Tucker: The rise and fall of Cuomo

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Tucker: The rise and fall of Cuomo

'Tucker Carlson Tonight' host discusses Cuomo's job performance as New York governor

This is a rush transcript from "Tucker Carlson Tonight," August 10, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS HOST: Good evening and welcome to TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT.

Man, the world is changing fast. We say that often because it's true. It's kaleidoscopic.

Every morning, you wake up in a brand new country and it's hard to keep track of the change because there's so few mile markers, but here's one. Here's one measure of the change.

It was less than a year ago that millions of us gathered around our electronic hearths in anticipation of Andrew Cuomo receiving a coveted Emmy Award. You remember that night?

Even by the standards of fraudulent Hollywood ceremonies, it was a very weird moment. As a rule, politicians do not accept Emmy Awards that would require admitting that they're actors, but Andrew Cuomo, post-modern as he is, had no problem with that. He has been playing a character from "The Godfather" for decades, so he took it.

Here are the highlight clips they played as Andrew Cuomo received his statuette.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): Flatten the curve, flatten the curves, flatten the curve.

We talk about social distancing.

Slow the spread.

New York has been getting the short end of the stick from this Federal government from day one, right across the board.

Let's stop just for one moment the partisanship.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: "Flatten the curve, flatten the curve, flatten the curve." It's iconic it's like, "Go ahead, make my day" or "May the force be with you," we'll never forget it, it will live on forever in our common culture.

And so you can see why Andrew Cuomo won best performance by a sitting Governor, such passion, such intensity. The delivery seemed almost lifelike in its sincerity and force. Talk about method acting.

For a second, you could almost imagine Andrew Cuomo running a large American state, sitting in this office in the Capitol Building, making complex policy decisions about whatever they make complex policy decisions about, barking urgent orders to aides like a Governor.

It was a remarkable performance. In fact looking back, that night at the Emmy's last November, it was the apogee of Andrew Cuomo's career, and he could have lived on it for years, dining out, mining the memories of his heyday, playing progressively smaller venues, doing an annual fan show in San Diego -- but he chose not to.

Andrew Cuomo is wiser than that. He is bigger. He remembers well what happened to Marlon Brando when "The Godfather" series ended, the long decline.

So today, Andrew Cuomo quit the business. He left at the top of his game. Here is his announcement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Wasting energy on distractions is the last thing that State government should be doing and I cannot be the cause of that. New York tough means New York loving and I love New York and I love you, and everything I have ever done has been motivated by that love.

And I would never want to be unhelpful in any way, and I think that given the circumstances, the best way I can help now is if I step aside and let government get back to governing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: He is so tough he is running away. He is so tough, he is quitting. We've heard that claim a lot recently, and you know, watching that tape, it is possible that we have sold Andrew Cuomo short.

We told you his Emmy in November was the high point of his career, but in fact, what you just saw may have been the single greatest performance of his life. "I'm resigning," he said, not because I killed all those old people in nursing homes, no, not because my closest adviser went to Federal prison for corruption, nothing to do with it. Not because I've got a super creepy personal life, and by the way it's entirely possible I am a member of the mafia, no not at all.

I'm resigning from my job because I love the State of New York, and ladies and gentlemen, that's what love does. It resigns.

Pretty remarkable, really. Could Al Pacino have delivered those lines with a straight face? No, not a chance. But instead of enjoying it, the media missed it, naturally, they missed the art of it, entirely. They bought the whole thing. They took it seriously. They thought it was real.

Today, they are telling you that Andrew Cuomo's resignation is a watershed moment. It's a win for the #MeToo movement. It's a somber reminder of the systemic misogyny that surrounds us.

On CNN, they got completely carried away as they often do, one particularly self-hating male anchor -- is there any other kind over there -- was so awestruck by Andrew Cuomo's speech that he immediately yielded the floor to the ladies, to his female colleagues. It would be wrong he said for a man to weigh in on news this grave. That's how toxic Andrew Cuomo is.

Andrew Cuomo was a living embarrassment to men everywhere, even the news readers who periodically identify as men on CNN, that's what they're telling you.

Now far be it for us on this show to defend Andrew Cuomo, he is awful. We've said that for years and we haven't changed our view, but still since this is playing out in public, it might be worth asking a couple of obvious questions before we move on to the next victim.

