The Ben Shapiro Show - It’s Easy As ACB | Ep. 1114

00:00:00.000 Amy Coney Barrett's nomination cruises ahead as Democrats struggle for a response.

00:00:04.000 President Trump tests negative for COVID while the media frets selectively about masking.

00:00:07.000 And Portland rioters knock over statues of Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt.

00:00:10.000 I'm Ben Shapiro.

00:00:11.000 This is the Ben Shapiro Show.

00:00:21.000 Protect your online privacy today at expressvpn.com slash Ben.

00:00:25.000 Alrighty, we have a lot to get to today.

00:00:26.000 We'll get to everything involved in the Amy Coney Barrett hearings.

00:00:29.000 We'll also get to Joe Biden, who continues to stumble over himself, but it turns out that that doesn't matter because in the end, he is making this thing a referendum on Trump.

00:00:36.000 We'll get to all that in just one second.

00:00:38.000 First, we are in the final days leading up to one of the most contentious Presidential elections in our nation's history.

00:00:43.000 What happens if Joe Biden wins?

00:00:44.000 What if the outcome is uncertain?

00:00:46.000 What if we only have eight Supreme Court justices?

00:00:48.000 I mean, lots of things can happen.

00:00:49.000 What if the Democrats try to quarterback?

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00:01:40.000 Okay, so yesterday launched the Amy Coney Barrett hearings and it became quickly obvious that the Democrats have no line of attack against Amy Coney Barrett.

00:01:49.000 Now, the truth was they had no line of attack against Brett Kavanaugh either.

00:01:51.000 He was a very well-qualified jurist.

00:01:53.000 And not only was he well-qualified, but he had not really ruled on anything particularly controversial.

00:01:59.000 Connie Barrett has not really ruled on anything particularly controversial.

00:02:02.000 She's made some statements in her law review articles about how originalism ought to be interpreted.

00:02:06.000 And those statements are well in line with traditional originalist philosophy.

00:02:10.000 So Democrats really don't have a great line of attack.

00:02:12.000 And therefore, they've come up with two lines of attack on Amy Coney Barrett.

00:02:16.000 One is that she's something out of The Handmaid's Tale.

00:02:18.000 Michael Moore yesterday tweeted out a...

00:02:21.000 A miscolorized photo of Amy Coney Barrett.

00:02:24.000 She was wearing what looked like a purple slash pink outfit yesterday and he retouched it up so that she was wearing red.

00:02:31.000 And then he tweeted out that she was a member of the Handmaid's Tale because as it turns out, every woman who has ever worn red is a member of the sex cult in the Handmaid's Tale.

00:02:39.000 Right, it's great.

00:02:40.000 So that means Elizabeth Warren, Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Michelle Obama, all of whom have worn red at one point or another.

00:02:49.000 The only reason that a woman would ever wear red is because she's a member of a cult from the Margaret Atwood novel. 0.98

00:02:55.000 The other possibility, of course, is that it has not, I mean, first of all, you had to mis-colorize the photo, but second of all, like it turns out this is just stupid.

00:03:02.000 So one attack on Coney Barrett is that she's religious and all religious people are bigots and all bigots ought to be kept off the court.

00:03:09.000 And that line of attack is very dangerous for Democrats.

00:03:12.000 They've been shying away from that one a little bit.

00:03:13.000 The other one is that it is just illegitimate for Republicans to fill the seat.

00:03:16.000 Republicans should never under any circumstances fill the seat because Republicans did not fill the Merrick Garland seat.

00:03:23.000 They didn't vote on Merrick Garland.

00:03:25.000 Well, the reason they didn't vote on Merrick Garland is because Merrick Garland didn't have the votes.

00:03:28.000 It turns out that they didn't have 51 votes for Merrick Garland.

00:03:31.000 They do have 51 votes, as it turns out, for Amy Coney Barrett.

00:03:34.000 So they were left with pretty much nothing except screaming and mewling and whining and yelling at the moon.

00:03:39.000 Now, one of the questions here is how this is going to affect the presidential race.

00:03:42.000 A lot of people, including me, speculated that if Democrats went overboard here, it would hurt Joe Biden in the same way that going overboard against Brett Kavanaugh and calling him a gang rapist hurt Democrats for a brief moment in time before Trump redirected the nation's attention toward the caravan, the illegal immigrant caravan moving up through Central America, Central Latin America.

00:04:01.000 Now, the Democrats have been careful not to do that.

00:04:03.000 They've been careful to avoid that particular issue.

00:04:06.000 Also, it turns out, I don't think the Amy Coney Barrett hearings are going to have much to do with the election on a presidential level.

00:04:11.000 On a Senate level, they could have something to do with it.

00:04:13.000 And I know everybody in the world, I've been saying this for now a week, I know everybody in the world wants to focus in on the presidential race.

00:04:18.000 Here are the facts about the presidential race right now.

00:04:21.000 It is not a close race.

00:04:22.000 That is the simple fact of the matter right now.

00:04:24.000 By polling data, it is not a particularly close race.

00:04:27.000 Joe Biden has been up consistently in double digits for at least three weeks.

00:04:31.000 Joe Biden in every single swing state is at least running dead even or ahead.

00:04:36.000 That is according to the polls.

00:04:37.000 Now, could it be that Donald Trump is going to pull out a come-from-behind victory at the last minute?

00:04:42.000 Absolutely, there is still time.

00:04:43.000 It is also possible that the polls are off, although they would have to be off by probably an order of magnitude in order for them to be wrong nationally and for Trump to somehow win the popular national vote.

00:04:52.000 But he's within spitting distance in Florida.

00:04:54.000 He's within spitting distance in Ohio.

00:04:56.000 These are all very close states.

00:04:57.000 He's not really within spitting distance right now in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, or Michigan, according to the latest polling data.

00:05:02.000 He's going to have to draw closer there.

00:05:03.000 But recognize that if you're a conservative, he's not the only person on the ballot.

00:05:07.000 It turns out that your Senate candidates are on the ballot as well.

00:05:11.000 And Joe Biden as president with a Democratic Senate is significantly more dangerous to the future of the Republic than Joe Biden as president with a Republican Senate.

00:05:19.000 Especially given the fact that there tends to be an off-year election blowback against the party in power in the executive branch, which means that if Republicans were to hold the Senate this time around, then you would imagine they would pick up some seats.

00:05:30.000 This is a bad map for them.

00:05:31.000 You would imagine they would pick up some seats next time around and strengthen that Senate majority. 0.86

00:05:36.000 And so you have a number of close Senate races.

00:05:38.000 The ACB hearings actually benefit Republicans in this way because Democrats acting like idiots, particularly from purple states, that does not cut in favor of those Senate candidates.

00:05:49.000 And right now we are starting to see some evidence that there will be some ticket splitting.

00:05:53.000 That wouldn't be a huge surprise.

00:05:54.000 There was some of this in 2018.

00:05:56.000 There were races that Republicans were supposed to lose and they ended up winning.

00:05:59.000 The most obvious one is Ron DeSantis in Florida.

00:06:01.000 He was running against Andrew Gillum.

00:06:02.000 The media basically suggested that Gillum was a foregone conclusion.

00:06:05.000 And then Andrew Gillum not only lost, but ended up in a hotel room with a gay hooker and some meth. 1.00

00:06:10.000 So it turns out good decision, Floridians, for Ron DeSantis.

00:06:13.000 In any case, There's the possibility of ticket splitting, even if Trump were to lose.

00:06:17.000 This is not conceding that Trump is going to lose the election.

00:06:20.000 It's just recognizing the political realities on the ground, which is a lot of very tight Senate races and by polling numbers, a lot tighter than the presidential race at this point.

00:06:27.000 And the Amy Coney Barrett hearings could have some impact on that because you do have some swing state senators who are involved in the Amy Coney Barrett hearings.

00:06:35.000 Like right now, if you look at the Senate statistics, Steve Daines has picked up some ground.

00:06:39.000 He was down a little bit to Bullock in Montana.

00:06:42.000 He now looks like he is in the lead.

00:06:44.000 In the North Carolina race, the Democrat Cal Cunningham has been hit with a sex scandal.

00:06:50.000 There are not a lot of great polls that are out right now.

00:06:53.000 There's one poll that came out, I guess, in the last week, and that one had Cunningham up fairly solidly over Tom Tillis, but again, I expect that one to draw a lot closer.

00:07:03.000 Lindsey Graham was suspected to be running dead even.

00:07:05.000 There's a new poll out today showing Lindsey Graham up fairly substantially.

00:07:09.000 Those Senate races matter an awful lot.

00:07:11.000 So right now, I'm telling you, if you're a Republican and you have to choose, you don't have to choose, but if you have to choose whether to give your money to the presidential race or whether to give your money to your Senate candidate, give your money to your Senate candidate.

00:07:22.000 Truly.

00:07:23.000 It's the safe bet.

00:07:25.000 It is the safer bet.

00:07:26.000 Giving your money to the Senate candidate.

00:07:27.000 Again, that's not conceding the presidential race.

00:07:29.000 That is just being a political realist about the necessity of Republicans retaining the Senate.

00:07:33.000 Because if Democrats pick up the Senate, they're going to go for broke.

00:07:35.000 They're going to break the filibuster.

00:07:36.000 That is no question.

00:07:37.000 They're probably going to add states.

00:07:39.000 And they've talked about cord packing.

