This is a rush transcript from "Tucker Carlson Tonight," July 17, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
LISA BOOTHE, FOX NEWS HOST: Good evening and welcome to TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT. I'm Lisa Boothe filling in for Tucker.
In just a few minutes, Mark Steyn will be reemerging, and Tucker is back to join him.
But first, mayhem has gripped the City of Portland, Oregon, take a look.
[VIDEO CLIP PLAYS]
BOOTHE: Portland has now experienced 50 straight days of leftwing violence. Last night, a violent mob attempted to overrun a police station and burn it to the ground.
They've toppled statues, destroyed property and attacked the police. Here's one report from earlier this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): According to police, not only did protesters take over the streets, but some lobbed paint, rocks, bottles and more at them last night.
Portland Police say one officer was hurt slightly when a brick was thrown at him.
Police say protesters also interfered with an arrest and pointed lasers at their eyes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOOTHE: Portland's leaders have failed to rein in the violence. It's not clear they're even trying. Instead, they're casting blame on the Federal law enforcement officers trying to restore order.
Here's Portland's Mayor Ted Wheeler.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR TED WHEELER (D-OR), PORTLAND: What I have a problem with is them leaving the facilities, going out onto the streets of this community in an escalating an already tense situation like they did the other night.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOOTHE: Got that? Law enforcement is responsible for the violence. The looting, the arson, the graffiti is their fault, not the mobs.
Portland's mayor is telling you the exact opposite of the truth. Here's how one Portland police officer described the mob.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It says something when you're at a Black Lives Matter protest, you have more minorities on the police side than you have in a violent crowd. And you have white people screaming at black officers. You have the biggest nose I've ever seen.
Having people tell you, you know, what to do with your life, that you need to quit your job, that you need to -- you know, you're hurting your community, but they're not a part of the community, and once again, you as a privileged white person telling someone of color what to do with your life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOOTHE: Jason Rantz is a Seattle based radio show who has been following the madness in Portland, Oregon. He joins us now.
Jason, what in the world is going on in Portland, Oregon? Walk us through what you've been seeing.
JASON RANTZ, SEATTLE RADIO SHOW HOST: Yes, so what we're seeing is what it seems like, total lawlessness because local leaders don't want to get involved in Antifa violence.
There is this movement who try to pretend that this is a Black Lives Matter protest, that these are all innocent people who are being violated. Their rights are being violated by the Trump administration, and D.H.S., and that's obviously not what's going on.
What we're seeing here is escalating violence every single night, and finally, the Federal government said, look, we can't let a city get this out of control. If you want to go after downtown Portland. Okay. That's up to you guys there. But you're not going after Federal facilities, Federal buildings.
Last night, 21 individuals were arrested. Some of the things, not just throwing bricks, but throwing water bottles at officers that are frozen, so their intent is to do harm and what we're seeing online is this strategy on Twitter with the Antifa videos that are basically serving as propaganda that Senator Merkley is sending around.
Where you get a little bit of an interaction with an officer or a Federal agent making an arrest, you get no context. And then all of a sudden the ACLU is saying, we've got these Gestapo-like tactics. We have people who are just being whisked away in the dead of night, when that's not happening at all.
I mean, part of the reason why we're seeing some of the video of the unmarked cars, is when you've got marked vehicles, when you've got Portland Police trying to make arrests, they face assault.
And so you quickly go in there, you get rid of the people who are either committing acts of violence or accused, you make the arrest, you book them, and then they're released.
You're doing this in a way that basically makes it so that there's not going to be violence.
BOOTHE: So, you know, what's all this about? Because we've heard from the Portland police officer earlier who said that he has seen black police officers face racism for the people there who are claiming that they're fighting for black lives. You know, so what's really going on in the country? What's behind all of this?
RANTZ: What's behind specifically in Portland is an ideological agenda to push socialist viewpoints and far fringe progressive viewpoints. This has nothing to do with Black Lives Matter.
You've got a bunch of privileged white kids who are shouting racist remarks at black officers and committing acts of violence without getting in real trouble.
I mean, if you want to talk about white privilege, that seems like white privilege. There is an end goal of getting rid of policing as we know it. They want to break down institutions, whether it's policing or the justice system or just capitalism, and they want to rebuild these institutions in their own ideological image.
