How differently have Democrats treated the Fairfax allegations compared to those against Kavanaugh?
RNC spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany and radio host Larry Elder weigh in on the left's assault on due process during the Kavanaugh hearing.
This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," February 8, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
DAN BONGINO, HOST: This is a Fox News awe letter. We have major developments on the political chaos in Virginia.
Hang on to your seats. It's going to be a wild night on this. This special edition of “Hannity: The Left in Crisis.”
I'm Dan Bongino, in tonight for Sean.
In the scandal rocked commonwealth of Virginia, Governor Ralph Northam and Attorney General Mark Herring are both facing calls to resign, after both being embroiled in the blackface scandals. And just tonight, a second woman is accusing Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax of Virginia of sexual assault.
Trace Gallagher has all the latest -- Trace.
TRACE GALLAGHER, CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Dan.
The second accuser is Meredith Watson who says the assault was in 2000 while they were both under grads at Duke University. Watson says the two were friends but never had a romantic relationship. Watson has not detailed what her lawyer calls an aggressive and premeditated attack but she claims it was similar to the first accuser Vanessa Tyson, who says in 2004, Fairfax grabbed her head and forced her to perform oral sex.
Fairfax called that consensual and said the allegations by Meredith Watson are made up. Fairfax reportedly also claims Watson made previous rape claims against a Duke basketball player. Watson's attorney says she was raped by a basketball player, and that Justin Fairfax used the previous rape claim as a way to shame Watson into staying quiet.
Watson's attorney also says she told many of her friends about Fairfax attacking her and they have issued corroborating statements. The attorney added quoting Ms. Watson is reluctantly coming forward out of a strong sense of civic duty and her belief that those seeking or serving in public office should be of the highest character. She is not seeking any financial damages.
New Jersey senator and 2020 presidential candidate Cory Booker tweeted, quote: The multiple detailed allegations against lieutenant governor of Virginia are deeply troubling. They are serious, credible and corroborated by others. It is no longer appropriate for him to serve. He should resign.
Senator Kamala Harris, another 2020 contender, echoed that. And former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe and Virginia's House and the Senate Democrats had also called for Justin Fairfax to step down.
And now, a Virginia Democratic state lawmaker says if Fairfax doesn't resign, he will begin process of impeachment.
Finally, Governor Ralph Northam met with his staff today and reiterated that he also will not resign -- Dan.
BONGINO: Yes, thanks a lot, Trace.
We're now going to go live to Arlington, Virginia, where Democratic members of the Virginia House of Delegates, Patrick Hope, is holding a press conference where he's announcing plans to introduce articles of impeachment for the Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax if he has not resigned before Monday.
Let's listen in.
REPORTER: He wants time for an investigation. Why rush to judgment, one would argue?
PATRICK HOPE, MEMBER, VIRGINIA HOUSE OF DELEGATES: Two women have come forward. You can't question their motivations. They are clearly very credible people. These are very serious accusations. He is unfit to serve office.
REPORTER: How do you know he is telling the truth?
REPORTER: Have you spoken to the lieutenant governor?
HOPE: Sorry?
REPORTER: Have you spoken with the speaker?
HOPE: I have not spoken to the speaker.
REPORTER: Do you believe there is a realistic chance of articles of impeachment?
HOPE: I'm sorry, could you repeat that?
REPORTER: Do you think there is a realistic chance of impeachment if you enter of the articles of impeachment against him?
HOPE: Well, we'll find out.
REPORTER: Why are you calling for just the lieutenant governor right now? Why not the governor or the attorney general?
HOPE: Well, I mean the distinction between a sexual assault or a rape is purely very different. The articles of impeachment under the constitution are very clear -- high crimes and misdemeanor. This clearly meets that threshold.
While the events that occurred 30-some years ago with the governor and the attorney general, while they're heinous and clearly insensitive, they don't rise to the same level.
REPORTER: Have you called on them to resign?
HOPE: I have supported the caucus' position to call on the governor to resign?
REPORTER: What about Mark Herring?
HOPE: We have not issued a statement on Mark Herring. Anything else?
All right. Thank you, everyone.
REPORTER: Thank you.
BONGINO: All right. Joining us now with reaction, FOX News contributors Tammy Bruce and Lawrence Jones and civil rights attorney Daryl Parks.
Tammy, to you first. The Democrats in Virginia, this is just complete chaos for them now. Now, they have two problems here. This is a binary thing, power or principles? The person in line of succession after Mark Herring is a Republican.
But the principles from the Kavanaugh situation in the past is clear. So if they stick to principles, they have a clear political power problem.
Your thoughts?
TAMMY BRUCE, CONTRIBUTOR: Yes. Well, the principles for Democrats is an oxymoron there because this is what has happened. Men now, they get no due process under any circumstance, right? Due process is blown up.
Women are now clearly been made to irrelevant weaponized additional victims of the opportunity when it comes to political option. If you are the right kind of woman making the right kind of accusation against the right kind of person; i.e., a conservative or a Republican, you are going to be taken seriously.
