Watters: Biden's decline is hard to ignore

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Jesse Watters: Biden's decline is hard to ignore

'Tucker Carlson Tonight' host asks how the White House is 'handling' the president.

JESSE WATTERS, FOX NEWS CHANNEL HOST: Good evening and welcome to TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT. I'm Jesse Watters, in for Tucker.

We've learned a lot about Joe Biden in the last year. For one, we know he's not the same old Scranton Joe that represented Delaware in the Senate for decades or the Old Tough Guy Joe who saved the day by fighting off corn pop. He is not even the same Joe Biden who was Barack Obama's Vice President. That Joe Biden is gone and he has been gone for a while.

In 2021, Biden confirmed what many of us could see during the presidential campaign. He is decaying.

That is not an attack on Biden. He is nearly 80 years old. Anyone who has watched Joe Biden can see it. It's a fact we take no pleasure in stating. Nobody is happy when the President of the United States stumbles over his words or forgets where he is, we don't enjoy watching him fall asleep in the middle of an overseas Summit.

But his decline is hard to ignore. His latest example came just last night in an interview with ABC News. Joe Biden struggled to remember the name of the latest COVID variant, called omicron, but maybe that's not exactly a surprise since Joe Biden also told us he didn't even see omicron coming.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID MUIR, ABC NEWS: The Vice President said in recent days that you didn't see delta coming, you didn't see omicron coming. How did you get it wrong?

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: How did we get it wrong? Nobody saw it coming. Nobody in the whole world who saw it coming.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATTERS: The omicron variant has been around for weeks. The World Health Organization announced its existence in late November and the U.S. government designated it as a concern days later, but somehow Joe Biden missed all of that.

If the President of the United States acknowledging he was completely unaware of the incoming COVID variants wasn't bad enough, Biden then confused coronavirus tests with pills. He sounded like he had no idea what he was talking about as he frequently does, and then he told us the lack of available coronavirus tests for the variant, he also tells us we're supposed to be scared of isn't a failure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MUIR: You told the American people just yesterday that we are prepared for what is coming, but three days before Christmas, if you look out across the country, you see it everywhere these long lines, people waiting for hours outside in the cold just to get tested, empty shelves, no test kits. Is that a failure?

BIDEN: No, I don't think it's a failure. I think it's -- you could argue that we should have known a year ago, six months ago, two months ago, a month ago. I've ordered half a billion of the pills -- 500 million pills -- I mean, excuse me, 500 million test kits that are going to be available to be sent to every home in America if anybody wants them.

But the answer is yes, I wish I had thought about ordering a half a billion pills two months ago before COVID hit here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATTERS: That is who has the final say on public health in this country, a man who can't differentiate between tests and pills or delta and omicron, the same Joe Biden who told us earlier this year vaccines prevent transmission, quote: "You're not going to get COVID if you have these vaccinations," unquote. That's who is at the helm.

Americans expect the leader of the free world to inspire confidence heading into the New Year, instead, Joe Biden confessed that nothing has been good enough and in what was likely his last interview before millions of Americans hoped to gather for Christmas, Joe Biden told the country that only vaccinated Americans are permitted to celebrate one of our nation's most sacred holidays.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MUIR: We're nearly two years into this pandemic, you're a year into the presidency. Empty shelves and no test kits in some places, three days before Christmas when it's so important. Is that good enough?

BIDEN: No, nothing has been good enough, but look where we are. If you are tested, if you know where you are in terms of having gotten the shots, there is no reason why you can't get together with your family and your friends and we couldn't do that last Christmas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATTERS: If we learned anything new about Joe Biden last night, it's this -- a year of failures and errors on everything from the economy to lockdowns and mandates, the border and Afghanistan, have all taken their toll.

Joe Biden is completely dejected and he knows it, and if there was ever any doubt about Biden's health or cognitive ability, he put that all to rest yesterday. Biden actually admitted his own health was a legitimate question.

We don't have to guess anymore, Joe Biden says his health could prevent him from running for re-election in 2024.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MUIR: I want to ask you about something I asked weeks before the election when we sat down. You said you would absolutely serve eight years if elected. Do you plan to run for re-election?

BIDEN: Yes, but look, I'm a great respecter of fate. Fate has intervened in my life many, many times. If I'm in the health I'm in now, if I'm in good health, then in fact I would run again.

MUIR: And if that means a rematch against Donald Trump?

