'Hannity' on Biden's weak leadership on the world stage

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Hannity: America's adversaries preparing to capitalize on 'weak' Biden

'Hannity' host examines how the president's feeble leadership is perceived on the world stage.

This is a rush transcript from, "Hannity", December 6, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated. 

TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS HOST: We're going to tell you exactly what is happening, so at least you know if it does happen, what it actually means. That's going to be a lot of line coming up. That's tomorrow.

We'll be here at 8:00 p.m. The show that's the sworn enemy of lying, pomposity, smugness, and groupthink.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, Sean Hannity.

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: All right. And thank you, Tucker.

And welcome to HANNITY.

ANNOUNCER: Americans held hostage behind enemy lines, day 114.

HANNITY: Joe Biden may have turned the page, we will not, 114 days now Americans trap behind enemy lines of terrorists, 127 days since Joe Biden lied and promised he'd leave nobody behind. The media mob, the big tech mob. They have all turned the page as well.

And tonight in Afghanistan or the Islamic emirates of Afghanistan, they're now facing widespread starvation, economic collapse, a reign of terror, the Taliban just tortured a man to death over a critical Facebook post, some families are selling their young daughters to Taliban fighters in order to buy food, Clearly, no one is safe, including the Americans and U.S. green card holders that Joe abandoned and military family members.

Make no mistake: Joe Biden, he can turn the page all he wants but they're still trapped behind enemy lines. They see, by the way, the world is watching, our enemies are all watching. They see Joe Biden on the world stage, they see his weakness, they do not respect him. They do not fear him.

And that brings us to our top story tonight and that is every hostile actor on the world stage, every hostile regime on the world stage is now preparing to take full advantage of the fact that the leader of the free world, the supposed leader, Joe Biden, is weak and in an obvious and significant cognitive decline. They all know Joe has no backbone. Joe has no will and Joe has no ability to protect America and the Western world's interests around the globe.

And, by the way, now, they are looking to capitalize big time. Tonight, there are three very serious crises on the horizon. Look at Russia, they are now threatening to invade Ukraine. They have a massive troop presence and deployment right on the border.

China is threatening to take over Taiwan or as they call it reunification. It's a takeover. They're saying so publicly and they have no problem all day long, flying fighter jets all over Taiwan's airspace.

Iran is now on the verge of getting nuclear weapons. Joe stupidly is just easing sanctions, as if that's going to work. And it appears most days, Joe Biden doesn't even know what day of the week it is. Let's break this down. It's very important. This could go south really fast. First, according to U.S. intelligence Russian dictator, the hostile actor that he is, Vladimir Putin is now planning what is a massive military invasion of Ukraine.

We have satellite images. They show somewhere between 70,000 and 94,000 Russian troops already amassed at the border, around a hundred thousand more soldiers are in the process of being mobilized as we speak.

And thanks to Joe Biden green lighting Russia's Nord Stream 2 pipeline while firing keystone xl uh pipeline workers, Putin should have no problem at all funding a large-scale operation. Joe's also begging ironically Vladimir to produce more energy so we can import it from him.

Now, with each passing day, an invasion seems inevitable and let me say this one more time -- appeasement and weakness will never work. Tomorrow, Joe Biden is planning to give Vladimir -- we are told -- a stern talking to which undoubtedly will resolve nothing.

I can tell you one thing the White House won't do, they won't put out a transcript of what Joe has to say because if they ever did, we could see how weak he really is.

Is there any doubts that Putin is laughing behind the scenes of Joe Biden? You don't think Joe is being laughed at, being the cognitive mess he is in the Kremlin? Meanwhile, another deeply concerning international crisis is unfolding a little closer to home.

China not only is saber rattling with Taiwan. They're now reportedly attempting to establish what is their first permanent military base on the Atlantic Ocean, giving China's navy the ability to operate just off the east coast of the United States. And we thought the hypersonic missile was bad.

And this as China continues to ramp up hostilities as I said against Taiwan. They refuse to take any responsibility for the pandemic. They unleashed on the entire world. It keeps getting worse, one new variant after another.

And let's not forget about China's forced labor, their concentration camps. It is now presently modern day being used against their minority Muslim population. So far, Biden's only response, a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics in China in 2022.

Oh, in other words, Tony Blinken, the weak secretary of state that he is, the pathetically weak one, he's not going to be attending the Olympics this year?

President Xi is laughing as well at the cognitive mess that is Joe Biden, which brings us now to the third international crisis. Iran sadly dangerously is closer than ever to develop into -- developing a nuclear weapon. Now, surprise, surprise, Biden's polite negotiations with the mullahs in Iran have fallen apart. And now, the administration is asking China and Russia, America's two biggest foes, help out pressure Iran with us.

