Left smears Sen. Rand Paul after fiery exchange with Biden HHS pick

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Left smears Sen. Rand Paul after fiery exchange with Biden HHS pick

Kentucky senator reacts to Biden pick's refusal to answer question on gender reassignment for minors on 'The Ingraham Angle'

This is a rush transcript from "The Ingraham Angle," February 26, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated

LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST: I am Laura Ingraham. This is the Ingraham Angle on a very busy Friday night. Questions at a Senate hearing rooted in science. Have critics smearing Senator Rand Paul as transphobic. Well tonight, he is here, and he'll respond. And as he struggles with English language, Joe Biden tries out French. Raymond Arroyo tells us how that went in Friday Follies, but first, locking down the next election. That's the focus of tonight's Angle.

Now under increasing pressure to justify the obscene and ongoing lockdown of the U.S. Capitol grounds, Democrats tried to paper over this week with vague warnings about terrible things that could happen at the hands of terrible people. Well, people who support Trump, of course. The acting Capitol Police Chief, in a pathetic attempt to shift blame from their inadequate preparation, claimed yesterday to have been briefed about troubling intelligence reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YOGANANDA PITTMAN, ACTING CAPITOL POLICE CHIEF: Members of the militia groups that were present on January 6, have stated their desires that they want to blow up the Capitol and kill as many members as possible with a direct Nexus to the State of the Union. We think that it's prudent that Capitol Police maintain its enhanced and robust security posture until we address those vulnerabilities going forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Translation, agencies want billions of dollars your money to keep government inaccessible to the people who actually pay the bills. Now, you can bet right, this is going to include systems and surveillance to monitor, track and harass law abiding Americans. Now as for their threat assessments, there is no reason those should not be made public. Now, we want to see them threats against the Capitol against members of Congress, Cabinet Secretaries. They are nothing new. They've been around since I worked in government. But by their amorphous reasoning, all of Washington, should - from now on just be a military encampment where no citizen is allowed to go without special papers, special vetting, special permission. But we all know this is a charade.

While democrats insist on serious fencing and barricades around their place of work, they are throwing open our southern border. So, any migrant, any criminal, or frankly, any terrorist who wants to illegally cross the southern border, can essentially waltz right in now. But any American who just wants to bring, you know their family to visit the Capitol or speak with his representative, is treated like a terrorist. I was thinking today that the continued lockdown of Capitol Hill is kind of like the COVID lockdowns, with the moving goalposts, lack of any real metrics and vague warnings about potential danger down the road.

Last spring, doctor's Birx and Fauci tedious refrain was 15 days to slow the curve. But now it's basically, we can't open until the virus is vanquished everywhere in the world. See the change? Now Pelosi and Schumer are doing the same thing here by keeping the fear of January 6, alive to solidify their grip on power. They are getting a big boost as well from the bootlickers in the media.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DON LEMON, ANCHOR, CNN: Republican Party can no longer say that they don't agree with the insurrectionist with the bigots, with the racists, with the white supremacist.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: White extremist groups, domestic terrorists.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Domestic violent extremist groups.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Through conspiracy theorists, and crooks and extremists.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: By the way, they are talking about you, any conservative falls into that category where they are concerned. Now, last month, weren't we told that 26,000 National Guard troops were needed just kind of temporarily to keep Biden's inauguration safe? Well, now it's, they're going to stay until all vulnerabilities are addressed going forward as the Acting Chief of U.S. Police - Capitol Police said. That the truth is, the barricades and the troops won't be removed from Washington D.C. until Democrats are voted out of office. But you can't say that the Angle didn't warn you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I worry that these, you know, gates and cement barriers, and 12-foot fences will never go away. That's just going to be the "new normal."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Anytime you hear Democrats and their allies citing online chatter, to justify taking away your freedom and spending your money, your spidey senses should be to kick in at this point. Even the Washington Post has been forced to concede that, "troubling online conversation often fails to materialize into a tangible threat. In the run up to Biden's inauguration, for example, the FBI privately warned law enforcement agencies that far-right extremists had discuss posing as National Guard members in Washington. Officials took aggressive measures to secure the Capitol, and ultimately the day passed without incident." All right. Occasionally, the truth comes out of the post.

