Arpaio: If they can go after me, they can go after anyone
Former Arizona sheriff reacts to President Trump's Phoenix rally, speaks out about the justice system on 'Hannity'
This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," August 23, 2017. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
SEAN HANNITY, HOST: Welcome to "Hannity." This is a "Fox News Alert."
President Trump goes hard, he goes on the offensive defending himself, his honor, his reputation, his family against what are unprecedented slanderous attacks and outright lies from the destroy Trump leftist media.
And now after being called out by the president, well, the biased press -- they're in a total, complete meltdown mode. It is unlike anything you have ever seen before. Tonight, we've got the greatest video montages of the media's emotional breakdowns.
Plus, we're going to set the record straight. We'll expose the media lies about the president, and the president, of course, condemning hate, bigotry, white supremacy, racism -- yes, the things they won't ever tell you. That's tonight's important "Opening Monologue."
So last night at a massive rally in Phoenix, President Trump unloaded on the liberal mainstream media, the establishment media, and for good reason. He called out their lies, their propaganda, their agenda and the fact that they are now just an arm of the radical leftist movement that is in this country.
Watch the president from last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It's time to expose the crooked media deceptions and to challenge the media for their role in formenting divisions!
TRUMP: These are sick people. You know the thing I don't understand? You would think -- you would think they'd want to make our country great again. And I honestly believe they don't.
TRUMP: If you want to discover the source of the division in our country, look no further than the fake news and the crooked media!
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
HANNITY: You know, the president's right. You would think they want to make America great again. You know what? Do they ever talk about solutions to solve the problems this country is facing? We'll get to that later.
Now, predictably, after President Trump fought back in a big way, well, it sent the lazy, overpaid, radical ideologically- driven media into a frenzy. For example, here is how fake news CNN reacted. Take a look at this!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS, CNN)
DON LEMON, CNN HOST: What we have witnessed is a total eclipse of the facts, someone who came out on stage and lied directly to the American people. He's unhinged. It's embarrassing.
LEMON: His speech was without thought. It was without reason. It was devoid of facts. It was devoid of wisdom. There was no gravitas. There was no sanity there.
LEMON: But he has given oxygen to racists.
LEMON: He is clearly trying to ignite a civil war in this country.
RICK WILSON, REPULICAN STRATEGIST: It was an astounding chain of lies tied together by lunatic asides by a man who obviously is mentally unstable.
ANA NAVARO, POLITICAL COMMENTAOR: That is not sane behavior! I am not a psychiatrist. I am just a regular human being who knows a lot of people and who knows the difference between right and wrong, which is more than this 71-year-old man baby seems to be able to know.
NAVARO: The only defensible excuse, the only defensible explanation is that he is not mentally well!
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
HANNITY: Actually, CNN is unhinged and embarrassing. Really, Don? Civil war? Now, the president -- he's right. The media is stirring up severe tensions in this country. And this is exactly why crowds at the Trump rally like we saw last night -- hey, Don, hey, Jeff Zucker, they were chanting at you. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AUDIENCE: CNN sucks! CNN sucks! CNN sucks! CNN sucks! CNN sucks! CNN sucks! CNN sucks! CNN sucks!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Yes, CNN sucks. You know what? Have you guys ever thought that maybe those people, maybe they're sending you a message? Hey, Jeff Zucker, CNN -- you're the head of CNN -- are you proud of the lies, the garbage that is being spewed on your network day in and day out, hour in, hour out? Because guess what, Jeff? You own this rhetoric. You own the lies that your network tells.
Now, up next is the deranged conspiracy theories-spreading fake news, leftists, ideologues over at MSNBC. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS, MSNBC)
LAWRENCE O'DONNELL, MSNBC HOST: It is a unique situation have a president go out to the American public like this on live television and lie this way.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Members publicly, privately are acknowledging that this guy is a basket case, that he cannot serve, he cannot lead the party.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He, in fact, in his heart, does stand with white supremacists.
JOE SCARBOROUGH, MSNBC HOST: It's a rhetorical disaster not only for this country, and also the political discourse, but also, even though he just will never understand it, his long-term political health.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Deeply disturbing and offensive the way he spoke of the media. But what Donald Trump speech is not deeply and disturbing and offensive?
