House to vote on Biden's trillion-dollar Build Back Better bill
Fox National News Congressional correspondent Chad Pergram reports the latest on Biden’s $1.7T spending bill on ‘The Ingraham Angle’.
This is a rush transcript of "Ingraham Angle" on November 18, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: All right, the House is set to vote tonight on Biden's Build Back Better, New Green Deal socialist spending bill, it's a disaster. Stay with the Fox News Channel for continuing coverage, it's a matter of fact. Let not your hearts be troubled. Laura Ingraham is up next. By the way, it was great to see everybody last night, you did a great job as always and--
LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST: That was fun.
HANNITY: That was a lot of fun. I wait behind your camera; you didn't see me. I saw what you were broadcasting.
INGRAHAM: Very funny. But it was always weird to have the three of us together in one place. I keep thinking.
HANNITY: That's true.
INGRAHAM: Is there lightning going to strike this place or what, we've got to - one of us has to leave.
HANNITY: If lightning strikes the lunatic owner of own that supporting somebody that wants the fairness doctrine would be happy as hell. OK.
INGRAHAM: No one knows who that is. All right, Hannity. Great job tonight. We'll pick it up where you left off. I am Laura Ingraham. This is THE INGRAHAM ANGLE on a very busy Thursday night. Now you're looking live at the house floor where Democrats, they believe they have the votes to pass Biden's budget buster of a Build Back Better socialist takeover disaster.
Now, remember that even if the House does pass it, there's no guarantee that the Senate will follow suit. In fact, for Republicans, this is kind of a dream come true. All these Democrats are going to go on the record voting for this abomination, making next year's wipe out. Just I think it's going to be much bigger now. Now let's dip into the minority leader for just a moment.
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): This year than last year under COVID. Mr. Speaker, the $450,000, that's more than some of the 9/11 victims received. It's more than a next of kin receives an insurance of those 13 Gold Star families that got killed by a suicide bomber, who was in the prison of Bagram. Mr. Speaker, I watched in disbelief, as President Biden said he'd do nothing different.
I watched in disbelief. Mr. Speaker, we had a press conference. They told Americans it was safe to come to the airport. In less than 30 minutes, you were on that conference call too, Mr. Speaker. With the Secretary of State Joint Chiefs said no, it wasn't safe to come to the airport.
Mr. Speaker, there are many people that have served this nation, served in the armed services and on both sides of this aisle. I never watched members work so hard to get the American hostages out of Afghanistan to only be shut down by our own State Department. Mr. Speaker, I want to tell you of a personal story. Mr. Speaker, I picked up the phone one morning when this first started and I called the regular number to the White House. And I said I'd like to talk to the president about what's happening in Afghanistan.
White House recently called want to know if it was really me. To the president's credit, he called me back. I said, Mr. President, I know you're trying to hold this deadline for the Taliban, but what about our allies? What about those from the UK and France who fought side-by-side? Not because their country was attacked, but because we were attacked? He told me he wasn't going to budge.
I said Mr. President, there are thousands of Americans that are held there that can't get out. He said Kevin, no, no, the number is much smaller. I said Mr. President, what is the number then? It's just smaller. I've watched the president look America in the eye and tell us he would not leave to every Americans out. What do you say to those Americans that are still stuck there?
The last time we felt like this, Jimmy Carter was president. Mr. Speaker, what does it say to those Gold Star families? Mr. Speaker, I had one in my - I had one in my office. A father who had his daughter who wasn't even supposed to be there but volunteered. She was electrician, just days before you see photos of her a holding a young child. She told her sister, I'm going out in front of the wall because you can't believe it, someone needs to be there for them. She wasn't supposed to be out in front of that wall.
When that suicide bomber, that was locked up in Bagram that never should have got out that we never should have shut down. Killed 13 of the finest Americans we know. You know what this bill does? Nothing for them. It gives more money to an illegal person who crossed this border. I'm sorry. Americans expect more. Our priorities should be different.
INGRAHAM: And that was House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy in a speech that's laying out why he thinks the GOP needs to be back in power in one year's time charting the path to perhaps his becoming Speaker of the House in the next session of Congress. We're going to have live reports throughout the hour, so stay with us.