00:07:40.000 Even if they only do the first two, it wrecks the balance of power in the American government and leads to nothing but running room for Democrats in the future. 0.59

00:07:49.000 If you're gonna target where you're giving right now, I would say you gotta give to Joni Ernst in Iowa.

00:07:53.000 Because right now, her opponent, Theresa Greenfield, is up by about 4 points in most of these polls.

00:08:00.000 But that is a very, very close race.

00:08:03.000 I would say that you have to give to Tom Tillis in North Carolina.

00:08:07.000 I would say that you should take a serious look at giving to Susan Collins.

00:08:10.000 I know if you're a Republican, you've got problems with Susan Collins. 0.96

00:08:12.000 Remember, if it were not for Susan Collins, Brett Kavanaugh would not be on the Supreme Court.

00:08:17.000 And losing that seat to Sarah Gideon would be a real disaster area.

00:08:20.000 Right now, that race is tight as a tick.

00:08:23.000 Extremely tight.

00:08:24.000 Like, within one point tight.

00:08:26.000 So, go give to Susan Collins as much as you have problems with Susan Collins.

00:08:30.000 It is necessary that Republicans maintain the Senate if you are, in fact, a Republican.

00:08:35.000 Obviously.

00:08:37.000 The other races that look fairly close right now.

00:08:39.000 Colorado is not really inside margin of error, but there's not been a ton of polling that has been done there.

00:08:46.000 And John Hickenlooper, who's a very scandal-ridden candidate, he has yet to break 50%.

00:08:52.000 So those are those are the races that I would be focusing on.

00:08:54.000 And again, the Amy Coney Barrett hearings could make a difference there if Republicans put in a strong showing in some of these swing states.

00:08:59.000 If you want to go for, by the way, if you want to go for a great candidate who is running an extraordinarily competitive race in a very bad year for Republicans in his state, John James in Michigan is a stud.

00:09:08.000 John James is running a one point race right now.

00:09:11.000 He's running a one point race with Gary Peters in Michigan, which is truly an amazing feat.

00:09:17.000 Okay, he ran last time.

00:09:18.000 He lost by a little bit.

00:09:19.000 If Trump somehow loses Michigan and James wins the seat in Michigan, good for John James.

00:09:24.000 Okay, so that's where things stand.

00:09:24.000 That's pretty incredible.

00:09:26.000 Now, to the Amy Coney Barrett hearings.

00:09:27.000 As we say, it turns out the Democrats don't have a great comeback for Amy Coney Barrett because it turns out that she is witty, she is charming, and she knows what she's doing.

00:09:34.000 She's been qualified, is well qualified by the American Bar Association, which is a designation I don't really take super seriously because frankly, I think the American Bar Association is a leftist outlet and it has been for quite a long time.

00:09:46.000 Nonetheless, Democrats have struggled for a response to Amy Coney Barrett in a way that they struggled with Brett Kavanaugh before the fake rape allegations by all available evidence against Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

00:09:57.000 So again, narrative number one is that Amy Coney Barrett is a religious bigot. 0.80

00:10:01.000 This is why you saw Amy Coney Barrett protesters dressed up as the Handmaid's Tale.

00:10:04.000 I don't, like, read another book or watch another show.

00:10:08.000 It's just, it's so ridiculous.

00:10:10.000 First of all, it is hilarious to me that these people are reduced to cosplaying the, cosplaying Handmaid's Tale.

00:10:17.000 So here they were outside wearing their Handmaid's Tale outfits.

00:10:22.000 By the way, overrated book.

00:10:23.000 Wildly overrated book.

00:10:25.000 Okay, but here's the real question.

00:10:26.000 Does Amy Coney Barrett look like something out of The Handmaid's Tale to you?

00:10:29.000 If so, it's probably because you've lost your mind.

00:10:31.000 So here was Amy Coney Barrett yesterday in her opening statement, and she was talking about the importance of her family, which apparently is very bad.

00:10:37.000 It's bad when Republicans talk about the importance of their family.

00:10:40.000 It shows that they are merely members of religious cults.

00:10:42.000 Here's Amy Coney Barrett talking about her family.

00:10:44.000 As I said when I was nominated to serve as a justice, I'm used to being in a group of nine.

00:10:50.000 My family.

00:10:52.000 Nothing is more important to me and I'm very proud to have them behind me.

00:10:57.000 My husband Jesse and I have been married for 21 years.

00:11:02.000 He has been a selfless and wonderful partner every step of the way.

00:11:06.000 Okay, so this means, of course, that she's a subservient woman. 1.00

00:11:09.000 That's how that works.

00:11:10.000 That her husband has been supportive of her all the way up to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and now to the Supreme Court.

00:11:14.000 She talked about her philosophy of government, and this, frankly, is music to the ears of an originalist like me.

00:11:20.000 I mean, I have long said that the job of the court is to interpret the law as closely as possible to the verbiage of the law, as it was meant at the time.

00:11:30.000 That is what judges are tasked to do, and she backs that up here.

00:11:35.000 Courts are not designed to solve every problem or right every wrong in our public life.

00:11:42.000 The policy decisions and value judgments of government must be made by the political branches, elected by and accountable to the people.

00:11:54.000 The public should not expect courts to do so and courts should not try.

00:11:58.000 Okay, so first of all, I think it's important to note here, this is the precise opposite of what people on the left claim about Amy Coney Barrett and about every conservative justice.

00:12:06.000 So every conservative justice that I know of has said exactly this, that there is a unique role for the courts.

00:12:11.000 The courts are designed to interpret the law as written and then enforce the law as written.

00:12:16.000 And then the executive branch does the actual hardcore enforcement, right?

00:12:19.000 That is what the courts are designed to do. 0.96

00:12:21.000 The left says, That the right wants to use the courts in order to enforce their own moral opinions, their own theocracy, that is blatantly false.

00:12:29.000 And the way you can tell this is blatantly false is there's actual statistical evidence of this.

00:12:32.000 Ilya Shapiro over at Cato Institute has done actual statistical studies of how often you see textualist and originalist judges writing dissents and also crossing the aisle on issues on which they disagree.

00:12:44.000 Take a perfect example, Justice Scalia.

00:12:46.000 Famously ruled in a couple of different cases on principles where he personally disagreed, but he recognized it was not the job of the judiciary to do his personal bidding.

00:12:55.000 Those two examples that come to mind, there are many of them, two of those examples that come to mind Or Justice Scalia's opinion in the flag-burning case, in which, obviously very much against flag-burning, nonetheless ruled that the First Amendment protected flag-burning as expressive speech.

00:13:10.000 And also, there was a case in which Justice Scalia took a similarly free-speech opinion on Larry Flint running a disgusting cartoon about Jerry Falwell stooping his mother in an outhouse.

00:13:20.000 And he said, as much as I don't like this cartoon, this is all protected First Amendment stuff.

00:13:25.000 and the standard for defamation of a public figure was incredibly high.

00:13:29.000 Right. You can see that from conservative justices all the time.

00:13:32.000 Right. Even justices who I think are not going the full David Souter and just deciding to become members of the hardcore left. People like Justice Gorsuch, who have been pretty good throughout, even they will sometimes wander off their own political opinion or off their priors and cross the aisle and vote with Democrats.

00:13:49.000 Ruth Bader Ginsburg never did that. 1.00

00:13:50.000 I mean, she voted directly down the line.

00:13:51.000 This is why when people say that conservatives very often don't get what they want from the justices they appoint, that's because justices very often are not doing political bidding if they are of the right.

00:14:00.000 They recognize that the political branches are not the same as the judicial branch.

00:14:03.000 So when Amy Coney Barrett says, listen, my job is not to enforce morality.

00:14:07.000 My job is to enforce the law.

00:14:09.000 That is precisely the opposite of what her political opponents suggest about her.

00:14:13.000 recognize that the true theocrats are the people who treat leftism as a religion, then expect the courts to be the rabbinate of the entire system, that the priesthood of the entire system, the priestly caste of the entire system.

00:14:24.000 Amy Coney Barrett continued along these lines. She said that courts have a vital responsibility to the rule of law, which of course is true. There's a tendency in our profession to treat the practice of law as all-consuming while losing sight of everything else.

00:14:41.000 But that makes for a shallow and unfulfilling life.

00:14:45.000 I worked hard as a lawyer and as a professor.

00:14:48.000 I owed that to my clients, to my students, and to myself.

00:14:52.000 But I never let the law define my identity or crowd out the rest of my life.

00:14:59.000 A similar principle applies to the role of courts.

00:15:03.000 Courts have a vital responsibility to the rule of law, which is critical to a free society.

00:15:10.000 Okay, that's, of course, exactly right.

00:15:12.000 One of the things I like about Amy Coney Barrett is that she says that courts have a role.

00:15:16.000 Again, for conservatives, government has a role.

00:15:18.000 Courts have a role.

00:15:19.000 Legislators have a role.

00:15:21.000 In the view of the left, everything is political.

00:15:22.000 Nobody has a role.

00:15:23.000 It's just a question of how you get things done, right?

00:15:25.000 This is whenever I hear a politician say I'm a pragmatist, I start to shudder.

00:15:29.000 Left or right?

00:15:30.000 Because once you say you're a pragmatist, it means you don't care about institutions and you don't care about systems.

00:15:34.000 And if you don't care about systems, what that really means is that your core philosophy is power.

00:15:38.000 It is not protection of individual rights.

00:15:40.000 Okay, so Democrats have no comeback for any of this.

00:15:42.000 And so Amy Coney Barrett, again, well-qualified nominee.