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
HANNITY: Sadly predictable and unbelievable. Hey, Andy Lack, you're the head of NBC. You now own every one of these conspiracy theories, all the lies that are told on your network.
Up next, we have the big three broadcast networks. Let's take a look at how they handled this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, "TODAY"/NBC: Mr. Trump was unrestrained, lashing out in a tirade that started with a call for unity.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, "THIS MORNING"/CBS: I've covered a lot of President Trump's rallies, and I don't think I've ever seen him this angry.
NORAH O'DONNELL, "THIS MORNING"/CBS: What does it mean that the president is essentially committing fratricide, screaming obscenities at the Senate majority leader and then bashing two Republican senators in their own home state?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, "GMA"/ABC: Well, George, this was incitement, plain and simple.
The president said that journalists hate this country. That's what he told this crowd. This was an assault that went on and on and on. And George, I've got to tell you, this one felt different. It really feels like a matter of time, frankly, before someone gets hurt.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, "GMA"/ABC: It is just shocking that this is happening with an occupant in the White House.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
HANNITY: Now, try and put yourself in the position of the president. If you were unfairly lied about, if you were called a racist, one of the worst things you can say about somebody -- you know you're not. You have a history of not being racist. You've spoken out against racism your whole life. Wouldn't you feel a need to defend yourself, your honor, your reputation, your character, your family? Well, the destroy Trump media, they are beyond pathetic. And they deserve now every bit of criticism that they're getting from the president and rational thinking Americans.
And finally, there's President Obama's former director of national intelligence, James Clapper -- he's now pushing a new tinfoil hat black helicopter conspiracy theory about President Trump's fitness for office. Now, listen to this nonsense, and then we'll remind you about him because he's a known liar. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLISP, CNN)
JAMES CLAPPER, FORMER DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: I don't know when I've listened and watched something like this from a president that I found more disturbing.
CLAPPER: I really question his ability to -- his fitness to be in this office.
CLAPPER: Having some understanding of the levers that a president can exercise, I worry about, frankly, you know, the access to the nuclear codes.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
HANNITY: Really? Now, let me see if I remember correctly. Isn't that the same James Clapper who lied about surveillance to Congress, who originally said he saw zero evidence of so-called Trump-Russia collusion?
Well, he's since changed his tune. I don't know. I guess that's what you have to do if you want to get a job over at the fake news network, the "Clinton News Network" these days. Let's see, a liar on CNN -- sounds like a perfect match in heaven to me.
But here's the bigger point. To the leftist media, everything is President Trump's fault. You know what? He can't say or do anything in their eyes that is right.
Here's what I came to the conclusion after last night. If President Trump could actually cure cancer, make people in wheelchairs walk, give every American a million dollars, if he could prevent heart attacks or stop car accidents, well, guess what? The media still wouldn't be happy. They still wouldn't be satisfied. And by the way, if the dog bites, the bee stings and you're feeling sad, it's Donald Trump's fault in their eyes.
Now, somehow, the media thinks that President Trump -- that he wasn't supposed to respond to them calling a (sic) racist and a bigot every hour of every day. So here's a little reminder of just some of the things the media has said about the president in just the past two weeks before last night's rally, which caused the president to respond.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, CNN: Why is President Trump showing sympathy for white nationalists and other hate groups? One editorial board of a big paper this morning calling the president America's bigot-in-chief.
NICOLE WALLACE, MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST: He's now given safe harbor to Nazis, to white supremacists...
WALLACE: He's so disgraced not just the Republican Party but the country.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, MSNBC: Donald Trump, short of only maybe Woodrow Wilson and Andrew Jackson, is beating himself more than any other previous president with disgraceful racial views. That's the truth. He's not pandering to people, these are his views.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, MSNBC: I think people now realize that this strain of white nationalism in the White House is, in fact, something that is more closely associated with the president himself.
LEMON: Barack Obama was a black president. Maybe he didn't think that Barack Obama was fit to be in office. He traded on racial animus and racial BS, and he's been doing it for decades.