For example, if Andrew Cuomo was harassing so many women and doing it at the State Capitol in New York, how come we just learned he was doing it? Andrew Cuomo has been in office for almost 11 years. Lots of people say now that they knew he was a creep, so why didn't they tell us before? They certainly didn't.

Instead, they told us Andrew Cuomo was God-like. Do you remember that? In case you don't remember it, we have a tape.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICOLLE WALLACE, MSNBC HOST: Governor Cuomo out there day after day after day, everything Trump isn't. Honest, direct, brave.

JOE SCARBOROUGH, MSNBC HOST: Even lifelong Republicans tell me they look at Cuomo and they're like, "God, there's a leader."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For those of you who've been wondering why uh New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has been garnering the nickname America's Governor, I think you saw it right there. He is conveying incredible strength in the face of this pandemic.

JOY REID, MSNBC HOST: Maybe Trump is just a little bit mad that Governor Cuomo has become a kind of acting President.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: I hope you are able to appreciate what you did in your state and what it means for the rest of the country now and what it will always mean to those who love and care about you the most.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: It turns out, noted feminist icon, Joe Scarborough liked the cut of Andrew Cuomo's jib and honestly, that should have been a tip right there. The race lady was a fan, too.

In retrospect, those were pretty clear signs we should have picked him up, but here's the most obvious sign. America's most prolific hair sniffer was a massive fan of Andrew Cuomo's. I mean, of course he was. These guys all know each other.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Your Governor in New York has done one hell of a job. I think he is sort of the gold standard.

I mean look at the way you have governors like Cuomo who are out there doing just keeping everybody informed all day. I think he's doing an incredible job.

I think he has been the lead horse here. I've talked to him frequently, he's a friend. I think he is doing a great job. I really mean it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: He is the gold standard. He is doing a great job. He's a friend, I really mean it. And you know they all meant it, until just about in fact precisely December of 2020. That's when a candidate for Manhattan Bureau President, a woman called Lindsey Boylan wrote a Twitter thread that accused Andrew Cuomo of quote "harassing her." Sex harassment.

The crime according to Boylan occurred more than two years earlier in 2018, but we hadn't heard about it. So, here's the first question: Why did Lindsey Boylan wait two years to tell us what had happened? This guy is the Governor of one of the most important states in the country, so why didn't she pipe up before? Say before the Emmy Awards?

Now, we can't know the answer to that, but it is clear that she picked a politically significant moment to share her allegations on Twitter. Lindsey Boylan went public almost immediately after the news media called the presidential race for Joe Biden.

Oh, could it be that the second that call was made, Andrew Cuomo had outlived his usefulness and it might be time to crush him and move on to someone who is easier to control?

Now, if you think that's a conspiracy theory, you don't live in New York where that kind of thinking is common.

The State of New York has a long history of palace coups and many of them a disturbingly large number, originated in the Attorney General's Office. In fact, Andrew Cuomo once did it. He was the Attorney General of New York. Remember that?

He used his office to investigate his boss at the time, Eliot Spitzer, the guy who wore black socks. All coming back to you? And then he became Governor.

Oh. So, this is the kind of thing that happens in New York. That's not exactly democracy, it's like late Ottoman, but it's very common there. Could it be that's what's happening now?

Well, let's see. The current Attorney General of New York is a woman called Letitia James. Now, James does not hide her own political ambitions because you no longer have to, nobody cares.

Earlier this year, she said that A.G., you thought it meant Attorney General, no actually she said it stands for Aspiring Governor, which she is. Even before she was elected to her current office, which she has misused from day one, James vowed to start a political investigation into Donald Trump's businesses in New York, not because she had specific evidence they had broken the law, she didn't. She didn't even claim she did, but because she didn't like him.

And she has since followed through on that promise. Is that the kind of justice you want?

So, there are reasons to question Letitia James's motives, to put it mildly, and those doubts become far more pronounced if you become one of the three living Americans who's actually read the 165-page report that she just produced on Andrew Cuomo, the report that led to his resignation today.

Now, the closer you read that report, the more you are likely to notice that large portions of it are absurd. They don't make sense on. Page 148 for example, Letitia James accuses Andrew Cuomo of quote, "Allowing senior staff members to sit on his lap at official functions." Now, that sounds kind of creepy, as hell actually, and Letitia James clearly thought it was.