Also tonight, the Rittenhouse jury has gone home for the third straight night. And two significant developments from today may explain why they're a little apprehensive. We'll have a full report with new details tonight. But first, what real danger looks like. That's the focus of tonight's angle.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get early stage of dementia. He repeats the same stories over and over again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is what makes Donald Trump a dangerous person. I mean, he has a bent towards authoritarianism.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The first public discussion of using the 25th amendment to remove Donald Trump from power was on this program one month into the Trump presidency. This president is a danger to us and the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Of course, to those clowns, a dangerous U.S. president is one who puts America's interests first to stall rarely defends American sovereignty and prosperity. Even when our allies by the way growls and complains supposed to stand for America, but they don't like that, because to them, an authoritarian is a Republican who calls out the press and refuses to be swallowed by the swamp.
The fact is, Trump wasn't a threat to America standing in the world or to our economy. He was a threat to the old order. And now 10 months into the Biden administration, America sees what real danger looks like. It looks like a bumbling fool who squints and stumbles his way through remarks, repeating old stories from his childhood. When Biden speaks, I find myself wincing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Talking about the long over almost 200 year relationship with Mexico. And we were talking about, I was explaining why Roosevelt and Lincoln were - the portraits are up on the wall.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Yes, it's funny until you think about the ramifications for America. Now, everybody knows what's going on here. A new Politico morning console poll shows that 48 percent of voters say that Biden is mentally unfit to be president. That's up 13 points from a year ago. Among independents, it's far worse, the Biden margin there is 23 points for Biden. Now, liberals aren't going to believe me, but I actually take no glee in Biden's decline. Because we need a president, our kids need a president.
Our future generations need a president whose physical and intellectual capacity is never in serious doubt. Anything less than that puts us all in peril. Now, because if Joe Biden is too weak or too out of it to take on the squad. Look, we know he's obviously a lost cause against President Putin or Xi, if he's too diminished to speak off the cuff, when I don't know he has the Milwaukee Bucks coming to visit the White House. You can only imagine how he sounded during Monday's two hour call with his Chinese counterpart.
Foreign leaders, our adversaries, our allies, like they all see that Biden's gross deficiencies are really their golden opportunities. They're ruthlessly pursuing their own geopolitical agendas. And they know that Joe Biden's presidency created a giant vacuum for them to exploit.
Look, Putin is on a roll. First, the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and next it might be taking back Ukraine. And I still remember when Democrats cared about what happened to Ukraine, not so much now. And that's for Beijing, Biden's presidency is just a dream come true. After four years of Trump's tough trade posture and generally roaring economy, China is thrilled to see Biden floundering. Now, if China is going to take Taiwan, it's hard to see why they wouldn't move while Biden's in office.
I mean, no one in the Biden orbit even understands this. They don't understand China. They don't understand China's true intentions and America weakened economically led by a president whose weakened mentally sets up China perfectly for the next three years. Now, think about this, the CCP is so emboldened now, that a few months before the world comes for the Olympics to Beijing, they feel totally comfortable making their own global athletic stars disappear.
A Chinese tennis star made sexual harassment allegations against a party leader, and hasn't been seen since. We're going to have more on that little mystery later on in the show. Now, one thing we do know, however, is that Biden's vice president, I mean, she is completely incapable of stepping in to take over as Commander-in-Chief, should Biden be incapacitated.
She has problems delivering simple remarks, because I'm sorry, she knows nothing, except how to play the race card to get ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The generations of women, black women who fought and sacrificed so much, including the black women who are often, too often overlooked and what a testament it is, to Joe's character, that he had the audacity to select a woman as his vice president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: To always a diversity thing, how about merit, how about that for a change? Well, it turns out that selecting a VP based solely on diversity criteria and not objective merit, it's not only stupid, it's really dangerous. There is literally no situation, no problem that the White House can turn over to her to handle on the plate in place of the president. Like - remember, she was supposed to handle the border, remember that? Well, America's border is now overrun with drugs, illegals and sex traffickers. Nice job, Kamala.
Now, the Biden people obviously never intended to enforce our border laws, which is why they put her in-charge of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: It's not going to be overnight; we can't just flip a switch and make it better. The reality is that we inherited a system, an immigration system that was deeply broken. And it's requiring us to actually put it back together in terms of creating a fair process that is effective and efficient.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: OK, she said, and she inherited a system that was broken. No, she inherited a sealed border by Trump. She's a bad liar. No wonder the woman is at 28 percent approval. No one likes her, including the president's top advisors. Increasingly, they just give her meaningless tasks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC HOST: So, you don't feel misused or underused?
HARRIS: No, I don't. I'm very, very excited about the work that we have accomplished.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Those Girl Scout pinning ceremonies are a lot of fun, George. Now, if her goal was to just pump up our enemies and demoralize our own people, then she should be excited. No wonder Democrats are already worrying about who can run in 2024. Can you believe they're already worrying about that, like 2021? They already know that Kamala would crash and burn. It's all a mess.
We currently have a rudderless America run by a hapless president. And as a result, the whole world is going to pay. But the strength of this country is not in our government. It's in our people. We survived Jimmy Carter. We survived Herbert Hoover, and we'll survive this. And when Republicans do regain control the House and the Senate, they're going to need to be ready on day one. No more futzing around, no long recesses. We need real oversight hearings run by the best staff, the most talented lawyers out there.
Trillions of dollars are going to be pouring into bogus efforts that look nothing like the bridges and tunnels that we have been hearing about. And it's going to be up to the GOP to call out every aspect of this waste, fraud and abuse, track it, really track it. And then make it clear to our enemies, your little honeymoon under Joe Biden is over. And that's the angle.
All right. Joining me now, I'm delighted he's with us. Our next guest back in the day led a group of flag officers who penned a highly publicized letter questioning the mental acuity of Joe Biden. Retired Lieutenant General Jerry Boykin joins me now general. General, the polls of Americans after just 10 months of Joe Biden are devastating just on the observational point of his mental acuity, the thing that you were worried about so long ago. Are you surprised that the American people have caught on so well, relatively quickly?
LT GEN WILLIAM BOYKIN (RET) FORMER DEFENSE DEPUTY UNDERSECRETARY: Well, I was more surprised that they didn't see it from the beginning. Look, when we wrote that letter and we got a couple of 100 signatures now pretty close to it. On that letter, because more and more of our people, more and more of those that have served this country in uniform are saying, sign me up, I want to be part of this. We've got to make sure that people understand that this president's cognitive abilities are suffering.
And I'm surprised that more people didn't see this and come out, and talking about it before the election, and there were some I mean, Fox News certainly did. But across the board, I mean, you still had millions of Americans that voted for Joe Biden. And if you couldn't see that he was struggling, he was struggling in the campaign.
INGRAHAM: He didn't campaign. General, he didn't campaign. I mean, there was no campaign, let's face it, a very minimal campaign, the press did not cover his mental acuity, they covered for it. I want to get to some new Fox News polling. We just got this tonight. General, many people think Biden's age is interfering with his job. He turns 79 on Saturday, that includes half of seniors and more than one quarter of Democrats now, amid concern over China, a majority says that Biden isn't tough enough on our chief arrival and over half disapprove of the job that Vice President Kamala Harris is doing. I don't - I mean, hard to say this, I guess but, in a way, not hard. Is there anything that Joe Biden is actually scoring well on?
BOYKIN: The only good news for Joe Biden is that Kamala Harris's poll numbers are worse than his. Now, that's scary for America, but I don't, I can't name any successes that he's had here. In fact, I can tell you a lot of failures, a lot of failures in foreign policy, a lot of failures in national security, a lot of failures with regards to our allies. And then think of the insanity of canceling the pipeline on your first day in office and then turn around and turning around and squeezing OPEC to give us more, to produce more oil.
It is insane.
INGRAHAM: We're begging. Now we're going hand-in-hand at OPEC. And then we completely botched the Afghanistan withdrawal. We lose 13 of our finest servicemen and women. And there has been no accountability from Milley to Austin on down zero accountability, General. Real quick.
BOYKIN: Laura, I have said on this network that I think that that all of them should be held accountable. But to the credit of Milley and Lloyd Austin, they did recommend some things that were rejected by the president and they recommended keeping more troops on the ground there rather than having to bring back in twice as you already had on the ground before you withdrew.
