Tucker: This is 'the single most successful human rights protest in a generation'

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Tucker: This is 'the single most successful human rights protest in a generation'

Fox News host gives his take on the Freedom Convoy protests on 'Tucker Carlson Tonight.'

This is a rush transcript of "Tucker Carlson Tonight" on February 10, 2022. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

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

When Democratic politicians across this country all of a sudden start to pull back their mask mandates, they did it virtually overnight, and of course, they did it in unison, we naturally assumed that new polling had to be behind it. Some of the D.N.C. must have seen terrifying public opinion numbers and decided to abandon Project Quarantine before the midterm elections. That made sense to us. We explained that theory in the show last night, but we still think it's probably pretty true.

But it's also clear as of tonight that there is another explanation for this. Democrats in this country are looking north to their friends in the ruling party of Canada, and what they see there scares them.

Canada's working class has finally rebelled after years of relentless abuse. Truck drivers are threatening to topple Justin Trudeau's creepy little government with their big rigs, and they may succeed actually.

The protests against Justin Trudeau's vaccine mandates had been far more effective than anyone in charge imagined. For Democrats in the United States, that's a pretty obvious lesson.

Over the past 48 hours, Canadian truckers have blocked the major trade routes between their country and ours. Last night, farmers driving heavy agricultural equipment shut down the highways at the Manitoba border with the United States. You're seeing footage now from the town of Emerson, Manitoba.

Eleven hundred miles away, a similar scene on the border of Ontario in the United States, green tractors with Canadian flags lining the highway in protest. But the most meaningful blockade of all is taking place right now on the Ambassador Bridge. That's the privately owned span that connects Detroit to Windsor, Ontario.

If you live in the Upper Midwest, you know it well, a quarter of all the trade between the United States and Canada, one another's biggest trading partners, that's billions of dollars comes across that bridge.

And as FOX's Molly Line is reporting from Ottawa, that bridge is now completely shut down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're Canadian, and we want to be free Canadians.

MOLLY LINE, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Increasing concerns spreading through Canada and now the U.S. as the Freedom Convoy threatens trade along the border.

Truckers blocking traffic at the Ambassador Bridge connecting Detroit and Ontario, a second crossing linking Alberta and Montana also shut down by protesters calling for an end to all COVID restrictions and vaccine mandates.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want freedom. Freedom of all mandates, and that's what we're fighting for.

LINE (voice over): The Ambassador Bridge is the busiest international crossing in North America carrying 25 percent of all trade between Canada and the U.S.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: "We want freedom," the truckers are saying, freedom from mandates. It's a very straightforward ask, but so far the truckers don't have that freedom, and so their blockade continues.

So far, that blockade has forced the Ford Motor Company to shut down one of its manufacturing plants and to operate another plant with a skeleton crew. Toyota says they won't be able to manufacture vehicles in Ontario for the rest of the week. General Motors has cancelled multiple shifts at its plant in Lansing, Michigan due to parts shortages.

So this protest is less than a week old and already is causing deep pain to at least one global industry. It's hard to overstate the historical significance of what we're watching right here.

The Canadian trucker convoy is the single most successful human rights protest in a generation. If nothing else, it has been a very useful reminder to our entitled ruling class that working class men can be pushed, but only so far. When they push back, it hurts.

It turns out the truck drivers are more important to a country's future than say diversity consultants or even MSNBC contributors. Who knew?

The White House has no interest in knowing. According to the Associated Press tonight, the Biden administration is quote "urging" the Trudeau Government to quote "use its Federal powers" to stop this protest, to end the truckers protest. In other words, crush them by force.

POLITICO is reporting that Biden officials are coordinating with Canadian authorities to quote, "establish alternate traffic routes around the protesters." That's Scranton Joe, the pro union guy shutting down a labor action.

Pete Buttigieg is the completely incompetent Transportation Secretary in this country. Apparently, he is in charge of this effort. What Mayor Pete does not realize is, it's not so easy. Truck drivers know a lot more about roads than McKinsey consultants do.

An alternative border crossing in Alberta, for example, has already been totally shut down. They thought of that already, Mayor Pete. The Blue Water Bridge which connects Ontario to Port Huron, Michigan has been reporting delays tonight of nearly five hours.

