Joe Biden's inaugural address put under the microscope on 'The Five'

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Gutfeld on the media fawning over President Biden

The press is praising Biden after four years of attacking Trump; reaction and analysis on 'The Five'

This is a rush transcript from "The Five," January 20, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

JUAN WILLIAMS, CO-HOST: Joe Biden officially sworn in as our 46th president today. The new commander in chief at the White House right now and is in the Oval Office for the first time. Biden stressing unity in his inauguration speech. Promising to be a president for all Americans. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Few people in our nation's history have been more challenged or found a time more challenging or difficult than the time we're in now, a once in a century virus that silently stalks the country. 

The rise of political extremism, white supremacy, domestic terrorism, that we must confront and we will defeat.

(APPLAUSE)

BIDEN: To overcome these challenges, to restore the soul and secure the future of America, requires so much more than words. It requires the most elusive of all things in a democracy - unity. 

(APPLAUSE)

BIDEN: And I promise you I will fight for those who did not support me as for those who did.

We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban -- rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal. 

Politics doesn't have to be a raging fire destroying everything in its path. And we must reject the culture in which facts themselves are manipulated and even manufactured.

(APPLAUSE)

BIDEN: My fellow Americans, we have to be different than this. America has to be better than this. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS (on camera): Joe Biden at the Capitol today as he was inaugurated the 46th President of the United States. 

Dana Perino, I thought the most memorable line of the speech was when he said we need to end of this uncivil war, red versus blue, and conservative versus liberal. He asked voters to give him a chance, especially those who did not vote for him. Was the outreach effective? 

DANA PERINO, CO-HOST: Well, I think it just remains to be seen. But I think that the speech was fairly well received across the board. But it was to be expected. I mean, I don't think that he said a lot that was different to what he said even at his nomination speech at the DNC when we were here in D.C. for that.

I do think that, you know, the patriotism and the grace now that he tried to hit, they sounded good for today, and I think everyone is in agreement than it's what you do going forward. 

Just a little bit here, he's going to be signing some executive orders. There's a lot of them, 17 of them. Some of them are quite benign and others are quite serious. And I think that the White House at 7 p.m. when they have their press, first press briefing will really need to explain why we are stopping the construction on the border wall? Why do we want to stop the XL pipeline? Why do we think it's good to return to the Paris climate accord, and other things like that? 

They've got their work cut out for them but they had a pretty good day, I thought they organize it very well, a very strange day with the pandemic. Well, I'll turn it over to my colleagues who haven't had a chance to talk yet today. 

WILLIAMS: Jesse, how about you? I'm sitting here to hear your response. Chris Wallace here on Fox said he -- and Chris Wallace has heard a number of inauguration speeches, said it was the best he had ever heard. It was upbeat, quite a contrast to President Trump wo can be, you know, talk of American carnage and the like here as the president coming in saying, you know what, sunlight hope and optimism. We can do it. Let's come together and let's heal. 

JESSE WATTERS, CO-HOST: Chris has heard a few more of these than I have, Juan but I will respectfully disagree. Personally, I did not think it was the best inaugural address I'd ever heard, I thought it was OK. What struck me was how dramatically he overreached by resurrecting the Civil War era saying this country split down the middle on race and like Lincoln his whole soul is dedicated to uniting the country, healing this divide and ending this uncivil war. 

This is 2020. America is not split down in the middle on race. Race wasn't even one of the top issues for voters in the election. It was COVID, the economy, public safety, and healthcare. So, to falsely frame half the country is racist, I don't feel like jives with his unity message and it makes me think that he is really just going to use the race card to divide and conquer. 

But Juan, as I said, I will be fair to Joe, I don't care what he says, I care what he does. So, it would mean a lot if he did perhaps tell antifa to knock it off, tell Nancy and Chuck to knock off impeachment, tell the FBI to stop locking up their political opponents. You know, tell the people that support him to stop canceling other people. 

That right there would do a lot for unity. But in terms of the rest of this ceremony, I was moved. I though Garth Brooks pretty much crushed it and then you had Amanda Gorman, this young poet who read "The Hill We Climb." I almost cried, Juan. I almost shed a tear until I realized I'm a man and I'm not allowed to show any emotion. But that was good, very good. 

