Off The Cuff Declassified - John Cardillo - May 30⧸2018
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
177.18123
Summary
Roseanne cancels the Roseanne show after she tweets something highly offensive about former Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett. The Deep State is amping up its efforts to go after President Trump. I ll tell you all about it with Javier Menares.
Transcript
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Today on Off the Cuff Declassified, ABC cancels the Roseanne show after Roseanne Barr tweets
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something highly offensive about Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett. The deep state is amping up
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its efforts to go after President Trump. I'll tell you all about it. South Florida political
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reporter and congressional candidate Javier Menares joins me to discuss the latest protest
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by David Hogg and the far left Parkland kids. I'm going to tell you about a case in which I think
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President Trump should intervene and commute a federal prison sentence.
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ABC cancels Roseanne Barr's show, the Roseanne show. Incredibly, incredibly highly watched.
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Something like 29 million viewers for the premiere because of an offensive tweet Barr leveled at
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former Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett. Now I found the tweet vile. I found the tweet reprehensible.
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But did the punishment fit the crime? Now what Barr tweeted on Twitter, the tweet has now been
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deleted, is she tweeted, quote, Muslim Brotherhood and Planet of the Apes had a baby equals VJ
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Valerie Jarrett. Look, a lot of people, now Barr is claiming, I'm going to tell you what she's
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claiming. She's claiming on Twitter that she did not know that Valerie Jarrett was black.
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She thought she was white Iranian. And many people think that. Valerie Jarrett is in fact
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black. She's just light skinned. She's from Chicago. Her parents worked in Iran. Her dad was
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an executive and working with the diplomatic corps for some years over in Iran. There are plenty of
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ways to attack Valerie Jarrett. There are plenty of ways to attack the left. Race should always be
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left out of it. Valerie Jarrett has ties to Louis Farrakhan. She has ties to Linda Sarsour,
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to the Muslim Brotherhood, to some very, very bad actors. And Roseanne and conservatives in general
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would be far better served dispensing with the stupidity, the racist undertones, and attacking
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on the merits. The Democrats give us such solid ammunition and we waste it. We throw it away.
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But to this story. So Barr is now apologizing. Now, I don't know Roseanne well, but we know each
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other. We interface on social media. She's a conservative celebrity. I've been on conference
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calls with her. I've spoken with other groups of conservatives in the media industry on those
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calls. She's been present. So we're not friends. We know each other. We know of one another. I don't
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find Roseanne to be a racist. I don't find Roseanne to be a bad person. I was highly offended many years
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back when she gave that terribly disrespectful rendition of the national anthem. And she's
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reinvented herself as a conservative in Hollywood. And I'll admit, maybe it's hypocritical. I'm willing
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to forgive some past transgressions because we need to win the culture war. And when we have
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megastars like Roseanne with these cult followings through the decades, and they're finally on the right,
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they've left the left. They're on the right. We need to embrace them. We really, really need to
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embrace them. We need it. So it's highly disappointing for me that Roseanne did this.
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But does the punishment fit the crime? But we're going to get into that. We're going to get into
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that with people like Joy Reid and Keith Olbermann and Jameli Hill from ESPN. Things they've said,
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things they've done, rappers and their lyrics, how highly racist and misogynistic and sexual and calling
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for rape and murder and using the N-word indiscriminately. We're going to get into
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the double standard. But first, let's talk about ABC's response. ABC immediately moved to cancel
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Roseanne. Now, I don't believe it was over one tweet. I think that ABC Disney has put ideology
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over profits. I believe that when Roseanne became too conservative, constantly siding with President
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Trump on Twitter and Facebook, the subject matter of her show, clearly her character anyway,
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pro-Trump, pro-conservatives, pro-conservative economic message, the powers that be at ABC,
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the liberals in Hollywood, were aghast. And they needed to rein that in. And I truly believe,
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even if it's subconsciously, they needed a reason to get rid of Roseanne despite 29 million
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premier viewers and consistently high ratings each episode. Now, Roseanne did an immediate
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mea culpa and she apologized. And she said, she didn't give it much thought. I was reading one
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of her tweets just a little bit before the show today. She said, I really genuinely thought Valerie
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Jarrett was white. I believe that. Roseanne wrote, I apologize. I am now leaving Twitter.
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But she came back on and I and many others said, do not leave Twitter. You made a mistake.
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She said in a series of late night tweets, she was blaming Ambien, the prescription sleeping pill
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Ambien. And she also criticized ABC for what she says is network hypocrisy. And I'm reading
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from a Fox News article, but these are Roseanne's verbatim tweets. She said, quote, guys, I did something
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unforgivable. So do not defend me. It was two in the morning and I was Ambien tweeting. It was Memorial
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Day too. I went too far and do not want to defend it. It was egregious and indefensible. I made a mistake.
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I wish I hadn't, but don't defend it, please. Thank you. No, I agree with that. I agree with
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Roseanne tweeting that. I will also tell you this. There was a time when I had trouble sleeping.
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My doctor prescribed me Ambien and it was one prescription. And I asked my doctor to never
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give me Ambien again because Ambien, I hallucinated like it was bizarre and unsettling on Ambien.
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So do I believe that if she took an Ambien, it was possible she did this? I do. And did it
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inadvertently? I do. But do I also agree that it was indefensible and Roseanne's a grown woman,
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very wealthy, very intelligent. I agree with that as well, but I don't think should have been fired.
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Now, the rebooted episode, it says the episode attracted more than 18 million viewers.
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The Drudge Report actually reported worldwide 29 million. Let's go with the low estimate of 18
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million. Those are still earth shattering ratings. I mean, it is just earth shattering. She then
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tweeted, I think Joe Rogan is right about Ambien, Joe Rogan, the comedian, the MMA guy, and especially
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on Netflix. I think Joe Rogan is right about Ambien, not giving excuses for what I did, parentheses,
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tweeted. But I've done weird stuff while on Ambien, cracked eggs on the wall at 2 a.m.
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I will tell you a quick story. I took an Ambien in 2003. I remember this vividly. We're talking 15
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years ago. Had that much wine before bed. And I woke up and I was at a friend's home up in the
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mountains. It was a nice home, but they had some deer heads on the wall. And I vividly remember those
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deer heads talking to me. That is how much Ambien messed me up. I never wanted Ambien again after that.
