Rick Perry says supporting Donald Trump is a 'no brainer'
On 'Hannity,' former Texas governor calls the alternative an 'absolute disaster'
This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," May 9, 2016. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
SEAN HANNITY, HOST: And welcome to "Hannity." And tonight, Donald Trump is responding to the Republicans who refuse to rally behind him as the party's nominee. Now, here's what he told ABC about the party being united.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESUMPTIVE GOP PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I think it's a mistake not to do this. We want to bring the party together. Does the party have to be together? Does it have to be unified? I'm very different than everybody else, perhaps, that's ever run for office. I actually don't think so. I think that...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It doesn't have to be unified?
TRUMP: No, I don't think so. I think it would be better if it were unified. I think it would be -- there would be something good about it. But I don't think it actually has to be unified in the traditional sense.
I'm a conservative. But don't forget, this is called the Republican Party. It's not called the conservative party. You know, there are conservative parties. This is called the Republican Party.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Here with reaction, former 2016 Republican presidential candidate, the former governor of the great state of Texas, Rick Perry is back with us. Governor, how are you, sir?
RICK PERRY, FMR. TEXAS GOVERNOR, FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Sean, I'm very good. Thank you.
HANNITY: You were harsh against Donald Trump. He was not your next choice after you got out of the race to win, but you're supporting him. Why?
PERRY: Well, this is pretty simple when you get down to it, Donald Trump is going to be the Republican nominee. And we're going to have a choice between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, and the next president of the United States is going to appoint at least one, probably three Supreme Court justices. This is about a no-brainer as you can get, from my perspective is that when you really get down to it -- and listen, yes, I was harsh. I was harsh on Mitt Romney. I was harsh on a number of people. They reciprocated. That's the way the process works.
Sean, that's what we're doing. We're going through a process here. And Donald Trump is going to be our nominee. And you know, I'm going to support him because the alternative is an absolute disaster.
HANNITY: I was down at the border with you. I believe he'll build that wall. I don't think there's any doubt about it. He ran strongly on it.
Also, he said he will release the names and create a pool of candidates for the Supreme Court and he would only tap into that group of people, so conservatives will know ahead of time the type of justices that he would appoint to the Supreme Court. He says he has a judicial philosophy similar to both Scalia and Thomas.
You think that'll give conservatives that maybe are on the fence some hope that things will be a lot better and different?
PERRY: It certainly should. And you know, when you hear him talk about, Listen, Washington doesn't need to be deciding education policy in Washington, D.C., devolve that back to the states -- I mean, that's a 10th Amendment supporter speaking there, and that's what I want in a president, that doesn't believe that Washington knows everything and that all power evolves out of Washington, D.C., that the states are, you know, 50 laboratories of innovation.
He believes that. And I truly believe that Donald Trump will devolve that power back, will make Washington, D.C., as inconsequential as it can be. And that I think is what scares a lot of people who really have never seen that and they've never -- they've never supported that concept. But if we're truly going to be Republicans, we're truly going to be conservatives, then that 10th Amendment needs to really...
HANNITY: Oh, it's huge.
PERRY: ... mean...
HANNITY: You know, there's a whole list of those issues, though. And he said he'd repeal and replace "Obama care," and he said he would appoint conservative justices to the court, originalists, he told me many times.
PERRY: See, I think you've made the point here. You've made the point about why people like me are going to be supporting Donald Trump. I mean, we agree on a whole lot more than we disagree on. I mean, if you want to split hairs, if you want to get your panties in a wad over this issue or that one, that's fine.
(LAUGHTER)
PERRY: But the point is Donald Trump is going to be our nominee. He's earned it, and we need to respect that, that he's worked hard.
You know, he wasn't my first choice. Matter of fact, he wasn't my second choice. But he's our nominee, and I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that we have an individual in the White House who's going to put people on that Supreme Court that are going to affect my kids 40 years from now with decisions.
HANNITY: Well said.
PERRY: I want somebody that is going to put a conservative and a constitutionalist on that court.
HANNITY: Here's Trump on being blindsided by Speaker of the House Ryan and by Mitt Romney. And I want to get your reaction to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I like Paul Ryan. I think he's a very good guy. He called me three weeks ago, and he was so supportive. It was amazing. And I never thought a thing like this...
CHUCK TODD, MODERATOR, "MEET THE PRESS": So you're stunned.
PERRY: I got blindsided like this.
TODD: You feel blindsided by him?
TRUMP: No, I would say stunned is a little bit -- it's politics. I'm never stunned by anything that happens in politics, but I'm not -- so I'm not -- yes, I was blindsided a little bit because he spoke to me three weeks ago, and it was a very nice call, very encouraging call.