00:15:45.000 She's going to sail through.

00:15:46.000 She'll be confirmed next week.

00:15:47.000 Democrats have no comeback for this.

00:15:49.000 So they've decided that their comeback is it's unfair.

00:15:52.000 They cry, right?

00:15:53.000 It's just one long crazy person's scream after Trump's election in 2016.

00:15:58.000 The crazy lady screaming at the sky.

00:16:01.000 That was what Democrats' response was to all of this.

00:16:04.000 So Kamala Harris, who, I mean, it's just unbelievable to me that this lady is going to end up as vice president of the United States, possibly. 1.00

00:16:10.000 She is awful.

00:16:11.000 In every way, awful.

00:16:12.000 I mean, she is manipulative. 1.00

00:16:15.000 She is terrible.

00:16:16.000 She is a damned liar. 1.00

00:16:17.000 And the fact that there are people on the left who actually like her is astonishing to me, considering how dishonest she is.

00:16:23.000 I have a lot of sympathy for the Bernie Sanders left who looks at Kamala Harris and they say, this lady's just, yeech. 1.00

00:16:30.000 I mean, there are many women inside the Democratic Party who are not this, right?

00:16:30.000 She really is.

00:16:30.000 She's bad.

00:16:34.000 Amy Klobuchar would have been a much better pick for Joe Biden. 1.00

00:16:38.000 But again, Biden thought that he had to please the intersectional base of the Democratic Party.

00:16:42.000 We'll get to Kamala Harris and her take on the Amy Coney Barrett nomination in just one second. 0.97

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00:17:42.000 Okay, so Democrats, they have to respond to Amy Coney Barrett's nomination.

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00:17:55.000 OK, so Democrats, they have to respond to Amy Coney Barrett's nomination.

00:17:59.000 So Kamala Harris says that the will of the people is being defied, which is weird because the will of the people put Donald Trump, at least in electoral terms, in the White House.

00:18:06.000 Now, I understand, everybody with the popular vote and this, that's not how the process works.

00:18:10.000 The process works how the process works.

00:18:12.000 The will of the people has put the people in positions to vote, who are now in the positions to vote, according to the American system of government.

00:18:18.000 But Kamala Harris says, the will of the people will not be done if Amy Coney Barrett fills Ruth Bader Ginsburg's slot.

00:18:24.000 Now, what's amazing to me in all of this, is it is incredible how politicians and members of our government Avoid responsibility.

00:18:31.000 There's really only one person to blame for the fact that Donald Trump is going to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg with Amy Coney Barrett.

00:18:38.000 That person's name is Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

00:18:39.000 Ruth Bader Ginsburg died in her mid-80s.

00:18:42.000 She had been sick since 2009.

00:18:44.000 She could have stepped down any time during the Obama administration. 0.99

00:18:46.000 There were people encouraging her to do so.

00:18:48.000 She thought Hillary Clinton was a surefire winner, and therefore she stuck around. 1.00

00:18:51.000 In fact, she told people in the Democratic Party, who would you rather have on the court than me?

00:18:55.000 The answer from the Democratic Party, of course, was somebody who thinks like you but 30 years younger.

00:19:00.000 But nonetheless, this is all the evils of the Trump administration for filling a seat that came open.

00:19:05.000 Again, it came open through chance and circumstance and fate.

00:19:09.000 That's just the way this works.

00:19:10.000 But here's Kamala Harris suggesting it's very bad to fill the seat. 0.97

00:19:13.000 More than nine million Americans have already voted, and millions more will vote while this illegitimate committee process is underway.

00:19:22.000 A clear majority of Americans want whomever wins this election to fill the seat.

00:19:29.000 And my Republican colleagues know that.

00:19:31.000 Yet, they are deliberately defying the will of the people in their attempt to roll back the rights and protections provided under the Affordable Care Act.

00:19:42.000 Okay, I'm sorry.

00:19:44.000 First of all, the evidence that she's going to overturn the ACA is nil.

00:19:47.000 There's one law school essay in which she points out that John Roberts' decision in the ACA case is wrong.

00:19:52.000 That's true.

00:19:53.000 It is wrong.

00:19:54.000 It also happens to be that they're not gonna overturn the ACA case.

00:19:57.000 It was decided years ago, and it would be rejected on an appeal to the Supreme Court because the case has already been decided.

00:20:02.000 It was decided not very long ago.

00:20:04.000 The notion that she is going to simply overturn the entire ACA on the basis of the fact that John Roberts wrote a crappy opinion in the first Obamacare case, it's just not true.

00:20:12.000 Democrats are pushing this lie anyway.

00:20:14.000 And then you get Cory Booker.

00:20:17.000 You gotta love Mr. Potato Head over here.

00:20:19.000 He didn't just bring his angry eyes, he brought his concerned eyes.

00:20:22.000 And Cory Booker, if there's one person who can make Kamala Harris look not rehearsed, it is Cory Booker.

00:20:28.000 He makes her look spontaneous and joyous.

00:20:30.000 Cory Booker is the most rehearsed politician I have ever seen in my entire life.

00:20:34.000 He is perhaps the most irritating politician.

00:20:37.000 I mean, and I watch politicians for a living.

00:20:38.000 This dude is as irritating as itching powder in your eyes.

00:20:41.000 I mean, this guy is just nails on a chalkboard irritating.

00:20:45.000 Here is Cory Booker, who is very upset that a vote is even going to be held on Amy Coney Barrett.

00:20:49.000 You can tell he's upset because he uses both his upset eyes.

00:20:52.000 He brought his angry eyes.

00:20:53.000 He takes out his upset eyes, pops them in, blinks a lot.

00:20:56.000 Very upset, Cory Booker.

00:20:58.000 And then he just repeats things over and over.

00:21:00.000 He repeats Beetlejuice until Michael Keaton randomly appears in the well of the Senate.

00:21:04.000 Here was Cory Booker being obnoxious.

00:21:08.000 What is going on in America today, in the midst of a deadly pandemic and an ongoing election, having a rushed Supreme Court nomination hearing is not normal and we cannot normalize it.

00:21:22.000 People are voting right now.

00:21:24.000 the American people should decide.

00:21:26.000 The American people should decide.

00:21:28.000 The American people should decide.

00:21:33.000 I will not be voting to confirm Judge Barrett's nomination.

00:21:38.000 Okay, either Cory Booker is the most emotional person who has ever been in American politics, or he's completely unemotional and he's kind of a sociopath.

00:21:45.000 And I sort of feel like the latter, because every time, I'm so upset.

00:21:49.000 The American people should decide.

00:21:51.000 Tinkerbell should live!

00:21:52.000 Amy Coney Barrett shouldn't be on the court! 1.00

00:21:54.000 Clap until Tinkerbell lives, Cory! 0.98

00:21:55.000 Clap!

00:21:56.000 Clap, Spartacus!

00:21:57.000 Clap!

00:21:57.000 It's a Spartacus moment!

00:21:58.000 Tinkerbell's living!

00:21:59.000 We're doing it!

00:22:00.000 Yeah, it's not happening.

00:22:01.000 Amy Coney Barrett is going to the court. 0.97

00:22:02.000 So congratulations, Cory Booker.

00:22:04.000 Meanwhile, Dick Durbin is saying that it is a self-serving proposal.

00:22:08.000 This is the senator from Illinois who, again, once called American soldiers akin to Pol Pot.

00:22:13.000 I remember this.

00:22:14.000 Senator Durbin says it's self-serving for Republicans to fill the seat.

00:22:17.000 After all, they didn't fill the seat with Merrick Garland.

00:22:19.000 Yes, because they weren't going to vote for Merrick Garland because they disagree with his judicial philosophy.

00:22:23.000 Senator Durbin.

00:22:24.000 Here is Durbin, again, doing this routine.

00:22:26.000 We can't win the vote, so there shouldn't be a vote.

00:22:29.000 People had already begun casting votes, and my Republican colleagues marched in front of the cameras, looked down at their shoes, dutifully reversed their positions, and lined up obediently behind their leader again.

00:22:43.000 It gets down to this.

00:22:46.000 Either the American people do get an election year voice regarding a vacancy on the Supreme Court, or they don't.

00:22:52.000 In 2016, Senator McConnell said, give them a voice.

00:22:56.000 Now he says, don't give them a voice.

00:22:58.000 is a shameless, self-serving, venal reversal.

00:23:02.000 Okay, just a note.

00:23:04.000 It's also a shameless, self-serving, venal reversal that you all said that Merrick Garland should get a vote and now you say that Amy Coney Barrett should not.

00:23:10.000 Pat Leahy, most famous for having a cameo in the Batman movies.

00:23:15.000 I heard Senator Leahy from Vermont saying the same thing.

00:23:17.000 They're breaking their word.

00:23:18.000 You guys are pledging to pack the Supreme Court, guys, and kill the filibuster.

00:23:23.000 I think that them, quote unquote, breaking their, they didn't give their word that they were never going to vote on a Republican nominee.

00:23:28.000 They said when the parties are controlled, parties control different branches in an election year, then you should wait for that to be decided by the American public.

00:23:35.000 I think it's a dumb principle.

00:23:36.000 I don't think you have to vote on anybody you don't want to.

00:23:37.000 You're the Senator of the United States.

00:23:39.000 But Democrats are trying to hang their head on this.

00:23:42.000 We shouldn't be holding a hearing three weeks from a presidential election.

00:23:48.000 When millions of Americans have already voted, no one doing so requires that literally half of the Senate goes back on their word.