WILLIAMS: Well, you know what, Jesse, you know, we know each other, you can shed a tear, my friend. 

WATTERS: OK. OK.

WILLIAMS: Greg, you know, Greg, I got a puzzling one because and I don't have an answer to this question for you. You know, the QAnon people, the Proud Boys they all said, you know, President Trump is going to stay in office, Joe Biden won't take office, that's all a fraud. What happens to these people and their conspiracy theories now that Joe Biden is in office? 

GREG GUTFELD, CO-HOST: That's a great question. What happened to all those conspiracy theorists that believe that Russia got Trump elected, where did they go? That's right. They got promoted in the media. 

Anyway, you -- I was surprise you didn't ask me what I thought of the inauguration. I guess you wanted me to take the bait. But I did watch the inauguration because I couldn't resist, because oddly enough, resistance is no longer acceptable or approved. Now that they won, it's all about unity and we all must join the ranks of rapid butt kissers. 

I don't know about you, I'm going to go out on a limb, I think the media coverage for the day feels slightly friendlier than the one four years ago. But maybe that's just my bias. I wonder people at home notice how vomitus this is become. Especially, OK, I am a 100 percent for a call for unity. I wrote a book on it. I believe there should be a call for unity until you consider the source, a party and a candidate that push smears that ginned up racial division and other kinds of divisions toward half of population. 

The Democrats manufactured the divide. They seasoned it, they watered it and it culminated in a year of violence on - get this - both sides. So, there you go, equality. So, the Dems are great at creating a problem and then saying that they have a solution. This is called extortion, but a call for unity from Joe is like a child calling for glue after smashing a lamp. 

So, before we can heal this so-called divide, this hypothetical divide, we have to look at its roots, where did it come from? And the fact is a divide and the us versus them has already -- always been there but it was always one way only, it was the media and the elites attacking us. And there was no attack response. 

The media had no qualms demonizing Clarence Thomas, Bork, Bush, McCain, the NRA, pro-lifers. They had no qualms mocking the south, the Midwest, the fly over roofs, the religious who cling to their guns and their bibles. 

The reason -- the reason why there was no polarization narrative was because there was only one poll and then Trump came in and got us to confront them and that is why he has been shoved out of the -- into the wilderness by the people so relieved that they had one of them back in.

So, the narrative of this national rift it comes from the press to shift the blame off of them while preserving their profits which come from people ripping each other apart. Americans aren't at each other's throats, it's the media industrial complex at America's throat, hence they are embracing now of identity politics which only drives a wedge further between Americas by playing down the American in you and playing out the other identities that help indulge victimhood. 

So ironically, we have the sleepiest president trying to be the most woke. It's going to be fun. I'm enjoying it, other than that, though, Juan, an amazing inauguration. I agree with Chris Wallace, the greatest inauguration I have ever seen in my entire life. And you know what, I'll even go further than Chris Wallace. It's the greatest inauguration I will ever see, ever see. I don't even think -- I think we should just stop the inaugurations. Stop the inaugurations. This is it. 

WILLIAMS: Well, I'm going to cry again. 

WATTERS: OK. There you go.

WILLIAMS: I know. There you go. Katie, you know, Joe Biden during his speech he said he reminded us that 100 years ago here in Washington they were trying to stop women from marching for the right to vote. Today we saw a woman become the vice president. Also, you know, a woman of color. What was your feeling about this? What did you think? 

KATIE PAVLICH, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I am happy for Vice President Harris and that she has ascended to this position but I also believe that all women who ascend to these positions should be celebrated. I mean, you had at Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett there today and her promotion to the Supreme Court was treated very differently than we're seeing a number of liberal women when they reach these new heights and break these glass ceilings. 

I'm happy for the new vice president. I'm glad that women feel like she can be a role model for them but I base my role models on experience and their credibility, not necessarily based on the fact that they are also just women. 

But I do want to say something really quickly about Joe Biden and his calls for unity. You know, we've been talking a lot about Republicans and whether Joe Biden can unite with the Republican Party and whether Republicans are willing to just agree with everything and go along for the sake of unity.

But I think he's going to get a lot of pushback from his left leg about this whole unity call. I mean, there's a lot of people on the far left who want no unity at all when it comes to working with Republicans. 

