McDaniel: Media underestimate voters when attacking Trump
RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and radio host Dr. Gina Loudon weigh in on 'Hannity'
This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," June 9, 2017. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: Welcome to "Hannity." And this is a "Fox News Alert." President Trump -- he comes out swinging and hard and absolutely hammers James Comey, calling him a liar today and blasting Democrats, and of course, the destroy Trump media.
Take a look at the president from earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Frankly, James Comey confirmed a lot of what I said. And some of the things that he said just weren't true.
QUESTION: Did he ask for a pledge of loyalty from you? (sic) That's another thing he said.
TRUMP: No, he did not.
QUESTION: So he said those things under oath. Would you be willing to speak under oath to give your version of those events?
TRUMP: 100 percent.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: And Welcome back to "Hannity." Now, that was the president hitting back hard against James Comey's testimony.
Back with us with reaction, Jay Sekulow, Anthony Scaramucci and Gregg Jarrett.
I got to be honest, Jay, I love this. No collusion. None. By the way, never under information, no obstruction. Comey's the leaker. And then he goes on, you know, to get -- Oh, let me go to one of these fake news guys in the news media. And then he said, I never asked for a pledge of loyalty. I never knew this guy! And the media's been running with this like it's gospel truth, you know, since Comey started in his angry, vindictive way because he's a fired disgruntled employee!
JAY SEKULOW, CHIEF COUNSEL, AMERICAN CENTER FOR LAW AND JUSTICE: Yes. So Sean, this is the complete collapse of James Comey and the Comey narrative about this case. It's over. I mean, there is no case there. And by the way, when you got people like Chris Matthews and then respected people, law professors like Jonathan Turley, that are saying that there may be a violation of law, right -- it should be James Comey--
HANNITY: Alan Dershowitz!
SEKULOW: (INAUDIBLE) But look at the response. Look at the response to Dianne Feinstein, when she asked the question correctly, Why didn't you say something if this happened? Well, if I was to stronger, maybe I would have. Could you imagine me giving that answer to the Supreme Court of the United States?
(LAUGHTER)
SEKULOW: Well, if I -- if I thought about that question -- I mean, it's ridiculous! This is the guy that's supposed to--
HANNITY: If you gave me that answer, you'd never be back on the show! We'd throw you off the show. It's just so pathetic.
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: All right, Gregg, let me -- let me--
SEKULOW: -- for the country, by the way. All of this is a distraction.
HANNITY: Oh, that I agree. And the president addressed that today. And 80 percent of his time has been used for this. Gregg, what's your take on this in particular?
GREGG JARRETT, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, a couple of things. First of all, somebody ought to get this guy an X-ray and make sure he's got a spine because he came across as, you know, Wendy Whiner -- oh, gee, I wasn't strong enough. I didn't -- you know, I was scared--
(LAUGHTER)
JARRETT: It was a cowardly answer. He was, like, cowardly lion all day yesterday.
(CROSSTALK)
JARRETT: Yes, The American Thinker actually called him a 6-foot, 8-inch pajama boy, a snowflake who needs a safe place.
HANNITY: Oh!
JARRETT: And you know, that's not far from the truth. And the other thing I would say is, and I mean this quite sincerely, every time he opens his mouth, he contorts the law and just absolutely mangles it.
And I seriously wonder how this guy ever managed to pass the bar exam! And you pointed out the Hillary Clinton case in which he said he wasn't going to prosecute her because she didn't intend to break the law. My goodness! That is not the legal standard.
SEKULOW: Right.
JARRETT: The legal standard is--
HANNITY: Let me -- let me get in--
JARRETT: -- Did you intend to commit acts that broke the law? And she clearly did.
HANNITY: Yes, just put it in a private server, right? Yes, and I just happened to delete 30,000 of them. Some included top secret information.
Anthony, the question that was most shouted at the president in the Rose Garden today was, Oh, what about the tapes? And he said, Well, I'll tell you in the very near future. And a lot of you are going to be disappointed in my answer.