00:23:59.000 Think of that, my Republican colleagues, literally half of the Senate had to break their word, contradicting every argument they made four years ago about the American people needing Okay, so screaming at the sky and whining about a perfectly traditional process.

00:24:18.000 Again, there have been more than a dozen.

00:24:21.000 I think the statistic was close to 20 people who have been nominated during an election year.

00:24:25.000 And usually when the parties control the same branches, when they control the executive and the legislature, the person gets confirmed.

00:24:32.000 When a different party controls the legislature from the presidency, they do not get confirmed.

00:24:35.000 It is that simple.

00:24:36.000 Okay, in just a second, we'll get to the more substantive critiques of Amy Coney Barrett.

00:24:40.000 And as we'll see, Not good critiques there either.

00:24:43.000 We'll get to that in just one second.

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00:26:00.000 Always like doing the announcer voice at the very end right there.

00:26:03.000 Alrighty, so the Democrats then have to, they have a second line of attack.

00:26:06.000 So first line of attack is we shouldn't hold this vote because votes are mean.

00:26:11.000 Second line of attack is we are afraid that Amy Coney Barrett is gonna do exactly what she pledges to do and rule in accordance with the constitution. 0.87

00:26:17.000 And as we all just want Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

00:26:20.000 Now note, if you are a political actor, so Kamala Harris. 0.99

00:26:28.000 She did this from home and she put up a book, a children's book of Ruth Bader Ginsburg behind her as she made the speech.

00:26:38.000 She shifted this out a couple of times, right?

00:26:39.000 She had this little prop stand behind her and it says, I dissent.

00:26:43.000 Ruth Bader Ginsburg makes her mark as she makes the case that apparently the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Occupied seat. 1.00

00:26:49.000 Should be occupied by, apparently, children of Ruth Bader Ginsburg or descendants of Ruth Bader Ginsburg from now into perpetuity.

00:26:54.000 It should be just like a communist country.

00:26:56.000 In communist countries, judges appoint their own successors.

00:26:58.000 Apparently, or the party does.

00:27:00.000 The same thing should happen, obviously, with Ruth Bader Ginsburg. 1.00

00:27:03.000 Now, I just want to note something.

00:27:05.000 Ruth Bader Ginsburg, she may be a great feminist hero. 0.99

00:27:08.000 She was not a good justice. 1.00

00:27:10.000 I know it's impolitic to point this out at this point.

00:27:12.000 Her judgments stink.

00:27:13.000 Okay, in controversial cases, she wrote opinions that were completely removed from the Constitution in every area except for civil procedure.

00:27:20.000 Civil procedure, oddly enough, she's actually an expert on, and she would actually rule in interesting and textualist ways.

00:27:26.000 She would actually try to fulfill the mandate of a judge when it came to civil procedure. 1.00

00:27:30.000 When it came to everything socially related, she literally just looked into her heart, found the answer, and then twisted the Constitution to fit it.

00:27:36.000 She was a bad justice. 1.00

00:27:38.000 She voted on every single social case the same way that Kamala Harris would.

00:27:41.000 If you vote like a senator and you're on the court, you're not a good judge.

00:27:44.000 That is a good way to tell whether somebody is a good judge.

00:27:45.000 Would they vote exactly the same way on the court as they would as a senator?

00:27:50.000 And if the answer is yes, then you don't know the difference between the political branches of government and the judicial branch of government.

00:27:55.000 But Kamala Harris makes the case that ACB is gonna be real bad because ACB is not RBG and RBG's seat should remain for RBG and not for ACB.

00:28:04.000 And then she just throws in a reference to the notorious BIJ for fun. 1.00

00:28:07.000 Here's Kamala Harris. 0.99

00:28:09.000 Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg devoted her life to fight for equal justice.

00:28:16.000 And she defended the Constitution.

00:28:19.000 But now her legacy and the rights she fought so hard to protect are in jeopardy by replacing Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg with someone who will undo her legacy.

00:28:33.000 President Trump is attempting to roll back Americans' rights for decades to come.

00:28:39.000 Oh, what are those rights that we're talking about?

00:28:40.000 She gets more specific.

00:28:42.000 The rights that she's talking about here are Roe versus Wade, right?

00:28:45.000 Abortion and rights on quote-unquote Obamacare, which is not a right.

00:28:50.000 Okay, that is a privilege granted by government.

00:28:52.000 It is an entitlement granted by government.

00:28:54.000 And this is what Harris said.

00:28:55.000 It's been interesting, actually, to watch as the Democrats shy away from Roe v. Wade talk.

00:28:59.000 So you would think That most of their attack would be on Amy Coney Barrett and Roe v. Wade, because the polling tends to show that Americans are somewhere between pro-life and pro-choice, meaning they don't buy into the Democrats' crazy position that you should be able to abort a baby all the way to point of birth.

00:29:15.000 And depending on if you're the governor of Virginia, maybe a little later than that.

00:29:18.000 And they also disagree with the full-on pro-life position.

00:29:21.000 I mean, this is just what polls show.

00:29:22.000 They disagree with my own position, which is that abortion should be banned from point of conception.

00:29:26.000 I have a feeling that will change over time as the science of embryology gets stronger to the point where you can actually see inside the womb with more clarity from the point of conception.

00:29:36.000 This is what keeps happening, is the American public keeps moving back toward conception, the date on which they think abortion is okay.

00:29:42.000 It used to be they thought it was like six months in, now it's looking more and more like the last couple of trimesters Americans are getting uncomfortable with, which of course they should be, because it looks like a baby by the time you're already at week nine, week ten, it's starting to look Like a baby, just a very, very tiny baby.

00:29:55.000 In any case, the Democrats have decided to shy away from the abortion issue because they've progressively been losing on that issue because of the science.

00:30:01.000 And instead, they're focusing in on the possibility that ACB is gonna rule to get rid of Obamacare.

00:30:05.000 That's not going to happen.

00:30:07.000 Again, that's not going to happen.

00:30:08.000 But Kamala Harris tweeted out, November 10th, that's when the U.S.

00:30:11.000 Supreme Court is set to hear a case to strike down the Affordable Care Act.

00:30:13.000 Senate Republicans are fast-tracking this nominee today in order to ensure that happens.

00:30:17.000 Yes, I am sure they're doing it with an eye toward what is widely perceived to be a rather fringe case on Obamacare.

00:30:24.000 I'm sure that that's exactly what they're doing.

00:30:25.000 They're not fast-tracking the nominee to get it in before the election.

00:30:27.000 They're doing it so that she can rule on the Obamacare case. 1.00

00:30:30.000 Sure.

00:30:31.000 Sure.

00:30:31.000 Okay, Cory Booker.

00:30:32.000 Again, my least favorite American senator.

00:30:35.000 I don't know.

00:30:36.000 There are a few competitors.

00:30:37.000 He's up there.

00:30:37.000 Mazie Hirono is awful.

00:30:39.000 But Booker is... I can't say enough words about Booker.

00:30:42.000 He is as artificial as the Mr. Potato Head he appears to emulate. 0.66

00:30:46.000 And here is Cory Booker saying that Roe vs. Wade and Obamacare are the will of the American people.

00:30:51.000 One, Even if you want to make the case that Obamacare is the will of the American people because elected branches voted for it, I mean, I guess you could make that case.

00:30:51.000 So a couple things.

00:30:58.000 That's fair.

00:30:59.000 Although the repudiation right after Obamacare was pretty staunch against the Democrats.

00:31:03.000 Roe vs. Wade was never the will of the American people.

00:31:06.000 The American people didn't vote for Roe vs. Wade.

00:31:08.000 Roe vs. Wade was a complete judicial usurpation of the political function of the government.

00:31:12.000 Roe vs. Wade was the federal government deciding that the Constitution of the United States suddenly mandated tolerance for abortion past Before point of viability.

00:31:22.000 And it has like nothing to do with the Constitution, and it was usurpation of state power, and it was usurpation of legislative power, even if you wanted to do it at the federal level.

00:31:31.000 But Cory Booker, see, here's the thing.

00:31:34.000 Too many Democrats believe in the Rousseau-ian will of the people.

00:31:36.000 Namely, if something I like happens, it's because it was the will of the people.

00:31:40.000 If something I don't like happens, it's because it was not the will of the people.

00:31:43.000 So the same Democrats who say that Obamacare was the will of the people because the elected branches did it, say that Amy Coney Barrett should not be on the court because the will of the people disagree.

00:31:51.000 In other words, the will of the people, as a phrase, sounds suspiciously like I agree with it to Democrats.

00:31:57.000 So here's Cory Booker saying that everything he agrees with is the will of the people.

00:32:02.000 We're here because in the middle of a deadly pandemic, in the middle of an ongoing election, Senate Republicans have found a nominee in Judge Barrett who they know will do what they couldn't do, subvert the will of the American people and overturn the ACA and overturn Roe v. Wade.

00:32:19.000 That's what this is about.

00:32:20.000 That's why we're here.

00:32:21.000 It's very simple.

00:32:23.000 Senate Republicans know the American people don't want this, but they don't care.

00:32:27.000 Okay, that's not even true.

00:32:29.000 By polling data, plurality of Americans are totally fine with ACB being nominated.

00:32:33.000 Then you get Pat Leahy, who's here to explain that a Catholic mother of seven, one of the most powerful females will be in America and in American history.

00:32:41.000 Pat Leahy says that she will be harmful to women.