Now, Joe begs OPEC and China and Russia. Okay, that would be the trifecta of Joe Biden foreign policy failure and, of course, the other option now being weighed by Joe Biden. Just accept a nuclear-armed Iran, a nuclear- capable Iran. In other words, nuclear weapons in the hands of the number one state sponsor of terror that have this sick twisted ugly ideology of convert or die.

Now, Joe, here's an idea. Maybe you can send, I don't know -- maybe send Hunter, the crack addict-turned-world-renowned artist. Hunter Biden, you can send him to China and Russia and sort everything out. After all, Hunter's been very successful raking in massive sums of cash from those two countries over the years without any relevant experience so we can find it all.

And, of course, Hunter was selling access to his father. We know that. And meanwhile, we have no idea who's shelling out what up to five hundred thousand dollars for Hunter's, what, portraits of a crack addict. But I have a feeling the so-called art collectors are looking to buy more than just a terrible painting from an amateur artist.

Remember, Hunter Biden is currently under investigation for international tax evasion, money laundering, but he's a Democrat. They get away with everything.

The FBI reportedly in possession of Hunter's laptop from hell as Miranda Devine's book points out. Several months ago, Jen Psaki gladly referring to stories surrounding Hunter Biden's laptop as Russian disinformation. Today, she couldn't be bothered to circle back on the very important story and the lie that she told.

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Shortly after President Biden's virtual meeting with the Chinese president, her son's attorney said that he has finally divested from a Chinese investment fund controlled by state-owned entities. I was hoping you could commit to basic transparency about that transaction, including the name of the buyer, the dollar amount and the timing.

And the second question is, my colleague Miranda Devine has a new book out called "The Laptop from Hell," and I was hoping that you could confirm that the laptop is indeed authentic and not Russian disinformation as you seem to suggest on Twitter last year.

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Well, on the first, the president's son is not an employee of the federal government, so I'd point you to his representatives, and as it relates to the book, I've neither had the time nor interest in exploring or reading the book.

Go ahead, Tina --

(CROSSTALK)

PSAKI: I think I answered your question. Go ahead.

You can go to the representative of the person who's not an employee of the federal government.

Go ahead, Tina. I think we have to move on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: No, I think we dodged the question and moving on is just the convenient way of not facing the reality of selling access to Joe Biden. What about Tony Bobulinski's charge that Joe Biden sat in on meetings with, let's see, oh, a Chinese energy company? So maybe Jen Psaki, she can confirm that Joe Biden has zero conflict of interest in China and Russia and Ukraine.

And she'll never answer that question because the answer is not good. You the American people deserve better and imagine if the last name were Trump.

You know, in his former President Trump said over the weekend, he was on with the great one, Mark Levin.

He said let's hope it's not too late for this great republic. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT: President Obama was very divisive but people were more quiet about it. They didn't want to insult him. But he was very divisive.

But the Biden administration is far worse. This country has tremendous potential, tremendous. But we're giving it away and there'll be a point -- there'll be a point where the country can't come back and we can never allow that point to be reached.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Here with reaction, former CIA station chief, FOX News contributor Dan Hoffman, and former White House chief of staff Reince Priebus.

You know, Dan, we have a little bit of experience with this. We were in Vietnam. We were in Helsinki. We were in Singapore, and based on your, what, three decades working with in intelligence without giving away too much information I think most people know by now what you have done for a living.

But you told me repeatedly that yes, I was being spied on. Yes, I -- you told me never to open your phone, do not turn your phone on ever, and then you even -- I even had sweeps of where I was staying and I couldn't even have conversations that you felt were safe. You told me that repeatedly.

DAN HOFFMAN, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, listen, the United States is a number one target for all of those autocracies around the world like China and Russia and Iran. And let's not forget North Korea as well, they've got a nuclear arsenal with ballistic missiles they're threatening the region and the homeland as well.

The Biden administration is facing these dizzying array of threats. And the question I think for our intelligence community right now is, is Russia planning on invading? is China going to invade Taiwan? Are they coordinating together because they have a very strong strategic relationship they conducted military exercises together this summer? Those are big issues for us.

And then the question of deterrence. Deterrence happens when you demonstrate your adversary that the price of an attack is so great that it's not worth doing in the first place, and I'm not sure we've demonstrated that for Ukraine or for Taiwan. I think the United States and our allies have a lot more to do than simple diplomatic moral suasion which is what we've seen so far.

