The Ben Shapiro Show - Joe Biden Just Surrendered To The Taliban | Ep. 1318

00:00:00.000 The war in Afghanistan draws to a conclusion as the Taliban overrun Kandahar and threaten the United States Embassy in Kabul.

00:00:06.000 And the American Academy of Pediatrics says kids don't need to see human faces anymore.

00:00:10.000 I'm Ben Shapiro.

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

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00:00:24.000 We'll get to all the news in just one moment.

00:00:26.000 First, here is your quick reminder that we had a really, really bad inflation report yesterday, and we had a really, really bad inflation report the month before that.

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00:01:41.000 Alrighty, so, After 20 long years in Afghanistan, the United States is pulling out.

00:01:50.000 We're not pulling out for a good reason.

00:01:51.000 It would be one thing if there was some actual strategy attached to this, or if the United States were actually achieving some sort of sensible goal.

00:01:58.000 The United States, however, is not doing any of that.

00:02:00.000 The United States is withdrawing from Afghanistan at a time When this is no longer among America's endless wars.

00:02:05.000 In order for a war to be considered endless, you actually have to be in a state of continual warfare.

00:02:11.000 The United States currently has, or did have until Joe Biden announced a withdrawal, 3,500 troops in Afghanistan.

00:02:17.000 The last combat casualties in the United States from American soldiers in Afghanistan was on February 8th, 2020.

00:02:24.000 It is currently August 2021.

00:02:26.000 That is not an active combat zone.

00:02:29.000 You're more likely to be killed as a cop in Chicago than you are to be killed as a combat soldier in Afghanistan if you're an American right now.

00:02:35.000 But Joe Biden decided he wanted a win.

00:02:37.000 And because he wanted a win, and I don't even know what he thought the win was going to be, we were going to pull out precipitously from Afghanistan. 0.98

00:02:43.000 Now, I understand the argument that we were never going to achieve our goal in Afghanistan if our goal was defined as nation building.

00:02:50.000 This was never going to be a thriving democracy.

00:02:52.000 It is literally the most tribal place on earth.

00:02:55.000 There's no history of democracy or liberality or human rights.

00:02:59.000 Those things just were not there until the United States got there.

00:03:02.000 And so the idea that we were going to graft Western institutions onto very inhospitable soil, that always seemed like a bit of a pipe dream.

00:03:10.000 But there is still a rather large scale American interest in Afghanistan.

00:03:14.000 If you recall why we first went there, we didn't go there to build democracy in Afghanistan.

00:03:18.000 We went there in order to deny Al Qaeda a staging base.

00:03:21.000 And because we had not done that in the 1990s, Al Qaeda used Taliban occupied Afghanistan as a staging base for 9-11.

00:03:28.000 And having 3500 troops taking control of the Kandahar Air Force Base, for example, and ensuring that the United States had the ability to send out drone strikes, the ability to work with the Afghan military to stage attacks on terror bases, the ability to train the Afghan military and provide them backup and weaponry if they were going to take on potential threats to the United States.

00:03:48.000 That was always the primary goal.

00:03:49.000 Again, the goal was never Primarily to turn Afghanistan into a democracy.

00:03:54.000 The problem is over time because politicians have a very difficult time just expressing what America's interest is in terms of foreign policy.

00:04:02.000 American politicians tend to speak in high flown, beautiful terms about the rise of democracy and the rise of human rights and all the rest of this.

00:04:08.000 But if you make that your primary driver, Then you do become the world's policeman, and people start to miss why we went into Afghanistan in the first place, which is that Al-Qaeda killed 3,000 Americans on 9-11, and we said to the Taliban, turn over Osama bin Laden, and they refused to do so.

00:04:22.000 And so we deposed the dictators there, the Taliban.

00:04:25.000 We replaced them with the Northern Alliance.

00:04:26.000 There was a sort of proto-democracy happening there.

00:04:29.000 In other words, we let our failure with the secondary goal of establishing a thriving democracy in Afghanistan overtake our primary goal, which is to continue to provide a base of operations against terrorists in Afghanistan.

00:04:40.000 And so now we are withdrawing for no discernible purpose at all.

00:04:42.000 And the immediate effect of this.

00:04:44.000 As it was always destined to be, is that the Taliban are rushing right back in and taking over. 0.94

00:04:49.000 According to the Associated Press today, the Taliban captured two major Afghan cities, the country's second and third largest after Kabul, and a strategic provincial capital on Thursday, further squeezing the embattled government just weeks before the end of the American military mission in Afghanistan.

00:05:02.000 Remember, Joe Biden for some odd reason decided that he wanted to withdraw all American troops by September 11th, which I don't even understand the symbolism there.

00:05:08.000 What in the hell is the symbolism there?

00:05:11.000 The symbolism of here's the group of people who harbored the people who committed 9-11.

00:05:16.000 We're going to pull out on the 20th anniversary of that date and hand the place back to those people.

00:05:20.000 How is that even a symbolic win?

00:05:23.000 Who was the constituency for this?

00:05:26.000 It's always been a promise that politicians have made, right?

00:05:27.000 Obama made the promise he was going to withdraw from Afghanistan.

00:05:30.000 Then he increased troops because it turns out being the president comes with seeing the intel reports.

00:05:34.000 And then Donald Trump said he was going to pull out of Afghanistan and then necessity meant that we had to keep troops in Afghanistan. 0.80

00:05:40.000 And then Joe Biden, because he's a dullard, decided we're just going to go ahead with this and it doesn't matter what comes next. 0.94

00:05:46.000 Which is completely short-sighted. 0.99

00:05:47.000 And I don't even see the political calculus here.

00:05:49.000 Because the American people don't tend to care about foreign policy until the heads start coming off.

00:05:54.000 Right?

00:05:54.000 That's the point where we care about foreign policy.

00:05:56.000 So America doesn't care about what's going on in Syria.

00:05:58.000 But if the media start blanketing the TV with James Foley being beheaded in Syria, suddenly the American people are deeply concerned about what's happening in Syria.

00:06:05.000 Half a million civilians can die in Syria and we won't give a damn. 0.98

00:06:07.000 But the minute an American gets beheaded, suddenly we want our troops on the ground doing something about it.

00:06:13.000 If there is tape that comes out of the Yazidis being attacked by ISIS, then all of a sudden we say, why can't we do something about that?

00:06:19.000 See, America is good hearted, but only in short spurts.

00:06:22.000 So I don't understand what Biden even thinks he's doing here, because you know what the next footage is going to be, and it's going to be a Taliban fighters beheading people.

00:06:30.000 We'll be back in there in six months.

00:06:32.000 In fact, as it turns out, we might be back in there inside of six hours.

00:06:35.000 The United States is going to have to put thousands of troops on the ground to evacuate the U.S.

00:06:38.000 embassy in Kabul.

00:06:40.000 According to the Associated Press, the seizure of Kandahar and Herat marks the biggest prizes yet for the Taliban, who have taken 12 of Afghanistan's 34 provincial capitals as part of a week-long blitz.

00:06:49.000 The capture of the city of Ghazni, meanwhile, cuts off a crucial highway linking the Afghan capital, Kabul, with the country's southern provinces, all part of an insurgent push some 20 years after U.S.

00:06:58.000 and NATO troops invaded and ousted the Taliban government.