00:32:43.000 Yes, I definitely trust Pat Leahy on what's harmful to women. 1.00

00:32:47.000 They're scared, Judge Barrett.

00:32:50.000 They're scared that your confirmation would rip from them the very health care protections the millions of Americans have fought to maintain, and which Congress has repeatedly rejected and eliminated.

00:33:03.000 They're scared that the clock Okay, if women are scared of that, it's because they've been misinformed by Democrats, and women who are scared of it are uninformed.

00:33:22.000 We are not living in a world where abortion is on the menu in terms of banning abortion wholesale.

00:33:27.000 As much as pro-lifers like me would love to protect every unborn life, It is a state issue.

00:33:32.000 It will remain a state issue even if Roe vs. Wade were to be discarded.

00:33:36.000 It is just as simple as that.

00:33:37.000 And when he says that women are afraid that they're going to be forced from the workplace, like what the hell is he talking about?

00:33:45.000 Discrimination in the workplace against women is federally illegal under Title IX of the Civil Rights Act.

00:33:49.000 What the hell is he talking about?

00:33:51.000 It's just, I'm sorry, the Democrats' case is absurd.

00:33:53.000 Meanwhile, Republicans are reveling in their chance to actually talk about the Constitution.

00:33:58.000 Lindsey Graham, who has now opened up a rather substantial lead, like a six-point lead in South Carolina, according to the latest polling data.

00:34:04.000 He was running dead even until a moment ago.

00:34:05.000 He's getting a chance to be Lindsey Graham 2.0 in this hearing.

00:34:09.000 Lindsey Graham's best moments have been in judiciary hearings. 0.55

00:34:12.000 He was great during the Brett Kavanaugh hearings.

00:34:13.000 He was good yesterday.

00:34:14.000 Here was Senator Graham talking about our constitutional duty.

00:34:19.000 The bottom line is, Justice Ginsburg, when asked about this several years ago, said that a president serves four years, not three.

00:34:27.000 There's nothing unconstitutional about this process.

00:34:31.000 This is a vacancy that's occurred through a tragic loss of a great woman, and we're going to fill that vacancy with another great woman.

00:34:39.000 The bottom line here Is that the Senate is doing its duty constitutionally.

00:34:46.000 Okay, that of course is true.

00:34:47.000 Ted Cruz points out correctly that the Democrats see the judiciary as a policymaking body.

00:34:53.000 They do not see it as a body designed to interpret the law.

00:34:56.000 Of course, this is true.

00:34:58.000 Democrats and Republicans have fundamentally different visions of the court.

00:35:03.000 Of what the Supreme Court is supposed to do.

00:35:06.000 What its function is.

00:35:10.000 Democratic senators view the court as a super legislature, as a policymaking body, as a body that will decree outcomes to the American people.

00:35:22.000 Now, that vision of the court is something found nowhere in the Constitution.

00:35:27.000 And it's a curious way to want to run a country.

00:35:30.000 That, of course, is exactly right.

00:35:32.000 But you know what?

00:35:33.000 It doesn't really matter all that much because Democrats are going to continue to run the country that way.

00:35:38.000 Whatever tool is at their disposal, they will use.

00:35:40.000 But Democrats are being pretty careful here.

00:35:42.000 I mean, acknowledge this.

00:35:43.000 The Democrats are being pretty careful so far in their questioning of Amy Coney Barrett.

00:35:46.000 They do not want to repeat the debacle of the Kavanaugh hearing that actually resounded against them in pretty significant ways.

00:35:51.000 Okay, in just a second, we're going to get to the other aspect of the Supreme Court hearing, which is the looming specter of court packing.

00:35:58.000 We'll get to that in just one second.

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00:38:19.000 Okay, and then we get to the Democrats final response to Amy Coney Barrett and that is maybe we'll pack the court. Right? This is I don't think it's real.

00:38:33.000 I mean, I'll just be frank with you.

00:38:34.000 I do not think the Democrats really intend on packing the court, because if they did pack the court, then the political response from the other side would be to pack the court.

00:38:43.000 The other way, I mean, it would completely trash the institution.

00:38:46.000 But I think that they feel it necessary to offer a glimpse of hope to their own base.

00:38:49.000 This is why Joe Biden is playing footsie with it.

00:38:51.000 So Biden yesterday was actually asked again about it.

00:38:54.000 And he said he's kind of uncomfortable with court packing, but he refused to come out and just condemn it outright.

00:38:59.000 Naturally, the other Democrats are trying to dodge the question as well.

00:39:02.000 Tim Kaine, former vice presidential candidate with Hillary Clinton and senator from Virginia.

00:39:05.000 He was asked about Biden and court packing.

00:39:07.000 He said Biden doesn't have to answer those questions.

00:39:09.000 He doesn't.

00:39:10.000 Naturally, the good news is that members of the media will never actually hold Democrats to account for this.

00:39:14.000 And I don't even know the members of the public care that much.

00:39:19.000 Why won't he answer that question?

00:39:22.000 Well, I haven't asked him, but I have a pretty good idea, Bill, because it's not his business.

00:39:27.000 The Constitution gives no power to the president or vice president to pack the court.

00:39:32.000 I heard Senator Ernst say, Joe needs to say he won't pack the court.

00:39:35.000 It's not a presidential responsibility.

00:39:38.000 Congress, according to Article 1 of the Constitution, sets the compositions.

00:39:42.000 You haven't heard Joe Biden said he would send a plan to the court.

00:39:45.000 I don't think this is a matter for the President at all.

00:39:48.000 Okay, that's a lie.

00:39:49.000 It would have to be approved by the President.

00:39:50.000 He could veto the bill.

00:39:51.000 And there are certain things that the President is not required to get involved with.

00:39:55.000 For example, getting rid of the filibuster.

00:39:57.000 Asking Biden about getting rid of the filibuster?

00:39:59.000 He's the president, you know, if he gets elected.

00:40:01.000 And so he actually has no say in that.

00:40:03.000 He could tell his party not to do it.

00:40:04.000 But the president doesn't actually have a role in that.

00:40:06.000 It's a Senate procedural move.

00:40:07.000 When it comes to court packing, there have to be a bill signed by the president.

00:40:10.000 So, of course, Tim Kaine is just lying there.

00:40:12.000 Maisie Hirono, the dumbest person in the United States Senate. 0.90

00:40:15.000 Cory Booker is the most irritating.

00:40:16.000 Maisie Hirono is probably the dumbest. 1.00

00:40:18.000 She dodged on court packing yesterday as well.

00:40:21.000 I have been thinking about court reform for a number of years, but we don't have a serious discussion about court reform, which, by the way, it will take serious discussion.

00:40:31.000 It's just not a matter of, do you want this change?

00:40:33.000 Do you want that change?

00:40:35.000 That kind of discussion doesn't happen unless the Democrats take back the Senate. 0.96

00:40:39.000 And yes, I expect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to be laser focused on the potential for this country to give this out of control Okay, so we're not going to answer any of these tough questions.

00:40:58.000 Naturally, the entire Democratic commentariat is now pushing court expansion.

00:41:02.000 Eugene Robinson, the columnist for the Washington Post, he has a piece today called Republicans are trying to make court expansion a mortal sin.

00:41:08.000 Don't let them.

00:41:09.000 That is the dumbest argument I have ever heard in my life.

00:41:11.000 So you can only ask a politician about what they're going to do once they've been elected because only then do they have the capacity to do it.

00:41:17.000 That is directly counter to how democracies or republics work.

00:41:19.000 then and only then will court packing be an actual possibility.

00:41:21.000 That is the dumbest argument I have ever heard in my life.

00:41:23.000 So you can only ask a politician about what they're going to do once they've been elected because only then do they have the capacity to do it.

00:41:29.000 That is directly counter to how democracies or republics work.

00:41:33.000 If you're going to vote for a candidate, typically you're allowed to ask them what they're going to do when they get the power.

00:41:38.000 That's absurd.

00:41:40.000 But, says Eugene Robinson, they should actually manipulate the court.

00:41:43.000 He says there's more than one way to skew or unskew the ideology of the high court by manipulating the number of sitting justices.

00:41:49.000 You could do it effectively by reducing the number of seats to eight, keeping one seat vacant for more than a year, as Republicans did with Barack Obama's nominee in 2016.

00:41:55.000 They didn't do that to keep the seat open.

00:41:57.000 I mean, not so that there could be eight justices.

00:42:00.000 They didn't care about there being eight justices.

00:42:01.000 If Barack Obama had nominated someone whose judicial philosophy they liked, presumably they would have gone along with it.

00:42:07.000 Or he could rush through a hasty confirmation process, says Eugene Robinson.

00:42:09.000 But you could also just pack the Constitution.

00:42:13.000 If Democrats were to win the White House and Senate and keep control of the House, they would have options for how to respond to the long Republican campaign to capture the courts and the shenanigans they've used to pursue it.

00:42:22.000 Expanding the size of the Supreme Court wouldn't be their only option.

00:42:24.000 Recognize something about the courts?

00:42:26.000 Every single Norm that has been broken around the courts was first broken by Democrats.

00:42:30.000 It was Democrats who broke the norm around approving qualified judicial nominees by borking Robert Bork.

00:42:35.000 It was Democrats who broke the norm surrounding judicial nominees and treating them with respect during the Clarence Thomas hearings and then again during the Brett Kavanaugh hearings.

00:42:43.000 It was Democrats Who decided to nuke the judicial filibuster under Barack Obama. 0.96

00:42:48.000 So let's be clear here.