In this case now, it seems to be so serious that they've got to apply and they are trying to apply the same standard of no due process. And you heard in the press conference moment ago, someone in the background saying, but how do you know they are telling the truth? How do you know they're telling the truth?
BONGINO: Right.
BRUCE: And, look, women are credible. I want women to be taken seriously.
BONGINO: Of course.
BRUCE: That is part of the dynamic of justice.
But in this particular dynamic, the saying this rises to something more serious, whereas, in fact, these are accusations at this point. There's been no legal framework.
And when it comes to the blackface episodes, the issues that some say are the racist episodes, those are actually in public, have occurred, there is no real debate over their existence. And if it is about character and principles, why aren't they held to a similar standard about the nature of who is going to be holding office in Virginia?
BONGINO: Yes. Daryl, to you.
Daryl, during the Kavanaugh case, a lot of Democrats were quick to jump out in front of the cameras to immediately demand Brett Kavanaugh take his name out of the running for the Supreme Court position. In that case, the evidence was thin. At best at many cases, everybody treated the evidence seriously but it was thin.
In this case against Justin Fairfax, he has the right to be heard, like anyone else. He has the right to due process. But the evidence here is very specific, named on the record witnesses.
Why did some Democrats take so long if they stand by the principles to come out and demand the same for the Lieutenant Governor Fairfax?
DARYL PARKS, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: I think he deserves due process as well.
BONGINO: I agree.
PARKS: These are the accusations against him. I mean, they are accusations, but they have to be vetted. They should be taken seriously, though, Dan.
BONGINO: Of course.
PARKS: The accusations made by the women are serious but they should be investigated. He should have his day. It's not right he should outright resign and not have a chance to face his accusers. Not have a chance to hear all of the facts. So I think we need to let it run its course.
BONGINO: Daryl, I don't disagree one bit. I have been consistent on the start. I said the same about Kavanaugh.
But I'm just asking you simply why the Democrats didn't give the same, the same standard of justice to Brett Kavanaugh when he was in that position? That is all I'm asking you. I mean, why not? What was different about his case?
PARKS: Well, I think there are two different scenarios. You have a Supreme Court justice nominee.
BONGINO: It doesn't matter.
PARKS: Yes, it does matter. One person has not achieved office. One is in office.
LAWRENCE JONES, CONTRIBUTOR: The crime doesn't matter, the alleged crime. So it only matters to women and protecting women when a person is going to a high office?
PARKS: There is a difference, too. There is a difference, too. You also have to vet the situation. Remember, now, with --
BONGINO: Hold on. Time-out. Time-out. Time-out. Let me go to Lawrence. Hold on.
Let me get Lawrence in here.
JONES: I can't take this nonsense.
BONGINO: I'm having a hard time with it, too, because the problem I have, Lawrence, in the Kavanaugh case not only is there a look of evidence and in many cases, there was anti-evidence. There was negative evidence.
In other words, some of the information that was put out there turned out to be categorically incorrect by the names offered up by Dr. Ford herself. And yet the Democrats jumped the gun on Kavanaugh. That is my problem with this.
JONES: That is exactly right. The evidence wasn't there. They kept changing the story, including Dr. Ford as well. Now you say, look, I believe in due process, I believe in the right for people to face their accuser.
But that's not what the Democrats believe. Now in order to protect their own they are changing their story. Look, I have a lot of problems with this case as well. One being that the people that are accusing Fairfax don't want to go through the criminal justice process.
They have been opened with it. They don't want a real investigation. Especially since that is concerning, especially since the statue of limitations has not even ended in this case.
BONGINO: Yes. But, Lawrence, that's because you and I have been consistent on this. As we said in both cases, Tammy, I want to bring you in here. I know Lawrence has been consistent too, that if your principles are due process matters, accusations are not evidence.
Evidence is evidence. And if everybody is given their chance, eventually this will work its out. That's been the standards since the founding of the constitutional republic.
BRUCE: It's been a problem when the Democrats assigned to be protectors of women, that the owners of this issue. It becomes weaponized and partisan. As a result, they're going to use it in that kind of way. It eliminates the seriousness of the issue. All women begin to be looked at as unserious and dangerous and it becomes transactional in nature.
And this is why, four women realizing that the Democrats within this framework, they can demand Justin Fairfax resign. But in the meantime, they destroyed the seriousness of this issue that we worked for decades to elevate. In the meantime, the Democrats continue to lie to women that they are the ones who represent them both, the best.
Women have got to look to both parties, spread their influence and have both worked for the solutions to issue as opposed to using the lives as weapons against your political opponents, because that's what the Democrats have done here --
(CROSSTALK)
BRUCE: Including abortion by the way.
PARKS: Let me say this. Let me say this. I think this is not a Democratic issue. Different people see issue different ways.
For example, I have probably disagreed vehemently with the Democrat from the Northern Virginia who is just on TV grandstanding against Lieutenant Governor Fairfax.
JONES: At least he's consistent.