HANNITY: You know, if this happened with Ukraine and Russia and Putin in the Obama-Biden years, it didn't happen in the Trump years though, Reince. And President Trump really took it to President Xi of China and even got a good trade deal out of him which nobody thought would be possible.

And I think one of the reasons China didn't show hostility towards Taiwan is they believe Donald Trump wouldn't take that crap, and that Donald Trump will respond they feared him and they believed him. I don't see the same with Joe Biden.

REINCE PRIEBUS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Well, that's so true. I mean, if you think about the famous phrase of Ronald Reagan, we maintain the peace through strength. But the other part of that quote is that weakness only invites aggression.

And when you're weak at home, it invites aggression overseas and speaking of President Xi, let me just go back in time for everyone for a second and talk about what President Trump did. That -- the very first meeting we had with President Xi and Mar-a-Lago, do you remember it was in April of 2017.

But you know at that very same meeting during dinner, President Trump excused himself because there was a SCIF, like a little Situation Room in Mar-a-Lago and if you look it up, you'll see that was the same night that we ordered the airstrike in Syria during the meeting with President Xi in Mar-a-Lago.

So if you want to compare the two where you're having a meeting with Xi, you're ordering an airstrike on Syria, you're going back up for dessert and coffee and then you're holding a press conference on what you just did to Syria after they dropped chemical weapons --

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: By the way, I think I have something to add to that story. I was told by a source --

PRIEBUS: Yeah.

HANNITY: I was told by a source after the event had happened that the president whispered to President Xi. I just -- by the way, just to make you aware, I just started bombing and that was it and just told them straight up. So that had to be a pretty strong moment --

PRIEBUS: Yeah.

HANNITY: -- and President Xi, I'm sure, was a little a little shocked and alarmed by it.

PRIEBUS: Well, and that's how it started. I mean, it was very gracious. It was very polite.

But the president never showed any weakness. And the other part about this though is that the president wasn't afraid to meet with these people either.

I mean, meeting with Putin, meeting with President Xi multiple times, meeting with the crazy guy up in North Korea, Kim Jong-un. I mean, he did it. He wasn't weak. He was aggressive and when you have this weakness at home, it's going to bring aggression overseas.

Biden's got to get together because it's scary stuff. This is not a joke.

HANNITY: Do you have any doubt, Dan Hoffman, that Russia is now building up their true presence on the Ukrainian border because they're going in. Do you have any doubt that China plans on their, quote, territorial ambitions and reunification as they call it with Taiwan? Because I don't have any doubt.

HOFFMAN: I think both China and Russia are probing our defenses. We've seen that China is mounting lots of air incursions into Taiwan airspace. They're mounting full throttled cyber attacks. The Russians are doing the same thing against Ukraine.

I think the question is one of timing frankly. I think the Russians have made it clear their red line is that Ukraine cannot join NATO or the European Union. The United States and NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg have made it clear that that's a decision for Ukraine to make.

Well, if that's what we're saying, then we need to back that up with greater support for Ukraine to defend themselves against Russia and we haven't done that unfortunately. So I think right now for me, at least, it's a question of timing, and I think that's the question for the intelligence community.

I'm quite sure the Biden administration's being briefed on a daily basis about the threats. The question is, what will the policy response be and are we up to the task?

HANNITY: I think it'll be weak and I think they both will follow through on in both cases.

Reince, thank you. Dan Hoffman, thank you.

All right. Now, let's turn to another crisis brewing inside the Biden administration. That is the crisis that is known as confidence. Tonight, with a steady stream of resignation, the vice president's office is in a state of turmoil. This has many other former and current staffers are now complaining about what they describe as a mean, hostile work environment.

According to reports, multiple individuals describing Kamala Harris as a, quote, soul-destroying bully who frequently is lashing out at her own staff for her own failures. Here with reaction from the Trump Organization, Eric Trump.

You know, so Joe is in the mid 30s, you know, in terms of approval. Kamala is even lower than that, 28 percent. There's not a single thing I think they can point to Eric that says oh this is really working. We're doing a really good job here, unless you could point it out.

ERIC TRUMP, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, THE TRUMP ORGANIZATION: No, that's right. I mean, listen, Sean, you're trying to be a White House com staffer when you can't deliver a single victor, not a single policy victory. You've got the worst inflation that we've seen 30 years. You've got a horrible jobs number. You saw 210,000 jobs, the worst jobs number we've seen in a long time.

As you just pointed out, China and Taiwan, Russia trying to take Ukraine, mess on the southern border -- I mean, where do you want me to stop ramping crime all across this country right people still you know massively out of work in this country.

