Sen. Ted Cruz reacts to Beto O'Rourke calling him a liar
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This is a rush transcript from "The Ingraham Angle," October 18, 2018. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
LAURA INGRAHAM, HOST: I'm Laura Ingraham and this is "The Ingraham Angle" from Washington, and boy, do we have a show for you tonight. Texas Senator Ted Cruz will be here in a moment to respond to his opponent, Beto O'Rourke, who spoke out in at a town hall just moments ago. Plus, his reaction to the growing caravan making its way toward our border.
Congressman Devin Nunes is here, and he has details of a Democratic operative who harassed him and was later arrested for assaulting a GOP campaign worker in Nevada. Wait till you hear what this group is affiliated with and where this person comes from.
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And just 18 days out from the midterm elections, Eric Trump is also here, and he's going to tell us why he says it's a good thing his father is the most important factor this election season. But first, the caravan of lies and manipulation. That's the focus of tonight's Angle.
As we approach election day, here is one thing that has become patently obvious. Democrats are uninterested in the things Americans care about most. Their prosperity and their safety. Instead of policy prescriptions, Democrats poison American discourse with constant demonization and perpetual intimidation.
In the Kavanaugh saga, we saw that they are masters at producing coordinated choreographed outrage. After that backfired, Democrats began to panic. Although still favored to take the House of Representatives, things began to shift somewhat after the Kavanaugh dust settled.
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Stories suddenly began to pop up that Pelosi, Schumer and company were concerned that Latino voters weren't sufficiently enthusiastic in the midterms, which of course could doom Democrat chances to take the House. Then, like magic, a few days later, a story appeared out of nowhere about another caravan of central Americans headed to the U.S. from Honduras.
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INGRAHAM: A former Honduran left-wing politician even joined the caravan for a time before he was arrested. So what started as a group of 1,600 soon became 2,000, and then 4,000, and apparently growing.
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Meanwhile, crusading reporters are feeding the narrative that anyone opposed to welcoming these caravaners into our country are cruel, horrible, awful, rotten people.
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CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: So what is the GOP strategy? We see it at this point as to push fear and loathing. If you don't vote, the scary people from the south are coming for you. You see that picture? That's what they want you to think all immigrants look like. People laying on the floor splayed out, not as civilized as you, different from you.
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INGRAHAM: The media's over the top slurs against those of us who believe that the system must change and that our border has to be protected, it speaks volumes about their bias and the real motivation. Of course, which is to help Democrats like presidential hopeful Julian Castro.
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JULIAN CASTRO, FORMER UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT: The president continues to fearmonger around the issue of immigration. One of the worst things that has happened in these last 18 months has been basically state-sponsored child abuse of young kids at the border. This example today of what he said was a caravan, you know, he's picking that and he's trying to make an issue of it to gin up his base. I think that the American people can see through that.
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INGRAHAM: Do you know what the American people see through? Democrats' phony compassion politically timed in a desperate attempt to turn out Latino voters who themselves are seeing the wonders of the Trump economy, record low unemployment and the best economy in decades.
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Castro was the mayor of San Antonio and his brother, Joaquin, he represents San Antonio in Congress. But I've never seen either of them on television standing for the families of those brutally murdered by illegal aliens, brutally, brutally hurt by rape, spousal abuse, child abuse, and as I said, even murder.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today's crime scene tape bordered the doors and broken glass are still outside this apartment on Jones Maltsberger Road. It was here just yesterday where firefighters found a badly burned body.
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Police arrested and charged 20-year-old Ernesto Esquivel-Garcia with murder, arson, abuse of a corpse. San Antonio has learned U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is now a part of this investigation.
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INGRAHAM: ICE was apparently involved from the very beginning in the story, even before the gruesome murder. Back in 2017, Garcia was arrested for DWI and a misdemeanor criminal mischief after he reportedly rammed his truck into the car of an ex-girlfriend and her family members. He got an immigration judge, though, to give him a voluntary departure order.
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Now, would you be surprised to hear that he did not leave the country voluntarily after that order? A few months later, he was in ICE custody a second time and a second time he was given a voluntary departure order. And now, in just 11 days, he awaits his trial for the murder of Jared Vargas.
Why aren't any of the Democrats who rail against family separation also railing about stories like this? Fifty-five illegal immigrants found stuffed in a truck ready to be shipped across the United States, undoubtedly many to unscrupulous employers.
Our open borders, as well as our immigration and asylum loopholes, are enriching the cartels, they are endangering migrants, and they are also making life worse for most Americans beyond the super rich who live in a protective bubble. How can we allow this to continue and still be a country?