INGRAHAM: Much more charitable. You're much more charitable than I am, spending their time looking for extremists in their ranks. That's what they're spending their time doing. They set those men to their death at that airport. They got to resign, General. They're telling me, I've got to go. Well, we shouldn't fund any more of their little exploits.
All right. General, thank you. Let's go now to Capitol Hill where the House is poised to vote on Biden's multi-trillion dollar social spending bill. It's also where Fox News Congressional Correspondent Chad Pergram is standing by with the latest, Chad.
CHAD PERGRAM, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Laura. The House will vote soon on a key tenant of President Biden's agenda. This is the $1.75 trillion social spending package. Moderate Democrats refused to allow the House to vote until there was a study by the Congressional Budget Office. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By most estimates, this bill reduces the deficit. This bill reduces the deficit. It also ensures that all of us, all of us will pay our fair share to support our democracy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERGRAM: But the bill is not paid for. CBO says the bill heaps an additional $367 billion on the deficit. Democrats say that's offset by 200 billion in revenue for beefed up IRS enforcement. The GOP notes Democrats passed $1.9 trillion in COVID aid on their own in late winter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCARTHY: Never in American history has so much been spent at one time. Never in American history will so many taxes be raised and so much borrowing been to be needed to pay for all this reckless spending. Every page of all this new Washington spending will be paid for, are borrowed from you, the American hardworking taxpayer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERGRAM: As we say it's about the math, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi can only lose three votes on her side and still pass the bill, but her calling card is passing big bills by just a voter to. Pelosi would not have put this bill on the floor unless she has the votes. Laura.
INGRAHAM: Chad, great to see you tonight. Thank you. And I know this is going to shock all of you, but Biden spendarama doesn't come close to paying for itself, not even on paper. Now the CBO just released its cost estimate for the bill, which projects it will increase the deficit by over $367 billion over 10 years. And it's likely closer to $2 trillion, when you actually take away all the gimmicks. So, what's in it?
Now consider the proposed civilian climate corps. It will just serve as a taxpayer funded 300,000 strong army of far left activists. Joining me now is Dr. Brenda Shaffer, who is the Senior Advisor at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. Dr. Shaffer, you've studied some of these greeniac efforts like this for decades. Explain what this such a benevolent sounding civilian climate corps would really mean and do?
DR. BRENDA SHAFFER, SENIOR ADVISER FOR ENERGY AT FDD: Well, the civilian climate corps, it sounds very nice, Conservation Corps, Peace Corps, Climate Corps. But we have the luxury of seeing how the massive government support of organizations, what it does to limit very good policies, right. So, we're lucky in the United States that we've seen what's happened to Europe, when they let the public organizations, the nonprofit set their policies, we have, Europe, almost falling over a cliff with high energy prices, with shortages with their energy transition looking more like going from natural gas to fuel oil and coal than going into anything that looks renewable or green.
And if we establish this climate corps, we'll have something very similar, where you get yourself really trapped with very few policy options, because there is this Fed paid for public opposition to almost any rational energy policy.
INGRAHAM: Now, Senator Ed Markey, let it slip about what Build Back Better is really all about. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ED MARKEY (D-MA): Oil companies are taking American consumers and shaking them upside down at gas pumps to kill Build Back Better, to kill a transition to all electric vehicles that will lead inexorably inevitably to the demise of those companies. The oil era will be over if we pass this bill.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Well, he couldn't have been more blunt and more clear. Dr. Shaffer, gas prices, that means are just going to go through the roof. This bill is passed way, way more than the 450. A lot of Americans are seeing out in the West Coast could go up to $7 or $8, correct?
SHAFFER: Well, if you look at the interim national security doctrine of the Biden administration, the word energy appears 10 times, but seven out of 10 in the context of clean energy, we don't engage anymore in geopolitics of energy, this used to be a really successful part of U.S. national security policy, foreign policy, instead, I mean, how even no simple calculation, if the U.S. produces less oil and gas, but imports more from other countries, how does that help climate? How does that help the environment? All it does is just, a massive wealth transfer to national oil companies in foreign countries. It won't, it won't do anything to improve environment or climate. And at the same time, it hurts the U.S. in terms of national security.
