This is a rush transcript from “The Ingraham Angle," August 21, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST: I'm Laura Ingraham, and this is the "The Ingraham Angle" from Washington tonight. After four nights of hearing how dark and terrible life in America is, what did Democrats have to show for it all? Well, a closer race. Trump pollster, John McLaughlin is here, and he's going to tell us the real numbers.
Plus, in his first national interview since the BLM extremists threatened him outside his house, Minneapolis Police Federation President Bob Kroll responds and delivers an important message about Joe Biden. And speaking of, he is apparently watching "The Ingraham Angle." Raymond Arroyo explains in a special edition of "Seen and Unseen."
But first, Biden stiffs the working class. That's the focus of tonight's "Angle."
The Democrats were supposed to have their convention in Milwaukee this week and in person. The goal was to reassure key Midwest and Rust Belt voters that Democrats are still the party of blue-collar America. Well, of course, the pandemic derailed those plans, and we got instead a virtual snooze fest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT): Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUS, AMERICAN ACTRESS: I cannot wait to see her debate our current Vice President, Mika Pints (ph) - or is it Paints (ph)?
ANDREW YANG (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's pronounced pons (ph), I believe.
(APPLAUSE)
(MUSIC)
SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): What if my girlfriend liked you more than she likes me? But let's - let's move on--
SANDERS: Because she's smarter than you.
(LAUGHTER) JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Hey, everyone. I'm Jill Biden's husband. That's the kind of first lady, lady, lady, lady, this Jill Biden will be.
(END VIDEO CLIP) INGRAHAM: But even if the Democrats had assembled in Washington, all gone smoothly, let's clear that other than a lot of empty platitudes and appeals to decency, Democrats had zero to offer Midwest voters. Even the talented Barack Obama couldn't come up with a substantive reason to vote for Joe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Democracy was never meant to be transactional. It requires an active and informed citizenry. So I'm also asking you to believe in your own ability, to embrace your own responsibility as citizens, to make sure that the basic tenets of our democracy endure because that's what's at stake right now. Our democracy.
(END VIDEO CLIP) INGRAHAM: Didn't it remind you of just a bad college lecture that you wished never signed up for? Look - and Biden was no more substantive, but he layered on the emotion. We heard a lot about his family, from triumph to tragedy, and the same stuff we've heard on and off for decades. But the bar had been set so low for Biden, I think he could have come out and read the back of a cereal box and people would have been, ooh (ph), aah (ph), he really hit the mark.
Biden's media boosters, of course, ignored the inconvenient truth that he failed to present clear, specific policies for the major challenges that are facing us. We deserve to know what his economic policy would look like, how he'd stand up to our enemies in places like China, and what practical steps beyond maybe a mask mandate he would implement to address the virus.
Now, remember what Nancy Pelosi told us that we had to vote for Obamacare in order to find out what's in it? Well, the Biden team is now applying that logic to their entire campaign. The Democratic convention painted a very depressing portrait of America. Didn't you feel it? And you got the sense that they're just all mortified to live in a country that they regard as inherently, awfully racist. But that's still wasn't extreme enough for the radicals who are really in control of the Democrats' agenda.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was lacking on the substance that these young folks who have been in the streets all summer so desperately need to see from Joe Biden--
(END VIDEO CLIP) INGRAHAM: And who exactly are these young folks in the streets?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Being politically correct is probably not going to get it done. We have got to turn the system upside down.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Communities from Boston to Portland and everywhere in between are rising up to demand accountability and divestment from broken systems--
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm talking about, like, for real for real abolition, not just watered down DNC version of abolition. We're talking about to abolishing the police. We're talking about abolishing ICE. We're talking about abolishing prisons.
(END VIDEO CLIP) INGRAHAM: Talking about abolishing logic, common sense, safety. Lot of things they're abolishing there. Now, last week, unlike the Democrats, I did travel to the Midwest. I was in Minneapolis, and I saw firsthand the devastation of the Democrat-supported riots.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KACEY WHITE, TOWN TALK DINER AND GASTROPUB OWNER: The whole block were down. This was our version of a baby. Just being here now, it's just all - all the emotions comes back and all the - all the sadness and anger just kind of flows back through.
