'Hannity' on Virginia governor

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Virginia governor under barrage of media, Democratic attacks

Va. Gov Glenn Youngkin joins 'Hannity' with reaction

This is a rush transcript of "Hannity" on February 9, 2022. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: I'm shocked you're against giving away free crack pipes. That's outrageous, Tucker. That's an outrageous position. It's going to be all over the news.

All right. Thank you.

CARLSON: It is.

HANNITY: And welcome to HANNITY.

We do have a lot of news tonight.

Sara Carter is live with truckers in Ottawa. Look at -- look at this crowd. And looks like they're having a -- good to see, everybody. Sara, say hello.

Anyway, we have the very latest on the freedom convoy, that's straight ahead.

First, tonight, the masks are finally coming off, finally, even in far left states like New York and Illinois. But while the mandates are finally coming to an end, there's one weird, bizarre, puzzling exception. In many blue states, children -- you know, the ones that have a zero percent statistical COVID death rate that aren't impacted like older people and people with comorbidities, people obese, people with pre-existing conditions, compromised immune systems, yet, the least likely people to get seriously ill from COVID, they're still forcing your children to wear masks in school and other public settings.

This isn't about science. This is about health -- it's not about health or safety either, or the spread of COVID.

Democrats, teachers unions, they are playing politics with the well-being of your children and the last thing these people want to do is what they keep telling us to do, follow the science. According to multiple studies, face masks are harming the development of our kids. A report in "USA Today" details how first graders are way behind in reading. Kids are also having a harder time making friends and recognizing faces, speaking and motor skills apparently also are impaired.

One three-year-old in New Jersey was kicked out of speech therapy for not wearing their mask. Others are forced out of school altogether. You have 29 students in Loudoun County in Virginia suspended for mask violations, despite Governor Youngkin's order making masks optional. He'll join us in a minute.

Meanwhile in the Bronx, in New York, and in New York City, two high schoolers were suspended, they weren't wearing their masks. But here is the idiotic fill-in New York Governor Kathy Hochul making zero sense, in the Bronx, no mask, surrounded by masked children.

And this week, she ended the mass mandate for adults, but not for the people least -- that are the least vulnerable, you know? And not for the people that are least impacted by this, the kids.

Now, here is wannabe governor of Georgia or in her mind still governor of Georgia, Stacey Abrams, and she fully supports all the mask mandates for kids, but she can't be bothered to be a good example and wear one herself because of her age alone, never mind maybe any comorbidity she may have. Abrams is at a much higher risk for COVID-19 than any one of those kids with their mask on in that room, and yet she's the only one not wearing the mask.

Now here is a 70-year-old lady Jill Biden also no mask surrounded by kids, all wearing masks. And here is 64-year-old teachers union boss Randi Weingarten maskless on MSDNC demanding your kids continue to wear masks. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What Dr. McBride just told us about mass not particularly being effective for children, what's the argument against taking off masks in schools?

RANDI WEINGARTEN, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS: Well, the argument is that you have -- well, let me just say this. I am in favor of an off-ramp on masks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

WEINGARTEN: The real issue becomes are, is the -- is the spread low enough so that there's no dissemination or transmission in schools?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Now, don't forget, Randi Weingarten was an advocate of virtual learning and has been for a while. For months, she tried to keep schools closed and Randi Weingarten doesn't give a rip about the well-being of your kids.

And meanwhile, the always honest, always trustworthy, always consistent, you know, I knew all about the funding of the Wuhan virology lab but I'm lying about it, Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Rochelle Walensky also want to make sure that your kids stay masked at all times. Forget the science. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: We understand what governors are saying. We also want to make sure that people are safe and the CDC has not amended our guidance right now. We continue to recommend masking in schools for everyone. We continue to recommend masking in public indoor settings in areas of higher substantial transmission and that right now is everywhere in the country.

HOST: What are your thoughts on children, first of all, needing to wear masks at school and what do you think about the possibility we're going to be able to lift?

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NIAID: Well, certainly, there will come a time hopefully traveling later when we will be able to lift the mask mandate in general, including to school, but we're not there yet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANITY: I am so sick of hearing his voice, seeing him on TV. He's been wrong the entire time.