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It was it is a very, very strong sleeping pill. And she doubled down, appearing to blame Ambien
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again. She then said, don't feel sorry for me, guys. This is Roseanne tweeting. I just want to
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apologize to the hundreds of people and wonderful writers, all liberals and talented actors who lost
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their jobs on my show due to my stupid tweet. I'll be on Joe Rogan's podcast Friday. Now, Viacom then
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went a step further and pulled all of the old Roseanne shows. Roseanne also issued a statement
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and her statement was as follows. I deeply regret my comments from late last night on Twitter. Above
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all, I want to apologize to Valerie Jarrett, as well as to ABC and the cast and crew of the Roseanne
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show. I am sorry for making a thoughtless joke that does not reflect my values. I love all people
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and I'm very sorry. Today, my words caused hundreds of hardworking people to lose their jobs. I also
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sincerely apologize to the audience that has embraced my work for decades. I apologize from the bottom
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of my heart and hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive me. Now, what Valerie Jarrett
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could have done was immediately said to ABC, do not fire her. I laughed it off, too. We're all political
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figures. We punch each other because the left has been vicious to the right. ABC could have spanked
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Roseanne on the wrist, suspended the show for two weeks. Now, obviously, the show was taped.
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It's all been filmed, but the optics of it, Roseanne's going to be off the air for a month or two weeks.
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Roseanne could have issued a series of apologies during that month or two weeks. She could have gone to
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diversity training and sensitivity training and held a workshop. The whole thing would have blown over.
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Hundreds of people would have retained their jobs. I don't believe ABC wanted Roseanne on the air
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any longer because she was a conservative. Now, the bigger problem is, the bigger problem is
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the double standard. Let's talk about ABC. Jack Murphy on Twitter, at Real Jack, tweeted,
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good tweet, Kimmel mocked Melania Trump's accent, Jimmy Kimmel, true. Joy Behar on The View called
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Vice President Mike Pence mentally ill for having a strong Christian faith. Bill Maher makes racist
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comments left, right, and center. Keith Olbermann has used effing this and effing that and called
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the president and all of his supporters effing Nazis. Nick Short, our good friend Nick Short,
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a really good political and national security reporter, did an incredible graphic.
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And it's, I've retweeted it on my Twitter page, at John Cardell, my Twitter timeline,
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at John Cardell on numerous times, where he took headlines of all of the times Keith Olbermann has
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gone on unhinged rants and used pejoratives. Kimela Hill over at ESPN went on racist rants.
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She called the president of the United States a white supremacist. Joy Reid over at MSNBC has a history
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of blogging, homophobic, anti-Hispanic, anti-Latino, anti-Semitic content. It's all been
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uncovered. Joy Reid still has a job. Jimmy Kimmel still has a job. Bill Maher still has a job.
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Joy Behar still has a job. Keith Olbermann is hired by ESPN, a subsidiary of ABC Disney,
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the same week Roseanne is fired for one tweet. Kimmel, Bahar, Olbermann, Jamela Hill, ESPN,
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Joy Reid, MSNBC, all of them, a history, comment upon comment upon comment, tweet upon tweet,
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blog post upon blog post, Facebook post upon Facebook post, racist, vile, insulting.
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They all have jobs. They faced no problems. Roseanne, one tweet, one tweet, her show is
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canceled. Hundreds of people are fired. Again, not excusing the tweet, not excusing it. The tweet
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was vile, but her apologies are sufficient. Now, Valerie Jarrett said, make Roseanne's racism,
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make Roseanne's racism controversy, a teaching moment. And Jarrett coincidentally was slated to
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appear on, it was a pre-taped MSNBC town hall. He said, quote, I think we have to turn it into a
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teaching moment. I'm fine. I'm worried about all the people out there. I don't have a circle of
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friends and followers who come right to their defense. Ah, Jarrett should have been a little
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more stand up than that. Now, Disney is suffering. Solo, their film about Han Solo, did very poorly
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at the box office. And with this cancellation of Roseanne, Disney shares, ABC Disney, obviously the
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parent company of ABC networks that aired Roseanne, their shares dropped 2.4% on this news. This is
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indicative of a much larger issue though. And like I said earlier, I believe, I truly believe
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they're putting their political agenda over their profits. I don't believe they care about
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profits. They needed to silence Roseanne. Now, we've seen some archived blog posts of Joy Reid
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over the years. Let me read you a couple of things Joy Reid has written on her blog, The Reid Report.
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Quote, you believe the Jews were oppressed. Why should the Palestinian Muslims have to pay the price?
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You oppressed them. This is her siding with former Iranian leader, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a guy that
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called for a second Holocaust. You oppressed them. So give a part of Europe to the Zionist regime so
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they can establish a government. We would support it. That's Joy Reid. We also accused Wolf Blitzer,
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CNN's Wolf Blitzer, of being too Zionist, of being too friendly to the Jewish people.
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She also attacked Mexicans. She attacked homosexuals. And then Joy Reid wrote on Monday,
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April 4th, 2005, it's good to be a celebrity because you can be really, really disgusting
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and still have a shot at keeping your job. And that was on Reid blog, the Reid Report blog,
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her blog. He also defended Mike Tyson after he was accused of rape. So she's, she's, she's been
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vile, vile. Now, here's another blog post in which she attacks Jews and Latinos. It's just that there
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is a tremendous taboo in the United States about saying anything even remotely negative about Israel
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or about implying dual loyalty when it comes to a Jewish American. It would simply isn't done
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because it would expose the speaker to charges of anti-Semitism. Latinos have not gotten to the
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place yet where they are essentially immunized from overt criticism. But keep in mind that those
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who criticize the waving, blah, blah, blah. And she goes on and basically saying that Latinos are now
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becoming such a large part of the population that we'll soon be able to criticize them as well.
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Joy Reid has a history of things far worse than Roseanne. Joy Reid has consistently been given a pass.
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She's been given a pass. She even lied and said it wasn't my blog. And then people pulled the
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web archives and they proved that it was her blog. And then forensic analysis said, no, nobody went in
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and changed anything. It was your blog. You wrote it. And then her lame excuse was, oh, maybe I did.