These are people who think that anybody who voted for Trump should be reprogrammed or deprogrammed, that they should be completely shut out of the debate that they shouldn't have to compromise on anything despite the Senate and the House being very close. 

So, you know, yes. There are two parties in Washington, D.C. who are negotiating on a lot of different issues. But I think Joe Biden has to worry about people pushing him from his left on these issues of trying to come to find some common ground when we've seen the narrative over the last three months. 

WILLIAMS: Thanks, Katie. President Joe Biden readies a flurry of executive orders to undo many of former President Trump's key policies. That's next for you on "The Five."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PERINO (on camera): All right. Welcome back to "The Five."

So, President Joe Biden is just signing a wave of executive orders to overturn many key policies of the Trump administration. And we will have video of that coming in very soon. 

So, Biden is going to use the power of his pens -- pen, probably just one, many even more -- to do things like this. Terminate funding for the border wall construction, rejoin the Paris climate accord and the travel ban, block the Keystone pipeline, and reengage with the World Health Organization. So as soon as we get that video of course we will bring it to you.

Greg, let me ask you about this. The other thing, and this comes from Josh Kraushaar tweeted this that Biden's economic policy team signaled that it will be the first administration ever to construct economic policy around issues like race, gender equality and climate change, rather than around traditional indicators like GDP or deficit ratios. I wonder how that's going to go. 

GUTFELD: You know, it was funny, while you were talking I kind of started thinking about how many inaugurations I've seen -- I've been on this planet. For 19 inaugurations and this is still the best one I've ever seen. 

I think that this is part of -- when we were talking about what's Joe Biden going to do if he became president, will he be able to face the woke mob? Will he be able to like, actually stay in the center? This is the sign that he won't and that his spine is a weather vane as I like to say. 

But he reminds me of a furious spouse throwing all of her cheating husband's belongings out the second floor window. You know, there goes the golf clubs onto the front lawn. It's like a spasm that makes you feel good and you're actually do -- you're not separating the good from the bad. There are a lot of good things that Trump did but because it's Trump you got to get rid of it. And some of that stuff Americans like. 

So, I have to ask you a question again, how is that for unity when you are starting to undo things that people actually like and you're doing it to satisfy some emotional need and the people who voted for you.

(CROSSTALK) 

PERINO: And Greg, we have the Biden video. Let's just play that and we'll come back -- we'll come back to you, Greg. Here's Biden.

GUTFELD: That's OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) 

BIDEN: I thought that the state of the nation today, no time to waste. We get to work immediately. As we've indicated earlier, we're going to be signing a number of executive orders over the next several days to a week and I'm going to start today. 

I mean, the compounding crisis of COVID, the COVID-19 along with the economic crisis following that, and the climate crisis, racial equity issues in. And some of the executive actions I'm going to be signing they are going to help change the course of the COVID crisis. And we're going to come back to climate change in a way that we haven't been so far.

And to advance racial equity and support others at underserved communities. We are going to rebuild our economy as well. And these are just all starting points. We are in the process of rebuilding the economy, do what I said throughout the campaign and while running that rebuild the backbone of the country. The middle class.

And so, there's going to be a lot of focus on that and I think some of the things we are going to be doing are going to be bold and vital and there's no time to start like today. 

So, what I'm going to be doing, I'm proud that today's executive action I'm going to start by keeping the promise as I made to the American people. A long way to go, these are just executive actions. They are important but we're going to need legislation for a lot of things that we're going to do.

And the first order I'm going to be signing here is it relates to COVID and it's requiring as I said all along, where I have authority, mandating mask be worn, social distancing be kept on federal property and interstate commerce, et cetera. This is the first one I'm signing. 

And the second one I'm signing here is the support for the underserved communities and already we have -- we're going to make sure we have some -- we better act equity, equality as it relates to how we treat people in healthcare and other things. And you can read, we'll give you copy of these executive orders.

The third I'm going to sign, and that's why I'm going to review while you are all here, is the commitment I made that we are going to rejoin the Paris climate accord as of -- as of today. 

UNKNOWN: (Inaudible).

BIDEN: Thank you. 

UNKNOWN: Mr. President, Mr. President --

UNKNOWN: So, the press -- you guys, let's go. Please let's go.

UNKNOWN: What did President Trump going to do --

BIDEN: The president wrote a very generous letter. I have it. Because it was private, I will not talk about it until I talked to him. But it was generous.