00:07:01.000 While Kabul itself isn't under direct threat yet, the losses and the battles elsewhere further tighten the grip of a resurgent Taliban who are estimated to now hold over two-thirds of the country and continue to press their offensive.

00:07:12.000 With security rapidly deteriorating, the United States plans to send in 3,000 troops to help evacuate some personnel from the U.S.

00:07:20.000 Embassy in Kabul.

00:07:21.000 So, just to get this straight, we are withdrawing 3,500 troops so that we can send back in 3,000 troops to evacuate the U.S.

00:07:27.000 Embassy in Kabul.

00:07:29.000 And then, when the videos hit the TV, of all the women being lined up and shot by the Taliban, which is undoubtedly the next thing that is going to hit your TV, then presumably we'll be sending in another 3,000 troops again.

00:07:40.000 This is just a replay of Barack Obama's decision that we were going to pull all troops out of Iraq, and then ISIS took over, and voila, we were back in Iraq.

00:07:47.000 It turns out that when the United States ends a war, our opponents don't.

00:07:50.000 That is not how wars typically end.

00:07:52.000 If you declare that you have lost, your opponent simply fills the vacuum.

00:07:57.000 According to the Associated Press, thousands of Afghans have fled their homes amid fears the Taliban will again impose a brutal repressive government, all but eliminating women's rights and conducting public amputations, stonings, and executions.

00:08:07.000 Peace talks in Qatar remain stalled, though diplomats met throughout the day.

00:08:11.000 The latest U.S.

00:08:12.000 military intelligence assessment suggests Kabul could come under insurgent pressure within 30 days, and that if current trends hold, the Taliban could gain full control of the country within a few months.

00:08:20.000 The Afghan government may eventually be forced to pull back to defend the capital and just a few other cities in the coming days if the Taliban keep up their momentum.

00:08:27.000 The onslaught represents a stunning collapse of Afghan forces and renews questions about where the over $830 billion spent by the U.S.

00:08:34.000 Defense Department on fighting, training those troops, and reconstruction efforts went, especially as Taliban fighters ride on American-made Humvees and pickup trucks with the M-16s slung over their shoulders.

00:08:45.000 Just delightful, delightful stuff.

00:08:46.000 Afghan lawmaker Samin Barghazai announced the city's fall, saying some officials there had escaped.

00:08:52.000 Witnesses described seeing Taliban fighters once detained at Herat's prison now moving freely on the streets.

00:08:58.000 In Kandahar, the Taliban seized the governor's office and other buildings.

00:09:00.000 Witnesses said the governor and other officials fled the onslaught, catching a flight to Kabul.

00:09:03.000 They declined to be named publicly because the defeat has yet to be acknowledged by the government.

00:09:07.000 The Taliban then opened up all the prisons and let out all of the Taliban fighters who were there.

00:09:13.000 Ghazni Provincial Council Member Amanullah Kamrani alleged the provincial governor and police chief made a deal with the Taliban to flee after surrendering.

00:09:19.000 Taliban video and photos purported to show the governor's convoy freely passing by insurgents as part of the deal.

00:09:24.000 The Afghan Interior Ministry spokesperson, Mirwais Stanekzai, later said the governor and his deputies had been arrested over that alleged deal.

00:09:30.000 The officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

00:09:34.000 So this is a full-scale disaster area.

00:09:37.000 The USA Air Force, B-52 bombers, F-15 fighter jets, drones, and other aircrafts were involved in fighting across the country.

00:09:42.000 So, for all the talk about how we weren't involved in the fighting anymore, it turns out that we are involved in the fighting.

00:09:46.000 We're just now losing.

00:09:48.000 So, well done everybody.

00:09:50.000 Also, NBC News is acknowledging that Al-Qaeda is rushing back in.

00:09:54.000 Who could have predicted this except for every single sentient human being?

00:09:58.000 Of which Joe Biden doesn't belong in that cadre.

00:10:00.000 He is not a sentient human being any longer. 0.77

00:10:01.000 He is a houseplant.

00:10:03.000 Reality remains reality.

00:10:06.000 According to NBC News, with the Taliban steamrolling across Afghanistan, U.S.

00:10:09.000 defense officials are concerned a Taliban takeover of the country will allow al-Qaeda to rebuild and consolidate, creating security concerns well outside Afghan borders.

00:10:18.000 Nearly 20 years after it planned the September 11th attacks from Afghanistan, Al Qaeda has a diminished presence in the country.

00:10:23.000 Senior officials say it's only two or three hundred members.

00:10:26.000 Or as Barack Obama might say, it's the JV squad.

00:10:28.000 Until it's not the JV squad anymore.

00:10:30.000 One of the officials said they're not really very large, or what we would consider a capable contingent, but the security vacuum left by the withdrawal of U.S.

00:10:37.000 military forces could create an opening for Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups to reorganize, the officials say.

00:10:43.000 If the Taliban take over the government, intelligence about Al-Qaeda is likely to become even scarcer.

00:10:47.000 And while the U.S.

00:10:48.000 will still maintain authority to strike Al-Qaeda targets in Afghanistan, there's no U.S.

00:10:52.000 presence on the ground, no Air Force base, which means we have to use neighboring countries to base our Air Force if we decide that we want to launch some strikes.

00:11:00.000 According to Marine General Frank McKenzie, he said, what we're here to do is prevent Al-Qaeda and ISIS from being able to reconstitute in the ungoverned spaces, generally of eastern Afghanistan, and be able to plot attacks against our homeland. That threat is still here today.

00:11:12.000 He says, if the pressure comes off, I believe they're going to regenerate.

00:11:17.000 I think it's only a matter of time before we see them assert themselves and begin to plan attacks against our homeland.

00:11:21.000 And of course, that would be the predictable result.

00:11:23.000 Remember, September 11th was the outgrowth of the United States' unwillingness to take on Al-Qaeda after the USS Cole bombing, after the bombings of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

00:11:33.000 You remember that Osama Bin Laden specifically said that the United States was a paper tiger.

00:11:40.000 And so the idea was that he'd hit us over and over and over again.

00:11:43.000 We hadn't done anything.

00:11:44.000 So obviously we wouldn't do anything if he hit our towers and if he hit the Pentagon.

00:11:49.000 And then we kind of shocked him because we actually did quite a lot.

00:11:51.000 But it turns out that when you surrender territory to some of the worst people on earth, they don't take that as you just want peace. 0.96

00:11:57.000 They take that as you are weak and you are foolish and then they come after you.

00:12:02.000 There's this sort of wishful thinking that goes into so much of our foreign policy these days that if we just do the things that we want to do, everybody else will just fall into line. 0.98

00:12:10.000 That is crazy.

00:12:12.000 By the way, the chances right now that the United States Embassy ends up falling to the Taliban?

00:12:16.000 Really, really high.

00:12:17.000 Maybe we avoid these sort of Insane imagery of the fall of Saigon, where people are attempting to climb onto helicopters, but that will only be because we station 3,000 Marines outside the U.S.

00:12:28.000 Embassy while we evacuate the place and then we leave an empty building for the Taliban to dance inside of. 0.96

00:12:33.000 Joe Biden says, you won't see us helicoptering people off roofs.

00:12:36.000 Well, I have a feeling that we're going to see something very similar.

00:12:40.000 Do you see any parallels between this withdrawal and what happened in Vietnam with some people feeling?