And again, children are the least likely to get seriously ill or die from COVID-19. That doesn't matter to the so-called experts because the experts don't really care about real science, only convenient science or risk analysis or common sense, none of that applies. They only care about optics.

My prediction in a few days, maybe a few weeks, they will suddenly recommend masks are no longer needed. They will say the science is magically changed when in reality, it's going to be public opinion that changes in an election year and their power is the only thing that will change their mind and clinging on to that power.

Now, we are already seeing this at fake news CNN. They have a top so-called medical expert. Her name is Dr. Leana Wen. And she is the former president of Planned Parenthood, former health commissioner for the city of Baltimore. So, obviously, she's extremely trustworthy and competent. Dr. Wen recently said that she now favors lifting mask mandates because science has changed. Five months ago, she was arguing that unvaccinated Americans should not be allowed to leave their homes in America.

Now, of course, in just five months, the science hasn't changed, but the polls have. And a new Republican governor was elected in the commonwealth of Virginia after promising to end draconian COVID-19 mandates and empowering parents and letting them decide. After he was sworn in as governor, Governor Youngkin began implementing his campaign promises.

And for the simple act of fulfilling his popular proposals that got him elected in a purple to blue state that is Virginia, many on the left are vilifying Youngkin.

Now, "The Washington Post", you can check it almost every day. They smear him now nearly on a daily basis for no logical reason, except they hate anybody that's conservative. Jim Acosta quivered as he announced that Glenn Youngkin was turning Virginia into a Soviet-style police state by making masks optional.

Liberal school boards in northern Virginia defied Youngkin's executive order on masks, spending maskless -- sending maskless students apparently home and you know trying to stick it to the new Republican governor.

Now, these Democrats are playing political football but the people they're playing football with are your kids -- thankfully, they're losing. The Virginia Senate, by the way, controlled by Democrats, they just voted to end the mask mandates in schools by a whopping margin of 29-9.

As Youngkin stated, quote, this vote shows that school boards are attacking their own students. They're suddenly detached from -- stunningly detached from reality and it's time to put kids first and get back to normal.

Joining us now with more is the Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin.

I think your win is a preview of coming attractions. You made a campaign promise. The issue of children's schools was a huge issue in your campaign. You kept your promise, then school districts decided not to listen to you? And now, apparently, got Democrats in the legislature going along with you?

GOV. GLENN YOUNGKIN (R), VIRGINIA: Yeah, Sean. This is a defining moment for parents and kids in Virginia, and we have a bipartisan movement to get parents back in charge of their kids' lives because remember parents matter, and that's what voters said loudly in November. And so, all of a sudden now, where Virginia has been leading, we're seeing the rest of the country also come around us, because it's time to get back to normal.

It's time to empower parents. And I'm so excited that Virginia is leading in a bipartisan way to give parents the power to choose, whether their child wears a mask or not in school.

HANNITY: All right. The question is -- you're given the option. If parents want their kids to still wear the mask, the parents can instruct their kids to wear the mask. Then, it's their choice. I thought Democrats were pro- choice.

YOUNGKIN: Well, this is -- this is the reality of I think the misperceptions that the media is trying to drive. If you want to wear a mask, wear a mask. And as -- if you don't want your child to wear a mask, then they shouldn't wear a mask. And this is a decision that parents should make.

We've been talking about this for a year in Virginia. This is one of the major factors that led to our win in November. We went to work on day one driving forward our agenda, 11 executive actions, 59 bills in our House and our Senate, 25 budget amendments to put our day one game plan to work.

And part of that is empowering parents. And I'm so excited to see a bipartisan group come together and recognize that Virginia voters are the ones we all work for, not the education unions or the school boards. We work for parents and kids and teachers and we're going to allow parents to make a decision for their kids.

You know, in Virginia, we are going to get taxes down. We are going to make our schools great again. We, in fact, are going to make our communities safe. We're going to get our economy moving again in order to create jobs for everybody.

And guess what we're going to stand up for our constitutional rights. These are not Republican values. These are Virginia values. These are American values, and I'm so excited to see our Senate work on a bipartisan basis to deliver part of the agenda.