I mean, it's a disaster. It's -- they don't have a single thing that they have accomplished. They don't have a single thing that they've done well.

And you know what? A very easy, you know, secret -- people want to pay play for the winning team, right? There are no wins. These people aren't delivering any wins. If this is a losing team and it's not shocking that they know Biden won't run again, they know Kamala is no longer kind of the darling child that she used to be.

And so, what's their future in the White House? They probably want to go back into private industry which I completely understand, and that's why people are fleeing, you know, left and right.

HANNITY: You know, there's no doubt every hostile regime studies the United States. They have concluded the obvious and that is that Joe Biden is in a serious significant, precipitous, cognitive decline.

Now, we can also see Nancy Pelosi struggling herself when it comes to her ability to communicate. Then we got third in -- you know, a little out of order but the vice president that is not -- clearly not up to the job.

So, now, all these hostile regimes as we were just discussing want to take full advantage of a weak America and with no real leadership and no ability, seemingly, to engage in a way that would be significant to anybody's benefit.

E. TRUMP: Yeah, that's right, and they all disappear. You know, I was always saying, why is it that this administration always disappears. You have Pete Buttigieg, right? Whenever there's a crisis at the port, guess what? He's on paternity leave.

Kamala Harris is supposed to be taking care of the southern border. Guess what? She goes over to Vietnam when there's a crisis on the southern border. And Joe Biden is in Wilmington, Delaware, when Afghanistan is literally being taken by terrorists, three weeks ago, no mopeds around the place, right?

I mean, these people don't show up, they don't put any fight into this country, they don't have the energy, they don't have the gravitas, right? I mean -- and they are constantly losing because their policy positions are always wrong. You better believe that the leaders around the world -- these are aggressive people, right?

You know, Xi and Putin, all of these guys. They are going to test this guy because they sense of weakness, they can smell the weakness.

They never saw that under Donald Trump. Donald Trump always stood up to these people. He would put massive sanctions on China. He would stand up to Russia. He would give javelin missiles to Ukrainians so they can take out the tanks --

HANNITY: So, let me ask you this.

E. TRUMP: -- in case they ever came over that border.

HANNITY: You know your dad better than anybody. Is your dad going to run in 2024?

E. TRUMP: Well, listen, I'm not going to say that, Sean. But you know what? I certainly hope he does.

As a son and as a person who loves this country, I certainly hope he does because honestly, this country can't take more of this nonsense. I mean, we need real leadership. This isn't toughness. This is an American strength, you know?

I mean, people around the world are laughing at this guy. They're laughing at this administration. We better get tough otherwise we're not going to have a country again.

HANNITY: And I'll tell you, Eric, it's real -- it's humiliating. It's really embarrassing. Anyway, Eric Trump, great to see you. Thank you as always.

All right. Busy news night, straight ahead, crime surging across the country. People like AOC, the left, continue to literally downplay it or deny it. Dan Bongino, Geraldo Rivera, they'll debate that and have reaction.

Also, Senator David Perdue is running for the sitting governor position, the Republican nomination in Georgia. Donald Trump just endorsed him Perdue will join us for his first interview.

And Jussie Smollett took the stand today. I would argue it's not looking good for him, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: Now, Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez tonight is finding new ways to show just how disconnected from reality she really is, telling "The Washington Times" in an interview last week that she doubts what whether the wave of those smash-and-grab lootings are even really happening. She told the paper, quote, a lot of these allegations of organized retail theft are not actually panning out, adding, quote, I believe it's a Walgreens in California that cited it, but the data didn't back it up.

Now that prompted a response from Walgreens, quote, organized retail crime is one of the top challenges the company's facing. That's why they're closing stores in areas.

Now, the issue is by the way has evolved beyond shoplifting and petty theft to the sale of stolen and counterfeit goods online. Now, of course, we have shown you night after night after night, the real world crime surge that is happening in Democratic-run cities from coast to coast -- look at your screen right there -- you got a looting of a Louis Vuitton store in beautiful San Francisco.

By the way, you see that right there. That's a smash-and-grab across the bay in Oakland, California. In that case, targeting a jewelry store last month.

Here's another one. In Oakbrook, Illinois, outside of Chicago -- and that's just a small sample of the left-wing lawlessness all across the country. Now, of course, this is not the first time we have seen Democrats the media mob denying what is unfolding before their very eyes. You might remember this fake news CNN banner during the Kenosha riots.

Look in the background, you can see a city on fire but anyway, fiery but mostly peaceful to describe what is violent rioting.

Even major corporations, they're taking notice of this crime in major cities. For example, Bank of America is now telling junior staffers in New York to dress down amid the city's crime surge.