She goes on to characterize lap sitting as evidence of quote "a hostile work environment." All right, but if you go back to Page 122 of the same report, you will notice this line quote, "None of these senior staff reported feeling uncomfortable with this behavior." Oh, so they liked sitting in Andrew Cuomo's lap. Weird, but who are we to judge? Weirder things are happening right now.

So, how is this harassment? How is it a violation of the law? She is the Attorney General. Her job is not to pass moral judgment on the occupants of High Office in New York, but to enforce the laws passed by the legislature. That's why she has the awesome power to do that, which she must not under any circumstances misuse or else it's a threat to all of us, even those of us who loathe Andrew Cuomo.

But the report -- and you should read it, maybe it's irrelevant now -- is full of lines like that. The kind of inconsistencies you would expect if you're reading say a political tract, not a legal document, but again it doesn't matter now because the report did its job.

Now, the race for a new Governor of New York is underway. Boy, that didn't take long. Candidates are lining up to unseat the Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul. She is set to take over when Cuomo was gone.

Now Letitia James is the first in line, but she is not the only one in line. Al Sharpton is in line, so is New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, they're both planning to run for Governor, we read. So, do you see how this works?

Andrew Cuomo was an awful Governor. It pains us to raise any voice in his defense. He was a vicious partisan. He was a thug. But if we're being honest, he was not completely insane. He wasn't totally untethered from reality. He acknowledged some limits to constitutional government.

He wasn't say, Letitia James. He wasn't Al Sharpton. He wasn't even -- we're pausing to catch our breath here because it's so horrifying -- he wasn't even Bill de Blasio, the most reckless and incompetent human being ever to hold elected office, a man who single-handedly discredits the idea of self-government.

These people -- just being honest -- are worse than Andrew Cuomo, but because someone sat in Andrew Cuomo's lap, they may soon run the State of New York. Just so you know what's actually going on here.

Jesse Kelly is host of "The Jesse Kelly Show." He joins us tonight.

Jesse Kelly, I feel guilty effectively defending Andrew Cuomo, something I've never done, I hope never to do, but I just want to be clear I'm not actually defending him, I'm defending the system of equal application of the law, which I hope will save all of us in the end.

Do you see kind of what's going on here?

JESSE KELLY, HOST OF "THE JESSE KELLY SHOW": Well, I'm glad I have a partner in crime. I've been having to do the same thing all day, Tucker. I've been trying to explain to people this is a palace coup. These communists who had managed to slip enough knives into Cuomo to take him down don't actually care about any of these women, whether they were harassed or not. None of these women are cared for by Letitia James or anyone else.

If they cared about inappropriate touching by Democrats, they'd be looking a little bit more into Joe Biden who has been doing this on camera for a long time and none of his victims are old enough to ride the rides at Disney without an accompanying adult, so don't tell me these people actually care. They don't care, it's all about power.

CARLSON: Well, this is the party that elevated, as its standard bearer, a guy who killed a woman in a car in Chappaquiddick in 1969. I mean, he was the hero of the United States Senate my whole life until a few years ago, so no, they don't care.

So, why don't we just say that out loud? Why do we have to go along with this charade that you know that the soy guys at CNN are so shocked by his behavior? You work in a TV network, I think you've seen it before. Trust me.

KELLY: Well, they have to pretend to care. All these people pretend to care, Tucker. That's -- especially as radical as they are getting now. They have to act like governor python fingers was this nasty guy and they've finally gotten rid of him, but everyone knows -- everyone can see the game now. That's not what it's about. It's all about naked power and as you've been telling people, be careful what you wish for.

I mean, Nancy Pelosi is 81, Cori Bush is 45. Cuomo was in his 60s. He now has this younger much more radical generation taking over. I know this is a moment where we're supposed to be celebrating and this scumbag is going down. Be careful what you wish for, this next generation is so much worse than the current generation

Dare I say it, in 10 years, you'll be begging for the days of Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi and Andrew Cuomo.

CARLSON: I think you're exactly right, and how bitter do you feel that their lying is so transparent, so aggressive, such an offense against just the concept of truth that you are forced to stand up and say things that could potentially be interpreted as a defense of someone as loathsome as Andrew Cuomo.

KELLY: Well, I actually take pleasure in it, Tucker, because I know about 30 seconds after I get off the air here, they're going to be destroying you and I as defenders of a man who sexually harasses women, when in reality they know, they don't care about these women.

