The Ben Shapiro Show - December 14, 2023


Poor, Poor Hunter Biden


Episode Stats

Length

49 minutes

Words per Minute

197.58376

Word Count

9,731

Sentence Count

658

Misogynist Sentences

5

Hate Speech Sentences

3


Summary

Hunter Biden shows up in Washington, D.C., to grandstand and declare that he s not a victim of Republican MAGA cruelty. But according to his father, former Vice President Joe Biden, Hunter Biden is anything but a victim. Hunter Biden says that if it weren t for his last name, he wouldn t be dragged before Congress to talk about his business dealings with his dad, Joe Biden. And he also says that the whole debacle surrounding Hunter and his dad is nothing more than a winch-hunt, a witch hunt, a political smear campaign, a vendetta, a smear campaign against the Biden family, and an attempt to embarrass and damage his father who has devoted his entire public life to service. And he suggests that Republicans are trying to turn his dad s love for him into a dark shadow, because when your father uses his power into darkness, sometimes you can turn your dad's love into darkness. And when your dad uses power in order to serve others, sometimes can turn his love for you into a shadow that you don t even realize you re in a dark place you are in even though it s dark and dark places you are not even in a place you're in. And that's not even the worst thing that can be said about a powerful man, it can be the best thing that you can say about him you can even be a victim of a man who uses his father's love for his father and does not even realize that he is in fact a man he s love when it s not even a man or a father . a father who does not just for his son, but for his daughter, a son, a husband, a brother, a friend, a wife, a lawyer, a business partner, a good friend, an employee, a daughter, and a friend , and a husband an enemy of the country but a friend . and so much more in a way that makes him the greatest victim of all . . . a to his own father, the man who s his own son the most powerful man in the world. ... Joe Biden is not the only one who s not the real victim, but the one who is the greatest because he s a victim? Hunter Biden not the one that s the one with the most important man in his own story.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 Yesterday, Hunter Biden announced that he would be avoiding a subpoena by the House Oversight Committee.
00:00:04.000 The Republicans on that committee wanted to ask Hunter about his business relationships with Dad Joe.
00:00:10.000 Hunter is currently under indictment for nine charges related to tax evasion, all based on unreported income and spending from his lucrative years as his dad's alleged bagman.
00:00:19.000 Republicans voted last night to formally open an impeachment inquiry, which presumably gives them some sort of greater subpoena power.
00:00:25.000 So yesterday, Hunter showed up in Washington, D.C.
00:00:28.000 to grandstand.
00:00:29.000 He began by announcing that Hunter Biden was the real victim, a victim of Republican MAGA cruelty.
00:00:37.000 Hunter Biden, according to his father, the media, and wait for it, Hunter Biden, is the victim.
00:00:42.000 In fact, Hunter Biden is the greatest victim.
00:00:45.000 Were it not for Hunter Biden's last name, he wouldn't be prosecuted for gun charges and tax evasion of over a million dollars.
00:00:50.000 Were it not for his last name, he wouldn't be dragged before Congress to talk about his business.
00:00:54.000 Here he was yesterday.
00:00:56.000 For six years, MAGA Republicans, including members of the House committees who are in a closed-door session right now, have impugned my character, invaded my privacy, attacked my wife, My children, my family, and my friends.
00:01:17.000 They have ridiculed my struggle with addiction, they have belittled my recovery, and they have tried to dehumanize me, all to embarrass and damage my father, who has devoted his entire public life to service.
00:01:35.000 So, um, we impugned his character.
00:01:38.000 He didn't impugn his own character by spending, you know, $800,000 on sex workers.
00:01:43.000 We impugned his character.
00:01:44.000 We impugned his children.
00:01:45.000 I mean, other than the child that he refuses to support with child support and refuses to give his last name.
00:01:52.000 We made fun of his addiction, you know, because he put pictures of himself on his computer and then wrote in his memoir about how he snorted Parmesan cheese off a carpet, which is inherently hilarious.
00:02:03.000 We dehumanized his recovery because, of course, he finger paints for recovery and then sells those paintings for half a million dollars to his dad's business donors.
00:02:09.000 And we've dehumanized him.
00:02:10.000 I mean, that's the worst thing of all.
00:02:13.000 Of course, were it not for Hunter Biden's last name, he would also likely be a homeless drug addict without a penny to his name, unpaid child support, and no life prospects at all.
00:02:20.000 As Hunter once admitted, his last name was gold to foreign investors.
00:02:24.000 His word, gold.
00:02:25.000 Hunter once said his father's job, quote, opened doors that wouldn't be opened up to other people.
00:02:30.000 Hunter, by the way, is not the only member of the Biden family who feels that way.
00:02:33.000 Jim Biden, Joe's brother, told potential business partners, quote, we've got people all around the world who want to invest in Joe Biden.
00:02:40.000 Frank, Joe's other brother, called the Biden name a, quote, tremendous asset for business.
00:02:44.000 Val, his sister, says, quote, I had a better seat at the table because my brother is at the head of the table.
00:02:49.000 Hunter Biden is not a victim.
00:02:51.000 He is anything but a victim.
00:02:52.000 But according to Hunter, a man who, again, tried to disown his own daughter, fathered while he was a drug-addled derelict, and who urged his father to do the same to his granddaughter, all while he spent nearly a million dollars on prostitutes and drugs, the whole debacle surrounding Hunter and his dad, according to Hunter Biden, is a winch hunt.
00:03:08.000 Here we go.
00:03:09.000 There is no fairness or decency in what these Republicans are doing.
00:03:18.000 They have lied, over and over, about every aspect of my personal and professional life.
00:03:25.000 So much so, that their lies have become the false facts believed by too many people.
00:03:33.000 No matter how many times it is debunked, they continue to insist that my father's support of Ukraine against Russia is the result of a non-existent bribe.
00:03:44.000 They displayed naked photos of me during an oversight hearing.
00:03:50.000 And they have taken the light of my dad's love.
00:03:55.000 The light of my dad's love for me and presented it as darkness.
00:04:01.000 So a few things on that one.
00:04:03.000 First, he suggests that Republicans are saying that Joe Biden is supporting Ukraine against Russia because of Burisma or something.
00:04:10.000 No, that's actually not even the accusation.
00:04:12.000 Then he suggests that Republicans showed a photo of him nude.
00:04:18.000 He'd be talking there about Marjorie Taylor Greene in a House hearing where she was talking about the fact that Hunter and his daddy lied about the provenance of the laptop on which Hunter Biden had placed such photos.
00:04:30.000 But here's the bigger point.
00:04:31.000 When he says that Republicans have turned his dad's love for him into darkness, sometimes love can turn into darkness.
00:04:37.000 Like, say, when your powerful father uses his power in order to clear millions of dollars for his family, using you as the family bag man, even knowing that giving you access to the family credit card allows you to fund your sex and drug addictions.
00:04:49.000 Putting aside the seamy personal situation of the Biden family, however, what we really have here is a pretty cut and dried corruption case.
00:04:55.000 Yesterday, Hunter claimed that his father was not financially involved in his business.
00:04:59.000 Note the words, financially involved in his business.
00:05:03.000 Let me state as clearly as I can.
00:05:06.000 My father was not financially involved in my business, not as a practicing lawyer.
00:05:12.000 Not as a board member of Burisma.
00:05:14.000 Not in my partnership with a Chinese private businessman.
00:05:17.000 Not in my investments at home nor abroad.
00:05:21.000 And certainly not as an artist.