I helped Mitt Romney a lot.
TODD: And you feel like he was ungrateful?
TRUMP: I really -- I believe I won him or helped him win five states that he was going to lose.
TODD: Sounds like you think he was ungrateful? You think he's been ungrateful?
TRUMP: He was. He was ungrateful, which is OK. A lot of people are ungrateful. But he was ungrateful. He did not -- they did not respond accordingly, and that's OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: What is your reaction -- the speaker of the House, he doesn't do a lot of interviews. He goes out and purposely does this interview to shoot that -- give that shot across the bow to Trump. Why? Why? Doesn't that seem like sabotage?
PERRY: You know, I can't answer why the speaker has given that answer, given that response. I will suggest to you, with a little time -- like in a lot of things in life, we say things that are harsh, but when we've given some thought to it, you know, what is the long game here -- and you know, Speaker Ryan and Mitt Romney, they understand the long game, and the long game is we must have a Republican as the next president of the United States -- and I'm trying to keep this simple -- if for no other reason than those Supreme Court decisions...
HANNITY: Yes.
PERRY: ... those Supreme Court appointees that are going to occur in the next four years.
HANNITY: Let me ask you this...
PERRY: We got to get that right.
HANNITY: I've talked a lot about two things that I think would be good. Number one, promises to America, put it down on paper because people feel betrayed. Number two, a team of rivals. If Donald Trump calls you, Governor -- I think you're one of the most successful governors in the country -- would you take his call and maybe be a part of his team?
PERRY: Well, sure, and I've said that. And I think that is important for people to look at what he's going to do and who he's going to do that with. Bringing in individuals, particularly on the political side, who have a lot of experience on how that process works -- like he said, listen, he's got the business side of this thing covered. He feels pretty comfortable about his military side of it.
You know, again, I would -- I hope I have the opportunity to share with him a little bit about the military side of it not only as a veteran, but also as commander-in-chief, as a governor, and also just the relationships that I've had over the course of those years. And I'd certainly be open to having conversations about helping him in any way that I can.
And any good American should do that. We should not allow any personal pettiness get in the way of getting this country back on track again.
HANNITY: Yes. Governor, that's a powerful statement tonight. I hope other people hear you. Thank you, sir.
PERRY: So long.
HANNITY: All right, joining us now, more reaction, former 2016 Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson. Dr. Carson, what's your reaction to Lindsey Graham and Jeb Bush and Paul Ryan?
DR. BEN CARSON, FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, you know, I believe that they will come along eventually as they think through this and recognize that...
HANNITY: Why do they have to come along?
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: If they give you a promise -- if I promise you that I'm going to support you if I lose, why is that a process? You gave your word.
CARSON: Well, it shouldn't be. It shouldn't be. And your word should be worth something. I think they will come to recognize that also.
So I think some of this right now is posturing. Some of it's licking of raw wounds. And I understand that. And I think, you know, given enough time and space, these problems will begin to resolve themselves because there really is not another good alternative.
And like Rick Perry said, you know, this is about the future. This is about the Supreme Court and how it's going to be changed. This is about our children. We can't let pettiness get in the way.
And also, remember, we're being manipulated by a lot of people on the other side who say, You Republicans are wonderful people because you have such principles and you would never vote for somebody that you didn't agree with. And then they go home and laugh at you.
HANNITY: With your background as a doctor, as a medical doctor, you could be appointed to repeal and replace "Obama care." Now, I've interviewed Donald Trump a lot about this and talked to him a lot about this. He has on his Web site -- he told me numerous times he likes health care savings accounts. Have you thought about, if given that task, how you would handle that?
CARSON: Well, certainly, I don't necessarily want to be appointed to any office, but I will certainly be lending the expertise that I have...
HANNITY: Oh, no, I think Health and Human Services secretary and surgeon general are right up your alley. I think you could probably do both jobs at once.
CARSON: Well, I also feel that...
(LAUGHTER)
CARSON: I feel...
HANNITY: I'm volunteering you, if you didn't hear. I'm highly endorsing you.
CARSON: Yes -- to continue to speak out about all kinds of things because just because Donald Trump gets elected doesn't mean that a lot of our other issues don't go away. And we need a lot of voices out there speaking about these things in a very truthful and honest way.
HANNITY: Do you like the idea of a team of rivals? We have, like -- I've always thought that Governor Perry did one of the best jobs of any governor in the country, or Governor Jindal's another one...
CARSON: Terrific guy.