CARLSON: No.

KELLY: They don't care about anything. These people are dirty scumbags. I hope they're mad right now. It'll give me such joy.

CARLSON: He killed all those old people in nursing homes, I haven't heard a word about that. They don't matter? But someone sat in his lap and that's the crime? Like how distorted is our moral scale?

KELLY: Well, Tucker it's only 15,000 old people. Why are you bringing up old stuff? That's dead and gone. The important thing is Andrew Cuomo is gone and all is right with the world. Never mind that somebody's grandma or somebody's grandpa or somebody's husband, somebody's wife is no longer on this planet because Andrew Cuomo murdered them with his COVID policies.

No, the important thing is he got, quote "too Italian" according to him and kissed too many women on the cheek. Come on, these aren't serious people.

CARLSON: No, you're totally right, and I'm sorry to fall for it every time, Jesse Kelly, voice of reason. Thank you.

KELLY: See you, bud.

CARLSON: So, it turns out the mascot for the Colorado Rockies has a name that some people find hard to pronounce, so the media have spent the week talking about this because that's the most important thing that's happened in the country. Now, they're telling us anyone who likes that mascot or his name should probably have to leave the country.

Jason Whitlock is a voice of reason in moments like this. He has thought a lot about what is happening here. He joins us straight ahead to sort it out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CARLSON: Well, here is a story you probably have seen. On Sunday, just two days ago, a fan at a Colorado Rockies game wanted to get the attention of the team's mascot is called "Dinger." So, he called out the mascot's name several times.

Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dinger. Dinger.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: So, that video began circulating on social media, which is destroying western civilization and the team, The Rockies immediately accused the fan of being a racist. They said they were quote "disgusted" at the racial slur by a fan.

Now journalists ran with the story. One sports writer said, the man turned out to be elderly, should be sent to prison. They thought it was perfectly reasonable to think someone at the game was screaming a racial slur right in the middle of it rather than using the name of the team's mascot.

So finally, yesterday the Rockies released this statement: "After a thorough investigation that included calls, e-mails and video clips from concerned fans, media and broadcast partners, the Colorado Rockies have concluded that the fan was indeed yelling for Rocky mascot Dinger in hopes of getting his attention for a photo and there was never any racial slur that occurred." End quote.

And what you'll notice is there is no apology in there to the elderly man who was defamed. His life has been totally overturned.

Now, this seems like one of those stories that's it is a moment that tells us something about the world that we're living in. It's hard to know exactly what it tells us, so we're outsourcing the thinking on this to our friend, Jason Whitlock, the host of "Fearless." He has thought about it and we're happy to have him on tonight.

Jason, thanks so much for coming on.

So, there's clearly a significance here. What is it? What should we take from this?

JASON WHITLOCK, HOST, "FEARLESS WITH JASON WHITLOCK": Thank you so much for having me on, Tucker. You continue to do amazing important work and it's an honor to be on your show. Tucker, I do think this is a moment that we need to analyze and I analogized it in a column I wrote today for "The Blaze" and talked about it on my podcast to the California Gold Rush of the 1840s and 1850s.

Racism is now the new gold and people mine for racism gold the same way they mined for gold in the 1840s and 1850s, and then we have to understand that the miners in this desperate rush to get rich and take Patrisse Cullors, the founder of Black Lives Matter, she plays the racial game with Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, any other dead man that she thinks has been unjustly killed, resisting arrest, and she's now bought four homes across America. Ben Crump, the lawyer has made millions of dollars negotiating settlements of the families of criminals who resisted arrest.

These guys are mining for that racism gold that's out there and they're being rewarded for it, but the people that are really benefiting are actually the people that are exploiting the miners and I believe that's social media, I believe that's Twitter, I believe that's Facebook. These platforms promote traffic and push the values of people that love to play the racial game, love to do racial division.

They are feasting off this racial division that they are promoting over Facebook and Twitter and it's no different than the gold rush. The miners made a temporary fortune. The people who exploited the miners made millions and billions of dollars and that's what's going on today.

They have set up this game where everybody rushes out on a desperate hunt to find this racism gold and it's not really scarce, but it's just hard to find and it's hard to -- it's costly to produce and point to and say it contributes to systemic racism because that's been changed by laws and rules, but this racism has a goal through social media that's making people wealthy and they are exploiting the rest of us.