Now again, if the Democrats really cared about our security, really cared about it, they would not be trying to dismantle ice and pause deportations for months on end. But what's really galling, is that the very people who didn't read or act on the Intel leading up to January 6, now want to interpret it for us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PITTMAN: We know that the insurrectionists that attacked the Capitol weren't only interested in attacking members of Congress and officers. They want it to send a symbolic message to the nation as who was in-charge of that legislative process?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Well, there is a symbolic message out there, all right. And it's coming from Pelosi and Schumer. Those barricades and fences, assault vehicles and troops are what you could be facing next year, if you attend an anti-lockdown, or let's say a pro second amendment rally. Oh, and you'll be the next suspect in their domestic terror drama. At every opportunity from now on, the GOP members of Congress have to start asking members of the Biden administration, whether they believe that China, or Trump is a bigger threat to America. Is it the CCP or the GOP and its supporters that we should be worried about? But maybe, I don't know, maybe Nancy Pelosi has already answered that question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Nancy Pelosi, U.S House Speaker: We have a domestic terrorism challenge in this country. That's what the director of the FBI testified to the end of September, domestic violence, taking more lives than international violence in this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: And the logical follow on to that, if the biggest terror problems are all here in the United States. Why do we need so many troops in the Middle East? And that's the Angle. All right. Joining me now, Harmeet Dhillon, Civil Rights Attorney and founder of the Center for American Liberty, and Ari Fleischer, Former White House Press Secretary and Fox News Contributor. Harmeet, I know you've spoken to conservatives from all across the country who attended the Trump rally on January 6, they didn't storm the Capitol. But those people who are peacefully assembling in Washington, is it true that they're now dealing with FBI raids being, in some cases being blocked from talking to counsel, if they're detained? What's going on here?

HARMEET DHILLON, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Yes, I have heard that. I've probably spoken to dozens of people who have reached out or their family members who have reached out about FBI questioning, FBI dawn raids as if they are a terrorist, FBI seizing their digital records, and even holding people incommunicado and not honoring requests for counsel. And you know, what they are doing is, they are arresting them all over the states where they live. And then, in some cases, transporting them on mass or preparing to transport them on mass to D.C. Was very disturbing about this, just like you said in your Angle, Laura, is that there seems to be no sense of proportionality here and almost a deliberate attempt to. In fact criminalize a political act.

And in fact, some of these people who I believe engaged in non-violent protest at the Capitol are effectively being treated like political prisoners in our country. And this is the type of thing you see in other countries that our country criticizes. And you know, back in 20 years ago, I was one of the few conservatives who pointed out that the Patriot Act, could one day be weaponized against United States citizens. 20 years later, that's exactly what's happening. And we are now going to see Patriot Act to being used to sort of control our thought in advance and criminalize even any type of dissent with the government. This is truly shocking and a big diversity of our history.

INGRAHAM: Well, and it's also - it's telling people, Ari Fleischer, watch out, the message from law enforcement. It looks like the FBI, certainly the Democrats, implicit in all of this is watch out. If you go to one of these rallies in the future, you might be, surveiled on a drone or a self-take -- a selfie posted online, you may be dealing with letters from the FBI or being detained or being questioned. That is - I don't know, if that's not a police state. I don't know what it is, Ari.

ARI FLEISCHER, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Well, of course, that is what was done in the 1950s and 1960s with the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover, and it led to a lot of liberals complaining about the heavy hand of justice. But the only justice I know Laura, and that you know, we all are supposed to know is that justice must be blind. And so, any tactic that is used against those who engaged in violence, not protest, but engaged in violence at the Capitol, are those same tactics also being used against those who engaged in violence in the summer riots and the Portland riots, and the nightly Seattle riots. The people who tried to take over a federal courthouse in Portland, are we going in as the FBI season, their social media using facial identification? I hope so. If you commit violence against the United States, you should be subject to the law. If you are a peaceful protester, you should not be, but the aggressiveness used against the Capitol protesters, which I salute and in for - I'm sorry, the prop Capitol rioters needs to also be used against rioters on the other side. That's how, you know, justice is blind.

