Former President Obama doubles down on identity politics

close

Video

Gutfeld on curse of identity politics

Political power based on grievance requires an endless supply of oppressors.

This is a rush transcript from "The Five," November 28, 2018. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

GREG GUTFELD, CO-HOST: Hi, I'm G.G. with Jedediah Bila, Juan Williams, Jesse Watters, and a tea pot is her hot tub, Dana Perino. -- "The Five."

We are a divided country, we're told. People blame the media, others politicians. But to quote former President Obama, don't blame me.  Instead, put it on identity politics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FORMER PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: When I hear people say they don't like identity politics. They don't like -- I think it's important to remember that identity politics doesn't just apply when it's black people or gay people or women.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

OBAMA: The folks who really originated identity politics were the folks who said, you know, 3/5 clause no less. That was identity politics.  That's still out there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: He's dead right. The past was super racist. Just ask Democrats who went to war to defend slavery. But that was then. But now, Obama seems to be arguing around a current problem, kind of like when faced with Islamic terror, you say this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Lest we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during the crusades, the inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: It's the same argument. But I don't blame Obama's what-about- ism. Except, that it is excuses the one flaw that if fixed could unify his party and this country, and that flaw is identity politics, which prefers disunity and differences over mutual understanding. Political power based on grievance requires an endless supply of oppressors. Without them, there's no power. No wonder young healthy individuals with endless opportunities feel and seem hopeless. It's because the anger ruins them.  Identity politics as you're never going to win until you're the oppressor, and that means embracing a vengeance based dogma. And it says that others, no matter their age, are still guilty of a huge historical crime against blacks, women, gays, you name it.

Ultimately, each group will turn on itself since one person's oppressor is another's victim. And it removes forgiveness and commonality, replacing it with a grievance drift that leaves you un-hirable and bitter. Until the Democrats discard this obstacle to unity, it's only going to get worse.  Hell, it's not often that I give advice, earnest advice to Democrats. What the hell am I thinking?

DANA PERINO, CO-HOST: Snap out of it.

GUTFELD: I don't know what's going on. I've got to go -- Juan, I honestly believe -- I know we've talked about this all the time, but you have to believe that I believe this that this is something that if the Democrats let go, could be a magnificent thing for both parties because it will make the Republicans better as well if you have a really strong message, a unifying message from Democrats that it makes the Republicans. Everybody becomes better because it's about unification.

JUAN WILLIAMS, CO-HOST: I'm all for unification. I think that it's important to emphasize the idea that we're all Americans. We have a common destiny. But I do think, contrary to what you said that, you know, I mean, you left Donald Trump out of there and I think he's a guy who has found it politically advantageous to divide us as Americans. And that identity politics to my mind, especially the politics of today, I think a lot of it begins with things like birther movement, this guy is the other, he's really not an American, or those guys, I wish he fires those son of [expletive] who are kneeling, the black football players. I could go on in that regard, but you know the story.

But to my mind, what I'm seeing right now is the emphasis that Trump has placed on white identity politics and it's embolden people who I think in the past were biting their tongues about it. But I think this is part, Greg, of the shifting demographics of the country, especially among young people. More people of color, more immigrants coming to the country. And I think it challenges the idea of the white majority, white control. But, you know what? We need to get away from that, so that's where I agree with you, and focus on things that bring us together. But I don't think Trump is that guy.

GUTFELD: Well, maybe he isn't. But identity politics, Dana, stresses the differences, stresses the differences through this idea of intersectionality. There's no way.  Anybody can come together if their constantly competing on who's more aggrieved.

PERINO: Well, the thing is, even if -- as there are changing demographics in the country it's even more important, I think, than to go back and remind people and teach younger people about civics education and why the founders founded our country. It's based on an idea. So, diversity is a strength as the Democrats message, right? So -- OK, well, may be. You can see how far you can get that way, but what would bring all of us together is a reminder that the focus America based on an idea that all men are created equal, that this is not about our heritage. It's not about a certain people. And that's why when Macron brought up nationalism at that speech in France and everyone thought it was a slam against Trump. And maybe, Macron meant it that way. Just listening to a few people explained it better is that nationalism in France -- absolutely, that was bad. Like look what happened. We get it. When you talked about nationalism in America, it's not based on an identity in terms of -- as a people. It's based on that we all agree on this ideal that brought us together. And that's going to keep the country strong going forward. It's not just a diversity is a strength. It's that the founding fathers set us up for success and we should take them up on.

GUTFELD: What do you think, Jesse?

JESSE WATTERS, CO-HOST: Well, just on Juan's comment, you've talked about Trump saying they were SOB for kneeling. I didn't see that as racial, I saw that as about patriotism. And that was a moment where this whole country comes together during the National Anthem, and Trump wanted everyone to be united at that moment, so I see it a little-bit differently.  You know, when Obama was talking about identity politics, he was brilliant at playing that game and he was very effective at it, but it worked for him personally but it didn't work for his party. His party got shredded for eight years trying to do that. Takes a very gifted and special politician to pull that off the way he did. Now, in the Democratic primary if it goes all identity politics it's useful against Republicans, but against each other, I think they're going to cannibalize themselves. They're so diverse and there's going to be so many candidates this year, you're going to have whites, blacks, Hispanics, men, women, cultural appropriators. You're going to have middle-class, millionaires --

GUTFELD: Native Americans.