HANNITY: You know, I want to read to a tweet -- he's not the brightest knife in the drawer but to be honest, Joe Lockhart, a former press secretary. He tweeted, what does he do first talking about you? He encourages kids to go to school without a mask. Kids will die. The same old Republicans, and others called you even worse names.

What's interesting to me now is -- now, you've got a New Jersey governor nearly lost if we would have paid a little more attention. I think that governorship could have been won by Republicans. Then you've got Delaware. Now, you've got the beginning of ending the mass mandates in New York they haven't done it for kids yet. But I think it will soon follow.

Now, all those very same people are quiet and I have noticed a pattern that it seems "The Washington Post" has a hit piece on you every single day. And if they get it wrong, I hope you sue them.

YOUNGKIN: Well, Sean, when you're making change, there are people that are going to disagree with you. As I said, Virginians sent us here to do a job and I'm going to do it, and I'm not going to make everybody happy along the way. But you know what, in the campaign, folks, actually said that we weren't going to deliver and we've delivered.

And we in fact are pressing forward and I know that that those people that disagree with me are going to continue to do everything they can to stop us. But you know what, Virginians sent us here to get something done. We are going to deliver.

This as I said is a absolute big moment for Virginia's families, for Virginia parents, for Virginia kids, and I can't wait to go to work tomorrow to get the next thing done.

HANNITY: Well, we're looking forward to that. Looks like you have a few battles ahead.

Governor Youngkin, congrats on your victory and thank you for taking time to be with us.

Now we turn to the White House. Joe Biden called the lid at 3:30 this afternoon. Without a doubt, Biden is in a precipitous decline. This is where it gets serious.

We have three new polls from "Politico," Rasmussen, "The Economists" all show him underwater by 10 points or more.

Now, listen, to this -- for the first time ever, "Real Clear Politics" average, Biden's approval rating is below 40, in the 30s. That's the conglomerate accumulation of all the polls that are out there.

Polls are also showing Americans deeply worried about Biden's mental fitness and frankly for good reason. Yes, this show's been ahead of the curve on this issue. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The idea that --

(MUSIC)

The --

(MUSIC)

But the nature not when the political coverage --

(MUSIC)

That look -- some of the political players and some of the --

(MUSIC)

Let me ask a rhetorical question -- no, anyway.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Now, 40 Republican lawmakers are calling on Biden to take a cognitive test just like his predecessor Donald Trump took. Donald Trump aced the test. My guess is Biden will never take that test because everybody knows the results will not be any good.

Here with more, the author of "Holding the Line", congressman and former White House doctor, Ronny Jackson, and FOX News contributor Miranda Devine.

Dr. Jackson, we've talked about this before. Now, when I pointed his cognitive issues out during the campaign, there were very few people that were willing to go there with me and I was kind of hanging out on a limb as is often my position in life doing my job. I see in the year that he's been president, an even more dramatic decline. Now, if I'm right and reading the science, this is something if somebody has a -- is in a cognitive decline, it usually never gets better but it does get worse.

Do you see a change in the one year since he's been in office in terms of his cognitive abilities?

REP. RONNY JACKSON (R-TX): Well, absolutely, Sean, I definitely see a change, and I'm not the only one. You can look at the polls. There's been a 19-point drop in people who think he's cognitively fit to be our president. Now, over 50 percent of the population thinks that he's not.

And, you know, this is a serious issue, Sean. I took care of three presidents. You know, I took care of Bush and Obama and Trump. I was in the White House for 14 years as a White House physician. I know this is a serious accusation at this particular point, but like you, I've been saying this since he was candidate Joe Biden.

And he is the leader of the free world. He has to be able to the -- this job cognitively and mentally -- or mentally and physically is very demanding and he's proven to us every single day that he's not up for the job, Sean. This is on full display for the whole world right now, and we need to address this issue before it before something bad happens.

So I think that this is something that we need to talk about something that needs to be addressed by the White House by his medical team and we need to do something about what's going on. It's not going well for us.

HANNITY: And that cognitive test, my understanding and you've described it to me before, is not easy. It's extraordinarily hard. There are 30 questions if I remember correctly, and Donald Trump got all of them, right?

JACKSON: That's right. Absolutely.