00:12:45.000 None whatsoever.

00:12:46.000 Zero.

00:12:47.000 What you had is you had entire brigades breaking through the gates of our embassy.

00:12:52.000 Six, if I'm not mistaken.

00:12:54.000 The Taliban is not the South, the North Vietnamese army.

00:12:58.000 They're not, they're not remotely comparable in terms of capability.

00:13:02.000 There's going to be no circumstance where you see people being lifted off the roof of a embassy of the United States from Afghanistan.

00:13:11.000 It is not at all comparable.

00:13:13.000 It is extremely comparable.

00:13:15.000 What do you mean they don't have the same capabilities?

00:13:17.000 You mean the capabilities that Ho Chi Minh's army had when they invaded South Vietnam and then took the capital?

00:13:23.000 You mean exactly the same thing that the Taliban are doing exactly right now? 0.57

00:13:27.000 In what sense is this any different?

00:13:30.000 Like, really, is there any difference at all?

00:13:32.000 It's exactly the same thing.

00:13:34.000 We were achieving many of our objectives in Afghanistan, mainly the objective to maintain a base of operations with which to fight terrorism, just as we had achieved many of our objectives in South Vietnam.

00:13:43.000 And then, political actors decided that surrender was preferable to any form of success, and so they just pulled out precipitously while proclaiming victory.

00:13:50.000 It's insane.

00:13:52.000 By the way, Taliban fighters are apparently executing surrendering troops, so things are already going fantastically well over there.

00:13:56.000 We'll get to that in just one second.

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00:15:00.000 Okay, so the Taliban, of course, doing what the Taliban do and they are already executing everyone they come across. According to ABC News, as Taliban forces advance on more provincial capitals, the U.S. is warning that its fighters are committing atrocities that could amount to war crimes. The State Department will also begin reducing its staff levels at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul due to the evolving security situation. Wait, I was just informed by Joe Biden there wouldn't be anything like the fall of Saigon, that it wouldn't be the invasion of the U.S. Embassy.

00:15:22.000 Embassy and helicopters flying off the roof.

00:15:24.000 And yet here I'm finding out that the State Department is saying that they're reducing their staff levels at the U.S.

00:15:29.000 Embassy in Kabul because of the quote-unquote evolving security situation.

00:15:32.000 Which is a nice euphemistic way of saying because we're deliberately abandoning the country.

00:15:37.000 To facilitate this decision, the Pentagon will temporarily deploy additional personnel to Hamid Karzai International Airport.

00:15:43.000 The U.S.

00:15:43.000 Embassy in Kabul has also urged Americans to evacuate Afghanistan immediately.

00:15:48.000 So get out right now. 0.92

00:15:49.000 So yeah, this sounds pretty much like kind of like Saigon guys, not seeing a whole hell of a lot of distinctions here.

00:15:55.000 The only distinction is that Afghanistan is, is a landlocked country.

00:15:59.000 So you're not going to see the boat people, but that's about it. 0.96

00:16:02.000 Meaning there's no place for a lot of these folks to go.

00:16:05.000 The capital could fall into Taliban hands in a matter of weeks.

00:16:08.000 A military analysis said the city could be isolated in the next 30 to 60 days, be captured in 90 days.

00:16:13.000 But now, that seems like an outside timeline because the Taliban are just running roughshod across the country.

00:16:18.000 The Taliban are denying reports its fighters are executing Afghan troops, but the U.S.

00:16:22.000 Embassy said on Thursday it was hearing additional reports of Taliban executions of surrendering Afghan troops.

00:16:27.000 They said they were deeply disturbing and could constitute war crimes.

00:16:29.000 Well, I mean, if they constitute war crimes, I guess we'll have to do something about that.

00:16:33.000 Like nothing.

00:16:34.000 I don't even understand what you're talking about at this point.

00:16:38.000 Joe Biden has said there are no conditions under which we go back in or insert troops or anything like that. 0.99

00:16:42.000 So you mouthing off and writing angry letters to the Taliban is likely to accomplish precisely zero, except to make you look like an idiot, which is exactly what Joe Biden looks like today. 0.98

00:16:51.000 The Taliban have also detained, quote, several members of the Afghan government, including both civilian leaders and officers in the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces in several locations. 0.99

00:16:59.000 God, we are just the worst allies.

00:17:01.000 Seriously, like all the people who worked with us are going to get shot. 0.98

00:17:03.000 They're going to get shot in the head in the public square. 0.96

00:17:06.000 And Joe Biden is just going to go.

00:17:08.000 And that was unnecessary because, again, zero combat deaths in the United States from American troops, zero combat deaths since February of 2020.

00:17:18.000 It's one thing to make the argument we need to pull out of Afghanistan because the costs are too high in 2011.

00:17:22.000 It is another thing to say that when you are talking about zero combat deaths, most of the fighting, by the way, being done by civilian contractors who are getting paid for the privilege.

00:17:32.000 I don't even know how, with a straight face, the U.S.

00:17:36.000 Embassy under Joe Biden or the State Department can talk about human rights violations by the Taliban like they're going to do a damn thing about it. 0.82

00:17:41.000 They're not going to.

00:17:43.000 I don't know why America's allies would trust us.

00:17:45.000 Like, this is the real takeaway.

00:17:47.000 The takeaway is, if you're an American ally, do you feel comfortable right now relying on America's ability to back you up?

00:17:52.000 Do you?

00:17:53.000 The people of Hong Kong relied on the West to back them up, and now they're all living under the tender mercies of communist rule.

00:18:00.000 The Kurds relied on the United States to protect them.

00:18:03.000 That didn't work out particularly well for the Kurds.

00:18:06.000 The Afghans relied on the United States to ally with them in order to overthrow the Taliban, and now all those people are going to get shot in the head and all the women are going to cram back into burqas and acid thrown on their faces and all the rest. 0.98

00:18:18.000 Who takes the risk of doing anything in alliance with the United States when the United States acts like this?

00:18:23.000 Isn't it more likely that countries, in order to preserve themselves, are simply going to start cutting deals with, for example, the Chinese?

00:18:30.000 Isn't that more likely the case?

00:18:31.000 Like if you're a country in the middle, let's say you're a country, a European country, and the United States says, listen, China is a rising threat.

00:18:37.000 China's aggressive. 0.87

00:18:39.000 They are, they are vindictive.

00:18:40.000 They pursue human rights abuses. 0.93

00:18:42.000 They're some of the worst people on the planet in the, in the Chinese government. 1.00

00:18:45.000 And we need you to help us isolate the Chinese. 1.00

00:18:48.000 If you're an American ally, and let's say you're an American ally in the Middle East, like the Saudis or the Israelis, or let's say that you're an American ally in Europe, like the Germans or the French.

00:18:57.000 Why in the world would you rely on the United States to back your play?

00:19:00.000 I just don't understand.

00:19:02.000 It doesn't make any... If you wish, the United States has to be credible in two ways.

00:19:06.000 It has to have credible threats, and it also has to have credible commitments.

00:19:08.000 And we don't have credible threats at this point, and we also don't have credible commitments at this point.

00:19:13.000 The arrests, by the way, contradict the Taliban's claim to support a negotiated settlement, and contrast the Taliban's own rhetoric providing for the safety of Afghan leaders and troops in areas recently seized by the Taliban, according to the U.S.

00:19:24.000 Embassy.

00:19:26.000 Critics are saying the Biden administration is foolish to count on promises made by the Taliban in Qatar while Taliban continues to just run roughshod over the entire country and do whatever the hell they want.

00:19:36.000 Secretary of State Antony Blinken told ABC News the reported atrocities were, quote, deeply, deeply troubling, but the administration has not taken any action to punish the group for them. 0.98

00:19:44.000 In fact, the administration just sounds weak and pathetic. 0.94

00:19:46.000 Okay, I'll give you an example. 1.00

00:19:48.000 Here's how weak and pathetic the administration sounds. 0.98

00:19:50.000 Here's Jen Psaki from the White House talking about the Taliban and their human rights abuses. 0.94

00:19:56.000 The Taliban also has to make an assessment about what they want their role to be in the international community.

00:20:01.000 And I know that Ambassador Khalilzad made comments when he was at the political negotiations yesterday, making clear that the international community is going to watch closely how the Taliban behaves.

00:20:11.000 They have a range of tools in their arsenal as well to take steps should they choose.

00:20:15.000 Oh boy, what are you going to do?

00:20:16.000 Leverage economic sanctions against a bunch of cavemen from the 8th century?

00:20:20.000 I'm sure they're quaking in their boots.

00:20:21.000 They've been living in caves for the last 20 years.

00:20:24.000 I'm sure they're really going to be upset if you guys... Economic sanctions on the Taliban?

00:20:28.000 Wow.

00:20:29.000 Don't threaten them with a good time.

00:20:30.000 I mean, seriously, this is unbelievable.

00:20:32.000 Like, they have to decide... I'm pretty sure the Taliban decided a long time ago whether they wanted to be members of the international community.

00:20:40.000 Such putzes over here in this administration.

00:20:41.000 It's just unbelievable.

00:20:43.000 Like, it's insane.

00:20:45.000 Genocide, they have to decide.

00:20:46.000 Well, I mean, they do have to decide that.

00:20:48.000 It's like, okay, so you got the serial killer in the corner, and he's holding the woman in the closet, and every so often he goes in, and he brings another victim, and then he just kills one.

00:20:58.000 That guy, and we know he's doing it, that guy over there, we have to decide whether that guy, he, that man, is gonna have to decide whether he wants to be part of the international community.

00:21:06.000 He's gonna have to decide whether he wants to be welcome at bingo night.

00:21:10.000 Or, alternatively, he's just gonna do whatever the F he wants because you just signified that you don't care.

00:21:14.000 Don't pretend you care when you don't care.

00:21:16.000 If you wanna own it, own it.

00:21:18.000 Seriously, if you don't care about what's happening there, just say you don't care about what's happening there.

00:21:22.000 That's at least an argument.

00:21:24.000 But they want it both ways, of course, of course.

00:21:27.000 And the CBS, even the members of the media are saying this.

00:21:30.000 This is part that drives me up a wall.

00:21:32.000 The members of the media who spent the last, you know, they spent eight years under George W. Bush and then four years under Donald Trump talking about how we desperately needed to pull out from Afghanistan.

00:21:39.000 And then Biden does it.

00:21:40.000 And then the media are like, well, I hate that the consequences here are terrible.

00:21:44.000 This is, yes, you guys made those consequences.

00:21:46.000 Congratulations. 1.00

00:21:47.000 Slow clap for all you morons. 1.00

00:21:48.000 But here's the CBS reporter saying to the state department spokesperson, you know, you keep saying you're with the Afghan people. 1.00

00:21:53.000 I'm noticing that you're not while they get shot in the face.

00:21:56.000 I respect you, and we know you have a job to do.

00:21:59.000 But there is no way you can sit there and say that the people of Afghanistan, watching the Taliban take over provinces, watching their country crumble, are now going to watch American diplomats get on military planes and leave the country.

00:22:09.000 That that sends a signal that the U.S.

00:22:11.000 is with them in the long haul, diplomatically.

00:22:14.000 Look at what we've been doing.

00:22:15.000 Look at the investments we have made in Afghanistan.

00:22:18.000 Look at the investments, however you measure it.

00:22:22.000 Okay, everyone is laughing at these people. 1.00

00:22:23.000 And they should be laughing at these people, because they're pathetic. 0.99

00:22:26.000 Okay, in just one second, we'll get to more of this because it really is, it's an ignominious end to this war. 0.98

00:22:31.000 And again, to what basically was just a continuous peacekeeping mission.

00:22:35.000 That's all this was in Afghanistan.

00:22:36.000 It's pretty incredible.

00:22:37.000 We'll get to more of it in a second.

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00:24:04.000 Alrighty, so.

00:24:06.000 This is all, it's amazing to watch this administration spin as though they're just not abandoning these folks.

00:24:11.000 And again, you want to abandon them?

00:24:12.000 Make the case.

00:24:13.000 Make the case why they should be abandoned.

00:24:14.000 Make the case why the sacrifice that we are currently undergoing, not the sacrifice we underwent for the last 20 years, the sacrifice we are currently undergoing is unnecessary.

00:24:23.000 I haven't heard virtually anybody make that case.

00:24:25.000 I keep hearing phrases like endless wars thrown around without recognition of the fact that we had 3,500 troops on the ground and zero combat deaths in the last 18 months.

00:24:33.000 I keep hearing phraseology thrown around about look how much money we've already spent which is sort of like saying you buy a house and let's say the house is a money pit like it's a complete money pit and you spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to upgrade this house and it's eaten up your savings so after you're done right and now you're living in the house it's got some maintenance issues but you know you're living there and you've already spent a lot of money so you decide you know what Because I spent a lot of money here over the last 10 years, I'm out now.

00:24:55.000 He just bans in the house.

00:24:57.000 That makes no sense.

00:24:58.000 Why would you do that?

00:25:00.000 Again, the question is not what we've spent in the past or whether that's justified.

00:25:03.000 There are serious questions about that.

00:25:04.000 The question is, why are we leaving now? 1.00

00:25:06.000 And the answer is because Joe Biden is a boob, a rube, and a moron. 1.00

00:25:09.000 That is the answer. 1.00

00:25:11.000 There's no other answer that is possible.

00:25:13.000 You know that he's gone completely wrong when even the Washington Post editorial board is like, guys, this dude is screwing things up in a radical way.

00:25:19.000 The Washington Post, their editorial board, they put up a piece titled, Afghan lives ruined or lost will be part of Biden's legacy.

00:25:25.000 Yeah, no bleep.

00:25:28.000 According to the Washington Post editorial board, Mr. Biden called it quits, he says, because after 20 years of trying to get Kabul to govern effectively and fight harder against the Taliban, there was still no outright victory or prospect of one.

00:25:38.000 But the United States was stalemated, not defeated.

00:25:40.000 There's a difference.

00:25:40.000 And how big a difference may soon become tragically apparent.

00:25:43.000 In addition to preventing terrorists from using Afghanistan as a base for another 9-11, the United States achieved, or at least oversaw, real progress for the people of Afghanistan.

00:25:50.000 When the Taliban ruled between 1996 and 2001, it forbade schooling for girls.

00:25:54.000 By 2015, the last year for which World Bank data exist, more than 50% of girls attended first grade.

00:25:59.000 In 2006, the Coed American University of Afghanistan, which now enrolls over 1,700 students, opened in Kabul, supported by U.S.