PARKS: I think that his job to impeach him about a past event is crazy. Now, I think, you can't make it a Democrat or Republican thing --
BONGINO: No, no, Daryl, it is -- hold on. Stand by, Daryl. It is a Democrat or a Republican issue because the Democrats made it that way. Not me, Lawrence or Tammy.
JONES: That's exactly.
BONGINO: We have been very consistent. We said Democrat or Republican, you are entitled to your day in court. You are entitled to defend yourself, the integrity of your name and character.
We have never said any different. It's the Democrats during the Kavanaugh situation that insisted that the standard was different for Kavanaugh. Do you see why people like us might be a little upset? Nothing's changed.
Fairfax deserves his day in court. So did Kavanaugh. But Kavanaugh, the evidence wasn't nearly -- was nothing like we have now. That's our problem, Daryl.
JONES: And they still destroyed him.
BRUCE: And let's just say -- let's just remind ourselves here. We do have definite character issues when it comes to Northam and the other -- is it Huggins or who's --
BONGINO: Herring.
BRUCE: Herring. Definite admitted character issues.
And yet of these men, it's the African-American man who is going to be the one who will be effectively forced out.
PARKS: That's exactly right.
BRUCE: When this is a character issue across the board with the Democrats. And, boy, what does it tell you if it's the black man that has to go first.
BONGINO: Lawrence, 30 seconds. Last word.
JONES: Because they want to protect their power. He is not in their inner circle.
BRUCE: That's right, that's right.
JONES: And so they are circling the wagons. The Democrats have not been consistent on this issue. And that's why we are heated on the panel, because I wish Kavanaugh was given the same grace and the opportunity to present his case like this guy has been given.
BONGINO: Yes, you're darn right.
All right, guys. I've got to run. Tammy, Lawrence, Daryl, thank you so much. That was a great discussion. Thanks for joining us tonight.
So, what is the turmoil in Virginia mean nationally for the Democrats? Many leading Dems were quick to voice support for Dr. Christine Blasey Ford during the Kavanaugh hearings. At first, they were mostly silent on the accusations against the lieutenant governor of Virginia, Justin Fairfax. It was only following the second accusation against the Lieutenant Governor Fairfax that the 2020 contenders, including Senators Kirsten Gillibrand, Cory Booker and Elizabeth Warren called for Fairfax to resign.
Here now with reaction is RNC national spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany and syndicated radio talk show host Larry Elder.
Kayleigh, let me go to you first. Again, I'll pose the same question to you I've been posing to the panel before.
This should not be the Democrat or the Republican issue. These are the very serious charges. Extremely serious charges. Women who bring forward the charges should absolutely be taken seriously. Nobody has ever said different. No rational person on this network or anywhere else.
The problem I have with this, is when the shoe was on the other foot and it was Brett Kavanaugh, the Republican appointee, all of this went out the window. Evidence didn't matter. And the response is instantaneous. He should pull his name out, and now, all of a sudden, granted, a lot of Democrats have come out and now, you said something that's the second accusation, but it wasn't the immediacy.
Your reaction to that?
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, RNC NATIONAL SPOKESWOMAN: Yes, that's exactly right. Look at what happened in the wake of the Justin Fairfax accusations coming out. The number fourth in line of the gubernatorial succession in Virginia, Kirk Cox, who is a Republican came out with a statement immediately.
We at the RNC talked with the state party of Virginia, talked with Kirk Cox, the statement was this: Let's wait for the facts to come out. I was the same standard with Kavanaugh. Even though there was a political interest and the Republican Party saying Fairfax should resign, we said, let's wait for the facts to come out.
We were consistent. It was not the Democratic Party in wake of Kavanaugh. They said Kavanaugh should step down. Kirsten Gillibrand said one credible allegation is enough.
Democrats were silent at first. You have a few coming out now because their political interest depends on it.
BONGINO: Yes.
MCENANY: But the Democratic Party has largely been silent.
And, Dan, one more thing.
BONGINO: Yes.
MCENANY: I was very dismayed when we just heard that press conference. Your heard them say, we yet to have a statement on Herring. Herring is the one who wore blackface.
BONGINO: Right.
MCENANY: If Northam wore blackface, and if it's meriting a resignation, so too, should it be meriting resignation for Herring. But they are not consistent. It's double standard. It's all politics for the Democratic Party.
BONGINO: Yes, you're right. And, Larry, it gets infuriating. Again, when you stand on common set of principle, that this stuff -- there is nothing to have to -- you just say what you said before because it mattered to you. What bothers me about this is, look at Herring, the attorney general.
He appears to be the biggest hypocrite at all, because he was one of the first people to jump out and go after the Governor Northam for the blackface, knowing he had this in the past. I mean, there are a lot of trouble with Democrats in Virginia right now. It's a mess.
LARRY ELDER, SALEM RADIO NATIONAL HOST/AM 870: Well, they are, Dan. And you can nail the A.G. for the hypocrisy.
But I take issue with the idea that these blackface pictures suggest bad character. C'mon, let's have a little perspective here. 1984 was the governor's blackface photograph. He was 25 years old.