Now, there is an obvious way to fix this problem. Matty Moroun who is the owner of the Ambassador Bridge into Michigan just spelled it out for Justin Trudeau who is not terribly bright, end the vaccine mandates and the bridge reopens. It's not hard. But Justin Trudeau won't, and he's decided he doesn't have to, because the truckers as he's explained, have no legitimate complaint.

They're racists, so we're not required to listen to them. Here was Trudeau in the Canadian Parliament on Monday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: The people of Ottawa don't deserve to be harassed in their own neighborhoods. They don't deserve to be confronted with the inherent violence of a swastika flying on a street corner, or a Confederate flag, or the insults and jeers just because they are wearing a mask.

That's not who Canadians are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: Oh, so they're not even really Canadians. They're Nazis. So you don't have to hear anything they say, they don't even belong here. Maybe we'll intern them or expel them.

Trudeau state broadcasters had been repeating these lies over and over and over again for maximum effect, Pravda parroting Brezhnev. That's what they do. What is striking however, is that the media in our country claim to be independent, but they've been doing the very same thing. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some of the organizers of this protest, which as I mentioned, started more than a week ago. They do want to overthrow the government.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Canadian officials calling this situation a quote, "nationwide insurrection."

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The police chief says COVID protests are a quote, "nationwide insurrection" driven by madness.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: A nationwide insurrection driven by madness.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just think of the language, I know it sounds familiar to you, right, a threat to democracy. An, insurrection, sedition.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The police say that they are under resourced and they are overwhelmed. They have said that this city is under siege.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not just truckers, there's a lot of -- I've heard there's QAnon supporters in the crowd.

NEWTON: Residents that I have spoken to who say they feel terrorized, intimidated.

JOE SCARBOROUGH, MSNBC HOST: It's a cult.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: There are QAnon supporters in the crowd. It's a cult. They're Nazis and they are crazy. Insurrectionists on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

Imagine. Now they're using these smears because typically they work, just dismiss these people, don't listen to them. They didn't go to college.

But what Justin Trudeau apparently didn't count on is that a handful of independent journalists are committing journalism inside Canada, and a free press works. That's why we have it -- or did.

So instead of repeating state mandated talking points like their journalists do and the morons in our press corps do, these independent reporters have been broadcasting hours' long interviews with the truckers themselves, in their cabs, totally unfiltered, so you can decide what you think. You can actually make your own judgement about reality.

So you watch these streams for just a few minutes and you realize that these truckers, whatever their faults may be, are far less odious and much harder working than the journalists and the politicians who call them Nazis.

Here is one 24-year-old protester who saved up and bought his own truck. He's an owner/operator now. He is losing hundreds of dollars every day because he is no longer working, but he says, it is worth it because he is more concerned about human rights than about his own paycheck. You decide.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I agree with the freedom of choice. So if you want to wear a diaper over your face, so go ahead. You know, you can wear a face diaper if you want. Why should I -- because of your fear, I've got to wear that garbage on my face, you know.

We've been doing that for two years. They said two weeks, but it is turning to two years, so enough is enough.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: Yes, the voice of the working man there. And how do we know he is a Nazi? Because he used the word freedom.

Now that footage, of course was not shot by the CBC, which is Canadian state media, the most dishonest of all; it was from a live stream on the YouTube channel, ZOT. It was filmed just after midnight this morning.

ZOT is run by a man you've never heard of called Matt Garcia. Garcia is one of a handful of independent YouTube channel operators who are doing what legacy media refuses to do anywhere ever anymore.

Garcia actually talks to people he reports. He is not paid to do this. He is doing this because nobody else will do it. You should watch it. It's compelling because you can hear people speak and you can decide what you think about what they have to say.

Here is another protester that Garcia spoke to in the streets of Ottawa. This man says that Justin Trudeau's authoritarian behavior reminds him of the Ayatollah is in the country he left, which is Iran. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm from Iran, and I'm proud to be between the freedom loving Canadian patriots.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you live in Ottawa?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I came here from Toronto. I did a speech on the stage and I lost my freedom once in Iran by the Ayatollahs, by the mullahs, I don't want to lose my freedom again in Canada.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: So what is the answer to him? Is he in QAnon? Is he a Nazi? Is he a White supremacist?