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Now, of course, not all illegal immigrants commit violent crime and many are good and hardworking people. But that's not really the point. No American should suffer or be brutalized in order to fulfill the Democrats' fantasy of a borderless society. No American worker should see his or her wages go down because there is an illegal immigrant who just arrived in the U.S. who is willing to work for 40 percent less.
In Donald Trump, we finally have a president who wants to tackle this problem, not just pass it onto the next president the way Obama did. You don't buy for a moment what the left is selling you. Democrats are the ones using this and stoking false fear among the Latinos to try to flip Congress. Again, no ideas, just more emotional manipulation.
We welcome and we treasure the Hispanic immigrants in this country who came here the legal way, like Tia from Venezuela, who called in to my radio show today.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): I was born in Venezuela. I am a proud American citizen now, but I am terrified of what is happening. My mother would've never thought that Venezuela, 30 years later, was going to be a socialist country, and then five to eight years after that was going to descent into a dictatorship. Because once they get in, they change the Constitution. And now they are not even waiting. They want the Supreme Court because they want to change the Constitution, and there goes our country.
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INGRAHAM: There goes our country. We get a lot of those calls on the radio. Legal immigrants enraged. Now, we all know the negative changes that open borders and catch and release bring to America. Look no further than California's rampant homelessness, filthy streets, ballooning low fare (ph) programs, crashing regulations.
That's what a Democrat super majority sanctuary state ends up looking like. The president is standing up for you. He wants this to stop. This morning, he tweeted, "we spend billions enforcing other countries' borders as our own has become a joke. Our laws ignored and our generation and compassion exploited"
He said this as well. He said, "in addition to stopping all payments to these countries, which seem to have almost no control over their population, I must, in the strongest of terms, ask Mexico to stop this onslaught. And if they are unable to do so, I will call up the U.S. military and close our southern border." That's what his tweet said.
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Now, the Democrats talk taking the House, will ensure that this caravan of 4,000 eventually becomes a flow of four million, four million plus before we know it. This cannot happen.
But as we told you last night, if you are still on the fence about what to do on November 6th in the midterm election, just think for a moment about who is in line to chair the important committees when it comes to these issues, like Homeland Security and the Judiciary Committee if the Democrats do take the house. Bennie Thompson from Mississippi would take Homeland Security.
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REP. BENNIE THOMPSON, D-MISS.: You would think the most important homeland security problem facing the nation is a handful of central Americans moving through Mexico. That does not make it so. Better to distract the American people from the real issues facing the department and perhaps from the president's own problems too.
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INGRAHAM: And meanwhile, Jerry Nadler would oversee judiciary which includes immigration and border security. And we know he's far more interested in investigating Justice Kavanaugh than solving our border problem. Come on. Hispanic Americans are smart enough to spot a con when they see one.
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So I say it's time to walk away from the Democrats' cynical game of identity politics and emotional manipulation and towards candidates whose policies result in higher wages and better security for all Americans. And that's The Angle.
Here with us now is Cristin Vargas. Her nephew Jared was the man murdered in the story I just talked about in The Angle. Cristin, first of all, I want to thank you so much tonight for being here. I know it's really difficult to do this interview. This is a horrible situation for your family. I just appreciate it so very much. I think Americans need to hear about Jared story and what happened to him.
Cristin, how does your family react to those who say that raising concerns about illegal immigration and clearly what is de facto amnesty going on are just being used, these stories are being just used to stoke fear?
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CRISTIN VARGAS, AUNT OF MAN ALLEGEDLY KILLED BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT: It's completely disgusting and it's outrageous. I just want to thank you, Laura, for the opportunity to come on your show and for paying attention and caring about Jared.
INGRAHAM: Tell me about him, his life, his family. I know his mother is devastated. Tell me about him.
VARGAS: Absolutely I could frankly talk about him for hours and I know we don't have that kind of time here today, but Jared, beautiful mind college student here in San Antonio. Hard worker is an understatement. He was always working full time and going to school, sometimes working two jobs. He had an uncanny ability to balance family, friends, work, school. Always smiling. Just an awesome kid.
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INGRAHAM: Ernesto Esquivel-Garcia, I hate to even mention his name. He's up for murder. Trial is in 11 days. Illegally in the United States. He is accused of setting fire to your nephew's apartment and abuse of the corpse, burning your nephew alive. How did your nephew know him, did he know him?