WATTERS: -- billionaires in there. And I think some people are going to try to weaponized their identity and say you're a straight white male in the Democratic Party. And you have other candidates that are kind of subtly taking digs at you. You're going to feel a little bit resentment there. And on the other hand, if you criticize a black or Hispanic or a female in the Democratic primary and they're going to try to deflect and maybe they'll play the gender card or they'll play the race card and they won't argue their points on substance and that's going to do them a disservice in the general.

Now, I think what happened with Hillary, she wasn't -- didn't play the gender card when she was attacked by Trump on policy too much. She was pretty sharp on policy and I have to give her some respect for that. Obama didn't always play the victim. You know, he was on the attack, he was pretty tough. I just think the culture and the country, they're going to see 40 Democrats playing the victim and whining. And they're not -- they don't see winners there. I think they're going to see losers.

PERINO: I just want to say one thing, but Hillary's slogan was not -- obviously, wasn't make America great again. It's I'm with her --

(CROSSTALK)

PERINO: That was like the ultimate --

WATTERS: And she has to play the gender card. I'm saying, you know, when Trump goes after on immigration or Trump goes after her on health care, she didn't say, oh, you know, you're attacking me --

(CROSSTALK)

WATTERS: She really came back hard on policy.

GUTFELD: All right. Jesse brought up the possibility of 40 candidates.  I'm going to throw to a -- some sound on tape of Julian Castro on MSNBC discussing the immense number of candidates. Take it away, Chris.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's it going to be like to have 40 people running for president?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, I think we need it, actually, on this side. I think it's going to be good for the party. What happened in 2016, wherever you were, whichever camp you are in, there was a good amount of bitterness after that campaign. I think it's going to be cathartic for the Democratic Party to go through this process where, as you say, a lot of talented people with great ideas are going to run. There's probably going to be a lot of debates this time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: Jedediah, do you agree that this could be cathartic?

JEDEDIAH BILA, GUEST CO-HOST: Yeah. I like to see a lot of candidates on the stage, but I think it's going to be challenging for them because you're going to have people who completely disagree with each other running for the same position, because the Democratic Party is so split right now and I'm curious to see how they're going to make arguments like -- like they like to make against the 1 percent, for example, when they have a lot of people in that lineup that could potentially be billionaires themselves.  I mean, you're looking at Mark Cuban, you're looking at Mike Bloomberg. I mean, these are people that are going to be tough sale with the kind of messaging that they often do.

I will say also just on the identity politics that I agree with you, Juan.  I think both sides do do-it. And I think there's a profound lack of self- awareness on both sides when they do it. But I think they do it because it does work a lot. I really do. I think with young voters. I think that war on women talk. I think when they went after Mitt Romney on that binders full of women, I think that really took him out. And I do think a lot of people are receptive to it because when you compartmentalize the country, that a way that Democrats, in particular, I think made people feel like they were being heard. Like, OK, you're a woman. These are your issues particular to you. We're going to solve those issues for you. You know, Republicans are anti-contraception. They're you know -- they don't want to protect your right to choose. And it makes people feel for a moment that they're being heard and that person is fighting for them. It really takes a second of sitting back and actually thinking about how divisive and how divide and conquer it is to be mad about it.

GUTFELD: I want -- OK, that's true. If there was a party for short people, I would probably be like, I'm ready to listen.

PERINO: You could be the leader.

GUTFELD: I could be the leader.

PERINO: We will follow.

GUTFELD: Yes, yes. You could be my V.P. Wait, that's sexist. I would be the V.P.

(LAUGHTER)

BILA: I'm imagining you both standing on pedestals at the podium.

(LAUGHTER)

GUTFELD: Short party, Juan.

WILLIAMS: I think we could get Dana high heels.

GUTFELD: There you go.

PERINO: I know. But the problem is, I am wearing high heels.

WILLIAMS: I'm sorry.

GUTFELD: You want to talk about the 40?

WILLIAMS: No, I just wanted to say -- oh, the 40 doesn't bother me. I agree with Julian Castro when he said it's going to be cathartic. You know, let a thousand flowers bloom. I don't think it's going to include Hillary Clinton, but let a thousand flowers --

BILA: Oh, you don't think so?

WILLIAMS: No, I don't. But I do think this that the event last night where Obama made the statement was in Houston at the Baker Center at Rice University. Jim Baker who, you know, secretary of state, Reagan, all that kind of stuff, he said -- what's the matter?

PERINO: You know, Baker, you know that guy.

(CROSSTALK)

WILLIAMS: I mean, it's a long time ago, Dana. People should know. OK.  So Jim Baker says the responsible center in the country's politics is disappearing. Obama comes back and says the internet plays to division in the society, makes -- division sells. I can sell you division in an instance on the internet, right?

GUTFELD: I agree.