And I'm trying to help people understand, we're the victims of this. Those of us with traditional American values, those of us who believe in God, those of us who believe in the founding documents of this country, we, because when the 49ers came in in the 1800s in California, they ran off the indigenous people.

The indigenous people, Native Americans were slaughtered, they were massacred. Their hunting grounds and all -- they starved to death. That's what's happening to us. We're allowing Jack Dorsey, Mark Zuckerberg, and the people in Northern California to destroy us and run this country away from us, and we need to put a stop to it, Tucker.

CARLSON: You are the first person I know to really take social media, not their bias against conservatives, but just the actual platforms, the medium of expression very seriously and recognize that they're a threat. Why isn't -- and I agree with you -- I have come to agree with you.

Why do people not recognize this?

WHITLOCK: Because corporate media will not connect the dots, will not explain what is transpiring, and it's just -- we are being misled by corporate media. They are all in this together.

CARLSON: Yes.

WHITLOCK: The elites and the protectors of the elites, and that's why I love your show and what you're doing. You are a voice and you come from wealth or whatever, but you are the voice for the working class. I'm trying to be right in there with you to try to explain to people in America.

Those of us with working class values, whether we have wealth or not, those of us who work -- we have to come together and take our country back. These values that are being imposed on the rest of us, they are stripping us of our freedoms. They are stripping us of the values that made this country great.

We can't sit on the sidelines. We have to recognize what Northern California is doing. We need to understand the history of Northern California and why they are imposing these values on the rest of the country. Once we understand -- we've got to know who we're fighting against and we're being misled.

We're fighting against each other when we have a common enemy of elites and the tech billionaires that are like the gold millionaires of the past. They're in control, these instant millionaires that don't really care about this country are in control of this country, and it's our country and we need to take it back and we can only do it when we come together.

We have to come together.

CARLSON: You're making my heart beat. I agree with every word that you said. I didn't used to, but it has proved to be true, and you were right all along.

Jason Whitlock, excellent to see you tonight. Thank you.

So you may have seen this video, it's everywhere. It's of a physician confronting his school board for lying about mask mandates. You should watch this. The doctor in the video joins us straight ahead.

By the way, we have a new book coming out today. It's called, "The Long Slide," if you want it delivered, you can cut big tech out of the process by ordering it directly from our website, tuckercarlson.com.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CARLSON: Welcome back. Quick FOX News alert for you. Lindsey Graham, the senator Republican from South Carolina has been out for the last several days, he was sick with corona and even those of us who believe he is a fraud, of course, we are wishing for his speedy recovery.

He has recovered. He was back on the floor of the Senate today telling us what he had learned, and if you haven't seen this video, you should look it up, and regardless of how you feel about vaccines and their efficacy, consider this as a sales pitch.

Lindsey Graham said -- this is almost a verbatim quote, if you haven't had the COVID vaccine, you need to get the COVID vaccine. I got the COVID vaccine and I got COVID anyway. Think about that, it's like a zen koan. You can spend the rest of your life trying to unravel the reasoning there, and never do it. It's the sound of one hand clapping.

Meanwhile, we have news tonight from Dr. Anthony Fauci who runs the country. We've got to warn you, it's bad news. FOX's Matt Finn has that story -- Matt.

MATT FINN, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT: Tucker, White House medical advisor, Dr. Anthony Fauci is now saying that some individual freedoms should take a back seat during this ongoing pandemic and Fauci is endorsing vaccine mandates for teachers and professors.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: I mean, I know people must like to have their individual freedom and not be told to do something, but I think we're in such a serious situation now that under certain circumstances, mandates should be done.

It's understandable that people want to do the kinds of things they want to do, they want their freedom to do that, but there comes a time when you're dealing with a public health crisis that could involve you, your family, and everyone else that something supersedes that need to do exactly what you want to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FINN: Fauci is also expressing his concern that the Sturgis motorcycle rally happening right now in South Dakota might become a super spreader event. A San Diego State University study concluded last summer's bike rally caused an outbreak in coronavirus cases, but South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, says ongoing tests week after that event last year showed that the study was inaccurate and a political attack.

