Ingraham: Dems hoped COVID-19 would fix what impeachment couldn't

'Ingraham Angle' host gives her take on the media's response to President Trump's coronavirus diagnosis.

This is a rush transcript from “The Ingraham Angle" October 5, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

INGRAHAM: I'm Laura Ingraham. This is THE INGRAHAM ANGLE from Washington tonight. Tonight, my ANGLE willcome a little later in the show. I'm going to explain how the Left revealed themselves andthat they're not just rooting, it seems like they're against the president's recovery but also against America's recovery. Also, the president says, he'll be back on the campaign trail soon when thatmight that be.

We're going to talk to Trump 2020 Senior Strategist Steve Cortez, and Raymond Arroyo. He's been keeping an eye on the Biden's. Nurse Jill saves Joe from a social distancing snafu anda bizarre comment about Haitian dancers from the former VP. Seen and Unseen as always, acan't miss.

But first, President Trump's COVID recovery hasnot slowed down his administration's efforts to find the right balance between protecting vulnerable Americans from the disease whilebringing back the unprecedented prosperity ofthe pre-pandemic years.

Now to that end, his HHS Secretary Alex Azar and White House COVID Advisor Dr. Scott Atlasheld a roundtable that happened earlier today to discuss a pandemic plan that was puttogether by the world's top epidemiologists.

Current lockdown policies are producing devastating effects on short and long-term public health. Those who are not vulnerable should be immediately allowed to resume life asnormal. Schools and universities should be open for in-person teaching. Restaurants andother businesses should open. Arts, music, sport, and other cultural activities should resume.

Well tonight, two of the world-renowned scientists who wrote those worlds join us exclusively. Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, Stanford University Epidemiology Professor, Martin Kulldorff of Harvard Medical School Epidemiology Professor and Biostatistician Sunetra Gupta, Oxford University Epidemiologist Professor.

Dr. Kulldorff, let's start with you. Why has there been so much resistance to reopening given what we're seeing in Europe right now?

DR. MARTIN KULLDORFF, HARVARD MEDICALSCHOOL PROFESSOR: Well, I think it's stunning because that is what you would do if you follow basic public health practice. So, there's sort of aperception that lockdowns and contact tracing is something that the scientific community is behind. And there are some who are advocatingthat.

But among my colleagues who are infectiousdisease technologist, most are in favor of a risk-based strategy or an age-based strategy wherewe protect the elderly and other high-riskgroups while the younger will resume lives, more or less normally. And that's what ScottAtlas has been advocating and which we nowput out a declaration, the Great Barringtondeclaration. And we put that out this morningand they are already over 500 medical andpublic health scientists who have cosigned aswell as over 500 practicing medicalprofessionals.

INGRAHAM: Wow. OK. All right. I want people to understand that - I'm sorry to interrupt Dr. Kulldorff. I want people to understand this. Now, we're talking to three of the top epidemiologists. I know you guys are modest but, in the world, OK. The three of you. Andyou're all three saying this approach of locking down, rolling lockdowns does not work and thatis what is happening around the world. Andwhat - I'm sorry is being planned if Biden wins the presidency and Dr. Fauci actually spoke tonight on CNN and addressed this a national strategy which should be in place, and I'll let Dr. Gupta and Bhattacharya respond to it. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, WHITE HOUSE COVID TASK FORCE: We need to flood the system with testing, surveillance testing, getting out there, getting it to the community and finding outwhat the level of infection is in the community and doing it on a broad scale, whether you do it in schools, whether you do it in colleges. Whatare you doing in factories? That's what we need to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Dr. Gupta, I want to go to you on that. So, is broad surveillance testing in schools and universities and I guess everywhere, is thatreally the way to proceed?

DR. SUNETRA GUPTA, OXFORD UNIVERSITY EPIDEMIOLOGY PROFESSOR: I didn't think so. I think that's a very inefficient use of very limited resources that we have in that regard. And not certainly when I say limited, I not only do I refer to what we have at our disposal, but also I'm talking about how much we should invest inthat process, because what we really want to do is protect the vulnerable.

So, it makes every bit of sense to me that wewould take those resources and use them to develop smart strategies to protect thevulnerable.

And what's interesting here is by not testing those who are not vulnerable and allowing them to carry on with their lives, which testing frankly impedes, you actually allow thatpopulation to build up a level of immunity, which in turn protects the vulnerable. So, it's kind of win-win.
Don't test them. Let them live their lives and let them build up the immunity that will eventually protect the vulnerables.