PERINO: I just have one other point on the 40, so the Democratic National Committee is going to have a pretty strict way of figuring out how to get out of this problem. So, like if you're Tom Steyer and your main issue is impeaching Donald Trump and that's what you want to run on, I guarantee you you're not going to make it to the adult debate. You're not going to make it to super Tuesday. They're going to figure out a way to weed those people out.

GUTFELD: All right. Do you want to say anything, Jesse, before I tee?

WATTERS: No, I think we have to go sell some ads.

GUTFELD: OK. Democrats and the media ramping up the Russia probe hysteria, the latest example next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WATTERS: Christmas comes early for Democrats and the media. They're now back to attacking President Trump and wildly speculating about the Russia probe. And what new developments with Paul Manafort and Roger Stone could mean.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think what it's also suggesting is that Manafort may have even committed treason when all is said and done.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you believe a pardon of Manafort by the president would be an admission of guilt by the president, considering Manafort's role in the campaign?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I would.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why did that person lie?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because they are, A, stupid, B, arrogant, C, shopping for a pardon so they don't have to worry about what the judge is going to sentence him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's either an extraordinary, extraordinary coincidence, or it's what collusion looks like, and this may be why the president so adamantly tries denying collusion because these facts are pretty damning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATTERS: All right, Jedediah, some breaking news here. We have information about Paul Manafort's passport. No indication on the passport he was ever in the U.K. or entered the U.K. or left the U.K. around the time this apparent meeting with Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy ever happened.

BILA: Right, no proof of it, this anonymously sourced article came out.  WikiLeaks actually came out and threaten to sue and said we're going to sue you for libel because this didn't happen. And I think there's two things going on. First off, there is an effort by Democrats to -- like, they can't help themselves. They have to try to delegitimize Trump's win.

WATTERS: Right.

BILA: And they have to do it and they were looking for collusion with Russia. They didn't find what they were looking for because we would all be hearing about it, 24 hours a day right now. So now they have to try to find some other angle to make it like illegitimate that he won. What was the other thing I'm going to say, actually?

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

BILA: Oh, yes. And they also -- this other thing that's driving me crazy is this desire to paint Trump constantly as a tyrant that wants to fire Mueller. I don't see any evidence that he wants to fire Mueller. He's following through with the investigation. He's submitting the answers to the questions. He's following protocol. But I think if you pair those two things together, the desire to delegitimize his win and then to paint him as this tyrant, you see what's going to happen now is that they have -- they've realize that there are no grounds here for impeachment right now.

So they're already thinking about 2020 and how to undermine this guy's chance to win reelection. They're beyond -- they're beyond the impeachment now and they're thinking what can we do to further damage him so that whoever we put up, one of these 40 people that probably doesn't have a single idea how to fund Medicare for all but they're going to try to tell us about, how do we put somebody up that's going to battle this, and how can we make this guy as tarnish as possible?

WATTERS: He doesn't want to fire Mueller. He wants to punch him in the face. I would imagine Trump's pretty angry with Robert Mueller and you can tell by the way he talks about him on twitter. Juan --

WILLIAMS: Yeah, I think he said it's McCarthyism.

(CROSSTALK)

WATTERS: And he resigned from Trump's golf club. And I mean, there's no more insulting thing than to leave the Trump golf club.

WILLIAMS: Is that what it's about?

WATTERS: Oh, yeah. Dispute, Juan.

(LAUGHTER)

WILLIAMS: Wait a second, you don't want to offend Greg because that's identity politics.

(LAUGHTER)

GUTFELD: Jenny McCarthyism.

WILLIAMS: Oh.

WATTERS: That's the kind of McCarthyism we can all agree with.

WILLIAMS: So I think Jedediah is on to something because one of the interesting things that came out of all the interviews Trump's done in the last half hour, whatever, is that he thinks, huh, I'm not going to talk about a pardon for Paul Manafort. Could be. I don't know. But I'm not talking about it. Well, wait a second, so that means that it's possible that all we've gone through with criminal prosecution, with plea deals, apparently, plea deals that were broken, really don't matter because Trump might pardon him. And guess what. Manafort's lawyers were talking to Trump's lawyer so Trump could answer the question in just the right way and that angered Mueller. Oh, my gosh. What is going on, Jesse? Is this the mafia?

WATTERS: Nothing illegal about that, Juan. I do find it interesting now that Jerome Corsi and Roger Stone are now the center of this Mueller investigation. These two people, not even members of the campaign.  Unpaid. I guess --

(CROSSTALK)

WATTERS: -- allies. They're kind of known for being a little out there.  And even beyond Watters' World --

(LAUGHTER)

WILLIAMS: That's a distant land.

WATTERS: Does that tell you anything about the status and the nature of the probe?

PERINO: No, not really. I mean, I'm not surprised that they're involved.  They've been saying for months that they were being questioned about it.  We know that there are the emails. We can go back and forth between two.

WATTERS: But are these serious players?

PERINO: I don't know. Are they serious players? I don't know. We'll see. At the time, did people think that Roger Stone was a close associate of President Trump? Yeah, at the time. And then the president was like, actually, you're not with me anymore, so he gets cast aside. So -- and I don't know. I don't know what happened beforehand. What's interesting is all of these leaks have come from people that are -- they're targets, right? So Corsi releases his documents. Mueller's team hasn't said anything, so I'm content to wait.