And critics say the media has also largely ignored asking Fauci about the recent Lollapalooza concert in Chicago where vaccines or negative tests were required, but these staggering photos show tens of thousands of concert goers shoulder to shoulder at that outdoor venue.

Fauci also suggested he thinks statewide mandates will become increasingly likely after the F.D.A. approves a vaccine -- Tucker.

CARLSON: Matt Finn for us tonight. Thanks so much, Matt.

FINN: Sure. Yes.

CARLSON: You may have seen stories in the news over the last several months about governments and hospitals mandating the vaccines for healthcare professionals, doctors and nurses. Nobody has asked the most obvious question, which is why would you need to force doctors and nurses to take the vaccine that's self-evidently good for them?

You can't say they don't believe in science, they're practicing science. You can't say they're ignorant, they're doctors and nurses. What is that about?

Well, what it's about is that there's not a consensus on any part of science and there probably shouldn't be. Not every doctor agrees with C.D.C. guidance. Most of them aren't saying anything about it, but they definitely exist or else they wouldn't be mandated to follow the orders of the C.D.C.

One doctor who's gone public with his disagreements particularly about masks is a physician in Indiana called Daniel Stock. Recently, Dr. Stock told his local school board that the State Board of Health and the C.D.C. are making rules that have actually no grounding in science whatsoever. Here is part of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. DANIEL STOCK, FAMILY PHYSICIAN: It's hard to believe we are 18 months into this and still having a problem and I would suggest the reason we still have a problem is because we're doing things that are not useful and we're getting our sources of information from the Indiana State Board of Health and the C.D.C. who actually don't bother to read science before they do this.

I'm actually a functional family medicine physician, that means I am especially trained in Immunology and Inflammation Regulation and everything being recommended by the C.D.C. and the State Board of Health is actually contrary to all the rules of science, and you will be chasing this the remainder of your life until you recognize that the Center for Disease Control and the Indiana State Board of Health are giving you very bad scientific guidance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: Dr. Daniel Stock is the man you just saw in that video and we're happy to have him join us tonight. Doctor, thanks so much for coming on.

So, there's so much in that video of course, that we didn't play. First of all, bless you for speaking up in an informed way whether people agree with you or not, I think we can all agree it's important to have a debate about things like this. Why did you say what you did?

STOCK: Well, I think the -- we've been hearing one side of the debate and the one side of the debate that I've been she doesn't dovetail with all of these science that I know. It ignores a great deal of information that leads one to believe that this virus is eradicable, when it's really not, and that virus avoidance is somehow a useful thing as a way to handle the pandemic.

And since we're not going to be able to avoid the virus, somebody is going to contact it eventually, it seems like we're ignoring all the data of things we can do to improve an immune system besides a vaccine and focusing only on that and trying to avoid virus, which isn't avoidable.

CARLSON: I mean, our whole response seems predicated on the belief that we can avoid it, that you can hide from it forever. You're saying that we can't.

STOCK: Well, this virus like every other respiratory virus has animal reservoirs and in all the history of Medicine, we've only eradicated one virus and that was smallpox, which had no animal reservoir. It only affected humans.

Because some of those animals are actually domestic animals, there is just no way to escape the virus that's why we can't escape influenza or the common cold. The focus to this man's mind after reading all the literature is since it doesn't appear we have very good steps we can take that even doing anything in viral avoidance from most circumstances certainly not in the general population is there any consensus that masks work, the data is very murky on this.

It seems to me that focusing on immune system improvement whether through a vaccine or non-vaccine methods is the more rational approach to this.

CARLSON: Boy, this seems like -- I mean considering what you're describing, the misconception that you're describing is the heart of the Federal response and the heart of these mandates. It's kind of a big screw- up if what you're saying is right.

STOCK: Well, it's certainly not intuitive. It's certainly not intuitive at all and it doesn't -- I mean, I asked the school board to ask themselves why don't we do this for influenza and the common cold? After all, the overall death rate is no different between COVID 19 and influenza when you count them the same way for their cases.

And so, I don't really see why this suddenly has to be this way.

CARLSON: Boy, I appreciate your saying that just because again, I think it's something that we need to talk about.

Dr. Daniel Stock, the video is online. It will be at least until tonight when they yank it because it's too true for public consumption, I appreciate you coming on and I hope you'll come back. Good to see you, Doctor.

STOCK: Thank you very much for having me.