HANNITY: ... or Scott Walker or John Kasich and Rick Scott of Florida. Do you think maybe putting a team together, announcing that team ahead of time would be helpful?
CARSON: I think it would be extraordinarily helpful, and I think that's going to happen. And we've a lot of really good candidates, including some people who didn't run, and also the Supreme Court, putting that list out, I think, is going to...
HANNITY: Huge.
CARSON: ... assuage a lot of anxiety.
HANNITY: I agree. Very well said. And you're going to help, I guess, in putting together a list of vice presidential possibilities?
CARSON: We have some terrific possibilities.
HANNITY: Is your name on the list?
CARSON: Obviously, we need -- I don't want to be considered because I remember when I was running...
HANNITY: Whose names are on the list?
(CROSSTALK)
CARSON: ... great distraction. I could, but I'm not going to.
(LAUGHTER)
HANNITY: What do you mean -- come on, just between you and me, we're friends. All right...
CARSON: And a million others, yes.
(LAUGHTER)
HANNITY: All right, Dr. Carson. Thank you. Appreciate it.
And coming up tonight on this busy news night on "Hannity"...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Jeb Bush is not an honorable person. Lindsey Graham is not an honorable person because when you sign a pledge, that's supposed to mean something, right?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Donald Trump lashing out at Republicans who have broken their pledge to support the Republican nominee. Ari Fleischer, Tucker Carlson, Peter Johnson, Jr., are all here to weigh in.
And then later tonight...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: She was an unbelievably nasty, mean, enabler, and what she did to a lot of those women is disgraceful!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Donald Trump unloading on Hillary Clinton for being, quote, "an enabler" of Bill Clinton's scandalous past. That and more tonight on "Hannity."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRET BAIER, FOX DEBATE MODERATOR: Can you definitively say you will support the Republican nominee even if that nominee is Donald J. Trump? Senator Rubio, yes or no.
SEN. MARCO RUBIO, R-FLA., FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'll support the Republican nominee.
BAIER: Mr. Trump, yes or no?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll support Donald if he's the Republican nominee.
BAIER: Senator Cruz, yes or no, you will support Donald Trump if he's the nominee?
SEN. TED CRUZ, R-TEXAS, FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes because I gave my word that I would.
GOV. JOHN KASICH, R-OHIO, FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He ends up as the nominee, sometimes he makes it a little bit hard, but you know, I will support whoever is the Republican nominee for president.
SEN. RAND PAUL, R-KY., FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think Donald Trump's a disaster. I think he'll hurt the country and we'll lose in a landslide. But I will still pledge to support the nominee.
GOV. SCOTT WALKER, R-WIS., FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think in the end, Republicans across this country, certainly here in the state of Wisconsin, we're going to be behind the nominee.
JEB BUSH, FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As I've always done since the beginning, since I was 18 years old, I'm going to support the Republican nominee.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, R-S.C., FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm going to support the Republican nominee, whoever he or she may be. But the bottom line, if it's Trump, so be it. That's who I'll support.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: All right. That was a flashback from some former GOP presidential candidates who all signed a pledge promising to support the eventual Republican nominee. But now, well, two of them are singing a very different tune, including Senator Lindsey Graham. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRAHAM: I just don't believe Donald Trump is a reliable conservative Republican. Good luck with Paul Ryan trying to find a conservative agenda with this guy. And I don't think he has the temperament or judgment to be commander-in-chief.
I can understand why people want to support the nominee of the Republican Party. I would like to be able to do that, but I just can't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Now, Senator graham is not the only former candidate to break his promise. On Friday, former governor Jeb Bush posted a lengthy statement to Facebook, writing in part, quote, "In November, I will not vote for Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, but I will support principled conservatives at the state and federal level."
And over the weekend, Donald Trump forcefully responded to both Bush and Graham. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: So you all wanted me to sign a pledge. I said, I'll sign a pledge. A pledge means something. Jeb Bush, very low-energy individual, signed a pledge, and the pledge says, We will guarantee you're going to endorse everything else. I signed it. So Jeb Bush is not an honorable person. Lindsey Graham is not an honorable person because when you sign a pledge, that's supposed to mean something, right? It didn't mean anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Here now with reaction, former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer and FOX news contributor Tucker Carlson, Fox News legal analyst Peter Johnson, Jushen -- Jr. Sorry, Peter.
All right. So Ari, it's kind of simple. At the very first debate, the only person not to raise his hand when that question was asked was Donald Trump. A lot of pressure was brought to bear on him. He finally gave in and said, yes, all right, I will support the eventual nominee. What about those people that break their promise?