WATTERS: OK. We're going to wait this out. And, Greg, looks like the president, I think we're hearing he said to Robert Mueller when he wrote this down that he had no knowledge of this Trump, Jr. Russia meeting at Trump Tower. And that seems to line up with his public --

GUTFELD: I hate this topic. The world is great. America is great.

BILA: Animals are great.

GUTFELD: Animals are great. The media needs this story to keep themselves occupied because there're too many good things going on. Imagine that Donald Trump were a supermarket, all right? And every aisle but one or two sucks. Everything has delicious stuff. Aisle one has jobs. Aisle two has peace. Aisle three has prosperity. Aisle four has wages. Aisle five has optimism. Aisle six has North Korea. Aisle seven has ISIS. Aisle eight has China. But in aisle nine you've got the Mueller probe and that's where you find the media and they're stuffing their intentional gobs with high- fat hate.

WATTERS: That's where the Roman Lettuce is, that's the aisle.

PERINO: That's what Clinton said in 1998 --

(CROSSTALK)

WATTERS: We've got to run. Don't go anywhere because we're waiting for the lighting of the national Christmas tree live from Washington, D.C.  We'll bring it to you guys as it happens. Plus, Ivanka Trump firing back against comparisons to crooked Hillary's email scandal, see what's she's saying, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WILLIAMS: President Trump and the first lady outside the White House for the national Christmas tree lighting ceremony. Let's enjoy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(APPLAUSE)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Merry Christmas, everybody. We just have to say it altogether. Merry, Merry Christmas.  It's great to be with you. And let's light the tree. First lady will do the honors. We'll do it ten in reverse. Are you ready? Altogether, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Merry Christmas. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: What a delight. Ivanka Trump -- back to the news now. Ivanka Trump defending her use of private email and pushing back against comparisons to Hillary Clinton's server scandal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IVANKA TRUMP, ADVISER TO THE PRESIDENT: In my case, all of my emails are on the White House server. There's no intent to circumvent. And there were mass deletions after a subpoena was issued. My emails have not been deleted. Nor was there anything of substance, nothing confidential that is within them. So, there's no connection between the two things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: Jesse, let me go to you on this one. I don't get it. How can she make this claim after her dad just relentlessly beat up Hillary Clinton for her use of private email instead of using government emails?

WATTERS: Because it's not the same thing and you know it, Juan. You're trying to scandalize something that's a microcosm of what Hillary actually did. This is what I call a what-about-ism scandal.

(LAUGHTER)

WATTERS: So, what happens is the only thing similar between these two people is that the phrase personal email is involved. Everything else is different, and the media won't tell you all the things that are different, so I will.

WILLIAMS: OK.

WATTERS: Classified information --

WILLIAMS: How do you know, Jesse?

WATTERS: I'm talking about with Hillary.

WILLIAMS: No, I'm talking about with -- I'm talking about with Ivanka --

WATTERS: These emails have been reviewed --

WILLIAMS: No.

(CROSSTALK)

WILLIAMS: Reviewed by Abbe Lowell, her personal lawyer.

WATTERS: OK. So maybe that's what Hillary did.

WILLIAMS: Well, I'm just saying --

WATTERS: Remember Hillary's lawyer reviewed those. And then what did they do? They've deleted and bleached them all. You know what they did?  They've reviewed them and then they're archived in the presidential archive system. So there's no hiding. There's no deceit. There's no home room server. No one plead the fifth, no one smashed a Blackberry with a hammer.  Everything is completely different. It's kind of like when you say, oh, you know, Trump is so vicious on the border and then you tell the media wait, Obama used tear gas on migrants. Obama at one point supported a wall. Obama sent troops to the border. Obama put kids in cages. And the media doesn't tell you that side of the story. It's only a scandal when they tell you one little thing.

WILLIAMS: I see. Context really troubles me.

WATTERS: I'm a context guy.

WILLIAMS: I see. It bothers you because you just take everything out of context so you can make this case, but I don't see it. But anyway, Jedediah --

(CROSSTALK)

BILA: Do you really think there's a comparison here, though?

WILLIAMS: I do, and I think Democrats -- let me just say, I think Democrats do, and Democrats now are saying that once they're in charge of the house, they're going to investigate this to see exactly what was involved.

BILA: Let them investigate it. And the good news for them when they investigate is thousands of emails haven't been deleted and nobody took a jackhammer to the server which they did when it was Hillary. It's true. I mean, you laugh. It's almost reads like comedy that you're bleaching servers and she decided to just have a server set up in her home, and she signed documents when she was at the state department saying I'm fully aware of what's classified, even if it's marked classified or not, and then got in front of everybody and lied and repeatedly. But it's not -- should Ivanka have used a personal email? No. I don't think that was a --

WILLIAMS: Oh, well, that's the whole point.

BILA: I don't think she should have. But --

WILLIAMS: That's the whole point.

BILA: No, the point is, is that it's not the same. And the point is, is that when you go to investigate this, you will actually have all of the information there to look at. You won't have -- now, had Ivanka deleted 30,000 emails --

WILLIAMS: We don't know.