Canada's leaders have no response whatsoever. They just accuse all these people of bigotry and then they turn away. The protesters are so immoral, we have no obligation to listen to them, because democracy.

We all lose when they do that because actually, the truckers do have something to say and some of them are pretty articulate. Some of them are even eloquent about what they want.

So, as a public service, we thought you might like to hear it. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is nothing extreme about wanting people to be able to make their own decisions in their home that is the best decision for their families. There is nothing extreme about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: No, that's not extreme. If you want to see extremists, take a close look at how Canada's ruling class is responding to these decidedly non-extreme protests.

Authorities in Canada are now stealing firewood from protesters in subzero temperatures, you're seeing that theft on your screen right now. We're not making it up.

Now, wood is not being used in a crime. They're not using it to rob liquor stores. The protesters are using the wood to keep from freezing to death in February. But Trudeau's enforcers just took it from him -- them. They also seized fuel, which the truckers were using to keep from dying in their cabs overnight. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You take those cans off of that truck. Is that your property?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is now? So you have the right to take gas cans off of a trucker's truck, is that correct?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is correct.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is correct. According to what?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Aiding and abetting a criminal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Aiding and abetting criminal?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A criminal offense of mischief.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A criminal offense. So know when you have gas cans on your truck, it is a criminal offense.

This guy's name is Trudeau.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: So let's say you are an American television or you work at the Brookings Institution or the Atlantic Council or you were Liz Cheney, or any one of the many people who lecture you every day about democracy. What would you make of that exchange?

Now, you may not like the guy's beard or you may not like who he voted for, but what's your answer to him? If police are breaking the law by enforcing an order from the guy who runs the country, is that a democracy? No. It's not. It's not a free country. It's a very scary place.

And that's exactly what Canada has become under Justin Trudeau. We'll play just one more clip. There are a lot of these, but we're not going to drag it out. You see the point? Watch this one.

These are police acting under Justin Trudeau's orders dragging an elderly man to jail and hurting him along the way. Why? Because he dared to honk his horn in support of the truckers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's your name and badge number?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look, they are hurting an old man. A Canadian citizen. Communism. This is communism. He is scared [bleep]. Communist.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You stand with the communist [bleep] government.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Call your Police Chief, he will back you up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Call the police.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Call your Police Chief.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [Bleep].

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Arresting an old man. Shame on you. Shame on you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: They hurt him, too. Look at his bruises on the internet.

So in the end, Canadians are nice people. The cliche is true. And they're seeing some of this. It's being hidden from them on their state media, but it's all on the internet. So Justin Trudeau is attacking human rights and attacking humans, and that ultimately is bound to provoke a backlash -- and it is.

The province of Alberta just announced is lifting its COVID restrictions and scrapping its vaccine passport system completely. Saskatchewan, Quebec, Prince Edward Island have done the same. They're getting rid of most of their COVID restrictions in the face of this, in response to this.

When you go too far as Ceausescu learned, people turn against you.

It was a few days ago that a guy called Jagmeet Singh, he is the leader of Canada's supposedly pro-worker NDP Party, smearing the truckers as racist, of course, quote: "Those that claim the superiority of the White blood line," what a pig. It's always the same lie.

But yesterday, even Jagmeet Singh finally realized the same old slander doesn't work anymore. So he went to Plan B. He went for a Federal plan to quote "exit the pandemic." In other words, he caved in the face of principled human rights protest. That's how that works.

Several members of Justin Trudeau's own Liberal Party are now rebuking Justin Trudeau. One of those lawmakers, a Member of Parliament called Joel Lightbound, described Justin Trudeau's vaccine mandates as quote, "... an attempt to wedge, to divide, and to stigmatize. I fear that this politicization of the pandemic risks undermining the public's trust in our public health institutions."

Oh, you think? Yes, we, in America know a little bit about that. Who will trust a doctor when the smoke settles from corona? Seriously. But on a political level, anyone watching this understands just how profound the betrayal is -- the betrayal, both in Canada and in the United States.

Self-described liberals, the ones who've lectured you for decades about the nobility of organized labor are now taking the side of management, of strikebreakers over striking workers. They are applauding like Mr. Burns on "The Simpsons" as cops harass and abuse strikers and their families.

Pretty soon they'll be demanding scabs. Literally, if they aren't already. It's so deeply revealing. Scratch a liberal and you'll find a fascist.