If you look at the photograph, I thought they were mocking racism, mocking the Klan, mocking people that wear blackface.
And as far as the A.G. is concerned, he was 19 years old. He wore blackface because he admired rappers like Kurtis Blow and he was trying to appear at a Halloween party dressed as a rapper. That's a character problem? He wasn't hating on black people. He was loving on rappers.
So, let's have a little perspective. The charges against the lieutenant governor are very, very serious. We have two charges of sexual assault. In one case, the woman told friends which is one of the reasons, one of the ways you corroborate the allegation. That is a different charge than the silly blackface controversy regarding the governor and the A.G.
BONGINO: Yes. Kayleigh, there were a series of questions asked of Judge Kavanaugh, that if, again, if the Democrats were standing on principle -- I can't go back to this enough, because it seems like their principles wavered, which makes them non-principles, right? They were a couple of questions. I wrote a couple of them down.
The first question was asked to Kavanaugh, well, what's the motivation for these women to lie? I find it interesting that some of the same questions are not asked by some. Again, by some, not all, prominent Democrats.
But secondly, you know, are the accusations enough? It wasn't a question for Kavanaugh. The accusations were perceived to be enough.
Let me ask you this. If accusations are enough at this point, given this new social media world, I mean, do we find ourselves in a dangerous spot where the people don't have the opportunity any more to defend themselves, and their lives are just thrown into basically overturned by the simple accusations. That creates a big problem. Does it not?
MCENANY: Oh, it's a huge problem. Men are guilty in the court of public opinion before the facts come out. There is this rush to judgment in the #metoo era. And, look, there are women who have been sexually assault and my heart goes out to them. It's a real problem in this country.
But, look, this in the Democratic Party. This is not believe all women. It's only believe all women who accuse Republican men. And that is what is so troubling.
This has been weaponized. The #metoo movement has been weaponized against the Republican Party. And it's unfortunate, because that does not take all sexual assault allegations seriously as they should.
This should not be political. We should be standing on solid footing. We support all women who are true victims. This is not a political issue.
But one thing I want to quickly say about Mark Herring. Mark Herring who wore a blackface and admitted that set a standard when he came out and called on Northam to resign. Democrats set that standard. Mark Herring set that standard.
So whatever he says about his character, wearing blackface, he set the standard when he called for Northam to resign. And he has lost all credibility when Virginia voters when he set a standard that he himself will not adhere to and will not step down because of it.
BONGINO: Larry, she said before, they have a really interesting political problem right now. And again, this shouldn't be. If you are principled like we have been and you believe in this, they should all step aside.
But the next in line, the fourth in line is the House of Delegates speaker who is in fact a Republican. So this puts the Democrats in an interesting political situation, a tough bind, again, because they don't want to stick to the principles in Virginia, does it not?
ELDER: Well, it does. As Kayleigh pointed out, this is a guy that set the standard. But it was a stupid standard. I posed as blackface when I was 25 years old in a yearbook picture, therefore all the people who also submitted blackface photographs and there were two others, should they lose their jobs, too? I'm sure there's some muckety muck in a hospital somewhere, should they be in trouble as well?
You should nail him on hypocrisy. Not on the standard. The standard is silly. Lots of people wore blackface. Jimmy Kimmel did. Jimmy Fallon did, for crying out loud.
If you want to go down that road, we can go down that road. It's a silly standard. It depends on the intent behind it, the blackface, how old you were, when you did, and what you've done since then. Let's have a little perspective here.
BONGINO: Yes. All right. Well, Larry, Kayleigh, thank you very much for your perspective. I really appreciate it.
MCENANY: Thank you, Dan.
BONGINO: Yes. See you guys.
Next on our HANNITY special: The Left is in Crisis.
Leland Vittert will bring you the very latest breaking news in the Virginia crisis.
Stay with us. Don't go.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BONGINO: All right. Welcome back to the special edition of "Hannity." Joining me now with the latest on the unfolding scandal roiling Virginia politics tonight, the second accusation of the second assault against Lieutenant Governor Fairfax, Fox News correspondent Leland Vittert -- Leland.
LELAND VITTERT, CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Dan. That list of Democrats calling for Justin Fairfax to resign and even calls for impeachment is growing by the minute.
First, that issue of the impeachment. Patrick Hope, Virginia state delegate. On Monday, I'll be introducing articles of impeachment for Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax if he has not resigned before then.
Jennifer Wexton of Virginia, I believe, Dr. Vanessa Tyson. I believe Meredith Watson, referring to the two accusers, and I believe Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax must resign.
Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris, among the 2020 hopefuls, calling for his resignation tonight. New Jersey law firm issued a statement late this afternoon saying they represented Meredith Watson who was raped by Fairfax in 2000, according to their allegations, while they were both students at Duke.
Ms. Watson shared her account -- this from the statement of the rape -- with friends in a series of e-mails and Facebook messages that are now in our possession. Additionally, we have statements from former classmates they claim to corroborating that Ms. Watson immediately told friends that Mr. Fairfax had raped her.