BILA: -- had they bleached the hard drive, then you could be able to make a fair comparison. You -- you have to be able to say, "Maybe this wasn't the best way to go about this" without making a false comparison to someone who did something so completely horrific while she was secretary of state.  There has to be a distinction drawn.

WILLIAMS: OK. Dana, so what is puzzling me is that Abbe Lowell has said there were at least 100 of these emails that she did related to government business, hundreds other related to her schedule. And of course, there's the Federal Records Act --

PERINO: Right.

WILLIAMS: -- that says you can't do this. So -- but everybody else at the table is saying I'm wrong.

PERINO: Well, look. No, I think -- and I don't think she's -- she's not saying -- Ivanka is not saying, "I never should've done it." She's just saying, "Look, all of the emails are preserved."

And I do think it is not proportional. I think Democrats would be much better off just admitting, once and for all, that her setting up a private email server, Hillary Clinton, was wrong. Then they would -- they would be able to stop having to defend it. Just like they have, like, with Bill Clinton. They don't defend that stuff anymore. So, like, just like to move on.

And the thing is -- about Hillary Clinton, is she's been in government for decades. She became secretary of state, and immediately, she had a plan to hive off her emails so she would never have to -- that they would never see the light of day, so she could keep them separate, because she had plans to run for the president -- presidency.

We know that that is not true with Ivanka Trump. She's new to government.  She's transitioning in. She's moving her family here. She's got children.  She's got to figure out all the different things --

WATTERS: Wait, Ivanka is not running?

PERINO: Well, Jesse, you might know --

BILA: You don't know.

PERINO: -- something I don't know. I just don't -- I do not think that it is the same, but of course, I think that now everyone heard the lesson.  Like, even if you're transitioning in government, and it's your first time --

BILA: Right.

PERINO: -- you've got to follow the rules.

BILA: Yes.

WILLIAMS: What do you think?

GUTFELD: Well, first of all, I said this before. A hundred emails is basically a day in busy people's lives.

PERINO: Definitely.

GUTFELD: But I don't think she should push back on this comparison.  Here's why.

Every time they bring up this comparison, you have to bring up everything Hillary did, which is a problem for the media and for the Democrats. All of a sudden, you have to completely, immediately be reminded of Hillary's - -

BILA: Yes.

GUTFELD: -- 30,000 emails, of how -- how she tried to destroy evidence.

PERINO: And they have to defend it.

GUTFELD: Yes, they have to defend it. And the server in the bathroom, which by the way, is different for Hillary than for Bill.

PERINO: Oh, my God.

GUTFELD: Just want to make it clear.

So the point is, you can't compare, but keep comparing. I mean, this is like forgetting to tip at a restaurant and dining and dashing. Or it's like, you know, taking a lollipop at the bank and robbing the bank. It's no comparison.

But please continue doing the comparison, because then we can talk about what a crook Hillary is. It's fun.

WILLIAMS: Yes, I can tell you're having a delightful time.

GUTFELD: I am.

WILLIAMS: I think this its better than the Christmas tree for you.

GUTFELD: It is.

WILLIAMS: I must say, the government, the FBI looked at this. Hillary was not charged with anything, and then you say --

BILA: That was ridiculous.

WILLIAMS: Oh, here -- so now you going to want to relitigate what happened --

BILA: No. I just think --

WILLIAMS: -- with Hillary.

GUTFELD: That's why it keeps coming back.

WILLIAMS: To me, the obvious thing is hypocrisy. Her dad said this is wrong, "Lock her up." And now she goes and does it, and you say, "Forget about it."

BILA: it's not the same thing. She didn't go and do the same thing.  That's the point.

WILLIAMS: She used --

BILA: She was using a private email.

WILLIAMS: Thank you. That's what I said.

BILA: Not the same as using your own server and bleaching it.

WILLIAMS: Oh, is that -- OK.

PERINO: I don't know how you would even find the White House server to actually go and demolish it.

WILLIAMS: All right.

PERINO: I might know that.

WILLIAMS: All right. We've got to go. You know we love to argue here.  The Clintons return to attack President Trump.

and will Hillary run again in 2020?

GUTFELD: Yes!

WILLIAMS: Jesse hopes so. Find out next on "The Five."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BILA: Just when you've had enough, Bill and Hillary keep coming back for more.

The Clintons covering a variety of topics while kicking off their multi- city paid speaking tour in Canada last night. Hillary laughing off a question about a possible 2020 round and, of course, taking a shot at President Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Actually, Frank, I'm thinking about standing for parliament here in Canada.

We have a president who is part of the cover-up as to what happened in that consulate or embassy when Mr. Khashoggi was murdered. And we have a president, and those closest to him, who have their own personal commercial interests.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BILA: Jesse, I can't do it. I can't. I feel like we've all suffered enough. This is like -- this is like inflicting torture on people.

Do you fathom, though, why people would want to me -- I mean, this is -- she's terrible at this, right? She's terrible at running for office. She is. Just objectively not good at this. And we're in the height of the #MeToo movement. Nobody wants to go sit and listen to Bill Clinton right now. Why would anybody want to go listen to this?