You got to get 26 on it to be considered normal. I don't think Joe Biden could get anywhere close to that. I mean, not even anywhere close to that at this particular point, and that's what concerns me about this right now.

So -- they need to do something to address this issue because he's inspiring confidence in our -- in our adversaries. He's not inspiring any confidence in our allies. He's destroying this country right now domestically and internationally. And something bad is going to happen if he stays in office for another three years.

This man is not mentally fit, not cognitively fit to be our commander in chief, and our head of state. We need to do something about it. We need to do something about it before something bad happens.

HANNITY: You know, Miranda, there's no way that every single person that is around him that -- it's -- there's no way they don't know and it's -- to me, it's obvious they're covering for him, which is why we rarely see him. And in the lead up to any big event, he needs days of practice.

I used to joke about it. I used to talk about sippy cup Joe and warm milky Joe, I'm not joking about it now. My question to you is, is this country headed towards a crisis where there's a possibility that we may need to invoke that 25th Amendment that the liberal media talked about so often as it related to Donald Trump?

MIRANDA DEVINE, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Hi, Sean. Look, it's obvious to everybody that Joe Biden has got cognitive problems and it's obvious -- most obviously to his wife Jill Biden. So that's the question. Why did she allow him to run and why does she continue to put him in this position?

But I do think there's also a problem with continually harping on this issue because the Democrats are not going to allow him to do a cognitive test just because Republicans are urging them to. They're not going to do it until they're ready to get rid of him. Now that may come sooner rather than later, but at the moment, he's convenient while he's useful to them, they will keep him.

The other problem is, I think that by just attributing all his incompetence, all the disasters in his first year simply to his cognitive unfitness is not correct and it's really not fair to the American people. He knows what he's been doing. He knows that he signed all those executive orders to open the southern border and so on on day one. He is not completely gaga yet.

And yes, you can -- yes, and I know that people who have sat in meetings with him say that he can follow an agenda, ticks off controls meetings and that his staff -- people like Antony Blinken defer to him. And I think the Republicans need to have a strategy.

So they're calling for this cognitive test. What if he does sit it and what if he fails?

Then we have Kamala Harris is that going to be better or worse for the country.

HANNITY: I can't really answer that question. Miranda, it's a brilliant question, which is why you're such a brilliant writer.

Here's a question, I just showed the Republican Party, they put out Joe Biden after that disastrous press conference of his. Question, if somebody showed you a tape of somebody that was going to drive your children -- and you saw that a similar tape of that person, would you feel comfortable allowing that person to drive your children, I don't know to some event maybe an hour away, Ronny?

JACKSON: No, absolutely not, Sean. And I agree with some of what was just said, I don't agree with everything was what it said. I think that he doesn't know what's going on because to be honest with you, I don't think that he's engaged for the vast majority of the day. I think they roll him out for specific things. They haven't read a teleprompter. They queue him up just enough.

But I don't think he's in -- I don't think he's in the loop on what's going on in this country day-to-day --

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: And didn't know let's go Brandon. He didn't know that his own administration was offering payouts for families separated at the border and then he embraced it, which I don't know which is worse.

But I'm running out of time. Miranda, real quick on the car question, we have about 20 seconds. If you saw that tape and somebody was going to come over and that was the person that was going to drive your kids to an hour in one direction an hour home, would you feel comfortable?

DEVINE: Of course not. I mean, if that was your grandfather, you would take away his license. And you know, Dr. Jackson is completely right. It's really worrying that someone like that is in the Oval Office.

But still, what is the next game? I actually personally think having Kamala Harris in this chair would be better for Republicans because at the moment, there's still a third of the country that believes that Joe Biden is -- you know, honest and decent and honorable and modest and humble and a guy who is a moderate who wants to bring the country together, when the opposite is the truth. And it's not just the cognitive problems.

HANNITY: All right. This will be interesting how it plays out. This is not good for the country. It's not good for the world and we're taking it seriously. Thank you both.

Straight ahead, as usual, more confusion circulating around Biden's latest radical policy. Is the government now going to provide crack pipes to users? Senator Kennedy in his unique way will weigh in, and then we're going to head to Ottawa where our own Sara Carter -- well, she's in the middle of what looks like a block party of truckers. We'll tell you about it. We'll just show straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: All right. Just in a few moments, Sara Carter apparently is having a big party with the truckers in Ottawa. We'll go live to the scene.