In the meantime, and I stress this is not going to take forever, it will take three months maybe. We've been able to observe the epidemic unfold in several parts of the world. And I think we can guess safely whatever that might mean. But the three months is probably - maybe six sufficient time for enough immunity to accumulate in those sectors of the population such that the vulnerable could resume normal lives. In the meantime, we try and protect them the best we can, and we use our testing capacity to achieve that.

INGRAHAM: Dr. Bhattacharya, today, it was all day long. OK, I heard individual after individual, many of them medical professionals, scoffing at this idea of herd immunity or reaching a level ofimmunity that means generally you can open up everything and go on with life as we had it before even understanding the danger of thevirus. What about that and the Swedish experiment that everyone ridiculed and even President Trump was kind of pooh-poohing Sweden early on.

DR. JAYANT BHATTACHARYA, STANFORD EPIDEMIOLOGY PROFESSOR: Now, I think denying herd immunity is like denying gravity, gravity exists, and herd immunity exists. Many, many, many infections and viruses andpathogens are controlled in the population by herd immunity. Even if you have a vaccine, it's still herd immunity that protects people against the virus or the pathogens. So, denying herd immunity is just - it's like denying biology.
It's just not right.

The question isn't just about herd immunity really. It's questions, how do you safely get there? The focus of lockdown strategy that weare proposing where you protect the vulnerable and let people live their lives, will get us there more quickly with less loss of life and lessdamage to other aspects of public health thatget ignored, I think, by these doctors that areessentially denying basic facts about biology.

Instead, with this focus protection, you protectthe vulnerable. You quickly build up immunity inthe rest of the population, and that will save lives. Just one very important thing here is thatthat lockdown itself is not costless to left to life and if you think about it, people have delayed cancer treatment. They've delayed going to thedoctor because - even with severe heart disease, parents have not vaccinated their children.

There's going to be an increase in breast cancer rates. Prostate cancer rates because of basic screening hasn't been done. I think thelockdown costs will - even the short andintermediate term have larger a longer healthconsequences for the population than the focus protection plan, which both will reduce COVID deaths and also address many, many, many other public health fulci that we've just ignored.

INGRAHAM: But that's essentially Dr. Kulldorff what the administration has been doing. I mean, focusing on protecting the vulnerable, urging states to open up New York, New Jersey, California, some other states in New England extended their severe COVID restrictions. Some of them are going back into rolling moretargeted lockdowns. But to what end? Like whatis New York going to achieve by beginning to close down sectors of the economy again, Dr. Kulldorff.

KULLDORFF: Yes, so different states pursue different strategies here. And what, for example, New York has been doing is to protect lower risk college students and lower risk professionals who can work from home whileolder working-class people have to work. So, they are building up - it's the working class is building up the immunity that eventually willprotect everybody. So, the working class is having a double whammy, both in terms ofCOVID-19, which they are taking the burden ofgenerating the immunity.

But also, in terms of the other, theconsequences of the lockdown on other aspects of public health and also the school closings, rich parents or middle-class parents can do - hire tutoring. So, schools will put them inprivate schools, but the working-class children, they don't have those options. So, they are theones who are suffering the most from theclosure of the public schools.

INGRAHAM: Yes, at risk children around thecountry are suffering the most.
But I can tell you, I have three children and two of them are in-person.
One is kind of every two weeks on and off. Dr. Gupta, I've got to tell you, what's happening to the kids, I think is one - will go down as one ofthe most outrageous abuses of supposed science that we've ever seen in recent - I mean I'd say in the last 50 years. Children are being kept from school with a 99.997 survival rate ofanyone under the age of 19. It's insanity.

GUPTA: I would have to agree. And one, again, particularly thinks of disadvantaged children for whom providing an alternative to what school offers is very, very difficult. So, I guess Martin has already said it. I mean those who have themeans can offer some form of alternative, although there is no alternative to thesocializing and the learning experience ofschool.

And it is - I agree. It's absolutely tragic. It's unconscionable that we are allowing the young - we're supposed to be as a society was supposed to give everything to protect theyoung. And I know I've had mothers writing into me saying, I would seal myself up for a year happily if my child could go to school, if myslightly older child could go to university andhave the experience that they deserve. That's - if that's not what we're for, then what are wehere for?