In Chicago, Lori Lightweight is out there saying we're now learning that a bus driver has been hospitalized -- get this -- after being beaten in the street, 21 juveniles being arrested in connection with that attack. And get this, out in Los Angeles, the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, there was even an armed robbery during a private Christmas party where thieves were demanding that attendees hand over all their jewelry and their phones.

And it doesn't stop there. Look at your screen, of this recent follow home robbery victim. One victim attack, punched in the face by an armed gunman and, of course, this is all the result of this left-wing progressive, you know, policies defund, dismantled, no-bail policies of the Democrats, and the consequence of policies that coddle criminals and fail to protect the innocent.

For example, out in Pueblo, Colorado, the police chief out there is now sounding the alarm about a new city policy that hampers law enforcement's ability to haul thieves off to jail if they steal less than two thousand dollars worth of goods.

Here with reaction, host of "Unfiltered" right here on the FOX News Channel, Dan Bongino, along with FOX News correspondent at large Gerald Rivera.

You know, Dan, I'm thinking about this -- I want to know where's Liz Cheney? You know, I want to know Liz Cheney that is now partnered with the people that called her father a war criminal and a murderer --

DAN BONGINO, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Yeah.

HANNITY: And a crook and with his work with Halliburton, Liz Cheney -- it seems like Washington only cares about one riot, the one that impacted them, the one that you and I condemned and said could never happen again. What about the 535 riots? What about these smash and grabs? Where the committee investigations into these incidents?

In the summer of 2020, we had dozens of Americans dead thousands of cops hurt, billions of dollars in property damage, looting and arson, where's Liz Cheney? I'm trying to find her.

BONGINO: She's too busy issuing January 6 subpoena, Sean. Yeah, people getting robbed livelihoods being destroyed businesses being looted. That's not Liz Cheney's thing. She doesn't have any time for that.

You know, and in regards to the opening of your uh monologue there were you discussing how AOC said that what we're watching on the TV right now I can see on return is not happening, that this is all somehow an act.

You know, I wonder, having run for office, I had the unfortunate experience of meeting a lot of politicians and I came up with a conclusion, Sean, they're one of two things, but they're mostly either really dumb or they're all liars. Most of them are generally liars, they're not all stupid.

When it comes to AOC and Joe Biden though, I'm genuinely not sure if she's a moron. Like she may actually believe none of this is actually happening. So I'm going to give her -- I'm not sure really like most politicians are just really good liars but I'm not sure she's bright enough to figure out if what's happening there is really happening.

But just one more quick notice, you know, on a very serious note, a very small number of criminals, thank the Lord, commits the overwhelming number of crimes. So we don't want everybody committing crimes obviously, right?

And when you let that small number of criminals out and you dump broken windows policing, this is the kind of stuff that happens. None of this is a surprise, Sean.

HANNITY: Geraldo, I heard some laughter there. I'm not sure why.

GERALDO RIVERA, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT AT LARGE: Well, I think that AOC is a unique case. You know, she's spunky, she's independent, she's dead wrong on this. I got news for her and for the whole world --

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: But, by the way, the Democrats denied -- but the Democrats denied all the riots of 2020.

The only one the only riot they care about is the one that impacted them. Not the ones that impact the American people. They're all equally wrong.

RIVERA: And to borrow from the CNN headline, I hope that this discourse with Dan and I can be fiery but mostly peaceful.

But back to the main point, these organized retail crimes are brazen. They are real. They are evidence of the decline and fall of civilization itself, when you have no rules, when government cannot protect people, when government can only stand by and say, oh my, god, what's happening here and tisket, then the -- that's the road to hell to me.

Now, when you think about these kids going home with these stolen goods, how is it that they can take them into their homes, their parents are there, their siblings are there, is that really what's happening? Or -- and I just been thinking about this over the last couple of days, is there really organized crime involvement here taking advantage of reduced sentencing in crimes?

In other words, in California now, you don't get prosecuted if the shoplifting is under $950. So are the organized criminals recruiting all these kids and saying, you snatch the stuff, you get the stuff, you breast it up, you just give me the armfuls, I'll pay you cash then I'll fence it on the Internet. I think that is more likely what is happening.

I mean, Dan with his expertise and reinforcement can --

HANNITY: Dan?

BONGINO: You know, well, yeah, I mean -- listen, we agree, I mean, largely on this. And, Sean, you have to understand -- to the liberals watching your show tonight, I know you've got them, I read their nasty grams on social media.

I want you to know something, you did this to yourselves. I'm serious. I don't wish ill on anyone. I don't.