My interpretation is, he put out the suggestion, in Comey's mind, Don't lie. And I don't think there's any tapes. Thoughts.
ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI, SENIOR ADVISER TO THE PRESIDENT: Well, I don't know if there are any tapes or not, but what I think they consistently underestimate about our president is how quick he is on his feet and how long-term he is in terms of his strategic thinking.
And so I think the next move, Sean, is to clean this out. I think he tried it the Washington way for at least the first four or five months. And he's going to basically go to all of these people and say, Hey, we tried it the Washington way. It did not work. We're now going to try it the Donald J. Trump way.
And I think you're going to see very positive results and a lot of effective change coming from the president over the next two or three months.
HANNITY: All right, Guys, you've all been amazing, analysis people cannot get anywhere else because the media is so corrupt. They colluded with Hillary. Thank you all.
And when we come back on this busy Friday night news-breaking night tonight on "Hannity"--
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COMEY: There have been many, many stories reportedly based on classified information about -- well, about lots of stuff, but especially about Russia, that are just dead wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: One thing that J. Edgar Comey did do is he crushed whatever credibility the media had left yesterday when he declared they get stories wrong often. Geraldo Rivera joins me next, and Lou Dobbs, and much more straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JACKIE IBANEZ, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: -- just a day before the special election, the Montana congressman has also agreed to give $50,000 to the committee to protect journalists.
I am Jackie Ibanez. Now back to "Hannity." For all of your headlines, log on to FoxNews.com. Have a great night.
HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity." So in a shocking turn of events, one of the biggest losers from yesterday's much-anticipated Comey testimony was the destroy-Trump propaganda media. We're going to break down just how James Comey humiliated the mainstream press and why they are now facing a massive credibility crisis in tonight's mini monologue.
So yesterday, the former FBI director James Comey, J. Edgar Comey, told the Senate Intel Committee that many of the media's Russian collusion stories are just dead wrong. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES COMEY, FORMER FBI DIRECTOR: There have been many, many stories partly based on classified information about lots of stuff but especially about Russia that are just dead wrong. The challenge, and I am not picking on reporters, about writing stories about classified information is the people talking about it often don't really know what's going on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Now after that testimony, even Mr. Thrill up his left Chris Matthews, he himself came to this stunning conclusion. I was even shocked. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS MATTHEWS, MSNBC HOST: The assumption of the critics of the president, of his pursuers you might say, is that somewhere along the line in the last years the president had something to do with colluding with the Russians, something to do, a helping hand, encouraging them, feeding their desire to affect the election in some way, some role they played, some conversation he had with Michael Flynn or Paul Manafort or somewhere. And yet what came apart this morning was that theory.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: "Pursuers." Now, the black helicopter crowd, the tinfoil hat Russia conspiracy theories being pushed by the media, the destroy-Trump media, have now come apart at the seams. Now, it's all been wrong. They have been lying to you, the American people. Of course MSNBC was not the only outlet having to backtrack. The Hill is reporting that, quote, "CNN issues correction after Comey's statement contradicts their reporting." And even ABC was also forced to update a story following Comey's remarks.
And then of course, there is the paper of record, so-called paper record, The New York Times. They were singled out yesterday for being flat out wrong, I would argue again. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That report by The New York Times was not true. Is that a fair statement?
COMEY: In the main, it was not true.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On February 14th, the New York Times published a story the headline of which was "Trump campaign aides had repeated contacts with Russian intelligence." You were asked earlier if that was an inaccurate story and you said "in the main." Would it be fair to characterize that story is almost entirely wrong?
COMEY: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: The New York Times are desperately trying to save face, fist issuing a tweet that reads, quote "We are looking into James Comey's statements and we will report back with more information as soon as we can." And then later, publishing a full article entitled "Comey disputes New York Times article about Russia investigation," where they tepidly stood by their reporting and openly wondered why Comey rebuked their coverage. I guess we won't be holding our breath for a full retraction or apology.