VARGAS: So, Jared has encountered this individual at his place of employment. He worked at a high end bar/restaurant here in San Antonio. And the individual that killed Jared was working there under an alias name. As a matter of fact, he has about nine alias names that we are aware of. Using fake, fraudulent documents to do so. And so they knew each other for less than three weeks, but they met each other through their employer.
INGRAHAM: And Jared's grandmother is a dual citizen of Mexico and the United States, I understand, and she is beyond furious, heartbroken, as is so many members of your family. Losing such a beautiful young man working hard in this country only -- this is a death that you wouldn't want to happen to an animal, but this man and this country did this who should never have been in this country, Cristin.
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And I think it's so important for you and your family to speak out about those people who are continuing to welcome in all these illegal immigrants. We don't know what their intentions are. A lot of them are just here to work and indeed Garcia was working. But it's not a victimless crime, is it?
VARGAS: No, it's not. You called at the fact that he was working, but he's also committing crimes. So it's just really difficult for us to process now from the outside looking into this and just seeing all of the systemic failures as far as coming here illegally, working here illegally, living here illegally, continuing to break laws, commit crimes, and ultimately taking Jared away from us.
We are very strongly positioned that this was a preventable tragedy, a completely preventable tragedy, and I think that's what is most difficult as we continue to grieve and try to make some sort of sense of this. INGRAHAM: Did you hear from any of the politicians in your state? Did you hear from the Castro brothers? Did they call or come visit your family?
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VARGAS: The Castro brothers absolutely did not. We have had a --
INGRAHAM: Oh, my god.
VARGAS: -- very, very bright light come into our world. His name is Chip Roy. He is a congressional candidate here in San Antonio. He listened to our story. He cares about our story. We've developed a personal relationship with him. And it's been really helpful to us to have someone that's actually advocating for us, understand the issues.
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And as we explain the fractures that we are seeing as victims, he gets the big picture and we just trust that -- clearly, we need Chip but we need more of Chip too to help not just put pressure on enforcing the existing laws but influencing change so this can stop. Our justice position is to not have one other family go through this complete horror that we are having to go through.
INGRAHAM: Cristin, I'm going to talk to you off-line because I want to try to help your family as well. So, I will be in touch with you after the show, but thank you for coming on. This is so enraging that a single American loses a life because of these ridiculous policies. Cristin, please give my best to your family and I'm so sorry for the loss of Jared. I wish I got the chance to meet him. I'm so sorry.
VARGAS: Thank you so much, Laura, again for this opportunity and thank you for caring.
INGRAHAM: I do care. I care greatly. I'll be in touch with you after the show and thank you again.
VARGAS: Thank you so much.
INGRAHAM: Absolutely. For reaction to this story and as response to his opponent, Beto O'Rourke, town hall earlier, we are joined by Texas Senator Ted Cruz. Senator, I went long on that interview and I'm sorry because I took some of your time. But this is a great family from Texas.
Their lives have been turned upside down and hearts broken. They don't even get a call from the former mayor of San Antonio who was on TV talking about this caravan thing and demonizing Donald Trump and all Republicans, and didn't even get a call from his brother who is a congressman from the area where this kid was burned to death. What is going on in this country, senator?
SEN. TED CRUZ, R-TEXAS: Laura, thank you for having Miss Vargas on and for telling her story and telling Jared's story. It is heartbreaking, it is tragic, and it never should have happened. You are right, the Democratic politicians, they turned a blind eye to the suffering, the violent crimes that are committed.
I was glad to hear her describe that she's been able to work with Chip Roy. Chip is my former chief of staff and he's the Republican nominee for Congress out of San Antonio. He is going to make a terrific congressman. Miss Vargas should not be suffering.
This individual, this illegal alien, committed multiple crimes. Our revolving door system lets criminals, drug criminals, violent criminals who are illegal aliens stay here. You've got a voluntary removal order which he ignored.
It's the reason we need to pass Kate's law, which I've authored in the Senate that says aggravated felon, violent criminal illegal aliens who enter the country illegally repeatedly should face a mandatory minimum prison sentence so that violent criminals are not in our communities, they are not taking lives --
INGRAHAM: That was a DWI though, senator --
CRUZ: -- but rather protect --
INGRAHAM: Yeah, this was a DWI.
CRUZ: You're right but a DWI -- we should have deported him when he had committed DWI. When he was arrested, he should have been put on a plane or put on a bus and sent back to the country he came from. We shouldn't be releasing illegal aliens who commit DWI.
I have met too many Texans, too many people who lost loved ones to illegal immigrants who are criminals, who commit DWIs, and it's wrong. We need to protect our country and not allow criminals and drug dealers to come into the country illegally.