I'm a Christian. I mean that. I'm a sinner, too. I don't wish ill on anyone. God forbid violence or crime on anyone.

But I'm sorry to tell you, you did this to yourselves.

I live in a conservative county in Florida, Sean. Yeah, we have a crime sporadic crime like anyone else. But you get locked up here, you go to jail and the sheriff down here believe me what I tell you is not screwing around.

They even have a hashtag online, the sheriff's department. You know what it's called? Wrong exit.

In other words, don't get off here if you're a criminal because you'll go to jail and the crime rate here is minuscule. I mean none of this is a shocker. When bad guys start to talk to each other and go, hey, you get locked up down here in Martin County, you're going to jail for a long time, other criminals don't go to Martin County because they don't want to get locked up.

This isn't rocket science, man, you know?

HANNITY: I think I'm going to stop it here because, Dan --

RIVERA: They go to San Francisco or Los Angeles.

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: This is the first time you guys have not killed each other in a long time. We got to end this on a good note.

BONGINO: Crazy, yeah.

RIVERA: The crooks are going to counties or cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles where they know they're going to get lenient treatment --

HANNITY: Exactly.

RIVERA: -- or if not prosecuted at all. I really do think that there has to be an awakening that the people of San Francisco and Los Angeles have to have to express their elected officials --

HANNITY: Geraldo, when the awakening is going to happen?

RIVERA: -- like Proposition 47.

HANNITY: It's going to keep getting worse until, finally, the liberals begin to realize they're the ones getting beaten up and robbed from.

BONGINO: Yes.

HANNITY: Anyway, thank you.

BONGINO: That's what happened in New York, Sean. We saw it, right? That's what happened in New York with Giuliani. They got sick of it eventually.

HANNITY: Dan, Geraldo, we appreciate it. Thank you.

Now, tonight, other breaking news out of the state of Georgia, former Republican Senator David Perdue, he is jumping into the governor's race. He is challenging the incumbent Republican Governor Brian Kemp for the GOP nomination.

I've been saying this. Governor Kemp has lost the confidence of the people, of Republicans, of conservatives of Georgia. David Perdue is by far the stronger candidate to go up against Stacey Abrams. She's a formidable candidate. Kemp would also end up hurting Herschel Walker in his race against Raphael Warnock. That can't happen either.

So, Perdue's announcement and his endorsement just earlier tonight from former President Trump should be a welcome sign for all Georgia Republicans and conservatives that actually would like to win the state of Georgia in 2022.

Meanwhile, Stacey Abrams, she's out trying to rewrite history. She goes over to tin foil hat Rachel Maddow show, trying to claim that she never ever cast out on the election results back in 2018. Rachel, of course, let her get away with this lie.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STACEY ABRAMS (D), GEORGIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: On the night on the 16th of November when I acknowledged that I would not become the governor that he had won the election, I did not challenge the outcome of the election, unlike some recent folks did. What I said was that the system was not fair, and leaders challenge systems. Leaders say we can do better. And that's what I declared.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: All right. That is not true. In fact, over and over again, Abram suggested she won the race. We have the tape to prove it. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABRAMS: To watch an elected official who claims to represent the people in this state baldly pinned his hopes for election on the suppression of the people's democratic right to vote has been truly appalling. So let's be clear this is not a speech of concession.

We had this little election back in 2018, despite the final tally and the inauguration and the situation we find ourselves in, I do have one very affirmative statement to make. We won. I believe was a stolen election -- and I'm not saying they stole it from me -- they stole it from the voters of Georgia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Where's the outrage from the media mob of questioning the results of election, refusing to concede? I thought this was the worst defense imaginable. When is NBC going to care about the facts and reality? And why was there no pushback from those obvious provable lies from Abrams?

Now, of course, we know why, because the mob and the media just like the big tech mob is an arm of the Democratic Party, parroting the same talking points, the same fake news and living in the same echo chamber.

Here with reaction, former senator now Georgia gubernatorial candidate David Perdue.

I'm glad you got in because Governor Kemp -- in my view and I've been saying this -- cannot win. He has lost confidence with every -- you know, I lived in Georgia for a while. He's lost confidence from all of my friends in Georgia and you have their confidence. And now, this is good for you and it's good for Herschel Walker.

Tell us about why you got in?

DAVID PERDUE (R), CANDIDATE FOR GEORGIA GOVERNOR: Well, I got in very simply to stop Stacey Abrams and save our state. It's a sad state that the cur -- sad state of affairs that our current governor has lost the confidence of many Republicans.