My husband was asleep. And I went and woke him, and I go, you need to wake up now. I go, Town Talk is going to burn down any minute. And we sat there and watched it just melt to the ground with all of our hard work.
(END VIDEO CLIP) INGRAHAM: It's just devastating. Now, Biden and Harris are not going to fix the kind of scenes you just saw. In fact, if they're elected, what we'll be doing is rewarding what those rioters did.
And while the big banks and the billionaires of Silicon Valley, they're pouring vast amounts of money into the Biden campaign. You've seen it. They're not doing that because they want to see all of you get higher wages. All of you American workers going to have rising wages. No way. They see Biden as their ticket to the days of outsourcing, sending jobs overseas. They want open borders, they want globalization, because to them, those were the good old days. But not to you.
The primary reason that Trump ran for office was so he could fight for American workers, especially in the factory towns across Middle America. And he delivered. He forced Canada and Mexico to revise NAFTA in ways that make it harder to siphon off American jobs. His trade relief has saved the American steel industry that was on its last breath.
He stood up against China against the objections of almost every lobbyist in D.C. Of course, he enforced our immigration laws that Democrats want to gut. He supported the fracking industry. He rolled back disastrous Obama- Biden regulations that undermined our energy independence. He fought the deep state to limit our involvement in unnecessary wars in the Middle East. And he appointed Supreme Court justices who resist hard-left efforts to use our Constitution to attack traditional values.
And in the face of unprecedented pressure, he resisted locking down the entire country during COVID because he wanted to make sure that average Americans wouldn't suffer needless economic harm. Now, every one of those measures is hated by the Washington swamp, but every single one of them has brought practical benefits to working families.
For the Trump administration, Middle America is never fly-over country. No one at the White House is sitting there making fun of Americans for clinging to their guns and religion. No one believes that the American experiment was a racist failure in the White House or that we should apologize to the rest of the world. Absolutely not.
As someone who's lived in Washington since the 1980s, I can assure you that what we've seen from Trump, what his focus has been, the American worker, is very rare. We really do have an establishment in Washington, but it's not Trump's establishment. It's an establishment full of elitists, and they really do look down on you in the middle of the country. Their policies are tailored for the world, not for the Midwest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) B. OBAMA: Our proud reputation around the world badly diminished--
MICHELLE OBAMA, FORMER FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: We were respected around the world rallying our allies to confront climate change.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Joe Biden will rejoin the international climate agreement.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Joe understands that none of the issues of this world can be resolved without bringing nations together.
(END VIDEO CLIP) INGRAHAM: Really? Well, when did they bring all the nations together except to sell out the American worker? Well, now voters across the Midwest have their best chance in decades, maybe ever, to change how the government views Middle America in almost a permanent way because a second Trump administration will create a new order in Washington. But if Biden wins, well, he'll reward coastal elites at your expense. And when the factories close and the local mall goes out of business, their media lackeys will say it was all your own fault.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DON LEMON, CNN HOST: When someone says we are the forgotten people, we are unheard people, people of color go, what, what the hell are you talking about? You or white in this society have had every privilege--
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We give essentially white men the platform and privilege (inaudible) on communities that (inaudible) say very little.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are told that we deserve it and that we earned it. And we take great umbrage when that is challenged.
(END VIDEO CLIP) INGRAHAM: Don't let happen what they want to happen to this country. We are a great nation. And we deserve a government that believes in our system and our people. So this fall, don't worry about Trump. He'll still be a billionaire with a great family no matter what happens. Worry about yourselves, your children, your communities, because if you vote for yourselves, you can save America for all of us.
And that's the "Angle."
All right. The Democrats spent the week making no secret of who they were trying to appeal to.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): We are unleashing the power of women to take our rightful place in our national life.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Joe Biden knows a stronger America is one that works for women.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Women will decide this election, and we'll replace Donald Trump with a president who respects us.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Black people, especially black women, are the backbone of this party.
(END VIDEO CLIP) INGRAHAM: But did it work? Joining me now is Harmeet Dhillon, Co-Chair of Women for Trump and Founder of The Center for American Liberty. Also with me, Cynthia Garrett, Founder of the Cynthia Garrett Ministries and author of "I Choose Victory."