INGRAHAM: Well, Nancy Pelosi spoke out today about all of this as well. And she was pushing the climate change agenda as critical to moving our country forward. And the argument for them is this will help what ails us now with jobs and wages and economic growth. And this is going to be part of the new revolution, economic revolution. Do you buy that, Brenda?
SHAFFER: No, I mean, actually, if you really believe there was an imminent climate crisis, something that was you know, as we hear a lot from any of the politicians that our moves in the next couple years will determine the future of climate, you actually wouldn't be going for a big infrastructure bill where you're doing a lot of steel, a lot of cables, a lot of building that actually creates a lot of emissions.
Mostly, even this whole emphasis on electric vehicles, electric cars, minimal impact on lowering emissions, but puts us from a system where the U.S. leads the system that we have - energy system we have today to a system based on electricity where China leads and controls most of the minerals that are necessary--
INGRAHAM: It empowers China, yes.
SHAFFER: It empowers China, completely.
INGRAHAM: Build Back Better, we've got to go, Brenda, but Build Back Better in China. OK. Brenda, thank you. Now we're going to keep our eyes on Capitol Hill. Let's dip back into the remarks by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
MCCARTHY: Dreams they could retire one day on a ranch. Build back, they're going all the way back to the Westerns, I guess. People have to fend for themselves. I can't believe that's America. I don't accept it. I know we're better than that. I know some of you are mad at me think I spoke too long. But I've had enough. America has had enough. Not only do communities at the border deserve protection, the selfless men and women of our border patrol deserve more support to do their jobs.
I don't know if you've been down to tour with him. If any of you are going, you want to make it bipartisan, I'll go, I know a lot of people on this side of the aisle will go with you. Because we think it's an American problem that we want to solve it together.
INGRAHAM: Now we're going to keep our eyes on Capitol Hill, where we expect votes any moment now. But now what's happening in Kenosha now. And I was thinking, Trump largely had it right when he called the media, the enemy of the people, because I want you to observe the framing of MSNBC's coverage from the moment the Rittenhouse shooting took place.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old kid just running around, shooting and killing protesters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: White Trump supporting MAGA loving Blue Lives Matter social media partisan, 17-years-old picks up a gun, drives from one state to another with the intent to shoot people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That murderous attack from Kyle Rittenhouse.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That White Supremacist 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Now their coverage during the trial has been similarly deranged, but today they took it a step further. Now, I'm going to let Judge Bruce Schroeder take it from here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRUCE SCHROEDER, KENOSHA COUNTY JUDGE: The person who identified himself as James Jim Morrison, and who claimed that he was a producer with NBC News and played for MSNBC in the supervision of someone named Irene Byon in New York, for MSNBC. Police when they stopped him and inquired of him what was going on and he gave that information and stated that he had been instructed by Ms. Byon in New York to follow the jury bus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Now NBC responded saying while the traffic violation took place near the jury van, the freelancer never contacted or intended to contact the jurors during deliberations and never photographed or intended to photograph them. Now, does anyone actually believe that and an MSNBC freelancer was just telling the jury buss what for fun. The police observed him following the bus and then gunning through a red light to keep up with the bus. Does that sound like someone caught in the wrong place at the wrong time?
Joining me now is Kurt Schlichter. Attorney and Senior Columnist at Townhall.com. Kurt seems pretty obvious here. This wasn't a mistake as an attorney. What does this do to the jury and to the validity of this these deliberations?
KURT SCHLICHTER, ATTORNEY: Well, Laura, this has gone from tragedy to farce. It's absolutely ridiculous. MSNBC is completely out of control. You know, there was a time when the legal process was supposed to be something sacred. It didn't always come to the right verdict. It didn't always do justice. But you know, hunting down jurors trying to docks them, because that's essentially what they wanted to do. They wanted to figure out who these jurors were allegedly to contact them later. But who knows?
The fact is much of Left-wing media is all in as activists, not reporters, you saw how they characterized Kyle Rittenhouse, a guy who was defending himself in the middle of a riot who managed to shoot three people and you know Laura, what are the chances, all of them were people - what's it called now? Justice entangled persons? What were the chances?