WATTERS: Well, they're having trouble selling. I mean, they're playing to about 3,000 venues. You know, deep, steep discount for tickets. They're dropping. And, you know, when I was on tour with O'Reilly and Miller, we were doing about 10,000 to 15,000 arenas, you know. We had very healthy ticket prices. So there's just not a real appetite for these people anymore.

If you look at the Democratic Party, there's two kind of undercurrents that are pulling these two off the stage. One, the #MeToo movement and, two, the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.

Because a lot of Democrats think to themselves about these two people, you know, they're kind of moderate has-beens that reek of sexual harassment and a loss to Trump. And they're just not -- the grassroots doesn't feel them anymore.

They don't have the Clinton Foundation. You know, all that money has really dried up. So you know, the private jets, you know, the global, you know, throne kissing. Those aren't -- that's not happening anymore. So they're downsizing to these North American kind of standard tours, and you know, I just think this is their -- this is, like, their last act.

BILA: Juan, you said you didn't think she's going to run. But if she's not going to run, why do this? Is it just to make money? Is it to make some cash?

GUTFELD: What! How dare you?

BILA: I mean, why would you -- why would you --

WATTERS: They're not about money.

BILA: What is your motivation to doing this otherwise? If you're not trying to launch a political career. It's not like she's, you know, stumping for candidates around the country. This is -- people have to pay to get into the -- is it about money? It's a valid question.

WILLIAMS: I don't think it's about money, because I think they have a ton of money. I think it's about voice and about the fact that she is an elder statesman in the Democratic Party and, despite the kind of caricature and, you know, blame gaming that goes on in Republican circles about Hillary, she's pretty popular in Democratic circles. So --

BILA: So is that a misconception when we say, "Oh, Democrats probably want her to just be quiet and get off the stage"?

WILLIAMS: I don't think that's true at all. And I think -- I think she's a player going into 2020, Jedediah, so as to who gets the nomination, relationships with women, I know you guys are saying, "Oh, gee, well, Bill Clinton had trouble. Blah, blah, blah."

But you know a lot of people still view Hillary Clinton as a long-suffering wife who has kept her marriage together and been true to her husband. If he hasn't been true to her, that's a different topic. But that's no -- you can't blame her for the sins of her husband.

So I think she is a very interesting character to lots of people. And contrary to what Jesse was saying, these are people, as a couple I think I saw in the notes, that have sold more than $30 million in books this year, 2018. And they're on a tour. That's not -- it's not like, you know, it's being put on by their neighbors. This is Live Nation putting it on. It's a multicity tour that began in Vegas. It was in Toronto. It's going to Montreal.

WATTERS: I could do bigger numbers than these two. Solo. Solo, I swear to God.

WILLIAMS: Oh, really?

BILA: What do you think about this, Dana?

PERINO: Well, I think the long-suffering wife bit is a little bit too much for me to take. Because this is a woman who, after the election, remember, she was not alone.

Barbra Streisand and her basically said the same thing. That white women went out and voted for Trump, because their husbands told them to.

BILA: It's true.

PERINO: So those poor long-suffering wives out there in conservative America. So I don't buy that.

I also think that the best show in town right now is actually called "The Clinton Affair." And this is the documentary about Monica Lewinsky in which she really opens up. She and her parents talk about it, talk about how she wanted to commit suicide. Talks about, you know, him asking for one last tryst, asking her to lie on his behalf. I'm like -- I don't think this is a good idea for the Clintons, no matter what they think their future is.

WATTERS: Is that Showtime? Is that what that's --

PERINO: I don't know where it is. Sorry. It's just on one remote.

WATTERS: I'm confused.

GUTFELD: You're long suffering wife.

PERINO: Yes, obviously. Long-suffering cohost.

GUTFELD: Yes, dear.

BILA: What do you think? I mean, they still sell books.

GUTFELD: I am going to go to this. I'm going to watch the hell out of it.  It should be a "Five" field trip.

You realize this tour is going to provide us with three weeks -- three weeks --

BILA: That's true.

GUTFELD: -- of segments. You know what Hillary is like? I'm going to use an analogy that I won't have to apologize for.

BILA: Maybe.

GUTFELD: Hillary is like a potato.

WATTERS: Yes.

GUTFELD: You can make a lot of meals out of a potato. The same way with Trump. Like on Trump, you can have Trump casserole. You could have Trump stew.

Hillary is kind of like that for FOX. It's like one day you could have -- you could have Hillary casserole, or you could have Hillary cole slaw, because she'll says something and then you have a segment.

WATTERS: Crooked cole slaw.

GUTFELD: You put it all together. She's like -- she's kind of like Trump in the sense that you can constantly create something new. And I think that they should make it more exciting. They should have T-shirts, fun T- shirts. They should have an opening act. They should do, like, songs and face painting.

BILA: You could be the opening act.

GUTFELD: I would love to do it.

WATTERS: Weiner, Anthony Weiner.

GUTFELD: Anthony Weiner would be --

WATTERS: Get him out of jail and put him on the road.

GUTFELD: He could do stand-up or whatever he does. Do it sitting down, perhaps.