INGRAHAM: Senator, you did a fantastic job in your debate the other night with your opponent, Mr. O'Rourke. He is in a town hall earlier tonight and said this, and I will get your reaction.
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REP. BETO O'ROURKE, D-TEXAS: I decided that he spent the rest of the debate responding to every single dishonest thing that he said or I could make sure everyone understood exactly what he's doing. Look, he's dishonest. It's one of the reasons that he got tagged with this nickname. That nickname resonates because it's true.
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INGRAHAM: Obviousness, the "Lyin' Ted" nickname which is unfortunate for the primary. But now he's quoting the president in order to make his case. It seems like there is no there there. I watched him. He is a good-looking guy. There is no there there. There is no like, where is the beef?
CRUZ: Well, you can see the desperation in that debate where he was insulting me. He was attacking me. He called me a liar. What's striking is what he was responding to when he screamed liar as I pointed out that he voted in favor of a $10 a barrel tax on every barrel of oil produced in the state of Texas. And his response is not to engage in substance but simply screamed, liar, liar, liar.
Well, you know, facts matter, and we put up on our website, tedcruz.org, the exact text of the resolution that Congressman O'Rourke voted on. President Obama proposed a $10 a barrel tax on oil. Congress -- the House of Representatives brought up a resolution saying, we don't want a $10 tax on every barrel of oil and O'Rourke voted no. And his response is just to scream liar and then that's not honest (ph).
INGRAHAM: Senator, we're out of time, but we enjoyed that debate. I wouldn't want to debate you any day of the week, no thanks. Good luck, Beto. It's not going to happen. Great to see you, Senator. Thanks so much.
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ERIC HOLDER, FORMER ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, Michelle would say that, you know, when they go low, we go high. No, no. When they go low, we kick them.
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INGRAHAM: It seems that some Democrats have been taking suggestions like that from Eric Holder quite literally. A hostile democratic operative with ties to George Soros and a long history of harassing Republicans has been arrested for battery against a female campaign manager of a GOP candidate. For details like this, we're joined by fox news correspondent, Trace Gallagher. Trace?
TRACE GALLAGHER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Laura. The main in question is Wilford M. Stark III, known very well on Capitol Hill as Mike Stark. He was arrested in Las Vegas for assaulting Kristin Davison, the campaign manager for Nevada GOP gubernatorial nominee, Adam Laxalt.
Davison says Mike Stark grabbed her and yanked her arm and refused to let go. She told authorities the attack left her traumatized and horrified. But for Mike Stark, it might have been another day to the office. He is a reporter for the American Bridge 21st Century, a liberal organization founded by David Brock, who also founded the liberal watchdog group, Media Matters, and funded by billionaire, George Soros, famous for giving money to liberal political causes. After Stark was arrested, American Bridge fired him for his bad behavior. But sources said they also hired him for his bad behavior.
Conn Carroll, the communications director for Utah Republican senator, Mike Lee, told Fox News that during the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings, Stark followed, filmed and harassed Senator Lee in the basement of the Senate Building. Carroll also tweeted, quote, "I've known Mike Stark for literally over a decade. This is who he is. American Bridge knows who he is and what he does and they hired him accordingly."
In fact, sources tell Fox News that when Stark was arrested for assault in Vegas, he told police that this was, quote, "his job," and he does this for a living. That prompted Kentucky Senator Rand Paul to question whether American Bridge was propagating this, quoting, "Soros paid protester arrested, same group operates inside congressional office buildings. Are Democrats paying to incite violence?"
And Starks' resume highlights a violent past. He was convicted for disorderly conduct after aggressively approaching Virginia GOP gubernatorial candidate, Ed Gillespie, back in 2017. And earlier, he was arrested for assaulting a female staffer for interior secretary Ryan Zinke. American Bridge has not responded to whether it knew about Stark's criminal past. Laura?
INGRAHAM: Trace, thanks so much. And California Congressman House Intel Chairman Devin Nunes was also harassed by this man just a few months earlier. Congressman Nunes joins us now. Congressman, how long was this Stark guy bothering you and have there been any others harassing you in a similar manner because this is an attack to the Democrats, get in your face, hope to provoke you, get an inch from your face or a centimeter from your face, and then see what flies?
SEN. DEVIN NUNES, R-CALIF.: Yeah. They've been doing this to me and many of my colleagues, Laura, for the better part of a year and a half. Anybody who is involved in the Russian investigation and all, we were harassed. This guy in particular actually went to our office numerous times.