00:05:23.000 Well, that is some pretty careful wording right there.
00:05:25.000 Financially involved.
00:05:27.000 Not totally involved.
00:05:28.000 Not involved in my business at all.
00:05:29.000 Financially involved.
00:05:30.000 As in, didn't sign checks on behalf of the business.
00:05:33.000 Wasn't an executive.
00:05:34.000 Didn't fund it himself.
00:05:35.000 Wasn't doing the 1040s.
00:05:36.000 But how about whether Joe was involved at all in Hunter's business?
00:05:40.000 Well, obviously, Joe was.
00:05:42.000 He always has been.
00:05:44.000 In reality, Hunter Biden has never in his life held a job unconnected to his father or to his dad's corruption.
00:05:50.000 As a Delaware Senator, Joe is very close with the Vice President of MBNA, which just happens to be the biggest bank in Delaware.
00:05:56.000 MBNA hired Hunter to a management training post.
00:05:59.000 After Hunter left MBNA, Hunter got a job with the Clinton Department of Commerce.
00:06:03.000 Then he went to work as a lobbyist for a former Biden campaign staffer named William Oldaker.
00:06:08.000 During that time, MBNA paid Hunter $100,000 a year.
00:06:11.000 MBNA, for what it's worth, made bank.
00:06:13.000 While they pushed Hunter's career, according to the American Spectator, by 1998, that bank had become, quote, the second largest issuer of Visa and MasterCards in the country.
00:06:21.000 Some analysts believed it would eventually overtake Citicorp to become the nation's biggest credit card bank.
00:06:25.000 How convenient.
00:06:26.000 Hunter's lobbying work earned him huge bucks.
00:06:29.000 As per the New Yorker, quote, an informal arrangement was established.
00:06:32.000 Biden wouldn't ask Hunter about his lobbying clients, and Hunter wouldn't tell his father about them.
00:06:37.000 It wasn't like we all sat down and agreed on it.
00:06:38.000 It came naturally, Hunter said.
00:06:40.000 Hunter has been clearing family money for years on the back of Joe Biden's position.
00:06:44.000 As he texted his own daughter in January 2019, quote, I hope you can all do what I did and pay for everything for
00:06:50.000 this entire family for 30 years.
00:06:52.000 It's really hard, but don't worry.
00:06:53.000 Unlike pop, I won't make you give me half your salary.
00:06:57.000 In just a second, we'll continue detailing exactly why people are so suspicious of the Hunter
00:07:02.000 Joe connection.
00:07:03.000 First, let us talk about diversifying your savings with physical precious metals these days.
00:07:08.000 So, the Federal Reserve has now decided that they are not going to raise the interest rates anymore, and now they are talking about lowering the interest rates as of next year at least three times.
00:07:18.000 Well, you know, is that going to inflate the currency again?
00:07:20.000 Fair bet that it might.
00:07:22.000 Birchgold Group's most popular special of the year is on right now through December 22nd.
00:07:25.000 For every five grand you spend with Birchgold, they'll send you a one-ounce Silver Eagle for free.
00:07:30.000 Text Ben to 989898 and claim your eligibility now.
00:07:33.000 You can purchase gold and silver, have it shipped directly to your home, or have Birchgold's precious metals specialists help you convert an existing IRA or 401k into a tax-sheltered IRA in gold for no money out of pocket.
00:07:43.000 And they'll send you free silver for every five grand you purchase.
00:07:46.000 Keep it for yourself or give someone something with real value as a stocking stuffer this year.
00:07:50.000 Just text keyword Ben to 989898 and claim your eligibility today.
00:07:54.000 Birchgold, they're the people I trust to buy gold from.
00:07:56.000 With an A plus rating with the Better Business Bureau, thousands of happy customers, now is the best time to buy gold from Birchgold.
00:08:01.000 Text Ben to 989898, claim your eligibility for free silver on qualifying purchases before December 22nd.
00:08:07.000 Text Ben to 989898.
00:08:09.000 Okay, back to why exactly people are so suspicious of Hunter and Joe.
00:08:13.000 Why impeachment inquiry has been opened here?
00:08:15.000 Why Hunter's not a victim?
00:08:17.000 Well, in 2013, Hunter Biden joined with Chinese investors to create a company called Bohai Harvest RST, Equity Investment Management Company Limited.
00:08:26.000 Very long name.
00:08:27.000 BHR for short.
00:08:28.000 That investment fund was controlled by the Bank of China.
00:08:31.000 The very next month, Joe Biden brought Hunter with him on Air Force Two to Beijing, where Hunter and Joe met the CEO of BHR, one Jonathan Lee.
00:08:38.000 The business license in China for the new corporation was quickly approved, and Hunter joined the board.
00:08:43.000 In May 2014, Burisma, a Ukrainian natural gas and oil company, announced that Hunter Biden would join its board of directors.
00:08:49.000 Joe Biden was overseeing Ukrainian policy for the White House at the time.
00:08:53.000 In March 2015, Hunter organized a business dinner in Washington, D.C., and Joe stopped by to meet a high-level Burisma official, Fadim Persharsky.
00:09:01.000 Later that year, in November, Persharsky suggested U.S.
00:09:03.000 officials should visit Ukraine and talk with Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin, as well as President Petro Poroshenko, about Shokin's investigations into the CEO of Burisma, Mykola Zlochevsky.
00:09:14.000 Very same month, Amos Hochstein, Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs in the Obama White House, met with Hunter to talk about Burisma.
00:09:21.000 Five days after that, he met with Joe in the West Wing.
00:09:24.000 The next day, he called Hunter again.
00:09:26.000 The month after that, Joe hosted a party attended by both Hochstein and Hunter.
00:09:30.000 In December 2015, Joe Biden went to Ukraine, where he demanded that Viktor Shokin be fired and threatened to withdraw $1 billion in IMF loans if he was not.
00:09:38.000 Two days later, Poroshenko acquiesced and committed to firing Shokin.
00:09:42.000 During this very time, a confidential human source later told the FBI, Burisma CFO Vadim Porzharsky said he had hired Hunter Biden to, quote, protect us, through his dad, from all kinds of problems.
00:09:53.000 A month or two later, the source said, Zlochevsky dismissed any threats from Shokin as easily solved, saying, quote, don't worry, Hunter will take care of all those issues through his dad.
00:10:01.000 According to that confidential human source, Zlochevsky also said it cost $5 million to pay one Biden and $5 million to, quote, pay another Biden.
00:10:08.000 Who could these Bidens be?
00:10:10.000 In February, Zlochevsky would give Hunter extravagant birthday gifts.
00:10:14.000 A couple of weeks later, Shokin was fired, and Biden called Poroshenko to personally thank him.
00:10:18.000 Also during this time, Joe Biden was apparently using a pseudonymous private email address, Robert L. Peters, to email his son Hunter with regards to Ukraine.
00:10:26.000 Joe was also, according to Hunter's business partner, Devin Archer, routinely called into meetings on the phone, so Hunter could exhibit his ties with Daddy.
00:10:34.000 Democrats have defended Joe by claiming he called only to talk about the weather, which is exactly what a racketeering head would do in order to demonstrate the viability of connection with power.
00:10:44.000 I get the mafia boss on the phone.
00:10:46.000 I'm in a bar.
00:10:47.000 I say, you need to pay your dues.
00:10:49.000 I need your fees on the bar right now.
00:10:51.000 And then I get the mafia.
00:10:52.000 You want to talk to Joe?
00:10:53.000 Here's Joe.
00:10:55.000 Joe says, how's the weather?
00:10:56.000 Hang up.
00:10:57.000 That's all you need.
00:10:59.000 In December 2015, Hunter Biden and CEFC chairman, Yi Zhongming, began communicating regarding a possible U.S.
00:11:05.000 partnership.
00:11:06.000 In January 2017, Yi gave Hunter a diamond worth 80 grand.
00:11:09.000 I don't know about you, the only people that I would ever think about giving a diamond worth that kind of money to, like my wife, maybe.
00:11:17.000 In March 2017, Yi's company wired $3 million to Robinson Walker, a company owned by a Biden associate, Rob Walker.
00:11:23.000 That same day, Joe Biden attended a CEFC meeting at the Four Seasons in Los Angeles.
00:11:29.000 But don't worry, Joe wasn't financially involved in Hunter's business.
00:11:32.000 Was he involved in Hunter's business?