And of course, you have to do that when -- to get to that point, you get to be a little bit violent. You have to intimidate. This is a domestic terroristic act. To use your ideology, to try to frighten people, to bully people using violence to get to your means and I'm glad finally President Trump is stepping up here and sending in the Federal government.
BOOTHE: Is it working?
RANTZ: It's working. Look at this point. It's become a little bit political, right? I mean, the President is showing he is the law and order President. He's going up against Joe Biden, who he is painting as quite the opposite.
The Democrats are now using this as an excuse not to go after the Antifa activists. Instead, they're saying, this is Portland versus Trump or Seattle versus Trump, New York versus Trump. That gets them a little bit of coverage so they don't actually have to go after, frankly, their base of support on the ground who is responsible for all of this.
BOOTHE: Jason, thanks for joining us. I appreciate it.
RANTZ: Thank you so much.
BOOTHE: Portland isn't the only city falling apart. Police in Minneapolis say the Black Lives Matter protests have ironically, made many black neighborhoods much more dangerous.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OFFICER RICH WALKER, MINNESOTA PUBLIC AND POLICE OFFICERS ASSOCIATES: We've had close to 20 homicides in the City of Minneapolis since Memorial Day. We've had upwards of 140 people shot in our city since Memorial Day, including a murder that just happened yesterday.
We're averaging two to three shootings a day and that's -- and that message is not out there. That message is that crime is rampant in Minneapolis right now. It is lawlessness over there and the criminals are emboldened right now to do whatever they want to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOOTHE: Things are even worse in Chicago. So far this month, 54 people are dead and nearly 250 wounded in shootings citywide.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot doesn't care though. She has decided to role play as the sidekick to a fictional cowboy. I wish I was joking, but I'm not. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR LORI LIGHTFOOT (D), CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: When I was a kid, I loved the "Batman" TV show, and when the City of Gotham had a real difficult challenge, one of the things that the mayor there did is he called out and he sent out the distress signal to Batman.
So we are doing something similar for the census, and I'm happy to report I'm calling out the Census Cowboy. That means you've got to step up and do your part and make sure that you fill out the census.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOOTHE: This is real. But no matter how successful Census Cowboy is, he's not likely to change the dire situation that is going on in Chicago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I've listed for you the names of these kids who have died across this country. It is unacceptable, and under this President, he'll take action and the derelict Mayor of Chicago should step up and ask for Federal help because she's doing a very poor job at securing her streets.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOOTHE: Lori Lightfoot didn't appreciate that criticism. She lashed back at the White House by referring to Kayleigh McEnany as Karen, one of the few racial epithets the left doesn't get offended by.
Professor Jason Hill teaches Philosophy at DePaul University in Chicago. He's also the author of the book, "We Have Overcome" and joins us now. So, Professor, why did the mayor call Kayleigh a Karen? What's behind that?
JASON HILL, PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY, DEPAUL UNIVERSITY: I think it's just the deflection of a really hurt dereliction of duty and the dereliction of the duty of the Governor of Illinois.
Look, if one could really ostensibly point to dereliction of duty, I think the governance of Illinois in the State of Chicago should be in that space.
You know, I speak not as a Republican but as an Independent conservative. And two years ago, Lisa, I wrote a letter to the President asking him to send National Troops into Chicago to quell the gang violence. That was two years ago, because at that time, the crime rate was 35 percent above the national average. Right?
It is disgraceful. Innocent children, women, men, good people of Chicago are being killed. We have ferality of these gang members, sociopaths that are being unleashed and I think she made that statement to deflect from the way in which she and the governor and other political actors in the state are guilty of dereliction of duty.
And to put the tones of responsibility --
BOOTHE: Can you get and tell us a little bit more -- talk about that dereliction of duty?
HILL: Can I what?
BOOTHE: Can you talk a little bit more about the dereliction of duty?
HILL: This is an ongoing problem. This predated, you know, the murder of George Floyd which was a horrible thing, which everybody agrees was a tragedy and horrible.
This has been going -- I've been teaching at DePaul for 20 years. I moved to Chicago 20 years ago, and this has been an ongoing problem.