BIDEN: You're trying to tempt me now. Sure. Why would I not run against Donald Trump if he is the nominee? That increased the prospect of running.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATTERS: We can't think of any other time where a President has speculated about the decline of his own health. What's worse is Joe Biden thinks his current state is the definition of good health, but he isn't fooling anybody. We see it. The American people see it and surely his staff sees it, too. It's why they usually keep him on a very tight script.

He is only allowed to speak to reporters when they give him permission. He hardly gives any interviews and last night showed exactly why. Joe Biden can't speak without embarrassing himself and his own administration.

The White House knows all of that and yet they send him out anyway. Why? Because his opportunist handlers who helped make him the President want you to know he's inept. They want to make it clear Joe Biden is not running things and that they are the ones with the real power.

They're trying to accelerate the argument that he needs to be replaced. CNN put it very clearly in a headline this week quote: "The 11 Democrats who could replace Joe Biden in 2024." What's interesting is that even other Democrats are being challenged about Joe Biden's ability to lead.

Kamala Harris was asked about this just a few days ago and she pretended to be very angry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD, RADIO SHOW HOST: Okay, so who is the real president of this country? Is it Joe Manchin or Joe Biden, Madam Vice President?

KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Come on, Charlamagne --

CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: I really --

HARRIS: It's Joe Biden.

CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: I can't tell sometimes.

HARRIS: No, no, no. No, no, no, no. It's Joe Biden and don't start talking like a Republican about asking whether or not he is President.

CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Do you think Joe Manchin is a problem?

HARRIS: It is Joe Biden and I'm Vice President and my name is Kamala Harris.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATTERS: Did you notice how Kamala had to state that she was Vice President, almost like she needed to remind us. That's because Kamala Harris is an afterthought. She was an afterthought in the primaries when she was the first Democrat to drop out of the running. Nobody liked her then and we know with certainty nobody likes her now.

Her approval rating is less than 30 percent and her staffers can't quit fast enough.

So, this is the state of the country and the Democratic Party after Joe Biden's first year in office. It's a very chaotic Christmas and there is no leader to be found. One year down, three to go.

Victor Davis Hanson is a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. He joins us now.

All right, VDH, are we watching the machinery of the Democratic Party even Biden's team, the media warm the country up to getting used to Biden not being there, kind of already in the process of putting him out to pasture?

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON, SENIOR FELLOW, HOOVER INSTITUTION: Yes, it sure seems like it, Jesse. I think what they didn't realize is they thought they could run the country the way they ran a campaign with a virtual candidate in the basement and COVID would hide that, and then when he was elected, they thought well he'll be a virtual President like he was a virtual candidate.

But they're not the same -- a candidate and a President -- and now we're in the 11th month and everybody knows it. The question is, what are they going to do about it? Because they're in an existential dilemma because all of these issues that you talked about that are polling even lower than Biden himself about 38 to 39 percent, and there are only three or four of them that really people are you know really worried about and one is crime and now it's seeping into the upscale neighborhoods, Carmel by the sea, Nordstrom's in Walnut Creek. Today, in Hollywood.

And then there's the border and then there's this terrible inflation, the economy, and then there's COVID. And they were all stable or they were improving when Trump left office and Biden really unwisely said they're terrible and I'm going to change things and he didn't just leave them alone and adopt the former President's policies that were working, he rejected them.

But the problem they're having now is, it's not just Kamala Harris because they're thinking, my God, she is polling lower than both the issues and Biden. If she goes in and predictably acts as President as she has done as Vice President, we could really face Armageddon.

But the other issue is the people behind Biden that gave us these policies that are failing, they are responsible for it. Biden is just a totem.

And so if you get rid of Biden, you would have to get rid of all of the advisers that have come in from the Obama administration, the Elizabeth Warren's, the Bernie Sander's crew, the squad, and they're the ones that are responsible for this. Biden didn't think this up. He was just the vessel that got these people into power, and he is you know mouthing what they say.

But they're the puppeteers and they're not going to change, so there's a lot of guys in the Democratic women and men in the Democratic Party and they look around for alternatives and they said, well if he were to leave and resign, then we have the people still in power for whoever came in and their policies are failing.

If we bring Kamala Harris, that could be worse. She could wipe us out in the midterms and worse in 2024, so what are they doing, Jesse? They're doing three things. They're saying Donald Trump, Donald Trump, Donald Trump and then they're saying January 6, January 6, January 6, and now they've got a new meme and there is theme and that is, if we lose in 2022 or 2024, it's the end of democracy.