BILA: Don't go anywhere. "Wild Card Wednesday" is coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PERINO: All right. It's time now for "Wild Card Wednesday." So this is where we each pick a topic. We put them in this hat. Nobody knows each other's picks.

So first up, let's go with this one. Who knows what it is? Who knows what it is?

OK. Long list of extreme roommate requirements blows up online. This is a list of very specific rules -- It was sent to a potential roommate -- which covers everything from cooking to laughing to how many times the new roommate is allowed to use the bathroom.

GUTFELD: Nice.

PERINO: The current tenant insists they a couple of bad flatmates earlier this year, but they are actually quite easy-going and like to live and let live. Flatmates, they must be British.

GUTFELD: Whose story was this?

WILLIAMS: It's mine. And it's lengthy. It's like a 12-point list. But you saw on the screen how long it is.

GUTFELD: Yes.

WILLIAMS: But Greg, I want to point this out to you. Let me -- first, let me just say you can't cook. Look at this. This is one of the rules right here.

GUTFELD: You can't cook?

WILLIAMS: No cooking. Because it says, "No cooking in this flat before 8:30 or after 11. I don't like people spending a lot of time cooking in general." In fact, she says, you know, if you don't know how to make a sandwich, if you have to cook food, that's your problem.

GUTFELD: This is me.

WILLIAMS: But Greg, this is one for you. Look at this rule here. Look at this etiquette rule. It has to do with bathrooms.

GUTFELD: What was it?

WILLIAMS: It says, "If you have to run to the bathroom," the toilet, "15 times a day every 15 minutes, definitely this isn't the place for you."  Don't do it.

GUTFELD: This is where wars are. This is why -- if you -- the only reason if you're young, you're millennial, the only reason to make money is so you can live alone. Because there's nothing --

BILA: That's true.

GUTFELD: Because once you get away from having a roommate, you feel so much better. And it's always about the bathroom, because it's always somebody else's hair that clogs the drain. And they never fricking clean the toilets. And damn it, that's important.

PERINO: It is.

BILA: That's true.

GUTFELD: Because you don't want to live in a public toilet.

WILLIAMS: Wait a second. What is your -- what about your wife?

GUTFELD: My wife is so clean it's ridiculous. She thinks I'm disgusting.  And I am. But I'm actually pretty clean, but by her standards, I am a filthy, disgusting creature.

PERINO: That's a good topic, Juan.

WATTERS: All men are pretty disgusting.

GUTFELD: Yes, we have a lot of problems.

WATTERS: Not just you.

GUTFELD: We have a lot of problems.

BILA: If you live with somebody, and they have people over all the time.  I remember the last roommate I had was in grad school. And, like, people were over all the time, all hours of the night; and they were loud and annoying. And then you're in that awkward situation where you have to scold guests that aren't yours.

PERINO: Yes, and then you're, like, that person.

GUTFELD: And then if they're having relations and they're loud.

BILA: Yes.

PERINO: I had the worst roommate for three months when I lived in Washington, D.C. I was renting this room at Seward Square on Capitol Hill.  It wasn't legal. The water heater was in my room, in my bedroom. And these two girls were so rude. Democrats, too.

OK, video release captures gender reveal explosion that sparked Arizona wildfire. The gender was supposed to be revealed by shooting a target which contained blue Tannerite powder, but wound up sparking a fast-moving blaze. The fire ultimately burned more than 45,000 acres.

GUTFELD: Thousand.

WATTERS: What?

PERINO: More than $8 million worth of damage in April 2017.

GUTFELD: This was mine. This was mine. OK, why did I choose this? When I read the headline, I didn't understand what it meant. Gender reveal causes a forest fire. I was like, "Somebody comes out and says, 'I'm a man or woman.'"

And I read it, and I go, no, it's about a baby. It's a baby. I'm going, like, people are going out of their way to create attention for stupid crap. Like, you know, prom -- prom invitations. Like, people -- people spend all this money to get a sky writer. I shouldn't do that any more. I have holes in my sweater.

Stop it. Just do it the simple way. You caused all this damage. Nobody cares what gender your baby is.

WATTERS: The simple reveal, I think, is you take a ball and then you toss it to the guy. And then he swings the bat, and it explodes either pink or blue. And no one catches on fire.

PERINO: But what if -- what if you don't hit it? That would be embarrassing.

WATTERS: If you whiff, then it's on the Internet and you look like an idiot.

WILLIAMS: By the way, what is with the guns? I don't know.

GUTFELD: That's what you see.

WILLIAMS: Come on. Stop with the guns.

PERINO: Also, what it is about doing this in Arizona, where it's dry?  It's, like, dangerous.

BILA: People have too much time on their hands. I mean, this stuff, when I was a kid, like --

GUTFELD: They're trying to outdo each other.

BILA: -- there was no time for this stuff. And well, look, maybe the economy is good. They have money to spend on this stuff.

WATTERS: If you have a designer baby, you know what gender it's going to be. You pick it.

WILLIAMS: I didn't know you were -- you also had Chinese in your DNA.

PERINO: Here's the one we didn't get to and we don't have time to talk about. This was mine. It's a study finds women sleep better next to dogs versus people or cats.

BILA: Totally.

PERINO: Right, Jedediah? Are you with me on that?