00:26:05.000 government funds.

00:26:06.000 It has partnerships with Stanford, the UCs, University of California, and the University of Nebraska.

00:26:11.000 A massive terrorist attack in 2016 forced the AUAF to close.

00:26:14.000 It courageously reopened in 2017.

00:26:16.000 Most Afghans live in unfathomable poverty.

00:26:20.000 But today's per capita income of around 550 bucks per year is still a 66% improvement in real terms since 2002.

00:26:28.000 Biden surveys the impending disaster and absolves himself of any responsibility.

00:26:31.000 He says it's up to Afghan leaders to come together.

00:26:34.000 He said they've got to fight for themselves.

00:26:35.000 The truth is they had been fighting, but the United States had trained them to do it with the support of U.S.

00:26:39.000 advisors and contractors.

00:26:40.000 Suddenly, all the support is just gone.

00:26:43.000 The Biden administration says it will take care of people who work directly for the United States.

00:26:47.000 In a real sense, though, this country assumed at least a partial responsibility for the Afghan people, and now we are abandoning them.

00:26:52.000 Of course, that is very largely true.

00:26:54.000 And, you know, the video coming out from Afghanistan is not pretty.

00:26:57.000 The BBC has a report about what life is like under restored Taliban rule.

00:27:01.000 Suffice it to say, it doesn't look like people living in Brooklyn.

00:27:05.000 The market is still busy.

00:27:07.000 Women have apparently been allowed to come here without male companions, if they need to. 0.98

00:27:12.000 But elsewhere, Taliban commanders have reportedly banned them.

00:27:17.000 Since if they don't wear the burqa, there's no problem. 1.00

00:27:20.000 They can wear the hijab.

00:27:21.000 There's no compulsion to wear the burqa.

00:27:22.000 The head is covered by a hijab. 0.93

00:27:23.000 I'm well in.

00:27:24.000 The next day, a young woman was killed close by, allegedly for wearing immodest clothing.

00:27:30.000 Many fear the Taliban want to resurrect their practice of brutal punishments.

00:27:35.000 They insist they were not responsible for this flogging, supposedly filmed last year.

00:27:40.000 Many people here in Afghanistan and around the world Would be horrified at the idea of a society where hands are cut, women are stoned to death. 1.00

00:27:51.000 He says, we're being misjudged.

00:27:54.000 Is it better to let these crimes go unpunished?

00:27:56.000 You mean the crime of like walking around without your head covered in a bag?

00:28:02.000 Like that crime right there?

00:28:04.000 Yeah, things are going beautifully over there. 0.99

00:28:06.000 By the way, how pathetic is America right now? 1.00

00:28:08.000 Here's how pathetic America is. 1.00

00:28:09.000 This story is unreal. 0.99

00:28:09.000 Okay, this is from the New York Times. 0.99

00:28:11.000 The US asks Taliban to spare its embassy in coming fight for Kabul.

00:28:15.000 We are basically asking, we are begging the worst people on the planet, the Taliban, to at least give us the optical grace of not burning down our embassy. 0.83

00:28:24.000 You know, it's okay if you take over the country, and you kill all of the people who worked with us, and you acid all the women who go to school, and you beat people in the street, and sometimes shoot them in the street. 0.98

00:28:33.000 That's all okay. 0.97

00:28:34.000 Please, if you could just not burn our embassy so there aren't these ugly pictures on CNN that get people mad at us, that would be amazing.

00:28:40.000 P-A-T-H-E-T-I-C with a capital P. According to the New York Times, American negotiators are trying to extract assurances from the Taliban that they will not attack the U.S.

00:28:48.000 Embassy in Kabul if the extremist group takes over the country's government and ever wants to receive foreign aid.

00:28:53.000 Three American officials said, foreign aid?

00:28:55.000 The F you talking?

00:28:56.000 To the Taliban? 0.54

00:29:00.000 What?

00:29:01.000 Don't burn our capital if you ever want us to sign you a check.

00:29:05.000 Under what circumstances would we be signing checks to the Taliban?

00:29:10.000 The people who literally are murdering all of the people we allied ourselves with. 0.94

00:29:15.000 This is, I mean, this is legitimately one of the most pathetic things I've ever heard in terms of American foreign policy. 0.76

00:29:20.000 We are now begging the Taliban, a ragtag group of 8th century primitives, we are begging them to not burn our capital, to not burn our embassy, because if they burn our embassy, maybe we won't sign them a welfare check. 0.97

00:29:35.000 According to the New York Times, the effort, led by Zalmay Khalilzad, the chief American envoy in talks with the Taliban, seeks to stave off a full evacuation of the embassy as they rapidly seize cities across Afghanistan.

00:29:45.000 On Thursday, the State Department announced it was sending home an unspecified number of the 1,400 Americans stationed at the embassy and drawing down what the agency's spokesperson, Ned Price, described as a core diplomatic presence in Kabul. 0.89

00:29:57.000 By the way, the Pentagon spokesperson announcing this thing, I mean, it's pathetic. 0.96

00:30:01.000 It's pathetic, pathetic footage. 0.99

00:30:03.000 And I will say that America's response to all of this, to the insanity of what's going on, is even more pathetic. 1.00

00:30:10.000 The U.S. 0.93

00:30:10.000 Embassy put out a statement about the detention by the Taliban of members of the Afghan government. 0.93

00:30:16.000 Here is the statement put out by the Embassy of the United States of America.

00:30:20.000 The U.S.

00:30:21.000 Embassy in Afghanistan condemns detention of Afghan officials.

00:30:30.000 We strongly condemn the unlawful arrest of several members of the Afghan government including both civilian leaders and officers of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces.

00:30:39.000 Credible sources indicate that the Taliban have detained provincial government officials and members of the Afghan police in several locations.

00:30:44.000 These actions are unacceptable, and they contradict the Taliban's claim to support a negotiated settlement in the ongoing Doha peace process.

00:30:52.000 The actions also contrast the Taliban's own rhetoric, providing for the safety of Afghan leaders and troops in areas recently seized by the Taliban.

00:30:59.000 We're urging The immediate release of all Afghan government officials detained by the Taliban, and we are calling on the Taliban to fully and earnestly engage in negotiations that end the suffering of the Afghan people and pave the way for an inclusive political settlement that benefits all Afghans.

00:31:12.000 That's gonna work, guys.

00:31:14.000 Way to man up there.

00:31:15.000 That's totally gonna work.

00:31:17.000 You mean a weakly and vaguely worded... You're urging the Taliban to not execute the people they oppose?

00:31:24.000 Well then, I mean, that radically... Until then, the Taliban were just like, we're gonna do whatever the hell we want and execute all of our enemies. 0.96

00:31:30.000 But now that you put out a statement urging them not to do so for the sake of Miss Congeniality-esque world peace, that's going to change the math on the ground.

00:31:39.000 Nobody ever asked them to be nice before.

00:31:40.000 Now that somebody's asked them to be nice, I think that'll change everything. 0.94

00:31:46.000 Again, there are no words for how pathetic this is.

00:31:48.000 And remember, the people who are currently dancing in the offices of the governor of Akash, not only lack rhythm, they lack a basic sense of civilization and human decency. 0.99

00:31:57.000 These are the worst people on earth.