They even have military officers writing op-eds to that effect -- coup, end of democracy -- so they don't have any -- they don't have any policies, they have no ideas, and they're in a paradox. They don't know what to do.

We are the ones who are going to suffer. We don't know what to do.

WATTERS: He is a puppet and now, the puppet master, they're moving the strings and he's not working and the country sees it and they're saying look over here, look at Trump, look at January 6. They are trying to distract, but it's all breaking down.

Victor Davis Hanson, thank you so much for your insight.

HANSON: Yes. Absolutely. Thank you.

WATTERS: So if Biden's health prevents him from running in 2024 as Democrats are hoping, and if Kamala can't successfully run because nobody including Democratic voters actually like her, then who will run? Who will take the Democratic Party forward?

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has heard one rumored name.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH, FOX NEWS CHANNEL POLITICAL ANALYST: I fully expect Biden to not run again. I think the Democratic Party would be in a state of shock if he did. I think Kamala Harris is weaker than Biden, so the latest rumor I heard was that Hillary is going to run and I think that it would say a lot about the chaos of America if Hillary Clinton re-emerged one more time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATTERS: Poor Hillary, can't let it go.

Miranda Devine is a columnist for "The New York Post" and she joins us. Does the country deserve that, Miranda? Do we deserve a rematch of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump? Is this really a possibility?

MIRANDA DEVINE, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CONTRIBUTOR: Well, Jesse, I think it tells you more about the state of the Democratic Party than it does about poor America that they're even considering Hillary Clinton, that she isn't just being laughed out of school for popping her head up above the parapet, from so desperately and so obviously having her hand up and saying, "Pick me, pick me."

You know the masterclass, so-called that she gave the other day that people pay $20.00 a month to watch in which she read her undelivered victory speech and then cried at the end of it with no real tears, that was the number one -- that was her begging the American people and begging the Democratic Party to look at her as the alternative to Joe Biden, because after all, she is younger than him. She will only be 78 come 2024, so she'll be the same age you know that that he is now or a little bit younger.

And she is a year younger than Donald Trump and she is always telling us, she has been doing interviews repeatedly saying that Donald Trump is going to run again in 2024, that that is an existential threat to democracy. It is going to be a nightmare and really the subtext is that only Hillary Clinton who was so narrowly cheated of victory against Donald Trump in 2016, only she can save America, and that's her shtick.

She won't stop at -- she'll do it. I mean, she, until her last breath she wants to vindicate herself.

WATTERS: And you know if Hillary Clinton is going to get in, Trump is going to get in because he knows how to beat her. He has got her number. He did it before, he thinks he can do it again.

But if Trump is definitely running, then the Democrats are going to say Biden, you can't step down, you have to run. Hillary Clinton can't beat Donald Trump. You're the only one who beat Donald. You beat him before, you've got to do it again, just beat him and then resign a week later.

So you have like three big names circling each other, Bernie Sanders must be sitting there thinking like, oh my God. Do I have to get in?

DEVINE: Well, but spare a thought for the younger generation of Democrats. They don't have a chance because these people, you know, they are close to their eighties. Face it, they're octogenarians and they just are clinging on to power for all it's worth, will not give any oxygen to anybody who is younger.

It has left the Democratic Party with a dearth of leadership, you look at the Republican side, there is any number of people that could step up, but on the Democrats? Who is there that is actually palatable to the American people? And I don't think that Biden would beat Donald Trump again.

WATTERS: I don't either.

DEVINE: The polls are showing that's not true.

WATTERS: I agree.

DEVINE: And too many people see who he really is.

WATTERS: I totally agree. AOC is probably licking her chops at this setup.

DEVINE: Yes.

WATTERS: And that talk about unpalatable. We're in for a five-car pileup in 2024.

Miranda Devine, thank you so much.

DEVINE: Thanks, Jesse.

WATTERS: "The Washington Post" is trying to console vaccinated Americans who quote "followed the rules, but are now getting COVID." That's straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WATTERS: "The Washington Post" is trying to console vaccinated Americans who are now getting COVID. Here's the headline quote: "Thousands who followed the rules are about to get COVID. They shouldn't be ashamed."

One boosted person told the paper quote, "It's eye-opening that I feel so much shame from it. I'm realizing how much judgment I was secretly harboring against people who got it before."