INGRAHAM: All right. Dhillon (Ph), we ever see that. Yes. All right, a blink justice 100 percent. But that blindfold has been thrown off. OK, because they are tweeting out photos of individuals. One, yesterday look like a - I don't know, it was like a 13 or 14-year old girl. I don't know what she - I don't know what she did. If she did anything, I have no idea. But I don't recall Harmeet, that same type of flurry of FBI. Have you seen this person? Maybe I missed it, but I don't recall seeing that last summer. I don't recall seeing that recently when Portland was still burning.

DHILLON: You don't recall it because it didn't happen, Laura. And not only that our Attorney General nominee actually equivocated, and said that, attacks on these courthouses at night are not the same thing, as attacks on the Capitol during the daytime. First of all, the vast majority of the people who are being detained are not attackers, are not violent, and most of them did not even go into the building. So, we are talking about night and day, nobody - there is no FBI manhunt for absolute terror RICO criminals in many American cities, just in this past year. And so, the double standard is striking even for the violence. But you know, as to arresting non-violent protesters who are protesting outside state capitals, it has never happened. And we are seeing it happen in the United States today with very (inaudible), imagine the chilling effect of your family member or anybody who knows these people - it's absolutely chilling, people are not afraid. That's right.

INGRAHAM: Now, they are criminalizing belief. Political thought is being criminalized. That's what's happening. And it's - that's terrifying. And anyone watching this show tonight should be very concerned about this trajectory that our country is on right now. OK. They don't want to debate their ideas. They don't want to subject their ideas Ari to the court of public opinion. They really don't want to do that. They want to prevent people from having rallies, from protesting the lockdowns, from protesting taxes, the abortion, any issue that requires activism on the conservative side. They want to blunt that fight. We'll say, oh, you are all white supremacists. That's what's happening.

FLEISCHER: Yes. This is just the follow on, isn't it? When Hillary said deplorable? Now, we are using the powers of the police state, the powers of the government to say to people, you are no longer entitled to your opinion, and the heavy hand of justice starts to interfere. And it's - this is all part of the cancelled culture. I'm going to tell you, you know, the bravest reporter out there, I see who is blowing the whistle on this is Glenn Greenwald. Glenn Greenwald, a principled liberal in the old-fashioned sense of liberal has drawn a line between liberalism who used to believe and still does, and the ACLU power of free speech against the progressives. The progressives who want to drum people out of society and off the air. And this progressive silencing movement is one of the scariest you can imagine in America. We need more liberals like Glenn Greenwald, and conservatives like you, Laura, to continue to point this out.

INGRAHAM: Yes. And I think every Republican in Congress should say, we will not fund this wall or fence or militarization of our Capitol for one more minute, until you make public the supposedly threats that you say are imminent, that require the people from having no contact with their representatives going forward. I think all of that militarization of the U.S. Capitol. That's part of this whole dynamic that they got pushed out there before 2022. Harmeet and Ari, phenomenal analysis as always. And threats to our freedom, not just coming from D.C., but also from the woke indoctrination efforts poisoning our education system. As produced a telling critic, in fact, the oldest Chinese American Association in the country is warning that the infiltration of critical race theory into our schools is reminiscent of Mao's Cultural Revolution. They are calling on parents to fight back and take the initiative to earn indoctrinate their kids.

Joining me now is, Chris Rufo, Director of the Discovery Institute's Center on Wealth & Poverty and contributing editor at City Journal. Chris, Chairman Mao believed a Cultural Revolution was necessary to affect the political change. That was - that he wanted for obviously to China.

CHRIS RUFO, EDITOR, CITY JOURNAL: Yes. And what we are seeing here in the United States is a similar effort. The idea of an economic revolution, based on the lower classes, rising up and overthrowing the bourgeoisie is something that didn't work in the 20 Century. So, modern day progressives and leftists that said, we need to infiltrate the institutions of culture. And if we can change the culture, if we can destroy the history of the United States, then we can bring about this utopia. Luckily, Chinese Americans who survived and fled the Cultural Revolution in their home country are fighting to make sure, it doesn't happen here.

INGRAHAM: And what's interesting, I think a lot of people have missed this, is that China is now using the language of the left. OK. So they are actually talking about the axis of white supremacy, in calling out the Five Eyes countries or English speaking countries for actually holding them accountable, saying, China has accused Australia of being an part of an axis of white supremacy because of our intelligence alliance with Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom and the United States. So, they're the gangsters in the English-speaking nations are now white supremacist. So, you see how they're interweaving the language of the left into their own global outreach.