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I don't remember writing it. Yeah. But you know what? A liberal is an African-American liberal. So she gets a
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pass. He gets a pass. Roseanne, though, is excoriated, shamed off air and hundreds, hundreds of people
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worked on our show are fired. There is a glaring, a glaring double standard. Now, like I said earlier,
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it was very stupid of Roseanne. The racist connotation was clearly there. And there were so
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many things on which to attack Valerie Jarrett. Valerie Jarrett is a terrible woman. She hates
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the United States. Attack Valerie Jarrett on her long ties via the Chicago Democratic machine
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to be a vile racist Louis Farrakhan, a terrorist. Attack Valerie Jarrett for holding a woman's breakfast
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to which every year she invites Linda Sarsour, another radical Muslim, to which she invites black
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activists who support cop killers. There are so many things on which you can attack Valerie Jarrett
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legitimately. Not on her looks. Not on her race. That's stupid. It's stupid. It's inappropriate.
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It makes us look bad. We on the right lose when we get into the gutter like that. What we do is we
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prove all of the false allegations the left levels at us. We want to prove them because they're false.
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But we validate them. And we shouldn't. We're not racist on the right. The right is probably
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the most open-minded movement on the planet. We want everybody to do well.
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Nothing would make me happier as a conservative than everyone of every race succeeding. Because
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if everyone of every race succeeded, we'd have more money in our economy. Our GDP would be 34 trillion,
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not 17 trillion. No one in the world could touch us. I would love to see every African American in this
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nation making well over the median national income. I would love to see graduation rates for black
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Americans at a hundred percent from high school and college. Who wouldn't? I would like to see that
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for every race. It only makes our nation stronger. Crime would be reduced. Poverty would be eradicated.
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Little kids wouldn't go to sleep hungry. They wouldn't be dying of diseases because they can't
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throw no adequate health care. They can't get to the doctor. Their parents would know better.
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They'd be able to support them. That's of every race, of every race. Liberals don't want that.
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Liberals want to keep people of color on the public dole. They want them to have as little as possible.
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As little as possible to barely scrape by, but really not. They want to also have them dependent
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on government to give them that handout, give them that handout, eat them just enough,
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make their kids hungry then, and make them beg for that handout again and give it to them.
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Liberalism is a sinister philosophy, a sinister philosophy. Couldn't have Roseanne out there
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preaching conservatism. You couldn't have Roseanne portraying a working class family,
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not a wealthy family, a working class family that supports conservatism. You can't have that.
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And that's what I believe in the end the cancellation of her show was really about.
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The public shaming of her was really about. It wasn't about one stupid tweet to which there
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were a million different ways to punish her and have her do a mea culpa that the audience would
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have been fined with, forgotten about in three days. No, no, no. This was all about
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a grand-scale attempt to shame and silence conservatives.
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The left is salivating with their stupid cries of obstruction of justice again, but even worse,
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it appears that Donald Trump was right when he said that Mueller and his 13 angry Democrats
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are going to meddle in the midterms and the 2020 presidential election, because we now see
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what's being touted as a scoop by Michael Schmidt of the New York Times and Julie Hirschfeld Davis of
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the New York Times. Title is Trump asked Sessions to retain control of Russia inquiry after his
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Sessions recusal. And this is somehow indicative that Jeff Sessions, a major witness in the probe of
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of obstruction of justice against Donald Trump. Let me read this.
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Washington, by the time Attorney General Jeff Sessions arrived at President Trump's Mar-a-Lago
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resort for dinner one Saturday evening in March 2017, he had been receiving the presidential
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silent treatment for two days. Mr. Sessions had flown to Florida because Mr. Trump was refusing to
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take his calls about a pressing decision on his travel ban. When they met, Mr. Trump was ready to
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talk. Not about the travel ban. His grievance was with Mr. Sessions. The president objected to his
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decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation. Mr. Trump, who had told aides
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that he needed a loyalist overseeing the inquiry, berated Mr. Sessions and told him he should reverse
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his decision. An unusual and potentially inappropriate request, Mr. Sessions refused. Now, A, I don't believe
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any of this. But B, there is nothing remotely improper or illegal about a president having a
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dinner with his attorney general and saying, I'd like you to recuse. I'd like you to unrecuse.
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And the attorney general saying, I can't do that. And the president saying, OK. Not like he said,
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I'm ordering you. I'm firing you. Hey, Jeff, what do you think about unrecusing yourself? I really want
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to oversee this thing. I'm sorry, Mr. President. I can't do it. The rules say I have to stay recused.
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All right. I'm disappointed. But that's what it is. That is not obstruction of justice. That is not
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remotely improper. That is not remotely illegal. The bigger problem here, the real story here is that
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Mueller's team is leaking to the New York Times. That's what's unprecedented. Now, how do we know that
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Mueller's leaking? Well, from the New York Times, the confrontation, which has not previously been
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reported, is being investigated by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, as are the
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president's public and private attacks on Mr. Sessions and efforts to get him to resign.
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Mr. Trump dwelled on the recusal for months, according to confidants and current and former
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administration officials who described his behavior toward the attorney general, probably writes
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Priebus's crew leaking this. And some of Mueller's people, this is, again, proof that Donald Trump
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should never have brought deep state RNC loyalists establishment hacks into the White House. But again,
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this is not Robert Mueller's mandate. There is nothing illegal about Donald Trump mulling
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or dwelling on something for months. We don't have thought police in this nation.
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That's something you see in Saudi Arabia, the Sharia police. We don't have thought police. We don't
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penalize a sitting United States president because he dwelled on something.
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This is ridiculous. Now, Giuliani, Rudy Giuliani said that if Mr. Trump agreed to answer the special
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counsel's question, an interview is the subject of continuing negotiations, he should not be forced
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to discuss his private deliberations with senior admin officials, including the attorney general.
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It would set a bad precedent for future presidents. There's executive privilege,
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something Barack Obama and Eric Holder invoked without problem during the Fast and Furious scandal.
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The attorney general, Jeff Sessions, was interviewed at length by Mueller's investigators in January,
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which in and of itself is disgraceful. Now, Giuliani is saying the story in the Washington Post
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today where Giuliani is saying he will not. Let me read you that. He will not.
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Let me find this story for you, because he's saying that he will not speak to Mueller unless he has
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all all of the Spygate testimony. The Giuliani Giuliani is saying here's the Washington Post story.
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I found it. Giuliani says Trump won't sit for Mueller interview unless all FBI source documents
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to be reviewed. And I think that is is highly necessary.
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Because I don't trust these FBI spies. So the FBI and Mueller are going to use a spy in the campaign
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who could make something up. They're going to ask Trump a question and then they're going to say,
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we believe our spy, not Trump. Trump lied. Trump would have to be insane to sit with Mueller without
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knowing what the Spygate documents say. He would have to be insane. And Giuliani is 100 percent right.
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And Giuliani says about interviewing Trump that Mueller's interview with Trump would be a final step.
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They reserve the possibility they might have to interview a few people as a follow up, but they said
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they had pretty much finished. This was four weeks ago. Giuliani said, quote, I don't think they would
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have asked to interview him unless they are pretty much finished with everything. And they're only
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going to get one shot at him. They know that you look pretty amateurish if you interview him and you
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don't have all the facts gathered. This is. This is just a an absolute travesty, what we're seeing
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go on here with Mueller. Now, another guy that I've complained about that you all know I don't like
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is Trey Gowdy. I think Trey Gowdy is an establishment hack. I think he's McCain's
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puppet. I've never trusted Trey Gowdy. I've never been one of those people. Oh,
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they're going in to be questioned by Trey Gowdy. Watch out. You don't want to be questioned by Trey
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Gowdy. Yes, you do. Trey Gowdy's an establishment guy. Trey Gowdy gets up there and he screams and
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yells and he hems and haws and Hillary smirks. Do you know why? Because he's like this with McCain
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and Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio. He ran cover for Hillary in the Benghazi hearings. That's what
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nobody realized. Trey Gowdy ran cover. Now Trey Gowdy is out there bucking for a network job.
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The FBI was right to deploy an informant into the Trump campaign. Trey Gowdy says this from
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a political story. He said, quote, I'm even more convinced that the FBI did exactly what my fellow
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citizens would want them to do when they got the information they got. No, Trey. No,
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we didn't want that. Gowdy has been great at dog and pony shows. Gowdy has been great at getting up
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there and screaming and yelling and delivering zero results. People call him a chihuahua,
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all bark and no bite because I've known a couple of little nippy chihuahuas. So I wouldn't even give
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him that, but it's true. He's all bark. He's no bite. He runs cover for the establishment. Every
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single chance he gets, he runs cover for the establishment. Every chance he gets.
00:26:02.480
Now, going back to the Sessions recusal story. Why is Jeff Sessions remaining recused?
00:26:11.260
He doesn't have to. He's been cleared of all wrongdoing with anything related to Russia.
00:26:17.520
There is no reason for Jeff Sessions to remain recused. I don't want to hear the 4D chess. He's
00:26:22.960
doing things behind the scenes. No, his silence is deafening and it's hurting the country,
00:26:28.600
not just the Trump administration. It's hurting the United States of America. Americans need to
00:26:36.640
know. I told you this last week. They need to know that their attorney general is running their
00:26:41.480
department of justice, not Robert Mueller, not Rod Rosenstein, who we all feel is compromised.
00:26:46.780
Sessions needs to get at the podium and say to America, look him in the eyes and say,
00:26:50.980
very sensitive things going on. I'm working very hard. Can't tell you much, but rest assured,
00:26:58.080
I am in control of the Department of Justice. Justice will be done fairly and ethically.
00:27:03.740
Jeff Sessions needs to stand on a podium and say it. Instead, he puts his glasses down,
00:27:08.860
he buries his face, and he talks about MS-13 and immigration. And he was out of the country
00:27:13.860
at the last MS-13 roundtable. Rod Rosenstein was there. Jeff Sessions wasn't even there.
00:27:21.520
What is the man doing? What is he doing? Where is he? He's obviously out there testifying to Mueller.
00:27:29.000
Jeff Sessions, to me, was the worst appointment Trump made. When Trump is wrong, I admit he's wrong.
00:27:34.820
I say he's wrong. Jeff Sessions was far and away the worst appointment this White House ever could
00:27:41.920
have made. But now, with Trey Gowdy running cover for Mueller and spies in the Trump campaign,
00:27:50.740
Mueller and former White House aides leaking to damage the presidency, and Mueller still demanding
00:27:57.080
that sit down with Trump while refusing to disclose the exculpatory evidence, something that Mueller's
00:28:02.820
team seems to not want to do. They don't want to follow the rules of federal criminal procedure and
00:28:07.060
disclose exculpatory evidence, evidence beneficial to the defense.
00:28:10.620
Robert Trump, I would not go within a thousand miles of Robert Mueller's interview room.
00:28:18.800
Tell him no. You're the president of the United States. Tell him no. But I think it is long past
00:28:23.340
time for Jeff Sessions to make a decision. Is he going to do his job as attorney general of the
00:28:28.480
United States? Because if he's not, he needs to step aside. At this point, I don't think Trump can fire
00:28:34.300
anybody. The political fallout will be too great. But Jeff Sessions needs to step aside for the good
00:28:42.020
So David Hogg and the liberal faction of the Parkland students are at it again, this time
00:28:58.620
launching what they're calling die-ins, actually laying on the floors of Publix supermarkets. And
00:29:04.440
they did this, well, they did it on Memorial Day weekend, really not seemingly caring about the people
00:29:09.360
who were shopping for their families, those people potentially veterans, families of veterans,
00:29:14.280
families and friends of veterans killed in action, but didn't seem to stop what I'm beginning to call
00:29:19.180
victim ink, the victim industrial complex. People like David Hogg, but more importantly,
00:29:25.440
his liberal masters, groups like Michael Bloomberg's anti-Second Amendment organizations,
00:29:30.720
and George Soros' Open Societies Foundation, unions like the Service Employee International Union,
00:29:36.020
far-left groups that are funding, and I feel, unfortunately, using these kids as pawns.