It's been obvious that even vaccinated Americans can get COVID, so how will this pandemic ever end?

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya is a Professor at Stanford University and he says he's got a plan for that. Before we get to the plan which I'm dying to hear, why do you think there is much stigma attached to getting COVID for people on the left side of the political spectrum.

DR. JAY BHATTACHARYA, PROFESSOR, STANFORD UNIVERSITY: Well, I think public health has spent the better part of two years creating this illusion of control over the course of this virus.

Dr. Tony Fauci himself has every time there is an uprise in cases especially in the south, he will castigate the governors of those states for doing the wrong thing, and so it's no wonder that people feel that when they get COVID that they've somehow failed, but you know, they haven't failed.

This is a respiratory virus that's very contagious and it's not surprising that you catch it. We have no technology to stop the spread of it. I feel really bad actually for the people listed in that "Washington Post" story, it's not their fault they feel the sense of shame. This was brought on them by public health and Tony Fauci.

WATTERS: Yes, when people in the south get it -- it's, you know those ignorant hicks, but when people in the northeast get it, you know guys, don't worry it's okay, it's not your fault. It's very clear what's going on there.

All right, so explain to us the strategy because we're going to be living with COVID for quite some time, it looks like. What is the deal?

BHATTACHARYA: Well, it's very clear at this point that COVID is here to stay. As I said, we have no technology to stop it, it spreads in animals, 80 percent of white-tailed deer in the United States apparently have COVID antibodies, so the idea that COVID is here to stay although to some might be something scary actually we should actually take heart, because we've made a lot of progress in managing COVID in developing technologies that can help us deal with the fact that it's here to stay.

It's seasonal, it happens in some states earlier, in some states, a little bit later, but very typical seasonal -- it seems like a very typical seasonal pattern. Every year it'll come back and people should know that it's likely that they will face COVID at some point.

So given that, what do we have to address this virus? Well, one we have the vaccine. The vaccine while it does not stop disease spread, it's actually quite good against severe disease. If you get it, take the vaccine after -- you know, it basically protects you to a very large extent against going to the hospital, and undying if you're going to get sick. I think -- so that's why I very strongly recommend the vaccine especially for vulnerable people.

Second, we have good treatments that have been coming online. We've had monoclonal antibodies for the better part of a year now, more than a year, likely saved Donald Trump's life when he got them in in October of 2020, and we have these new Pfizer pills.

We have evidence that there are some cheap drugs like I just saw a fantastic study of fluvoxamine which is a cheap drug that seems to be effective against again if you get disease preventing severe disease and severe outcomes.

We have rapid antigen tests, if we just were to invest in them enough so that if you -- you know, you're going to go visit grandma, you're not sure if you have it, grandma getting it is much worse than me or my kids getting it because older people have such a higher likelihood of bad outcomes from this disease, so I can just check myself before I go -- if I'm positive, I'll visit grandma later.

So I think these kinds of technologies help people manage the risk and reduce the fear.

WATTERS: Right.

BHATTACHARYA: And in the long run, what will happen is -- oh sorry, go ahead.

WATTERS: No, I mean I was just going to say, so you're loaded with pills, with vaccines, with all sorts of new developments as you've mentioned, the therapeutics, and the tests. Isolate the elderly and the sick if you're worried about it, but the rest of the show can go on.

BHATTACHARYA: Yes, and I think you know, obviously the isolation is a voluntary thing, but like if someone is older and at higher risk, the vaccine still protects them, but they may during times of peak transition back off from you know sort of connecting with lots of people, but I mean, I think that's just sensible what you do even before COVID.

WATTERS: All right, so sensible -- a sensible idea, an idea with hope and positivity and based on reality and science actually, something we haven't heard from this administration.

Thank you so much, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya.

BHATTACHARYA: Thank you.

WATTERS: We appreciate it.

The City of Chicago is out of control. Crimes are record highs and even politicians now are getting robbed. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WATTERS: Murders are at record highs across the country, but one city stands above the rest. According to data through the month of November, Chicago had 753 homicides, the most in the nation. Last year, that city's mayor, Lori Lightfoot proposed an $80 million budget cut to defund the police. But now, all of a sudden, she has changed her tune. She wants the Federal government to get involved.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR LORI LIGHTFOOT (D), CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: I have formally asked the Attorney General of the United States, Merrick Garland to -- with all delivered haste detail A.T.F. agents to Chicago for six months so that we can increase the number of gun investigations and seizures in Chicago.