When I moved here, it was a huge problem. Policemen first of all are underpaid. Right? They are overworked. There is no incentive. They're not incentivized by the mayor or any of the political actors in this state to make any sort of friendly intrusions or excursions or alliances or community building with members of the Southside of Chicago where these crimes are predominantly occurring.
They have a very, very bad name, which is not helped by the governance structures of this city that aid and abet in bad naming the police officer of Chicago.
And rather than help foster healthy alliances between local police, criminal and law enforcement, and citizens, law-abiding citizens in these neighborhoods where the crimes are occurring, dissent is being fostered, I think. That's just one form of dereliction of duty.
BOOTHE: Continue.
HILL: Go ahead. No, you go ahead.
BOOTHE: Okay. Well, so we hear -- you know, we're hearing these calls in cities across the country to defund the police, to decrease the police presence, but if you look at statistics, isn't it black lives who are going to be further harmed and in danger as a result of a decreased police presence?
HILL: Absolutely. I wrote in my book, there's a whole chapter where I took Black Lives Matter to case and said, turn your signs inward towards the black community, and ask yourselves when you say Black Lives Matter, who is doing the killing of these black people?
It's not white suburban citizens. It's not mainly police officers who are killing these black kids. It's gang bangers, right?
It's these feral thugs who are sociopathic killers, who are making communities absolutely obsolete. Right? They're destroying communities and they are -- they are good people. Most of these people who live in these communities are hardworking good people.
I teach some of these kids who cannot cross gang lines into our community, to come to school.
BOOTHE: Professor, thank you so much.
HILL: Yes, I think the whole thing is tragic.
BOOTHE: I do too, sir. I really do. Thank you so much for joining us tonight. We really appreciate your insight. Thank you.
HILL: Thank you.
BOOTHE: Thank you. So there are also new questions over whether Florida counties are correctly tabulating coronavirus deaths.
Fox 35 Orlando reporter, Danielle Lama has this story -- Danielle.
DANIELLE LAMA, FOX 35 REPORTER: Well, hey there, Lisa. Yes, this is coming up because we were speaking with the Orange County Health Officer yesterday about some of the numbers regarding coronavirus deaths and we had noticed that two people in their 20s had died from COVID, and so we asked him if there were any underlying conditions involved.
And one of the answers really surprised us. He told us that one person actually died in a motorcycle accident and he told us that that had gone into the COVID numbers and he had asked the state to remove that number and when asked if it had actually been removed or cleared from that data, he said he didn't think so, he wasn't sure. But he was going to double check on that.
And so that's when we started asking questions here.
BOOTHE: And what exactly did you do? Can you just elaborate a little bit more on what you found and what questions you asked?
LAMA: Right. So we were told that it was a man in his 20s, who did test positive for coronavirus, but had died because he was in a motorcycle accident. And so then today, we've been trying to follow up on this to figure out if this is still currently in the state data.
And so the Orange County Health Officers, his office is telling that they are still working to try and confirm that to see if that death was cleared from the system. We also reached out to the medical examiner here in Orange County because those folks have to certify the COVID deaths.
And he told us that that death would not be qualified as a coronavirus death. His exact quote was, "We only ascribe COVID deaths if COVID is the cause of death or contributed to the cause of death," and we also have of course reached out to the State Department of Health. They tell us that their health department's COVID-19 death is determined if COVID-19 is listed as the immediate or underlying cause of death or listed as one of the significant conditions contributing to the death.
So, of course, a lot of questions about how a motorcycle accident may have ended up in that state data, and you know, a lot is riding on these numbers. And people want to make sure that these are accurate. There are big decisions, schools, governments making decisions, looking at the data. So that's why we're asking these questions when we hear something like this.
BOOTHE: Oh, you're 100 percent -- I mean, we're making public health decisions. We're making decisions that have economic consequences as well, mental health consequences. So Danielle, stay on it. We appreciate your reporting.
LAMA: Thank you.
BOOTHE: Thank you. So how concerned should we be about the miscounts in Florida? The one and only Dr. Marc Siegel is here and that's next.
Also Mark Steyn returns to primetime as this live special edition of TUCKER CARLSON continues. Stay with us.