00:42:50.000 Everything Republicans have done, they've done because Democrats set the precedent.

00:42:54.000 It is not because Republicans set the precedent.

00:42:55.000 But in any case, all of this, I think, is all of this may be really a moot point.

00:43:01.000 Maybe we're putting too much focus on the court packing thing.

00:43:04.000 And I say that as someone who cares deeply about court packing.

00:43:06.000 Because it's just one aspect of a simple fact, which is that Joe Biden will not be asked any tough questions from now until the election.

00:43:06.000 Why?

00:43:12.000 Joe Biden is not a coherent person.

00:43:14.000 He's not.

00:43:15.000 And asking him to be coherent is a mistake.

00:43:17.000 He's a doddering old fool.

00:43:18.000 He's been a fool for a while, but now he's doddering and old as well.

00:43:22.000 He cannot string together a sentence.

00:43:24.000 This is why it was such an act of political error for President Trump to keep interrupting him during that first debate.

00:43:29.000 By the way, if you look at the polling data, And I know, I know.

00:43:32.000 Every time I say polls, people start screaming at their phones and their radios.

00:43:36.000 Okay, guys, data is data.

00:43:38.000 If you look at the polling data, the closest that Trump and Biden have been was September 29th.

00:43:43.000 Then the polls diverge.

00:43:44.000 They split.

00:43:45.000 Biden goes almost straight up and Trump goes almost straight down starting September 29th.

00:43:49.000 What happened September 29th?

00:43:51.000 That first debate.

00:43:52.000 Why?

00:43:52.000 Because people wanted to see if Joe Biden could hold up.

00:43:56.000 And all Joe Biden had to do was stand there.

00:43:58.000 Let the guy talk.

00:44:00.000 I think that, frankly, if it requires a Zoom debate in order for Biden to be allowed to talk, then do the Zoom debate.

00:44:07.000 More Biden speaking on camera is better.

00:44:09.000 Biden speaking on camera in any situation where he's being asked a tough question is bad for Joe Biden.

00:44:14.000 In fact, Joe Biden is such a terrible, I mean, he's a terrible candidate.

00:44:17.000 He is.

00:44:18.000 This is why I've said before that if Trump, look, if any Republican losing to a Democrat, Republicans face a bunch of institutional obstacles, namely the media who hate their guts and will cover them negatively while carrying around a slop bucket for the Democratic candidate.

00:44:32.000 They have to face the institutional biases of some members of the government.

00:44:37.000 There are certain obstacles that Republicans just have to face as candidates.

00:44:40.000 That's true.

00:44:40.000 But if you lose to Joe Biden by double digits, this old doddering idiot, you lose to this guy who ran for president one million times and lost every time until now.

00:44:49.000 Then some of that has to be on your own campaign strategy, because Biden cannot hold it together.

00:44:53.000 He is not capable of holding it together.

00:44:55.000 So, for example, yesterday, Joe Biden was asked specifically about a Gallup poll.

00:44:58.000 It showed 56% of Americans were happier now than they were four years ago.

00:45:03.000 And he was asked, what do you say to those people who say they were happier now than four years ago about why they should vote for you?

00:45:08.000 And Biden literally said they shouldn't vote for me.

00:45:10.000 The poll says 56%, dude.

00:45:12.000 Do you not understand how numbers work?

00:45:13.000 That's a pretty amazing, amazing statement.

00:45:16.000 Here was Joe Biden saying just that.

00:45:18.000 Gallup reported last week 56% of Americans said that they were better off today than they were four years ago would have been under the Obama-Biden administration.

00:45:28.000 So why should people who feel that they are better off today under the Trump administration vote for you?

00:45:33.000 Well if they think that they probably shouldn't.

00:45:36.000 But that was not the only Joe Biden fumble and stumble.

00:45:39.000 Like, this should be the story of the campaign.

00:45:41.000 The story of the campaign should be that this guy is not going to be president for long if he is president.

00:45:45.000 He needs to get a food taster, first of all, for Kamala Harris.

00:45:47.000 Never let Kamala serve you tea.

00:45:49.000 But beyond that, this is not a person who's going to be president in four years, let alone eight years.

00:45:55.000 Here is Joe Biden stumbling once again and saying he was running for Senate of the United States.

00:46:00.000 You know, we have to come together.

00:46:02.000 That's why I'm running.

00:46:04.000 I'm running as a proud Democrat for the Senate.

00:46:07.000 Well, no, you're not, though.

00:46:09.000 So there's that.

00:46:10.000 And then Biden also forgot Mitt Romney's name.

00:46:13.000 He only ran against the Romney campaign in 2012.

00:46:15.000 OK, this is not like 40 years ago and he's mixing up senators or something.

00:46:20.000 Here he was forgetting Romney's name and calling him the Mormon guy.

00:46:24.000 You may remember I got in trouble when we were running against the senator who was a Mormon.

00:46:30.000 I'm the governor, okay?

00:46:32.000 Okay, well done.

00:46:34.000 He is not coherent.

00:46:34.000 Well done, Joe Biden.

00:46:35.000 He is not with it.

00:46:36.000 So maybe we shouldn't put too much focus on the fact he won't answer questions on court packing.

00:46:40.000 I'm not sure he's capable of answering serious questions on anything.

00:46:43.000 The bar is so low for him at this point that if he is even mildly in the same ballpark as a topic, people credit him with doing a great job as he did during that CNN town hall.

00:46:53.000 But this is why Trump pressuring him and then letting him talk would be the good strategy from here on out.

00:46:58.000 By the way, that tactic does work.

00:47:00.000 So Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, he is running against Amy McGrath in Kentucky.

00:47:05.000 He's going to beat Amy McGrath.

00:47:06.000 Again, Democrats have poured money down a rat hole running against Mitch McConnell in Kentucky.

00:47:11.000 I feel it's necessary to spend an awful lot of time, or as much time as possible, with Republicans who are capable of articulating conservative principles and pointing out that Democrats stand against a lot of the major institutions of American government.

00:47:22.000 It's why I spent a lot of time on that Pence-Harris debate, where I said, like, if you strip the Trumpian attitude from the Trump administration, all you get is a lot of good policy and some conservative ideology.

00:47:35.000 It doesn't mean everything the Trump administration has done is good.

00:47:36.000 They've spent out the wazoo, for example.

00:47:40.000 Articulation of conservative principle in a solid way is a winner.

00:47:43.000 Here was Mitch McConnell going after Amy McGrath in their Senate race.

00:47:46.000 They had a Senate debate the other night.

00:47:47.000 And McConnell just thoroughly, thoroughly trashed her. 1.00

00:47:51.000 My opponent says she's the most progressive person in Kentucky.

00:47:54.000 What does that mean?

00:47:55.000 That means they want to stack the Supreme Court.

00:47:58.000 In other words, add numbers so they can get an outcome that they like.

00:48:02.000 She wants to make the District of Columbia a state, Puerto Rico a state, get rid of the filibuster in the Senate. 1.00

00:48:08.000 In short, there's not a dime's worth of difference between my opponent and all the National Democrats that you've watched.

00:48:15.000 If you give them control of the government, that's what they'll do.

00:48:19.000 This is exactly right.

00:48:20.000 This is why, at the very least, I'm hopeful that Republicans make that argument in Senate races around the country.

00:48:25.000 Again, it is looking much more competitive in the Senate races right now than it is in the presidential race overall.

00:48:31.000 And as I say, if Republicans hold Maine, if they hold Montana, If they hold Georgia, both seats in Georgia, if they somehow take Michigan, if they hold the seat in Iowa, they'll retain the Senate.

00:48:44.000 And that will be a very, very important thing because, again, Democrats in control of the presidency and the House and the Senate is one of the scarier propositions on the ballot.

00:48:53.000 So if you're going to take that money and donate it somewhere, donate it to a Senate race because those things are real close and the Senate is going to matter an awful, awful lot in coming years.

00:49:00.000 Even if Trump wins, it's going to matter an awful lot.

00:49:02.000 If Trump wins and Democrats take the Senate, nothing's getting done.

00:49:05.000 So, those Senate races matter an awful lot.

00:49:08.000 More focus on the Senate, less on the presidential race, is my quick sort of political pick for the day.

00:49:13.000 Okay, meanwhile, controversy has broken out over COVID once again.

00:49:17.000 So, a couple things.

00:49:19.000 One, there was supposed to be a debate this week.

00:49:21.000 The Commission on Presidential Debate said they could not have an in-person debate.

00:49:24.000 Well, as it turns out, President Trump has now tested negative for coronavirus on consecutive days and is no longer infectious to others, according to Dr. Sean Conley.

00:49:30.000 He said in a statement in response to your inquiry regarding the president's most recent COVID-19 test, I can share with you he has now tested negative on consecutive days using the Abbott BinaxNOW antigen card.

00:49:39.000 It is important to note this test was not used in isolation for the determination of the president's current negative status.

00:49:45.000 Repeatedly, negative antigen tests taken in context with additional clinical and laboratory data, including viral load, subgenomic RNA, and PCR cycle threshold measurements, as well as ongoing assessment of viral culture data, all indicate a lack of detectable viral replication.

00:49:59.000 So, that means that it has been a mistake for the Commission on Presidential Debate to cancel the debate, but no shock there.

00:50:15.000 They stepped in just in time to save Joe Biden from a second debate.

00:50:18.000 Okay, meanwhile, Trump out on the campaign trail in his post-COVID state.