I've also asked to send additional Federal Marshals to Chicago to assist the Sheriff and the CPD to find and bring to justice the thousands of individuals wanted on warrants.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATTERS: So now that Biden is President, Lori Lightfoot is suddenly okay with assistance from the Federal law enforcement people, but when President Trump offered the exact same assistance last year, here is how Lori Lightfoot responded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIGHTFOOT: We'll not allow Federal troops in our city. We can't just allow anyone to come into Chicago, play police in our streets, in our neighborhoods when they don't know the first thing about our city. That's a recipe for disaster.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATTERS: Crime is so bad in Chicago that it is even trickling into the suburbs. In Broadview, Illinois which is just 20 minutes outside of Chicago, Illinois Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford was just carjacked at gunpoint.

Lightford said she is happy to be alive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): Broadview residents shaken, but not in disbelief. The latest carjacking victim, Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I heard about 15 gunshots.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): Here is surveillance video of the thieves leaving the area. Broadview Police say three masked individuals hijacked Lightford's Mercedes SUV around 9:45 Tuesday night. Her husband was driving at the time. The two were dropping off a friend here along 20th Avenue.

Sam Douglas says that friend was about to style his wife's hair inside their home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATTERS: Lori Lightfoot isn't doing anything to stop the madness. She is too busy telling us if we can take a bite out of our muffins without spreading COVID.

Raymond Lopez is a Chicago City Alderman and he joins me now. So Raymond, she is basically willing to sacrifice the lives of her own constituents last year just so she could look tough against that mean, mean man, Donald Trump.

What a scoundrel. Is she seen as a scoundrel in Chicago by most people?

RAYMOND LOPEZ (D), CHICAGO CITY ALDERMAN: Well, Jesse, first off Merry Christmas, and yes most Chicagoans do not find it the least bit -- find it very much hypocritical that the Mayor, 15 months ago told Donald Trump to get the hell out of Chicago with his assistance and basically play politics with people's lives.

And here we are in 2021, over 812 people murdered by gun violence in the City of Chicago. That number continues to rise. We've seen more children impacted by gun violence than by COVID and now, she is doing the great pivot, the great about face and saying now that President Joe Biden is here, she'll take the help.

What about all those thousands of people whose lives have been impacted by gun violence or the lives that were lost last year when she could have had help from the Federal government, won't talk about it, won't apologize for it and just wishes to sweep it under the rug as though it never happened.

WATTERS: Are you saying more children in Chicago have died from bullets than have died from COVID-19?

LOPEZ: More children have been victimized by gun violence in the City of Chicago than have been killed by COVID in the entire State of Illinois in the last year.

WATTERS: The entire State of Illinois. It's astounding.

LOPEZ: And yet we still talk more about COVID than we do gun violence.

WATTERS: Absolutely. Why not? It distracts from all the bloodshed.

LOPEZ: Have you heard anything from Barack Obama? Does he ever talk about the surge in homicides? I mean, it is this guy's hometown. I mean, I know he lives in the Vineyard and in Hawaii now, but do you ever hear him implore the leaders of his hometown to do something about the violence?

LOPEZ: You know, even as President Obama works on building his Obama Center in Woodlawn and as many of our city officials are joining the Biden administration, the fact that we have one of the most perceived violent cities in America seems to be lost on all of them, and every day residents throughout the City of Chicago are struggling.

They feel that they are quite literally under the gun every time they step out of their homes whether it is to take their kids to school whether it's to go to work or whether it's just to take a walk around the block.

Children, working parents, and even our seniors are all a threat of being victimized every day in this city with no one wanting to take responsibility for it or to propose real solutions other than blaming someone else as we heard from Lori Lightfoot this week.

And what we're seeing right now is that the pendulum that many Democratic politicians and I will say as a Democrat, I find it disgusting that we're at this point, but they've pushed the pendulum so far to the left when it comes to criminal justice reform that we now favor criminals over victims and that even as the politicians are becoming victims themselves, I'm more than certain they will never accept responsibility for the seeds that they've sown to bring us to this point.

WATTERS: Even after getting carjacked at gunpoint, they are still not going to change their position. It's unbelievable, but at this point it's not surprising. Thank you so much, Alderman Raymond Lopez.

LOPEZ: Thank You, Jesse.