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BOOTHE: Florida is apparently one of the epicenters of the coronavirus pandemic, but are the numbers accurate? Dr. Marc Siegel is a Fox News medical contributor, and he joins us. Hi, Doctor. So, Doctor, we're seeing these --
DR. MARC SIEGEL, FOX NEWS MEDICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Lisa, how are you? Listen, the numbers are --
BOOTHE: Yes, tell me about the numbers. Do they concern you? These inaccuracies?
SIEGEL: Well, the numbers are not accurate, Lisa because we're seeing inflated numbers. We're seeing counties that are reporting 100 percent positive. I spoke to Assistant Secretary of H.H.S. -- Health and Human Services Admiral Giroir about that this week. He acknowledges the problem. He says Health and Human Services is trying to correct it.
There's also people listed as COVID deaths that died from something else. There's a mistake going on there. So all of that is true, but I still am very concerned about the overall trend in Florida. That's clearly a problem.
I spoke to Senior Associate Dean of the University of South Florida, Dr. Jay Wolfson tonight and he said to me, look, the ICUs in Tampa are filling up; in Miami, they are filling up; in Fort Lauderdale they are filling up. In the major cities, a lot of it are non-COVID cases, but now the state is shutting down.
A lot of the elective surgeries -- so-called elective surgeries, a lot of the heart disease surgeries, a lot of the cancer surgeries, hernia surgeries, just as we saw in New York. And there's a lot of concern about that problem.
And you know what at the heart of the problem is? Dr. Wolfson told me that the State Health Department has showed a decrease in funding of over 25 percent over the last 15 years. This, Lisa, is what Governor DeSantis inherited. No epidemic preparedness. No pandemic preparedness of any nature at a high level.
The state wasn't ready for this and they're not ready for it now. Scrambling, trying to handle the problem, dealing with overinflated cases, dealing with deaths wrongly stated as COVID-19.
The solution to all of this even with a diminished funding is coming together behind the science instead of the bureaucracy, Lisa. We've got to get rid of all this bureaucracy. That's for sure.
BOOTHE: Well, and I also think people should be reporting on the facts, not fear, which unfortunately, I don't think we've seen from many in the media.
But Doctor, we appreciate you because you focus on the facts and not the fear. So thank you, sir. We appreciate you joining us tonight.
SIEGEL: Thank you, Lisa.
BOOTHE: Thank you. So across the country, in California, Governor Gavin Newsom has ordered his constituents to follow a second wave of mandatory shutdowns. Not everyone is happy about it though.
Gym owner, Mike Ends is refusing to shut down. Now, he is paying a price for it. He joins us. Mike, so how are you doing with all of this?
MIKE ENDS, GYM OWNER DEFYING SHUTDOWN ORDER: It's really tough right now. I'm currently building a new location across the street and I'm supposed to open in 10 days and I spent the last three and a half to four years building this from the ground up.
BOOTHE: So do you think -- I mean, look when we see the coverage of the coronavirus, obviously, the focus is on the health aspect of it, which is, of course, incredibly important.
But we don't really hear about the stories of people like you and business owners across the country that are suffering. Why don't we hear as much about it?
ENDS: You know, because then you're going to have to face the facts. There's -- you know, it's crazy that they leave liquor stores and they leave you know, marijuana dispensaries open, but then, you can't go to church so you can't be spiritually healthy. You can't be physically healthy. You can't be mentally healthy. But you can go get drunk and smoke weed.
BOOTHE: So, does that tell you a lot about the Governor's priorities?
ENDS: It tells me everything I need to know about the guy. You know, he picks and chooses winners and losers and that's not what governors do.
BOOTHE: So what's been the impact to you, personally, as a business owner? I thought or I saw you or heard you recently say that it almost crippled you and your business.
ENDS: It has crippled me. You know, I have a $12 million dollar investment that I'm supposed to open in in 10 days and I shut down for three months. I followed the orders. I did everything he asked me to do and then he let looters and people raid the streets and destroy our country and then all he did was he asked them to not do that, but then he mandates small businesses to shut down and stop feeding our families and stop providing for children and you know shut down schools.
BOOTHE: Do you have hope for the future?
ENDS: I do. I feel like, you know, America is going to stand up and fight back. I think we're at the end of listening to all this nonsense.
BOOTHE: Mike, thank you so much and we're praying for you. I know it's been a tough time. Thank you for joining us tonight.