Harmeet, are you jumping ship to Biden after hearing all of that emotion and the personal narrative and the cliches?
HARMEET DHILLON, LAWYERS FOR TRUMP NATIONAL CO-CHAIR: Oh, my gosh.
INGRAHAM: Did that really speak to you?
DHILLON: No. I mean - and I'm from San Francisco, but let me tell you, I grew up in North Carolina where I'm speaking to you from. And the vision of America that we saw the last four days at the DNC bears no relation to what most Americans see as our country today and where they want it to be. It was a combination of Hollywood celebrities and negative politicians and a very bleak picture of America.
And when soccer moms and people who are undecided in these swing states are looking at what the Democrats have to offer, getting rid of bail, getting rid of the police, getting rid of ICE, getting rid of their health care choices, getting rid of border controls, I don't think most American women who are concerned about the futures of their families are going to go for that.
I don't think they're going to be able to identify with Kamala Harris and how she got to power and where she is and what her negative vision is. And so I think they made a lot of mistakes. So they could have brought some women from the heartland, some women who spoke from the heart and painted a positive vision. They blew that opportunity with their divisive balkanization and politics of division, Laura.
INGRAHAM: Cynthia, MSNBC tried to pick up on the theme that was running through the Democrat convention all week by saying it was a moment for - to be proud because girls of color can now have something to look up to. I mean, I would have assumed they all looked up to Barack Obama, but nevertheless this is how they portrayed it. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. AYANNA PRESSLEY (D-MA): There had been so many powerful moments throughout this convention, many of them created by women.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: I don't think we can overstate how significant a moment it is for the girls and women and people of color in the United States and around the world watching this event tonight.
LEMON: Were there any white men who spoke tonight? No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: --the speech, but no, I don't think so.
LEMON: I've not - I don't think I've ever seen that. It was just women and - mostly women of color.
(END VIDEO CLIP) INGRAHAM: Chris Cuomo sitting there going, I better just shut up here.
Cynthia, what about the symbolism here? That seems to be what's being celebrated.
CYNTHIA GARRETT, AUTHOR, "I CHOOSE VICTORY": Well, look - I mean, God loves symbolism. We all need to look at something. However, I raised the young women in my life and I mentor thousands of young women around the world through my organization. And I love young women and girls. I love to see them walk in the power of their identity. And I love to see them think.
And the problem is that a symbol of something doesn't mean anything. Who am I looking at? What am I looking at? What do they stand for? Anybody in that party, it offends me the way God and color is thrown around because it's a lie, because nothing about God aligns in my mind with the values that that party stands for. It's - it's just so hypocritical. And--
INGRAHAM: Yes. Well--
GARRETT: I - you know--
INGRAHAM: Let me--
GARRETT: I'm sorry, go ahead.
INGRAHAM: Let me hop in here. Let me hop in here, Cynthia, because Harmeet, I think - like, Harmeet comes from the Sikh tradition. And there are great connections among all the great faiths in the world. But my goodness, you would think, Harmeet, that they would not go out of their way to remove under God from various caucus meeting pledges. Now, they didn't do it for the main show because they want to appeal to Middle America. But in the pre-show meetings that we monitored, it was all this one nation, indivisible, which was so--
DHILLON: Yes.
INGRAHAM: --patently obvious. Referring to what Cynthia just said, God wasn't really present. It was secularism, gender-bending, all of the things that get them the kudos. Harmeet.
DHILLON: You're absolutely right, Laura. And people around the world, people of faith - most people of faith will tell you that they are a person who believes in God first and then country and then party. And that's really how I feel. I can't identify with a party, and frankly, most people of faith can't, where one of their religious tenets of their faith is killing children in the womb. And that is something that Kamala Harris has stood for to the point of prosecuting my client, Journalist David Daleiden, who exposed the fetal part trafficking practices of Planned Parenthood and National Abortion Federation.
And so that's what she stands for. There is no room, there is no big tent in their part, there is no room for different viewpoints. It is all a dogma and agenda. No choices. No shades of gray. It is black and white, and it is ugly.