CARLSON: Thank you. Well, this show has just obtained internal communications from the highest level of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, I.C.E. and those communications which are shocking, not an overstatement reveal who is running the agency and why they are refusing to deport so many dangerous criminal aliens.

It is not what we expected at all, and it would be interesting to hear what is actually going on. That's straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CARLSON: So, the very first thing Joe Biden did when he got to the White House was to change the mission of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency - I.C.E. The Biden administration decided to protect criminals from deportation. Not because there was a groundswell of support for having foreign nationals who are felons in our country, well, because they wanted to change the country and they are.

So I.C.E. was instructed not to arrest most illegal aliens, including many convicted felons and naturally deportations plummeted. Tonight, we have exclusive reporting on what is actually happening inside I.C.E., which is a government agency that you pay for.

Now, we spoke to a now former senior I.C.E. official, Thomas Feeley who said he had never seen anything like this in the 25 years he worked there. Feeley retired because the Biden administration's refusal to enforce the law, and told us last week that activists who don't work for the government but for creepy left-wing nonprofits routinely weigh in and stop deportations.

That had seemed incredible to us, it doesn't even sound legal. Why would an NGO have control over U.S. government policy? But in fact, it's happening and we can prove it.

This show has just obtained internal I.C.E. e-mails confirming Feeley's claim. On June 7th, an activist contacted I.C.E. asking for an urgent favor. The activist is a woman called Tania Mattos. She's a member of Abolish I.C.E., the movement that wants to end any border control whatsoever.

Now, Mattos demanded that I.C.E. order a stay of removal that would block the deportation of a convicted felon called Marvin Jerezano-Pena that was set to take place within 24 hours. Pena's criminal record included robbery and simple assault and drug charges.

A Federal immigration judge ordered Pena removed from the country back in July of last year because why would people like that stay? Why would you ever import criminals especially in the middle of a crime spike, which we're living through now?

But Mattos didn't care and wanted I.C.E. to overlook that ruling. So, she e-mailed an I.C.E. attorney asking for quote "assistance" on the case of Marvin Jerezano-Pena. Just 20 minutes after she sent that e-mail, the I.C.E. lawyer forwarded to Tim Perry, that's I.C.E.'s Chief of Staff and said it's quote "a time sensitive matter," because when Abolish I.C.E. activists demand action, I.C.E. acts.

So Perry deem that requests so important that he requested his staff to produce a report on Pena, then discussed the activist's requests on a call with I.C.E. director Tae Johnson. He forwarded the criminal report to Johnson and said this, quote, "I mentioned this on our call earlier. Sharing." Johnson responded quote, "Gents, can we grant a 14-day stay of removal on this," end quote. An official responded "Will do."

This is what they're doing as the border has descended into total chaos, a hellish scene of human suffering. Our country is being invaded by the rest of the world, not just Mexico, not just Latin America, the whole world, and they are worried about how they can keep a felon in our country without you knowing about it.

And they're doing it based on a single e-mail from an activist who wants I.C.E. to be eliminated, so the Director of I.C.E. decides to protect a convicted criminal illegal from deportation. Can this be real? I mean, it looked real. So, we reached out to I.C.E. for comment. And yes, it is real.

They did not dispute our reporting. They confirmed that Pena has not been deported. He is still in our country. A spokesman told us that I.C.E. quote "routinely works alongside non-governmental organizations," crazy left-wing ones that hate America.

So, the Biden administration is not working with activists from places that want criminals deported. It is working with the Abolish I.C.E. movement, which now has control over I.C.E. It's insane. They no longer have to eliminate I.C.E. They're in charge of it.

How is this happening? Does nobody care? How many convicted felons are still in this country because of people like this? Why is the Biden administration allowing this? Why are we putting up with it? And where are Republicans in Congress? What are they doing?

Oh, voting for Pete Buttigieg's infrastructure bill, 19 of them today.

Someone needs to stand up for the country and do it right away.

So our friend, Larry Elder is running for Governor of California, all of a sudden you wake up one morning, and it turns out Larry Elder could win, for real. Larry Elder has a real shot at becoming the Governor of California. Amazing and great and true, and he joins us next.

New book out today, "The Long Slide," you can get it on tuckercarlson.com. I hope you do.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CARLSON: So there is a recall in California. We haven't covered it that much on the show because it seems impossible this could actually happen, but it is happening. The ballots are going out very soon.