ENDS: Okay. Yes, thank you.
BOOTHE: Thank you. So the man, the myth, the legend. It's almost time for Mark Steyn. The best moments of Mark and Tucker going at it. That's up after the break. You're not going to want to miss it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOOTHE: So 2020 has so far been a dramatic and absolutely absurd and tumultuous year with a presidential election right around the corner, it's likely that things aren't going to calm down anytime soon.
But one constant force amid all the tumult is bestselling author, Mark Steyn. Here are some of his best moments discussing the 2020 candidates with Tucker.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK STEYN, AUTHOR AND COLUMNIST: This is Biden at top form where he does this vivid, coherent, brilliant narrative in which not a single detail is correct. So, he just stands up and he goes, you know, it's 20 minutes before dawn on D-Day and this nine-star general says to me, Mr. President, it's too dangerous for you to go in there, but I say the Minutemen are taking me on the Bengal lancers, so I flew in on a glider from Diego Garcia and we came under heavy fire from a group of whirling dervishes holed up in Brigitte Bardot's apartment outside Euro Disney.
And I said to them, I'm the first Biden in a thousand years to go to college. So, I know what it's like to be the best of the best.
This was classic Joe Biden. He is back. His mojo has returned. His mojo knows what state it's in.
TEXT: On Bloomberg blowing the debate.
STEYN: You have to hand it to the Cherokee dominatrix. She is not going to be the candidate, but she actually uttered that phrase you just played horse-face lesbians, which I believe has not been used in any presidential debate, since I believe Benjamin Harrison and Grover Cleveland.
But to flay him for calling women horse face lesbians and he just stood there, looking rather horse-faced himself unable to respond to it. And then she starts -- then she starts going on about non-disclosure agreements.
He won't disclose how many non-disclosure agreements he signed and eventually, it's such a lively debate that miracle of miracles, Joe Biden wakes up and he starts having a swig. God, like come on, man. God love you man. NDA, man. I played for the NBA years ago. My son owns an NBA franchise the Chinese General gave him.
TEXT: On Biden's forgetfulness.
TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS HOST: Author and columnist Mike Steyn joins us today. Mike, thanks so much for coming on. Mark, Mark.
STEYN: Hey, my pleasure. Thanks, Martha. Always a pleasure.
Yes, I believe we have breaking news. He has just been endorsed by Mao Zedong and, yes, Mad King Ludvig of Bavaria, so he's looking in pretty good shape for Super Tuesday.
TEXT: On the Buttigieg campaign.
STEYN: Well, I quite like the fact that he's bought -- the only other guy with this name that I've ever run across was from Malta. So I quite like the idea of a Maltese-American President, but the Maltese-American parade down Fifth Avenue on Maltese-American day is actually one of the smallest I've been to in all of these parades.
And I do believe that Hillary Clinton --
CARLSON: It's a single Chevy.
STEYN: Yes, and Hillary is blaming her defeat on Maltese content farmers when she's had a couple of drinks and can't remember Macedonia.
TEXT: On young Bernie supporters.
STEYN: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is right that Bernie supporters think that their parents and grandparents are fascists, racists, homophobes, islamophobes, thisaphobes, thataphobes and their parents just think the kids are stupid.
But they can be stupid in a mildly diverting way and if it's a choice between, you know, sleeping off Christmas dinner over "The Price Is Right" or listening to your kid say that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez talks a lot of sense about how fascist America is and my God, we'd be more like Venezuela where they're so environmentally enlightened, they've abolish toilet paper.
I don't know that in terms of entertainment over the Christmas lunch that, I don't think it persuades anyone.
TEXT: On Biden's corn pop story.
STEYN: Corn pop, it must be terribly annoying to face down a guy who is trying to cut you with a razor and you want to tell your friends about it and the only fly in the ointment is that he is corn pop who was, as you correctly pointed out the third shock on the left in the last summer stock revival I saw of "West Side Story."
I mean, it doesn't work it's like as a bad hombre name. So he has a basic problem there. But, you know, essentially he -- it's like Barry Manilow, I think what was that? It is from "Copacabana," I think.
His name was corn pop. He had a razor -- it made the brilliant bit. It's in the second chorus of "Copacabana."