ARI FLEISCHER, FMR. BUSH WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Look, Sean, I haven't been hesitant to criticize Donald Trump when he was in the wrong, but you got to give this round to Donald Trump. Donald Trump is right. And one of the reasons that Donald Trump is running well is because of the sense that politicians will say and do anything and their word doesn't matter, so the public is looking for an outsider.
This reinforces the sentiment that people in Washington will say whatever they want to say and not mean it. Donald Trump is right about this criticism. They should be supporting him.
HANNITY: Yes. Peter?
PETER JOHNSON, JR., FOX LEGAL ANALYST: Ari is right. You know, words mean something. And someone's word better count, especially in a presidential race. They're looking bad. They're making Donald Trump look good.
And the Republican Party, in trying to walk away from Donald Trump at this point, especially the speaker of the House, it's an absolute embarrassment. It shows an utter disrespect for the will of the Republican voters through the country.
HANNITY: Ari, let's -- Ari's right, but Tucker, let me take it to another level. You got Bill Kristol, Mitt Romney and Senator Ben Sasse all talking about a potential third party candidacy.
FLEISCHER: Right.
HANNITY: Let's go to things that Bill Kristol has said. In a phone interview with The Washington Post, he said, "He came pretty close to being elected president," talking about Romney, "I thought he might consider doing it, especially since he has been forthright in explaining why Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton should not be the president of the United States."
He went on to say, "Obviously, if there were to be an independent candidacy, Romney's support would be very important. I wanted to get his wisdom on whether or not it was less doable than I thought. It was, like, Well, you should do it. I wouldn't presume he would, but I'm hoping that he begins to think about it a little more."
Then he tweeted out, as well, he said, you know, "Clinton versus Trump would be stupid, mutually destructive, that an honest, competent independent could win. If Bartolo Colon could hit a home run" -- he's a Mets pitcher, he's like, 42 -- "then an independent candidate can win the presidency."
Are they all really trying to just sabotage Trump here? Are they just trying to ruin any -- are they trying to help Hillary become the president?
TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Look, I mean, first to the presidential candidates. I give Jeb Bush a pass. I mean, Trump didn't just beat him, he basically destroyed his life and made him unemployable. I think he has a right to be bitter about that. Lindsey Graham, nobody cares what he says. Trump makes a massive mistake engaging with the guy, punching down.
As for Republicans in D.C., they're totally bewildered. They think this is about Trump. They don't get that Trump, as he put it, I thought pretty well, didn't inherit the Republican Party, he won it in primaries against 16 other candidates.
This is what happens when, you know, you lose a couple of wars and two presidential elections, and Washington Republicans are implicated in those losses. And voters are mad at them, and that don't want to admit that.
This is a referendum on them, on the leadership of the Republican Party in D.C. And so of course they're resistant! And by the way, they have legitimate criticisms about Trump, I think. But really, it's about them. This is challenge to their authority, their stewardship of the party, and they've come up short in the eyes of voters. So no wonder they're mad.
HANNITY: Yes. Ari, I think you're right, it cements in the minds of voters that these guys are all talk, no action, to use Trump's words, that their word means nothing. I would argue that they caused a lot of the insurgency this year. And I also think it's deeper than that. I think it may end up backfiring, boomeranging back and helping Trump here.
FLEISCHER: You know, I make a distinction between the candidates who gave their word and signed a pledge who now reneged on their pledge and people like Paul Ryan, who made no such pledge. You know, the fact is that Donald Trump has created and asked for much of this. Donald Trump has divided the Republican Party. The Republican Party is divided.
So we're going to continue to watch this unfold before us. But the most assured thing you can watch is politicians will head for the hills if Donald Trump is down double digits remaining in August or even September of 2016 to Hillary.
HANNITY: But wait a minute. Let me take issue with one thing.
FLEISCHER: That's when the entire party will abandon him...
HANNITY: Doesn't Paul Ryan as a leader...
FLEISCHER: ... and protect their own reelection.
HANNITY: Doesn't Paul Ryan, as a leader of the Republican Party -- he doesn't do a lot of interviews. He did this interview on purpose. He wanted to take that shot across the bow!
FLEISCHER: Yes, that's right. He did. I think that's a reflection of Paul's deeply held ideology. Paul runs on ideological principles, conservative principles that you support, Sean. Donald Trump doesn't. There's a legitimate difference between the two. And that's what politics should be. It should be the airing of differences.
HANNITY: But there is an intersection...