The law firm refused request from FOX News to elaborate on the claims or allow us to review Facebook messages or give us the name of the former classmates tonight. They issued another statement saying attempts to discredit Watson are a smear.
Fairfax fired back. The end of the statement is the most salient. "I will not resign" he wrote. He also noted that he denies the latest allegation saying it's demonstratively false. I never forced myself on anyone ever. It's obvious he says that a vicious and corroborated smear campaign is being orchestrated against me.
The second woman to accuse Fairfax of impropriety comes exactly a week, almost to the hour of the picture from the governor's yearbook surfacing. You might remember, there was an equally loud chorus of calls, Dan, for him to resign. He is still in office. And now, of course, comes the question when it comes to Fairfax, can he hold on as long or as this impeachment threat changing the equation for him tonight?
BONGINO: Leland, is anybody standing by the lieutenant governor?
VITTERT: There is one so far that we have found. Bobby Scott of Virginia issuing this statement late tonight so far. Both allegations, he wrote, must be investigated. The congressman continuing, if either is found to be true and there appears to be significant corroborating evidence, then the lieutenant governor should resign immediately.
So far, he is the only one offering that grace of the due process or the investigation to the lieutenant governor before demanding his resignation, Dan.
BONGINO: Yes, thanks a lot, Leland. I really appreciate your insight there.
Joining us now to break down unfolding scandals in Virginia, "Relatable" podcast host, Allie Beth Stuckey, "Daily Caller" reporter Kerry Picket, and FOX News contributor Morgan Ortagus.
Morgan, I go to you first.
What has taken the Democrats so long? Again, by their own set of standards that accusations are, in fact, enough evidence. What has taken them so long to call for the removal of Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax? This is their own words. You know, we just heard this with Brett Kavanaugh.
MORGAN ORTAGUS, CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I don't know if that is the right approach. I mean, again, we are rushing to judgment here without having any sort of the public hearing, without having a full investigation. And I think what we have to be intellectually consistent here and demand the same fairness for Justin as we did for Kavanaugh. I mean, that's --
BONGINO: But I just say -- I don't mean to interrupt -- but I agree with you 100 percent. He is absolutely entitled to due process. But that's not what they did in that case.
ORTAGUS: Dan, let me tell you, I have personal experience with this. My husband has known the lieutenant governor for probably about 15 years. Some of his close friends are our friends.
And I'll tell you what it's done. On a personal level, this has allowed for a very human discussion to happen between me as a Republican and my Democrat friends. I said to them, you guys, this is why I was apoplectic during Kavanaugh, because I also -- you know, we live in the D.C. area. So I know people were crushed to Kavanaugh who were crushed by the accusations happening to him.
Similarly, my friends who are very close to Justin sort of can't believe that all of this is happening and they see their friend getting destroyed and they want to stand by him. But as Democrats, they are conflicted because of the position they took in Kavanaugh.
That's why it's important to take these people out of the headlines and say, you know, the best thing that I read is "Washington Examiner" op-ed, I believed it was out today, that talked about Susan Collins laid it all out for us already. And the Susan Collins speech she gave when she said she was voting for Kavanaugh and supported him, she gave the criteria for why, for how we had gone through the process. And so, I think, if any metric that we all need to follow on the right or the left is not politicize #metoo, to not politicize these allegations.
But and as a country, let's set forward a standard of giving women who feel like they need to be heard the right to be heard, but also giving men the ability to go through an investigation as well.
And so, I'm not going to sit here and call on him to resign or beat the Democrats over the head. I'm gong to say, this is why I took this position during Kavanaugh. And this is why now I think we need that same fairness applied.
BONGINO: Kerry, I know you've been following this closely. Out of all three who are clearly in hot water here, the Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General, do you see any of them, all of them or one of them, who do you see politically being able to weather this, if any, at all? I mean, they're all clearly - these are very, very serious charges, especially this alleged rape charge. These are very serious charges. Do you see any of them getting through this? KERRY PICKET, THE DAILY CALLER, SIRIUS XM PATRIOT RADIO HOST: Well, let me just put it to you this way before I even answer that even directly. So far, the only person who has actually resigned over even wearing blackface in the last two months has been the now former Florida Secretary of State.
BONGINO: Right. Good point.
PICKET: OK? And he is a--
BONGINO: That's a great point.
PICKET: And he's a - he was a Republican. That being said, as far as the optics are concerned, this is so bad for the Democrats because - let's face it. If you have a black lawmaker over in Virginia who ends up getting impeached and then removed from office and then you end up with two white lawmakers, rather one white lawmaker and then you have one white official who ends up staying there because they still have this blackface going on there, that's going to look even worse because then you have to figure out, well, what's worse? We have a sort of race issue going on here, and then we just kicked out a black lawmaker. What goes on here?
BONGINO: Allie, I am really getting kind of worn out with the comparisons between Kavanaugh. And these cases are not the same. If you - from a basic evidentiary standard, the evidence against Kavanaugh was loose at best. And as I said before, it was anti-evidence at some point where the alleged victim in the case had named names of people who said, no, I don't remember any of that. Yet the specifics in this case are clear and yet there was a delayed response again from Democrats. Your reaction.