Today on Twitter, an Obama D.H.S. official called Juliette Khayyem called for violence against the truckers, "Slash their tires" she demanded. But don't stop there, quote, "Cancel their insurance, suspend their driver's licenses, prohibit any future regulatory certification for truckers, et cetera. Have we learned nothing?" Fellow members of the ruling class, "These things fester when there are no consequences." Crush them before they get big ideas.

Now, Juliette Khayyem is a nasty little fascist and of course, she's a CNN contributor, too. Of course, she is. But we will concede, Juliette Khayyem is right about one thing. These things do fester. When you ignore the population's legitimate concerns for long enough, when you dismiss your own citizens as racists and conspiracy nuts and try and shut them down for long enough, at some point, they are apt to revolt.

Once people realize they are citizens, not serfs, you can't really know where things go from there. And in that vein, tonight, a group of American truckers announced they will begin a nationwide truck convoy in this country starting next month in protest against Joe Biden's vaccine mandates.

That rally will begin in Southern California on March 5th, and then will progress eastward by truck to Washington, D.C. as see they still perhaps naively assume is the capital of their country. How does the supposedly pro union White House feel about this? They're completely panicked. Working class people expressing their opinions, that's not allowed.

So Joe Biden taking a page from Justin Trudeau, his friend to the North, has already set the Department of Homeland Security to work to shut them down.

We'll be covering that in some detail. There is some drama ahead.

In the meantime, we want to take you live to Detroit tonight where reporter Charlie Duff has been covering what's happening there. Charlie LeDuff is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, host of "The No BS News Hour with Charlie Duff," which he delivers on, we can tell you, he joins us now.

Charlie, what is the situation at the bridge?

CHARLIE LEDUFF, HOST OF THE "NO BS NEWS HOUR WITH CHARLIE LEDUFF": Nothing is moving. No trade.

I guess it's important to tell the country this. Remember those pictures of the Port of LA? Remember those boats? This bridge alone in Detroit is about half of what LA does. That's how important it is. So this could send the economy spinning.

CARLSON: So I mean, Canada always was America's biggest trade partner. Of course, we are their biggest trade partner. I mean, the economic consequences for the government at some point are going to show up really, obviously, are they not?

LEDUFF: Really quickly, you see plants shutting down. I mean, Canada gets a lot of its meat and its dairy and you know, its perishables from the United States. So when you're talking $350 million a day going over one bridge, these guys up in Canada figured out where the choke point is, and it is right here.

CARLSON: So, you've been there your whole life. You're from Detroit. Have you ever seen anything like this before?

LEDUFF: What? In terms of taking over a bridge?

CARLSON: Yes. I mean, look Detroit is the city of strikes, historically. You ever seen one this effective?

LEDUFF: To be honest, no, but we've had many of them, you know, from Flint to now.

CARLSON: Of course.

LEDUFF: But, I guess it's important to say this, 90 percent of the truck drivers are vaccinated. What really happened here was all through the pandemic, these men and women worked. They went back and forth while everybody else huddled in their houses, right? They wore the mask. They couldn't get out of the cab. They couldn't use the toilet.

Now two years into it, just this past January, you've got to get the shot. It's enough. But for those guys that are vaxxed, this is what they tell me. We support that, but what we're hoping doesn't get lost here is, you know, one out of 10 adults in Canada is a truck driver.

We make horrible wages, we have horrible safety measures. We don't have a place to sleep at night. They're not even looking after them in general. So hopefully, it's a moment in the labor time of truck drivers in Canada where they actually get something.

CARLSON: Yes, because when we talk about supply chains, they are the supply chain. Our civilization doesn't work --

LEDUFF: The politicians, they nibble cheese and try on the latest political costume. It's the truckers that make this whole continent go. That's how we eat, so respect them or we're going to starve.

CARLSON: Charlie LeDuff, thank you.

LEDUFF: You've got it, bro.

CARLSON: So reports tonight that a similar convoy is merging in this country next month.

Carl Tharp-Porter, aka @CarlFromTheSouthSide is a trucker from Waukesha. He is not a part of any convoy, at least not yet, but he joins us tonight.

Carl, thanks so much for coming on. So there are -- there was an announcement tonight by a group saying we are beginning an American Freedom Convoy from California to Washington in a few weeks. Would you support that, and if so, why?

CARL THARP-PORTER, TRUCKER: Of course. With America being the forefront of freedom, all right, we've always -- it's in my blood to fight for what's right and I believe that having the freedom of choice, which our Canadian brethren is actually just trying to get and receive and that it's a no brainer.

You know, why not stand on the forefront with those guys and show our solidarity with that country and say: Hey, we are against mandates. We are against force. We are against tyranny of government.

CARLSON: That's right.

THARP-PORTER: We want the same thing that everybody else wakes up and deserves. That is the freedom of choice.

So, I've always been growing up to know that it's my body, my choice, what's going on now? What do you think, sir?

CARLSON: It's not your body, that's not your choice. And by the way, you're a racist for saying that it is. What do you make of that? The immediate dismissal of their concerns by calling them racist?

THARP-PORTER: It's the classic race bait. I mean, listen, we have many evils in this world and I was on with you before and I told you this, it is a matter of good and evil and it is which side do you want to be on? What side do you want to choose to wake up and say: Hey, I'm for the people or I'm against the people? It is simple.

We do not need to use simplistic mind tactics of race baiting to get an issue resolved. It is on you, Justin. It's on you to let your people know that you stand with them, firm and sound that you want freedom of choice.

Do not force the mandate, and Joe, please fall in line with us because we are Americans. We are the blue collar workers of this beautiful country that we call America.

CARLSON: Amen. Carl Tharp-Porter, I appreciate you coming out tonight. Thank you.

THARP-PORTER: No, thank you. I appreciate you, Tucker.

CARLSON: So our leaders have been completely focused on Eastern Europe. That's the part of the world that paid Joe Biden's family a million dollars a year. As they've been looking there, China has increased its dominance across the world including in our hemisphere. We'll have a report on that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CARLSON: By many measures, it's now more expensive to live in the United States than any time in the modern era and it is getting more expensive. New inflation numbers are out, the Biden administration's response to them, hard to believe.

FOX's Trace Gallagher has that story for us tonight. Hey, Trace.

TRACE GALLAGHER, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Tucker. There is an old joke about having insomnia, but not losing any sleep over it. Now, the Biden administration is kind of following that path saying, yes, inflation is stressful, but don't worry about it.

Remember the administration first called inflation transitory saying it was all pandemic related and would quickly be corrected. Then a few months later in December, the word transitory was out and words like rapid were in with the President saying that prices had rapidly increased and would rapidly decrease.

But now the Price Index on all items is the highest since February of 1982, and the President says we should have some peace of mind. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Inflation is up. It's up and coming from a family when the price of gas went up, you filled it in the household. The fact is that we're in a situation now where you should have peace of mind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER: And to calm us down even more, President Biden says this should all be resolved by next year. Meantime, we should explain that the Consumer Price Index measures a laundry list of items from gas and groceries to apparel and appliances and everything has gone way up.

Gas is up 40 percent, beef up 16 percent, bacon 18 percent, used cars more than 40 percent, hotels 24 percent, and appliances just under 10 percent. So prices are high and the Federal Reserve says, many economists believe as well, they will continue to go higher, yet just 40 days into 2022, the President now banking on a much better 2023 -- Tucker.

CARLSON: Trace Gallagher for us tonight. Thanks so much, Trace.

You don't need to be an economist to understand what's actually driving inflation, a lot of things influence inflation, but over time, inflation is determined by the size of your money supply.

If you have a lot of something, it becomes less valuable. It's that simple. That's why we have inflation. And over time, you can destroy your currency.

So our government, a bipartisan coalition over time has printed more money in the last couple of years than in the past hundred years and that has destroyed the power of the U.S. dollar. China is watching this. China would like to make a run on the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency, and so they're working to do that.

China's announced a partnership with Argentina in part on currency. Argentina's President also said his nation would join China's Belt and Road Project. Again, it's in our hemisphere, Monroe Doctrine, anyone, but it's happening, and nobody is even mentioning it.

And it's not just Argentina, 19 other Latin American and Caribbean countries are part of this Chinese-led initiative. So China isn't just growing influence in this hemisphere, Vladimir Putin just signed a deal with China, a new gas supply deal.

So you have to wonder what are the implications for American power, particularly American economic power, particularly the power of the U.S. dollar, on which everything else depends.