RUFO: Yes. We live in this very bizarre moment where the American left in contemporary times, is using the rhetoric of the Chinese Cultural Revolution from 50 years ago. And the CCP today is adapting the rhetoric of the American left, denouncing the United States as white supremacist. But we know for the last 100 years that the international socialist and Marxist left has always adopted the language of the American left in order to bash the United States. I firmly stand against the CCP, and I hope that our friends on the other side would do the same.

INGRAHAM: Now, we're all the liberals are urging the boycott of the Beijing Olympics. I mean, they're all human rights activists, except when they're not, except when it's about money, or you know, if China's against Trump, then the left has to be with China, or something like that. All right, The New York Times, Michelle Goldberg, wrote an Op-Ed specifically targeting you, Chris, and your efforts saying, but the right for all its chest- beating about the value of entertaining dangerous notions, is rarely interested in debating the tenets of critical race theory. It wants to eradicate them from public institutions. Chris, you are afraid of debating critical race theory, Chris, I can't believe that.

RUFO: Yes. That's categorically false. And right here on your show, I will issue a challenge to any prominent critical race theorists. In The New York Times, I will debate you on the floor of the New York Times building itself. I will be never scared of debate. In fact, I will dismantle them. So, Miss Goldberg, if she stands by her column, she should organize this debate immediately. Or the truth will be out that actually, it's the other side, the critical race theorists who refuse to put their bankrupt ideas out into the public for scrutiny. They hide behind the institutional power of organizations like the New York Times, but that time is up. We've exposed them and I look forward to seeing if we are on the (inaudible).

INGRAHAM: I have an idea. Michelle Goldberg, come on, the water is warm on the Ingraham Angle. Come on, debate Mr. Rufo. Make it fair. You get your time. He gets his time. And then we'll let the viewers decide. How about that, Chris? Great to see you tonight. You look casual with the t-shirt. I like it. Looks good, very Miami buys. For engaging in a line of legitimate and science backed questions at a Senate hearing yesterday. Senator Rand Paul was labelled transphobic. The Senator is here to respond next. Plus, he has a message for Dr. Fauci. Stay there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: Rachel Levine, that's Biden pic to be one of the top assistant secretaries at HHS was grilled on Capitol Hill yesterday. But it was one exchange that caused a firestorm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): Dr. Levine, you have supported both allowing minors to be given hormone blockers to prevent them from going through puberty, as well as surgical destruction of a minor's genitalium. Like surgical mutilation hormonal interruption of puberty can permanently alter and prevent secondary sexual characteristics. The American College of Pediatricians reports that 80 percent to 95 percent of pre-pubertal children with gender dysphoria will experience resolution by late adolescence, if not exposed to medical intervention and social affirmation. Dr. Levine, do you believe that minors are capable of making such a life changing decision is changing one sex?

DR. RACHEL LEVINE, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF HEALTH NOMINEE: Well, Senator, thank you for your interest in this question. Transgender medicine is a very complex and nuanced field.

PAUL: Let's be a little more specific since you evaded the question. Do you support the government intervening to override the parent's consent to give a child puberty, blockers cross sex hormones and or amputation surgery of breasts and genitalia?

LEVINE: If confirmed to the position of Assistant Secretary of Health, I would certainly be pleased to come to your office and to talk with you and your staff about the standards of care and the complexity of this field.

PAUL: Let it go into the record that the witness refused to answer the question. I find it ironic that the left that went nuts over hydroxy chloroquine being used possibly for COVID are not alarmed that these hormones are being used off label.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Now, for that perfectly reasonable logical, scientifically accurate line of questioning. Senator Rand Paul became public enemy number one over at the other cable.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS HAYES (voice over): Rand Paul, Kentucky, once seen as someone with at least a kind of interesting coherent ideology. Lately, he's been spending his days trafficking and right-wing conspiracy theories. Today, loving transphobic questions.

JOY REID, MSNBC HOST: You know, who is the actual absolute worst? Oh, Kentucky, Senator Rand Paul, of course, insulting your fellow human who is trans, isn't Republican requirement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Here now to respond the Senator himself Rand Paul, from the great state of Kentucky. Senator, now I thought they were supposed to be the party of science, but her answer to you was, well, Dr. Paul, it's too complex for you to understand what's going on here?

SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): Well, the thing is, you know, a lot of people voted for middle class, Joe Biden. He was supposed to have these middle class, working class values. My guess is, none of them realized that he was going to appoint someone so extreme as to believe that a minor can make a life altering decision to change their sex, even overriding the parental consent. I think they would do it with no parental consent, but I think she would also do it, if the parents said no, and the kid said yes. She is also on record as saying, well yes, and if they're street kids will do it even sooner. Think of what that really means. That means a homeless child who's either had a rotten childhood or no parents or has a mental illness themselves. She is willing to do the sex change even quicker. They did a survey of these sex change surgeons, over half of them have operated on people under 18. So, this is not a wild question. This is a real question. And they are giving these hormones that change the sex, testosterone to girls and estrogen to boys between the ages of 14 and 16. That's a really - it's a crime against nature. And it's also something that should require parental consent.

INGRAHAM: Well, you actually cannot change somebody's sex. That's a scientific false, you can't change. I mean, you can't change their sex as your DNA is what your DNA is, correct.

PAUL: You can change their secondary sexual characteristics. So, some of their appearance is resembling.

INGRAHAM: Right, but that's not changing your sex. Yes, that's not changing your sex. Right. Now, a new Gallup poll is very interesting. It shows that there has been a fairly significant generational shift when it comes to identifying as LGBTQ. Now Generation Z, apparently 15.9 percent identify as LGBT among millennials, it's 9.1 percent Generation X, 3.8 percent. Senator, is this a - I was just - I believe this is a natural shift or are external factors including social media, the Internet, and so forth, having an effect here?

PAUL: We know the story of Keira Bell from England is an interesting one. She was 14, she was confused. And she read online about transsexualism. She thought, well, maybe this is what I am. She went to a clinic and they encouraged her that that's what she was. I don't know that anybody discouraged her from that. They encouraged her from that. She had a chemical transformation. And then she had a double mastectomy. And she's now 23. She fears she is infertile. She is very unhappy. And she feels as if she was misled, and sort of by social pressure made to think this was the right answer for her, and she is very unhappy. And in England, they've actually changed it now. They're actually requiring more parental consent than they used to. Whereas in our country, we are going the opposite way. So, I think it's an important question. And the media leaks the left-wing, media completely missed the question here. The questions about a minor and a consent. Look, I am a physician, I worked in emergency rooms. We couldn't do anything unless you were resuscitating and saving the life of John. We did nothing without the parents' consent.

INGRAHAM: Apparently the left believes you can get an abortion or take hormone blocking medicines. That's OK. But everything else, ear piercing, you need your parents' consent. Now, I want to move on to another medical issue. With all the COVID cases, Senator Paul plummeting, and now we have all these vaccines on the market. Dr. Fauci doesn't quite want you getting your life back yet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: There is a tendency given that the deflection of the curve is down to get back to a situation where you're approaching normal, but we really have to be careful. We are at that very precarious position that we will were right before the full surge, or anything that could perturb that could give us another surge. You know, we don't want to be people always looking at the dark side of things, but you want to be realistic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Senator, there is always like these vague threats, that it's all meant to suppress us or keep us down or it might come back, there might be a new variant. What is going on here with the constant goalpost shifting?

PAUL: Realize that they don't want to offer you any of the freedom back, any of this normalization. And there are a lot of people now predicting that the curve downwards is so steep and the curve upwards is pretty steep on those being vaccinated, that we could be out of this in a few weeks to a month. I know that sounds optimistic, and nobody can predict for certain, but he is saying, you need to wear a mask for another two years. They're saying you might get it if you have the vaccine and give it to the other people. The thing is, they don't prove that that happens. They just say unless he can prove the opposite, you can't be free and you have to be huddled in your basement wearing a mask.

And I'm the opposite. If you get your vaccine, you've had your second dose, your two weeks out, throw away your mask. If you had the disease and you are young person, go to restaurants, go out and visit your friends. Do not hunker down in a basement by yourself. Go to school. By all means, let's get back to normal. And let's treat this with circumspection, the idea that the risks should be according to the individual. In a free society each individual determines a risk. They are a lot less for younger people. They're greater for older people. Everybody should adjust their behavior according to that.