The whole thing is ridiculous. Now, looking at this thing going on for three days, it's pretty obvious it's deadlocked, and we can only hope and pray that the people in there who are going to apply the law to the facts and the evidence before them, hold strong and hold out for an acquittal.
INGRAHAM: Well, it looks like it's headed for you know possibly a mistrial here, Kurt because why we have no idea, I mean, and it's easy to criticize a jury. We haven't been in the courtroom every day listening to every piece of evidence. They have been. They are observing the witnesses. They are there day in and day out.
We also don't know the extent to which they feel intimidated and frightened by what's happening, with threats that they've received. We don't even know, all of them could have been threatened. Specifically threatened, we don't know.
SCHLICHTER: That's absolutely true, Laura. Look, I am a trial lawyer. I have a love-hate relationship with jurors. And here is the simple fact, nobody knows nothing. Nobody knows what's going on with those people. There's a lot of supposition out there. It's obvious they have not come to a verdict on all accounts. They may have come to a verdict on some of the counts.
But in an environment like this, when you drive out the door, you see an infantry battalion from the National Guard of Wisconsin on the streets. You see police all over the place. You see all sorts of protesters at various levels of hostility. And normal people have to think, my gosh, if I do my duty, they might come after me. And boy, I know that in Kenosha I can't necessarily rely on the right to self-defense.
INGRAHAM: Well, they tried to kill Kyle Rittenhouse.
SCHLICHTER: Yes, they did.
INGRAHAM: They would have killed him. They would have killed him.
SCHLICHTER: I don't think there's any serious question about that.
INGRAHAM: All right, Kurt, thank you. Great to see you. Kurt, we've got to go, but thank you.
The intimidation isn't just coming from the media. Outside the courthouse, the scene was chaotic today. Some protesters were chanting for Kyle Rittenhouse to go free. Many others wanted to see them locked up or else.
My next guest caught the aftermath of the arrest on tape. Joining me now is independent journalist Brendan. Brendan, what else can you tell us about the crowd that have showed up there?
BRENDAN GUTENSCHWAGER, INDEPENDENT REPORTER: There have been protesters from both sides. There have been a lot of people chanting for an acquittal for Kyle Rittenhouse. There's also been many that have been chanting for a conviction, some Black Lives Matter protesters, and just a variety of people, they have all been hanging pretty close to the courthouse entrance chanting throughout this.
Some confrontations between the opposing groups, it has definitely been a lot of heated words out here at times and people voicing their opinions, a lot of strong ones, on this case.
INGRAHAM: Well, that's fine, to voice your opinions, but I think America wants to know if there is sufficient law enforcement presence on the scene for when or if something does happen that is beyond just a robust exchange of ideas, one way or another.
GUTENSCHWAGER: Yes, we have definitely seen a lot more police around as the week has gone on here and the jury deliberations. There's been a few different incidents where police have actually had to come intervene outside of the courthouse, a few protesters getting at each other, grabbing each other's signs.
In general, though, it seems like the police have kept things pretty under control. Any time there has been any kind of instance has popped up or somebody stopping their vehicle outside the courthouse, they get things moving along pretty quickly. So compared to what we saw in 2020, it definitely seems like Kenosha has taken more precautions and brought more officers to the area to try to keep the peace and keep things steady here.
INGRAHAM: All right, Brendan, we'll check in with you later, and we certainly hope for peace on the streets there. Thank you.
And longtime friend of the program Dr. Scott Atlas, has written a stunning new book detailing the deadly decisions by those people running our pandemic response. He is here next with those details on Drs. Fauci and Birx, and a lot more. Stay there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
INGRAHAM: Three statements in two days from Dr. Fauci once again prove this show has been right all along. Now first, Fauci finally admitted there has been a shocking rise in hospitalizations among the vaccinated. Months ago we warned you this was going to happen. Second, we predicted that public health officials would keep changing the definition of what it actually means to be fully vaxed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISER: I happen to believe, as an immunologist and an infectious disease person, that a third shot boost for an MRNA is likely should be part of the actual standard regimen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Why stop at third? And another third, we told you that Fauci would say pretty much anything to extend the panic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISER: I think if we can get well below 10,000, I think that would be a level that I think would be acceptable to us to get back to a degree of normality.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: A degree of normalcy -- it's never coming, people. Let's get with that program. In other words, cases will never be low enough to achieve normality.