He would follow me in. He'll get in my face. He showed up at committee hearings. He even showed up at place downtown in Washington where I was giving a speech one time. And including -- he actually showed up at the airport one time.
And so, we had to have the Capitol Police come several times because he would harass me, he'd harassed our staff. And look, this is not the way we should operate here in the United States of America. People should be frightened about this. Nobody is going to want to do these jobs if you have to deal with guys like this, right?
Like for me, I'm fine. I'll fight back. But look at how many people that maybe you're thinking of becoming a judge or Supreme Court judge or run for office? With these lunatics running around like this, funded by billionaires who should know better, this is not the type of activity we want to see in this country.
INGRAHAM: Well, when you say you're going to fight back, that's the point though, right? You really can't unless they touch you. If they touch you, they can just grab your hand, that's an assault. So then -- if you --
NUNES: Well, what I mean by -- what I mean --
INGRAHAM: -- if you're in legitimate fear of your life, you can respond. Now, look, I mean if someone ever comes up to my family or touches one of my kids, good luck. I mean I'm -- this mother tiger comes out. You're not - - it's not going to happen. OK?
NUNES: Yeah.
INGRAHAM: So, I got -- it doesn't bother -- people like who get in my face, just go ahead. I mean I have plenty of -- even jokes that I can throw back at you. But you are right. This is meant to intimidate people who might not, you know, be like you and I away from politics altogether.
And George Soros, we cannot underestimate the power of his billions of dollars funneling through these David Brock groups and run by David Brock whether it the Media Matters crew or whether it's American Bridge crew. At some point, is there a time to investigate their 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) status? I mean, is this really -- is this the type of legitimate speech or is this just targeted harassment?
NUNES: Well, look. This gets to the heart of campaign finance reform. We last had that under George W. Bush at the beginning of his term. And what this has led to is absolute chaos where billionaires can come in and feed these guys. So, is there's something need to be done about this? Yes. But unfortunately, the Republicans, we're not going to get involved in that type of behavior. And I think the Democrats, until they're taught a lesson, they're not going to change. They see this working.
INGRAHAM: Right.
NUNES: They see that they're protesting, the harassment, all of this, they see it as working. And I hope it backfires this fall and I think a lot of people are slowly waking up to the fact that this is not the type of behavior we should have in our political system.
INGRAHAM: You live in a beautiful state. California is a beautiful state. But it basically has a super majority democrat-controlled of the state legislature, obviously all of the senators, governors, at least for now. The rest of the country, what do we need to learn from California? Because people say what happens in California will come to your state eventually. So what shouldn't people want other than the beach and the beautiful agriculture and all that, the mountains, and so forth, but what else don't the American people not want?
NUNES: What you are seeing happen in California today, Laura, is you're massive homelessness. Because of our weather, because we don't arrest people, because we don't put them in jail, because we let them get away with everything, we have massive homelessness all over the state. And it's really people who are -- it's sad, because they are burned out on drugs, they have got a lot of mental problems.
INGRAHAM: And a lot of illegal immigrants on the streets, correct? There are a lot of illegal immigrants in a lot of the tent villages as well in L.A. and so forth.
NUNES: It's tough to know who they are or whether they are legal or not legal, but I will tell -- people think it's just San Francisco and they hear about the feces on the street which is absolutely disgusting, and it's true. But you see it all over California in any city or town that you go to or visit.
INGRAHAM: Congressman, before we let you go, apparently some of your opponents think it's really funny to put signs around your district written in Russian, OK? Nunes -- means "Nunes got to go," basically. That's what that says. I speak Russian so I can translate the signs for you, but I'm not sure most people in your district are understanding the Russian. So I think the joke -- I not sure the joke is actually going to be very effective there.
NUNES: Well, I think the point of those signs, people understand, is those are also being put up by the same people that are funding this Stark character. So the billionaires are funding protesters, they are funding movement, they are funding crazy building billboards. The best part about that billboard, though, is I have a 98-year-old grandmother who has our family farm here, lives on it. She has been harassed by reporters and other wackos that have shown up on her house. She lives by herself. And the other day she told me she was driving down the freeway and saw some of those signs. She actually thought they were mine. So I think to some degree, they are benefiting me to some degree.
INGRAHAM: That's not a bad picture of you, Congressman. I would take all the facetime you can get there on the billboard. All right, Congressman, we got through a whole interview and we didn't even talk about Rod Rosenstein not one time. That's got to be a record with you. But we'll have it next time. Congressman, thanks so much.