BILA: A hundred percent.

GUTFELD: You searched for this story.

PERINO: No, actually --

BILA: So you can show a photo.

GUTFELD: So you can do this.

PERINO: I didn't do that.

GUTFELD: Right.

PERINO: "One More Thing" is up next.

WILLIAMS: Hey, Greg. Identity politics.

GUTFELD: Identity politics.

BILA: It's true, though. You take a nice nap next to a dog.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GUTFELD: "OMT" -- Dana.

PERINO: OK. Six-year-old Noah Snow. You're going to want to hear about this guy.

He's channeling his inner Bob Ross, the late famed painter, with a signature style and a soothing voice. He's only six years old. He was a super fan, and he dressed up as his idol for Halloween. And he wakes up early to paint before school, takes lessons on the Bob Ross method once a week. Pretty impressive young kid. So you can check him out. His name is Noah Snow.

And there's a new podcast, "I'll Tell You What," all brand-new for your listening pleasure.

GUTFELD: Fantastic.

PERINO: Was that fast enough or you?

GUTFELD: That was fast. Now, Juan, go faster.

WILLIAMS: OK. For all your parents out there, you know the embarrassment when one of your kids runs off and gets into mischief right in front of you. Well, take a look at this video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CHILD RUNS ONTO STAGE TO MEET POPE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: The kid was at the Vatican for the pope's weekly audience. The 6-year-old ran away from mom and onto the stage. He goes over to the pope's chair. He starts tugging one of the Swiss Guard's uniforms. A little girl then runs on stage to try to get him off the stage.

Finally, mom comes offstage. She tells the pope the boy is mute. The pope laughs and allows the kids to stay. He told his private secretary, seated next to him, that the kid, quote, "made me think of myself. Am I also so free in front of God?"

GUTFELD: Very nice. Jesse.

WATTERS: All right. Big shout-out to my buddy Michael Honrychs. He's visited the set, visited FOX a few times.

PERINO: Oh, yes.

WATTERS: There, he just got back from the hospital. And, you know, he's fighting ALS. It's a very debilitating disease, but he's got a big heart.  And he's got an amazing charity organization, Full Court Press on AL. So if you want to check that out, you can go there to donate.  FullCourtPressonALS.com.

Also, if you think my hair is too long, I'm thinking about getting it cut by an Indian barber. They have a new technique. Check out this. All right?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(BARBER SETS CUSTOMER'S HAIR ON FIRE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERINO: Oh, my God.

WILLIAMS: Oh, wow.

PERINO: That's not real.

WATTERS: This is real.

BILA: No.

WATTERS: What they do is --

BILA: Come on.

WATTERS: -- they cover their hair with flammable powder, and then they set it on fire. And then they comb the hair and trim at the same time. Then the fire goes out, and then it lights back up.

BILA: I think you should do that live on television.

PERINO: What is the benefit of doing it that way?

WATTERS: I think it --

BILA: Fights split ends.

WATTERS: Yes, Jedediah!

BILA: Is that true?

WATTERS: Yes. It takes care of split ends, which can be a problem for some people.

PERINO: If you have unruly hair.

WATTERS: Yes.

GUTFELD: So tickets are still available, much like Hillary Clinton's, at my Grand Rapids show which is this Sunday. This Sunday, December 2. Go to GGutfeld.com. There's, like, 50 seats left, I think. And then there's San Antonio, Texas, which is almost sold out. That's December 8. You know what it's time for?

PERINO: Oh, no.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD (singing): Animals are great! Animals are great! Animals are great!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: I'm going to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) everybody. You know what animal is really great? How about the little ducks?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(DUCKS SLIDE DOWN PLASTIC SLIDE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: You know what's interesting about these ducks? That they love to have fun. Like, some animals don't look for fun. They just are fun. But this duck goes, "Hey, I found a slide. I can go down the slide." It's fun. And you know what that makes me think about, these ducks? It makes me think that --

PERINO: Animals are great?

GUTFELD: Yes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD (singing): Animals are great! Animals are great! Animals are great!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATTERS: You made animals great again, Greg.

PERINO: My sister likes that the cat in the animation looks like hers.

GUTFELD: Well, of course. That's all cat owners.

Jed.

BILA: So one of the most iconic music videos of my lifetime, for sure, probably everybody's, turned 20. Twenty. Take a listen. See if you remember this one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC: BRITNEY SPEARS, "...BABY ONE MORE TIME")

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: Yes.

BILA: Dana has never seen this.

PERINO: I never saw that in my life, no. They don't play that on CMV.

BILA: Now, what's amazing about this, she was 16 years old. This song went to No. 1 in 18 countries. I mean, this launched her into superstardom.

And also, like, that whole theme of, like, the school girl, like all -- that was a Halloween costume that you saw everywhere. I just remembers it because it was early in college, and that makes me nostalgic.

GUTFELD: All right.

PERINO: Trip down Memory Lane.

GUTFELD: Set your DVRs. Never miss an episode of "The Five." "Special Report" up next with our very own hottie, Bret Baier.

BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS: Thanks, Greg. Animals are great.

Content and Programming Copyright 2018 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2018 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.