Now, the Biden administration is on defense yet again tonight amid outrage over their reported scheme to use grant money to hand out free crack pipes, now claiming no pipes will not be included in these smoking kits for drug users. Now, circle back propagandist Jen Psaki saying, well, it will be things like alcohol wipes and lip balm. That's what very crack addict need, every meth user needs, every heroin addict needs, is lip balm. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: HHS just put out a statement clarifying around some reports that crack pipes are not going to be part of the safe smoking kits that are funded by the administration. But can you clarify for us, were they never a part of the kit or were they removed in response to this reporting and this push back?

PSAKI: They were never part of the kit. It was inaccurate reporting and we wanted to put out information to make that clear.

REPORTER: What is in the same smoking kit?

PSAKI: A safe smoking kit may contain alcohol swabs, lip balm, other materials to promote hygiene and reduce the transmission of diseases like HIV and hepatitis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Thirty million dollars for lip balm.

Here with reaction, Louisiana Senator John Kennedy.

You know, the original free beacon article, Senator, you know, I don't know. Maybe I've been doing this job for way too long, 33 years in radio, 26 years here at FOX. But call me suspicious. I suspect that the crack pipe was included for meth and crack users but the pushback maybe made them think twice. Your thought?

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): Once again, intelligence is chasing the Biden administration. But the Biden administration is managing to beat it.

This entire controversy in my judgment, Sean, is why millions of Americans tonight are thinking, you know, Republicans aren't perfect and God knows we're not. But the other side is crazy.

Now think about this, President Biden has decided to take $30 million of taxpayer money from his emergency COVID bill that he passed with Democratic support last March and he wants to use it to facilitate the smoking of crack cocaine and meth, in the name of racial justice, racial equity. He says his people say they can make the smoking of crack cocaine and meth safer.

First, why are they using COVID money? Number two, why are they using any money at all? There's no safe way to smoke crack or meth. Sooner or later, it kills you. And that's just a fact.

Why do we want to facilitate it? Why Americans are asking themselves, wouldn't we take this money and use it to help people get off get off the illicit drugs? Why wouldn't we take this money, the American people are asking themselves, and use it to stop the drugs from coming in our country in the first place by securing the border?

And what does -- what does any of this have to do with racial justice? Crack cocaine and meth, whether you smoke it or inject it will kill you, it doesn't matter what color you are, or what your gender is.

Now, look, stupidity is a lot like pornography. It's very hard to define but you know it when you see it. This is stupidity.

HANNITY: You know, Senator, how many spend million dollars -- I don't know, I'm just doing simple math here, and all you're buying is lip balm and -- let's see -- alcohol wipes, or whatever, clean wipes, whatever they're going to buy? Thirty million dollars would probably be a lifetime or decade supply for the entire country. So I don't believe them.

Do you think as I do that they're lying? Because I think the original plan is what was reported in "The Washington Free Beacon".

KENNEDY: Well, you know, maybe George Washington couldn't tell a lie, but just about every politician since then has mastered the art. I suspect they're not being candid, you're right. Originally, the administration said they would include crack pipes. Now, Jen Psaki said today, nope, we're going to leave out the crack pipes.

But they're still sending out kits, illicit drug smoking kits that are designed to facilitate the smoking of crack cocaine and meth. And they say, if you use our kits, it's safer and it promotes racial equity.

There's no safe way to use crack cocaine and meth. Sooner or later, it kills you. Why aren't we spending this money to get people off the illicit drugs? Why aren't we spending this money to stop the drugs from coming into our country?

And what does any of this have to do with COVID and what does any of this have to do with racial equity or racial justice? I mean, this is -- this is -- there aren't words in English, Sean. I swear to God, they just -- the Biden administration just keeps kicking its own rear end and I don't understand it.

HANNITY: You know what? And I don't want to stop them from doing it because we really need new leadership quickly.

Senator, we always love having you. Thank you for being with us.

KENNEDY: Thank you.