CARLSON: Yes, I think you were in boarding school in the U.K. in third grade. But for those of us who grew up in this country, we know that corn pops are actually one of the sugary brands of sugar cereal available, which seems ...
STEYN: Right. It's not a good name for a gang member. That's pretty good. It's the attention to detail. He says, for example, that the way you make the straight razor rusty is to put it in a rainbow, like a milk toast like you, Tucker, you've got indoor plumbing and you think you can just run it under the faucet.
But in fact, you have to have an actual rain barrel. The details of this, anecdote are brilliant. They should be teaching it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOOTHE: Mark Steyn is such a character, also, who knew he could carry a tune? I didn't know that. Well, we learned that tonight.
Well, when Joe Biden first entered the Senate in 1973, it's a long time ago, Pink Floyd was topping the charts. Richard Nixon was proclaiming his innocence.
Times have changed and so has Joe Biden. That's next.
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BOOTHE: Joe Biden needs to appeal to blue collar workers to win the White House. For a long time pretending to be a good old boy from Scranton was his specialty. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESUMPTIVE DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I hope you won't hold it against me, but I am a hard cold miner, anthracite coal Scranton, Pennsylvania. Okay, that's where I was born and raised, and it's nice to be back in coal country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOOTHE: But I guess it all depends on his audience. Now old miner Joe Biden wants to get rid of fossil fuels.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: We are going to get rid of fossil fuels. These guys are okay. They want to do the same thing I want to do. They want to phase out fossil fuels and we're going to phase out fossil fuels.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOOTHE: So as you might expect, the people he was pandering to in 2008 are horrified. Pennsylvania and Jim Snell who works for a local steamfitters union told "The Washington Examiner" this.
He said, "I am completely shocked and stunned about the language coming from Joe Biden, allegedly a union guy. The Democratic Party has kicked the building trades to the curb, and they're all in with the environment groups."
A registered Democrat named Jim Cassidy who works for an insulators union in Pennsylvania expressed similar sentiments, saying, "Is Joe Biden really one of us? I always love the man. He scares me now. He is embracing the Green New Deal or whatever they're calling it. He needs to get some stuff straight."
Justin Haskins is Executive Editor at the Heartland Institute. He joins us.
Justin, former Vice President Joe Biden rolled out his climate change agenda this week with the help of AOC and Bernie Sanders. How would that impact many of these blue collar workers like the ones we just heard from?
JUSTIN HASKINS, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, HEARTLAND INSTITUTE: Yes, well, they would be absolutely decimated by this plan. Effectively the key part of the plan, there's all sorts of crap that's been stuffed into it, but the key part of the plan is transitioning the entire electric grid, making it carbon dioxide free supposedly by 2035. That means building billions not millions, but billions of solar panels and wind turbines all over the country, which would be absolutely terrible for the environment, by the way.
It would require consuming massive millions of acres of land, killing millions of animals. But then on top of that, it would dramatically increase the cost of energy for the entire country. Isaac Orr or at the Center of the American Experiment did a great article about this recently where he showed that if you take the increase in electricity cost for the whole country that would occur under Joe Biden's plan, it would be at least a trillion dollars more per year.
And depending on how much of the mix of wind and solar is in that mix, you would have it be even higher than that. It could be several trillion dollars every single year in additional cost. That means millions and millions of jobs shipped overseas. It would absolutely decimate the Midwest and places like Pennsylvania.
This is a total disaster and a complete betrayal by Joe Biden.
BOOTHE: Well, so about that, so we heard his comment back in February where he was talking about getting rid of fossil fuels. If you remember in 2016, Hillary Clinton said that she was going to put coal miners out of work. Do you think this comment will have the same impact? It cost for states like Ohio and Pennsylvania.
HASKINS: I mean, I hope people are listening. Right. I hope people are listening because the reality is that the Joe Biden that these people think they know is gone. That guy left the building. Okay.
Joe Biden can barely put two sentences together, never mind the whole climate change plan without all sorts of help from these far leftwing people that he's brought into his campaign. People like Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez, people from the socialist sunrise movement, who were involved in the Green New Deal.
