack our system? A senior investigative official said, does it mean that this guy sold the information to the Russians? I don't know. So, Sean, they're clearly looking at whether a Democratic insider is the one who gave the information to the Russians, not hacking at all.

HANNITY: And add to that, Sara Carter, that Imran Awan actually took Debbie Wasserman Shultz's computer, left it in a place with a message for law enforcement, here, it's all here. I've got to believe Debbie Wasserman Shultz, I think that plea deal is coming. She's in trouble.

SARA CARTER, CIRCA NEWS: Well, I have to believe something is coming because not only did Imran leave her laptop sitting there in that small room at the Rayburn office building, but he left a letter for the U.S. attorney. He left copies of his identification sitting all around. Luke was very detailed in this story on how this happened.

And just like Gregg said, Sean, these are huge national security implications. Imran Awan and his wife, Hina Alvi, they moved data apparently, if this story is true, from protected servers of members of the House Intelligence Committee, House Foreign Affairs Committee, to an offsite server that was connected to the House Democratic Caucus. And that could have been established right there. They could have put it within the server that's connected to the House Democratic Caucus, created a backdoor where they could infiltrate that system wherever they wanted.

And not only that, he created a Dropbox account where he put everything into this Dropbox account where he could access it after February 2nd when he was removed. And all of his trips to Pakistan for months at a time and having armored escort in Pakistan has to raise the suspicion that possibly Imran and his wife Hina Alvi are connected to Pakistani intelligence.

HANNITY: We're going to stay on this story. Nobody else in the media will dare touch it. I promise you we're ahead of the curve. Thank you both. Sara, Gregg, thanks.

When we come back, our friends, our really good friends, Diamond and Silk, they get the final word tonight. You do not want to miss it. Hillary, I hope you're watching.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity." Tonight the conservative rock star group Diamond and Silk, they get the final word again. Watch this.

LYNNETTE "DIAMOND" HARDAWAY: Hey, Sean. Here is tonight's final word. Well, we know Hillary Clinton is on a book tour, but we call it a desperation tour.

ROCHELLE "SILK" RICHARDSON: Yes.

HARDAWAY: Maybe she's trying to reinvent yourself. Oh, Hillary, Hillary, Hillary. Now she is out playing the blame game, bashing everyone in her sight.

RICHARDSON: Yes.

HARDAWAY: Saying woe is me. You did it to me. It's not my fault. Well, the buck stops with her. And you know what, Sean, she will go down as the most clueless politician in history because she didn't know her base. She didn't know how to stay on base, and she is way off base. Even Democrats said she will say anything to get a vote. And you know what we are finding out, Sean?

RICHARDSON: What?

HARDAWAY: She will say anything to sell a book.

Now, Sean, that's our final word for tonight.

HANNITY: Our friends Diamond and Silk.

That's all the time we have left this evening. We hope you'll set your DVR, never miss an episode of "Hannity." Don't forget, this show is not the establishment media. We are different. We're fair, we're balanced, and we're thankful that you are here every night. And we'll see you back here tomorrow. Thanks for being with us.

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