ALLIE BETH STUCKEY, RELATABLE PODCAST HOST: Well, you have two women with very similar stories. And I agree with what everyone has said. Justin Fairfax deserves due process. I don't think any rational conservative would disagree with that.
BONGINO: Yeah. Yep.
STUCKEY: And I really appreciate from the conservative side how much nuance and balance we are trying to offer to this conversation because what we are kindly trying to show our Democratic friends is that they need to stand on principle all the time, not just when it's politically expedient, which of course is a paradox you can't be politically expedient and also just stand on principles at the same time.
And so all we're trying to say is not that Justin Fairfax that we should judge him any more quickly than we did Kavanaugh but that, hey, guys, if you're going to do it there, you need do it here as well or vice versa. I would rather - I would rather us not to jump to conclusions, whether it's on the right or the left and give everyone due process.
But look, this is not really up to Democrats or to Republicans to decide the standard of what they think is too racist to stay in office. That's up to the Democrats. They need to decide if it is too far for someone to have done blackface 30 years ago for them to still serve. I'm interested to see the conclusions that all of them end up coming with, including Governor Northam. But that's going to have to be a conclusion that they apply across the board.
ORTAGUS: Well, and the conclusion will happen in November because there are state legislative elections in Virginia. And that's what this is all about right now. The Republicans have 51-to-49 in the House and the state legislature, 21-to-19 in the Senate. And that's part of all of this. It's a contested tight election in November for the state legislature.
BONGINO: We'll see coming up soon. And Allie Beth, Kerry and Morgan, thanks so much for joining us.
Coming up next on our Hannity Special, The Left in Crisis. More analysis of Virginia's Democrat Party in complete chaos. Don't go anywhere.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BONGINO: This is the Fox New Alert. Welcome back to the special edition of Hannity. Just in, a new statement from the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus saying, "It is best for Lieutenant Governor Fairfax to step down from his position."
Now joining for more on the latest surrounding the political scandals rocking Virginia is Ellison Barber. Ellison?
ELLISON BARBER, CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Dan. Yeah, we keep seeing more and more of these statements of people coming out and saying that now they do believe the Lieutenant Governor should step down from his role. The most recent allegation, of course, allegedly took place at Duke University when the Lieutenant Governor and the woman were students there back in 2000.
Now, Duke University tells me that Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax was asked to step down from the Board of Visitors at Duke Sanford School of Public Policy. The Lieutenant Governor is facing sexual assault allegations from two different women. One says that he forced her to perform oral sex on him during the 2004 DNC convention in Boston. Another says he raped her in 2000 when they were both students at Duke.
Lieutenant Governor is denying all of the allegations against him. In a statement he said, "I have never forced myself on anyone ever. I demand a full investigation into these unsubstantiated and false allegations." He called the claims part of a vicious and coordinated smear campaign. A law firm representing the second most recent accuser says of the alleged assault, "Mr. Fairfax's attack was premeditated and aggressive. The two were friends but never dated or had any romantic relationship."
A number of Democrats are now calling on the Lieutenant Governor to resign. A delegate - a Virginia State delegate says that if the Lieutenant Governor does not step down by Monday, he plans to introduce articles of impeachment.
Dan?
BONGINO: Ellison, thanks a lot.
Now, earlier this week, political science professor, Dr. Vanessa Tyson, also came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against Fairfax, detailing an allegedly abusive encounter with him during the 2004 Democratic National Convention.
Now, viewer warning. What you're about to see is extremely graphic. Tyson claimed, "As I cried and gagged, Mr. Fairfax forced me to perform oral sex on him. I cannot believe, given my obvious distress, that Mr. Fairfax thought this forced sexual act was consensual. Mr. Fairfax has tried to brand me as a liar to a national audience, in service to his political ambitions, and has threatened litigation and given his false assertions. I'm compelled to make clear what happened."
Joining me now with reaction are Fox News contributors, Rachel Campos- Duffy, Sara Carter, and Lawrence Jones.
Rachel, let me go to you first. Listen, the Lieutenant Governor has given a pretty firm statement of denial here saying it's demonstrably false. Again, if we're going to apply the standards that Democrats applied before, he should be gone by now. But he seems to be fighting back and has shown at least no willingness to resign at this point.
RACHEL CAMPOS-DUFFY, CONTRIBUTOR: Right. And I do agree that he deserves due process. I mean, this is sort of a little bit of Kavanaugh karma for the Democrats. They're kind of stuck in a situation where, you know, are they going to learn from this moving forward? Are we going to have when a Republican gets accused of this, is this situation going to mean that we're going to have due process for Republicans?
Is this going to be the moment like Morgan Ortagus talked about where we all kind of step back and reassess how we handle this? Because the Democrats have been just masters of using race and sex for political purposes and don't really care about those issues. It's really about a political win for them. So I think he deserves due process. Those charges sound awful. By the way, as a mom, I'm so sick of hearing about these kinds of stories on the news--
BONGINO: Right.