HANNITY: All right. And coming, you see that? A live shot from Ottawa. Our very own Sara Carter, investigative reporter, live on the ground with the truckers as they countinue their protest against draconian vaccine mandates.

Also, Governor Kristi Noem will join us live.

Stay with us tonight on HANNITY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: Freedom convoy is still going strong tonight and it's spreading all over the world, Europe, New Zealand, here in the U.S., building support, gaining momentum, standing up against one-size-fits-all medicine. Even amid relentless baseless attacks from the Biden of the north, the gutless, the cowardly Justin Trudeau who continues to refuse to meet with the truckers and hear their valid concerns and we're continuing to learn more about the convoy disrupting a U.S.-Canada border crossing as essential workers now continue to make their voices heard. By the way, that's about $300 million of commerce daily that stopped.

So what are you going to do, Justin? Joey? I know you're asleep, when you wake up, maybe somebody can ask you in the morning, what are you going to do?

And to our friends in Canada, I can tell you with a high degree of certainty that Joe Biden is asleep, he's had his cup of warm milky and probably won't even know or remember the story in the morning.

Here on the ground in Ottawa with the very latest, investigative reporter, FOX News contributor Sara Carter.

Sara, first thing, please tell these truckers that they -- the American working people in this -- people in this country stand in solidarity with what they're doing and for the freedom movement that they're leading.

SARA CARTER, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: That's absolutely right, Sean. I can't even begin to tell you how warm the welcome was here for me and how open everyone's been. You can hear them seeing the national anthem, the American national anthem in the background. They were singing the Canadian national anthem.

They're here for freedom and they are frustrated and they are a bit angry at the way Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has described them and what they say is fake news about them.

Take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARTER: There's been a lot of talk about people here, the truckers not being kind, that there's a lot of violence, that they're racist. Are you -- what are you seeing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would say that's baloney.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're not showing the truth, so they're not showing the whole picture.

CARTER: How frustrated are you with that? Because I -- that's what I've been getting from everybody here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because you only see one side of the story. They're only painting the pictures of that one -- those few bad apples out of the bunch. So just leave us alone, let us be -- open it up.

CARTER: What do you have to say to Prime Minister Trudeau?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He should be out. He should have came out and talked to everybody at the very beginning, instead of calling people Nazis. And there's nobody like that here. He's got to listen.

CARTER: Does it surprise you that the prime minister and others are trying to threaten people who are helping you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not surprised by that. When you don't have anything on anybody, you tend to call names and make things up. That's what they're doing.

CARTER: Do you feel it's the governments that are really dividing the people here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A hundred percent, yeah. The one thing Trudeau has really truly done is united the people against him. He tried to divide this country, but he has brought unity with this convoy here, unity and against him. T

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is global now. The entire world is watching. We've had, you know, support from the European parliament, from nations everywhere, everywhere. It's global and people are waking up, and we're trying to show that to the world that this is a unified front. It's all of the people and there's no stopping this now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARTER: Sean, I got to tell you, the people here in Canada, the truckers, say they are tired of living like prisoners in their own homes for the last two years. They say nobody is going to be able to make them move until the prime minister lifts the mandates and lifts the mask mandates and the vaccine mandates, and they are -- you can hear that. Yeah, they love you. They love you, Sean. They love you.

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: Sara, do me a favor, before you go, please tell them that me and many of the viewers of the show, if not the vast overwhelming majority, we support what they are doing. We thank them for being peaceful, and standing up to their gutless and cowardly prime minister. I hope they stay there until they win. You can tell them I'll wait.

CARTER: I got to tell you, guys. Sean sends a message. He sends a message. He said, we are standing beside you. He is standing beside you.

And he wants you and is grateful that you are sending a message to your gutless prime minister who won't face you. So, you tell him what you got to say.

HANNITY: Okay. By the way, last week -- don't tell them I'm a New York Rangers fan, that may not go over as well.

CARTER: Oh, no, that will not go over well. I will keep that one to myself, Sean. Thanks.

HANNITY: OK. Sara, thank you.

All right. Of course, the corrupt media mob -- they're following the lead of the spineless, gutless Trudeau and claiming the truckers are insurrectionist. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE SCHMIDT, FORMER GOP STRATEGIST: We know that this autocratic movement is a cult of personality. We know it's fueled by a grievance and conspiracy theories. It is all part of this toxic stew.