INGRAHAM: Yes. You either vote for Joe Biden or you're an evil, awful, rotten racist. Period. That is the message of this convention.
Ladies, we'll check back with you next week during the RNC for a look at that.
Now, the media cacophony has declared the DNC resounding success. But polls, well, what story are they telling? Back in June, Biden held a 9.5 lead over Trump nationally. One month ago, that was down to 8.6 percent. But what about now? Well, it's just 7.4. Well, conventions usually give candidates a sizable polling bump, but this was kind of a weird convention. Doesn't seem to be happening - at least not yet.
In Minnesota, the polls are tied. This is a state that hasn't been won by a GOP ticket in 48 years. Likewise, Biden and Trump are in a statistical tie in Pennsylvania, a state where Biden led by double digits just last month. Why is this happening? Is it representative of a larger trend? Here to tell us, Trump 2020 campaign pollster, John McLaughlin.
John, look, you work for the Trump campaign. So you want to have a glass half-full approach. However, after this convention, are you concerned since Biden was able to read a speech off a teleprompter for 20 minutes that he's going to get a bump because of the low bar that was set?
JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, TRUMP 2020 POLLSTER: We're definitely concerned that the media - I mean, they were gushing over him last night and all day today, that he was able to read the teleprompter and he didn't - he didn't - I mean, they set the bar so low for him. How could he - how could he not do well?
But - but let me tell you , the reality is, the week started off great for the President in that CNN, of all people, had a poll where we were within four in it (ph). We were tied in the battleground states. And it was only - we've talked about how bias they're always, only 27 percent Republican. But then "Rasmussen Reports" had a poll where we gained and we were within four nationally, and we were - I mean, we lost nationally three last time, but we won the battleground states.
And the battleground states you read, they were all close. So the media is going to pull out all the stops to say this convention, which you've accurately portrayed and I want to run as an infomercial for the Republicans, is the biggest values contrast as we go into our convention, which celebrates America while they were all kind of running down America. And it's a view - yes.
INGRAHAM: Yes. John, "Politico" has a list of potential Biden cabinet picks. We don't know how accurate it is, but it's kind of fun to look at. Susan Rice, potential secretary of state. Elizabeth Warren as secretary of Treasury, I find that very hard to believe. Wall Street will never allow that. Pete Buttigieg as U.N. Ambassador. Karen Bass as HHS secretary. Eric Garcetti, after he gets finished ruining California, will come try to ruin the Housing and Urban Development Department. Does this have any effect on voter sentiment about how moderate a Biden presidency will actually be?
MCLAUGHLIN: Well, they're not moderate. The polls I just described to you, that was after the Kamala Harris pick. I mean, she's a San Francisco liberal. And 59 percent of the voters had told "Rasmussen Reports" they don't expect Biden to serve out the term.
So this cabinet, along with Kamala Harris and along with everybody they had at that convention pretty much, tells you that the radical left has taken control of Joe Biden, and they are running the show. And it's totally contrast to the President getting out there and visiting the battleground states. You mentioned the Minnesota poll. That was before the President even got there to campaign. So it's a real sharp contrast that America is about to see in a really important election--
INGRAHAM: Yes.
MCLAUGHLIN: --that Donald Trump has to win.
INGRAHAM: John, I think the President needs to show more than MAGA country strength next week. I think he needs to show a little bit of heart. And it's unusual. (Inaudible) hug people during COVID. But I think there are some - there are some of those moments that would be reassuring, especially to women voters, that he doesn't just have the right policies, but that he actually cares. So I hope we see some of that, not just - we got to surprise people a little bit next week as well.
We'll be watching, John. Great to see you, as always.
And coming up, Joe Biden wants to be the COVID candidate. So, what's his record when it comes to handling past pandemics? We did some digging, and we found, well, it's going to be a little bit troubling to most Americans. They'll think twice about trusting Joe with public health. Alex Berenson, Phil Kerpen explain in moments.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): Joe Biden has some really good plans. COVID- 19 was Trump's biggest test. He failed miserably.
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: COVID hit us much harder than it had to. To beat it, you've got to actually go to work and deal with the facts. Our choice is Joe Biden.