INGRAHAM: What's the whole point of this. AndDr. Bhattacharya, the president thought it was very important to be on camera tonight after coming home to the White House from Walter Reed. And he recorded this video. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: And I learned so much about Coronavirus. And one thing that's for certain, don't let it dominate you. Don't be afraid of it. You're going to beat it. We have the best medical equipment. We have the best medicines all developed recently. And you've got to beat it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: OK, so the president comes outand speaks and people went nuts, like how dare he? He's a vector of the disease. He's super spreading throughout the White House. He's doing a video like how dare he be optimistic. How did he look and what about the overall message, Dr.
Bhattacharya?

BHATTACHARYA: Can I say about the overall message? That's exactly what I learned about public health, what you're supposed to do. You're not supposed to sow panic. You're supposed to reassure, give accurate information about risks, trust people to make good judgments on their own behalf. The president did that, I think, tonight, don't you think?

I mean, I think obviously like he has a real spiritual, doesn't he? But I think that message is right. It is accurate and consistent with the data that COVID is not a death sentence. And I think we've created this idea in the public mind that it is something so unique and so deadly that weshould utterly end all normal existence as aresult of it. That's not right.

We can have a much better way, protect thevulnerable, shield them for a short period oftime until we reach a level where there's population immunity and then for the rest ofthe world, let us live our lives. And for folks whoare vulnerable, who, you know, if your life is meaningless without hugging your grandchildren, you have to balance risk andeverything we do in our lives.

INGRAHAM: Doctors, all of you, I'm in awe ofyour expertise and your courage in speaking out and all that you've published over the years, because I actually read a lot in the last six months. You're all brilliant, much smarter than most politicians. Thank you so much for joining us.

And coming up, the Left's reaction to Trump's Walter Reed stay, well, revealed that they just didn't want him to recover. I think they want him to never recover, but also, they were seeming like they're against our national economic recovery. My ANGLE explains it all. Then Mollie Hemingway weighs in. Stay there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: Democrats against recovery, that's the focus of tonight's ANGLE.
Now, watching the media histrionics over theweekend and today, I was struck by whatunhappy people they seem to be.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is a long and ugly history in this country of presidents not being honest about their health.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is a significant level of concern. They wanted to try and make it look like a rosier picture. It's worrisome.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Does a happy, joyful person appear to get agitated when another person gets good health news? And what kind of people seem visibly disappointed when a President of theUnited States admitted to an Army medicalhospital seems to be turning a corner? These unpleasant characters, that's who.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tonight, there's still so much we do not know about the president's health.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is evidence that his behaviors, his treatment course is not being directed by his doctors.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The head of my party is endangering Secret Service agents, hospital personnel.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a terrible message to the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Their rank hatred of Trump is outof control, if Biden had gotten COVID andemerged three days later walking and talking almost like his old self, they would havemarveled at his strength and his perseverance. But with Trump, they're always searching for theinsult.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A breathtaking amount of selfishness. And honestly, the President of theUnited States is a virus spreader. I could not imagine a greater act of selfishness by a human being.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are living a nightmare and Coronavirus is now in the White House.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a Mussolini moment. He's standing there as if he is amember of the old Russian czar family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Joy, I'd stick to doing what you're doing and not Russian history, but nice try. All right. Of course, the real reason that the liberal punditry, they have gotten their panties in abunch is because they thought Trump getting the virus was going to take him out of the next debate and off the campaign trail.

But when the president announced his COVID positive test early Friday, of course, the Biden brigades, they were certain they finally had him on the ropes. So, what Mueller andimpeachment couldn't achieve, they hoped Coronavirus would. And it sounds like they still hope it does.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Social media today hasbeen kind of ghoulishly full of the timeline thatHerman Cain went through from his initial illness to about this point in his illness, where he himself was tweeting out, feeling great, feeling strong or words to that effect. We know how it ended.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: This is unbelievable, of course, not only are they furious that Trump is recovering, they're enraged that the U.S. economy is recovering too.

So, in the spring, the experts, they predicted would be in a depression for years because ofCOVID. But our third quarter growth, it's expected to be record setting, a 32 percent annualized rate. Well, look, they'd much rather try to track the president's last COVID test than the pace of our economy compared to othercountries across the globe.

I was shocked at this. But today, the Washington Post, well, they did its best, best to put anegative title and a framing around what is essentially an insanely good economic report.