WATTERS: New York is now treating fake vax cards worse than violent crime. FOX's Matt Finn has that story -- Matt.

MATT FINN, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT: Jesse, using a fake vaccine card in the State of New York can now land you in prison for up to a year. New York's Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul signed what's being called the Truth in Vaccination Law. It makes faking a vaccine card a Class A misdemeanor, punishable with up to a year in jail, and tampering with computer records related to vaccine cards is now a felony punishable with up to four years in prison.

New York currently requires a vaccine card for both employees and customers at indoor restaurants, gyms, and theaters. The Governor says lying about vaccinations jeopardizes people's own health and all those they come in contact with.

Now, the latest numbers tonight from the State of New York show 69 percent of all New Yorkers have completed vaccine series. There were 38,835 new COVID cases confirmed today. The Governor says hospitalizations are increasing, but are stable compared to this time last year. Out of those 38,000 new COVID cases statewide, 474 patients are in the ICU with intubation and 63 new deaths were confirmed.

Earlier this month, a 53-year-old nurse was indicted by a South Carolina grand jury for producing fake vaccine cards. She faces up to 15 years in prison -- Jesse.

WATTERS: Matt Finn, thank you.

Yes, torch a FOX News Christmas tree, you're out the next day walking around, but don't you dare doctor a vax card, they'll throw away the key. It's crazy.

An educator who spoke out against critical race theory on this show is now facing calls for his firing and he joins us next to tell us the latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WATTERS: An Indiana educator named Tony Kinnett recently came on the show to speak out against critical race theory in his School District. He exposed the fact that counter to what officials were telling parents, racist CRT was in fact being taught to kids.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY KINNETT, EDUCATOR: We can officially tell parents we're not teaching critical race theory, it's not in the Indiana academic standards, but all of a sudden, the classroom door shuts and the teacher starts teaching through a lens of this race essentialism that pits students against each other based on their color.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATTERS: First saying that and for telling the truth, Tony Kinnett may lose his job. He has been recommended for firing following a suspension and investigation. He joins us now.

Did they give you a legitimate reason? Did they say, you know, you went on FOX and you said this or did they cook up some BS infractions and used that to justify this firing?

KINNETT: Well, you had to use the word "legitimate," didn't you? They cobbled together quite a few charges that really had nothing to do with my accusations of critical race theory, at least at the surface. Of course there are different charges saying that I had used the Indianapolis public files for my own personal gain, that I had misquoted district officials, which of course isn't true, and realistically in the meetings though, they whined about my appearing on TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT several times in every single meeting whether it was H.R., whether my supervisor yelling at me about it.

Everyone was horrified that I would share publicly available e-mails on FOX News.

WATTERS: So this was publicly available information, part of the curriculum. You shared it to the public. It seems like they're ashamed or they are embarrassed because you exposed the fact that they are teaching unpopular and subversive material to school children. Is that how you assess it?

KINNETT: Absolutely. I mean, we invited the Indi Black Lives Matter activists to come speak to a required audience of middle schoolers in which they told the students that -- and I quote: "Crime does not exist. It is made up." And that was required for middle school students during the day.

Our curriculum office had no idea about it, but suddenly when we tell the public that this stuff is going on, it is embarrassment and it doesn't matter whether it was publicly available information, it's irrelevant and people didn't sign up to have their e-mails and their files on in front of the public and of course, that's not true.

WATTERS: So the Superintendent who wants to nail your hide to the wall, Dr. Alicia Johnson, she wants you fired. She says she is going to fire you. Does she have any support in in the community?

I would assume that you would have the support of parents, teachers. Is she just doing this on a whim because she doesn't like you and she wants to keep the fact that she's poisoning children's brains secret?

KINNETT: Well, there's really been a concerted effort in Indianapolis Public Schools to cover up the actions of Dr. Patricia Payne who is the Director of Racial Equity. She runs the Racial Equity Office in the district and realistically, the entire upper administration has been horrified that I have been sharing these publicly available documents with the public.

As far as support, we've been blessed to receive a lot of parental support in the community, a lot of teachers from inside Indianapolis and some principals have reached out and expressed their support, they don't like what's going on inside Indianapolis either, and realistically the ratio of support to criticism has been immensely positive and we're very thankful for that.

WATTERS: And do you have a good lawyer?