INGRAHAM: Lockdowns don't work. Lockdowns don't work. They don't work. They don't stop the virus. They just prolong herd immunity. We've seen this time and again, and yet the party of science just doesn't want to quite go there.

Senator, thank you for asking hard questions of Ms. Levine. I think it was necessary, and it opened a lot of people's eyes, and the fact that you got all of that grief right told us that you cut fairly close to the core there. It's good that you did it. Thank you so much.

PAUL: Thank you.

INGRAHAM: And Lady Gaga's dog snatching takes a political turn, and Biden tries his hand at French. Friday Follies with Raymond Arroyo next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHAD PERGRAM, FOX NEWS PRODUCER: This is a FOX News alert. I'm Chad Pergram live on Capitol Hill.

The House of Representatives is preparing for an overnight vote on the next round of coronavirus aid. This bill costs $1.9 trillion. It extends extra unemployment benefits due to expire in two weeks. And many Americans qualify for direct payment checks. But the GOP argues the bill should be narrow and more tailored to immediate needs. The bill includes a $15 an hour national wage standard. But the Senate will strip that out. Dropping that provision could should show Democrats are limited in passing other liberal policy priorities like immigration reform.

Also tonight, the FDA has granted Johnson & Johnson emergency authorization for its COVID vaccine. It's the third coronavirus vaccine and it only requires one dose. The CDC must still vote on Sunday.

I'm Chad Pergram live on Capitol Hill. Now back to Laura.

INGRAHAM: It's Friday, and that means it's time for Friday Follies, of course. Joining me now, all the details, author of the forthcoming book "The Thief Who Stole Heaven," FOX News contributor Raymond Arroyo. All right, Raymond, President Biden held what they call a bilat -- isn't that cool -- a bilateral meeting with Justin Trudeau, pretty boy Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister this week, and there were a few cringy moments.

RAYMOND ARROYO, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, starting with Trudeau thanking Biden for his leadership, Laura, after the president killed the Keystone Pipeline and thousands of Canadian and American jobs. But then Biden tried his hand at a little diplomatic. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I told you, Mr. Prime Minister, I took five years of French in school and in college as well. And every time I try to speak it I make such a fool of myself I stop trying.

At least when I try Spanish and I make a fool of myself, they laugh.

Au revoir.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: I'm not sure the French is helping here, Laura.

INGRAHAM: Well, he was worried about making a full of himself speaking in French. I don't think he has to go over to France to make a fool of himself.

All right, I think he is being a little too grudging, because listen to the language when he tries to say it in English as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Doctors and nurses wearing trash bags over their gown, over their dress in order to -- so they would be in trouble.

And they're a -- and, you know.

I will always be straight with you. I said in my inaugural I'll give it to you straight from the shoulders.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: Laura, no matter what language he uses, a translator is always necessary. These brain freezes and garbled syntax, they do raise questions about where he is cognitively. And I think that's going to continue. It seems to have gotten worse since the campaign.

INGRAHAM: He's in France, that's where he is, Raymond.

ARROYO: OK, I've got to get to a big story of the week. Lady Gaga's pet bulldogs were snatched, Laura, from her dog walker. It's actually a terrible story. Ryan Fischer, the dog walker, was shot in the chest by two assailants -- he is doing well however -- who made off with the pair of Gaga's pet pooches. But don't worry, the singer is offering a half-million- dollar reward for the return of the dogs. The identity of the shooter is unimportant, but the dogs, half-a-million bucks. There is a turn for this, Laura. "Shallow" I think is what it's called.

INGRAHAM: In the Sha-la-la-la-la-low, right?

ARROYO: Right, that's correct.

INGRAHAM: Wait a second. I would be frantic about my dogs, but you must have read it wrong. It can't be -- it was the 500 cages to get the dogs back?

ARROYO: No. It's a $500,000 reward for the dogs, not for the identity of the shooter, which made my head explode when I read this.

INGRAHAM: Wasn't there a report in "The Sun" that the LAPD was concerned that this dognapping, that it could have a political motivation because she sang at Biden's inaugural? Is the FBI involved at all here?