PELOSI: Joe Biden is the president we need right now.
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA) VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Joe will bring us together to end this pandemic--
(END VIDEO CLIP) INGRAHAM: Did you hear that? With a snap of his fingers, Joe Biden would end this pandemic. He has a plan. The historical records suggest otherwise. Three months into 2009, the Obama administration, they were confronted with an outbreak of the H1N1 flu. As Vice President, Biden took the reins. So, how well did he handle that crisis? "Politico" wrote back in May, "Biden has fought a pandemic before. It did not go smoothly." There were "vaccine shortfalls, fights over funding, and sometimes contradictory messaging," especially from Biden himself.
And here's how even Biden's former Chief of Staff remembered the debacle.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RON KLAIN, FORMER BIDEN CHIEF OF STAFF: We did every possible thing wrong. And it's - 60 million Americans got H1N1 in that period of time, and it's just purely a fortuity that this isn't one of the great mass casualty events in American history. Had nothing to do with us doing anything right. Just had to do with luck.
(END VIDEO CLIP) INGRAHAM: Oh, my God! It's devastating. Joining me now is Alex Berenson, former New York Times reporter, author of "Unreported Truths About COVID-19 and Lockdowns." Also with us, Phil Kerpen, President of the Committee to Unleash Prosperity.
Alex, COVID became, of course, the - it was the co-running mate with Biden all week long at the convention. So what would Biden do differently if he were at the helm today?
ALEX BERENSON, AUTHOR, "UNREPORTED TRUTHS ABOUT COVID-19 AND LOCKDOWNS": Well, I mean, I'm not sure what he would do differently. First of all, if there's one thing that's become clear in the last four or five months, it's that the governors really had the power here. It's, surprisingly, more than the President. The governors decided whether or not to lock down. The governors really and even the low levels of school authorities have power over school reopenings. Unless Donald Trump was willing to essentially declare martial law, there were limits to what he could do.
But in terms of the Joe Biden's desire to lock down the country again, and it's not clear that's what he wants to do, but there certainly have been hints in that direction and certainly a lot of the Democratic and public health establishment have called for that. It's not at all clear that lockdowns would do any good.
What we do know, and we've actually now have sort of state-level unemployment data demonstrating this, is that lockdowns really devastate the economy. The states that locked down early and hard, whether or not they were hit hard by the pandemic, have terrible unemployment rates and job losses. And states like Arizona and Texas that didn't lock down nearly as hard, even though they've had some spike in the last six or eight weeks, have done much better economically.
So I have no idea what Joe Biden thinks he would do or what the people around him think he would do, but it really is a case of I'm from the government and I'm here to help. It's very hard to some time that more action did more to help.
INGRAHAM: Yes. Well, he said one thing - a national mask mandate. But Zeke Emanuel, all these other people who are advising, I mean, they were all heralding Europe's lockdown for longer strategy, which also seems to have backfired given all the new cases in Europe.
Now, gentlemen, here's another--
BERENSON: Yes. I mean--
INGRAHAM: Here's another trick.
BERENSON: --cases are taking off in Spain.
INGRAHAM: Yes. Taking off in Spain. 26,000 new cases a day in Europe, last I checked.
Now, I want to move on here because the schools issue is huge for our viewers here on "The Ingraham Angle." And Democrats at the convention pulled the kind of needle trick. They pretended that they were the ones who really, really, really want to reopen schools. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) YANG: You don't know if your child's school is going to reopen this fall.
WARREN: Parents are stuck. No idea when schools can safely reopen and even fewer child care options.
BIDEN: We'll make sure our schools have the resources they need to be open, safe, and effective.
(END VIDEO CLIP) INGRAHAM: Phil Kerpen, we were screaming laughing in the studio here when they started doing this. Thoughts?
PHIL KERPEN, PRESIDENT, COMMITTEE TO UNLEASH PROSPERITY: Well, look - I mean, the - it's - this has been an almost purely partisan issue for months now with Republicans led by President Trump and the science and the facts saying children should be in schools, and the Democrats led by the teachers' unions making demand after demand after demand, why they can't be and they won't be and they need to defund charter schools and the police, and have welfare for illegal immigrants before they can go back to work. We've talked about it here on your show many, many, many times.