(CROSSTALK)
FLEISCHER: ... it's not a mandatory result. On this one, I agree with Donald Trump. It's better to be unified, but you don't have to be unified. The question is, can Donald Trump win a presidential election being so different from anybody who's come before him? That's what 2016 is --
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: Well, he knocked out pretty 16 significant people. There is an intersection here, though, in terms of where he stands on health care, where he stands on the borders, where he stands on education, sending things back to the states, balancing budgets, all the things that he said to me repeatedly in interviews, and conservatism, even though he's a more nationalist populist.
JOHNSON: Well, he's a self-identified conservative, and his positions are conservative by nature. And so the test in America now is, will Paul Ryan and a few others try and delegitimize the primary process. Will it try to make an intervention on Donald Trump, put him in a 12-step political purge to say...
HANNITY: He's not going to change.
JOHNSON: Well, he's not going to change. And if he changes, he's going to do it to his detriment because Americans and Republicans and independents are looking to him to stand for the things that he stood for in winning in this race.
HANNITY: Don't you think, Tucker, that this is sabotage in a way? It seemed almost coordinated because to all was -- it was all unfolding in a three-day period here.
CARLSON: Well, of course. I mean, thee's a lot of people here who don't want Trump to win. They'd rather have Hillary because the rules of the game wouldn't change, and you know, it would be recognizable, the landscape, politically.
But I got to say, of course Trump doesn't have orthodox conservative positions on a whole bunch of things, but on the issue that I think is driving this election above all, which is immigration, who's more conservative? Trump, who really, I think, sincerely does want to control the borders, or Paul Ryan, who presides over a party that has failed to do so on purpose for generations?
The only reason that Barack Obama got elected president twice, that California's a left-wing state, is because the demographics of the country are totally different. That was by design, and it was with the complicity of Republicans. So, like, who's the liberal here?
HANNITY: All right, guys. Thank you all for being with us. Appreciate it.
And coming up next tonight right here on "Hannity"...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: She was an unbelievably nasty, mean enabler, and what she did to a lot of those women is disgraceful!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Donald Trump goes after Hillary Clinton very hard, calling her a nasty enabler of her husband's scandalous past. Our panel will weigh in.
And then later tonight...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The nice part is now we're focusing on crooked Hillary Clinton.
CLINTON: We can't have a loose cannon in the Oval Office.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: The stage now being set for a showdown between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in November. So whose message is resonating with you, the voters? That and more as we continue.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: And welcome back to "Hannity." So Donald Trump unloaded on Hillary Clinton over the weekend and criticized the way that she handled Bill Clinton's scandalous past. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESUMPTIVE GOP PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Nobody in this country, and maybe in the history of the country politically, was worse than Bill Clinton with women! He was a disaster! He was a disaster! I mean, there's never been anybody like this!
And she was a total enabler. She would go after these women and destroy their lives! I mean, have you ever read what Hillary Clinton did to the women that Bill Clinton had affairs with? And they're going after me with women? Give me a break, folks!
She was an unbelievably nasty, mean enabler, and what she did to a lot of those women is disgraceful!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Today, Hillary Clinton was asked about Trump's remarks, and here's what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Secretary Clinton, are his claims accurate? And if not, do you feel any need to correct the record on this?
CLINTON: I have nothing to say about him and how he's run his campaign.
I'm answering him all the time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But on this subject...
CLINTON: No, I'm answering him on what I think voters care about. I'm answering him on the differences between our records, our experience.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: That is so weak. Joining us now with reaction, from the Polling Company, Kellyanne Conway. She used to work for a pro-Cruz super-PAC. Also here tonight, FOX News senior correspondent Geraldo Rivera, FOX News contributor Monica Crowley.
You know, she -- her hands are not clean here, and these allegations by Kathleen Willey -- groping and grabbing and fondling and touching and kissing against her will, and Juanita Broaddrick -- this isn't consensual sex, him dropping his pants in front of Paula Jones.
MONICA CROWLEY, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Here is what is so brilliant about what Donald Trump is doing. There's a real method to this. He is targeting millennial women, young women who either not born at the time of the Lewinsky...
HANNITY: You're aging all of us on the panel.
CROWLEY: ... scandal...
(LAUGHTER)
HANNITY: Geraldo spent a year of his life defending Clinton!
CROWLEY: ... or are not old enough to remember. So they're hearing this all for the first time. And remember, the culture has changed. College campuses have changed. And this kind of stuff is horrifying to these young women! He is speaking directly to them. And if he can peel enough of them away, and frankly, millennial men, as well -- if he can peel enough of that constituency away from Hillary, or whatever Democrat they run, Donald Trump will win!
HANNITY: Geraldo, forget about your defense over the year of Clinton and Lewinsky. That's different.
GERALDO RIVERA, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: But I have so much inside information.