(CROSSTALK)

UNKNOWN: (Inaudible) On climate change, you are rejoining the Paris agreement. And you mentioned --

UNKNOWN: Come on, guys. Press, let's go. Come on, let's go.

UNKNOWN: Do you have any -- do you have concerns about --

UNKNOWN: Let's go, you guys. Press, let's go. Let's go

UNKNOWN: Thank you. 

UNKNOWN: Do you have any concerns --

(CROSSTALK)

UNKNOWN: You guys, let's go. Press, let's go. Let's go. Press, let's go you guys.

UNKNOWN: Thank you.

UNKNOWN: Thank you.

UNKNOWN: Thank you so much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERINO (on camera): So, you have just seen the first photograph and video of President -- President Biden there in the Oval Office, that's the Resolute desk signing a lot of executive orders. But Jesse, he did also just make some news and everyone was wondering if the -- if President Trump did leave a letter for Joe Biden and he has done that. And President Biden is saying that President Trump's letter was very generous but that he would not reveal the contents because it was a private letter until he had a chance to talk to him. 

So, we will give you a chance to talk about that or the executive orders. There wasn't a lot of flare in that appearance. Jesse, not a lot of flare. 

WATTERS: We are in for a rollicking four years, Dana, my goodness, can that man work a room. I -- he seemed tired. I will say generously from the inaugural ceremony this afternoon. I was struck by the fact that he needed to read notecards to say what the executive orders that he would be signing were considering he ran on these things. 

One of the executive orders, I had no idea what it was. He said something about returning equity to underserved populations. I don't even know if he knows what that means. But I will say to use Joe's phrase, God bless him. 

In terms of the border wall, getting rid of that, it wasn't Trump's idea to come up with the border wall, that was actually the border patrol's idea. They said they wanted wall here and they wanted it there because it works. So, all Trump did was deliver that. And if you take that away it makes the border patrol agents job a lot harder and it makes our country less safe. 

Paris climate, rejoin it. What do I care? It's unenforceable, it's toothless. There's not even an enforcement mechanism. So, I'll save my outrage for stuff that really matters like the Keystone pipeline. I mean, why would you drive up gas prices and alienate the Canadians just to kiss the butt of the Chinese and the people in OPEC? 

I don't honestly think Joe Biden understands how the world works. He doesn't understand energy markets or geopolitics so that really scares me. On the travel ban, intel officials, career ones, are already saying to keep it. Because number one it's a pandemic and number two, these countries they don't even share intel with us so you can't vet these bad guys. And blood is going to be on his hands if anything bad happens. 

Lastly, the WHO, if you are going to rejoin it, then make it work for us not the Chinese. Get rid of that Tedros guy who runs it and look to see if he's taking bribes because that would explain a lot of action from him. 

PERINO: But Jesse, you're still going to give him a chance, right? 

WATTERS: Still giving him a chance, I'm open minded. 

PERINO: I'm not sure on that. Katie, let's talk about the border wall. 

PAVLICH: Yes.

PERINO: Ending border construction. I think that what they are saying is that there was money that were appropriated for other purposes that the Trump administration figured out a way to use for border wall construction then that's the issue that they are stopping now, apparently. 

But I feel like they are not providing any sort of fulsome explanation as to why this does make sense? 

PAVLICH: Well, I can give you the explanation. The explanation is that President Trump said that he was going to build a wall and he started building 450 miles of wall which were completed and therefore the left had to be against it despite border patrol and customs enforcement saying that it was helpful in their efforts to combat drug trafficking, human smuggling and other serious national security issues at the border. 

My understanding is that the 350 miles that are left, the funding for that has already been allocated and a lot of the supplies and the contracts for it are already in place. So, stopping it now when you have this huge caravan coming up and this crisis and people being interviewed saying that we are coming to the United States because Joe Biden is going to help us. 

And then you stop building the wall in the middle of the pandemic when nobody else is allowed to come across a border without a negative COVID test and international travel is going to continue to be shut down by the Biden administration, it doesn't make much sense at all, Dana, when it comes to the purpose of borders and the wall to reinforce it based on the facts on the ground from the agents who are working in very dangerous parts of the country. 