00:31:59.000 There's some video that emerged from Afghanistan of Taliban fighters dancing around. 0.69

00:32:03.000 Honestly, they have even worse rhythm than I do, which is saying an awful lot.

00:32:07.000 Here's some of that footage.

00:32:11.000 Yeah, that's not... That's not good dancing.

00:32:19.000 I mean, I'll... I will say.

00:32:22.000 Apparently good at humiliating the Biden State Department, very bad at dancing.

00:32:26.000 Also, that music is not... Okay, that's enough of that.

00:32:29.000 Okay.

00:32:30.000 Meanwhile, by the way, the vacuum is being filled.

00:32:32.000 Remember, Afghanistan is not the only country on the planet, and the Taliban aren't the only group we have to worry about.

00:32:37.000 China is now preparing to recognize the Taliban, because China is completely transactional.

00:32:42.000 China is entirely transactional.

00:32:44.000 Understand that us abandoning Afghanistan does not mean that some group we'll never hear of again is going to take over.

00:32:50.000 It means that the Chinese government will cut a deal with the Taliban to extract natural resources. 0.88

00:32:55.000 The Chinese government will strengthen itself.

00:32:57.000 If you think of China as a serious long-term threat to the viability of the American project, which you should because they're incredibly aggressive, then it should trouble you that China has now extended its tentacles ever more westward. 0.81

00:33:10.000 According to U.S.

00:33:10.000 News, China is now preparing to recognize the Taliban as the legitimate ruler of Afghanistan if it succeeds in toppling the Western-backed government in Kabul.

00:33:17.000 News has learned.

00:33:17.000 The U.S.

00:33:18.000 A prospect that undercuts the Biden administration's remaining source of leverage over the insurgent network as it continues its startling campaign to regain control.

00:33:26.000 Beijing has publicly pressured the Taliban to continue working toward a peace agreement, an outcome China appears to genuinely prefer and one the U.S.

00:33:32.000 has pressed with growing urgency, but new Chinese military and intelligence assessments of the realities on the ground have prompted leaders in the Chinese Communist Party to prepare to formalize their relationship with the insurgent network, according to multiple U.S.

00:33:44.000 and foreign intelligence sources familiar with the Chinese assessment.

00:33:47.000 So, while the Biden administration's like, guys, please don't burn our embassy because we might not send you foreign aid, China's like, if you burn their embassy, you're still gonna get foreign aid, guys.

00:33:55.000 We're gonna be your friends.

00:33:56.000 Okay, China does not care with whom they make a deal. 1.00

00:34:00.000 They don't care about the human rights of the people with whom they make a deal because they're a human rights violator themselves.

00:34:04.000 They are a tyrannical overlordship.

00:34:08.000 And they are a real threat to American interests globally.

00:34:11.000 Isolationism is not a solution to your opponents wanting to expand their power.

00:34:18.000 If the Taliban want to claim international legitimacy, these actions will not get them the legitimacy they seek, said White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

00:34:25.000 They should devote the same energy to the peace process as they do to the military campaign, or alternatively, they could ignore you and then just make a deal with the Chinese. 0.67

00:34:32.000 So all of this is going extremely, extremely well.

00:34:34.000 This is a massive failure on the part of the Biden administration, and they need to own it.

00:34:39.000 They need to own it in the same way that Barack Obama had to own the rise of ISIS.

00:34:42.000 This is way worse.

00:34:44.000 This is way worse.

00:34:45.000 At least you can make an argument with regard to ISIS that ISIS was a small ragtag band when we pulled out of Iraq.

00:34:51.000 This is significantly worse.

00:34:53.000 We all know what's happening in real time.

00:34:55.000 This is not like we leave and then ISIS gradually rises and suddenly six months later, we're worried about it.

00:34:59.000 We're watching the bad guys take over Kabul now.

00:35:03.000 And Biden is like, well, you know, Matlock's on.

00:35:08.000 Amazing stuff.

00:35:09.000 Alrighty.

00:35:09.000 In just one second, we'll get to the continued madness over COVID and it grows increasingly mad.

00:35:13.000 I mean, it's just, the insanity is never, I don't think that our centralizing bureaucracy is ever going to stop.

00:35:18.000 Ever, ever, ever.

00:35:19.000 First, let's talk about a simple fact.

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00:35:23.000 Everybody needs home insurance.

00:35:24.000 In fact, in many states, it's mandatory.

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00:36:24.000 Alrighty, we'll get to everything COVID related in just one second.

00:36:26.000 First, it is that incredible time of the week when I give a shout out to a Daily Wire member.

00:36:30.000 Today, it's Anthony Thomas on Instagram, who understands quality parenting and quality products.

00:36:34.000 In this magnificent picture, Anthony's young son is out on the links holding his golf club in one hand and the world's greatest beverage vessel in the other.

00:36:42.000 The caption reads, nothing keeps my sweet tea cold on the golf course quite like my leftist tears tumbler.

00:36:47.000 Dad may not let me listen to all of Ben Shapiro, but He does talk to us a lot about a lot of the topics, and that's some good dadding right there.

00:36:54.000 Thanks for the pic, and thanks for being a Dailyware member.

00:36:57.000 Also, you may have noticed that America is at a turning point, that the authoritarians seem to be on the ascendant in pretty much every area of American life.

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00:38:50.000 Alrighty, meanwhile, everybody is panicking about COVID.

00:38:57.000 The panic continues.

00:38:59.000 How bad is the panic at this point?

00:39:00.000 The Philadelphia mayor has now ordered the unvaccinated in Philadelphia to wear not one, but two masks.

00:39:07.000 In fact, probably the Philadelphia mayor, Jim Kenney, he should order them to wear infinity masks.

00:39:12.000 Like, it'll just come off their face, go all the way around the world until it hits them in the back of the head again.

00:39:16.000 Like, that's the only way to truly know that we are safe from COVID.

00:39:21.000 He is now announcing, beginning September 1st, all government employees must be fully vaccinated or they will be required to double mask when working in enclosed spaces.

00:39:28.000 But wait a second, why do we need to double mask?

00:39:30.000 I was told that single masks are good.

00:39:31.000 I was told that if you even questioned the efficacy of single masks, then you would be thrown off of YouTube, right?

00:39:36.000 But he's saying you need double masks.

00:39:38.000 Or as Anthony Fauci says, if one mask is good, perhaps a second mask would be even better.

00:39:43.000 Or maybe a third.

00:39:44.000 Or maybe a fourth.

00:39:44.000 Maybe a ninth mask.

00:39:46.000 Really, really exciting stuff.

00:39:47.000 By the way, the vaccines continue to be extremely effective against death, which is the only thing that I care about.

00:39:56.000 No one at any point has explained to me how the moral compass here is supposed to work.

00:39:58.000 What's the end goal?

00:39:59.000 What's the limiting principle?

00:40:02.000 Really, there is no limiting principle.

00:40:03.000 By the logic of the lockdown advocates and the mask vaccine advocates and the vaccine mandate people, the logic seems to be that so long as disease is with us on planet Earth, you must mask up, vaccinated or unvaccinated.

00:40:16.000 Which means you will be masking up until the end of time.

00:40:19.000 End of story.

00:40:20.000 And your kids will be masking up until the end of time.

00:40:23.000 To prevent deaths that are entirely preventable so long as you get the vaccine.

00:40:28.000 Like, What?

00:40:31.000 There's no logic here.