LEMON: Anyone who is in that White House and who is supporting him is complicit in their racism, as well.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It was disturbing, Don. You know, I think we saw the president's true colors today, and I'm not sure they were red, white and blue.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: We can truly his words have absolutely emboldened white supremacists.
VAN JONES, CNN HOST: You know, this is a -- it's a tough night, I think, for normal people. You've got a lot of people at home going through Kleenex right now.
JONES: I'm just hurt. I'm sitting here hurt. And I think a lot of people are hurt tonight.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
HANNITY: So as the president pointed out last night, when it comes to Charlottesville, condemning hatred and racism and bigotry, well, the destroy Trump media -- they have distorted and misrepresented everything that he has said.
They've also neglected to mention the many numerous times he has condemned outright the likes of David Duke, the KKK, neo-Nazis and white supremacists. So because the media refuses to report the facts and do their job, let's go through them one by one and show every example of the president doing this, highlighting all the examples.
Now, we're going to make it so simple and easy for members of the abusively biased press to follow along. We're going to do this. Listen. Hear that? OK, we'll start with the tragedy in Charlottesville.
Now, on Saturday, August the 12th, the day it happened, before a madman plowed his car into a group of people, the president tweeted out the following. "We all must be united and condemn all that hate stands for. There's no place for this kind of violence in America. Let's come together as one."
Now, then the president went on to say, "We must remember this truth. No matter our color, creed, religion or political party, we're all Americans first."
And after the protest turned deadly, President Trump immediately came out -- he condemned the hatred! Take a look yourself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Now, the media went ballistic because President Trump, he dared to tell the truth. And the video proves it. The white supremacists -- we all know this -- they deserve the blame for starting the violence. And by the way, the revulsion most people feel when they see people like that is natural and normal. And these people should be condemned in the strongest possible terms, which President Trump did.
But of course, that was not good enough for the destroy Trump media. So that Monday, President Trump -- he came out again and condemned all of these hate groups, and yes, he did it by name. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Racism is evil and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans.
(END VIDEO CLIP, AUG. 14)
HANNITY: Now, the very next day, President Trump -- he denounced again these hate groups. Take a look for yourself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS, AUG. 15)
TRUMP: We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence. It has no place in America.
TRUMP: I've condemned neo-Nazis. I've condemned many different groups.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
HANNITY: Now, for the leftist press, President Trump's remarks still -- they weren't enough. They weren't said well enough. Instead of acknowledging and accepting the numerous times that the president rightly spoke out against these despicable, disgusting white supremacists -- well, the media, they tried to use this for political purposes and bludgeon the president and all conservatives and all Republicans, just like they do every two and four years, as I have proved again and again right here on this show.
They also completely ignored the president's decades-long history of denouncing bigots, racists like David Duke, and it goes all the way back to 1991. Donald Trump -- he was on CNN's "Larry King Live." All CNN had to do was dig up the tape and show it to you and be fair and balanced and do their jobs and be diligent in their work! But of course, they won't do that.
There's also countless video examples of President Trump rebuking David Duke and these hate groups. So-called journalists -- maybe you can learn something. Pay close attention. Words matter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
CHRIS WALLACE, DEBATE MODERATOR, MARCH 3, 2016: What are your views on the Ku Klux Klan and white supremacists?
TRUMP, FEB. 26, 2016: I totally disavow the Ku Klux Klan. I totally disavow David Duke. I've been doing it now for two weeks: This is -- you're probably about the 18th person that's asked me the question.
I didn't even know he endorsed me. David Duke endorsed me? OK. All right. I disavow.
CHUCK TODD, HOST, "MEET THE PRESS"/NBC, JULY 23, 2016: David Duke announced his Senate candidacy claiming your agenda for his own, or essentially saying glad that you spoke out.
TRUMP: Are you ready before you ask the question?
TODD: Newt Gingrich said every Republican should repudiate guy --
TRUMP: And I do. Rebuked. Is that OK? Rebuked.
TODD: Rebuked?
TRUMP: Done.