Given what we have just heard, it's no wonder my next guest spilled a ton of ink lifting the curtain on Fauci and others, their incompetence. Joining me now is Dr. Scott Atlas, former White House COVID adviser, author of the upcoming book "A Plague on Our House." You can get it in preorder now.
Dr. Atlas, I think you and I talked about the shifting goalposts, I don't know, was that a year ago, a year and a couple months ago at this point. But there is so much shifting, I'm getting dizzy.
DR. SCOTT ATLAS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE COVID ADVISER: Yes, Laura, I think -- thanks for having me. The problem here is that we have people running the pandemic response that are really not the right people. I saw this with my own eyes. The difference between me and the people like Drs. Birx and Fauci, were Drs. Birx and Fauci were bureaucrats. They're 40 years in a government position. I was a health policy scholar for 15 plus years and 25 years of medicine experience, clinical and research.
Their approach is very different. My approach was bringing in scientific papers from all over the world, keeping current on the data, bringing in experts from the entire country in infectious disease, epidemiology, and speaking with these people. Mine was about more information and thinking about the information.
And unfortunately for the American people, Dr. Birx was in charge of the task force medical side, and the Birx-Fauci lockdowns were transmitted as advice the entire year of 2020 before, during, and after I was there. The governors heard her written advice, every governor. She visited dozens of states, giving the lockdown advice, and those lockdowns were implemented.
And the problem is those lockdowns failed to stop the dying. They failed to stop the spread of the infection. And they destroyed millions of people. I only visited one state when I was in Washington, and that was Florida, and they did things a little differently. But it's very sad what happened. We cannot let this happen again.
INGRAHAM: Ever. Ever. It's happening all across Europe again. They are locking down in different parts of Europe. We knew this would happen. And so they are back at it again. Dr. Atlas, you did write about one meeting where Dr. Fauci actually surprised you. I guess it was the only time he spoke up about an actual research study, but in the conversation, didn't he display his ignorance of the actual study?
ATLAS: Well, there was a brief conversation that Dr. Fauci brought up what things might happen from the infection. And he started to talk about complications that could happen, and he was struggling over the words. And this is just one example, but he couldn't figure out how to pronounce something that all doctors should know, which is encephalomyelitis, which is a post-viral inflammation of the brain or spinal cord. And this is a rare complication, but when somebody doesn't know enough to even pronounce the word correctly, there is a deficit in knowledge.
And again, we have government bureaucrats instead of real experts who, unfortunately, were not critical thinkers. They weren't making the effort, they weren't prepared. I was the only one who ever brought in the research studies from all over the world and went down through the data many, many times, to the silence of the other doctors. They never cited a study. They never critiqued a study. And what was more, they never even disagreed with each other. There was sort of a group effort here.
We found out in January, Birx came forward and said she had a secret agreement with Dr. Fauci and Dr. Redfield -- I didn't know it at the time - - that if one of them was fired, they would all quit. This was all about their own image, their own power. And there really was not for the benefit, unfortunately, of the American people. And as a consequence, we have over 700,000 people that died from the virus itself, not counting the massive devastation from the lockdowns.
INGRAHAM: It is so devastating on so many levels. There really needs to be a full accountability on how this all went down. But Dr. Atlas, thank you. Can't wait to read your whole book.
And two weeks ago, a Chinese tennis star used a top CCP official of sexual assault, but she hasn't been seen since. Could the Chinese government have actually made this woman disappear, one of their stars, just months before hosting the Olympics? The stunning report in moments.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
INGRAHAM: Now, as I mentioned in my Angle, there is a mystery involving the CCP and one of their top athletes. FOX's Matt Finn is standing by in our west coast newsroom with the latest on this. Matt?
MATT FINN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Laura, Peng Shuai from China is one of the world's most renowned female tennis players. She has won titles at Wimbledon and the French Open. And now the Chinese Communist Party is suspected of allegedly having something to do with her disappearance.