00:40:32.000 None.

00:40:33.000 And yet, the left has just gone back to the playbook.

00:40:37.000 The playbook is, if you are in favor of any level of human freedom at all, you're pro-death. 1.00

00:40:41.000 This is Joy Reid being her usual idiotic self. 0.99

00:40:45.000 The governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, he's leaving Florida this weekend to go do a fundraiser on a sheep farm in Nevada. 1.00

00:40:53.000 That's what he thinks is important for himself to do.

00:40:57.000 You've got lawsuits in Texas in which Travis County, a judge, has batted down the governor of Texas.

00:41:05.000 The reality is these governors are taking a stance in favor of death.

00:41:10.000 And I don't understand the calculation to do that.

00:41:14.000 Well, because they're not.

00:41:15.000 They're not.

00:41:16.000 They're balancing more than one factor.

00:41:18.000 Those factors include your right to human liberty.

00:41:21.000 I understand that all you folks don't give a damn about liberty.

00:41:23.000 You don't care about freedom.

00:41:24.000 I mean, Arnold Schwarzenegger said it yesterday.

00:41:26.000 He literally said, I don't care about freedom. 1.00

00:41:27.000 Your freedom is stupid to me. 1.00

00:41:28.000 I was like, well, I care about the freedom. 1.00

00:41:31.000 And you should also care about, like, that sort of language is not particularly useful.

00:41:36.000 But again, the notion is that you can do whatever you want to the unvaccinated because they are the real problem here. 0.99

00:41:40.000 They're a real problem for them.

00:41:41.000 I mean, if you're unvaccinated, this is the decision you have made.

00:41:45.000 And literally every person I know who is not vaccinated has not asked me to mask up.

00:41:49.000 I'm un- I'm vaccinated.

00:41:50.000 They've never asked anything of me.

00:41:52.000 It's only members of the government who are asking something of me.

00:41:55.000 It is only members of the liberal media who are asking something of me, not the unvaccinated. 0.99

00:41:59.000 The unvaccinated are willing to undergo whatever risk they are willing to undergo. 0.97

00:42:03.000 And that now means that that is their problem.

00:42:05.000 Because again, the vaccines remain incredibly effective despite all of the COVID panic being propagated by the media.

00:42:10.000 The headline a drudge right now.

00:42:12.000 I kid you not.

00:42:12.000 The headline is, Vaccine Effectiveness Spooks System.

00:42:16.000 That is the giant headline.

00:42:17.000 Well, why?

00:42:18.000 Why is that spooking the system?

00:42:21.000 According to Axios, the Biden administration is intensely scrutinizing coronavirus vaccine's effectiveness over time, facing the daunting task of timing booster shots right while still convincing the unvaccinated that getting the jab is worthwhile.

00:42:33.000 Well, no, if we find out that the antibodies wane over time and that there's no T-cell immunity that is provided, then people will go get vaccinated again because they got vaccinated in the first place.

00:42:44.000 Preliminary findings from the Mayo Clinic show that the Pfizer vaccine is preventing significantly fewer infections now than it was before the Delta variant.

00:42:53.000 But, um, who cares?

00:42:55.000 Apparently this study has raised alarm bells within the Biden administration.

00:42:58.000 But again, I ask, who cares?

00:43:00.000 I don't care that Pfizer is not preventing you from getting the thing if you're vaccinated because Pfizer is preventing the only thing I care about, which is not dying.

00:43:08.000 I don't need it.

00:43:09.000 If I get a mild cold because I get infected with COVID after being vaccinated, I feel like I've dodged the bullet here.

00:43:18.000 We don't even measure how many people get a cold in the United States every year because no one cares, gang.

00:43:24.000 And yet the idea here seems to be that we have to measure case counts.

00:43:28.000 So the big question according to Axios, if the vaccines are losing some of their punch against mild infections now, will they eventually become less effective against severe disease?

00:43:36.000 Um, well, when you provide me evidence that they are, and that I need to take a booster, I will go get the booster.

00:43:42.000 How about that?

00:43:43.000 Right now, they're still really effective against preventing you from being dead.

00:43:47.000 In Texas, there have been 291 vaccinated people hospitalized, which accounts for 0.2% of all COVID hospitalizations.

00:43:55.000 There have been 52 breakthrough deaths, accounting for 0.4% of all deaths.

00:44:01.000 The hospitalization rate for the vaccinated in Texas is 4 per 100,000 people.

00:44:05.000 For the unvaccinated, it's 735 per 100,000 people.

00:44:08.000 In fact, in Texas, this is according to Mediate, unvaccinated people in Texas are 185 times more likely to be hospitalized, and they are 85 times more likely to die from COVID.

00:44:18.000 So, get the Vax.

00:44:20.000 Or don't get the Vax.

00:44:22.000 You're gonna- That's all.

00:44:25.000 And here's the thing that's so ironic about all this.

00:44:26.000 The media, the same media who are ripping on Ron DeSantis.

00:44:29.000 Oh, Ron DeSantis.

00:44:30.000 Oh, look at Texas and Florida.

00:44:32.000 I've noticed that they have nothing to say about Louisiana, where the governor is a Democrat.

00:44:35.000 Also, you will notice that the media have a very different take on you, depending on your identity, if you decide not to get vaccinated. 0.79

00:44:42.000 So, if you're a white rural Trump voter from Tennessee, you're bad and evil and endangering everyone, and the, and the epsilon variant, the five variant may eventually come from you. 0.96

00:44:55.000 However, if you're a black inner city person, you decided not to get the vaccine. This is because you have a justified suspicion of the government. According to the New York Times today, quote, why only 28% of young black New Yorkers are vaccinated. As the Delta variant courses through New York City, many young black New Yorkers remains as trustful of the vaccine. 0.99

00:45:12.000 A construction site safety manager in Queens said that as a black man, he was more worried about the prospect of being stopped by the police than he was about getting COVID-19.

00:45:20.000 A grad stu- by the way, that's crazy.

00:45:23.000 Okay, I'm sorry, that's crazy.

00:45:25.000 Like, your chances of being shot unarmed by the police in the United States as a black man, fewer than 20 people in the United States meet this definition.

00:45:32.000 Every year in the United States.

00:45:33.000 You know how many black people have died of COVID-19?

00:45:36.000 Many, many, many.

00:45:37.000 Because lots of people have died overall from COVID-19.

00:45:39.000 A graduate student in the Bronx who had not gotten vaccinated said her worst fears seemed confirmed when a vaccine that the government was directing to black and poorer neighborhoods was briefly suspended over a small number of dangerous blood clots.

00:45:50.000 And a civil rights activist in the Bronx said he grew suspicious when he heard last year that politicians were prioritizing minority neighborhoods for COVID vaccines.

00:45:56.000 So, in other words, this civil rights activist A Black Lives Matter activist named Hawk Newsome, who you've heard of, he's 44, he said that he got suspicious of the vaccine specifically because the government was trying to make sure that black people got it.

00:46:08.000 So in other words, if the government does not try to make sure that black people especially get it, it's because systemic racism.

00:46:13.000 But if the government tries to make sure that black people get it, also systemic racism, because maybe the government is trying to target you.

00:46:19.000 Since when does America give anything good to black people first, said the activist Hawk Newsome.

00:46:24.000 All three situations, according to the New York Times, reflect a trend that has become a major concern to public health experts.