HANNITY: I don't know if I want it.
(LAUGHTER)
HANNITY: But you did break the story on the blue dress, didn't you? You and Drudge broke the story. All right, here...
RIVERA: I broke the story.
HANNITY: Excuse me. OK. Here's what's important, though. These women -- they were smeared. They were besmirched. They were attacked.
CROWLEY: Yes.
HANNITY: And it was Hillary Clinton stood by and never stood up for those women one time!
RIVERA: Until I broke the story that there was, indeed, the president's DNA on the blue dress, on Monica's infamous blue dress, there was a war on "bimbos," quote/unquote, from the White House. I got that. This is from the time when you hated me, when you had my face --
HANNITY: I didn't hate you.
RIVERA: -- with a bull's eye. You were throwing darts at it every night. I know that literally to be true.
HANNITY: Not in a bad way.
RIVERA: I'm saying literally.
But then once it -- there came a time where Hillary was standing by her man where their popularity soared, hers and the president's, once impeachment had been beaten back. I'm not sure --
HANNITY: That was consensual.
RIVERA: I get Monica's point about the younger generation maybe. You know, I'm not that in touch. But in terms of generally speaking, I think there's a lot of women out there who have stood by their men caught in adulterous relationships.
HANNITY: No, no, we're not talks about adultery. We're talking about assault. Kathleen Willey, Juanita Broaddrick, and Paula Jones, a whole different story. Kellyanne?
KELLYANNE CONWAY, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Paula Jones, let's go back because I think even this shows how effective Donald Trump is at stealing the news cycles from Hillary Clinton. He just said DNA on the blue dress. People are going to go Google "DNA on the blue dress" who don't know what he's talking about. And Hillary Clinton today in Virginia where she's trying to steal Republicans against Trump phantom voters she thinks are out there, she's being held to account for this. Let's go back to Paula Jones briefly, Sean. This is a low-level employee in Arkansas. This is a power grab by the governor. He sent a state trooper to go and dispatch her to his hotel room at the Excelsior hotel and dropped his pants. Those are facts in evidence. And the last time I didn't sexually harass someone, I didn't write them a check for $850,000, which is what he did.
HANNITY: People forget that, or lose your law license.
CONWAY: He lost his law license, and then the judge in Arkansas held him in co contempt because he lied at the Monica Lewinsky trial.
HANNITY: I went back, remember Christopher Hitchens, the late journalist who passed away, he's quoted Sidney "Vicious" Blumenthal, Hillary's best buddy, that Miss Lewinsky had been a stalker and Bill was the victim of a predatory and unstable, sexually demanding young women.
MONICA CROWLEY, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Wait a minute, this is a really critical point. I'm glad you brought up Blumenthal. Blumenthal is in the news now because he was running Hillary Clinton's rogue outside intelligence operation. His e-mails were the ones that got exposed that she had a private e-mail and private server and everything else. Sidney Blumenthal has been the Clinton's hatchet person for a very long time. He's back in the news now. He is relevant because he was working with her when she was secretary of state. The fact that she used him to orchestrate --
HANNITY: She never stood up for these women. It's not like there's one, there's 10. Here's the thing, here's what I like about Trump. Trump is going to hit hard. I love it.
CONWAY: He's not afraid.
RIVERA: We appreciate that aggression in this --
HANNITY: He's not going to take her crap.
RIVERA: He's very focused and very effective. However, women are the majority of voters right now. And right now the Republicans are losing the women vote, and I'm not sure that this line of attack over time --
HANNITY: Really?
RIVERA: -- over time --
HANNITY: Kelly Ann --
RIVERA: With all due respect to Paula Jones, Gennifer Flowers --
CONWAY: Keep naming them.
RIVERA: Many of them. And there are a dozen of them, I don't know that many of them aside from Monica Lewinsky have really scored in terms of the sympathy of the American people --
(CROSSTALK)
CONWAY: Look, Donald Trump is not going to win the election, he's not going to win the women's vote talking about this only, but he's doing it for a simple reason. Hillary Clinton picked this fight. She said she's playing the woman's card right back at him. She said he's a misogynist. So he's saying guess who is a misogynist. But hold on, hold on. Here's what women care about. They care about issues. And she runs around talking about pay equity and health care. She's been a public figure for 30 years.
HANNITY: This is not going away. And I'm going to be all over you on this.
(LAUGHTER)
HANNITY: Coming up next tonight on "Hannity" --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The nice part is now we're focusing on crooked Hillary Clinton.
CLINTON: We can't have a loose cannon in the Oval Office.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton trading jabs on the campaign trail. So whose messaging is resonating with you, the voters? We have our pollsters coming up next.