So despite some widespread embarrassment for all these people in the destroy-Trump media following the Comey testimony, do think we can ever expect them to stop spreading their fake news? In other words, land the black helicopters and get back to reality? Or will the crisis and credibility continue to grow? Joining us now, Fox news correspondent, Geraldo at large. Geraldo, this is a personal thing for me. I don't think anybody vetted Obama honestly. There were very few of us that thought Trump could win. The media never told the full story on Hillary's emails, the server, never gave the full failed record of Obama, and now this 10 month witch hunt, and they are barely, barely wanting to acknowledge how wrong they have been.
GERALDO RIVERA, FOX NEWS SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: You know, Sean, the media tends to slant left. They tend to be liberal. That is part of the landscape of the American pop culture. That's just the way it is.
But this is different than that. This is a mean spirited -- this is almost a hatred that comes from Trump's surprise election. The story about the Russia intelligence officials having contact with the Trump campaign aides is a gigantic story. You remember when it hit the front page. It was for the first time it put the Trump personnel in the KGB, in Moscow. They put them right with the prime operators of the anti-American -- it really was a very unsavory scene. It was a huge story.
And guess what? It was not correct. The story was wrong. Almost entirely wrong is the way Senator Cotton asked and James Comey then responded. This is a very big deal. This isn't just a kind of an ideological slant. This is a vindictive effort it seems to me, to kill this president or this presidency, and a lack of the kind of professionalism that it takes to apologize when you are wrong.
HANNITY: Here is the thing. They are so often wrong, Geraldo. They were wrong on Obama. They were wrong on Hillary. They never did their due diligence on emails and the Uranium One deal, for example. They never did their due diligence, they never thought Trump could win. But think back, they were also wrong on the Zimmerman case, Trayvon Martin. They were wrong about Ferguson in their reporting. They were wrong about Baltimore in their reporting. They have been wrong so often as they advance their political agenda. And by the way, I'm not looking for props being right, but I will say this -- if I get one little itsy-bitsy thing wrong, Geraldo, they are ready to get all out wanting to fire me and I need you protecting me.
RIVERA: I got your back all the way. You know that.
But this is talking about people's backs. President Trump has a bull's-eye on his back this big. It is incredible how every day this man wakes up knowing that he has 20 of the best reporters in the country at The Washington Post newsroom waking up also thinking how am I going to screw the president today? How am I going to get the president today? They have led this entire investigation.
And it turns out, look at where we are right now. And I think this is this is the only network that is really slowing people down and saying where are we with this? What did they have? They have General Michael Flynn, the national security advisor, who apparently lied to the vice president and others. He's in deep doo-doo, General Flynn is, not because of what he may have done with the Russians but because he lied about any contacts he had. When you go beyond that, what else is there? Is there any evidence? And the answer is no, there's no evidence of collusion.
HANNITY: Geraldo, thank you. Great analysis, and we appreciate you being here.
When we come back on this busy breaking Friday news night, tonight on "Hannity "--
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're a Democrat looking for the smoking gun behind motive. You didn't get it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Even the destroy-Trump-media are begrudgingly now having to admit the Russian collusion narrative that they have been advancing for 10 months actually came apart after Comey's testimony. But they are still going after the president with a vengeance. The RNC chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel and Dr. Gina Loudon, they'll have reaction. And later tonight --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: No collusion, no obstruction. He's a leaker, and, frankly, James Comey confirmed a lot of what I said. And some other things that he said just weren't true.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: President Trump comes out swinging against the former FBI director. Lou Dobbs is here to weigh in on that and much more, stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity." So in his hearing, the fired, disgruntled FBI director James Comey confirmed what I have been saying all along. Your media in this country has been dead wrong and lying to you, the American people, for months about so-called Trump-Russia collusion and their theories. But of course that is not stopping the destroy-Trump-media from going after the commander in chief. Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The president trying to stop an ongoing FBI criminal investigation is a textbook obstruction of justice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just classic obstruction of justice in the mold of Watergate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're a Democrat looking for the smoking gun behind motive, you didn't get it. But atmospherically, big picture, this is still a horrendous day for this president.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This whole mess is a tragedy of errors by a president who refuses to accept the limited powers of his office. Presidents are not dictators. You get elected to the office in this country, you are not Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: It is textbook not obstruction of justice. Not at all. They are lying to you.