00:46:29.000 Young black New Yorkers are especially reluctant to get vaccinated, even as the Delta variant is rapidly spreading among their ranks.

00:46:35.000 City data show only 28% of black New Yorkers aged 18 to 44 are fully vaccinated, compared to 48% of Latino residents and 52% of white residents in that age group.

00:46:44.000 This vaccination gap is emerging as the latest stark racial disparity in an epidemic full of them. 0.99

00:46:52.000 This is a major public health failure, said Dr. Dustin Duncan, an epidemiologist and Columbia University professor.

00:46:57.000 God, the soft bigotry of law expectations is just incredible, isn't it? 1.00

00:47:00.000 So if you're a rural white voter, then this is because you are a dum-dum and a moron and you voted for Trump. 1.00

00:47:04.000 If you're a black urban voter, and you decided that you weren't going to get vaccinated, this is a public health failure. 1.00

00:47:09.000 Everyone out in the system failed you.

00:47:10.000 And if the system tried to get you to take the vaccine, it's because the system might be racist.

00:47:15.000 My god, the media are terrible at this.

00:47:17.000 And not just terrible at this, damaging at this.

00:47:19.000 When you grant legitimacy to this particular point of view, are you surprised when people then don't get vaccinated?

00:47:25.000 Utter insanity and madness.

00:47:27.000 By the way, you want to talk about utter insanity and madness?

00:47:29.000 The American Academy of Pediatrics just put out a statement saying that children do not need to study faces.

00:47:35.000 I'm not kidding you.

00:47:37.000 They put out a statement saying babies and young children study faces, so you may worry that having masked caregivers would harm children's language development.

00:47:43.000 There are no studies to support this concern.

00:47:44.000 Young children will use other clues like gestures and tone of voice.

00:47:48.000 That's nuts.

00:47:50.000 Okay, that is so unruly.

00:47:51.000 There are no studies to support that.

00:47:53.000 Oh, you mean we haven't had any longitudinal studies about children not looking at faces because that's torturing children?

00:47:58.000 Because that would basically be an illegal study?

00:48:00.000 Like if you were to take a subgroup of children and be like, half of these babies get to look at human faces talking.

00:48:05.000 Half of these babies will be deprived of looking at human faces for a year.

00:48:08.000 That literally would not be allowed.

00:48:10.000 Okay, that would be violative of research protocols because it would damage babies.

00:48:15.000 One of the problems with autism is that people cannot read facial expressions. 0.99

00:48:19.000 Teaching kids not to be able to read facial expressions is the height of idiocy. 1.00

00:48:23.000 This is ridiculous. 1.00

00:48:24.000 One of the things that kids learn first is how to mirror facial expressions. 0.94

00:48:28.000 You see this even in primates.

00:48:30.000 The way that baby primates operate is they mirror the facial expressions of older primates.

00:48:34.000 Of course it's damaging.

00:48:35.000 Of course it is!

00:48:36.000 I remember my wife doing actual research on this when she worked in a neuroscience lab between the time she went to college and the time she went to medical school.

00:48:42.000 She worked in a neuroscience lab with a rather famous professor who's doing studies on this sort of stuff.

00:48:47.000 Yes, it makes a difference that children look at human faces.

00:48:51.000 This is insane!

00:48:53.000 Now the AAP, the American Academy of Pediatrics, is saying, screw the kids, kids don't need to see faces. 0.92

00:48:58.000 Because we have to continue to push this nonsense that all children need to mask up.

00:49:03.000 Based on precisely zero substantiated studies at this point.

00:49:07.000 Like, this is crazy.

00:49:10.000 By the way, here's a piece from Fortune.com.

00:49:12.000 As Delta infection spiked, COVID cases in schools actually fell.

00:49:16.000 A lesson from England.

00:49:18.000 For parents wary of sending their kids off to school, here's a rare bit of comforting data.

00:49:21.000 Fewer than 1 in 100 school students and staff in England tested positive for COVID-19 in June.

00:49:25.000 The capper.

00:49:26.000 There was no mask mandate in the schools at the time.

00:49:28.000 That wasn't just a noticeable drop from last autumn.

00:49:30.000 It also came as Delta variant cases were peaking not just across England, but the whole of the UK.

00:49:35.000 An estimated 0.27% of elementary school students, 0.42% of middle to high school students, and 0.27% of teachers tested positive for COVID-19 between June 14th and July 6th.

00:49:46.000 This is compared with autumn 2020, when around 1% of elementary school students and staff tested positive, while 1.22% of high school students and 1.64% of staff tested positive.

00:49:55.000 Okay, so, um, why?

00:49:59.000 Why?

00:50:00.000 So they say maybe there was additional testing at the schools.

00:50:03.000 Or maybe there's just no evidence to back this sort of stuff.

00:50:05.000 By the way, there are plenty of studies showing that face masks impair how we read emotions.

00:50:10.000 There's one particularly from Frontiers in Psychology.

00:50:12.000 It cites 65 other studies talking about how people need to see faces in order to interpret emotions.

00:50:18.000 This is perfectly obvious. 0.98

00:50:20.000 But we live in such an illogical, stupid society that things that we've accepted as writ for literally all of human existence are now being, we're being asked to defend them. 0.99

00:50:29.000 It's like, well, can you explain to me why looking at human faces is good for you? 0.99

00:50:33.000 Can you explain to me why we shouldn't all just be walking around in a burqa? 1.00

00:50:36.000 I mean, what's the problem?

00:50:37.000 It'll protect you from the virus and also you'll be abiding by Taliban-like fundamentalist law. 0.91

00:50:42.000 Like what?

00:50:43.000 You'll be hitting so many green checkmarks for yourself.

00:50:48.000 We all understand that not wearing a mask is a good thing.

00:50:52.000 The fact that we're being asked to defend this on the basis of like really, really shoddy public data is completely crazy.

00:50:59.000 It's just completely crazy at this point.

00:51:01.000 Alrighty.

00:51:02.000 Well, we have reached the end of this week, but we will be back here next week for much, much more.

00:51:07.000 I'm Ben Shapiro.

00:51:07.000 Shapiro, this is The Ben Shapiro Show.

00:51:08.000 The Ben Shapiro Show is produced by Elliott Feld.

00:51:16.000 Executive producer Jeremy Boring.

00:51:18.000 Our supervising producer is Mathis Bluver.

00:51:20.000 Production manager Pavel Lydowsky.

00:51:22.000 Associate producer Bradford Carrington.

00:51:24.000 Host producer Justin Barber.

00:51:26.000 The show is edited by Adam Sajevitz.

00:51:28.000 Audio is mixed by Mike Koromina.

00:51:30.000 Hair and makeup is by Fabiola Cristina.

00:51:31.000 Production assistant Jessica Kranz.

00:51:33.000 The Ben Shapiro Show is a Daily Wire production.

00:51:36.000 Copyright Daily Wire 2021.

00:51:39.000 John Bickley here, Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief.

00:51:42.000 Wake up every morning with our new show, Morning Wire.

00:51:45.000 On today's episode, a battle over mask mandates erupts in Texas, Oregon schools make big changes over alleged racism, and a Hollywood Me Too group is caught up in a Me Too scandal.

The Ben Shapiro Show - August 13, 2021

Joe Biden Just Surrendered To The Taliban | Ep. 1318

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