ARROYO: Today, the FBI issued a statement saying they're not involved in the investigation, but the political motive is apparently not being ruled out, Laura, which is concerning.

INGRAHAM: Apparently, if you voted for Joe Biden now, and you get stuck up or someone robbed your house, it could be political motivation.

Speaking of political motives, first lady Jill Biden sat for her first solo interview that was very probing from Kelly Clarkson. She offered words of support for Clarkson's divorce.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JILL BIDEN, U.S. FIRST LADY: Things are going to look better tomorrow. And if you can take one data time, and things will get better. I look back on it now, and I think, if I hadn't gotten divorced, I never would have met Joe. I wouldn't have this beautiful family I have now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: Now, Laura, the Biden romance has been a major storyline for a while here. The Bidens claim they had their first date in 1975 after Jill divorced her first husband. But that ex, Bill Stevenson, claims the pair met earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was betrayed the Bidens. Joe was my friend. Jill was my wife. We got married in 70. I introduced Joe to Jill in 72. Right before the election in 72, Jill, Joe, Neil, and I were in his kitchen. How do you forget that?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: Jill Biden claims this didn't happen, she denies this claim. But there are a lot of questions here, Laura. People are entitled to do whatever they want in the personal lives, but they're not free to remake facts and reality, particularly when you're using it for political purposes. And divorce should never be celebrated. It's always a tragedy.

INGRAHAM: Well, Kelly Clarkson, I think -- next stop is "60 Minutes" for the real -- it's going to be a real probing interview, Raymond. I still want to hear more of Joe in French. I'm going to be thinking about that.

ARROYO: Next time. He can do his fool Pepe Le Pew act with Jill.

INGRAHAM: Pepe Le Pew, tres bien. All right, Raymond, thank you.

In moments we speak to a man leading an effort to have rural Oregon secede to Idaho. Sounds good to me, it's a good one. Stay there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: OK, admit it, you're sick of Congressman Adam Kinzinger, because he wants to lead the GOP away from Trumpism and back to the good old days when neocons and the Chamber of Commerce cronies ran the party and sold out American workers. But is this something that the voters actually want? You know the answer. My next guest doesn't think so and is launching a primary challenge against the Illinois rep.

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CATALINA LAUF, (R) RUNNING AGAINST ADAM KINZINGER: I never thought I'd primary a fellow Republican, but is Congressman Adam Kinzinger really a Republican anymore?

This is Adam Kinzinger, a weak-kneed, establishment Republican who cares more about his next MSNBC appearance than the voters who elected him.

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INGRAHAM: Scorcher. Catalina Lauf, Illinois Congressional candidate joins me now. Catalina, good to see you. Congressman Kinzinger has won comfortably in your district for a few cycles now. He outperformed President Trump in the last election by I think about 10 points or so. So why do you think this is an opportunity to unseat him?

CATALINA LAUF, (R) RUNNING AGAINST ADAM KINZINGER: Thanks for having me on, Laura. The voters and the constituents clearly didn't know who he was. The last few months here he's been prancing around MSNBC, bashing former President Trump, not actually doing any work for the constituents. And so I'm really excited to be able to really uncover the lack of servant leadership that he has been delivering for the constituents. It's time that we hold people like Adam Kinzinger accountable. They are not doing what we hired them to do. Instead he's using taxpayer money to go on all these liberal media shows, and --

INGRAHAM: I want to play some of that. I want to play some of that, Catalina, because he is very comfortable when he is in a friendly forum on cable news. Watch.

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REP. ADAM KINZINGER (R-IL): What we have had for the last four years of a president that's focused on division, stoking the darkness in everybody's heart.

Anger and fear and stoking division, that's what has to end. And nobody can call that out like somebody in their own party.

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INGRAHAM: And of course, Catalina, the media is reciprocating the love.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got the tip our hat to Adam Kinzinger. He is really being outspoken about this. But other than that, the courageous caucus is a very small caucus indeed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'd like Adam Kinzinger to come to my house for brunch.

CHRIS CUOMO, ANCHOR, CNN: You also have to figure out why you're such a rare animal. I was talking about you this weekend, one of my favorite pastimes.

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INGRAHAM: Love is in the air, Catalina. Again, doesn't this just confirm that Kinzinger is more in touch with the Democrats than he is with the Republican Party?