CAMPOS-DUFFY: --with our kids around.
BONGINO: Right.
CAMPOS-DUFFY: It's just--
BONGINO: It's gross.
CAMPOS-DUFFY: It's just so much.
BONGINO: Yeah. Yeah. It's disgusting to have to talk about it. I have two daughters at home too. And--
CAMPOS-DUFFY: Yeah.
BONGINO: --it's ridiculous.
Sara, going to you. Given the gravity of these charges and they are very serious, I asked Kerry Picket before from a reporting angle, do you see any of these people, Attorney General Herring, Governor Northam or Justin Fairfax politically surviving this? It seems like at least at this point, none of them are willing to step down. And - you know what? Maybe I'll get to Lawrence next (ph).
Lawrence, I want to tee you up for this one too, but - does - the optics of this are terrible.
SARA CARTER, CONTRIBUTOR: Yeah.
LAWRENCE JONES, CAMPUS REFORM EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Yeah.
BONGINO: You have this political party here that the Democrats who have buried themselves in identity politics--
JONES: Yeah.
BONGINO: --the optics are not good. So, Sara, and then I'll go to Lawrence next.
CARTER: Well, it's like Virginia politics has been turned on its head. And really the people that are suffering most are the citizens, are the people of Virginia. And what we found out is really distressing. I'm a Virginia resident. And I can tell you that there isn't a place I don't go where I don't get groceries or I'm not shopping where I don't hear people talking about this.
You have Governor Northam. He's practically disappeared. He said that he was going to make this a big issue that he was going to talk about race, bring this to the forefront. Yet he's refusing to listen, he's refusing to talk to people. Most people want him to resign. I interviewed quite a number of people, Democrats, actually. Here in Virginia, they want him out. We have Attorney General Herring who also admitted to wearing, painting his face black, wearing a blackface.
BONGINO: Right.
CARTER: It's very distressing. And now we have these allegations with the Lieutenant Governor. And these are very serious allegations. And like - just like Rachel said, I mean, there is due process. We have got to wait and see what happened here in both of these cases. But one thing is really certain, Dan--
BONGINO: Yeah.
CARTER: --that they - both of these women have corroboration, they are coming forward.
BONGINO: Yeah.
CARTER: There are people that are supporting what these women have said. And now the Democrats are asking for his resignation. So, yes, I think that Virginia right now is really in a quagmire. And I don't think any three of them will survive this.
BONGINO: Yeah. Let me go to you, Lawrence. We can't forget, Lawrence, Ralph Northam's yearbook picture still has a picture with a guy with a Ku Klux Klan outfit on and another guy in blackface. And yet he seems to be right now not resigning at all.
JONES: Yeah. So here's the thing, Dan. There's three cases going on right here. Two of them we know the truth about because there's evidence of it. They've admitted to them. And the other one, we don't know. Yet, the only articles of impeachment that are going to be presented is toward the guy that there is no evidence for right now. We don't know. There's not been an investigation.
The two accusers said they don't want to go through the criminal process. And so I've got to just throw this out here. You guys are always defending black people, but the black guy got - he has to resign? OK. Is that what you guys are going to do? The Legislative Black Caucus? You guys aren't going to defend him? This is what they care about you guys - to the voters- -
(CROSSTALK)
CAMPOS-DUFFY: Can I just add in there, Dan?
JONES: This is how they really think about you guys.
BONGINO: Yeah, real quick.
CAMPOS-DUFFY: Real quick. You said that Northam has disappeared. Republicans accused of blackface don't get to disappear.
BONGINO: Right.
JONES: That's right.
CAMPOS-DUFFY: The media hounds them. It's another double standard.
BONGINO: You just had one resigned in Florida. As Kerry Picket just brought up--
CAMPOS-DUFFY: Yeah.
BONGINO: --you just had in Florida a prominent public official be - by the way--
CAMPOS-DUFFY: Yes.
BONGINO: --Sara, asked to resign by the Governor immediately. There was no debate about this. So I got to run, Guys and ladies, thank you so much. Sara, Rachel, Lawrence, thank you so much. Lawrence is going to stick around for the next block with us. Straight ahead on this Hannity Special, The Left in Crisis. This whole scandal got started with Virginia's Governor Ralph Northam. Will he be stepping down? Full analysis next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BONGINO: All right. Welcome back to the special edition of Hannity. Joining us now with the latest on embattled Virginia Governor Ralph Northam and calls for him to resign is Leland Vittert.
Leland?
LELAND VITTERT, CORRESPONDENT: Dan, about a week ago, you could clock Ralph Northam's political life with an egg timer. But he is still hanging on to the governorship of Virginia.
This is from The Washington Post this morning. "Embattled Virginia Governor Ralph Northam appeared to be in a stronger position Thursday as the scandals engulfing the state's two other top office holders made it less likely he would be forced to step down during the General Assembly session."
It was a week ago exactly that we were reporting on this. The who's who of Democrats who were upset over this picture that emerged from Northam's yearbook. On it, a man in blackface and another in a Ku Klux Klan costume. Northam first apologized for the photo, and then on a Saturday afternoon news conference flanked by his wife said, "It wasn't me."
With that and even before that news conference, a who's who in Democratic politics called for Northam's resignation, and the list of 2020 candidates weighed in as well saying he had to go. But Dan, as you know, so far, he has held on. Important that there are three top Democrats in Virginia, as you've pointed out in your show, hanging on right now. All three are Democrats. If all three resign, the governorship would then go to a Republican.
BONGINO: Leland, thanks a lot. It was only last week when Democratic Virginia Governor Ralph Northam was catapulted to national infamy when he made these comments about late-term abortions. Remember this?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RALPH NORTHAM, D-VA: When we talk about third trimester abortions, these are done with the consent of obviously the mother, with the consent of the physicians, more than one physician, by the way. And it's done in cases where there may be severe deformities or maybe a fetus that's nonviable.
So in this particular example, if a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen. The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that's what the mother and the family desired. And then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BONGINO: Joining us now are Fox News contributors Tammy Bruce, Lawrence Jones and Doug Schoen.
Tammy, I'll go to you again. We're all forgetting, again, where this started. The news cycle now is so fast. But these started with those comments on WTOP, a radio station very familiar with. You still live in the area. Very popular radio station.
And I think the mistake Northam made there is he described abortion as it actually is. And he became a political liability for the Democrats. Interesting that all of these scandals surface at that exact same time. And there's been some allegations out there that there may have been some people on the Democrat side who may have seen - wanted Northam out of the picture quickly, politically.
TAMMY BRUCE, PRESIDENT, INDEPENDENT WOMEN'S VOICE: Well, they - the Democrats do view this as just the new frontier, this - the late-term abortion, which is really a euphemism. That is infanticide. Identifies pro- choice. The majority of Americans see, Roe versus Wade, the first trimester as appropriate, but then the dramatically increases of rejection of that Act past that period of time. And only 16 percent of Americans think the so-called third trimester is appropriate. So Americans are united on this. We are not a polarized country on that issue.
That said, you've got this individual then when we talk about character that this was the trigger and it was a medical school colleague at that time, who's seeing and hearing those comments, was outraged and knew of the photo in the yearbook for medical school. And that's - and that's when he released it.
So when you're looking at such a thin veneer of character and if there's been a fraud perpetrated on the voting public, frankly, by the way, if the Republicans had done any basic - talk about due process in investigating these candidates, there would be a Republican governor right now.
BONGINO: Yeah.
BRUCE: And this is one of the political problems of why those racists were just kind of abandoned in a way by the Republicans in all of these cases of being able to be publicly seen. So I would say that it becomes a domino effect because these things exist and there is a reliance on being detected (ph). BONGINO: All right. Let me go ahead--
BRUCE: And that's now hopefully going to be over.
BONGINO: Doug, from a Democrat Party perspective, they're in a world of trouble right now. Let's not hide this.
DOUG SCHOEN, CONTRIBUTOR: Yeah.
BONGINO: The Democrats do not want to be having a conversation about blackface and infanticide.
SCHOEN: No.
BONGINO: I mean, how do they escape from this in what was once a swing state of Virginia?
SCHOEN: Yeah. Look, let's talk politics. Northam should go, Fairfax should go, and the Attorney General probably should go too, even if it means a Republican governor, because Dan, Virginia is a swing state. This behavior is outrageous. Northam has lost the confidence of the electorate, and indeed, the citizenry of the country. Lieutenant Governor Fairfax can't and shouldn't serve anymore. And Attorney General Herring, I thought he was the most sympathetic of the three, but as he acknowledged his own behavior was outrageous.
BONGINO: Yeah.
SCHOEN: I think they've got to go. We start with square one. And if there is a Republican governor--
(CROSSTALK)
BONGINO: All right. Doug, Doug, let me just get a quick last word from Lawrence. I'm sorry, we had a heartbreak here, Lawrence. But Lawrence--
JONES: Sure.
BONGINO: --is he entitled to an investigation, Fairfax? 20 seconds.
JONES: Entitled to investigation? I say, keep all the Democrats there because when 2020 comes and they start this--
(CROSSTALK)
SCHOEN: They all got to go.
JONES: --anti-women--
SCHOEN: They go to go.
JONES: --and being anti-racist--
SCHOEN: They got to go.
JONES: --keep them there, and we will use it against them.
BONGINO: All right, guys.
SCHOEN: They've got to go.
BONGINO: Thanks a lot. Thanks.
SCHOEN: Thank you.
BONGINO: We'll be right back with some closing thoughts. Be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BONGINO: Welcome back to the special edition of “Hannity: The Left in Crisis.” Unfortunately, that's all the time we have left this evening. As always, thank you for being with us.
We'll have more analysis of the unfolding situation of Virginia on Monday's show when Sean is back. We'll also have live coverage of President Trump's rally in El Paso, Texas. Don't miss it. Until then, have a great weekend. Thanks a lot.
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