PERINO: Juan Williams, when we see President Biden there in the Oval Office it seems like he's just, he's going to govern just at least on his first day here just like he campaigned, low-key and in his mind, a return to normal.

GUTFELD: No key.

PERINO: What do you think? 

WILLIAMS: No. I think, look, I think even the way that he was sitting at the desk with a mask on sent a very powerful message as we stand here, you know, in the midst of this virus with 400,000 plus people dead. So that's quite a contrast to what we saw previously. 

But, you know, to this point about the executive orders, I just want to say I think one of the weakness of Trump using so many executive orders is that they can be done away with the stroke of a pen by the next president as he signs an executive order. 

I mean, the president just said, he ran on this, these were his promises, his pledges to people who voted for him and he is fulfilling that promise. If there is any weakness on the unity front and I hear everybody saying, well, he said he was going to try to unity. How can you unify? Listen, policy differences in America are not a basis for division and disunity and discord. 

What's the basis for that is people who believe lies about an election fraud that never occurred and refused to say, you know what? I was wrong and that should have never been going out to the American people. People were misled and badly so. That's where the discord comes from. 

PERINO: All right. You just heard a horn, that was not the train, I just want everybody to know. I don't know if it was some sort of horn out there. Katie Pavlich, let's turn it over to you now. 

PAVLICH: All right. Well, former President Donald Trump wishing President Joe Biden good luck before heading down to Florida, but also promising his supporters he won't be going anywhere. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT: I wish the new administration great luck and great success, I think they'll have great success. The things that we've done have been just incredible and I couldn't have done them, done it without you. 

So just a goodbye. We love you. We will be back in some form. So have a good life. We will see you soon. Thank you. Thank you very much.

(CROWD CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAVLICH (on camera): Trump is also reportedly talking about forming his own political party called the patriot party. So, Greg, we don't know what the president has planned but we do know that people are going to continue working for him. So, voters are standing by to see. 

GUTFELD: Wow. You know, it's a -- what a contrast, right? I mean, what we saw first with President Biden is somebody clearly not in charge of his own being. He did not know half of the stuff he was saying, it was kind of --

WILLIAMS: My God.

GUTFELD: -- it was sad, it was frightening, it's scary, and it's also a contrast in energy. And that's what worries me is that he will be rolled. Biden will be rolled by the woke mob because you can see that he can't put up a fight on anything. 

When Jesse was talking about equity thing, that's a really serious piece of this puzzle. You know, basically, you know, it's not about equality anymore, it's about equity. That shift should scare you. 

In terms of Trump, when you look at what just happened in that press conference, the media will not be able to quit Trump because if you -- you can't have four years of Joe doing that. he probably won't get four years. 

Trump however is a buffet of narratives that you can shape anyway you want. You can lie about him. You can say he was involved with the Russians or he obstructed and colluded like Juan always says. You can do stories on the impeachment. You can do stories on crime, business, or his TV future. He's like -- he's an endless buffet of narratives, both true and false.

PAVLICH: So, Jesse, are you joining the Patriot Party or do you think the Patriot Party should work within the confines of the Republican Party so Democrats don't win forever?

WATTERS: Well, I already joined Greg's After Party, so I don't know if I'm allowed to be a member of two parties. I honestly think that the Patriot Party might have just been a joke that somehow leaked to the press. It's not a serious thing. He's not going to start a new party.

PAVLICH: There's a logo. There's a logo.

WATTERS: Is there? 

PAVLICH: Yes. 

WATTERS: Who made them? I don't think it was the president that made the logo. I just think the President is probably going to go back to Mar-a- Lago. He's going to unwind, not tweet because he can't tweet. Maybe that'll be good. He can reflect and think about how he's going to cut some deals overseas to rebuild the Trump Organization and make a mint with the memoir and some speaking deals. 

But, you know, I wish he had been there at the inauguration today. But then, I think the media probably would have just fanatically obsessed over him and ruin the coverage, so maybe it was better that he didn't attend. You know, we do have some news that I'm going to break here. Some of my sources have read the letter that the President left for Joe Biden in the Resolute Desk. I'll just read it here. 