So, for Democrats to now turn around and say, hey, it's the Republicans' fault. I wish we could have you in school, is just an astonishingly brazen act of deception. They've clearly been the major impediment to children being in school to listening to the facts, listening to the science. Every time one of these fake studies comes out, like this latest one from Mass General with children up to 22 that only has three asymptomatic children up to age 22 in the whole study, they push the headlines everywhere about silent spreaders. They hype every crazy anti-schooler argument to scare parents, to get schools to close. And then turn around and say it's President Trump's fault the schools are closed when he's been saying all along open them.
LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST: This is so infuriating to so many parents because I think they actually have seen through the headlines on a lot of this stuff. But Alex, another thing that I noticed happening, I know you wrote about this in your book, is that any hint of good news or the virus might be trailing off in Texas and Arizona, any bit of that is discounted by the media. And the CDC comes out today, I guess, or yesterday and said we could have 10 to 20 percent of the country already infected. CNN trot out its medical experts to shoot that down. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Not entirely clear how he's getting that number. But even more importantly, it's not clear what that means. We know that antibodies might fade, and so that could mean that you get infected a second time. So not really clear is this is reason to be happy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: No reason to be happy ever, Alex, right? We could never reach herd immunity anywhere in the country.
ALEX BERENSON, FORMER REPORTER, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": It's one of these things, when cases were on the way up in Arizona and Texas and Florida and the rest of the sunbelt, that was all you heard. And you heard many stories about how ICUs, places found a few isolated hospitals that were having problems with their ICUs. That coverage was reported over and over again, the same five hospitals in Houston and on the Texas border and a couple places in Arizona.
Now that it's clear that the sunbelt has managed its spike, believe it or not, in Arizona, ICUs have one-quarter, hospitalizations, COVID hospitalizations are one-quarter as high as they were six weeks ago. You haven't heard that anywhere else except FOX. It is really terrible the game the media is playing here.
And by the way, COVID is something we should be report on, COVID is something we should be concerned about. We should make sure the hospitals are ready. But when the news is not bad, that should be reported, too.
INGRAHAM: Well, that didn't work for the political outcome most of them want, unfortunately. You have to push, as Alex always says, the panic porn morning, noon, and night in the media. Gentlemen, great to see you both tonight. Thanks so much.
And the biggest revelation from Biden's speech last night wasn't policy related, but it is that he's a fan of a certain segment of the "The Ingraham Angle." Raymond Arroyo is here next, and he'll explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
INGRAHAM: It's Friday, and that means it's time for --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: -- seen and unseen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Wait a second, wait a second. He stole our line and he mixed up the segments. With all the details, "Seen and Unseen" on Friday, from the Democratic National Convention, we have Raymond Arroyo, FOX News contributor. All right, Raymond, other than voicing over a segment for you, did Joe Biden accomplish what he needed to accomplish, cheese old cliche?
RAYMOND ARROYO, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: My sense is that he mixed the mark a little bit here. After playing the wizard of Wilmington for weeks, Laura, under deep cover, policy aside, Biden needed to emerge strong, and he needed to be on point and demonstrate that he had the mental and physical clarity to be president. He seemed surprised, even a little startled when he was nominated. Then after Jill's big speech, that moment tells the tale. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
BIDEN: God love you. How are you? Hey, everyone! I'm Jill Biden's husband. That's the kind of first lady, lady, lady this Jill Biden will be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
INGRAHAM: Raymond, Raymond, Raymond.
ARROYO: Laura, Laura, Laura. He was just with her, OK, 15 minutes earlier when he accepted the nomination. Then after her speech he walks up like she is a campaign volunteer in Iowa, and he tells her, how are you doing? How are you doing? God love you. It's your wife. It was a very strange -- that moment told me a great deal. It's scary.
INGRAHAM: Raymond, Raymond, Raymond, I also think her reaction was like ha- ha, ha-ha, don't screw it up. Why is she laughing? What is funny about that? He just walks in and she starts laughing.
ARROYO: I don't know.
INGRAHAM: I thought it was, for a country that's so systemically racist, they were cracking a lot of jokes and laughing. It was a weird, weird deal. What else?