And later tonight --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Yes, you've worked hard. But you've also been lucky. That's a pet peeve of mine. People who've been successful and don't realize they've been lucky.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: "You didn't build that." He does it again. Obama tries hard to knock down successful Americans, saying you're all lucky. Sheriff David Clarke, Eric Guster weigh in straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity." So with both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton so close to officially clinching their respective parties' nominations, the two candidates are now turning their attention to each other and the battle lines are now being drawn. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The nice part is now we're focusing on crooked Hillary Clinton.
CLINTON: With all the challenges we face in America and in the world, we can't have a loose cannon in the Oval Office.
TRUMP: If she didn't play the women's card, she would have no chance, I mean zero, of winning.
CLINTON: We have to recognize that the kind of language coming from Donald Trump is hateful and we need to repudiate it.
TRUMP: I look so forward to debating this crooked, crooked politician. I look so forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Now, if that's any indication what's to come, should be a pretty contentious next few months. Joining us now, Frank Luntz, the pollster, Republican pollster John McLaughlin, FOX News contributor and former Clinton pollster Doug Schoen. All right, quick answer, all three. Who's going to win this election? Doug?
DOUG SCHOEN, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Secretary Clinton win will narrowly.
HANNITY: John?
JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, REPUBLICAN POLLSTER: Trump should win.
HANNITY: Narrowly? Listen to that. Frank Luntz.
FRANK LUNTZ, POLLSTER: At this point, Hillary Clinton narrowly.
HANNITY: I think Trump. It could be very close. Hillary starts out with 47 percent of the vote. We got to see.
Now, we were just discussing, John. Donald Trump hit Hillary hard and in a way no other Republican can.
MCLAUGHLIN: Right.
HANNITY: Is that going to be effective?
MCLAUGHLIN: You know what it is, Frank and I used to work for a guy named Arthur Finkelstein. And Finkelstein worked for Nixon, he was Nixon's pollster. And he used to say that a crook always beats a fool. So when you're the crook like Hillary Clinton, you're going to try to make the other guy the fool. And that's what Hillary Clinton is doing to Donald Trump. And he's got to react against it, because she has the high negatives, too, where they're saying Trump is over 60 percent. She's got a 57 percent unfavorable in the last poll and it could go higher. But people know her. And when you ask what do you like least about her, they say she's dishonest and she's a liar.
SCHOEN: Look, you can win, as you're suggesting, being perceived as not being honest. The Democrats have an Electoral College substantial advantage. Trump's negative is higher. And on issues like the social issues, Hillary Clinton is going to benefit because millennial women, as you're discussing, are pro-choice.
HANNITY: But they're also anti-smearing and besmirching of innocent women.
SCHOEN: Well, let's put it this way. Donald Trump has not exactly run a kinder and gentler campaign.
HANNITY: But it doesn't matter. I think, Frank, when people do learn about Hillary, which there will be a vetting, and the vetting will be right here on this show. I promise you. I think people will know a lot more by the time November comes around, and I don't think any of it is going to favor her in any way.
LUNTZ: I think you're making a mistake here, that Donald Trump's strength is not just Hillary Clinton's negative -- the fact that Donald Trump is the anti-establishment candidate. If you have had enough, had enough higher taxes, enough wasteful Washington spending, enough corruption, enough mistakes on the world stage, enough of all of this, then you have to vote against Hillary Clinton. I actually think the most powerful word in this entire election campaign is that word, "enough." And if Donald Trump says it enough times --
SCHOEN: Sean, there's one other word -- jobs. If he develops an economic growth program, he can win. So far, no evidence of it.
MCLAUGHLIN: That's where he's got to take the offense to her. In our last poll, we said, do you want to continue the policies of Barack Obama?
HANNITY: No.
MCLAUGHLIN: And 57 percent said no. Every vote for Trump, he's got to show them on policy. He needs to take the campaign to her and beat her on the policies --
HANNITY: Frank, last word.
LUNTZ: I just -- this is an anti-Washington mood. It's an anti-Washington electorate. Hillary Clinton represents, for the last three decades, she represents everything that's wrong with Washington. This is the opportunity for Donald Trump. If it's Clinton in Washington, then Trump wins.
SCHOEN: And she will be running as far away from Obama as she can.
MCLAUGHLIN: See, we brought Frank around --
HANNITY: She's already embraced through the whole nominating process.
MCLAUGHLIN: Look at this, we brought Frank around.
HANNITY: Yes. I guess we just got Frank on Trump's side. Amazing.