NUNES: Thank you.
INGRAHAM: Despite not being on the ballot, the 2018 midterms are all about President Trump. Eric Trump is here to talk on why he thinks that's the best possible scenario. Don't go away.
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INGRAHAM: As the midterms fast approach, the numbers speak for themselves. Regardless of whether voters say they are supporting Republicans or Democrats, the one common denominator in their decision is President Trump. So is that good news or bad news just 18 days out from the election? Joining me now to discuss is Eric Trump. Eric, good to see you, my friend.
ERIC TRUMP: How are you?
INGRAHAM: I'm great. Thanks for being here. Your father on the campaign trail tonight in Montana. Do you think these visits are helping boost the enthusiasm in some of these tighter races?
ERIC TRUMP, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, THE TRUMP ORGANIZATION: There's no question about it. Look at the audiences he has. It's incredible. He'll got to Montana, he'll have 20,000 people show up. He'll go to Nevada, he'll have 30,000 people show up. People are excited. People want to get out of there. The energy in those rooms is nothing short of incredible.
And listen, he has a lot to tell, Laura, right? We have the best economy that we've ever had as a country. We have the fastest GDP growth, the lowest unemployment, the stock market is booming, consumer confidence is through the roof. I could go on and on and on. But he has a lot to boast about. He's doing an unbelievable job and our country is back. We haven't seen this in a very long time, but our country is back.
INGRAHAM: Ade Eric, when you see the hostility, despite all what you just laid out, the hostility out there. I'm going to play you a clip of a total lunatic ripping down Ted Cruz signs. We had Ted Cruz on earlier but we didn't have time to play this for him, so we'll play it for you. Let's watch.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have about 100 of these. I'm about to put more out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hate Ted Cruz. I hate Ted Cruz. I hate Ted Cruz.
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INGRAHAM: That kind of sums it up, doesn't it? They are either clawing at the Supreme Court door or I guess ripping other people's posters down and signs.
ERIC TRUMP: It's unbelievable. The lack of civility I talk about it all the time. It's unbelievable. I saw that earlier today. And listen, that helps. Honestly, those people are so radical no one can relate to them. No one can relate to them. You saw the guy last week who had his pickup truck burned because he had American flag on the bumper and a Trump sticker on the bumper.
INGRAHAM: Yes, we had him on.
ERIC TRUMP: You have the person, as you said, clawing at the Supreme Court door. You see Ted Cruz and his great wife Heidi, they are getting yelled that at dinner. I could go on and on. But when does this end?
Laura, Americans don't want to see the stuff. That's not who we are as a society. That is a rogue faction. But the left has gone so far left, they've become so radicalized that they think its acceptable behavior. When you have Eric Holder going out there and saying, you know what, when they're down, let's kick them in the head. And Hillary coming out and saying the only time we are going to be civil human beings is when we win again? Why didn't you win in the first place? Your message didn't work. You weren't effective. You weren't doing the job, and you had a person much better and who came in and beat handily. And so it's really a shame.
INGRAHAM: Eric, one of your father's favorite people out there of all time, I think, is Rosie O'Donnell. So she mixed it up today with Nicole Wallace. Let's watch.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He wants to send the military to the border.
ROSIE O'DONNELL, ACTRESS: I want to send the military to the White House to get him.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think I can top that. That's a pretty good idea.
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INGRAHAM: That's a good idea. They are either blowing the White House up or they want to take the military and take him out of the White House. By any means necessary. I guess it's a joke, but it's not all that funny.
ERIC TRUMP: No, it's not that funny. When you actually forget about Rosie, she pops back into the scene. It's every two months she seems to cycle through and through and through. It's kind of amazing how that works.
But this isn't what people care about. I think we're going to do very well in the midterms. People have to get out there and vote, right? It's the most important thing in the world. But the country is back, Laura. We are winning by everything a metric. It doesn't matter if it's our military. It doesn't matter if it's our economy, ISIS, immigration. America is winning. People have jobs again, salaries are going up, 401(k)s are through the roof. That's what people care about.
INGRAHAM: But the left, the left is -- these people want to so chaos.
ERIC TRUMP: Because they don't have a message, Laura.
INGRAHAM: They have no message.
ERIC TRUMP: They stand for high taxes, they stand for banning plastic straws, they stand for going after law enforcement, and total anarchy. That's their message.
INGRAHAM: Abolish ICE, that's their other big platform.
And 200 Riverside Boulevard, Trump condominium, beautiful building. The Trump name now taken down from that building. What is that all about? You're in the business of running this company on top of everything else that you have going on in your life, your family, everything else, but that just seems like hate. What is that?