And when you look at it, this movement possesses all of the markers that any expert on the field would require to say that yes, this is an autocratic movement. It is metastasized north of the border and you have an insurrection underway in the capital of a very important country, our neighbor to the north, Canada.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Steve, what happened, now blaming Republicans, everything is an insurrection, except the riots in 2020 in the summer, 574.

Now these are the same essential workers -- yeah, they are the ones that stepped up during COVID and were diving on COVID grenades throughout 2020. They kept the world running. They kept all of the medical supplies and medicines coming in.

And now this is how you talk about them?

Here with reaction, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem.

You know, Governor, without farmers farming and packers packing and truckers trucking, I don't think we would have survived, especially that first year of COVID. They were the heroes then. What happened?

GOV. KRISTI NOEM (R), SOUTH DAKOTA: Yeah, they absolutely were, Sean. In fact, we've had thousands of people take refuge in South Dakota in the last two years. They picked up their whole families and move to our state because they recognize the government that wanted to respect their freedoms. They wanted to let them use personal responsibility in these types of decisions.

And the media, the left used fear to control people and they are still doing it today, Sean.

Last night, CNN wrote -- did a terrible story on South Dakota saying that our hospitalization rates were 60 percent above normal, that we had another hot, you know, increase in -- spike in cases and hospitalizations here in South Dakota. It was a complete and utter lie. In fact, our cases and hospitalizations have dropped dramatically the last several weeks.

The amazing amount of dishonesty in the national media that is happening, supporting leaders like Trudeau and others, who are taking away people's personal freedom, to me, it's still unbelievable to watch. And it's more important than ever that the people have fortitude. That they stand up and continue to demand that they be respected and that we continue to fight to make sure the next generation gets the chance to actually live in a free country anymore.

HANNITY: Governor, you got slammed in the beginning because you said, I trust the people of your state to make the right decisions. And you never wavered the whole time, now year three. You never wavered once that I saw.

(CROSSTALK)

NOEM: No, we never did. We never did a mandate. We never once shut anything down. I didn't even define what an essential business is in South Dakota because I don't have the authority to tell businesses that they're not essential.

But it's still happening today. Last night, this story that CNN did was unbelievable to me. Filled with lies and dishonesty that wasn't even close to the truth.

And that's what's amazing. For two years, they've kept this drumbeat up. And it's so inspiring to watch people say enough is enough, and we are going to move our family somewhere where we can be respected and have freedom, and we're going to show up and make sure these leaders can't forget about us where we are and ensure that they understand that they don't have the authority to do what they're doing.

HANNITY: Governor, I have some good news as we close out this segment. You keep referring to the CNN segment.

NOEM: Yeah.

HANNITY: Nobody saw it, so you don't have to worry.

NOEM: Oh, good, perfect.

(LAUGHTER)

NOEM: Well, here's the thing is, they're a bunch of liars. We need to remind people that they shouldn't believe something just because they saw it on TV. Only Sean's show. That's what they should be looking for facts and data.

HANNITY: Exactly.

NOEM: That's right.

HANNITY: All right. Governor, great to see you. Thank you as always and thanks for standing strong to freedom.

Straight ahead, former President Donald Trump has some advice for Joe Rogan on free speech. Eric Trump reacts, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: As we've shown you in this program, censorship is now a key tenet of the left-wing agenda and it is being used as a political weapon to attack smear, slander, besmirch anyone who questions the ever-changing proclamations of failed Democrats and bureaucrats, and anyone who questions the call to vaccines and vaccines only.

And get this, while feigned outrage is being directed always at Joe Rogan's podcast on Spotify, well, radical anti-Semites like, you got it, the Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, he's got a platform on Spotify. Nobody is complaining as those convicted sex trafficker, singer R. Kelly, and glam rocker and convicted pedophile Gary Glitter, and Bill Cosby, and TV host Nick Cannon who was embroiled in an anti-Semitic controversy back in 2020.

And the 45th president of the United States, Donald Trump, he's not telling Rogan not to apologize amid the never ending outcry from the media mob. He is saying, they are not going to listen anyway.