Lanhee Chen is a candidate for the Comptroller of the State of California, and we are honored to have him join us tonight. Lanhee Chen, thanks so much for coming on. Are you -- I don't hear anyone talking about this. But I think it's worth being worried about it. Are you worried about it?

LANHEE CHEN, STANFORD UNIVERSITY PUBLIC POLICY FACULTY: Yes, I am worried about it. Look, the goal that China has is to use its currency to supplant the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency, and they're able to do that, essentially, because in the United States, we've made a series of policy decisions that frankly, erode the power of the dollar, erode our ability to have influence around the world and I think that's the biggest challenge we face.

You mentioned the Belt and Road Initiative. The way that essentially China gains influence is to go into countries to finance projects, not with equity, but with debt. They essentially put countries in a debt trap and then at some point, if the country is unable to repay the loan, they take the asset, great example, the power grid in Laos is owned by China, because essentially, they extended a loan, the company went under, and they took the power grid.

You see this all over the world, Tucker.

CARLSON: Yes. Particularly in Africa. You're seeing American companies here in municipalities sign deals with Chinese companies controlled by the Chinese government. I heard about one today, which Chinese were demanding they import their workers to work on the project.

Why aren't American politicians awake to this, I wonder?

CHEN: Well, you know, not only are they not awake to it, but they keep adding to the problem. You know, you wonder, why there is inflation in the United States? When you put $6 trillion of fiscal stimulus into the economy, as President Biden and Democrats did last year, you're going to end up with big time inflation.

Unfortunately, that's what we're seeing. It is eroding the purchasing power of people here in the United States. People who are still making more money now are not making more money to keep up with inflation, it is placing great pressure on families throughout our country.

So, the challenges we face really, unfortunately, Tucker, are self- inflicted and I don't know how we're going to get out of this unless we have a massive course correction when it comes to economic policy in this country.

CARLSON: Why aren't you running the Federal Reserve? I mean, you seem to understand this in a way that Powell doesn't, that none of the governors do.

Lanhee Chen, I appreciate you coming on tonight. Thank you.

CHEN: Thank you, Tucker.

CARLSON: So Democrats in Washington State have run out of things to do, so they have just come up with a bill requiring people to wear life jackets while in the water canoeing, for example.

This effort has run up against equity; however. One group says we've got to be exempt from this law. Pretty hilarious story, we've got details straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CARLSON: Before we get to the next segment, there is a report, it is just that we can't verify it but that the governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer has offered Canadian authorities the use of quote, "heavy equipment" to move trucks off the bridge that connects Windsor, Ontario with Michigan.

If that's true, how is that not interfering in the democracy of another country? A United States elected official offering to shut down a human rights protest in another country? That's consistent with our democratic principles?

We're going to work to find out if that's in fact happening.

Well, a new bill introduced by Democrats in the legislature in Washington State would require people to wear life jackets basically anywhere outside of the shower, in canoes, kayaks, stand up paddleboards. That's obviously nanny-ism run amok. It is none of your business whether we wear life jackets or not.

But that new law proposed is running into another principle very popular right now called equity. And one group is demanding an exemption from it.

Jason Rantz is a radio show host in Seattle. He is our go-to man for the legacy of the Pacific Northwest. He joins us tonight.

Jason, what is this?

JASON RANTZ, SEATTLE RADIO SHOW HOST: Okay, so it's a bill by Democratic State Representative Cindy Ryu and she says it will save lives. The problem is that outcome might actually be to be determined by your race. So

The legislation has some exemptions where you don't have to comply. So if you're in a sanctioned competition, if you're doing being supervised by a coach or a trainer or if you're participating in something called paddleboard yoga which apparently is a thing.

But if this is about saving lives, there is this carve out that doesn't actually make any sense. It gives exemptions to members of federally recognized tribes, for the most bizarre reason you can think of. One Republican lawmaker actually brought it up during a recent hearing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just curious on the blanket exemption for the tribe, is that a requirement? I'm just curious where that came from in the bill.

CINDY RYU (D), WASHINGTON STATE REPRESENTATIVE: These are situations where they have either extensive training, or have traditionally very used to our cold waters for eons, essentially, or very closely supervised.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RANTZ: Yes, these American-Indians in the water for billions of years, swimming skills passed down generation to generation from eons in the cold waters of the Puget Sound, as they're now apparently all supervised by the tribe's elders, rendering them unable to drown.