ERIC TRUMP: It's the nastiness of politics, it's a byproduct of the nastiness of politics. We've been out of that building for a very long time. We sold out. It was a great success. My father literally rebuilt the entire west side of New York City. You probably know the old railway yards, and it was a major success. But this is the byproduct and nastiness of politics. You have one person who doesn't like you who sits on the board, and what they can do is pretty unbelievable. But again, we've been at that building for a very long time. It doesn't hurt us at all. But it is certainly the byproduct of exactly what we've been talking about the entire show, that radical left, that nastiness. And it's going to be defeated. It is absolutely going to be defeated.
INGRAHAM: Eric, it is almost like the better the country does, the more unhappy and bitter they become.
ERIC TRUMP: They realize they're losing. They're realize they're lashing out, and they're lashing out. They all got it wrong, Laura. You know this better than any person in the world, they all got it wrong. "The New York Times" election morning gave my father a 1.9 percent chance of winning, 1.9 percent. And he won easily, right? And so what do they do? They double down, and they double down. And Laura, I promise you, and you know this, they are going to get it wrong again, and they are going to get it wrong again. My father is going to go down as truly one of the greatest presidents in the history of this country. This country is winning again, we're back, and I could not be more proud of him.
INGRAHAM: Thank you so much, Eric, for being here tonight. I really appreciate it.
We have been highlighting the recent spate of attacks on Republican candidates, campaign workers, offices. And up next, we speak to a Minnesota candidate who may be the victim of the worst attack yet. His story when we return.
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REP. MAXINE WATERS, D-CALIF.: They're not going to be able to go to a restaurant. They are not going to be able to stop at a gas station. They are not going to be able to stop at a department store. The people are going to turn on them. They are going to protest. They are going to absolutely harass them.
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INGRAHAM: That threat from Auntie Maxine has now extended to include people who are running as Republicans. There have been at least eight violent attacks on Republicans just this year. Republican politicians, their staffers, and their offices where they work have frankly become a recurring target for political violence. And one of the more recent cases out of Minnesota might be the worst one yet. Local House candidate Shane Mekeland was out at a restaurant when a man approached him, punched him in the face, leaving him concussed. He was knocked out. Mekeland is still recovering from the incident, which he believes was politically motivated. Shane joins us now. Shane, tell us a little bit about your assailant. Did you know him before the assault?
SHANE MEKELAND, R-MINNESOTA CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: No, I did not know him. And I walked into this place to inquire about renting or using a banquet room that they have for a political function for the Republican ticket in our area. The owner was not there, but somebody said, how's the campaign going? So there was a conversation. Several people throughout the time come and go, but this gentleman did eventually come around. And there was conversation with him. It did not seem bad in the beginning. And then somebody to my right started talking so I looked away. When I heard this out of my left ear, this guy say, you bleeping people don't give a bleep about the middle class, and he literally punched me somewhere right about in here, which I was in a chair, which sent it flying backwards. When my head hit the floor, that was the last thing I remember.
I was told by one of the witnesses that he then, this was a very big man, six and a half feet tall at least and probably somewhere between 270 to 300 pounds, with very big hands, I might add, that he jumped down on top of me. Apparently, he wasn't done. But luckily the folks nearby were able to pull him off and throw him off.
INGRAHAM: OK, so now he has not been arrested. And you do believe this is politically motivated, targeting you because you are a Republican? Did you know he was following you? How would he know that you're going into this banquet room? I'm not questioning that, I'm just trying to figure this out.
MEKELAND: When I walked in there was a group of people around. And one gal, she brought up, how's the campaign? So it started with this younger man saying, campaign for what? And then he told me his story. He actually got a yard sign from me that we went and put in in his vehicle. And then he went away. This other person moved and we started talking. He actually took my lip piece and we shook hands prior to all this. and this comment comes out when I'm looking away. I never saw it coming. The doctor said it might've been in my benefit on the one hand because I would've tensed up and he probably would've done a little more damage.
INGRAHAM: Hold on. Do you feel like the intimidation and the call to get in people's faces, you just heard auntie Maxine Waters, is that fueling this, this violence?
MEKELAND: I actually put this on Facebook in a response to somebody sending me well wishes when heard about this. Her name, Hillary's name, Eric Holder, and a local paper. It literally tore me apart and said, insinuated how would their comments affect rural Minnesota. So I don't know if they don't think we have TVs or radios out there, but it's obviously very much tied together. They are stirring up the pot with people.