00:50:22.000 And things are getting exciting out there.

00:50:24.000 So President Trump danced to YMCA.

00:50:27.000 He was down in Florida, in Sanford, Florida, doing a big rally.

00:50:30.000 And here was the president looking enthused and healthy and ready to go.

00:50:35.000 It's hard not to laugh because, listen, the president's a funny guy.

00:50:39.000 So here is President Trump dancing.

00:50:41.000 That's a that's a look.

00:50:53.000 It's a thing.

00:50:53.000 It's a look.

00:50:53.000 It's a thing that has happened in human history.

00:50:57.000 And then Trump, obviously very excited to be back out on the stump.

00:51:01.000 And he says he's going to wade into the crowd and kiss people.

00:51:04.000 Some of us actually predicted this, right?

00:51:05.000 I said that he was going to body surf.

00:51:06.000 He was going to jump out into the crowd, get carried around on the shoulders of various Trump supporters.

00:51:11.000 He said he was going to wander out there and just kiss everybody.

00:51:14.000 I went through it.

00:51:15.000 Now they say I'm immune.

00:51:17.000 I can feel, I feel so powerful.

00:51:19.000 I'll walk into that audience.

00:51:21.000 I'll walk in there, I'll kiss everyone in that audience.

00:51:26.000 I'll kiss the guys and the beautiful women and everybody.

00:51:31.000 I'll just give you a big fat kiss. 1.00

00:51:36.000 He's a funny man.

00:51:38.000 He does the funniest.

00:51:39.000 That is for sure.

00:51:41.000 I will say, is it a smart closing pitch?

00:51:42.000 Is it a super smart closing pitch?

00:51:44.000 Well, it shows that, listen, Americans are still worried about COVID.

00:51:47.000 I think that a lot of that worry is overblown, not because of fears of COVID if you're in a vulnerable subpopulation, but because the death rates on COVID have dropped dramatically, dramatically from March.

00:51:58.000 I mean, I would actually hazard to say that if Trump had gotten COVID in March when people didn't know what they were doing, there's a much better chance that the man would have died from it.

00:52:06.000 Because that's true for everybody in a vulnerable subgroup, right?

00:52:08.000 He had to take remdesivir.

00:52:09.000 That was not available in the early going.

00:52:11.000 He took monoclonal antibodies.

00:52:12.000 Those were not available in the early goings.

00:52:14.000 The hospitalization rates are down and the death rates in hospitals are down by something like 80 to 90 percent.

00:52:19.000 So this thing is not nearly as deadly as it was the first time around.

00:52:23.000 With that said, are Americans still fearful?

00:52:25.000 Is a certain amount of caution still merited?

00:52:28.000 Absolutely, absolutely.

00:52:30.000 And that's why, again, from a political point of view, I really don't understand why Republican politicians particularly are being so cavalier about the mask wearing.

00:52:40.000 Listen, I understand that we live in a reactionary era where whenever Democrats in the media say something is important, the immediate reaction is to say it's not important at all.

00:52:47.000 I understand that it's irritating to watch members of the media saying selectively that certain masks are useful and certain masks are not, that if you're dancing for racial justice, In crowds, or if you're going to a party in a minority neighborhood, then mask wearing is not important.

00:53:01.000 But if you're a Jew going to shul, or if you're a Trump rallier going to a Trump rally, or if you're going to an ACB event, then that is super, super important.

00:53:09.000 Then the masks are super important.

00:53:10.000 And the selective application of mask shaming is really irritating.

00:53:14.000 That doesn't mean it is smart for American Republican politicians to take off the mask and wade into crowds.

00:53:20.000 Because the minute they get COVID, then the media is going to turn around and say, because you weren't cautious enough.

00:53:24.000 Now, there's no guarantee that you're going to avoid COVID, even if you wear a mask.

00:53:28.000 There was a recent self-reported survey saying that 85% of people who said that they had gotten COVID said that they frequently or often wore masks.

00:53:35.000 Now, again, that's self-reported data.

00:53:37.000 That may be a little bit high.

00:53:38.000 Nonetheless, the sort of perception widespread among the American public is that you're not being as cautious as you could be if you are not wearing masks.

00:53:46.000 So I don't understand.

00:53:47.000 By the way, you know who understands is Mitch McConnell, right?

00:53:49.000 Mitch McConnell was asked the other day about why he's not visiting the White House so often.

00:53:52.000 He said because they're not taking enough precautions on COVID.

00:53:54.000 That is a widespread public perception.

00:53:56.000 So Trump doing these big outdoor rallies with a lot of people not wearing masks, It doesn't make tons of sense to me, frankly.

00:54:03.000 On a political level, it doesn't make a lot of sense.

00:54:05.000 Mark Meadows did some of this yesterday, so Meadows was being quizzed by the media, and he wanted to take off his mask, so he just kind of wandered away.

00:54:14.000 That way I can take this off to talk.

00:54:18.000 Well, I'm more than 10 feet away.

00:54:21.000 Well, I'm not going to talk through a mask.

00:54:25.000 Okay, so you heard one of the members of the media say, no, don't take off the mask, and I'm more than 10 feet away.

00:54:29.000 That's not all Meadows' fault, obviously.

00:54:31.000 It's not all of Meadows' fault.

00:54:33.000 And that is the media's fault for, I mean, really, like, I get it.

00:54:37.000 It makes no scientific sense.

00:54:38.000 But let's just be real about what politics is.

00:54:40.000 Very often, politics is the meme.

00:54:42.000 And right now, the meme is the mask.

00:54:43.000 Democrats understand this.

00:54:44.000 For some reason, Republicans seem not to.

00:54:46.000 Again, I get it.

00:54:47.000 The media are super irritating on the subject, right?

00:54:49.000 Jim Acosta was at a Trump rally yesterday.

00:54:51.000 And people were chanting, CNN sucks.

00:54:52.000 Fact check true.

00:54:53.000 And then he started saying that, you know, getting coronavirus, that also sucks.

00:54:57.000 It's terrible.

00:54:57.000 Thank you, Jim Acosta.

00:54:58.000 We needed your expert medical advice, Jim Acosta.

00:55:01.000 And ladies, find you a gentleman who loves you like Jim Acosta loves Jim Acosta.

00:55:07.000 Iowa and North Carolina really states it should be in the bag for President Trump right now.

00:55:11.000 That's an indication as to how much trouble he's in politically right now, Wolf.

00:55:14.000 And as this crowd is chanting that there are members of the press here who suck, I should also point out, Wolf, what also sucks?

00:55:21.000 Getting the coronavirus.

00:55:23.000 Um, so thank you for that, Jim Acosta.

00:55:25.000 Yes, it turns out getting coronavirus does, in fact, suck.

00:55:28.000 And it still turns out that on the death per million level, Democratic states still have the most deaths.

00:55:32.000 So if you're turning this into a political thing, let's recognize that that cuts a fair number of ways.

00:55:37.000 Now, this is broken out into a controversy In which Trump finally, the media have been trying to get this to happen all along.

00:55:43.000 Trump was smart to avoid it for months.

00:55:45.000 Now it's breaking out into the open.

00:55:46.000 He's having a direct conflict with Dr. Anthony Fauci, who again, never should have been propped up as Captain COVID, right?

00:55:52.000 The guy who knows more about COVID than any other human being.

00:55:56.000 He was wrong about a lot of stuff.

00:55:57.000 Early on, he said that it was not a real threat.

00:55:59.000 You should go about your daily lives.

00:56:00.000 And then he said that you should not bother with masks because apparently he was lying to the American people in order so that we wouldn't use PPE and we'd reserve it for medical workers.

00:56:09.000 And then he was very much in favor of lockdowns, and now it turns out that those lockdowns were not such a great idea as the WHO now recognizes.

00:56:15.000 In fact, there's a tremendous amount of rising COVID in Europe.

00:56:19.000 First of all, we should not actually use number of cases as a good indicator of whether a country is handling this well.

00:56:24.000 You should use hospitalizations, ICUs, and deaths as the indication of whether a country is handling this particularly well.

00:56:30.000 If you're going to use infections as the gauge, then you should determine whether you're on the downside of a curve or whether you're just in the middle of a lockdown.

00:56:37.000 So Sweden right now has not really seen a tremendous increase in the number of cases because they've been open basically forever.

00:56:44.000 But UK, France, they're seeing an absolute skyrocketing number of cases right now.

00:56:48.000 Does that mean like the end of the world?

00:56:49.000 Apparently not.

00:56:50.000 Apparently Europe is staying open.

00:56:51.000 According to the Washington Post, England has seen new coronavirus cases quadruple in the past three weeks, now has more COVID-19 patients hospitalized than before the government imposed a lockdown in March.

00:57:01.000 Well, I mean, yes, that makes perfect sense.

00:57:04.000 A lot of people are being infected.

00:57:06.000 Like much of Europe, Britain, however, is pursuing targeted local restrictions.

00:57:09.000 They're closing pubs in Liverpool, for example, while doing everything it can to avoid another national lockdown and closure of schools.

00:57:15.000 In a statement to Parliament, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was trying to take a balanced approach between the extremes of shuttering our lives and our economy and abandoning the fight.

00:57:23.000 He has set up a three-tiered system.

00:57:24.000 This is common across Europe.

00:57:26.000 Countries across Europe are similarly looking for compromises as they scramble to contain a resurgence in infections and hospital admissions.

00:57:32.000 Even still, they face more anger and frustration from businesses and individuals than they did in the spring.