ARROYO: Very strange. Most people did not see the Democratic after party, most people went to bed, or some of the musical stars who seemed to be auditioning to replace Rachel Maddow.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Things are a mess. Donald Trump is destroying our country and everything we care about. We all have to vote like our lives and world depend on it, because they do.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's time to dance for democracy.
(MUSIC)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ARROYO: Laura, one of horrible downsides to this COVID thing is we have new insight into what people do at home to entertain themselves, OK. One wonders how singer Billy Porter's song and dance routine played in, say, Indiana or Wisconsin. As I watched this, I kept thinking, who is this designed to appeal to? Is the club circuit vote in doubt? What are they trying to do here?
INGRAHAM: I don't get it. Oh, something is happening here because we haven't heard that overused for five minutes. Oh, my God. But he looked like the raven with that black cape or, whatever that was, dress.
ARROYO: It was a bizarre costume choice.
INGRAHAM: Nothing sings to middle Americans, speaks to middle America like the musical guests featured as commentators that belong on CNN or MSNBC.
Raymond, religion, though, was featured at the convention as well. And this was an attempt to appeal to evangelicals and Catholics, no doubt about it. Father James Martin, a liberal Jesuit, leftwing as they come, offered a prayer at one point.
ARROYO: He did. And though he prayed generally for the unborn child in the womb, he did not pray for an end to abortion or the protection of the child in the womb. He offered this endorsement of Biden on MSNBC, though, listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FATHER JAMES MARTIN: This is a man who tries to be the best Catholic that he can be. The Democrats are not very good on abortion, and the Republicans are not very good on immigration. And so neither party has a lock on what you might call the Catholic vote.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Oh, my God. what?
ARROYO: This is unbelievable. They are trying to massage this issue, as if abortion is letting people three across the border instead of five. No, no, it's the taking of innocent human life. And in the church conception of reality, it is always gravely evil. It's never right to do that. And the bishops have declared this the number one priority for them as far as voting is concerned. So whatever Father Martin and others are saying here, that has to be taken into consideration.
INGRAHAM: Raymond, thanks so much. We'll see you next week from North Carolina where Raymond will be.
And now the video, a radical BLM activist shows up at a house screaming obscenities and threats in front of children, no less. Tonight, in his first national TV interview, Minneapolis Police Federation President Bob Kroll, the target of that, his response. Stay there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
INGRAHAM: This video of a retired police sergeant who was beaten and robbed by thugs in broad daylight has become the new normal in cities across the country. Now, it's no different in Minneapolis where we went last week to document the chaos, the aftermath of all those riots. The lawlessness, the destruction, all after George Floyd's death. And those who stand up and call for more or better policing, like Minneapolis Police Federation President Bob Kroll, can expect a violent BLM mob to show up at their houses.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN THOMPSON: I'm a black man being terrorized by these -- Klansman right here.
Don't run now. Don't run now racist white people. Come on over here with your Blue Lives Matter sign. Blue lives ain't --
And if people in Hugo don't support black people, -- Hugo, Minnesota.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Joining me now is the target of that irate mob, Bob Kroll, Minneapolis Police Federation president. He's also a lieutenant with the Minneapolis police force. Bob, what is your response to that threat and intimidation by that individual running for office if the state and endorsed by the governor and other Democrat officials?
BOB KROLL, MINNEAPOLIS POLICE FEDERATION PRESIDENT: Well, Laura, it's shameful. And what's truly shameful beyond that is no one in the party here, including the governor, has asked for him to step down and withdraw from the race. They put out a few small retractions that he wished he wouldn't have done that. But they were very minor apologies, if you could even call them apologies. And the rest of them are saying, hey, this is our party. This is what you want. And sadly, he is from the east side of Saint Paul is where his district is, and that's where I grew and spent the first 25 years of my life.
INGRAHAM: I was in Minneapolis last week, and I spoke to business owners whose lives were completely destroyed in these riots. These aren't political people. They're just hardworking Americans. And their stores were literally burned to the ground. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Do you want fewer police here, or do you want more?