It says, Dear Joe, to make you feel at home, I drew a map to show you how to get to the basement. You're welcome. And then he continues. I don't have any advice for you since I just went with my instincts here every day. I have great instincts as you all know. That's why I fired Comey. And he continues, here's a little heads up. Space Force was actually a joke, but it caught on so we kind of just went with it, so good luck with that. PS, thanks for building the cages. Don't touch the wall. I booby trapped it. Love, 45. 

That is what my sources are telling me in -- that is in the letter in the Resolute Desk. 

PAVLICH: I see. Well, Dana, the good news about the White House basement is that there is a bowling alley there. 

GUTFELD: Nice. 

PAVLICH: So maybe Joe Biden could go bowling.

PERINO: It's true. I don't know what -- I don't really know how to follow that, Jesse. I guess -- I guess I could comment on the idea of -- 

WATTERS: I have sources now. This is my new thing. I have anonymous sources now in the Biden administration. I can play that game too.

GUTFELD: Anonymous sources?

PAVLICH: What about the split party, Dana? I mean, that is an issue, right?

PERINO: Well, I think you know what happens when you split the baby. It doesn't work. But earlier today, Katie, you know, you mentioned that the Tea Party and then the Trump -- the Trump folks and the populace had figured out a way to work with the Republican Party or you know -- and I think he used the word vessel, right?

So, can the Republican Party absorb all these different types of ideas into one party that works together? Well, maybe except for that, if this past year is any indication, it doesn't necessarily work in terms of the voter turnout. If you just look at one, Georgia, there were so many registered Republican voters that did not turn out. 

And so, I don't know how this can all work. But I do know that if it doesn't work, there will not be many elections one statewide or nationwide for a long time. Congressional districts, sure. Those are gerrymandered in a way that can really help Republicans win. But when they talk about -- you know, when we talk about unity, I think the Democrats have a problem within their own party with unity, conservatives, libertarians. Whatever this mix is on the Republican side, they've got an issue too.

PAVLICH: So, Juan, I have a challenge for you, not to talk about President Trump. Can you quit him as we move into the next administration?

WILLIAMS: No problem here, Katie. But I must say when, you know, your ask a Democrat about the Patriot Party. Bring it on, baby. Let's see it. Because just like everyone has said, that would assure that Republicans don't win an election for a long time to come. It would just be disastrous for their problems. But you know what, Trump has divided the Republicans.

PAVLICH: Well, we shall see. All right, coming up, and so the media's love affair with President Biden begins. Greg with a must-see monologue up next on "The Five."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GUTFELD: So, let the hilarious fawning begin. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID CHALIAN, POLITICAL DIRECTOR, CNN: Those lights that are that are just shooting out from the Lincoln Memorial along the reflecting pool, look, it's like almost extensions of Joe Biden's arms embracing America. It was a moment where the new president came to town and sort of convened the country in this moment of remembrance outstretching his arms.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: Wow. Toobin really let himself go. But wait, there's more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The 46th President of the United States, putting his soul into his first address. 

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He gave the kind of inaugural address our presidents used to give as hopeful as the man delivering it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We saw the steely determination and compassion of President Joe Biden. 

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What a great love story between Jill Biden and Joe Biden. We haven't had a love story in the White House in four years. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: It is a love story between the press and Biden. The New York Times editor even admits she got chills from Joe which we hope isn't COVID. Meanwhile, as the corporate press drools for Joe, they frantically spit on the outgoing guy trying to outdo each other on who's more relieved that our national nightmare is over.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A welcome sight for many Americans. President Trump is leaving Washington.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to be a little pathetic, a tiny little crowded Joint Base Andrews.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's almost leaving town like an autocrat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He just looks like a small man.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He knows he is leaving a pariah, and nobody wants to be seen with him.

DON LEMON, ANCHOR, CNN: Four years ending with true American Carnage, a riot, a pandemic carnage. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: It's amazing the emotional intensity of their conformity. The media is so predictable, you could set your watch to their lockstep. The presser, like children, overjoyed that mommy's deadbeat boyfriend finally moved out of the house, except they still can't quit America's bad boy at all. Nope. Trump has actually left a Trump sized hole in their lives, and they're trying to figure out how to fill it. And with what?

Well, the media coverage will bounce between softcore fluffy, masquerading as hard news. Example, hey, did you hear Joe as a peloton. I got two sources to go on record, two pieces that remember the awful past under the Fonzie Godzilla hybrid that was Trump. Don't worry, there will be no anonymous sources feeding Blitzer, false stories of Biden meltdowns.