And when you think about it, it's pretty nutty because here's where the equity part comes in. Democrats don't want to insult American-Indians by being unfair with the law, and Representative Ryu claims that American- Indians have easy access to waters where apparently Whites, Blacks, Asians, Latinos apparently don't.

But the tragic irony in all of this, Tucker, is that the American-Indians in this country suffered deaths by drowning in natural waters more than any other racial group or ethnic group, according to the C.D.C.

CARLSON: Oh my gosh. It's all so crazy. Laws have to apply to everyone regardless of color.

RANTZ: Right.

CARLSON: Thank you for reminding us that. Jason Rantz, great to see you.

RANTZ: Thanks, Tucker. ' CARLSON: So a terrifying new terror bulletin from Joe Biden's Department of Homeland Security is warning of quote, "The proliferation of false or misleading narratives which sow discord or undermine public trust in U.S. government institutions." That's something we do on a nightly basis because you shouldn't trust U.S. government institutions, they are not worthy of it. They've betrayed your trust.

But the DHS tells us that so called threat actors have quote, "inspired violent extremist attacks during 2021." Texas Congressman Chip Roy to his great credit has called this quote, "a blatant attack on free speech," which it is.

Harmeet Dillon is a human rights lawyer, one of the best in the world. She is CEO of the Center for American Liberty. She joins us tonight. I mean, thanks so much for coming up. So this is a direct attack.

Basically, they're saying anyone who criticizes the Biden administration is a terrorist, that would include us, so we are a little sensitive, but how does this not violate the Constitution?

HARMEET DHILLON, LAWYER, CENTER FOR AMERICAN LIBERTY: Well, it is going to violate the Constitution if they act on it. But Tucker, they've already been acting along the same trope for the entirety of the Biden administration and even before that, during the Trump administration.

You had activists and the D.O.J. and the F.B.I., so from calling parents terrorists to calling protesters terrorists to calling anybody who criticize the shoddy way the election was run in 2020 disinformation, misinformation, and now mal-information spreaders. This is all designed to intimidate American citizens into shutting up and not criticizing their government in any way, shape, or form, and also kind of vaguely threatening them with what might happen if they do.

We've already seen what has happened with abuses of our law enforcement and persecuting citizens. We've seen what the January 6 Committee is doing to perfectly law-abiding people who had nothing to do with January 6, and we saw clients like my client, Rogen O'Handley taken off of Twitter for daring to criticize the election.

So you can expect more of that if this type of absolute demagoguery and divisive language continues to emanate from the Biden administration, which frankly, we have no reason not to expect.

And one more thing, Tucker, for people to look out for, as you've been covering on your show today. I think the timing of this particular report is aimed at talk of trucker protests here in the United States and the Super Bowl coming up.

This is a way of telling people, if you dare to speak out and engage in peaceful protest as permitted by the United States Constitution First Amendment. You will expect to see yourself in the crosshairs of the Department of Homeland Security.

This is un-American and every American should be very concerned about this because you could be next on that list of mal information disinformation actors that they're aiming at.

CARLSON: If it's that terrible, then that means they're already working on it and that means they are already surveilling these terror threats, and that would include opposition journalists. So that's something to think about.

I appreciate, Harmeet very much for coming on. Thank you.

DHILLON: Thank you.

CARLSON: So BlackRock is the single largest asset manager in the world. It is using its power to control every other company it has run. Vivek Ramaswamy understands how this works, and joins us next to explain why it's not good at all.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CARLSON: BlackRock is the single largest asset manager in the entire world and that fact gives the CEO of BlackRock, Larry Fink, unparalleled control over the U.S. economy and of the companies that comprise it. That's a pretty significant fact, given that Larry Fink has a political agenda that is at least as aggressive as his investment strategies.

Vivek Ramaswamy has thought a lot about this. He is a tech entrepreneur. He's been in business and succeeded there. But he has also thought about the political ramifications of all of this and where the country ought to be going.

He is the author of the book, "Woke Inc." and we're happy to have him on tonight. Vivek, thanks so much for coming on.