Coming up next tonight on "Hannity" --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Yes, you've worked hard, but you've also been lucky. That's a pet peeve of mine, people who've been successful and don't realize they've been lucky.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Ah, the president has a new, "oh, you didn't build that" moment. He's now saying successful people just got lucky. Sheriff David Clarke, Eric Guster next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity." So while giving a commencement address over the weekend at Howard University, the president, well, he slammed successful people. You're all just lucky. You didn't build that. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: We have to not only question the world as it is and stand up for those African-Americans who haven't been so lucky, because yes, you worked hard, but you've also been lucky. That's a pet peeve of mine, people who have been successful and don't realize they've been lucky, that God may have blessed them. It wasn't nothing you did. So don't have an attitude.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: And the president also said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Be confident in in your heritage. Be confident in your blackness.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: One of the great changes that occurred in our country since I was your age is the realization there is no one way to be black. Take it from somebody who has seen both sides of the debate about whether I'm black or not.
(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: There was one time I had lunch with the Queen of England and hosted Kendrick Lamar in the Oval Office.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: And Secretary of State, comrade John Kerry, well, he's under fire for these comments.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: I think that everything that we've lived and learned tells us that we will never come out on top if we accept advice from sound bit salesman and carnival barkers who pretend the most powerful country on earth can remain great by looking inward.
The future demands from us something more than a nostalgia for some rose- tinted version of a past that did not really exist in any case. And I think that everyone here, especially the class of 2016, understands that viscerally, internally, intellectually. You're about to graduate into a complex and borderless world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Here with reaction, Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, trial attorney, political commentator Eric Guster. If you're successful, Sheriff, you didn't do that, you're lucky. You didn't build that if you have a good business. You're lucky. We're going to have a borderless world, too. That is coming.
SHERIFF DAVID CLARKE, MILWAUKEE COUNTY: He'd know a little bit about luck. This guy went from community organizer to occupying the highest office in the land.
But you know, when you think about it, he doesn't believe in human potential. He doesn't believe in a person's ability to work hard, persevere, overcome obstacles, and go on and reach greatness. God blesses each of us in different ways. We are not all equally talented like he said. I am not as talented as Jordan Speith when it comes to the game of golf, and I was not as talented as Michael Jordan at basketball. But I do have some potential. And I went out and I worked hard, and I got my education.
And it was not lucky I got to a graduate program in the U.S. Naval postgraduate academy. I had to work my ass off to get through that program. Those professors didn't give me anything. And for someone to stand up there at the end and tell me I was lucky would have been insulted. The admiral who delivered the commencement address at my master's graduation program, the thing I took away, he said be bold and aggressive in leading. He didn't sit up there telling me that I wasn't worth anything and the world wasn't fair.
HANNITY: Eric Guster is lucky he's on the show right now. Just luck. Nothing to do with his talent.
ERIC GUSTER, TRIAL ATTORNEY: What president Obama is saying is that you have to be -- have to have perseverance.
HANNITY: He didn't say that.
GUSTER: And you have to have luck along with thing. Yes, he did.
(CROSSTALK)
GUSTER: I have had every word of the 30 minute speech. And what he said yes, get your education. But also being successful comes with a bit of luck as well.
CLARKE: Eric, you didn't luck your way through law school. I know you had to work hard. You should be offended by what he said, too. It's just the wrong message to give young minds coming out of college. He should have talked about perseverance, you're going to fail and misstep sometimes. Get over it, get up, and move on. Don't blame racism and don't blame the world for not being fair. It should have been that kind of message. That is what young people need to hear. But of course he never misses an opportunity to play the race card.
GUSTER: His message was clearly make sure that you get your education, and it does come with a bit of luck. For example, with opportunities I've been, I had thrown at me and been accepted into, then that came with meeting the right person, getting the right introduction. That is a bit of luck. And it also takes work and it also takes hard dedication in doing those things. For example --
HANNITY: We've got to go, guys.
CLARKE: There's a difference between opportunity and luck.
HANNITY: We're lucky, we're out of time. Sorry, there goes your opportunity right out of the window. Thank you both for being with us. Coming up, a very important "Question of the Day" straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: All right, time for our "Question of the Day." Do Republicans who have promised to support the GOP nominee need to honor their pledge? Go to Facebook.com/SeanHannity, @SeanHannity on Twitter, let us know what you think.
Quick programming note -- tomorrow night, 10:00 eastern we go live, reacting to the primary contest in Nebraska, West Virginia. Laura Ingraham among our many guests.
But that's all the time we have left this evening. We'll see you back here 10:00 eastern, tomorrow night. Thanks for being with us.
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