Economies in Europe, Japan, Brazil, and India all will suffer deeper recessions this year than theUnited States. U.S. output is expected to drop by 4 percent in 2020 while Europe willexperience a roughly 7 percent decline. U.S. imports have virtually recovered their pre-pandemic high.

Well, thank God, we have a president whorefused to do what our business - to our business is, what the UK, what France and Israel and Australia have done to theirs. Joe Biden said, he will lockdown again if that's what theexperts recommend. Well, he assails Trump's COVID management, presumably meaning thatother countries are handling it better.

But in fact, as we talked about last segment with the doctors, the epidemiologists, that's whatEurope is doing again, they're locking down.
This is what's in store for you, for the American people under a President Biden rolling lockdowns until there is no virus reported, welland no jobs left either.

Killing a country in an attempt to extinguish avirus, that is obscene. The media simply refuse to report the horrific damage done by COVID restrictions on the well-being of a free people, just like they try their best, their darndest to change the subject back to COVID despite thefact that the economy remains the number one issue for most Americans.

An NBC Wall Street Journal poll has Trump overBiden in handling the economy, by the way, by 7 points. Americans who had been left behind for decades by politicians in both parties, theyfinally saw their incomes rise and they found achampion in President Trump. Many of them, they showed up outside Walter Reed to thank him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Half of our country did not (inaudible) speak for them. Donald Trump had the courage and backbone despite persecution to speak for us, it gives one voice the very personal thing. It's one of the greatest gifts you can give someone, and he's given half of our country that. And its personal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Incredibly emotional moments for Americans over the last few days. But investors, boy, they like Trump, the market plummeted when he got sick, then it soared when it announced he was leaving Walter Reed Hospital today. What's even more stunning is that our robust economic recovery is happening even asblue states are still dragging their feet. And as aresult, as THE ANGLE warned back in May, those states are being left behind.

Check out the unemployment in red versus blue states. Terrible. If Biden wins will all look like New York and fast schools will be closing, restaurants will be closing places of worship, they'll be threatened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW CUOMO, NEW YORK GOVERNOR: You know, I have to say to the Orthodox community tomorrow, if you're not willing to live with these rules, then I'm going to close the synagogues.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: A tyrant. And while you're locked down, a Biden administration will be at work undoing all of the Trump policies that put moremoney in your pockets, higher taxes, moreregulations, more illegal immigration, no trade protection from China's malfeasance. That's all gone. Jobs offshore.
Do you know the drill?

Now, remember Biden's campaign. It's a wash right now in cash. They're bragging about that. But why is it - why is it that they have so much money? Because it's funded by billionaires whowant to say bye tariffs and they want to get back to business as usual with China. Cozy, cozy.

The fact is, there are many people in power inthe media, in business, in sports, inentertainment, the Democrat Party who arerooting against Trump's recovery and America's recovery while he's president. It is their masks that are off and that's THE ANGLE.

Joining me now is Mollie Hemingway, Senior Editor at the Federalist and Fox News Contributor. Mollie, your reaction to theabsolute meltdown in the media just asPresident Trump was flying back from Walter Reed, they were melting down at the othercables.

MOLLIE HEMINGWAY, SENIOR EDITOR, THEFEDERALIST: The normal sane reaction for mostAmericans is to be happy at the news thatPresident Trump is on his way home from Walter Reed and that he has made it home. That is not what you saw in the media. I can't even believe how crazy it was today, how upset people were, even as they had been so upset throughout this weekend as the news seemed to indicate that he was recovering quite nicely and that he's continuing to recover.

I saw that Katie Couric tweeted out that she couldn't believe that network executives allowed this story even to be covered today because it amounted to a three-hour photo opportunity for President Trump. And I think that explains why so many people in the media were mad. They wanted this story to go acertain way. They wanted Trump to get theCoronavirus.

They wanted him to be laid low by thecoronavirus to continue their narrative that thisis something the entire country needs to shut down and live in abject fear of. That's because that's part of the messaging of their favorite candidate, Joe Biden, who also has this idea thatthe coronavirus should shut down the country, and that it is something that is very -- that weare not in a good position to defeat.

By Donald Trump being able to come home after a few days and saying this is something that we can't have our whole lives be in fear ofis completely contradictory to the message thatthey wanted to send. And it's why they haven't been honest about the actual case fatality rate associated with coronavirus. It is a bad thing. You do want to take it seriously, but you don't want to destroy your entire life or your entire country. And yet many people in the media want just that, it seems like.

INGRAHAM: Mollie, we just had literally three of the top epidemiologists on the planet, all ofthem agreeing that this idea that a virus should dominate all of American life is ridiculous. Andit doesn't work, as we're seeing in Europe andIsrael, where they locked down. Now the virus is still there. It comes back. They have cases, andthen they locked down again. So they destroy their countries and their economies are going ina depression, and meanwhile we're coming back, and perhaps next year stronger than ever under Trump.

HEMINGWAY: Many of the things that havebeen done in response to this novel coronavirus which, again, is something, particularly early on when people didn't know what was going on, some of the more drastic actions made sense to a lot of people, even if other people thought they were always, always a bad idea. But when you look at the costs associated with some ofthese lockdowns in terms of not just theeconomy or banning children from schools, butalso what the psychological costs of this are, it is really important than people think clearly andnot be bullied into particular lockdown measures. Governors and other people in thegovernment will always be sort of tyrannical inhow they approach these things.

INGRAHAM:  Well, we're winning.

HEMINGWAY:  But free people need to fight for their liberties.

INGRAHAM:  And they're fighting, and they're winning in court. In Wisconsin, in Pennsylvania, in Michigan, these heavy-handed governors arebeing handed being defeats in court, and thathas to keep happening.

By the way, Jim Acosta, just because I know you guys are buddies, Mollie, he was very upset tonight and he said that Donald Trump is frightening the White House press corps. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I was just talking with aprint photographer not too long ago who was asking me, Jim, would you mind not asking thepresident any questions when he returns to theWhite House because I don't want the president to come over and breathe on me when he answered his questions. Wolf, that is not anexaggeration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Mollie, they are basically saying that Donald Trump is going to go to people andbreathe on them, I guess, to extinguish their lives. This is -- this is reporting.

HEMINGWAY: Jim Acosta has a fabulous, fabulous imagination. It is true, though, that wehaven't gotten a lot of details about the three White House reporters who allegedly have thecoronavirus as well. And we could use some transparency about who those people are andunderstand who they were in contact with, aswell. But I saw another reporter say that he was more frightened of being a White House reporter than when he covered North Korea.

INGRAHAM: Oh, brother.

HEMINGWAY:  This is someone who should probably give his job to someone who can handle the rigors of what --

INGRAHAM:  Another line of work perhaps. Maybe a grocery store clerk would probably be more common sense than some of these people. I think it's Shearer of "The New York Times" actually is one of the people who tested positive.

HEMINGWAY: Is one of them, yes.

INGRAHAM: Yes, one of them. Mollie, thank you. Great to see you tonight.

And still ahead, the media's epic meltdown overTrump's drive-by yesterday.
Plus, Biden's big day out. Raymond Arroyo breaks it all down. "Seen and Unseen" next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: It's time for our "Seen andUnseen" segment where we expose the big stories behind the headlines Joining us with all the details, Raymond Arroyo, FOX News contributor, author of the forthcoming book, "The Spider Who Saved Christmas." Raymond, Joe Biden hit the trail today. He was down to Miami, yes?

RAYMOND ARROYO, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, he was. He was trying to shore up his Hispanic support that has beenlaxed in the last few weeks. Upon landing, Jill Biden had to redirect the candidate, reminding him as he spoke about COVID science, to social distance from reporters, Laura. Note theaggressive caretaker tactic here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Listen to the science. The science will say that -- I'm sorry. The science would say that it is safe andthe distances are safe, then I think that's fine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: Like a well-trained orderly, she just pulls him right back. Then while at a Haitian cultural center, Laura, the Biden campaign did something very interesting. Lacking thebackdrop of actual enthusiastic supporters, Biden stood before a mural of painted enthusiastic Haitians. Given that the president was battling COVID, his message wandered off course.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Wouldn't it be an irony, the irony of all ironies, if on election eve, it turned out Haitians delivered the coup de grace in this election.

I want to see these beautiful young ladies. I want to see them dancing when they're four-years-older, too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: Why he wants to see girls dancing infour years, I don't know. I'm going to leave it aside. But a coup de grace is a death blow, Laura.
Imagine if Biden were fighting COVID andTrump urged a coup de grace on election eve. This is so bizarre, it's almost as bizarre as thefocus on the Haitian dancing girls. I don't understand any of this.

INGRAHAM:  What word was he looking for?

ARROYO: I do not know.

INGRAHAM: He tried to go all French on us, and he kind of --

(LAUGHTER)

INGRAHAM:  That was a little bit of Biden whatever.

Biden also did an NBC town hall tonight, and he was back to his old self.

ARROYO: Yes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: It's 10 million -- 210,000 people have died.

If you put this mask on between now andJanuary, you'll save 100 -- he said it's moreimportant than a virus -- excuse me, -- than avaccine.

You know people who had COVID. I hope -- I mean, it would be wonderful if you didn't.

I learned how to fight. I got a nickname. Theycalled me Shoe Leather. I was little but theycould beat me up, but I hurt them in theprocess.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: Laura, now we've got morenicknames, Shoe Leather. This is like Corn Pop. Maybe they joined Arm Band to form a band called Bottle Top. I can't follow any of this. Butwithout the two-minute limitations of a debate, you see what happens.

INGRAHAM: You see why Trump can't orshouldn't interrupt him too much, because otherwise we are losing all of these new characters. Who is going to star in the recurring series, Biden abbey?

ARROYO: It's like Biden has been watching "West Side Story" on a loop on Netflix.

Anyway, we have to talk about the overly dramatic media reaction to the president daring to get in his car and drive by Trump supporters at Walter Reed the other day. You would havesworn he was blowing COVID from the tailpipe as he drove by.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is putting the lives ofSecret Service agents at risk.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to ask you about the drive-by. Did the president needlessly put Secret Service officers at risk for this photo op?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He wore a mask. Thatmakes the risk actually very, very small.

JOY BEHAR, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": I'm watching that car, the parade yesterday with him in the car. That was right out of a dictator's playbook.
Parade the dictator around so that the world and the country can see that he is still alive andhe is still robust.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: Laura, do you remember any of thispushback or outrage from Joy Behar oranybody else when the Obamas routinely drove through New York or D.C. on date nights? Remember, they would lock down whole sections of the city. Nobody said the dictator is going to dinner. That's the democratically elected president going to a parent-teachers conference or a meeting. Now it's Castro on thePotomac. I've never seen anything like it.

INGRAHAM:  But they are running out ofanalogies, right? They are going back to czarist Russia. They're going back to Mussolini. Theyare trying desperately. Meanwhile, they are theones who want everyone locked down whiletheir friends get to flit off to their vacation homes, OK. So who are the dictators now? They're always projecting their c-r-a-p on therest of us.

ARROYO:  And Laura, don't you love how thedoctor is contradicting the anchor who is trying to say, oh, it's terrible. He's spreading COVID to the Secret Service. They are masked up andthey have a divider in the car.

But talking of spreading COVID from a sealed car -- there was a zero media critique of Mayor Lori Lightfoot of Chicago, Laura, who appeared at a pressor last week dressed as something called "Rona Destroyer." But as she passed outcandy to the reporters, she is touching their hands presumably.
Maybe they should call her "Rona Dispenser." And I love the pose at the end. I hope we can pull this up. She and her confrere there, whowas also dressed up in a Clorox outfit, theyposed. Marvel comics had better make some space. We've got a new movie for you. There they are, the Rona Destroyers.

(LAUGHTER)

INGRAHAM: She had big rubber gloves, like dishwashing gloves, like green ones.

ARROYO:  That doesn't help if your touching everyone's hand, Laura, from person to person. Keeps you pure, but everybody else has it.

INGRAHAM: I'm sure she never touches her face. Everyone touches their mask all the time. Just admit it. If you wear a mask, you touch your face. It's impossible not to. And from thepresident to Biden, everybody touches their face with a mask, and it defeats a lot of thepurpose of the mask.

All right, Raymond, great to see you tonight.

And the president has promised that he will be out on the trail soon. He certainly looked fantastic tonight. So when could that be? Whatshould we expect from him over the final weeks of this crazy presidential race to date? Trump 2020 senior strategist Steve Cortes tells us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: President Trump may be out ofthe hospital, but when can we expect him actually back on the trail? The president did offer some details on that front today, tweeting just hours ago "Will be back on the campaign trail soon. The fake news only shows the fake polls."

Joining me now is Steve Cortes, Trump 2020 campaign security strategist.
Steve, how soon is soon. He's not going to be able to go out on the trail until he tests negative, I imagine, three times in a row. I believe that's the protocol. And they say it's 10 days or 14 days from the diagnosis, right?

STEVE CORTES, TRUMP 2020 SENIOR STRATEGIST: Right. I believe that's right, Laura. But if you were to ask the president when is he going to get out, he would say yesterday, because that's the kind of fighter that he is. Weare going to have to defer to the medicalauthorities on this, of course. But this I can promise you. It's baseball playoff time, if I can use a baseball metaphor. He is our ace pitcher. Right now he is on the D.L., and I can guarantee that when he's back in the game, which will be soon, he's going to be throwing high inside heat at the liberals. That will happen, and it willhappen soon.

INGRAHAM: Chris Cuomo -- I wanted to do thiswith Raymond, Steve, but we didn't have time. Chris Cuomo started off his show tonight, andlike so many on the other cables, he seemed very unhappy. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: I hold rallies, and I tell you to ignore masks, and I rip mine office as I vanquish the virus because I am aleader. Fear not, COVID. What a bunch of --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM:  Apparently he should maybe be auditioning for Summer Stock next year because he is real talented at those voices.

CORTES: By the way --

INGRAHAM:  What of that?

CORTES:  That's very rich coming from Chris Cuomo, somebody who literally faked for theworld his supposed emergence from his basement quarantine when we know nowfactually that he had already, of course, broken quarantine.

But more importantly here, what do these people, these critics like Cuomo want thepresident do? Did they want him to be hermetically sealed in the White House residence? That's not what a leader does. He knew he was taking risks, not reckless risks, butthat he was taking risks. All precautions were taken. And unfortunately, he got the virus. It's not his fault, nor is it the fault of millions ofAmericans who got this virus.

The only people who are culpable, who are to blame for this horrible virus are the Chinese Communist Party. And to connect that to theelection, this president has been the first American official ever to truly stand up against Beijing. And the alternative, Joe Biden, is somebody who has acquiesced to the Chinese Communist Party for decades.

INGRAHAM:  They're desperate to get him elected, China. There's no doubt about it.

Steve, the scuttlebutt now in the media, though, is that Donald Trump is basically a walking disease vector, and sources tell the media thatthe White House staff is infuriated and enraged and confused and people are running around, and they're afraid they're going to get it, andthey are, quote, "dropping like flies." You know what's happening in the White House.
Is there a feeling of utter panic and freak-outthere?

CORTES:  Absolutely not. And I can certainly speak for the campaign side, there were literally people cheering today as we watched on television the helicopter land because, again, weknow that our champion is coming back.

In the meantime, it's incumbent upon us to fill the void. We have to flood the zone with content, with the message of President Trump. Nobody can replace him. If I can please my high school Latin teacher nuns, he is sui generis. He's one-of-a-kind. We can't replace him, but we can go out and spread his message to this country until he is able to again do it himself.
And that will be soon.

And I think what him getting infected, by theway, will clarify for the American people is thatthere's a fulcrum choice coming up in thiselection. On the one hand you can elect Donald Trump, somebody who even though he himself was infected, has told us today, be not afraid. Don't let the virus dominate your life. Be not afraid of each other. And we are going to continue our path towards normalcy, and he is rebuilding prosperity in this country, versus --

INGRAHAM: Why is it the NBC poll, Steve -- weget that. And you're 100 percent right. But NBC-"Wall Street Journal" has him down 14 points nationally. Other polls show him within two points in Ohio. That can't make any sense. Wehave 30 seconds. Just 10 seconds, response to that.

CORTES: Listen, that's a junk poll. Clearly, theyoversampled Democrats there. There are plenty of national polls and, more importantly, battleground polls that show this race extremely tight. I believe that is the reality. All of thebattleground states are in play from here forward.

INGRAHAM: Steve, great to see you tonight. Thanks so much.

And up ahead, CNN had their tinfoil hats on today. The Last Bite will explain it all.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: I'm concerned that Donald Trump has broken a couple of fine folks at CNN. Observe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT:  This is not just thepresident returning to the White House. Thismay be patient zero.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, a literal power trip.
Think about what we are seeing. The Pentagon in the distance. We are seeing the president exerting his power, right? The leader of theexecutive branch, showing off all of the tools at his disposal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: He's showing off? He's just flying inMarine One back to the White House. These people are nuts.

Shannon Bream and the "FOX NEWS @ NIGHT" team take it all from here.
Shannon.

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