But, Sean, I'm excited. This has been a great day. Since our announcement this morning, this is my first interview.

And as you said, just a few minutes ago, Donald Trump has given us his full endorsement in our campaign and if you'll permit me. I need your viewers to join Donald Trump and me tonight in helping us stop Stacey Abrams by going to DavidPerdueGA.com.

She wants to transform our state into another failed state like California. You heard all that news about San Francisco just now. That's what she wants to bring to Georgia, and I'm going to stand in the breach and make sure she never does that.

HANNITY: Well, and you pointed out things about Abrams. He barely beat her the last time. I thought he ran a terrible campaign.

I would argue that we just proved Stacey Abrams lied when she went on Rachel Maddow's show. I think there might be a campaign ad there, just a humble suggestion from a -- from a member of the press, a talk show host.

But in reality, the -- I really think the consent agreement that was made with the Republican Party, Raffensperger (ph) and Kemp defending it all was one of the worst decisions ever because it took away some of the integrity measures that I think every state should have. We need voter ID, signature verification, chain of custody controls. There was no accommodation made for COVID.

You have a law -- correct me if I'm wrong -- in Georgia, like many other states, that says partisan observers get to watch the vote count start to finish. You can't watch a vote count from 20, 40, 100 feet away, can you?

PERDUE: No. And look, Stacey Abrams on her side complained about the election. We've seen irregularities in this election. What the people of Georgia want is voter integrity. They want to know in our democracy when they vote, it's going to count and not be stolen.

Let's be very clear though. Stacey Abrams is not interested in Georgia. She wants to become president of the United States, and this is the Democratic Party's way of showcasing her, and I believe that we'll be able to stop that.

But I want to run a race based on my vision for our state, not looking backwards, Sean, but looking forward.

I mean, we're going to make sure this never happens again but I want to eliminate the state income tax. Give education of our children back to our parents. I want to make our cities and states safe again. I want to fight Biden at every turn on these silly mandates that you call out every night.

And I'll tell you one more thing, Sean. Over my dead body will we ever do what Kemp did and that is turn our elections over to Stacey Abrams. We'll never let that happen again.

HANNITY: And there was only one thing missing that I saw in Georgia's new law. I think there are five, six things that need to be done. You brought back just like Delaware, voter ID. You have chain of custody controls, as I understand it. Partisan observers can observe, updating voter rolls, signature verification.

Can that be added before the next election? I think that should be standard in every state.

PERDUE: Well, Sean, you point out the changes. Our state legislature did a good job this past year, this year, making some changes. It's not perfect yet. But we can't let Republicans not vote again.

In this election, both in the primary and the general, we learn in my runoff and Kelly Loeffler's runoff, that if we don't vote, they're going to win, the other side wins. So we have to get out and vote. It's not perfect but it's good enough.

It's what President Trump said in the Virginia race the night before the election, get out and vote. Let's overwhelm the shortcomings, put a new governor in and we'll get it fixed. That's my pledge to the people of Georgia.

HANNITY: I'll add one thing to that. Republicans all across the country, if this is the law, if -- you've got to match the Democrats with mail-in voting and early voting. If that's going to be the way the system goes, you better engage it the way they do because they work hard at it.

David Perdue, I'm glad you got in this race. I hope you win this primary. I think you deserve to be the governor. I know you'd be a good governor for Georgia and we appreciate you being with us.

PERDUE: Thanks, Sean.

HANNITY: Now turning to another developing story out of Chicago, where actor Jussie Smollett testified at his trial today, tried to claim that there was no hate crime hoax or staged attack despite overwhelming evidence and testimony to the contrary.

Here with the very latest, our very own Matt Finn.

Matt, he had a lot to go up against, including -- well, his friends involved in the issue.

MATT FINN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah and Smollett for the first time has not testified under oath, claiming there was no hoax. And Smollett and his defense team are now trying to discredit the Chicago police and the Osundairo brothers who testified on the stand that this was a hoax.

And some of the other highlights from Smollett on the stand today -- he testified that he did not call police after his alleged attack because, quote, as a black man, he does not trust police. Smollett explained that on the night of the alleged attack, he got a call from one of the Osundairo brothers who told Smollett he needed to eat some eggs in order to keep up with his meal plan. Smollett testified that's why he went to the Walgreens and the subway after 1:00 a.m. on a frigid night.

Also, Smollett countered what some of the Osundairo brothers testified under oath. Smollett light saying he did have sexual encounters with one of the brothers and that he did pay one of the brothers for cocaine. Smollett also insists he has a scar beneath one of his eyes from the alleged attack even though the northwestern doctor who treated Smollett testified under oath that Smollett had no known injuries.