And in the media's gassy stew, you'll see the regret. What will they do after all their bitter emotional farewells when they realize their primary engine of profit, creating conflict and hate based on their own loading for Trump is finally gone? Let's ask Mara.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARA GAY, REPORTER, NEW YORK TIMES: A lot of Americans of goodwill saw the true face of white supremacy and of Trumpism at its core. What is preventing us from coming together to fight our real enemies like COVID is racism. It is at the heart of what allowed Donald Trump free rein to terrorize the American people for four years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: Yes, Trump may be gone but you, the possibly racist person who voted for him, you are still here. But not for long if they can help it. 

By they, I mean, media, Katie, who have gone beyond parody. I get it, greatest inauguration ever, but come on. 

PAVLICH: Greg, I have another one for you. All the fashion magazines, including Refinery29 said today Dr. Biden is bringing American fashion back into the White House starting with this subtle sparkly coat. Now, I loved the outfit that First Lady Jill Biden was wearing today, but First Lady Melania Trump was a supermodel and a designer of high fashion. So, you know, they're going to do what they're going to do. 

GUTFELD: Yes.

PAVLICH: Get ready for it. Four years. Their first opportunity is tonight with the press secretary who will be out at 7:00 to ask the follow-up questions of the executive orders today which I'm sure will be in the honeymoon period. 

GUTFELD: Yes. You know, Juan, I express my opinions here. This is the discussion show. We don't pretend to be hard news as esteemed as that is. Yet these are people that pretend to be objective news anchors who are drooling, drooling as they're watching an event. We can do that. We're commentary ads. But they're hard news. It seems to me like a betrayal of America's trust.

WILLIAMS: I don't see it that way. I think that in fact what you have is in America more opinion and opinion. I wish we would get back to more simple facts. But some people might say that was boring. I do think that what you see in the conservative echo chamber, Greg, is you know, constant campaign, political barbs, attacks, nicknames, bullying. I just don't like it. And I think that that sells for a lot of people. 

So, the campaigning never stops, and we never get to like solving problems for the country. We never get to talk about compromise. People who want to compromise, they're dismissed as weak, you know, as quislings. They're terrible. And so, the emphasis is always on selling grievance, selling grudges, picking fights. I mean, I guess that's what gets the person to come back and listen to the next show. But to me, that's not what government should be about. It should be in the name of the American people and the best interest of the American people.

GUTFELD: Yes. I think Brett Kavanaugh would agree with you after what those Republicans did -- oh, wait, it wasn't Republicans. Hey, Jesse, this is why when we look at this stuff, you cannot trust this industry. This industry that we are in is the leak -- because you've watched them just transform their belief system or their mentality depending on the party. It's amazing.

WATTERS: Well, Juan said yesterday that people's personal politics shouldn't affect their job performance. So, when you heard all those hard news reporters saying Trump is a white supremacist, that was not affected at all by their personal politics. He has been proven to be a card-carrying white supremacist. That's hard news, right Juan? Of course, not. That's their opinion, infecting their job, and that's what the problem is.

GUTFELD: Last word to you, Dana. We don't pick sides here, but they do, don't they?

PERINO: Let me just say one thing that the Biden team has benefited from. They are extremely tight-lipped. They do not leak so far. That might change now that they're at the White House. But on the campaign, like, reporters were extremely frustrated. They had a disciplined approach. If they can bring that to the White House, their dealings with the media will probably be better.

GUTFELD: All right, not sure. Up next, President Joe Biden made a lot of big promises about stopping the virus, but can he deliver?

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WATTERS: President Biden facing a major test that's going to make or break his legacy, keeping his promises to defeat the virus and deliver 100 million shots of the vaccine in his first 100 days in office. Katie, we've already delivered about almost 20 million shots. Breaking 100 million should be easy. He should shatter that. Is he just kind of lowering expectations?

PAVLICH: He may be and I think that he's seeing the reality of how some states have rolled out the vaccine. Like in New York, New Jersey, for example. It's been a complete disaster. So, the federal government can promise something, but if the states don't have it together, it's going to be hard to reach their goal.

WATTERS: Juan, you already got your shot. You're waiting on number two, right?