People like -- all sorts of incredibly radical people like Stephanie Kelton, who doesn't even believe in debts or deficits. That she doesn't think they actually matter at all. She thinks you can print as much money as you need. These are the people who are now advising Joe Biden. These are Bernie Sanders -- his influence on the campaign normally --
BOOTHE: And so, Justin --
HASKINS: Go ahead.
BOOTHE: Yes, Justin, I want to get into that because typically what you see from candidates, we both know, what you typically see is during the primary, you have candidates move further to the left, further to the right and then they moderate in a general election.
Biden seems to be doing the opposite, particularly on the climate change issues. Why is that?
HASKINS: Yes, that's a fantastic point. I think it's because he is desperately afraid of losing this election because the far left rejects him.
I don't think he is trying to win over people in the middle. It's a really strange election strategy. But I think that's the only way to explain this. I think what he's trying to do is keep the far leftwing progressive and socialist base of his party, the AOC's of the world, the Bernie Sanders of the world happy because he is worried that those people are going to walk out on him at the last minute, and then ruin his chances of winning on that side of things.
And so he's trying to do everything he can to appeal to those people. And those people are incredibly radical. So a vote for Joe Biden is really not a vote for Joe Biden from 20 years ago, or 10 years ago, or even five years ago. It's a vote for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders and people like that.
BOOTHE: Well, and the big question is, you know, how does this impact him in the Rust Belt, right? I mean, the Rust Belt was key to President Trump's victory in 2016. It is going to be key to anyone winning in 2020 as well.
HASKINS: Yes, I mean, it all comes down to who do you trust, right? Who do you trust? And in this particular case, this man has been making promises for years and years and years. And now he has completely betrayed those promises, moved in the polar opposite direction, sold his soul to the far leftwing of the Democratic Party to the socialist wing, and especially the eco-socialist wing of the Democratic Party.
And so yes, do you trust Joe Biden? That's a question that voters are going to have to ask. And if you look at his record, I think that there are reasons to be concerned.
BOOTHE: Justin, thank you. We appreciate it.
HASKINS: Thanks so much.
BOOTHE: Major new developments in the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell. Emily Compagno host "Crimes that Changed America" on Fox Nation, and she joins us -- Emily.
EMILY COMPAGNO, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Hi, Lisa. As you know, Ghislaine Maxwell has been charged with six Federal crimes, four of which involve transporting minors for illegal sexual activity to which she has pled not guilty.
At her detention hearing after testimony by victims and arguments by the prosecution, the judge denied bail, ruling her a flight risk and said she had both quote, "motive and opportunity to flee." Prosecutor cited in part her attempt to evade arrest when the F.B.I. came to her multimillion dollar home in New Hampshire. She and her alleged boyfriend, Scott Borgerson had apparently been ostracized at his home in Massachusetts after neighbors learned of her identity, including revoking all privileges like beach access that that neighborhood enjoys.
Now reports are swirling that Jeffrey Epstein personal assistant Sarah Kellen might be arrested next, though Kellen's parents argue she was just another victim swept up in Maxwell and Epstein's sexual abuse and sex trafficking ring.
In a lawsuit which named Kellen as a defendant, she is described as Maxwell's second in command, her assistant and even Lieutenant.
Kellen worked for Epstein for around 10 years as a personal assistant and has been accused by victims of complicity in their sexual abuse, including taking nude photographs of victims.
The trial for Ghislaine Maxwell has been set for July 12, 2021 -- Lisa.
BOOTHE: Great reporting. Thank you.
COMPAGNO: Thank you.
BOOTHE: So it's not clear if Kanye West is actually running for President, but he definitely will be on the ballot in at least one state. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOOTHE: This is a Fox News Alert. You're looking at live pictures of rioters in downtown Chicago shooting fireworks and throwing objects at police officers who are defending a statue of Christopher Columbus.
The situation appears to be deteriorating quickly. The police are surrounded and outnumbered by the crowd.
Stay tuned to Fox News as we follow the story for you.
And there's this, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is undergoing chemotherapy to treat a recurrence of liver cancer. The 87-year-old justice has survived cancer before. She was admitted to the hospital earlier this week for an infection, but was released after a day.
We're also going to continue monitoring that story for you and we're praying for her health and safety as well.