00:29:41.120
Here to discuss it with me is Javier Menares. Javi is the publisher of the Floridian and Shark Tank,
00:29:46.440
two of the most prominent Florida-based political sites. He's also a U.S. congressional candidate,
00:29:52.660
a Republican, for District 22. It is Javi, correct? District 22?
00:29:58.500
Which covers Parkland. You're looking to unseat, as a Republican, the Democrat, Ted Deutsch. Thanks for
00:30:03.320
being here. Thanks for having me. All right, let's talk a little bit about this die-in. I saw it in
00:30:07.460
the news. I rolled my eyes. David Hogg and his crew apparently are laying down on the floors of
00:30:11.780
public supermarkets to protest Publix, giving Florida's Secretary of Agriculture, Adam Putnam,
00:30:18.160
now a Republican gubernatorial candidate, he's in the primary, they are protesting them donating to
00:30:23.860
Putnam because the NRA also donated to Putnam, correct? Correct.
00:30:27.740
Right. So they staged this die-in. Did they do it at one Publix or multiple?
00:30:32.160
Actually, he did it in Coral Springs. I went to the Publix in Parkland where he did it,
00:30:36.520
where they conducted it as well. Oh, you were there. So you were actually at one of the locations.
00:30:41.320
What, how many, all right, first of course, how many students, activists showed up? Was it primarily
00:30:46.320
students or were there adults in the mix as well?
00:30:48.200
Right. I counted about 10 to 15, one adult and that adult was an actual priest.
00:30:53.260
Wow. Wow. And about 10 to 15 protesters. Right.
00:30:57.740
Now, what was the real general consensus of the customers? I know what they would say on the
00:31:03.020
cameras, they would want to seem to be supportive of the kids, but person to person, when the cameras
00:31:07.780
weren't rolling, when the media attention was off, were the people supportive, the customers in
00:31:12.060
Publix or were they basically rolling their eyes as well saying, okay, this is now ridiculous. I'm just
00:31:16.200
trying to buy groceries. Well, for the most part, when I walked in, they had just laid down
00:31:20.060
and the student, the actual customers didn't seem to care. They just ignored them. And they
00:31:24.320
walked right up, looked at them, walked away, walked out. Same with the employees. It was,
00:31:28.220
it was more like a nuisance. The look on their faces where they were annoyed over this because
00:31:33.160
like at the end of the day, I think most people think like, I think maybe you think that this was
00:31:37.040
just a simple mockery of the entire shooting. You need to die in for God's sakes on, like you said,
00:31:43.060
on Memorial Day weekend. But for the most part, what's worse is that they did it to, and they,
00:31:47.600
to emulate exactly what happened on February 14th. And it was, I think it was a slap in the face to
00:31:53.060
all those families and the 17 victims that died. And as a matter of fact, yesterday I was at my,
00:31:58.900
you know, my, my better half is pregnant. And as I was taking the elevator to my doctor's office,
00:32:04.120
I ran into Anthony, the last child released from the hospital. He was actually going up
00:32:09.640
to the sixth floor of Broward General to see his orthopedic surgeon, who happens to be one of my
00:32:14.820
close friends and supporters, Dr. B.J. Cross. What's the doctor's name? I'm sorry.
00:32:18.760
Dr. B.J. Cross, Brian Cross. Wow. And so, because I see kids like Kyle Koshev and others
00:32:25.000
who want no part of this, the Pollack family has been incredibly dignified in the way they've
00:32:29.840
handled it. Hunter Pollack, Meadow Pollack, of course, who was tragically murdered, her brother
00:32:33.220
has been very vocal on social media, condemning these, really basically saying, let's stop trivializing
00:32:40.120
this. Let's have bipartisan common sense solutions here, but let's stop with this far left agenda
00:32:46.000
driven. Really, this is, to me anyway, this is stunt activism, isn't it?
00:32:50.640
It was just a big gimmick. And I've said it before. I think I told, I confronted one of the
00:32:54.360
girls there and I said, look, what you guys are doing is a mockery. This is a gimmick.
00:32:59.220
It's disrespectful to the families, to everyone that was affected in the community and around
00:33:02.960
the country. And I asked her, would it be, would it be any different if Adam Putnam received
00:33:08.060
a B rating or a C rating? And she had no answer for it because they don't have an answer.
00:33:11.940
They just, they're just spewing talking points that they were handed to them by, like you
00:33:16.180
said, leftist groups, like the Soros of the World and the anti-gun lobby.
00:33:20.360
Javi, I'm glad you brought that up because that's such a critical distinction, right?
00:33:23.040
So what they're protesting is the fact that Adam Putnam received money from the NRA. And
00:33:26.700
my show has a conservative bent, so the audience knows for the most part that the NRA does ratings
00:33:31.340
of politicians. Putnam has consistently had an A rating, has been very good on the Second Amendment.
00:33:35.860
But you're right. I don't believe these kids know the difference between an A rating, a
00:33:40.000
B rating, a C rating. I would venture a guess the majority of them don't even know the NRA
00:33:43.600
rates politicians. They just heard NRA bad, left-wing groups good, Putnam got money from
00:33:49.300
NRA, so Publix gave them money as well. NRA bad, ergo Publix bad. I think it's that simple.