IBRAHIM DEMAAG, CHICAGO FURNITURE WAREHOUSE OWNER: We want more presence of security. There is no backup plan for the police, either. They say they want to defund the police. OK, do you have other plans what you can put into our community? Because I have another store down the street. At Thursday, 1:00 p.m., I got robbed in the daylight. The police, that's all they do, Laura, is take a report. I have report after report, and now the report is going to become like a booklet. It's full of reports.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Bob, he, like many others, just not getting that they need right now from authorities. What's your response given the situation in Minneapolis today?
KROLL: Well, the thing is, a year ago our chief of police asked the mayor and city council for an increase of 400 officers. And they got nothing. And during press conferences you saw our mayor repeatedly say we just didn't have the numbers. We just didn't have the numbers. And it was the epitome of failed leadership. If they would have deployed the guard sooner, which they held back on their deployment, a lot of these businesses and buildings could have been protected. They did over $500 million worth of damage to these businesses. There are 1,500 businesses, many of which will not come back. And not only did we not get the 400 officers, we are down 100 from that. There's rapid retirements. We expect to drop 200. We were hovering around just below 900, and we're going to be below 700 the way things are going.
INGRAHAM: Violent crime is on the rise, Bob, in Democrat-controlled cities across the country, including Minneapolis. The figures are astounding. Homicides are up 96 percent over last year. The city, as you said, cutting the police budget and reducing the number of officers. What is your message tonight to all of the people watching? They've heard a lot of talk about how Joe Biden is a great guy, he's a great grandfather, and let's stipulate to all of that. But the position of the Democrat Party in general toward police officers, what should people be thinking tonight?
KROLL: They have declared war. The party has declared war on police in all of the major cities. Minneapolis has it bad, but thank God we are not Portland or Seattle. You look what's going on out there. I just don't understand it. All these major cities that have Democrats in charge and have had Democrats in charge for decades are the ones that are imploding, and their answer is less police.
INGRAHAM: And Bob, I have to say, after being in Minneapolis and seeing the destruction first hand, I actually got in my car and I just cried. I couldn't believe this was happening in America. We always know there's going to be injustice, there's going to be crime. Overwhelmingly great police, some not great, just like in humanity. Not everyone is going to be a perfect person. Some are going to be criminals.
But Minneapolis? That happened in Minneapolis? It took my breath away. And if it drove me to tears, I can't imagine what it's doing to the city. There are a lot of good people in Minneapolis, a lot of great people, hardworking people.
KROLL: That's right. That's right. I drove down there after the riots finally quelled. And I worked Lake Street for years as a patrol supervisor and a patrol officer. And it was devastating to see, because a lot of those businesses were strong police support. And they're gone and they're not coming back. And it's sad to see, because Minneapolis was a very vibrant city. And it's going to be a long, long road to recovery, and they are headed into the opposite direction. De-policing and defunding the police is not the way.
INGRAHAM: Governor Tim Walz not having rescinded his endorsement of that man who came to your home, your personal residence, and was threatening you, with teenage neighbors on the porch there, on the front driveway. What has happened to Minnesota? Got to turn this around. Bob, great to see you tonight. Stay in touch with us. We'll be tracking this story as it goes on.
KROLL: Thanks for having me, Laura.
INGRAHAM: One Democrat senator had a hard time figuring out how Zoom works during his morning's Postal Service hearing. His completely normal reaction is tonight's Last Bite. Stay there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
INGRAHAM: Technology can be so infuriating, take it from me. Just ask Democrat Senator Tom Carper. But his frustration with Zoom during the Postal Service hearing this morning took a rather aggressive turn.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is Senator Carper there? We'll move on to Senator Lankford.
SEN. TOM CARPER, (D-DE): Mark? Oh --
SEN. JAMES LANKFORD (R-OK): Mr. Chairman, I think Senator Carper is there. I think he's not going to be able to cue it all up right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator Carper, can you unmute?
CARPER: I'm unmuted.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There we go. We don't want to be on TV again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: OK, happens to the best of us.
That's all the time we have tonight. Remember to join us next week, special time during the RNC, 11:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday. We'll have the first wrap up of the Republican National Convention.
Have a great weekend, fly your flight, hug your kids.
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