Joining us now with reaction RNC chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel and psychology expert and TV and radio host Dr. Gina Loudon. Ronna, I'll start with you. It's textbook not obstruction of justice. If we have any felonies committed, it's the person or persons that James Comey protected, like Hillary.
RONNA ROMNEY MCDANIEL, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIRWOMAN: Yes, there's no obstruction of justice that was proven yesterday. Listen, Sean, the only group that is less self-aware than Hillary Clinton is the media. The media continues to throw story and story after another that's not true that's against the president. They did it all through the campaign when he was candidate Trump. Now they are doing it as the president and they're underestimating the American voter.
We see through it. We recognize that this president is fighting for the American person, that he's fighting for jobs and wages and better health care and national security. So the media can continue to lack self- awareness and continue to lie and be dishonest, but Middle America, they know that the president is fighting for them.
HANNITY: We saw in the poll about the media, 60 percent of Americans don't trust them. Dr. Loudon, great to see you, by the way.
DR. GINA LOUDON, PSYCHOLOGY EXPERT AND RADIO HOST: Thanks. Good to be here.
HANNITY: And I think one of the more important aspects here is they were so not prepared for him winning. And I think the president was right today. This whole Russia thing is because he won and they lost and they need excuses. Maybe I will tap in to your psychological mind here and your expertise. This is beyond derangement syndrome. This is an obsession. Waking up, how can we destroy the president?
LOUDON: It's like an entire cultural psychosis, Sean. I've never seen anything like it. We wonder how throughout civilized history these horrendous things happen. This is how, when people delude themselves to such a degree that they believe their own lies and they are willing to lie upon lie upon lie just to continue to confirmed the lies they already told. And this is where we are. And as Ronna said, or maybe it was you that said it, their approval rating, the media's approval rating, hello? It's far lower than President Trump's ever has been or ever will be.
HANNITY: Dr. Loudon, let me ask this then. We just played for you, for 10 months they have been advancing lies. When I do something wrong, I feel guilty, I feel terrible. They just keep going on with their lying. They don't correct. They don't try to make it right.
LOUDON: No, they've become a circus sideshow, Sean. And this president meanwhile is head down. He is keeping his promises to the American people. He is out there talking about the things that matter to the people in mid- America that Ronna was talking about, and he's going to continue to do that. It's a good darn thing, Sean, that this man has been an executive his entire life. He knows how to focus despite the storms going on around him. And every time I've ever seen him, he's pretty relaxed and chilling and having a good time, just like you said, having a great weekend.
HANNITY: Ronna, no wonder they want to destroy, on the left, talk radio and the Fox News Channel. I would argue before the 2018 and 2020 elections because we're it. We are the only ones left telling the truth to the American people at this point. They just lie with regularity.
MCDANIEL: We need you. There is no fairness out there. There is no balance in the media. I was watching a media show last night. They had nine contributors. They were all Democrat, all left leaning. They had one Republican guest. They determine what their narrative is going to be. They push it. They don't have any fairness.
I'm just going to say, I'm from Michigan. We see it. We know it. The American people are smarter than you are giving us credit for. And that's why President Trump won. That's why people are proud of what he's doing. They know he's fighting for them. But it is unfortunate we have a media that refuses to report the facts.
HANNITY: I promised this audience, just wait. We are going to expose all of this -- every person that has lied to you, we will show you and remind you. Ronna, thank you. Dr. Loudon, always good to see you, thank you.