00:11:35.000 Yeah, a little.
00:11:36.000 In May 2017, Hunter's business associates infamously emailed each other about creating a CEFC deal that would include, quote, 10 held by H for the big guy.
00:11:45.000 It's worth noting that other documentation from a confidential human source also referred to Joe Biden as the big guy with regard to Burisma.
00:11:52.000 Former Hunter business partner Tony Bobulinski similarly says the big guy referred to Joe.
00:11:56.000 By July 2017, Hunter was writing to the head of a Chinese company, quote,
00:11:59.000 I am sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made
00:12:03.000 has not been fulfilled. I am very concerned that the chairman has either changed his mind or broken
00:12:08.000 our deal without telling me or that he is unaware of the promises and assurances that have been made
00:12:12.000 and have not been kept. Tell the director I would like to resolve this now before it gets out of
00:12:16.000 hand. And now, said Hunter, means tonight.
00:12:19.000 And Z gets a call, or text, from anyone involved in this other than Zhang or the chairman.
00:12:25.000 I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me, that would be Joe, and every person he knows, and my ability to forever hold a grudge, that you will regret not following my direction.
00:12:33.000 All too often, people mistake kindness for weakness.
00:12:35.000 And all too often, I am standing over the top of them saying, I warned you.
00:12:39.000 From this moment until whenever he reaches me.
00:12:41.000 Okay, my friend, I am sitting here waiting for the call with my father.
00:12:44.000 I sure hope whatever it is you are doing is very, very, very important.
00:12:48.000 On August 2nd, 2017, Hunter wrote an email explaining that the chairman, presumably Xi Jinping, had now cut a, quote, much more lasting and lucrative arrangement, all caps.
00:12:58.000 That arrangement was the creation of HudsonWest3, an entity owned 50% by CEFC agent Gong Wendong and 50% by Hunter.
00:13:05.000 The next day, Hunter told Gong Wendong via WhatsApp, quote, the Bidens are the best I know at doing exactly what the chairman wants from this partnership.
00:13:13.000 In January of 2019, Hunter's assistant Katie Dodge wrote an email to Biden aide Richard Ruffner saying that Joe had elected to pay Hunter's legal bills, amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars, and including his legal fees for restructuring his JV with the Bank of China.
00:13:27.000 We know all of this only because Hunter isn't just a bag man for his dad.
00:13:31.000 He is, as we should all remember, a drug-addled derelict.
00:13:35.000 We'll get to how we know all of this in just one second and the scandal involved in that.
00:13:38.000 First, the holidays are here.
00:13:40.000 If you're looking for the perfect gift for someone you love, or even something nice for yourself, you should check out Bond Charge.
00:13:45.000 Bond Charge is a holistic wellness brand with a huge range of evidence-based products to optimize your life in every way.
00:13:50.000 Their extensive range of premium wellness products helps you sleep better, perform better, recover faster, reduce inflammation, and so much more.
00:13:57.000 From blue light glasses to red light therapy, Bond Charge products help you naturally address the issues of our modern day way of life effortlessly and with maximum impact.
00:14:05.000 My favorite product from Bond Charge, their Infrared Sauna Blanket.
00:14:07.000 I'm not the only one.
00:14:08.000 I was at dinner the other night with somebody, and she was telling my wife exactly how much she loved Bond Charge's products.
00:14:14.000 She's like, it's amazing.
00:14:14.000 She wouldn't stop braving about it.
00:14:15.000 It got tiresome, actually.
00:14:16.000 The Infrared Sauna Blanket has all kinds of benefits.
00:14:19.000 That sauna blanket insert is designed to fit inside your sauna blanket to absorb your sweat and help keep you drier.
00:14:24.000 It uses infrared light, which heats the body directly rather than the air around you like a traditional sauna, which means you get the same benefits at a lower heat.
00:14:30.000 BondCharge ships worldwide, offers exceptional customer service, comes with a 12-month warranty.
00:14:34.000 This holiday season, BondCharge is offering a massive 25% off site-wide.
00:14:38.000 Head on over to bondcharge.com.
00:14:40.000 The 25% off code will be auto-applied to your entire order.
00:14:43.000 That's bondcharge.com.
00:14:44.000 Hurry while it's in stock.
00:14:46.000 Okay, so how do we know about all of this scandalous material?
00:14:48.000 Well, if you recall, the story broke wide open in mid-October 2020, just before the election, when Hunter's laptop, Hunter, while high as a kite, had left his laptop in a repair shop in Delaware and then never shown up again.
00:14:59.000 That laptop came into public view.
00:15:01.000 It contained not just pictures and video of drug use and prostitution, but the contents of those emails and WhatsApp messages.
00:15:07.000 The whole Biden criminal corruption story was emerging just before the election.
00:15:11.000 So Biden lied.
00:15:12.000 And so did members of the Deep State.
00:15:14.000 And so did the media.
00:15:15.000 On October 22, 2020, Biden lied right out in open debate.
00:15:19.000 Joe said, quote, I have not taken a penny from any foreign source ever in my life.
00:15:23.000 My son has not made money in terms of the thing about what are you talking about, China?
00:15:27.000 The only guy who made money in China is Trump.
00:15:30.000 The American public never got the full story before the election.
00:15:32.000 That was because the FBI vaguely warned America's largest social media services that the laptop might just be Russian disinformation.
00:15:40.000 So the social media services actively shut down dissemination of the New York Post's blockbuster story.
00:15:46.000 Then, hundreds of former pseudo-experts on intelligence signed another letter, false, attesting that the laptop had the hallmarks of Russian disinformation.
00:15:54.000 Then Joe's campaign suggested it was Russian disinformation too.
00:15:57.000 All this time, Joe and Hunter and everybody else knew the laptop was real, including the FBI.
00:16:03.000 All this time, Hunter was also under active criminal investigation by the FBI.
00:16:06.000 He had been since 2019.
00:16:08.000 That investigation covered two separate matters.
00:16:11.000 Hunter's years-long tax evasion and Hunter's false attestation on a gun form that he was not a drug addict.
00:16:16.000 In 2023, U.S.
00:16:17.000 Attorney David Weiss of Delaware, a man who'd worked with Beau Biden and had long connections with all the power players in the state of Delaware, announced a deal with Hunter.
00:16:25.000 It was a sweetheart deal.
00:16:26.000 Hunter would get no jail time for the tax charges.
00:16:29.000 He would receive a diversion on the gun charge.
00:16:31.000 The deal also included a cleverly created proviso to immunize Hunter from all further investigation on his foreign dealings, including possible and obvious violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
00:16:41.000 That proviso was included in the diversion charge, not the tax charge.
00:16:45.000 All of this blew up in public view because two IRS whistleblowers came forward saying that the DOJ had attempted to cram through the sweetheart deal in order to avoid implicating Joe.
00:16:54.000 Not only that, they claimed that Joe Biden's DOJ under Merrick Garland had actually stopped the investigation by refusing Weiss' special counsel status and that the DOJ had pushed through the deal.
00:17:05.000 The whistleblowers, as it turns out, were right.
00:17:07.000 According to the New York Times, quote, Mr. Weiss appeared willing to forego any prosecution of Mr. Biden at all.
00:17:12.000 His office came close to agreeing to end the investigation without requiring a guilty plea on any charges.
00:17:16.000 But the correspondence reveals that his position, relayed through his staff, changed in the spring, around the time a pair of IRS officials on the case accused the DOJ of hamstringing the investigation.
00:17:26.000 Now Mr. Weiss suddenly demanded that Biden plead guilty to committing tax offenses.
00:17:29.000 The deal finally blew up when the judge in Hunter's case refused the plea deal she noted.
00:17:33.000 It was totally unprecedented.
00:17:35.000 Then to cover up that debacle, Merrick Garland announced that Weiss would be a special counsel.
00:17:39.000 You know, just in time to avoid Weiss having to testify before Congress about the sweetheart deal.
00:17:43.000 Well, now Weiss has finally charged Hunter on nine tax charges.
00:17:47.000 Hunter will likely go to jail.
00:17:48.000 But just remember, He's not going to jail because he's a victim.
00:17:51.000 And there is no way in hell that Joe Biden was ignorant of all of this.
00:17:54.000 That is why the impeachment inquiry has now been voted on and is gaining steam.
00:17:58.000 Hunter says it's all about politics, of course.
00:18:00.000 And as with any political act, politics are, of course, part of the game.
00:18:03.000 But Hunter also says the impeachment inquiry itself is scurrilous.
00:18:06.000 Here is Hunter.
00:18:08.000 And in the depths of my addiction, I was extremely irresponsible with my finances.
00:18:15.000 But to suggest that as grounds for an impeachment inquiry is beyond the absurd.
00:18:20.000 It's shameless.
00:18:23.000 There is no evidence to support the allegations that my father was financially involved in my business because it did not happen.
00:18:32.000 Well, no, actually.
00:18:33.000 The only shameless person here is the guy who sells $500,000 finger paintings to his dad's donors, then refuses to pay child support and insists that any settlement involved denying his daughter the right to use the only actual asset the Biden family has.
00:18:46.000 Joe Biden's family name.
00:18:48.000 Hunter should be hit with contempt, and he will be hit with contempt.
00:18:51.000 The only question is how much more information is going to drip out that debunks every last argument Joe Biden has ever made about the innocence of his son and his own ignorance about his son's business arrangements.
00:19:01.000 Again, the notion that Joe and Hunter were totally disconnected is a lie.
00:19:06.000 It's obviously untrue.
00:19:07.000 There's evidence to that effect.
00:19:09.000 And despite what the media will tell you about how there's no there there, that is not true whatsoever.
00:19:15.000 It turns out that Joe has nothing to say about any of this.
00:19:18.000 Here was Joe Biden on all of this.
00:19:21.000 Ask the press to step out so we can begin our briefing.
00:19:23.000 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And Joe's out.
00:19:38.000 He will catch you later.
00:19:39.000 In just one second, we'll get to a weird aspect of Hunter Biden's big announcement that he wasn't going to, you know, walk 10 feet into the building and testify yesterday first.
00:19:48.000 Are you still searching for the perfect gift?
00:19:50.000 There's still time to buy the best holiday gift ever with Legacy Box.
00:19:53.000 This is a meaningful, awesome gift.
00:19:55.000 Legacy Box is the simple, safe way to reclaim all that priceless family footage you haven't seen in years.
00:20:00.000 Legacy Box preserves your family's recorded moments digitally, ensuring their safety forever.
00:20:04.000 By going to Legacybox.com slash Shapiro, you can get your family's videotapes converted for just nine bucks, and photos professionally scanned for as low as seven cents each.
00:20:12.000 I've done it myself.
00:20:13.000 I've done it for my parents.
00:20:14.000 I've done it for my in-laws.
00:20:15.000 I've done it for myself.
00:20:16.000 Again, go out to the garage, you're gonna see a bunch of old film reels.
00:20:19.000 Do you have a film projector?
00:20:20.000 You're gonna see a bunch of VHS tapes.
00:20:21.000 You got a VCR in the house, do you?
00:20:23.000 If not, why not get that stuff transferred to a format you can actually use?
00:20:26.000 The process is easy.
00:20:27.000 You send in your Legacy Box filled with all that stuff, and their team digitizes everything by hand right here in the United States.
00:20:32.000 You'll get it back on the cloud or thumb drive along with your originals.
00:20:35.000 Legacy Box digitizes over 15 types of analog media, whether it's VHS, Super 8mm film reels, photo negatives, they've got you covered.
00:20:42.000 Make this holiday season special.
00:20:43.000 Give the gift of memories, Legacy Box.
00:20:45.000 It's one of the few products that are in stock and ready to ship.
00:20:47.000 Get your family's videotapes converted for just nine bucks.
00:20:49.000 Photos professionally scanned for as low as seven cents each during this exclusive last minute holiday offer from Legacy Box.
00:20:54.000 Go to LegacyBox.com slash Shapiro.
00:20:56.000 That's LegacyBox.com slash Shapiro.
00:20:59.000 So there was a weird moment at the White House yesterday after all of this news broke and Hunter had done his, you're out of order.
00:21:07.000 Everyone's out of order.
00:21:07.000 This whole court is out of order.
00:21:09.000 Al Pacino routine from And Justice For All.
00:21:11.000 Corinne Jean-Pierre was asked about the fact that Joe Biden had apparently known that Hunter was going to do this.
00:21:19.000 So that looks an awful lot like obstruction.
00:21:22.000 If you are subpoenaed, you now have a duty to appear before Congress.
00:21:26.000 If somebody helps you not appear before Congress, that's kind of obstruction-y.
00:21:30.000 Here's Corinne Jean-Pierre trying to speak to that.
00:21:33.000 Did he spend any time watching what his son had to say outside the Capitol?
00:21:36.000 So a couple of, just a couple of things on that, and I want to be really clear.
00:21:39.000 Look, Uh, as you know, Hunter Biden is a private citizen.
00:21:44.000 And so I certainly would refer you to his representatives.
00:21:48.000 Um, look, you know, um, the president was certainly familiar with what his son was going to say.
00:21:57.000 And I think what you saw was from the heart.
00:21:59.000 Again, the attempt to turn what is a corruption scandal into, they're just proud of their son, is really weak.
00:22:03.000 You've heard me say this.
00:22:04.000 You've heard the president say this.
00:22:06.000 When it comes to the president, the first lady, they are proud of him continuing to
00:22:10.000 rebuild his life.
00:22:11.000 They are proud of their son.
00:22:13.000 Again, the attempt to turn what is a corruption scandal into they're just proud of their son
00:22:18.000 is really weak.
00:22:19.000 Not only that, she just said out loud that Joe Biden knew full well that Hunter was going
00:22:23.000 to avoid the subpoena.
00:22:24.000 So why didn't he just tell him not to avoid the subpoena?
00:22:28.000 Kind of obstruction-y, is it not?
00:22:31.000 Apparently, it was not just Joe involved in the sort of obstruction-y behavior.
00:22:34.000 According to Politico, Hunter Biden pulled off his surprise appearance at the Capitol on Wednesday with the help of a fellow California resident.
00:22:40.000 Eric Swalwell, yes!
00:22:42.000 The farting congressman.
00:22:44.000 The man who was schtipping a Chinese spy.
00:22:46.000 The Democratic lawmaker confirmed to Politico that he reserved the Senate swamp, a spot mere feet from the Capitol that often hosts press conferences, for Hunter Biden's dramatic remarks.
00:22:55.000 TV cameras spotted Swalwell beside the president's son as Hunter sought to go on offense against the House GOP.
00:23:01.000 But apparently, it's not just that he helped set this whole thing up.
00:23:05.000 Apparently, he also helped coordinate with the White House on this.
00:23:10.000 One person who knew about the sudden appearance, the President himself.
00:23:13.000 Two people familiar with Wednesday's morning events told Politico that Hunter Biden notified Joe of his plans.
00:23:19.000 Again, kind of obstruction-y, I'm noticing.
00:23:21.000 Weirdly obstruction-y.
00:23:24.000 The Republicans, of course, are fighting mad about it.
00:23:26.000 Representative Chip Roy of Texas went after Hunter Biden yesterday.
00:23:30.000 He said an important word.
00:23:32.000 He said his dad didn't have any involvement financially.
00:23:35.000 That's right.
00:23:35.000 Right?
00:23:36.000 He didn't say it was a blanket, you know, that he wasn't involved.
00:23:39.000 That's really important.
00:23:41.000 Hunter Biden is basically an ongoing domino fall of stupid decisions and stupid statements.
00:23:46.000 And we're seeing that right here, going to the Capitol and saying his dad wasn't involved in financial dealings.
00:23:51.000 We'll see if that's true, but that is a big tell to me.
00:23:54.000 We all know that his dad was involved in enriching Hunter.
00:23:58.000 We all know that foreign entities were sending millions of dollars to them.
00:24:02.000 We know from whistleblower testimony that they were slow walking the IRS from being able to go after the investigation in 2014 and 2015.
00:24:10.000 We know these things to be true, so we're going to have an inquiry today.
00:24:14.000 We'll seek the truth.
00:24:15.000 We've been having to do all of the work the Department of Justice refuses to do.
00:24:19.000 And look, we can also hold him in contempt, if that's what we need to do in the House of Representatives, and then see where this process goes.
00:24:27.000 Meanwhile, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, who's been leading this entire investigation, he says we do expect Hunter Biden to comply.
00:24:34.000 That we expect him to come in and be deposed.
00:24:37.000 This is a normal process in an investigation.
00:24:40.000 This has been a serious, credible, transparent investigation from day one.
00:24:45.000 We've published four bank memorandums.
00:24:47.000 We've had countless press conferences.
00:24:49.000 This is an investigation about public corruption at the highest level.
00:24:53.000 We have accumulated mountains of evidence that's concerning to an overwhelming majority of Americans.
00:24:59.000 We have specific questions in there, and I think we're going to allow you in there to see the piles and piles of documents, of bank statements, of emails, of text messages that we've worked very hard on in this committee over the last eight or nine months.
00:25:14.000 We expect to depose the President's son, and then we will be more than happy to have a public hearing with him.
00:25:21.000 Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, who's on both the Judiciary and the Oversight Committees, he says, listen, if he's not going to show up, we'll hold him in contempt.
00:25:29.000 What we want is the facts.
00:25:30.000 And the way you get the facts in every single investigation I've been involved in is you bring people in for an interview behind closed doors where you can get those facts.
00:25:40.000 And then, as the chairman said, we'd love for him to come public.
00:25:42.000 Finally, I would say this.
00:25:44.000 Mr. Biden's counsel and the White House have both argued that the reason he couldn't come for a deposition was because there wasn't a formal vote for an impeachment inquiry.
00:25:53.000 Well, that's going to happen in a few hours.
00:25:55.000 We think it's going to pass.
00:25:56.000 We think the House of Representatives will go on record with the power that solely resides in the House to say we are in an official impeachment inquiry phase of our oversight.
00:26:05.000 And when that happens, we'll see what their excuse is then.
00:26:08.000 They should have been here today, but once we take that vote, we expect him to come in for his interview, for his deposition.
00:26:15.000 And frankly, we'll also, I think, look at contempt proceedings as we move forward.
00:26:20.000 So just for the facts, the reality is that contempt of Congress doesn't mean a whole hell of a lot.
00:26:25.000 You have criminal contempt, where you actually have to file charges with the DOJ.
00:26:28.000 The DOJ has to decide whether to go forward with those charges.
00:26:31.000 You have civil contempt, in which you can ask the judicial branch to enforce a congressional subpoena, but that takes a while.
00:26:36.000 And then you have inherent contempt, which is where you actually send the House or Senate sergeants-at-arms to detain and imprison somebody, which has really never been used.
00:26:45.000 So it's sort of an empty threat.
00:26:46.000 But again, this is the game.
00:26:48.000 And let's be real about this.
00:26:49.000 There are two aspects.
00:26:50.000 One is the actual corruption of Joe Biden and Hunter Biden and the fact that a lot of this stuff was taking place.
00:26:56.000 These relationships were being formed, promises were being made while Hunter Biden's dad was vice president of the United States under Barack Obama.
00:27:02.000 And a lot of the manipulative cover-up was happening while his dad was actually president.
00:27:07.000 And it was the DOJ doing that manipulative cover-up with those sweetheart deals.
00:27:11.000 But there's another aspect to this too.
00:27:13.000 And that is the Democrats opened this can.
00:27:15.000 They opened this can.
00:27:16.000 And now the can is open.
00:27:18.000 Democrats impeached Donald Trump not once, but twice.
00:27:20.000 And they did it on the basis of no criminality.
00:27:23.000 They did not even allege criminality in their impeachment proceedings.
00:27:27.000 They opened inquiries over a phone call that he had with Vladimir Zelensky with regard, actually specifically and weirdly, to an investigation by the Ukrainians into the corruption of Burisma.
00:27:38.000 Turns out that corruption, fairly obviously, is real.
00:27:42.000 So that is number one.
00:27:43.000 And then number two was over January 6th, where no criminal charges were actually alleged by the members of the House Impeachment Committee.
00:27:51.000 And so, once that can was open, the notion that Republicans were not going to use that against Joe Biden is insane.
00:27:58.000 When you impeach somebody not once, but twice, and when you threaten to impeach them on day one, which is what Democrats did the minute that Donald Trump entered office, it was only a matter of time until Republicans opened an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden.
00:28:09.000 And one of two things will happen.
00:28:10.000 Either mutually assured destruction will be restored, in which case both parties go, listen, we can't keep impeaching each other's presidents.
00:28:15.000 We really can't.
00:28:16.000 Or it'll be like this all the way until the end of time.
00:28:19.000 And if it's like this, I suppose it's like this.
00:28:22.000 Doesn't seem like the end of the world to me, frankly.
00:28:24.000 Investigations, subpoenas, presidents being held under the gun.
00:28:28.000 All right, I mean, if this is the world the Democrats chose for all of us to live in, I guess I can live with that.
00:28:33.000 Don't threaten me with a good dime.
00:28:35.000 Meanwhile, Democrats are really upset about all of this.
00:28:37.000 Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, she has her lines to read, and she reads them with passion and lots of hand motions.
00:28:44.000 She says the Biden impeachment inquiry is an exercise in futility.
00:28:47.000 I'm certainly glad that someone informed her what that phrase means.
00:28:51.000 Their own witness, their own Republican witness said that there are, from what he has seen, there are not grounds for an impeachment inquiry or rather frankly impeachment in general of President Biden.
00:29:05.000 But that has not deterred the Republican side from continuing to try to force through a completely groundless and unsubstantiated, I won't even call it an investigation, I'll just call it an exercise in futility.
00:29:20.000 Wow, she's very upset, and she's a very serious legal scholar.
00:29:24.000 Wow.
00:29:25.000 I'm so impressed.
00:29:26.000 I'm so impressed.
00:29:27.000 It would only be better if she were wearing her smart people glasses that she sometimes puts on in committee hearings to look like not an idiot.
00:29:32.000 Meanwhile, Representative Dan Goldman, he's doing the same routine.
00:29:35.000 They just don't have the facts.
00:29:36.000 They don't have the facts.
00:29:36.000 I don't know why they decided to do a joint appearance, Dan Goldman and Jared Moskowitz, on MSNBC, but this looks like an outtake from Waiting for Godot, but like a really bad production.
00:29:48.000 I mean, this is weird gasping.
00:29:51.000 Here we go.
00:29:53.000 This is a bogus sham impeachment with no evidence whatsoever.
00:29:58.000 And the notion that they're going to move forward for some sort of procedural reason is completely bunk.
00:30:05.000 The Biden administration has been way more cooperative than they need to be and certainly far more cooperative than Donald Trump was when he provided zero documents to the congressional impeachment inquiry in 2019.
00:30:18.000 The administration has provided witnesses, 100,000 and more documents.
00:30:23.000 The problem here is not that they don't have the materials.
00:30:27.000 The problem here is that they don't have any facts to support their allegations of
00:30:33.000 any wrongdoing by President Biden.
00:30:35.000 Remember, Dan Goldman was one of the lead lawyers in the impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump.
00:30:39.000 Turnabout is fair play.
00:30:42.000 Democrats, naturally, are now suggesting that any attempt to impeach Biden is insurrection-y.
00:30:47.000 It's an insurrection.
00:30:48.000 So what was it when you did it twice with Donald Trump and claimed that he was a tool of the Russians?
00:30:52.000 Here was Representative Jim McGovern of Massachusetts doing this routine.
00:30:56.000 This inquiry has nothing to do with Joe Biden.
00:30:59.000 It's about the Republican Party and how radicalized and extreme they've become.
00:31:04.000 They are allergic to truth and transparency.
00:31:06.000 Republicans say this is not about a preordained outcome.
00:31:10.000 It is!
00:31:11.000 They are going to try to impeach President Biden despite the fact that there's no evidence against him at all.
00:31:17.000 Trump sent a violent MAGA mob here to the Capitol to reverse the election results and certify that he won even though he lost.
00:31:27.000 What they couldn't do on January 6th, they want to do with this extreme political stunt.
00:31:32.000 They have contempt for our democracy.
00:31:35.000 They want to finish the job.
00:31:37.000 They have contempt for the democracy because they want an impeachment inquiry into- I mean, that's part of the actual system.
00:31:43.000 It's part of the actual system.
00:31:45.000 Again, Democrats used it twice.
00:31:47.000 Meanwhile, Representative Jasmine Crockett of Texas, Democrat, she's going even further.
00:31:51.000 She says Republicans are domestic enemies.
00:31:54.000 If you launch an impeachment inquiry into the president, you're a domestic enemy.
00:31:56.000 I wonder what that what does that mean when Democrats do it to Trump twice?
00:32:01.000 And right now, we know that they are continually trying to tear us down from within.
00:32:06.000 When we swore our oath, we swore our oath to protect against enemies, foreign and domestic.
00:32:12.000 And let me tell you something, those of us that serve on oversight, especially those of us that are specifically Democrats, I feel like we are constantly fighting domestic enemies and no one should feel that way.
00:32:24.000 The American people should be outraged right now.
00:32:27.000 Outraged!
00:32:29.000 Domestic enemies.
00:32:30.000 Anybody who opposes them is a traitor!
00:32:32.000 They're traitors!
00:32:33.000 We're gonna fight tyranny by calling all of our opponents traitors and domestic enemies!
00:32:38.000 That's going to go amazingly well.
00:32:40.000 Again, it's very hard to make the case also that your guy, Joe Biden, is being unfairly targeted by the House Republicans when I kind of noticed that Jack Smith is unfairly targeting Donald Trump in extraordinary ways.
00:32:53.000 There's an excellent article by Jason Willick over at the Washington Post talking about Jack Smith's prosecution of Trump and more about the timeline of Jack Smith's prosecution of Trump.
00:33:02.000 In other words, he's accelerating the timeline.
00:33:04.000 Why does that timeline have to be accelerated?
00:33:06.000 Why?
00:33:06.000 The answer is, he wants Donald Trump convicted before the election.
00:33:10.000 Why would he want to do that?
00:33:10.000 Because he wants Joe Biden to be re-elected.
00:33:12.000 We'll get to that momentarily.
00:33:14.000 First, if you own a firearm, you need to check out Stopbox USA.
00:33:18.000 They just introduced the Stopbox Pro.
00:33:20.000 This new safe is the most reliable, secure place for your firearm.
00:33:23.000 The Stopbox Pro is larger, stronger, more versatile.
00:33:25.000 Crafted from durable glass-reinforced polycarbonate, ABS.
00:33:28.000 It's not just tough, it's smart.
00:33:30.000 You don't want to be fumbling with keys or electronic codes in high-stress situations.
00:33:33.000 The Stopbox Pro's patented Hand Gesture Code Lock allows quick, intuitive access without batteries or electronics.
00:33:38.000 They understand the critical balance between security and accessibility.
00:33:41.000 That's why the Stopbox Pro is designed to be low-profile and portable.
00:33:44.000 Whether you're at home, whether you're traveling, your firearm remains concealed, secure, but readily accessible.
00:33:49.000 Stopbox Pro has an expanded range of 81 combination possibilities, making it more customizable than ever.
00:33:54.000 Plus, an enhanced surface texture gives you a better grip, and the improved locking mechanism is a breeze to operate.
00:33:59.000 So I have a lot of small kids at home, and we also own firearms.
00:34:02.000 And we need access to those firearms for safety.
00:34:04.000 So I rely on Stopbox USA, and you should too.
00:34:06.000 Don't compromise on safety and accessibility.
00:34:08.000 Visit stopboxusa.com.
00:34:10.000 Use promo code Ben for 10% off your order.
00:34:12.000 Experience the peace of mind that Stopbox brings.
00:34:15.000 At stopboxusa.com, use promo code Ben for 10% off your order.
00:34:19.000 Also, Faith Moore, Andrew Klavan's talented daughter, has written a new rendition of the age-old Christmas classic, Christmas Carol, except this time, it's with a K. It's a modern twist on the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, except with a female protagonist.
00:34:30.000 In a world where boss babes are championed at the expense of family, Faith is making the case that having what matters is far better than having it all.
00:34:36.000 Christmas Carol, now available to order.
00:34:38.000 Order yours on Amazon or wherever you get your books today.
00:34:41.000 Okay, meanwhile, as we are talking about, Democrats are claiming that it's totally unfair, wrong, horrifying for Republicans to open an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden.
00:34:50.000 Jack Smith is doing whatever he can to get Donald Trump arrested and put in jail before the election.
00:34:54.000 Jason Willick has a really good piece over at the Washington Post about this.
00:34:57.000 He says, There are real legal problems with special counsel Jack Smith's election interference case against Donald Trump.
00:35:03.000 The former president's effort to overturn the 2020 election was despicable, but political lying isn't generally a crime.
00:35:08.000 Smith's case thus must rely on some of the vaguest laws in the federal penal code applying them in untested ways.
00:35:13.000 But let's say you disagree.
00:35:14.000 You think Trump's post-election behavior was clearly criminal, and President Biden's DOJ had no choice as a matter of law but to indict him for it.
00:35:20.000 Two recent developments in the case should nonetheless undermine the fiction that Smith is an apolitical prosecutor.
00:35:26.000 Smith sought a pretrial gag order against Trump that would have limited so much of the candidate's political speech that it had to be successively narrowed by two courts.
00:35:33.000 Now, in a filing at the Supreme Court, Smith has all but announced that his prosecutorial timeline is controlled by the 2024 general election where Trump is likely to be a candidate.
00:35:41.000 Start with the gag order litigation.
00:35:43.000 In September, Smith asked for startling restrictions on Trump's right to object to his own prosecution.
00:35:47.000 He demanded that Trump be barred from disparaging and inflammatory statements about Smith or the judicial system.
00:35:53.000 Most astonishing, the special counsel suggested Trump should be barred from blaming Biden for the prosecution, essentially muzzling a major line of criticism against the administration Trump wants to unseat.
00:36:03.000 Judge Tanya Chetkan, appointed by Obama, clearly leans toward the prosecution in this case, but the gag order was significantly narrower than the one Smith sought.
00:36:12.000 Then, last Friday, a three-judge appellate panel composed entirely of Obama and Biden appointees had to even narrow that gag order.
00:36:19.000 Again, what Smith wanted was a dramatic violation of free speech principles against Donald Trump.
00:36:25.000 But that brings us to point number two, which is the fast track.
00:36:28.000 So, Smith filed a motion on Monday to bypass the normal appellate process and fast track the Trump trial based on what can only be described as a political timetable, says Willick.
00:36:38.000 Trump claims he has immunity from prosecution because he was performing official presidential duties.