00:33:55.480
Right. The NRA is giving money to individuals who have B and C ratings because their opposition
00:34:00.640
has a D and F rating. I don't think they understand because, again, they're just, they are
00:34:05.420
pawns, as you said, to a bigger, to a bigger element. And this element doesn't care. They're
00:34:10.880
using these kids as to, to further their agenda. And people like Mr. Hogg, I say, I'm, I call
00:34:16.620
him Mr. Hogg because he's no longer a kid. He's an adult. He's 18, right? Yeah. And he,
00:34:20.640
and he needs to put his big boy pants up and deal with the criticism that's coming at him
00:34:24.260
because he can't hide behind his age and he can't hide behind the fact that he was a victim
00:34:29.820
during, on February 14th. The fact of the matter is I have, I support what he does in the sense that
00:34:36.960
he's expressing his first amendment, right? His right to do so. But at the end of the day,
00:34:41.460
what he's done is alienated half of America. And instead of, instead of taking that hobby, hobby,
00:34:47.340
let me, let me stop you there because we have some time to go and everything. It's really not his
00:34:50.780
first amendment rights inside of Publix. That's a private venue, a private business. Why did Publix
00:34:56.080
management, in your opinion, put these activists ahead of the convenience of their customers who
00:35:02.700
were spending money? Well, they, they simply got bullied and what are they going to do? Cause
00:35:07.600
there was, there was some press there and having kids escorted out or keep, kept from walking in
00:35:12.980
the store. I mean, or had police physically remove them, that would cause a bigger uproar and they
00:35:19.280
would look bad on Publix. No, I get, I get that. I get that. But maybe Publix should have issued a
00:35:23.340
statement saying something to the effect of that. While we didn't want the police to remove
00:35:28.220
misguided young protesters, we have to apologize to our customers are going to take steps to ensure
00:35:33.500
this doesn't inconvenience our paying customers again. Because look, I read, here's what bothered
00:35:38.380
me about what David Hogg did. And you're right. He's an adult. The protest was one thing, invading a
00:35:43.160
private businesses is another, but then he started shaking Publix down on Twitter, demanding they
00:35:48.920
double the donations to his group that they've given to Putnam and the NRA. Man, that I also posted
00:35:56.360
an image of the Florida extortion statute on Twitter alongside David Hogg's tweet. And he was
00:36:02.020
dangerously close to that line, if not crossing it. Well, I mean, this is what we can expect from
00:36:08.260
them. I mean, I've had a confrontation with him before. And at the end of the day, he, he, he has
00:36:13.280
sold his soul to whomever has paid him or, or has promised him the world because he had an opportunity
00:36:19.600
to be this great, uh, uh, uniter on this issue. And he chose a different path and it's going to
00:36:26.060
down the road. It's going to, it's, it's, it's, it's a, it's a second amendment violation. If what
00:36:30.120
they're trying to do here, it's basically, he's taken a different path. That path is not the right
00:36:35.680
path. And eventually it's going to be egg in his face and all the Democrats, including George Soros.
00:36:39.840
Yeah. And I wanted to have you on today, because like I said, you're running in district 22. It
00:36:43.200
covers Parkland at Ted Deutch's district. You've been one of the, I would say the most prominent
00:36:48.640
reporters, literally at ground zero, uh, on this issue. You've been at Parkland. You've been meeting
00:36:54.120
with the victims. You've been to the Pollux events at their homes. You've, you've been an institution
00:36:58.100
down here as a conservative reporter for quite a while, but you've been reporting down here since
00:37:02.400
like 1953. You just look really good for your age, but, but no, you really have been with Shark Tank and
00:37:07.980
now the Floridian, you've been an institution down here on the conservative side of journalism,
00:37:11.660
but you also live in Broward. You're running in that district, right? And you're a law and order
00:37:15.440
guy because you just got a big endorsement. Florida attorney general, Pam Bondi just endorsed your
00:37:20.400
candidacy for your candidacy for Congress. I mean, that's a pretty damn big endorsement in this
00:37:25.600
climate, especially in light of the Stoneman Douglas shooting.
00:37:28.360
Right. And listen, uh, Pam has done great for the, for the, for the state. I mean, she's her,
00:37:33.820
her, her, her record is, is impeccable. It's beyond reproach. I'm, I'm honored to have her
00:37:38.800
support. And wait, I want to say something before we go on. I have been very vocal about saying,
00:37:43.080
because she's turned out in November and I'm a fan of Pam Bondi. I want her to be the second
00:37:47.240
special counsel. Just wanted to throw that out there. I'll, I'll relay the message, please.
00:37:53.280
No, but keep going. Cause she has been very good for the state. She has been a law and order,
00:37:56.680
and I'm, listen, I'm honored to have her endorsement. It's she, she rarely dishes out
00:38:01.540
endorsements and for her to endorse me. And she, and she called me yesterday to, to tell me that
00:38:06.620
she was proud of endorsing. I, it meant a lot to me and to what we're trying to do. And listen,
00:38:11.840
she's been the top cop for eight years. And her, her, like I said, her, her record is impeccable.
00:38:16.580
You can't, it's beyond reproach. And, uh, listen, you had mentioned I'm running for Congress. It's
00:38:21.620
true. But as unfortunate with a lot of readers don't know, a lot of people do not know yet is that
00:38:25.540
after the shooting, my Democrat opponent, Ted Deutsch, for whatever reason, and we probably
00:38:30.700
know what it is. He started exploiting this shooting. Uh, first he lied about living in
00:38:36.000
the district. He stated on Twitter, you can't make this up that he lived in Parkland, that he was home
00:38:40.420
in Parkland, which he lives five or six miles away in Boca Raton in a different city.
00:38:44.760
Yeah. He's been getting hammered for that over the years. I've noticed that Deutsch, whenever
00:38:48.820
something happens in lower Broward County and upper Broward County, Northwestern Broward County,
00:38:53.100
he claims he lives in that area and that it always comes out. Well, no, he doesn't. He lives in Boca on
00:38:58.500
Yeah. But, but if you look at his Twitter feed, his Facebook ad nauseum, he's exploited these kids.
00:39:03.580
All he does is, is, is pass out pictures or hold up pictures, throw out their names. I mean, it's like,
00:39:09.900
it's like, I, I'd never seen anything like it before. I've seen exploitation.
00:39:13.540
Listen, Javi, I listened to him. I went to Stoneman Douglas on a president's day, right? The memorial
00:39:19.960
was up. And then they held that rally over in Coral Springs, about four minutes from the school
00:39:24.340
at the performing arts center there. I listened, you were, that's right. You were there, but I think
00:39:28.860
we were there at different times. And did you, were you there when Deutsch spoke? Yes. Okay. I didn't
00:39:33.520
see you in the room. I was in the back. Okay. I heard him lie when he lied, when he said that the
00:39:40.080
Republicans made AR-15s legal again in 2004, he flat out lied to the crowd about AR-15s being
00:39:47.440
illegal during Clinton's assault weapons ban. There were minor accessories that were deemed
00:39:51.340
illegal. He lied to a room of several hundred people. I mean, a sitting congressman on camera
00:39:56.680
lied. But what more can you expect from Ted Deutsch? He's got like the Democrats, his party,
00:40:02.720
they have no message. They have no, they all they have are points that are anti-American,
00:40:08.060
pro-socialist talk points. They have nothing else to say. There's no message there. So all they do
00:40:12.960
is, all they do is revert back to their talk points and their lies, which are one and the same.