Smollett also told the court that one of his attackers was pale skinned, and there was a security guard who backed him up saying that he saw a white-skinned male run away from the Smollett scene although that security guard only saw the male for a flash and that male had a ski mask on.

Smollett is scheduled to retake the stand tomorrow, Sean.

HANNNITY: All right. The case gets more fascinating by the day, a lot of twists and turns. Matt Finn, thank you.

Coming up, with just weeks to go in his term, Comrade de Blasio just announced that all private sector employees in New York City must be vaccinated. And by the way, you have a 5 to 11-year-old child, they're not getting in a restaurant unless they're vaccinated.

Leo 2.0 Terrell, Pam Bondi weighs in on the legality of this radical policy, the most radical in the country. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: Now with just weeks left in office, New York City mayor, Comrade Bill de Blasio, the dumbest mayor in history is now imposing a first in the nation vaccine mandate for all private sector employers in the -- in the city of New York. Get this, he's also requiring 5 to 11-year-olds have at least one shot if they are to eat at a restaurant or go to any other indoor gathering.

Tonight, the mayor's doubling down on stupid. Obviously, he's not learned a thing from governors like DeSantis and Abbott and Noem and every other Republican governor. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK CITY: Here in New York City, we were the epicenter of the COVID crisis. We lost so many people in this neighborhood and neighborhoods all over the city. We didn't have PPE, we didn't have ventilators. We were alone.

And then we started to fight back and vaccines came in. We focused on vaccination. It made all the difference. We're now the safest place in this country.

But we've got to go even farther. Omicron's here, winter's coming, we've got to go even farther. Today in New York City, we announced a mandate.

All private sector employers must have their employees vaccinated by December 27th. This is what's going to keep us safe. This is the kind of thing we need to do now, not just here but everywhere, so we can leave COVID behind once and for all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: He didn't have ventilators and PPE because he didn't listen to his own health advisors and the state advisors that said they needed to buy them. They never did. But Trump provided them.

Here with reaction, FOX News contributor and attorney, Leo 2.0 Terrell, along with former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Pam, well we'll start with you tonight.

So the CDC points out that kids between the ages of 5 and 11, we lost about the same very low percentage of kids that age at the time that we last looked, it was 162, as kids that we lose to the flu every year.

So, now, you're going to mandate a vaccine for five-year-olds or they can't go anywhere in public?

PAM BONDI, FORMER FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL: This is the ultimate big brother. Parents, you have the right to control the vaccinations that your children take. Sean, this is the Grinch who stole Christmas at its worst. Look what this guy is doing. He's -- this is crazy what he is doing to children, to our businesses in New York City.

And who's going to police this. Crime is through the roof.

So what's he going to do have police officers policing whether children and private businesses are vaccinated. It's ridiculous. Our businesses are also going to suffer as you know tremendously from this. It's unreal what he's doing.

HANNITY: Leo, we've had now multiple court decisions that put a hold on this Biden mandate. I can't see this holding up in law -- in a court of law, especially when you consider the statistics I just mentioned.

Your reaction?

LEO TERRELL, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Let me be as clear as possible. This is a lame duck decision made by lame duck mayor. The federal court has already ruled on this.

He's only has four weeks left. He knows it's unconstitutional. He knows it's illegal. He will not even be around to enforce it, you know why? Because it's not going to be enforced.

These employers are going to file a federal lawsuit and they're going to prevail, and they got three court cases by the same sleepy Joe Biden who try to impose a mandate on workers over 100 employees. It's not going to work. It's illegal.

Now, I hope that next mayor does the right thing and stop wasting employers and businesses money and rescind this idiotic lame duck decision.

HANNITY: Last word, Pam?

BONDI: As Leo said, the courts have ruled multiple times, this is unconstitutional. It's over broad. You cannot do it. He is showing complete lack of respect for the federal court rulings and at America First policy institute, Sean, we are challenging these cases. Whether it's the Navy SEALs, our kids or our private businesses, to look out for America first and not the Grinch.

HANNITY: I can't believe that they're doing this to kids too, when the numbers -- five to 11 year olds, a little over 160. You know, 0.0008 percent risk. The same -- almost the same as the flu. This won't stand in court.

Thank you both.

All right. When we continue, more HANNITY right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: Unfortunately, that is all the time we have left for this evening. As always, you make the show possible. We can't thank you enough for being with us.

We hope you'll set your DVR so you never, ever, ever miss an episode. But I have good news, in the meantime, let not your hearts be troubled because Laura Ingraham is standing by and we know she has a great show every night like tonight.

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