WILLIAMS: Yes, four weeks. I got four weeks, Jesse. But look, just to speak to this issue quickly. You know, I think that the Trump administration advocated responsibility leadership on this. And right now, the question is production of the vaccine, and potentially President Biden -- I have to get used to that. President Biden might put in place use of the Defense Production Act to get the vaccine in sufficient supply so that we can in fact then get it into people's arms.

WATTERS: Yes, Dana, I would support that.

PERINO: Yes. You know, the Biden team is rightly saying that there's a mess when it comes to vaccine distribution. But one thing that they have that they didn't anticipate and that they kind of advocated against under Trump administration is that they actually have the vaccine, and multiple vaccines to be able to use. So, hopefully, they'll get them out.

WATTERS: All right, Greg, last word.

GUTFELD: I hear that Amazon just offered to help with the distribution which is great for me because I have Amazon Prime. 

PERINO: In two days. 

WATTERS: Yes. It'll be here tomorrow.

GUTFELD: Yes.

WATTERS: Yes. Funny timing on that. They -- notice they never offered to help before. 

GUTFELD: Packed in a giant box. 

WATTERS: I wonder what that has to do with -- good for you. All right, Greg, we're happy you're healthy. More on "The Five" up next.

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WILLIAMS: Joe Biden sworn in as the 46th President of the United States today. Let's get to our final thoughts. Katie.

PAVLICH: I love this country. And I look forward to watching and covering the Biden administration.

WILLIAMS: Well, I think that's pretty sweet. Now, Jesse, I wanted to tell you, after you had your recount of the letter in the desk from former president to the current president, I was recalling that Ronald Reagan left a card for George HW Bush, and it had an elephant, a Republican elephant on it with turkeys attached. And what he wrote was, don't let the turkeys get you down. I thought that was pretty cool at the time.

WATTERS: It's a great tradition and it's a lot of fun to report and get to read. I guess that Joe Biden is going to talk to Trump and see if Trump will allow him to release the letter. And it's probably written in Sharpie, and it's probably all caps, and we'll all get a great kick out of that. 

But the media is setting themselves up for a spectacular fall here. And let me explain why. It's one thing for the mainstream media to get that chill up their leg when they're covering someone like a JFK, a Bill Clinton, or Barack Obama. These are young, idealistic, charismatic, change agents. 

Joe Biden is not that guy. Joe Biden has no charisma. I mean, he's got no energy. He's got nothing. So, the media can only fake it for so long. How long are they going to be able to pretend that Joe Biden is the kind of guy that we need to worship and faint and hang off every word? Because after looking at that performance in the Oval Office, they're going to lose even more trust if they continue to fawn over this guy like he's Jesus Christ. Because I got to tell you, they're going to get over that pretty quickly.

WILLIAMS: So, Greg, you know, a Justice John Roberts, the Chief Justice John Roberts didn't have any trouble with Joe Biden today. As I recall back in I guess it was '09, they stumbled and they had to do it again, but not today. Everything went smoothly. What did you think?

GUTFELD: I agree, it was the greatest inauguration I've ever -- I've ever seen. And I just want to touch on my final thought to go back to the whole unity message. Embracing identity politics, like Joe did, is the opposite of unity. Because for identity politics to exist, you have to keep the nonstop narrative of racial conflict and oppression going and going and going. 

There are only two things that can bring a unifying feeling to America. You got to stop calling people racists when they're not racist, and you got to legalize MDMA. Do that, everyone is happy.

WILLIAMS: All right. Dana Perino, Justice Sonia Sotomayor swore in the new vice president Kamala Harris, and she used Thurgood Marshall's Bible. What do you think?

PAVLICH: Well, I do think that the fact that you had the first woman to send to that position, it's a big deal for women, and it's a big deal for the country. And it wasn't just women, right? A lot of people voted in this election. 

I was glad to see it. I do think that there's a lot to watch in the future when you got the filibuster fight, the power-sharing fight in the Senate. Today is a great day to talk about unity and we'll see how it goes in practice.

WATTERS: All right, Dana, thank you very much. And if the country could be as unified as we are here on "The Five," then America is in great shape. Am I right?

PERINO: Good example. 

GUTFELD: Right. Yes. 

WATTERS: All right, that's it for us tonight. "Special Report" starts now. Take it away, Bret.

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