00:40:16.800
Now, let me, the reason I brought up Bondi's, Bondi's endorsement of you is that I know Pam
00:40:20.180
has taken this, Pam Bondi, our attorney general, has taken the Parkland shooting very seriously.
00:40:24.620
I mean, it really hit home for her. When you speak to cops around the state, they say she's one of
00:40:28.520
the best partners they've ever had in the attorney general's office. Federal, state, and local
00:40:31.900
cops will all tell you that. But she wouldn't have endorsed you lightly, which, which says a lot to me.
00:40:36.980
And should say a lot to the constituents. Going now, moving from that, what do you think
00:40:41.860
the next move is for David Hogg and his far left cronies? Because I don't believe they're going to
00:40:47.920
stop at Publix. Publix, I think they had, there were unintended consequences, right? Publix decided
00:40:52.460
as a result of the protests to shut down all political donations now, even to Democrat and
00:40:57.800
left-leaning organizations. Well, listen, I think the next step is that they're going to start
00:41:02.860
targeting candidates and people who are like, they already have, but I fully expect them to target
00:41:10.040
me and some of my advertisers and go after people like that and try to damage families and homes
00:41:15.560
because they don't care. You know, David Hogg, David Hogg may be 18 years old, but he's, he's far
00:41:20.820
from being a man in the sense that he doesn't, I don't think he understands the concept of what he's
00:41:26.420
doing and how it could affect families, uh, directly, directly. He doesn't get it. He just
00:41:31.180
doesn't know yet because he, right now he's still, he's still wallowing in his 15 minutes of fame
00:41:35.560
and, and his, and his handlers are propping him up that to do this, to do the other. And he doesn't
00:41:41.020
get, I think down the road, uh, eventually he will get a taste of his own medicine somehow by some
00:41:46.340
person and maybe it'll dawn on him there. But right now he just doesn't get the kind of damage
00:41:50.460
he has done and could do to, uh, to other Americans, regardless.
00:41:53.700
Hey, you've been digging into this story. Who's paying David Hogg's bills? Who's paying
00:41:58.520
for the travel, the buses, the chauffeur driven SUVs, the television appearances, the PR, the
00:42:06.800
Listen, your guess is good as mine. There's a, there's a ton of, uh, liberal Democrat groups.
00:42:11.580
Listen, what they stand to lose, the amount of money they stand to lose in this election
00:42:16.580
is unprecedented. Hundreds of millions of dollars, they stand to lose in special interests.
00:42:20.800
If they lose, if, if let's say I beat, uh, Ted Deutsch and, uh, and other, and we, we retain,
00:42:26.980
we retain the control of the house and the Senate and because it moves into 2020. And if we win the
00:42:32.360
governor's mansion, uh, there's a pretty good chance that president Trump is going to get reelected.
00:42:36.740
Let's go to that for a second. Put on your political blogger hat, take off your, your political
00:42:40.040
reporter now hat with the Floridian, take off your congressional candidate hat. How do we not
00:42:45.280
win the governor's mansion? We have good candidates in both Putnam and DeSantis,
00:42:49.040
uh, depending on who wins the primary and Gwen Graham, the, the presumed Democrat front leader
00:42:54.840
is now running on the platform of raising taxes. In fact, I, I had a, uh, a text conversation.
00:43:01.080
I won't say the name of the mutual friend of ours, who's a political operative in Tallahassee.
00:43:04.880
And we compared Gwen Graham's platform to Walter Mondale's in 1984. They're nearly identical.
00:43:10.480
They're nearly identical. I mean, how does she, how did the Democrats in Florida expect to be
00:43:14.760
competitive if they want to raise taxes in a state that people move to because of our
00:43:19.520
advantageous tax rates? Right. But, but again, listen to what you just said. All she is doing
00:43:24.460
is spewing a talking point that makes sense for her liberal basis. Remember, she needs to get past
00:43:30.600
the primary. She's going up against three other Uber liberals in Levine and Gillum and in King.
00:43:36.340
She needs that out liberal. Right. Isn't Phillip Luda, Phillip Luda in the former mayor of Miami
00:43:40.300
beach. Yes. Far left guy. He, I would argue you're on the ground more in Florida than I am these days,
00:43:45.660
but I would argue that he and Graham are probably the two primary front runners for the Dems. No,
00:43:50.360
right. They are because they have the most name. Right. Levine's platform has become Uber far left,
00:43:56.980
right? Well, that's what they're, they're going after this. They're trying to garner the same,
00:44:01.040
the voting block, the Uber leftist, these supporters that are go out and, uh, and throw
00:44:05.700
firebombs at you. These are the type of people they need to, they need to win over to win that
00:44:09.720
general primary election. And I'm sure they'll pivot back and they'll flip flop on these issues
00:44:14.180
because listen, if, when you're for tax, uh, raising taxes, that's a losing proposition. That's
00:44:20.280
a losing issues. And, uh, uh, most Democrats, every Democrat in the U S house of representatives
00:44:25.520
voted against the historic tax reform bill, uh, that president Trump, uh,
00:44:30.680
signed. So raising taxes is not a good, uh, campaign strategy.
00:44:34.480
No, it's never, you know, there, I remember being a little kid. There was an old Saturday
00:44:38.240
night live skit mocking Walter Mondale as being the only candidate in history to run on raising taxes,
00:44:43.820
even including those running for like unincorporated school board. I mean,
00:44:47.280
it was a joke back then that even the liberals mocked it back then, you know, that raising taxes.
00:44:53.740
So I personally feel, I feel we keep the governor's mansion in Florida red. I feel that
00:44:58.960
governor Rick Scott Walsh is doing easy win over Bill Nelson in the U S Senate. What do you think?