And there's also this. Rapper Kanye West seems to be shifting gears a little bit. Rapper Kanye West seems to be moving forward with his presidential bid. Yesterday he filed documents with the Federal Election Committee. Today, he officially filed to be on the ballots in Oklahoma and tweeted an image of Mount Rushmore with his face added to it.
Jason Nichols is a professor at the University of Maryland and he joins us. Jason, how are you my friend?
JASON NICHOLS, PROFESSOR OF AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND: I'm doing good, Lisa, and congratulations when you get your own show. Please remember the little people.
BOOTHE: Oh, stop. I appreciate that though. Thank you. You're too kind. You know, so Jason, Kanye is making moves. What do you make of this?
NICHOLS: I think he's somewhat serious about this, even you know, with Oklahoma. We know that in other states that, you know, there are reports that he's trying to gather signatures in order to get on the ballots in other states.
I don't think there's any chance that he is going to win. But I think people need to understand the power of a protest vote. I think there are many people who are completely dissatisfied with the direction the country is going under Donald Trump and there are people who don't like Joe Biden or don't think that he is coherent or competent, or whatever it is. That's the narrative that's being spread.
And they're looking for someone -- you know, another option, the same thing that happened in 2016 when you saw the Green Party candidate, Jill Stein.
I don't know anybody who actually agreed with Jill Stein. She's an anti- vaxxer. She's kind of a strange character, but at the same time, they voted for her because they were dissatisfied with both Hillary Clinton and they didn't like Donald Trump.
I think that could be very well happened with Kanye West, which will etch him into the history books, which I think is part of his purpose here.
BOOTHE: Well, I mean, we saw you mention Jill Stein. I mean, she was a spoiler in 2016. Do you think Kanye has the opportunity to do the same thing here? And also, who would it impact Joe Biden? Or Donald Trump?
NICHOLS: That's a tough question. I think he absolutely can be a spoiler. We've got to remember in Wisconsin, I think it was decided about 77,000 votes, if he's able to get on some of these ballots, and this is going to be a razor thin election.
It's going to be very similar to 2016, I think. We see the national polls and, you know, there's a separation by double digits, but I think that's going to narrow. I think it's going to be a close election.
I think Joe Biden will probably come out on top, but you never know. And I think, you know, this could be a situation where Kanye West takes youth voters from Joe Biden and takes, you know, some voters from Donald Trump as well.
So this is -- it's going to be a toss-up. He's a very interesting character. This is a very interesting time we're living in and I'm excited to see how it shakes out.
BOOTHE: I mean, that is for sure. Look, you know, he supports policies like you know, pro-life. What kind of platform do you think we'd see him run on?
NICHOLS: Well, I think one of his strong points, of course, is criminal justice reform. His wife is someone who advocated for that. And I think that's a big reason why he could be trouble for Donald Trump.
I think people who saw Donald Trump and said, oh, well all the claims that Donald Trump is racist. They're offset by the fact that he is an advocate for criminal justice reform and I use advocate very loosely, but at the same time, Kanye West can take that from him. The Alice Johnson commutation was more her work, arguably than Donald Trump. It was her --
BOOTHE: I don't know about that. But you've also -- you know, Jason, but you've also seen, you know, Joe Biden has said some pretty offensive things about black Americans as well.
I mean, could that impact him with people potentially looking to Kanye?
NICHOLS: Oh, I think both candidates are going to you know, have to think about Kanye West, in the back of their minds. If he can get, you know, 70,000 to 80,000 votes in one of these states, he could sway an election.
I think this is going to be very, very, very close, particularly with COVID-19. The fact that people may not be voting in person, there's going to be, you know, maybe even lower turnout than usual.
I think Kanye West and protest voters could really shift this election.
BOOTHE: Well, it's certainly going to be interesting, but I think, you know, criminal justice reform did happen under President Trump, not the Obama administration. So I think it's going to be hard for anyone else to claim that mantle.
But Professor, we're going to be watching it and I appreciate you joining us tonight. It's great to see you.
NICHOLS: Thank you, Lisa. Great seeing you.
BOOTHE: Well, that's about it for us tonight. It was so much fun. Tune in each night at eight to the show that is the sworn enemy of lying, pomposity, smugness and groupthink.
Also don't forget to DVR the show, if you haven't set it already.
Have a great evening.
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