TRUMP, "GMA"/ABC, MARCH 1, 2016: I've disavowed him every time I speak to somebody, virtually, and you know, they just keep it going. They keep it going.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI, MSNBC, MARCH 3, 2016: How would you characterize in more words than one David Duke?
TRUMP: David Duke is a bad person who I disavowed on numerous occasions over the years. I disavowed him. I disavowed the KKK. I just did the "Today" show, and it was the same thing. And I said, How many times do I have to disavow? Do you want me to do it again for the 12th time?
BRZEZINSKI: Well, I want to know...
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: So I disavow.
TRUMP, "FACE THE NATION"/CBS, MARCH 6, 2016: How many times do I have to reject? I reject David Duke, rejected David Duke. I've rejected the KKK, the Ku Klux Klan. From the time I'm 5 years old, I rejected them.
MATT LAUER, NBC NEWS, FEB. 2000: What do you see as the biggest problem with the Reform Party right now?
TRUMP: Well, you've got David Duke just joined, a bigot, a racist, a problem. I mean, this is not exactly the people you want in your party.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
HANNITY: That was back to 1991, the year 2000. Ask yourself this question tonight. Why does the media refuse to show you all the examples of the president repudiating vile, divisive people, white supremacists and other racist groups?
The answer is simple. They are agenda-driven. They are radical left-wing ideologues. They are hell bent on destroying this presidency, the presidency of Donald Trump. Now, we saw it way back during the campaign. Remember? Just about every major media news outlet except the Fox News Channel was caught red-handed! What were they doing? Colluding with the Clinton campaign.
And we've also seen it with the media, their nonstop tinfoil hat black helicopter conspiracy theories, consistently negative coverage of this president. He can do nothing right in their eyes.
You may remember this Harvard study. It shows over 90 percent of the "Clinton News Network," fake news, NBC, CBS, their coverage of the president was negative. The media cannot handle the fact that they are now being exposed, as they were last night, as agenda-driven and fake news. They think they can lie. They think they can call conservatives, Republicans and the president racists, bigots, homophobes, Islamophobes, sexist, xenophobic, Islamophobic. They think they can push conspiracy theories about Russian collusion for months on end with no concrete evidence and not be called out and not be exposed?
Well, tonight, the media's credibility is now gone. They are nothing but propaganda outlets for leftist ideology. They are all basically a bunch of sheep who echo each other. They got their own little echo chamber. They feign moral outrage every chance they can get. They create fake crisis, fake crisis after fake crisis using fake news, and of course, sources that are not identified, anonymous sources.
It's gone from Russia, Russia, Russia to President Trump going to launch a nuclear war with North Korea to, oh, my gosh, racist, racist, racist. Now they've all been exposed.
And here's the saddest part of all of this. They do not care about the forgotten men and women in this country who are desperately needing solutions, that voted for this president. This is a duly elected president that they want to push out of office. They are not trying to help solve this country's problems, to help the millions of Americans suffering. They don't tell the truth about what's really going on in America.
Now, besides this show, how often do you hear about 50 million Americans in poverty, 50 million Americans on food stamps -- by the way, 13 million more Americans on food stamps after Obama, 8 million more in poverty after Obama, 95 million Americans out of the labor force. Did they mention a million new jobs since Donald Trump's been elected president? They had the lowest labor participation rate since the 1970s.
Now we have the best labor participation rate in years. We had the worst economic recovery since the '40s, the lowest home ownership rate in 51 years. That's all after Obama. The media never told you the truth about that. They don't give a rip, obviously.
The president was right. Do they want to make America great again? Do they ever talk about solutions, helping the American people, answers to our problems? They ever care about the people that voted for the president that want to drain the swamp and sewer? There's not only D.C., but it's also the media. Do they want real change that'll impact people's lives in a positive way?
So as the president said last night, they obviously don't care about making America great again. They never talk about solutions. Instead, they tear down, they delegitimize and they want to destroy the president you voted for. Why? They don't want to help the American people after decades and decades of neglect from out-of-touch, power-hungry politicians in Washington? That's who they are?
Well, they're getting worse every day and I don't think it's going to get better. But here's what we will do. We will continue to expose them and their agenda every night right here on this program. And we do thank you for being with us.
When we come back, Herman Cain reacts to my opening monologue. That's next.
Also tonight, last night the president hinted he may pardon former sheriff Joe Arpaio. He joins us here, talk about that and more straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The media can attack me, but where I draw the line is when they attack you, which is what they do, when they attack the decency of our supporters.
It's time to expose the crooked media deceptions and to challenge the media for their role in formenting (sic) divisions. These are truly dishonest people. Not all of them. Not all of them. You have some very good reporters. You have some very fair journalist. But for the most part, honestly, these are really, really dishonest people. And they're bad people. And I really think they don't like our country. I really believe that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: That was more of the president fighting back against the mainstream leftist ideological media last night. And as we laid out in my opening monologue, so-called journalists, commentators from the destroy Trump media, didn't exactly like those remarks and take them in stride. And by the way, they have been in full freakout mode for nearly 24 hours.
Here are some more of the lowlights from the media's post-rally coverage. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was a Castro-esque speech in length. This is a man who is not well. He alternated between being a whiny 6-year-old who's had his Nintendo taken away and between being the cranky old man who's out there condemning everyone who doesn't worship him adequately.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump has been unhinged since he came onto the political scene. This is nothing new.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was watching the speech, and it reminds me of a guy in a bar complaining about his ex-wife.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who are these people that act like they're cheering on a pep rally at a high school basketball game when he's saying some deeply, deeply offensive things about this country?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Here now with reaction, former presidential candidate, FOX News contributor -- Herman Cain is with us.
You know, Herman, I think you can identify this. We've been friends for many years. You had a pretty good campaign running, and I think I remember you being right up there at the top of the polls, Herman Cain. And all of a sudden, the attacks came, vicious attacks, things I know to be lies. The minute you got out of the race, that was it. We never heard a word again. It all went away. All you had to do was get out of the way.
HERMAN CAIN, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: They achieved their objective. The montage of reactions that you have shown, I commend your staff for putting it all together. I don't have time to look at all those different sources.
I've got two words for what you have just shown about the liberal mainstream media -- disgusting lies. They didn't make Russia, Russia, Russia stick, as you pointed out. They are trying to make racist, racist, racist stick. That's not working out too well. And now with the lead of James Clapper, they are trying to make incompetence stick. It's not working.
Here is the light at the end of the tunnel, Sean. I started to call you Shane! Remember that's my producer, OK?
Here's the light at the end of the tunnel, and it's not a train. The American people are not stupid. They are waking up to the deception and to the lies that the liberal media is trying to convince them of relative to this president. The American people -- they're waking up, and they realize that the liberal media has a severe case of Trump derangement syndrome, TDS.
HANNITY: You're right about all of this. You know, Herman, if I was called a racist and lied about -- and you lived through this, and I remember you living through this like it was yesterday. I remember talking to you during all of that at the time. And I'm going to tell you something -- because I don't think there's anything worse you can say, murderer, racist. I mean, nobody wants to be a racist because it's so repugnant.
And if I was being attacked and that narrative was going on hour after hour after hour in every newspaper in the country, every news outlet, I'd be pretty pissed and I'd fight back for my name, my character, my honor and my family. And I know you would, too.
CAIN: Absolutely, and I did that up until a point. When he got to the point that the liberal media started to say things on all outlets, no matter what the format, and it started to get back to my grandchildren and they started to ask questions about this, that's when I had to make a very difficult decision. And that was, it's not worth sacrificing pain on my family, my grandchildren because they were determined to bring me down. And that's why they pulled out all the stops and showed that it's a blood sport. That's what they're trying to do to Donald Trump, but it is not working. He is a fighter. He is not going to be --
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: He also can fight back. He...
CAIN: Yes.
HANNITY: You know, you were starting a campaign. You were doing very well. It becomes expensive to defend yourself, doesn't it.
CAIN: Absolutely. Donald Trump called me before he declared that he was going to run for president, and I respect that. He asked me what advice would I give him. I only gave him one piece of advice. Be prepared for multiple lawsuits. And I said, Donald, you can afford them. I couldn't.
And at this particular point, he has pushed back on some of the lawsuits because of they know that he has the money to fight them back, but he is also enduring the lies, the attacks, as you have pointed out, which are clear to the American people. And that's the light at the end of the tunnel.
HANNITY: You know, Herman...
CAIN: The American people are not stupid.
HANNITY: This is important. I've known you many, many years. And they did lie about you.
CAIN: Thank you.
HANNITY: And it's interesting. As soon as you left, never heard the end of it. Lie -- outright lies about you. Thank you, my friend. Appreciate it, Very good perspective, very important analysis.
CAIN: Thank you.
HANNITY: When we come back, ESPN -- this is the most bizarre story. They pull a broadcaster from covering a game because his name is Robert Lee. You can't make this up! Larry Elder, Geraldo Rivera -- they weigh in.
Also tonight, the president hinted he may pardon Joe Arpaio. He is here. We'll talk to him later, also.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JACKIE IBANEZ, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, and live from America's news headquarters, I am Jackie Ibanez in New York.
ESPN's president releasing a statement about the decision to remove announcer Robert Lee from the opening game for the University of Virginia. John Skipper saying there was never any concern Robert Lee's name would offend anyone watching the Charlottesville game. But there is concern his assignment might create distraction or expose him to social heckling. Skipper also says that they approached the Lee personally and he opted to announce the Youngstown State-Pittsburgh game instead.
Meanwhile, investigators now saying there is no link between a van detained in the Netherlands and the terror attacks in Spain last week. The van had Spain license plates. Investigators searched the van and questioned the driver and found no link to a terror cell believed to have carried out the attacks in and near Barcelona.
I am Jackie Ibanez. Now back to "Hannity." For all of your headlines, log on to FoxNews.com
HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity." ESPN, they have now succumbed to political correctness in the most insane and ridiculous way. They pulled a broadcaster from announcing University of Virginia football game because his name is Robert Lee. ESPN explained their insane decision in a statement saying, quote "We collectively made the decision with Robert to switch games as the tragic events in Charlottesville were unfolding simply because of the coincidence of his name. In that moment it felt right to all the parties. It's a shame that this is even a topic of conversation and we regret that who calls play-by-play for a football game has become an issue." Maybe you shouldn't have made it one.
Joining us now with reaction, Salem nationally syndicated radio talk show host Larry Elder, Fox News correspondent at large Geraldo Rivera. I don't even know where to begin.
(LAUGHTER)
HANNITY: I laughed so uncontrollably on the radio, Larry, today. This poor guy. He is a great broadcaster. He is a great broadcaster. His name is Robert Lee. He happens to be Asian-American. He's an amazing broadcaster. You can't make this up it's so stupid.
LARRY ELDER, SALEM RADIO NATIONAL SYNDICATED HOST: When I first thought saw this article, I thought I was being punk. I thought it was from "The Onion." How stupid do they thing we are? Do they think Robert E. Lee rose from the dead and decided to pack it all in and become a sports announcer? Scotty, beam me up.
HANNITY: Beam me up. Geraldo, it's not even worth commenting on. But Geraldo, we had the best back-and-forth in texts last night. And I said to you if I ever dare called Geraldo Rivera a racist, and you are not -- your response -- you would be apoplectic. We are both street fighters, and Larry is too. We just are. We all fight. You would go insane and you would fight back, just like the president did last night, Geraldo. That's how you would be, on steroids.
GERALDO RIVERA, FOX NEWS SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: I have to say, Sean, I was very proud to hear him give you that big shout out. It confirmed my thesis that you are the second most powerful person in the country.
Listen, what Larry suggests, the overreaction of ESPN is absolutely spot on. There is such a political correctness that has gripped the entire commentariat that you venture out at your peril. And President Trump certainly discovered that in his response to Charlottesville.
I thought that the president, Sean, was renewed yesterday. Last night he was energetic. He was confident. It looked like he was having a lot of fun for someone who is as embattled as he is reportedly right now. But I also thought -- and hearing the ESPN reaction, I think that the president's bashing of CNN and the rest of the media went too far. It became a distraction.
HANNITY: Geraldo, let me interrupt you as a friend. Geraldo, if CNN and the media called you a racist, said things about collusion with Russia that we have no evidence for or aren't true, if they every single day were trying to take you down, questioning your sanity the way CNN is, et cetera, you would go apoplectic. And the president has a right to defend his honor, his character, his good name and reputation.
RIVERA: He does, but one thing about street fighters, you know when you have won. If you are in a fight, bam, bam, bam, and now the guys is like this, and you can't keep bamming him because then you become the bad guy. You become the bully.
HANNITY: He had to fight back.
RIVERA: Sure, he had to fight back. But at a certain point, when you question, for example, the patriotism of your media opponent, then you're going to the same turf that they are going to.
HANNITY: Do they ever talk about solutions? Do they ever talk about fixing the country, helping people in poverty, on food stamps, out of work? Never. Larry, go ahead.
ELDER: Sean, we started out by talking about political correctness. What's the over/under on when Donald Trump is going to be accused of size- ism for saying "little George Stephanopoulos"?
HANNITY: All right, guys, when we come back, the president last night hinted, yes, Joe Arpaio, the sheriff might get pardoned. Will it happen? What does Joe Arpaio think about that and his remarks? He's next, straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: By the way, I am just curious, do the people in this room like Sheriff Joe?
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Was Sheriff Joe convicted for doing his job?
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: He should have had a jury, but do you know what? I will make a prediction. I think he's going to be just fine, OK?
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: But I won't do it tonight because I don't want to cause any controversy. Is that OK? All right? But Sheriff Joe can feel good.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: That was President Trump last night at his rally in Arizona hinting he may in fact pardon former sheriff, Joe Arpaio. Joining us now to react, the man himself, the man the president was talking about, former Maricopa County Sheriff, Arizona sheriff, Joe Arpaio. Joe, what did you think of the president's comments?
JOE ARPAIO, FORMER MARICOPA COUNTY, ARIZONA, SHERIFF: I was humbled. It was great. But that's him. Everybody said he would never talk about it that night, but I know him. My gut and my heart told me he would talk about it and he did. So I have to thank him. I have to thank FOX, a great journalist who broke the story about 12 days ago.
HANNITY: Gregg Jarrett broke it. And I just think the president probably wanted to do it in his time and his way. Maybe there's a review going on. But at the end of the day, you enforce laws that are on the books, did you not? And were you not ordered not to enforce the law of the land?
ARPAIO: I was enforcing the law. This goes back to the former president and Eric Holder. Sixty days after they took office, they launched this investigation. And here it is. When I was running for office, contempt of court, misdemeanor, and they did it politically.
So after this is over, Sean, at the appropriate time I am going to go public and talk about the abuse of the political and justice system. People have to know the true story. If they can go after me, they can go after anyone in this country. So I will go public and try to let the people know.
HANNITY: Sheriff, explain specifically what happened in the case. You didn't have a jury of your peers. Explain the court side of this.
ARPAIO: I don't want to get too much into legal, but during a civil case, the judge, and I'm not going to go into all of his bias, believe me, but it will come out again. It's been public, nobody will print it. But he pushed us over to another judge for contempt of court. And they charged me with the wrong charge. No jury. I can go on and on.
So once again, the truth will come out, and I am still concerned about the people of this country. If they can do this to me after 55 years in law enforcement, two parking tickets in my life, and I have to sit in a defense table over this contempt of court. So we will see what happens.
HANNITY: And Hillary goes free. And the unmaskers go free, and those that leak intelligence go free. And Uranium One deal goes free. And you never hear about Ukrainian interference in the election. We do have a dual justice system set but we don't have equal justice under the law. Sheriff, I was glad to hear the president's remarks last night. Certainly it's reassuring. Thank you for being with us. We all always wish you the best of luck. Thanks for being with us.
ARPAIO: Thank you, Sean.
HANNITY: And coming up, excerpts of Hillary Clinton's audiobook, it's been released, and she's calling president Trump a creep. Why? Because he stood too close to her during the second presidential debate. This from the woman that's married to Bill and takes money from countries like Saudi Arabia? Gregg Jarrett and Monica Crowley are here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity." Now, I know you have all been waiting for this, excerpts of Hillary Clinton's brand-new audiobook have finally been released. And in one clip Clinton describes the second presidential debate when then candidate Donald Trump got in her space. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, D-FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No matter where I walked, he followed me closely, staring at me, making faces. It was incredibly uncomfortable. He was literally breathing down my neck. My skin crawled. What would you do? Do you stay calm, keep smiling and carry on as if you weren't repeatedly invading your space? Or do you turn, look him in the eye, and say loudly and clearly "Back up, you creep. Get away from me."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Oh, my gosh, invaded the space. He was staring at her and everything. And it made her skin crawl. That says a lot coming from the wife of Bill Clinton. And plus as you can see here, just as a reminder, Trump was keeping a pretty big distance away from Clinton during that second debate. And he certainly was not breathing down her neck.
Here with reaction, Fox News anchor, attorney Gregg Jarrett, conservative commentator Monica Crowley. You know, here's what I remember. I think Bill Clinton was pretty creepy, Monica. I have the names Paula Jones, exposed himself, Kathleen Willey, we know that case. Juanita Broaddrick, we know that case, Monica Lewinsky. That was pretty creepy. And I'll tell you what else is creepy. All the money he took from countries that abuse women, that woman are told how to dress, they can't drive, they can't leave the country or even the house in Saudi Arabia. Never criticize them. They kill gays and lesbians and persecute Christians and Jews. That's pretty creepy. So I really, are we going to go down this road?
MONICA CROWLEY, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Apparently we are, Sean, because she's got a memoir coming out next month. Mrs. Clinton did not lose this election because she thought Donald Trump was a creeper in that debate. She lost it because she had an issues problem, big problems with her campaign, a communications problem, a likability problem, and most of all, a corruption problem. So she might still want to live in the field of denial right now. It's not going to help her party because her party also remains in denial. But for Mrs. Clinton making this argument now I think is pretty outrageous, but she doesn't have anything else.
HANNITY: Gregg, there's too much hypocrisy here to really take that seriously. But the media, I was watching one network today, and they were treating this like gospel truth. Wow.
GREGG JARRETT, FOX NEWS ANCHOR AND ATTORNEY: I looked at the tape today, an agonizing couple of hours. Never once was he in her space or stalking her or breathing down her neck. The only time they were close is when she literally walked in front of him to his side of the stage. This is all her paranoid imagining.
And my question is, when she looks in the mirror, doesn't she want to crawl out of her own skin? Doesn't she despise herself for all of the self-made scandals that were totally unnecessary? Doesn't she see in the mirror a crook staring back at her, because that is what sunk her campaign?
HANNITY: And the hypocrisy is breathtaking, Monica.
CROWLEY: Yes, but Mrs. Clinton has never been known not to be hypocritical, which is another reason why she lost this election. Look, she's going to try to make every argument she can to save face because to lose the presidential election is pretty dramatic, staggering, and traumatic for any candidate. But to lose to somebody like Donald Trump who has never done this before and is considered essentially the anti-Christ, particularly to those in her party and on the left, this is so horrifying and humiliating to her that she's going to throw everything up against the wall in terms of excuses, Sean, and hope that something sticks.
JARRETT: She's already done that, Sean. I have a list now of 24 excuses, people and things she has blamed in her two public appearances that I've looked at in April and May.
HANNITY: Twenty-four?
(LAUGHTER)
JARRETT: Sexism, the media, Russia, Comey, racism, xenophobia, DNC, Obama, misogyny, it goes on and on. And never once does she take responsibility for all of her self-made scandals and all of the bad decisions she made as a rather miserable candidate.
HANNITY: OK, guys, good to see you both.
When we come back, more "Hannity" after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity." Unfortunately, that is all the time we have left this evening. As always we thank you for being with us. We hope you will set your DVR, never miss an episode. Our promise to you is we're never going to be like the rest of those guys, always fair and balanced.
Thanks for being with us. We'll see you back here tomorrow night.
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