KINNETT: Yes, I have an excellent legal team. Negangard has been phenomenal in making sure that I received legal support even when Indianapolis banned me from having an attorney, we actually had to fight for 20 minutes in an H.R. meeting so that I could get the same representation rights that everyone else has, it was an embarrassment.

WATTERS: Wow, I mean if we've learned one thing throughout this pandemic is that school administrators, some of them, not all of them, but some of them could possibly be some of the worst people. We didn't know that before, but it's becoming more clearer.

Tony Kinnett, good luck. You're going to need it. Thanks for coming on the show.

KINNETT: Thank you. Merry Christmas.

WATTERS: Merry Christmas.

So hospitals are so overwhelmed that somehow nurses were able to sing and dance for their dear leader, Joe Biden today at the White House. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WATTERS: This is a FOX News Alert. We now go to Washington, D.C. for a live look at Joe and Jill Biden's Christmas celebrations at the White House.

[VIDEO CLIP PLAYS]

WATTERS: Sorry about that. That was the wrong tape, but you can see how the mix-up may have happened.

[VIDEO CLIP PLAYS]

WATTERS: Those nurses you just saw work for a New York healthcare provider called Northwell Health. Northwell recently fired 1,400 unvaxxed employees at a time when the media keeps telling us the hospitals are overcrowded.

Aaron Kheriaty is a Professor of Psychiatry, he joins us now. That was hard to watch considering this omicron surge is overwhelming the hospitals, but there's enough time to have the nurses come sing and dance for maskless Jill. Your reaction?

AARON KHERIATY, PROFESSOR OF PSYCHIATRY: So I'm glad that our political leaders want to honor nurses at this time, they've been through a lot in the last two years, but I also found this hard to watch and I know the nurses from my own institution who have likewise been fired would be really disgusted by this number.

It was very tone deaf. I mean you've got a kind of Rodgers and Hammerstein corny musical theater in scrubs escapade here that is light years removed from the realities on the ground, not only the nurses being unjustly fired for choosing to exercise their right of informed consent and the right of informed refusal for medical interventions, but even the nurses who didn't get fired and are still working, they have been dealing with harsh realities on the ground for two years now, long periods of time where they were caring for dying patients, where families were not able to visit and they were trying to console those people.

Now, we're approaching Christmas and there's probably very good ways to honor nurses with the upcoming Holidays, plenty of beautiful Christmas songs that that convey some gravitas, some sense of hope and peace certainly, but without the cheesy sort of corny vibe that this this whole show tune number conveyed.

So, I agree with you. I think it strikes the wrong cord. I think the fact that they brought these nurses over from one of these large institutions that has taken these harsh measures against their own employees who worked to the themselves to the bone during the pandemic, sacrificed themselves for the sake of their patients and now are facing a Merry Christmas, you just lost your job sort of moment.

It sort of adds insult to injury.

WATTERS: It does. You're fired because you've chosen to exercise your medical liberty, but you good little boys and girls, we're going to fly you to the White House so you can put on a show for the First Lady. It trivializes the actual great work that the nurses do and they do great work and they're working around the clock and we're very, very grateful for that.

But to make them get up there and perform like that? Like they're -- I mean, I'm not going to characterize other professions that might perform like that, but nurses don't deserve that type of event, I think -- I think is the most appropriate way to say it.

Would you not agree? Maybe they loved it, maybe they were honored by it, but watching it, something was off and I think everybody agrees.

KHERIATY: I think so. I think for the viewers at least, there could have been much more meaningful ways for our political leaders to honor the work that nurses and other healthcare professionals have done during the pandemic to recognize the fact that many of us are exhausted and if not to directly recognize it, since it was a result of their policy to at least have the background awareness that many of them are facing the loss of their job.

WATTERS: Yes, I mean it's not The Rockettes time at the White House.

All right, Professor, thank you.

KHERIATY Yes.

WATTERS: That's about it for us tonight and of course, tune in each night at eight to the show that is the sworn enemy of lying, pomposity, smugness, and groupthink.

It's Tammy time over on "HANNITY." Tammy Bruce.

TAMMY BRUCE, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CONTRIBUTOR: Thank you.

WATTERS: Take it away.

BRUCE: Yes you know the only person missing in that White House with those dancing nurses was Mr. George Orwell because that would -- none of us understand it, but there's a lot we don't understand.

Jesse, great job. Thank you, sir. I appreciate it.

WATTERS: Thank you, Tammy. Merry Christmas.

BRUCE: Merry Christmas to you and yours.


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