00:57:38.000 Ravi Gupta, microbiologist at the University of Cambridge, said that in Britain and other European countries, a full lockdown is off the political agenda, in part because the fear factor around the coronavirus is not what it was in the spring.

00:57:48.000 He says it's clear people cannot endure long-term restrictions outside of authoritarian regimes.

00:57:53.000 So this is not a great shock, and it's not restricted to the United States.

00:57:57.000 What that does mean is that the lockdown skeptics were correct.

00:58:02.000 Lockdown has not, in fact, been a big boon.

00:58:04.000 All it did was delay this thing.

00:58:05.000 Maybe that had the effect of tamping down the death rates in March and April, which is good, but it did not have the effect of quashing the virus or stopping the virus in any real way.

00:58:13.000 Okay, bottom line is this.

00:58:15.000 In American politics, you know, come back across this side of the water where everybody pretends that America exists in isolation.

00:58:20.000 The Trump administration policy, as I've been saying all along, was not wrong.

00:58:23.000 Their policy was actually much better than what a Democratic administration policy would have been, which would have been a fascistic top-down control over every area of the American economy, which would have been really bad.

00:58:32.000 I mean, Joe Biden is basically threatening it now.

00:58:34.000 It would have been really bad.

00:58:36.000 However, there are two sides to this.

00:58:38.000 One is the policy, as always with the Trump administration.

00:58:40.000 One is the policy, and one is the messaging.

00:58:42.000 When it comes to messaging, you know it is a bad idea to be at war with Anthony Fauci, who again has been propped up by the media and put on the cover of InTouch magazine.

00:58:51.000 If Trump wanted to put him front and center originally, then you can't always be at war with your own personnel.

00:58:57.000 So Trump quoted Fauci in an ad, in which Fauci said that, I think that they've done more than anybody else would have.

00:59:05.000 Basically showing that Fauci himself was a fan of the Trump administration's action.

00:59:09.000 Then Fauci, who is a political actor.

00:59:11.000 I mean, he is political.

00:59:12.000 To pretend he is not political is to ignore his actions over the past few months.

00:59:15.000 He is political.

00:59:16.000 That does not mean that targeting him is smart.

00:59:18.000 Fauci then went on CNN and said that he's angry that there's a commercial quoting him.

00:59:22.000 Okay, here's the deal, dude.

00:59:24.000 If you don't want to be in the media, don't be in the media.

00:59:25.000 If you are in the media, get ready for people to quote you in commercials.

00:59:28.000 So, Trump is not wrong to be angry at Fauci.

00:59:30.000 That also does not mean it's smart to go to war with Fauci.

00:59:32.000 Here is Fauci going after Trump yesterday.

00:59:34.000 Should the Trump campaign take this ad down?

00:59:37.000 You know, I think so, Jake.

00:59:40.000 I think it's really unfortunate and really disappointing that they did that.

00:59:44.000 It's so clear that I'm not a political person.

00:59:47.000 And I have never, either directly or indirectly, endorsed a political candidate.

00:59:52.000 And to take a completely out-of-context statement and put it in, which is obviously a political campaign ad, I thought was really very disappointing.

01:00:02.000 Okay, so there he is going after Trump.

01:00:03.000 By the way, the statement was not really out of context.

01:00:06.000 It really was not.

01:00:07.000 And there's Fauci going after Trump.

01:00:09.000 Look, he doesn't like Trump.

01:00:10.000 It's pretty obvious Trump doesn't like him.

01:00:12.000 Fauci did have to admit that Trump is right about being immune to the virus at this point.

01:00:17.000 The problem with the word immune, it means different things to different individuals, Jake.

01:00:22.000 If he means that he's been infected, and having been infected and recovered, that he will not get infected again.

01:00:30.000 That's true for a limited period of time.

01:00:33.000 What we do not know is how long that protection lasts.

01:00:38.000 So technically speaking, The fact that he has recovered from an immunological standpoint, he has an immune response in him that very likely would protect him from being reinfected.

01:00:51.000 Okay, well the media are disappointed in this answer because they've been proclaiming that Trump is lying when he says he's immune.

01:00:55.000 Okay, but again, Fauci is...

01:00:58.000 To pretend he's not political is a mistake.

01:01:00.000 Here is Anthony Fauci suggesting that he can't think of any reasons for excess COVID deaths except for COVID.

01:01:06.000 Now, it is true that the excess deaths year on year are largely attributable to COVID.

01:01:12.000 It's also true we've seen excess deaths in terms of suicide and depression.

01:01:16.000 We've seen deaths of despair.

01:01:17.000 We have seen excess deaths in terms of people who didn't go to the hospital and they should have gone to the hospital.

01:01:22.000 So there were excess deaths that were attributable to lockdown, and it is unscientific.

01:01:26.000 It really is for Fauci not to at least acknowledge that.

01:01:31.000 Do you think that this is a sign that we are actually undercounting coronavirus deaths?

01:01:36.000 Yeah.

01:01:37.000 No, you can't say for sure, Jake, but it certainly suggests that that is the case, unless you can find another reason, which I can't think of, of there being these excess deaths in the context of coronavirus.

01:01:51.000 You'd have to make an assumption that is reasonably possible, if not likely, that those are deaths that are related to corona and they're just not being counted.

01:02:02.000 Okay, and then Fauci got political again.

01:02:03.000 He was asked about rallies.

01:02:04.000 Now, again, he was perfectly willing to answer when it came to rallies, Trump rallies, saying that these political rallies they're asking for trouble, they're really bad.

01:02:12.000 Do you remember Fauci being particularly vocal about the giant racial justice rallies that were happening across, the so-called racial justice rallies that were happening across the country?

01:02:18.000 I don't remember him being a leader on that particular issue.

01:02:21.000 I remember him sort of receding into the background.

01:02:23.000 But here was Fauci going after Trump's rallies.

01:02:28.000 Put aside all of the issues of what political implications a rally has and just put that aside and look at it purely in the context of public health.

01:02:37.000 We know that that is asking for trouble when you do that.

01:02:40.000 We've seen that when you have situations of congregate settings where there are a lot of people without masks.

01:02:47.000 The data speak for themselves.

01:02:49.000 It happens.

01:02:50.000 And now is even more so a worse time to do that.

01:02:55.000 Okay, so Trump responded this morning on Twitter.

01:02:58.000 He went after Fauci on Twitter.

01:03:00.000 That seems like a bad move.

01:03:03.000 However much I disagree with Fauci on a lot of this stuff.

01:03:05.000 And I disagree with Fauci about his general strategy.

01:03:08.000 I disagree with Fauci on the way he's characterized these problems.

01:03:10.000 I disagree with Fauci about downplaying the effects of lockdown while upplaying the threat of COVID beyond what I think is entirely reasonable. I think he's been far too hesitant to convey true data about the deadliness of COVID to people based on age and condition stratification. I think he should be much clearer from the outset. And I think that his strategy overall has not been good. Trump going after Fauci is a mistake. And he's tweeting incessantly about Fauci today. He tweeted today, Tony's pitching arm is far more accurate than his

01:03:38.000 prognostications. No problem, no masks. WHO no longer likes lockdowns. Just came out against.

01:03:42.000 Trump was right. We saved 2 million American lives. Now, 2 million American lives statistic is coming from that very bad Niel Ferguson. 0.95

01:03:49.000 10.

01:03:50.000 Ridiculous study in Britain, not Neil Ferguson, the historian, Neil Ferguson, the epidemiologist in Britain.

01:03:57.000 There's a terrible study he did in which he suggested that America would experience 2.2 million deaths from coronavirus if everything was left alone.

01:04:03.000 He says, well, we only lost 200,000, therefore we saved 2 million lives.

01:04:06.000 I think that is scientifically dubious, but coming out against Fauci in a time when people are still worried about COVID and you're saying that you're going to body surf a crowd is just not a good message.

01:04:13.000 It's just not like, is that your closing pitch?

01:04:16.000 I don't understand how you win an election on that basis, especially because it, again, allows the media to focus in on you rather than focusing in on the absolute incompetence and wild incoherence of Joe Biden and a radical Democratic Party who will do long-term damage to the institutions of the United States.

01:04:32.000 Alrighty, so we'll be back here a little bit later today with two additional hours of content.

01:04:35.000 Otherwise, we'll see you here tomorrow.

01:04:36.000 I'm Ben Shapiro.

01:04:37.000 This is The Ben Shapiro Show.

01:04:42.000 The Ben Shapiro Show is produced by Colton Haas.

01:04:45.000 Our technical director is Austin Stevens.

01:04:47.000 Executive producer, Jeremy Boring.

01:04:49.000 Our supervising producers are Mathis Glover and Robert Sterling.

01:04:52.000 Assistant director, Paweł Wajdowski.

01:04:54.000 Our associate producer is Nick Sheehan.

01:04:55.000 The show is edited by Adam Sajewicz.

01:04:57.000 Audio mix by Mike Karomina.

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01:05:01.000 The Ben Shapiro Show is a Daily Wire production.

01:05:03.000 Copyright Daily Wire 2020.

01:05:06.000 Democrat senators humiliate themselves at the confirmation hearings for SCOTUS nominee Amy Barrett.

01:05:11.000 The CDC finds 85% of people infected by COVID wore their masks always or often, and 56% of Americans feel they're doing better than they were four years ago.

The Ben Shapiro Show - October 13, 2020

It’s Easy As ACB | Ep. 1114

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