And coming up on this busy breaking Friday news night tonight on "Hannity "--
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: No collusion, no obstruction. He's a leaker, and, frankly, James Comey confirmed a lot of what I said. And some other things that he said just weren't true.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: The president hammering the former FBI director over his Senate testimony. Lou Dobbs is here with reaction and much more, straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity." So earlier today during a joint press conference with the president of Romania, President Trump slammed the fired, disgruntled FBI director, and that's J. Edgar Comey, over his testimony you know. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: No collusion, no obstruction. He's a leaker.
Yesterday showed no collusion, no obstruction. We are doing really well.
That was an excuse by the Democrats. Frankly, James Comey confirmed a lot of what I said. And some other things that he said just weren't true.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you be willing to speak under oath to give your version of these events?
TRUMP: One hundred percent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Joining me now with reaction, the co-author of the brand new novel "Putin's Gambit," from the FOX Business Network, our friend Lou Dobbs is with us. I've watched us and we've been talking about it. When the president speculates -- my buddy Mike Myers goes, obviously he is saying I've got tapes. You better not lie. And the more I think about it, Lou, I actually think Comey and a lot of the things he said yesterday and things that have come out this week. Maybe in the back of his mind he was thinking there's tapes and probably got more truth out of him. That's a brilliant play by Trump and likely nonexistent.
LOU DOBBS, FBN HOST: I think you are right. And I also think we also got some, if you will, some falsehoods obviously as well. "The Financial Times," I'm just got to point this out. They said as a result of Comey's testimony they headlined that Trump's character is on trial. This shows the "FT" to be one of those leftwing nut job publications. This is over the top activism.
And to see that happen, this much we know for a fact -- one, Trump was never under investigation. The president did not collude. There is no evidence that he did. And yet intelligence agencies pursued this investigation and they were egged on by President Obama, who we do know was spying. His national security apparatus was spying on the Trump transition team. This is upside down, and the fact that the Senate intelligence committee, Sean, with Senator Burr and Senator Warner pontificating -- they know damn well there's nothing to this. This is nothing more than a show trial. And they should be ashamed and the American people should demand their heads.
HANNITY: I agree with you. And so much due deference. And then that brings up the issue of what he was saying to the fake news reporter about this whole issue of yes, will you testify before Mueller? Yes, OK. And by the way, this is his word versus my word. I have been shown consistent here and I was proven right on the issue of collusion and corruption, and I was never being investigated and obstruction, and now Comey has been exposed as a leaker. And then then whole Loretta Lynch issue and the Hillary Clinton issue. But I have to tell you something here, this is really important. If he's willing to testify against Comey, then we get back to the legal issues I discussed earlier in this show, what are your thoughts on that?
DOBBS: I think that's fine, except for this, Sean. There should be consequences for what is happened here. The testimony of Comey yesterday reveals that there is no substance, no possible way for the Senate intelligence committee or the special counsel to move forward because, A, the crimes have all been committed by the investigators, starting with Director Comey, starting with the Attorney General Loretta Lynch who is telling him not to call the investigation into Hillary Clinton and investigation but a matter. And he rolled over like a trained dog. And Iraq that this is, if he were not already fired, he should be fired again.
HANNITY: Lou Dobbs, have a great weekend. Congratulations on the great new book.
When we come back, we need your help, a very important "Question of the Day." But more importantly, the funniest viral video about President Trump and James Comey. You don't want to miss it. That's next straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: All right, time for our Friday "Question of the Day." So do you think the president was vindicated yesterday? Oh, big time. Go to Facebook.com/SeanHannity, we want to hear from you @SeanHannity on Twitter, let us know what you think.
Now, I saw this on twitter earlier today, a hilarious video about the Comey hearing and President Trump. I loved it. Very funny. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald J. Trump is not going to jail, y'all. Comey wasn't talking about nothing.
(MUSIC)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: It actually goes on a little bit longer. It's on my Twitter account @SeanHannity.
And thank you for being with us. Unfortunately that is all the time we have this evening. We hope you have a great weekend. I know Donald Trump will. We'll see you back here on Monday.
END
Content and Programming Copyright 2017 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2017 CQ-Roll Call, Inc. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of CQ-Roll Call. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox