Biden refuses to identify the Taliban as an enemy
Former Army Special Forces operator Rep. Mark Green tells 'The Ingraham Angle' the Taliban is 'the enemy and they should be crushed'
This is a rush transcript of "The Ingraham Angle" on August 20, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
TAMMY BRUCE, FOX NEWS HOST: (AUDIO GAP) understand (ph) at the mercy of the murderous Taliban. It's beyond infuriating that Biden and Jen Psaki began the week on vacation as the Taliban took over the country. We didn't even hear from Joe until Monday. And at that point, he was too scared to take questions.
Biden's ABC interview only raised more questions about his and his team's decision making skills. In fact, it wasn't until late this morning that the President's team apparently realized that maybe he shouldn't head to his Delaware beach house today. He'll reportedly go tomorrow instead. You know, who wants to stay in the White House during a crisis anyway.
After hearing his disaster of a news conference today, we can confidently conclude that the Biden White House and cabinet are simply members of a gang that can't shoot or talk straight. They are a basket case teeming with contradictions and incompetence. After a week of mixed messages and fumbles, Biden's team still isn't even on the same page.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: What interest do we have in Afghanistan at this point with Al Qaeda gone?
JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: We know that Al Qaeda is a presence as well as ISIS in Afghanistan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUCE: Well, now it's now clear that Biden is being kept either in the dark by his team. He's completely lost touch with reality.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is your message to America's partners around the world who have criticized not the withdrawal, but the conduct of that withdrawal and made them question America's credibility on the world stage?
BIDEN: I have seen no question of our credibility from our allies around the world. The fact of the matter is, I have not seen that. Matter of fact, the exact opposite I've got. The exact opposite thing is we're acting with dispatch, we're acting, committing to what we said we would do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUCE: Well, what are they telling him? Now, someone should at least tell our allies as the Wall Street Journal editorial board notes, "The chaotic Afghan withdrawal has shocked and angered U.S. allies." And yesterday, the UK Parliament held Biden in contempt for his disastrous withdrawal. So much for rebuilding NATO. Another three years of Biden and we're going to be lucky if we have a single ally left.
Now, joining me now is the man you know is Newt Gingrich, former House Speaker, Fox News contributor. Mr. Speaker, you've been in government long time, you know the world, you've experienced many things, many of us have.
I really - it is a remarkable. There's so many layers to this. It is shocking. It is disturbing. It's dangerous. It's frightening. What are your thoughts about what has unfolded in this past week?
NEWT GINGRICH, FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: Well, I think first of all, you'd need to see Afghanistan as sort of a warning sign, not just focused on Afghanistan. But we're drifting into what (inaudible) called a crisis of crises across our entire system. Things don't work. And what you just saw, let's focus narrowly on the P
entagon and the intelligence community, you have in the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, two people who are focused on creating a woke military.
Well, we just learned that the greatest 21st century woke military can't defeat a seven century group of warriors who are willing to die for their cause. Now, that should sober us. And it should make us think about China, Russia, and Iran, and other countries who are watching this whole process.
I mean, Biden either has been kept deliberately ignorant, or has such deep cognitive difficulties, he just doesn't get it. But we have reports, for example, the 23 members of the embassy, wrote a letter of descent, which is, by the way, in the State Department terms, a very big deal. And then you're putting your career on the line to sign a letter like that. They sent it to the Secretary of State. We don't know if the Secretary of State Blinken took it to Biden or not. We don't know if Biden understood it or not. But that letter night by people who are in Kabul said, this is going to be a disaster.
The President's press conference today, he just kept - I started to say he's kept lying. But the truth is, I don't know if he knows what the facts are. So it's not fair to challenge somebody who maybe has significant cognitive problem with lying if, in fact, he just doesn't get it. He doesn't understand what's going on around him.
BRUCE: Mr. Speaker.
GINGRICH: He doesn't understand what you and I see on television.
BRUCE: Yes. Let's - there's another comment he made. Let's play this next note here about the cables that have been going around trying to alert them to what's been happening in Kabul.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you say why after that cable was issued, the U.S.
didn't do more to get Americans out?
BIDEN: They are all kinds of cables, all kinds of advice. Have you noticed?
They range from this group saying that they didn't say it fall when it would fall - when it did fall. But saying that it would fall to other saying it wouldn't happen for a long time, and they'd be able to sustain themselves through the end of the year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUCE: So what's strange even there with what you noted, it appears as though he might be slightly aware of it. But then someone has told him that it really doesn't matter, because they always get a lot of cables. It's as though, Mr. Speaker, we don't know who the President is. We don't know who the center of gravity is. Or maybe there isn't one, sir. Maybe it is just groupthink and gangs and no one's talking to anybody else.
GINGRICH: I don't know. I don't think you have an administration right now.
First of all, it was Secretary Blinken's job to make sure that the President understood how big a deal 23 professionals risking their career to sign a letter like that, a descending cable in the state department is a big deal. It's not that happens very seldom.
So either Blinken didn't do his job, or, Biden just didn't get it. I mean, I can imagine him sitting there and thinking, why is Blinken telling me all this weird stuff. I've already made my mind up. I don't need to learn anything.
The same thing happening, though, with Milley and with Austin. How could they possibly as professionals, allow Bagram to be lost?
BRUCE: Exactly.
GINGRICH: And keep the embassy. You can't possibly protect the embassy without Bagram.
BRUCE: Just even strategically for the region, in addition to the prison that was there that had ISIS and Al Qaeda and Taliban jihadists was emptied. It seemed, sir. And as you look at the ground here, it's as though every decision that shouldn't have been made was made, and these are people with experience. Why has this happened? It is not just a bunch of mistakes.
And when we think about who's in charge, we hear about people should resign, about impeachment, about a whole host of other things. What do you think should happen? What should the American people look for? And what should we demand?
GINGRICH: First of all, we should remember Ronald Reagan's observation, that it wasn't what liberals didn't know that scared him. It was what they knew that wasn't true. And so what you have is groupthink. You have Austin, the Secretary of Defense; you have Milley, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs; you have the President of the United States; you have the Secretary of State. And apparently, none of the four of them have a clue about the real world.
Now, if that doesn't scare you, then listen to the Chinese Communist talking about Taiwan and that Taiwan you better realize that Joe Biden can't possibly protect him, or listen to the Europeans, when the President today either lied to the country, or is so totally uninformed that it's scary. But our NATO allies are enraged for him to say, oh, nobody's really angry at us.
You have to wonder, I mean, how - what is he processing?
BRUCE: You see, this is what we have to find out.
GINGRICH: That would allow him to think that he could just be that directly honest with everybody in the world.
BRUCE: Yes, sir. I can't thank you enough for your insight. Even South Korea is saying we'd like you to move things along faster getting out of our country. This is a disaster of monumental proportions. Sir, thank you very much for joining us tonight. Appreciate your insight.
Now, Biden's ineptitude has put thousands of Americans at the mercy of bloodthirsty Taliban savages. We've all seen the shocking footage of the Taliban thugs terrorizing crowds outside the Kabul airport. Heck, even CNN said they had trouble getting in. The only person who seems completely unaware of this is Joe Biden himself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: Best of our knowledge, the Taliban checkpoints, they are letting through people showing American passports.
KIRBY: There have been sporadic reports of some Americans not being able to get through checkpoints. I fully admit that.
I don't think anyone is denying the reports that are out there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUCE: Yes. Well, the president just did. Then Biden was contradicted by his own defense secretary Lloyd Austin, telling Congress today that some people, including Americans have been harassed and even beaten by the Taliban on their way to the airport.
Now, here now is Tennessee congressman Mark Green, former Army Special Forces operator and Foreign Affairs Committee member. Also here is Florida Congresswoman Kat Cammack, creating a bit of a stir on Twitter earlier today. Congresswoman, we'll get to you in one second here.
Congressman Green, obviously, this is embarrassing. We clearly see that important people, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Secretary Defense, State Department seem to not be communicating. It's being contradicted by its own people pretty much in real time, like within an hour. Tell me your thoughts on this within your position and certainly your experience with Afghanistan.
REP. MARK GREEN (R-TN): Sure. And thanks for having me on. Joe Biden has created the greatest hostage crisis in American history. He's a clear and present danger to the safety of Americans. We have 10,000 Americans who are stranded on the other side of the wire. They're in Kabul. And for days, they've implied they wouldn't even go after them.
You had to have the British and the French go after their people to motivate our president to actually go and do something. And I blame the president for that. In the press conferences I've heard with Mark Milley, he said this the other day, that's a policy decision and we were ready to execute. That basically tells me that he wants to do it. He wants to act.
But he needs approval from the commander in chief. And this commander in chief has lost complete touch with reality.
You've pointed out many contradictions that are directly from Joe Biden himself. Now, granted, State Department, they have utterly failed. I've got tons of friends in the military. They're telling me they've been executing the missions that the commander has given them. But the State Department has been asleep at the wheel.
BRUCE: I'll tell you something, sir. One of the biggest statements you can make would be for him to resign and say that he had had enough.
GREEN: Absolutely. I've said that he should.
BRUCE: There is action, so you can resign because you're embarrassed or you can resign because you're not being listened to and it's that dangerous.
Congresswoman, Pelosi said something on a phone call today that you were on because there's other things going on behind the scenes that media isn't necessarily there. You were involved in a phone call today that completely shocked you what Pelosi said. What was that exactly?
REP. KAT CAMMACK (R-FL): Yes. Tammy, thank you so much for your passionate coverage of this. This is absolutely ludicrous where we find ourselves. And my colleagues and I, we were on a call today with Sec Def Austin, with Secretary Blinken, and with General Milley. And the first question when they open it up to members of Congress went to Speaker Pelosi. She praised the leadership and the White House, she praised the three gentlemen that we were on the phone with. But the thing that struck me the hardest was her comment towards the end of "Everything sounds like it's OK and going good.
Everyone just needs to get to the airport."
BRUCE: Wow!
CAMMACK: It took me about 10 minutes to get my jaw asked that Madam Speaker, this is not like you can take an Uber to the Kabul airport. You can't take a casual stroll down the street and make it through checkpoints.
This is absolutely insane that the Speaker of the House made a comment so out of touch, so tone deaf, so ridiculous, really out of touch with what is happening boots on the ground.
In my office alone, we have over 150 individuals, U.S. citizens and visa holders that we are trying to get out of country. They are - they are sending us videos where they have been beaten, where they are hiding from the Taliban. They can't talk on the phone because they are literally in hiding. They are emailing (inaudible)
This is insane. This is the Speaker of the House. When you talk about a failure of leadership, again, the boots on the ground, they're getting it right. It's the suits in Washington that have failed. There is crisis of confidence with the White House leaders.
BRUCE: There is - this is I think, this is what is so disturbing, Americans and the world, and that's what's making this so dangerous. Truly disturbing, of course, after what you've discussed about the Taliban, what we know is happening in Afghanistan.
Listen to this, the Biden administration refuses to call the Taliban our enemy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS HOST: Does the U.S. military consider the Taliban an enemy?
KIRBY: We're focused right now - the thing we're working against right now is time and space.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUCE: Congressman Green, this is like a country that is being run by a bunch of Ted Bundys and Charles Mansons. All right. You've got - these are serial killers.
GREEN: These are pedophiles. They're savages.
BRUCE: They sexually abuse children. They are savages. They sexually enslave men and women. This is insane.
GREEN: They killed my friends.
BRUCE: What is your - people you know have been murdered by these individuals? What do you think of this lack of a willingness? What does it mean that we won't call them the enemy of this country?
GREEN: Well, this is so typical of Democrats. Whether it was Carter who wanted detente with the Soviet Union; Bill Clinton, who pulled out of Somalia as soon as we got a bloody nose and that brought about Al Qaeda; Obama-Biden actually pulling out of Iraq in 2011 to create ISIS. This is just who they are. They can't name the enemy. And the Taliban killed my friends. The Taliban killed hundreds of Americans. Our allies have died and they can't call them an enemy. They want their Marian six year olds.
This is a sadistic pedophilic ideology. They are the enemy and they should be crushed. What we're doing right now is absolutely absurd. We're just basically capitulating and running away. And - I'm sorry. Go ahead.
BRUCE: Well, now it just - it seems to me, Congressman Cammack, that they almost wanted some kind of thing to celebrate on September 11. None of this is - makes any sense. It's all - it sounds insane. Is there - we've got about 15 seconds here with the last word. What do you think of this entire rollout and what this means?
CAMMACK: This entire drawdown withdrawal has been motivated by politics, pure and simple. 9/11 was a political date to meet. Now we are seeing that has been moved up. There's no question. This is exactly why politics should not be driving policy. That is why we have a crisis in the confidence of our military leadership and that includes the commander in chief.
I agree wholeheartedly with my colleague, Mark Green. These people are the enemy. There is no legitimacy in their government. This is something that we cannot stand for. They enslave little girls, they traffic in humans.
This cannot stand. And I have to tell you, the women and girls that have grown up under the last 20 years, they're in for a horrific future. We need to get very serious about getting our people out. And then dealing with how we are going to respond to not only the inventory of arms and munitions that we have left behind, but the human rights violations that are going to occur under this Taliban rule.
BRUCE: Very good point. And for those who say that this is none of our business, this is just their business. This is a cancer. It will move out with Iran and with Russia, working with China. This is the kind of thing that does not stay put. This is about who we are, and also worrying and caring about this country. And we can walk and chew gum at the same time.
None of this had to happen. Getting out of Afghanistan, the Americans are united in that. This was a complete catastrophe. And that's what we're talking about. Congressman Green and Congressman Cammack, thank you for joining us, and I appreciate it.
GREEN: Thank you, Tammy.
BRUCE: Now, Biden says the buck stops with him on Afghanistan. Well, just sort of really.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: When I came into office, I inherited a deal that President Trump negotiated with the Taliban. Afghanistan political leaders gave up and fled the country. The Afghan military collapsed some time without trying to fight. Some of the Afghans did not want to leave earlier.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUCE: Wow! But here's who the American people are blaming. According to a new morning consult survey, 43 percent of Americans say Biden bears a great deal of responsibility for the disastrous withdrawal. You know, it's because we're not hiding in a basement. That's nearly double the number who blame Trump for the current crisis.
Here to break it all down is Tom Bevan, co-founder and president of RealClearPolitics, a website that we use and is important in all times, but especially during crises. Tom, Biden's been trying to pass blame on to Trump, well, all the Democrats have for this debacle. But it would seem like with numbers like that, the Americans aren't buying it. I mean, we're pretty flexible when it comes to how we might view things. And yet, it's like it seems obvious on its face who's responsible for this disaster.
TOM BEVAN, CO-FOUNDER & PRESIDENT, REALCLEARPOLITICS: Yes. The administration has tried to deflect blame back to Trump onto the Afghans themselves. But clearly, the polling numbers are showing that that's not working. In addition to the numbers that you mentioned, Tammy, there have been a couple of major polls out this week showing that Biden's handling when asked whether people approve of his handling of Afghanistan, it's in the low 30s, 31 percent. And over - between 50 and 55 percent disapprove with the way he's handling it.
So clearly, the public is watching what they're seeing on their television screens. They're watching what Joe Biden is telling them in these press conferences and statements that he's making. And they are not buying what he's selling at this point. They believe that he is - has botched the withdrawal. And he's fully responsible for it.
BRUCE: You know, what's fascinating is that in that second press conference where he just went immediately to COVID. It was only about COVID. As though they were hoping and desperate for a pandemic to come save them, because that's what they want to talk about, because that's what helps them.
But it's - I guess you could have done that maybe 30 years ago, when there was like three networks and there was no internet and people didn't have additional information. It seems very strange that that their team thinks that all of what's happened has been ok.
And that part of the report is, Tom, that they believe the American people will get bored, and that we'll lose interest. Is that something that's a reasonable thought to have when it comes to what's transpiring here?
BEVAN: Well, it's a very cynical way to look at the current situation, just assume no matter how bad it is currently that in a year or two when the politics matter that the public will have forgotten about what went on in - with Afghanistan. The problem with that theory is that in addition to just the logistical nightmare and the incompetence that we're seeing is that Joe Biden's now facing - he has a credibility issue.
I mean, he's telling the nation things that have been contradicted by reports on the ground by his own staff. We have leaks coming out of various parts of the government suggesting that he was warned about this ahead of time. He promised that he would always tell us the truth that he would always level with us, good, bad or otherwise. And yet now he's telling us that this - the chaos was priced in.
They knew it was going to happen. But he never mentioned it ahead of time.
He never prepared the American people for this. And now he's telling us that it was always inevitable that they've done a great job that they couldn't have done anything better. And I don't think that is passing muster with the American people.
BRUCE: It's not. And of course, we have to realize also that the world is watching, and our allies, and our enemies are watching. And what they see is exactly what we're discussing is a president who has either lost his grip or an American administration that is completely AWOL.
Tom, thank you for your assessment. Appreciate you being here.
Now, here's something that will shock you. Donald Trump is banned from Twitter, but the Taliban aren't. Why is that? And why the silence from the left? Horace Cooper and Charlie Hurt react next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRUCE: Kamala Harris's presidential bid kicked off to thunderous media applause. We all remember that. But then quickly petered out without as much of a whimper. But before it did she demanded a big tech sensor that the - that they censor the former president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Here we have Donald Trump, who has 65 million Twitter followers, and is using that platform as the President of the United States to openly intimidate witnesses, to threaten witnesses. And he and his account should be taken down. Twitter should be held accountable and shut down that site. It is a matter of safety and corporate accountability.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUCE: Safety, it's all about safety. It's really about safety and acting responsibly, why hasn't Harris demanded Twitter ban the spokesman for the Taliban? Here now is Horace Cooper Project 21 co-chair; and Charlie Hurt, opinion editor for The Washington Times, which is where I have my weekly column, and Fox News contributor.
Gentlemen, thank you. Horace, Twitter, it's funny, they keep talking about Taliban. Other people are saying, well, they don't break any of the tech rules. And whether or not, of course, Twitter saying they don't know if they're really a violent organization. It seems like everyone has missed their medication at this point. We know what the Taliban has done. How can you explain this double standard that keeps slapping all of us in the face every day?
HORACE COOPER, PROJECT 21 CO-CHAIRMAN: Well, if it wasn't for double standards, Twitter wouldn't have standards at all. It is unbelievable that the President of the United States, the sitting President of the United States is considered a danger in some way. Because we don't like "mean tweets". Meanwhile, an evil vicious ideology that targets little children, six years old and younger, for marriage, that beheads people and believes that if you're born female that somehow that means that you're supposed to be subjugated for life. But apparently, that's not dangerous. That's not risky, and doesn't appear to violate any of their standards. Unbelievable.
BRUCE: It really seems, Charlie, that - but not only have, we've been all suckers, right, that they must know what the standard is. They must know what it is they're saying, and what this dynamic is, which is not just political, but obscene and dangerous, and effectively assisting the worst among us while shutting down political voices that would expose the worst among us. Do I go too far there?
CHARLIE HURT, WASHINGTON TIMES OPINION EDITOR: No, not at all. No. And it's so great that we played that clip of Kamala Harris, because it puts it into perfect perspective. This is all about raw, hard politics. That's what this is about. That's why they went after Donald Trump. They went after Donald Trump to silence a political opponent. And they and they succeeded.
And meanwhile, they're doing everything they can to promote a violent terrorist organization.
COOPER: Absolutely.
HURT: And doing everything they can to try to try to, sort of, convince people that there's this new and improved, kinder, gentler, Taliban out there. And, of course, nobody on the ground is buying it. If you look at the images in Afghanistan, right now, nobody is believing. Yes, exactly.
They're running like they should be running and they're not believing this farce that Twitter and Facebook is trying to promote.
BRUCE: You know, I'll tell, Horace, when we look at what it is we're being asked to believe and accept, it's like a mental illness that this is not just - it's not even just about political differences, right? That we're being asked to believe that the moon is made of green cheese, that the sky is green, that we're not on planet Earth. We're on some pin head in outer space and we're really all in some set.
I mean, it's like we've allowed those who are in the administration are arguing in a way that seems as though it moves closer to a mental illness and asks all of us to pretend along with them.
COOPER: We are seeing people that are conjoining for behavior. One is, oh, I don't like getting a tweet at 3:00 a.m. in the morning. The other is, the kinder, gentler is, we're now using a sharp blade to behead. One is categorically evil. If you're going to have a standard. They are supposed to be the ones that this standard covers. Instead, they just don't want to have discussions about topics they don't like.
BRUCE: And they know, it and they know.
Gentlemen, this is the other strange things. No one is confused here.
Everyone knows what's going on. So I want to turn to the latest developments, speaking of which on the January 6th Capital riot. First, let's remind everyone of the narrative pushed for months by Democrats and their media allies. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. VAL DEMINGS, (D-FL): Obviously, this was a well-planned, well- coordinated breach of security, attack.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI, MSNBC HOST: Members of groups that attacked the U.S.
Capitol on January 6th coordinated with one another.
REP. AYANNA PRESSLEY, (D-MA): They coordinated violent attack by white supremacist on our nations' capital.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUCE: Well, none of that was true. To the surprise of no one, though, that was all a lie. Today, Reuters reported that the FBI found scant evidence that the U.S. Capitol attack was coordinated, "Ninety to ninety- five percent of these are one-off cases said a former senior law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation." There was no grand scheme of these people to storm the capital and take hostages.
Charlie, we also watch the Capitol be fenced in four months, the National Guard, all of this narrative, and none of that -- the FBI, which is not entirely going to always be straight with us is saying yes, yes, this is not a coordinated thing by anybody. Is this more proof of the depth of the problem we have and what some people are willing to do to the country?
CHARLES HURT, OPINION EDITOR, "THE WASHINGTON TIMES": I think without a doubt. And this is how you wind up with 600 Americans rotting in prison, and most of them have been charged with like trespassing or disorderly conduct. And I'm not defending the riotous behavior on January 6th. I thought it was appalling at the time, and I think that they should pay a price for it, but this is absurd.
And the reason it's become so politicized, I think, and the reason they're not going to cease is because this is the only way that Democrats turn attention away from the actual crime that is going on in people's neighborhoods, in people's cities today as we speak, horrible crimes the Democrats don't want to talk about. And that's why they are going to keep going back to January 6th and just talk about that.
BRUCE: Yes, and they can be the only victims, right? They're the only ones that matter. What happens to them is the only thing that matters, not businesses burned down, lives destroy. And then we still have the January 6th commission, I don't know what they're going to do. Hardest hit, maybe Liz Cheney. God forbid should you not have a reason to call fellow Americans terrorists. God forbid should you not be able to have that in your pocket. I think Afghanistan has told us all what the real priorities are that all of this transcends partisanship, and that this is where we recognized that we have all been taken for a ride for a very long time.
Gentlemen, thank you very much for being here tonight.
Now, as blue state tyrants mandate vaccines for kids, the FDA is reportedly looking into whether or not the risks to youngsters are in fact higher than initially thought. Dr. Janette Nesheiwat is here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRUCE: The vaccine fanatics are coming for your kids. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is mandating high school athletes in so-called high-risk sports like football in even bowling, they need to be vaccinated. And over in southern California, the Culver City school district is forcing all students 12 and up to get the jab. But are they ignoring the risks?
According to "The Washington Post," the FDA is delaying approval of vaccines for adolescents based on disturbing new data out of Canada. It suggests the Moderna vaccine may carry a higher risk of heart inflammation for young people than the Pfizer vaccine.
So joining us now is FOX News medical contributor Dr. Janette Nesheiwat.
Dr. Janette, we love your analysis, and I really appreciate what you do.
And I notice that most of us, we know that we've been part of a trial. I'm a vaccine advocate, I've had it, and we know we are part of a trial. This has not really been approved yet. And part of trials are in fact to see what the side effects are and what might happen. And yet, with adults you can make your own mind up, but this mandating to children of this in this certain, particular time, isn't this a problem at this stage since we've got maybe this delay coming up?
DR. JANETTE NESHEIWAT, FOX NEWS MEDICAL CONTRIBUTOR: It's so important, Tammy, we need truth, we need transparency. We need the facts. We need to know is there a higher risk in myocarditis in children, in adolescents with the specifically the Moderna vaccine. Why are we getting this information from an anonymous source? Why isn't the FDA and CDC bringing forth this information? That is so important that we have all the facts so that we can make the best decisions for ourselves and for our children.
Because even though myocarditis is rare, it's just a fancy word for inflammation in the tissue of the heart. It's rare. It's easily treated with medicines like ibuprofen. We still need to be informed. That is part of our right as an American. We need the facts, we need the data, and then we move forward for there.
BRUCE: That's it. And that's why we all know it is serious. We've got to take this serious. Nobody wants to go through any of this.
NESHEIWAT: Yes.
BRUCE: But when you get conflicting information like that, or as you've said, we hear information from whistleblowers or from some secret source, and especially with what's going on in Afghanistan, where you realizing that it's an administration that maybe is mishandling every serious issue we face.
On another dynamic when we're dealing with mandates, very serious for children, but if you've gone into a restaurant lately, of course, anywhere, even your salons, we've got these plastic barriers. And all of us have thought that that was a joke because we know that, of course, a virus can maybe go up and go around a plastic barrier. But now they are saying that in fact that this may worsen the spread. This is from "The New York Times."
"Scientists who study aerosols, airflow, and ventilations say that much of the time the barriers don't help and probably give people a false sense of security. A barrier protecting a clerk behind a checkout counter may redirect the germs to another customer or another worker." Dr. Janette, your thoughts on that?
NESHEIWAT: Yes, so what's happening with these plastic barriers, you are actually impeding natural airflow and ventilation. You're funneling and redirecting the germs, those viral particles and aerosols, to another person, to down the hall, and to what we call dead zones where the viral particles accumulate and could therefore make it more infectious, more dangerous. So the best thing is ensuring great ventilation. And if you're in a crowded indoor areas, be careful, especially if you're not vaccinated.
You want to protect yourself.
BRUCE: Common sense.
NESHEIWAT: Exactly.
BRUCE: Common sense. Dr. Janette, common sense. With your children, trust your instinct. You are the boss, and in every other environment you take care of yourself and take precautions. Doctor, thank you.
NESHEIWAT: That's right.
BRUCE: Now, the worst media offenders of the week, the tape you don't want
to miss is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRUCE: Oh, boy, it's easy to become numb to media bias these days, so THE INGRAHAM ANGLE is keeping track of the worst offenders of the week. Joining me now, and they're here in the arena, Allie Beth Stuckey, host of the "Relatable" podcast, and Kira Davis, host of the "Just Listen to Yourself"
podcast. Neither of them have opinions or think about anything that matters. Very, very important, traffic panel. Ladies, thank you very much for joining me on this Friday night.
So let's begin with the media's desperate spin of the Biden speech today.
He was totally out of touch with reality, of course, but the press wants you to believe otherwise. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARI MELBER, MSNBC ANCHOR: He is very simply with words reminding people that it was still a war, even if no one else is willing to actually end it.
NICOLLE WALLACE, MSNBC ANCHOR: Then former Pentagon folks who started the week quite critical acknowledged that it's going much better now.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: This president is indeed in charge of this. Also canceling his trip today, he was supposed to be on a plane right now to Wilmington to spend an August weekend there. He is staying here at the White House to manage this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUCE: Wow. Allie Beth, first of all, Biden was talking with his words, so we know that he used his words, maybe his indoor voice today. And in fact, he is going to Wilmington tomorrow, so he's done that every weekend. And remember, he was at Camp David. So why are they celebrating this? Is this a little bit of desperation on their part?
ALLIE BETH STUCKEY, "RELATABLE" PODCAST HOST: It's very much desperation.
There's a very low bar. Even if he were staying at the White House this weekend, that wouldn't be enough to make up for the chaos that I think was unnecessarily wrought because of his lack of leadership. And we saw that today in his speech. Unfortunately, sadly, and I say that sincerely, he can really barely string a sentence together.
And all of this is a strawman, this whole argument that he is building, that the media is building, that hey, this is war, this is chaotic, this is how it goes, and he's just doing the best he can. Most people aren't arguing that at some point we had to get out, it's not even to get into all of that. But it's the how, and it's how he lacked communication, he lacked leadership, he lacks confidence and competence. That's what people are upset about, and he has yet to address that.
BRUCE: Indeed. Kira, what is funny, though, is that we have noticed that some of the legacy media actually is being honest, that they are really reporting -- and this is what it's so shocking, because we so have rarely seen it. It's like seeing a zebra with no stripes. It's weird.
(LAUGHTER)
BRUCE: They're still a little bit trying to help him. Is this going to keep on going that way, or do you think everyone will get on board with the disaster that this is?
KIRA DAVIS, "JUST LISTEN TO YOURSELF" PODCAST: It's a little bit of both.
But you can imagine how painful it was for the liberal media to watch Joe Biden today and to watch the news cycle this week. I happened to be watching CNN today during the press conference, and they were just apoplectic. I couldn't look away. And they were, it was almost like watching night in 2016. They were just apoplectic.
What happened was they pivoted to save the narrative, and that's I think what was happening in the clips that you played for us. They're trying to pipit. They've got to salvage something because they know that this is a disaster, but they can't let this president go down. They pledge their loyalty. So I think it's like a silver lining to a very, very dark cloud for them.
BRUCE: I'm glad that you're watching that other network. Obviously no one else is. So I'm sure they appreciate you.
(LAUGHTER)
BRUCE: Speaking of CNN, ladies, Anderson Cooper running for cover -- running cover, I should say -- for the Biden team not knowing how many Americans are actually in Afghanistan. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: I've traveled to a lot of countries. I've never registered with the embassy, to my knowledge, in any of the countries I visited. So I'm not surprised that the embassy wouldn't know how many Americans are necessarily in the country at any one time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUCE: The ultimate narcissist, Allie Beth, because he's never registered, really that just makes all the sense in the world now. Of course, if it's work, he would be traveling with a major network. And then, I don't know, maybe it's different when you go to Paris then if you go to Kabul. Is it understandable, Allie Beth, that the Biden administration, this is what has been so stunning, has really no idea how many Americans our in Kabul or in Afghanistan as a whole?
STUCKEY: Maybe if that were the only thing he didn't know, maybe if that were the only thing that he couldn't call to mind was the exact number of Americans, but he just gave us a round number, or if he had a vague idea, not just of what's happening there, but just what is happening in general and where he is at any given moment, maybe we could forgive him for that one thing. But considering that he has fumbled the ball every step of the way so far --
BRUCE: Yes, that's the problem.
STUCKEY: That's just adding insult to injury. And the callousness with which we've seen him handle this whole thing, it's just another shot to the heart.
BRUCE: Kira, it is funny, too. Anderson Cooper I think is nice guy. I met him briefly once a million your ago. He's, I supposed, trying to do his best, but it must be very strange to have to try to find an excuse like that when 10,000 to 40,000 people are effectively being held hostage.
DAVIS: No, I think Anderson Cooper is a hostage victim himself, to be honest. I really do. I think the whole liberal media are just hostages to this narrative they have set up, Biden as and the Democrats as these perfect politicians. I totally agree with Allie Beth. If this was the only thing that was the problem, OK, fine, whatever. But this is just one of so many things. And the fact that Anderson Cooper was making so much hullabaloo out of it, it was like, are you desperate much? There are other problems besides the fact that Biden may or may not know exactly how many Americans are stranded. The point is, Americans are freaking stranded. Go get them.
BRUCE: Right. All right, ladies, thank you. That is all the time we have had, so thank you for being with us and for your analysis.
Coming up, it's bumbling Biden. The Last Bite is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to thank the former general, I keep calling him general, but my -- the guy who runs that outfit over there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUCE: Well, that was back in March, but unfortunately, Biden still doesn't know Lloyd Austin's name.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: Our national security advisor has been in contact with his counterparts throughout the world and our allies, as has the general -- or, excuse me, I keep calling him the general, but my secretary of defense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUCE: Well, really, it's just shameful. This week has been just shocking, I think, for all of us. We have been yelling at the TVs, we have been yelling at the Internet, we have been yelling out radios. But you are not alone. We are in this together, things can become, of course, better. We are all in this, and I just want to say thank you for being with me tonight. That's all the time we have.
Thanks for watching this edition, the special edition of THE INGRAHAM ANGLE. I'm Tammy Bruce in for Laura Ingraham. And make sure you see my show, "Get Tammy Bruce" on FOX Nation. I will see you next time.
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