00:45:04.180
I tend to agree with you. I look at the numbers, like Senator Nelson has never faced this kind of
00:45:09.620
candidate, the kind of money that's going to be thrown at him, uh, and against him. He's,
00:45:14.640
I don't think he's going to be able to recover because I think the Democrats are, are, are,
00:45:18.100
they won't admit it, but I think they're willing to concede the seat because they're not willing
00:45:21.140
to spend all these millions of dollars to defend one seat when they have to try to defend others.
00:45:25.440
And they're trying to win over other seats, but they'll spend millions. I don't think they'll
00:45:29.320
spend the hundreds of millions that it's going to be needed. I mean, Javi, I've seen as we're
00:45:33.520
running out of time, but I've seen estimates that our Senate race could be a two, $300 million
00:45:37.380
race. Well, I, I, I say, this is that in my seat, I think I'm going to be sandwiched between three
00:45:43.800
to five million, a hundred million dollars from a gubernatorial standpoint, as far as the Senate
00:45:47.540
standpoint, I think in my district, I'll be sandwiched between all that money.
00:45:51.700
Yeah, no, I think you will, but you know, it's funny. Your district has become far more competitive
00:45:54.800
than it was even six months ago. Conventional wisdom was a Republican couldn't win Florida
00:45:59.900
Congressional District 22. People now aren't so sure. No, because listen, it takes a unique
00:46:06.640
candidate to win this. You have to thread that needle. Our campaign, the message is transcending
00:46:11.340
across political lines and demographics. You can't just be just a regular, a guy who thinks you want
00:46:18.000
to run and not be able to connect with the most of the electorate because it's a very diverse
00:46:21.900
district. You have to be able to have, you have to have a message that, that everyone can agree
00:46:28.760
Javi Minara is publisher of the Shark Tank and the Floridian, also a Republican candidate
00:46:33.460
for Florida's 22nd congressional district and a good buddy of mine, Javi. Thanks very much.
00:46:50.900
Normally, I'm pretty tough on criminal justice cases, but not this one. I want to tell you the
00:46:54.480
story, if you haven't seen it, of Matthew Charles. Now, Matthew Charles is a guy who served 21 of 35
00:47:01.420
years, federal prison for a non-violent drug dealing conviction. Now, look, I'm a hard line
00:47:08.120
on certain crime, but 21 years for drug dealing, I'd say that's more than adequate, probably a little
00:47:13.480
severe. I've seen armed, I've seen murderers, armed robbers get five years, seven years, 21 years
00:47:19.780
or served 21 years of a 35 year sentence is a bit insane, is a bit insane. And Matthew Charles,
00:47:27.460
two years ago, is released from prison. Since his release, Matthew Charles has been fully employed.
00:47:34.980
He's become very religious. He volunteers. He's in a serious, stable, romantic relationship with a
00:47:40.740
woman who's gainfully employed. He finally found himself a small apartment. It's decorated and he's
00:47:46.100
got photos and he has roots and he's doing all of the things a person does who typically isn't a
00:47:52.640
recidivist offender. The guy had enough. He had 21 years in prison, going about his life, not bothering
00:47:59.120
anybody. He's not looking to get rich. He's not looking to score big. He just wants to live his life
00:48:04.000
in peace. Well, it turns out because the federal government screwed up bureaucratically, because they
00:48:11.980
screwed up bureaucratically, the government appealed his release on a technicality. This man might be
00:48:19.440
sent back to prison, possibly to serve the remaining 14 years. And I have a problem with that. And this
00:48:26.840
is one case where I think President Trump should step in and commute Matthew Charles's sentence because
00:48:33.740
society is not served. Justice is not served. The public is no safer putting this man back in prison.
00:48:42.300
All we're doing is is is engaging in draconian punishment of somebody that's proven over two
00:48:51.480
years. Listen, if this guy were going to reoffend, he would have done it in two years. He would have
00:48:54.880
done it in the first two months, but he didn't. Again, got a full time job and a stable relationship
00:48:59.480
at a place to live, a small apartment. We can afford it. And I say small. He's not living above
00:49:04.640
his means. He's clearly trying to live his life properly. And I think this would be a very good way
00:49:10.140
for Donald Trump to dispel the myths of racism that that that plague his administration. He
00:49:14.980
pardoned a boxer, Jack Johnson. And I think the president, not a pardon. Nobody's asking for a
00:49:21.280
pardon for Matthew Charles. He committed the crime. He did the time. But I do think the president
00:49:26.360
should commute his sentence and say the 21 years served is sufficient. This guy does not have to go
00:49:31.440
back to jail. And many, many conservatives agree. This is a story from the Federalist. And they outline
00:49:38.340
all of the risks for the president and the rewards for the president and the rewards for the
00:49:44.180
Constitution far outweigh the risks. Let me read you the last paragraph of this Federalist.
00:49:51.320
Prisons serve at least two important purposes. One is to punish. Another is to rehabilitate.
00:49:55.860
Charles has been subject to both. Matthew Charles has been subject to both. 21 years in prison is a
00:50:00.280
quarter of a lifetime and a heavy price to pay for selling drugs. I agree. He emerged a positive
00:50:04.640
member of society. This should be celebrated, not reversed. And I'll add, not punished.
00:50:09.780
In this case, Charles and so many others, Donald Trump can do what he does best, which is to act
00:50:14.540
independently, decisively and strongly. He alone can right this and so many other wrongs. And there
00:50:19.440
is every reason to believe he has the courage to do it. I believe that. And I think the president
00:50:24.340
of the United States should step in and help this guy. Because what message are we sending to those
00:50:29.840
people who are in prison? And again, you know, I'm a hardliner on criminal justice. But there are
00:50:34.160
people in prison who truly, when they get out, say, man, I screwed up. I am done. I'm going to go
00:50:39.800
get a job. I'm going to live my life productively. I'm going to toe the line. I'm going to do everything
00:50:43.940
right because I never want to be back there. What message are we sending to them by saying, well,
00:50:49.220
even if you did your part and you were released and we unlocked the doors, we let you out.
00:50:54.060
You did everything right. Oh, the government screwed up. We're going to punish you again.
00:50:57.400
Something about that is fundamentally wrong. And I really hope President Trump steps in and commutes