00:36:42.000 When he tried to overturn the 2020 election, and because the Senate acquitted him in his 2021 impeachment trial.
00:36:47.000 The claims are likely wrong, but they do raise novel legal issues.
00:36:50.000 But the problem for Smith is that the trial can't be completed until you actually solve the issues.
00:36:57.000 Chudkin denied Trump's immunity claims.
00:36:58.000 Trump has now appealed to the D.C.
00:37:00.000 Circuit.
00:37:00.000 But Smith is going directly to the Supreme Court.
00:37:03.000 Why exactly is he doing that?
00:37:05.000 What is the compelling reason that this thing has to be done right this very instant?
00:37:10.000 Here is what Smith says, quote, vindicating the public interest in this case requires
00:37:14.000 immediate resolution of the immunity question to permit the trial to occur on an appropriate timetable.
00:37:18.000 If appellate review of the decision below were to proceed through the ordinary
00:37:21.000 process in the Court of Appeals, the pace of review may not result in a final decision for
00:37:25.000 many months. Even if the decision arrives sooner, the timing of such a decision might prevent
00:37:28.000 this court from hearing and deciding the case this term. So as Willak points out, the
00:37:32.000 argument is totally circular.
00:37:34.000 At no point does Smith explain why this thing has to be decided right now.
00:37:37.000 Who cares?
00:37:38.000 Who cares?
00:37:39.000 Let's say it goes to the appellate court, and let's say it takes months.
00:37:41.000 Then let's say it goes to the Supreme Court, and takes months.
00:37:44.000 And now it's 2025.
00:37:45.000 What is Smith's big rush?
00:37:48.000 Smith doesn't say what he means.
00:37:49.000 If the justices don't take the case now, the chances of completing a trial before the 2024 election will go down.
00:37:55.000 If Trump is not tried and convicted by the election, the chances of Biden winning will take a hit.
00:37:59.000 That's the whole point, and everyone can see it.
00:38:02.000 When Trump complains that his case has been politicized, there's a lot more evidence to that effect than to the claim that there is a political motivation behind investigating the Biden corruption scandal.
00:38:13.000 Okay, meanwhile, the latest on Claudine Gay, the president, the apparently invulnerable president of Harvard University.
00:38:21.000 So the Harvard Crimson has now come out and suggested that she did, in fact, violate academic integrity.
00:38:27.000 Good for the Harvard Crimson.
00:38:27.000 That's a shocker.
00:38:28.000 Now, once Harvard Law, the Crimson is a very left-wing newspaper.
00:38:31.000 According to Mediaite, in an article detailing the allegations against Gay, the Crimson noted it independently reviewed the published allegations and concluded that Gay's work appeared to, quote, violate Harvard's current policies around plagiarism and academic integrity.
00:38:44.000 The newspaper has been generally defensive of Claudine Gay.
00:38:49.000 But the Crimson details the allegations and says that she pretty obviously violates standards that students would be bound by.
00:38:57.000 Meanwhile, this brings about, again, what we talked about yesterday on the show, the final argument against getting rid of Clouding Gay, which is she's a black lady, and so any criticism of her is racist.
00:39:07.000 The person best positioned to articulate this criticism is another mediocre but highly placed person who has been elevated because of her race and because of her intersectional status, Nikole Hannah-Jones, somehow touted as some sort of valuable historian, despite the fact that her histories are entirely wrong, biased, and quite disgusting, actually, morally.
00:39:27.000 Here she was yesterday explaining, this is a racist campaign against Cloudy and Gay.
00:39:31.000 Of course, of course.
00:39:32.000 Everything is a racist campaign.
00:39:35.000 She is being singled out as someone who is only surviving because of her race.
00:39:40.000 What did you make of that?
00:39:44.000 Well, it's racist.
00:39:45.000 I mean, we have no one has produced a shred of evidence that shows that the sole qualification that President Gay had was that she is a black woman.
00:39:58.000 That's insulting.
00:40:00.000 It defies logic.
00:40:02.000 And the fact that of those presidents who all came under intense scrutiny,
00:40:06.000 that only one has been called out as a so-called diversity or affirmative action hire, just
00:40:11.000 speaks to what black women in this country have gone through historically and continue to go through
00:40:17.000 every day. She's clearly qualified.
00:40:20.000 She's clearly qualified.
00:40:23.000 Nikole Hannah-Jones is one of the least qualified historians ever, and yet she was offered like a tenured position at a university in North Carolina.
00:40:29.000 Then she turned it down, and she went to a historically black college and university.
00:40:33.000 She's been made sort of the face of the New York Times by the fact she's not done a work for them for a couple of years.
00:40:38.000 It's pretty astonishing.
00:40:39.000 By the way, it's worth noting that if Claudine Gay had been fired, she would not be the first Harvard president to be fired.
00:40:44.000 Lawrence Summers, you'll recall, was ousted from his position as president of Harvard University.
00:40:49.000 This happened while I was actually at Harvard.
00:40:51.000 He was ousted from that position for the great crime of suggesting that perhaps underrepresentation of women in the hard sciences was due to both underperformance on testing and also lack of interest.
00:41:02.000 Ooh, no!
00:41:03.000 That was so discriminatory that he had to be fired for it.
00:41:05.000 Meanwhile, Claudine Gay's like, genocide against Jews?
00:41:08.000 Depends on the context.
00:41:10.000 And everybody's like, well, she is a black lady.
00:41:12.000 I guess we have to keep her.
00:41:14.000 It really is truly amazing stuff and continues to be truly amazing stuff.
00:41:17.000 But again, Clouding Gay cannot go for the same reason that DEI cannot go.
00:41:21.000 It is the entire reason for a higher education now.
00:41:24.000 The perversity of higher education has never been at a higher pitch.
00:41:28.000 And frankly, I'm kind of pleased that they're keeping Clouding Gay because I would prefer that they don't, again, have the fig leaf of firing the president.
00:41:34.000 Like over at UPenn, donors can now feel assuaged that maybe their concerns have been heard.
00:41:38.000 They can't feel that way at Harvard.
00:41:39.000 So hopefully people continue to pull their money from Harvard University and other major universities that mirror that same DEI, diversity, equity, and inclusion nonsense, that have become part and parcel of the indoctrination course at all of our top-level institutions.
00:41:54.000 Alrighty, in one second, we'll get to the update on Ukraine.
00:41:57.000 It looks like the Biden administration may be starting to finally cave on some border-related measures.
00:42:01.000 First, I've got a holiday gift idea that's sure to make you the hero of the season.
00:42:05.000 Now, we all know the holidays can be a little bit hectic.
00:42:07.000 The shopping, cooking, never-ending list of all the things to do.
00:42:10.000 This is why you need the gift of GenuCell skincare.
00:42:13.000 From now until Christmas, GenuCell's most popular package has a special discount just for my listeners at GenuCell.com slash Shapiro.
00:42:19.000 Treat yourself and your loved ones to the absolute best skincare in the world.
00:42:23.000 These troubling forehead wrinkles, fine line skin redness, sagging jawline,
00:42:27.000 all that disappears right before your eyes with GenuCell's most popular collection.
00:42:30.000 GenuCell promises immediate effect, you'll see results in less than 12 hours guaranteed or your
00:42:34.000 money back. Plus, included in every most popular package is your free hyaluronic acid serum for skin
00:42:39.000 hydration to restore that youthful appearance. GenuCell has sent a ton of product to the
00:42:43.000 office.
00:42:44.000 People are loving it.
00:42:45.000 Again, my family's been using GenuCell products for like a decade at this point.
00:42:47.000 You deserve to look and feel your best this holiday season.
00:42:50.000 Head on over to GenuCell.com slash Shapiro and get this incredible holiday discount.
00:42:54.000 Every order today is instantly upgraded to free express shipping.