Here with reaction, Eric Trump.

I'd never called for a boycott, cancellation, firing -- never. Because don't people have the choice, Eric?

ERIC TRUMP, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE TRUMP ORGANIZATION: Of course, they have the choice. Frankly, I think that is one of the reasons that Joe Rogan does so well. By the way, Sean, there's no consistency. If you're going to deplatform Joe Rogan, you've got to the platform Joe Biden because Joe Biden said far worse things than Joe Rogan has.

I mean, if you want to look at all the racial slurs that Joe Biden has used over the 50 years that he's been in government, I mean, they will make people blush. So at what point does the stop?

And make no mistake, the Democrats aren't trying to do platform Joe Rogan because of certain things he said. They are trying to do platform Joe Rogan because he doesn't march to their beat.

I mean, you saw what happened with Whoopi Goldberg last week. What should she get? She gets a slap on the wrist, and please come back another two weeks.

You see Joy Behar, right? I mean, she wore a black face, and guess what? She is the host of one of the most popular shows. No one is boycotting these people and --

(CROSSTALK)

E. TRUMP: You mentioned Farrakhan a second ago, and no one is boycotting him.

HANNITY: Minor correction.

The show is not that popular, just saying.

Now, the main thing is here, I think this is a pivotal moment here, because even back when Bill Maher who I can't stand and hates me, that's fine. But when he was canceled on "Politically Incorrect", there were people like me, Rush, and other conservative saying no, he shouldn't be fired.

This has been territory of the left. And I think the choice now is about freedom and only freedom and they're going to be options for everybody. I think in the end, the American people will decipher for themselves whether they like and want to watch and to don't want to watch and want to listen to.

E. TRUMP: Well, Sean, name a time in history of the world where censorship has helped the country. Look at China, look how they censor the Chinese, look at Russia. I mean, a reporter goes out and talks against, you know, the leaders and guess what? They get shot the next day.

I mean, go around the world. Tell me when censorship has never been good. Look at Nazi Germany, right? You spoke out against a regime and you were killed and you were -- I mean, when has censorship ever actually worked?

And that's why America was founded on the freedom of expression, that's why it's so important. That's why it's a First Amendment right in this country to be able to talk. I think that's why so many Americans are sick of this cancel culture and --

HANNITY: Let me ask you this on a personal level.

E. TRUMP: So many people watching Joe Rogan because now they're intrigued.

HANNITY: Yeah. As a matter fact, I'm sure that's the case but he apologized and said he's going to change. I accept it and I even accept from Whoopi Goldberg, who have known over the years as well.

But there is no family in America that has been smeared, slandered, besmirch like your family. And that's your brother, your sister, that's Lara, that's your father, that's Melania, I mean, everybody. And the point is, they get to say anything they want about you and even make, you know, put you on defense and in every courtroom they possibly can.

Oh, and now, all of the sudden, we don't treat the Biden family that way. Their connections to China, Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan.

E. TRUMP: That's right. It's because we questioned authority, Sean. You know, we are -- we have a r in front of our political party. It's very different. It's not -- they are not the same plane fields. People don't realize that, right?

If you don't march to their band, they will cancel you. They weaponized and institution. And they make a cognizant effort to put pain and hurt, you know, to make people's lives miserable, to take their businesses out, to ruin their careers, to ruin every aspect of their families.

If you don't believe in the same things that they do, they weaponized the system and it's a deeply troubling thing. That is why my father says, never apologize. Fight for what you believe it because that is a fundamentally American trade and that's what he did every single day for this nation.

HANNITY: I'll tell you what we learned from your dad. We have a dual system of justice and we have now criminalized political differences. And this is not going to end well if we don't fix it.

Eric Trump, great to have you as always. We appreciate you being with us.

Let's take a break. More HANNITY straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: All right. Unfortunately, that is all the time we have left for tonight. And thank you for making the show possible. Thank you for being with us.

We hope you set your DVR, so you never miss an episode of HANNITY. And if you fell asleep at any point, that's my fault, because I didn't do good enough, because, of course, you don't want to miss the next show.

In the meantime, let not your heart be troubled, Laura Ingraham, takes it away.


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