So for our viewers who aren't familiar with Larry Fink and his agenda, if you could sum it up for us?

VIVEK RAMASWAMY, BIOTECH ENTREPRENEUR AND AUTHOR, "WOKE, INC.": Yes, sure. So I think every American deserves to know who Larry Fink is. He is what I call the King of the Woke Industrial Complex.

As you said, he is the CEO of the world's largest asset manager and what they do is they cause companies to bend the knee to woke orthodoxy, because BlackRock says that we won't invest in your company, unless you abide by these progressive standards, or we will dock the pay of a CEO or fire a CEO who refuses to bend the knee to woke orthodoxy.

But here's the rub, Tucker, it is not their money. That $10 trillion doesn't belong to BlackRock. Say what you will about George Soros, at least it's his money. In this case, it is money that belongs to you, to everyday Americans in this country whose blood would boil if they actually knew the way their own money was being used to force a progressive social orthodoxy back onto them.

That is the defining scam of our time, and I think it is high time that everyday Americans wake up to learning how their own money is being used as a weapon to advance values that they would find repugnant if they actually knew what was going on.

CARLSON: So to simplify it for the non-economists among us, including me, you invest money, you imagine this as your retirement, Larry Fink has influence over where that money is invested. And he invests it in ways that are repugnant to you and your core values and your family's future. Is that kind of what you're saying?

RAMASWAMY: That's exactly right. That makes him the puppet master behind the scenes of Corporate America, so when you wonder why the CEO of Coca- Cola or whoever does what they do, Larry Fink and BlackRock are a big part of that.

But Tucker, there's one more part that makes this story even take a darker turn. The Puppet Master behind the scenes of BlackRock is of course, China. There is no greater friend of China on Wall Street than Larry Fink today. He supplicates to the Chinese Communist Party. He actually helps them in trade negotiations here while criticizing the United States and social inequity and injustice here, he is actually doing the bidding of the CCP at the same time, while getting political favors from China.

So I think this is something that the American people ought to know a lot about. His decisions affect the lives of everyday Americans, more so than most politicians. And you know, this, we're going through this thing that everyone calls The Great Reset, the stakeholder capitalism revolution, where we dissolve the boundaries between government actors and private companies to advance a single progressive globalist agenda.

Well, I think it's time to reset The Great Reset, and I think the first step is to see with clear eyes what's actually going on and Larry Fink is a big part of the story.

CARLSON: So we take moral lectures from people who work for a country that doesn't recognize human rights and nobody ever points this out. Because why?

RAMASWAMY: Because they've built a great Chinese wall that says: You can't come into the Chinese market unless you bow down to the CCP, but they roll out the red carpet if you criticize the United States.

And so these guys jump to whatever tune the CCP blows on a given day by criticizing the U.S., by supplicating to China, undermining our own moral standing on the global stage, and worst of all, in the case of BlackRock, not even doing it for their own account. They're doing it on the account of everyday retirees, everyday pensioners, who really would be livid if they knew what was actually happening with their own money.

I think it's the defining scam of our time and we are just beginning to see the beginning of it rears its head up. I think that there is an opportunity for a counter movement though, Tucker, I think we need to reset that Great Reset, restore American democracy.

You here the left talk a lot about democracy. Well, part of democracy is actually giving everyday citizens a voice rather than letting elites like Larry Fink have their way by throwing their money around.

CARLSON: Man, I mean, I should say you're not just a think tank guy. You're not a think tank guy. You actually have been in business your whole life, so you know what you're talking. I hope it will be part of whatever the solution is.

Vivek, I appreciate your coming on.

RAMASWAMY: Thank you, Tucker.

CARLSON: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CARLSON: According to the Biden administration, Russia is still poised like a cat to pounce on poor little Ukraine. So the White House decided it is the perfect moment to put Biden in front of a camera to help defuse the crisis. Here is what Biden said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: And there's no way we were ever going to unite Ukraine. I mean, Iraq -- Afghanistan. No way that was going to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: Congo, Senegal, Lichtenstein -- we just can't unite them. Feel safe?

That's about it for us tonight. That was mean. It's mean to play that, but he is the President. We will be back tomorrow night and every night, 8:00 PM, the show that is the sworn enemy of lying, pomposity, smugness, and groupthink.

Have the best night. Here is Sean Hannity.

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