00:42:57.000 That's GenuCell.com slash Shapiro today.
00:43:00.000 Again, GenuCell.com slash Shapiro to get started.
00:43:04.000 Meanwhile, as we've been discussing for at least a couple of weeks at this point, the Biden administration wants this giant check signed to Ukraine and Israel and Taiwan.
00:43:12.000 And a little bit for the border, but no actual changes in policy at the border.
00:43:16.000 Well, they've been trying this line for a while here that if Republicans don't just sign off on a clean Ukraine bill, it's because they love Putin and it isn't working.
00:43:23.000 They continue to push the line, but again, that dog is not hunting.
00:43:26.000 Here's Hakeem Jeffries, the House Minority Leader.
00:43:29.000 If an agreement is reached, do you believe the Speaker will put it on the floor?
00:43:34.000 That remains to be seen because the pro-Putin caucus of the House Republican Conference is extreme, it's loud, and it's growing.
00:43:45.000 It's led by Marjorie Taylor Greene and Jim Jordan on the inside, and on the outside it's led by Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson.
00:43:53.000 And it seems increasingly clear that this pro-Putin caucus would like to see Vladimir Putin win in Ukraine, which would be bad for America's national security, which is why it's an open question as to whether House Republicans are serious at all about funding the Ukrainian war effort.
00:44:13.000 Okay, again, that dog isn't gonna hunt because Republicans are already like, sure, we just want you to actually secure the border.
00:44:18.000 Well now, Senate negotiators, according to the Wall Street Journal, have moved closer to striking a broad deal on changes to U.S.
00:44:24.000 border policy after the White House offered significant concessions to win Republican support for separate legislation further funding Ukraine in the war against Russia.
00:44:31.000 The deal would mark a breakthrough on an issue that has roiled Washington for decades,
00:44:34.000 with the current talks driven by the record number of migrants crossing the southern border
00:44:38.000 and GOP lawmakers' decision to tie new aid to Kiev to changes in immigration policy.
00:44:43.000 While Democrats are criticizing that linkage, many are signaling in recent days
00:44:46.000 they would be willing to make such a trade-off.
00:44:48.000 That White House offer includes creating a new expulsion power at the border
00:44:51.000 that would allow the government to turn away asylum seekers without letting them claim asylum.
00:44:55.000 Democrats have proposed allowing that new expulsion authority to be used
00:44:58.000 only if certain thresholds are hit, like daily illegal border crossings.
00:45:01.000 Democrats have also offered to create a requirement that some asylum seekers be held in immigration detention
00:45:06.000 for the duration of their hearings.
00:45:07.000 That wasn't know whether the new requirement would apply to migrant families or only single adults.
00:45:11.000 It would also raise the initial threshold asylum seekers must meet in a screening interview and expand the government's rapid deportation authority to be used nationwide rather than just at the border.
00:45:21.000 Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma said, we're going to have to hustle, but it's still possible there's still days in the calendar.
00:45:27.000 Representative Don Bacon of Nebraska, he said we're close to an agreement.
00:45:30.000 Not sure we're there totally, but close.
00:45:32.000 Now again, these are major concessions from Joe Biden over the border.
00:45:36.000 And frankly, we should continue to fund Ukraine so that they don't actually collapse under the weight of a new Russian invasion, for example.
00:45:44.000 And we should fund Israel in its battle against Hamas.
00:45:46.000 And we should fund Taiwan so that they are armed like a porcupine against China.
00:45:50.000 All that stuff is good stuff.
00:45:51.000 Getting a bunch of border concessions from the Biden administration is a big Republican win.
00:45:56.000 And that again can only be had if a deal gets cut here.
00:46:01.000 So again, kudos to the Republicans for standing strong on this particular provision.
00:46:06.000 And Democrats, they're seeing the light at least a little bit.
00:46:10.000 Meanwhile, on the economy, The Federal Reserve is sending some kind of strange mixed signals.
00:46:15.000 They're leaving interest rates steady.
00:46:18.000 They're not changing the interest rates.
00:46:19.000 We expected that because the inflation rate has been coming down and the economy has been slowing.
00:46:24.000 But they're also signaling that they may start to lower the interest rates as early as next year and they might do it as much as three times.
00:46:31.000 So that is obviously causing the stock market to jump because people are now assuming that that means when the new money flows in the stock prices are going to go up because what are you going to do with new money flowing into the system if you don't know what to do with it?
00:46:42.000 You shove it in the stock market.
00:46:43.000 So get in now and get in early would be sort of the idea.
00:46:46.000 Now Warren Buffett is thinking the opposite.
00:46:48.000 Warren Buffett is thinking there are no new business starts.
00:46:51.000 Tossing money at the American economy has not in fact generated massive growth.
00:46:56.000 It's not a question of the fluidity of cash in the American economy right now.
00:47:00.000 It's a question of who's willing to invest in a long-term growth project in the United States when the political situation is so rife with chaos, when it feels as though the entire working community is shot through with bad employees.
00:47:15.000 Like, it's harder to start a business now than it has been at any time in the recent past.
00:47:19.000 Now, without people starting new businesses and coming up with new products and new services, that's the stuff that generates economic growth, not government spending.
00:47:25.000 And so, the stock market may continue to rise because, again, where are you going to put your money if there's more money in the system?
00:47:30.000 But that does not necessarily spell economic health.
00:47:33.000 So, the Dow Jones Industrial hit an all-time high because they were cheering progress on inflation and they're seeing the possibility that, again, monetary policy is going to get looser next year.
00:47:44.000 Whether that soft landing is going to now materialize in a way that does not mean economic stagnation is anybody's guess.
00:47:53.000 The definition of soft landing is going to be what's in question.
00:47:55.000 A soft landing, presumably according to the Biden administration, would mean just avoiding a formal recession.
00:48:01.000 But if they mean they're going to avoid stagnation, I have serious doubts.
00:48:06.000 According to founder of Sam Consulting and former Fed Economist, the soft landing is in the bag.
00:48:09.000 Inflation has come down for several months.
00:48:11.000 Recession calls are coming off the table.
00:48:12.000 Barring any other catastrophe, the economy has done the impossible.
00:48:16.000 Joseph Laborna, Chief Economist at SMBC and Ecosecurity said, recent history suggests a March 2024 rate cut is happening.
00:48:23.000 The futures market agrees.
00:48:26.000 Investors are betting on a 75% chance the federal slash rates in the first three months of next year.
00:48:30.000 Presumably, that would also be political.
00:48:31.000 An attempt to inject new liquidity into the economy in advance of the election so as to increase a feeling of economic health going into election 2024.
00:48:39.000 And then Biden gets to brag about his economic record or something.
00:48:43.000 Again, I remain highly suspicious of the idea that you can have stagnating wages for full-on two years, that you can inject this much money into the economy, and then have overall inflation that in terms of, for example, mortgages is up 90% since 2020.
00:49:00.000 And that you can somehow come out of the other end with a healthy economy.
00:49:03.000 I just think that's a very, very difficult thing to actually expect at this point.
00:49:08.000 Okay, in just one second, we'll bring you the latest from the Israel-Hamas war.
00:49:12.000 If you're not a member, become a member.
00:49:13.000 Use code SHAPIRO.
00:49:13.000 Check out for two months free on all annual plans.