In an unverified social media post two weeks ago, Shuai made sexual assault allegations against a top Communist Party official, former vice premier Zhang Gaoli. The post was quickly taken down and then Shuai went missing. The tennis player claimed the former vice premier forced her into sexual relations in 2018, writing in part, quote, "I was so scared that afternoon. I never gave consent, crying the entire time."
Shuai also wrote that she later willingly entered an affair with Gaoli, who was married. The tennis star's whereabouts are unknown.
Now an email allegedly written by Shuai and sent to the head of the Women's Tennis Association claims she is not missing or unsafe, just resting at home. Amnesty International and the chair of the Women's Tennis Association are questioning the authenticity of that email, writing in part, "I have a hard time believing that Peng Shuai actually wrote the email we received or believes what is being attributed to her." Amnesty International writes "Peng's recent so-called statement that everything is fine should not be taken at face value as China's state media has a track record of forcing statements out of individuals under duress or else simply fabricating them."
A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry responded today to the increasing concern with this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZHAO LIJIAN, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY (through translator): My reply is very simple. This is not a foreign affairs matter, and I am not aware of the relevant situation you mentioned.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FINN: Tennis players worldwide, including Serena Williams, have tweeted their worry and support for Peng. Laura?
INGRAHAM: Matt, thank you.
Joining me now is Gordon Chang, Gatestone Institute senior fellow, author of "The Great U.S.-China Tech War." Gordon, this is like a tennis reeducation camp. That is what everybody's fear, greatest fear is. What is your instinct, your gut on this?
GORDON CHANG, AUTHOR, "GREAT U.S.-CHINA TECH WAR": Well, my instinct is she is going to surface sometime, and she's going to make a horrific confession. China does this. They like to publicize it. But this says to the world that China is not safe. And China is not a safe place for the world's athletes to come to the Winter Olympics in February of next year. So I think that any regime that kidnaps a woman, any woman, to protect them -- to protect an official from allegations of rape, they shouldn't be hosting the Olympics.
INGRAHAM: Here is what the Biden administration set about boycotting the Olympic games today. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you support a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics?
JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Something we are considering.
JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: They didn't talk about the Olympics during the meeting. This administration, at it relates to how we engage with China, that we see it through the prism of competition, not conflict, that is our objective. That the president is going to raise issues where he has concern, and he is going to look for areas to work together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Gordon, Hitler wanted validation by hosting the Olympics, and so does President Xi. How big of a propaganda victory is this, that these Olympics go forward with everything we know about the pandemic, now this, all the thing they are doing to the Uighurs, all of it?
CHANG: Yes, this would be legitimization. And we have learned nothing from the 1936 Berlin Olympics. We learned nothing from the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where they used this to fortify the regime and thereafter to go after the Tibetans and put them into concentration camps like they are doing with the Uighurs. So this is -- they are not competitors, Laura. They are not even adversaries. They are enemies. And we know that because they call us enemies, and they declared a people's war against us in May, 2019.
INGRAHAM: Women's Tennis Association chairman, by the way, Steven Simon, he signaled, Gordon, and this was tonight, that he is willing to cut ties with China if Peng is not accounted for. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE SIMON, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, WOMEN'S TENNIS ASSOCIATION: We are at a crossroads with our relationship, obviously, with China. We have to start as a world making decisions that are based upon right and wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Gordon, this is what we need from the NBA. We have one player in the NBA standing up to China. And that's it.
CHANG: Yes, and we also need this from the International Olympic Committee, because they should not only pull the games from Beijing, but they should ban Chinese participation in all Olympics because China is prohibiting big groups, the Uighurs, the Kazakhs, the Tibetans, from effectively participating in sport. The IOC did that with Apartheid with South Africa. They banned South African teams. They should be banning Chinese teams right now.
INGRAHAM: Must be done. Gordon, thank you. You have been clear as a bell on this from day one.
The latest on Capitol Hill is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
INGRAHAM: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy still speaking in the Capitol tonight. He's been going now for about two hours, 20 minutes. Yes. And the House is supposed to vote on the Build Back Better bill any moment now.
And remember, keep watching FOX News, the latest updates, Shannon Bream will have them live at midnight. FOX will be giving you updates throughout the evening.
That's all we have for us tonight. Greg Gutfeld, next.
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