Now, Larry Elder the polling shows is the top candidate to replace Gavin Newsom, and again, amazingly, since he is our friend, it's hard to believe, but it's real, Larry Elder has a very real chance of becoming the next Governor of California. How amazing would that be?

Larry Elder joins us now. Larry, first of all --

LARRY ELDER (R), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Thanks for having me, I appreciate it.

CARLSON: Well, it's just -- it's just remarkable to think this could actually happen. What a blessing that would be for the state and for the country. Are we overstating the case? I mean, you could -- you could be elected governor of California pretty soon.

ELDER: No, Tucker, you're not overstating the case. In fact, the Governor just gave an interview to a series of newspaper reporters, and he was unhinged. He was angry. He was surly.

He acted like Humphrey Bogart in that scene from "The Caine Mutiny." He can't defend his record. Crime is out of control. Homelessness is out of control. The cost of living is out of control. And the way this man ignored science and slammed down this state to the point where a third of all small businesses in California are gone forever, while he had his own kids enjoying in-person private education.

And while he's sitting up there with the very people that drafted the mandate at the French Laundry, while not wearing masks, while not socially distancing, people have had it. That's why 2.2 million Californians, a good quarter to a third of them, Tucker, were Independents and Democrats voted for this man just two years earlier.

CARLSON: But you've got to -- I mean, just put yourself in his position. I'm trying to be sympathetic here. So you're Gavin Newsom. You've got a low IQ with no skills. But you've been groomed since birth by the Getty family to run something big, maybe even be President. You own this state. That's how you feel.

And there's some guy Larry -- who is Larry Elder -- he could beat me? I mean, can you imagine how he feels?

ELDER: You know, and Tucker, this is a guy who was a two-term governor of San Francisco, had eight years -- Lieutenant Governor -- so he had plenty of time to think about what he would do if he were to become Governor, he becomes Governor, and we have all these problems.

And let's remember, the school system was bad before he denied in-person learning to all the public school students here in California, 80 percent of whom are black and brown. The ones the left claim that they care about, 75 percent before the pandemic of black boys could not read at state levels of proficiency, and those levels are already low. Nearly a third -- a half, excuse me -- of third graders cannot read at state levels of proficiency.

And this man denied parents and kids a whole year of education. That's one of the reasons why I'm pushing for school choice if I'm fortunate enough to become Governor. Speaking of which, please go to electelder.com, throw something in the tip jar because, Tucker, believe it or not, he can raise and spin an unlimited amount of money.

The teachers union already gave him a little under $2 million, and just a few days ago, when it was obvious I was going to get into the race, one of the big unions gave him $5 million. It is estimated he is probably going to spend around $50 million or so to defeat me.

I have expenditure limitation. So, unless I get help from people inside California and outside California by going to electelder.com, it's going to be tough to beat him, but I'm going to beat him.

CARLSON: Man, if that happens, that would -- I mean, that'll just be the greatest thing to happen in a long time.

ELDER: Yes.

CARLSON: Larry Elder, Godspeed. Thank you.

ELDER: Thank you, appreciate it.

CARLSON: If you're watching the show, chances are you voted Republican, you like me, even sent the money. What are they doing on your behalf? Well, 19 Republicans, as we told you in the Senate voted for the Biden administration's fake infrastructure bill today. We told you what it does.

Maybe we should read their names, just so you know and so you don't forget. Here they are in alphabetical order: Roy Blunt, Richard Burr, Shelley Moore Capito, Bill Cassidy, Susan Collins, Kevin Cramer, Mike Crapo, Deb Fischer, Lindsey Graham, of course, Chuck Grassley, John Hoeven, Mitch McConnell, Lisa Murkowski, Rob Portman, James Risch, Mitt Romney, Dan Sullivan, Thom Tillis, and Roger Wicker of Mississippi.

So that's what they're doing in your name. Are they defending you? Standing up for your country? No. They are voting for Pete Buttigieg's fake infrastructure bill. Remember their names.

That's it for us tonight. A new book, as we've said. We're not going to sell too many books on this show, but it's a pretty good book called "The Long Slide."

If you want it delivered, you can cut big tech out of the picture by ordering it from tuckercarlson.com.

Have a great evening. Now, we head over to New York for Sean Hannity.

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