I personally did not sign up to get sucker punched and knocked out. I don't wish a concussion on anybody. This is one of the most awful things I've ever had happen to me. And I certainly don't want this to be the environment my 12-year-old daughter is brought up in going forward in life. Up here in Minnesota, we have a lot of really close races, and we have a DFL governor who is going on sanctuary state versus our Republican who is completely normal and less taxes and less government.
INGRAHAM: The idea, Shane, that Minnesota will elect this leftwing Democrat governor? Forget about it. Minnesota, you've got to wake up. This kind of attack on a guy running for district 15-B in a rural area? This is just OK now? This is what the Democrats have come to? This is insanity. I hope you are OK. I know you're not really able to go out campaigning now because of this injury. Shane, please feel better. Take care of yourself, get surrogates out there to campaign for you. But you need to pull out a win.
MEKELAND: Will do.
INGRAHAM: We are sorry about what happened to you, and stand strong.
We have highlighted numerous cases of conservative censorship from big tech on this show, but this could be the worst. A triple amputee Air Force vet is here next. He's going to tell us what Facebook did to him and to his family, next.
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INGRAHAM: No to a particularly egregious case of tech censorship. Facebook reportedly deleted a disabled Air Force vets' conservative news page without warning. This after he says he invested over $300,000 in ads. Earlier this month Facebook announced it was purging more than 800 accounts because of inauthentic behavior, but our next guest never imagined it could happen to him.
Brian Kolfage's page had a verified checkmark and he says 3.5 million fans, but it was all taken away in an instant. Brian joins us now to tell us about it. Brian, first of all, thank you so much for your heroism and sacrifice for this country. You are amazing. And I have to ask you, has Facebook been in touch with you at all?
BRIAN KOLFAGE, U.S. AIR FORCE (RET): No. First, thanks for having me on. No, Facebook has not been in touch with us. And I want to start this off and just get it out here. I want you guys know that I sacrificed three limbs for everybody, for your freedom, my family's freedom because that's why I believe in. That's why I joined the military. If I can get everybody to go to Fightforfreespeech.com, we really need everyone to go there and sign up and sign our petition, and we're going to take this fight to Facebook. Go ahead, Laura.
INGRAHAM: What was the reasoning, you think? You helped raise $300,000 in the Kavanaugh fight, I know that. And then it was after that your Facebook page was, bingo, gone.
KOLFAGE: There is no real reason. We remained in contact in Facebook for nine months begging them since January when they rolled out the new rule changes. They would not contact us to give us the meeting to go over the rules. We wanted them to remain in contact to go over these rules, but they wouldn't. They didn't want to help us. We were begging them. I sent over 50 emails directly to our Facebook contact Katie Harvin (ph) and she was ignoring it. Any other person or any other company, they would've been helping them. They didn't want to help us. We wanted to understand the rules. We wanted to be the good part of Facebook. We always follow the rules. The Facebook page never had an issue. We were never banned from Facebook. Never had issues with false news, misinformation, or anything. So the whole reasoning is up in the air. We don't understand why.
INGRAHAM: We reached out as well, Brian. We reached out as well and they didn't get back to us.
KOLFAGE: The one thing we did do, after nine months we finally did get that meeting two weeks ago. But you know what, on October 3rd, when that meeting was supposed to take place, they didn't give us and they canceled it two days prior. Right when they canceled it, we had raised over $600,000 with John Hopkins who founded rightwing news, and that's when it was pulled. That was in the news. I was raising all that money for Justice Kavanaugh. They pulled it. One week later, our page was gone. And all our pages were gone. I own a coffee company called Military Grade Coffee. That company has nothing to do with politics, and they yanked it. That was my financial support for my family. And they are attacking my family, they're attacking me, and they're attacking my rights.
INGRAHAM: Brian, we are going to keep on the story and we're going to follow the story. Thank you for your service to this country, your sacrifice to this country. And everyone go to Brian's website. It will be linked on LauraIngraham.com. Brian, thanks so much. Stay there.
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INGRAHAM: It is time for the last bite. What are these midterm elections really about? Trump told the Montana crowd this earlier tonight.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: That's what it's going to be. It's going to be an election of those things, law and order, Kavanaugh. Remember commonsense. And remember it's going to be an election of the caravan. You know what I'm talking about. You know what I'm talking about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Election of the caravan, OK. That could be tomorrow with The Angle. All right. That's all the time we have tonight. Shannon Bream and the "Fox News @ Night" team take it from here. Shannon.
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