LAUF: Absolutely. And he's playing into exactly what the leftwing media wants him to play into, which is that the Republican Party is going through this civil war, that we are rejecting Trumpism. He's becoming the poster child of that. Where was Adam when BLM was destroying the suburbs of Illinois? Where was Adam when our governor, J.B. Pritzker was sitting there politicizing the COVID-19 response? Why wasn't he encouraging small businesses back home? He's totally comfortable with getting money from Bill Gates who believes that we should be eating synthetic beef. What do the Illinois 16th farmers think about that? This is just, its ridiculousness. And frankly, people of had enough.

INGRAHAM: I think the way to grow the GOP is through conservative Hispanics, people who care about small business and freedom and religious liberty. And Catalina, I'm very excited about this. We'll be watching it really closely. Thanks so much for joining us.

To secede or not secede, that's a question Oregonians in five counties are going to face in an upcoming special election. Voters in conservative leaning and largely rural regions of the state are going to decide on May 18th if they want to remain in blue Oregon or join ride Idaho. So far, two Oregon counties have approved the greater Idaho measure and two have rejected it.

Joining me now is Mike McCarter, president of Move Oregon's Border, the group that is spearheading the effort. Mike, joining Idaho requires the approval of state legislatures, including Oregon's as well as Congress, both of which are controlled by Democrats. So how can this possibly succeed, or is this a cable segment we're doing tonight?

MIKE MCCARTER, PRESIDENT, MOVE OREGON'S BORDER: Well, Laura, first of all, it's great to be able to talk to you. If we don't try, how are we going to find out if it's going to happen? And the people are starting to speak, out and they're fighting for their conservative lives in rural Oregon, because our Oregon legislature and leadership from the governor, it stinks. I'm sorry, they don't give a darn about what we're doing in rural Oregon or how we feel about some of the things that they're passing through legislation.

INGRAHAM: They look down on the country people. They think you're backward, you don't have progressive enough morality. You drive big pickup trucks, you have probably too many kids. They just look down on you. And I think the regular working-class folks just get sick of that after a while. They get tired of it.

MCCARTER: Not only that, Laura, the way they look down on us, they don't allow us to put any information or suggestions or critique of bills that are being, trying to be passed. And for the most part, from what I see, they use rural Oregon as their playground. They come over here to hunt and fish and play in the white water, or play in the water, ski, and things like that, and then they go back home to the urban areas.

INGRAHAM: Portland, as we know, is at war with its own police department. Mayor Ted Wheeler said this last month.

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MAYOR TED WHEELER (D-OR), PORTLAND: We want to make sure that the police bureau does their work the right way, that it's reflective of the communities' demands, in particular around racial justice and equity. The council has taken many steps together in recent weeks since the murder of George Floyd to bring some of that to fruition.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Mike, have these steps actually helps keep people safe in the state?

MCCARTER: Heavens no. Portland is a black eye for the state of Oregon. You look at what's going over there, the destruction, the lack of justice, it just sticks in our craw over here in rural Oregon. We believe in traditional values. We believe in families, faith. We believe in the Constitution, and we believe in justice. And it's not being done over there. They are just letting it go.

INGRAHAM: Mike, we wish you all the best and we'll be watching this closely. Thanks so much.

MCCARTER: Thank you, Laura, very much, for talking to us tonight.

INGRAHAM: Defining the real future of the GOP, tonight's Last Bite explains.

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INGRAHAM: The unofficial kickoff of the 2020 GOP primaries, well, it has already begun at CPAC.

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GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): Anyone can spout conservative rhetoric. We can sit around and have academic debates about conservative policy. And I'm not saying you don't do any of that, but the question is, when the klieg lights get hot, when the left comes after you, will you stay strong, or will you fold?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Wow, Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida.

It's not the only speech, of course, that is going to make some waves. Sources tell us, and our own John Roberts, that during his CPAC speech into two days, Donald Trump will say the only divide in the GOP is between the grassroots, working-class people, and just a handful of beltway insiders. Additionally, apparently, he does name names. It's Trump. Of course, he's going to do that. We look forward to that.

Have a great weekend. Have time with your family. Enjoy your freedom if you still have it.

That's all the time we have tonight. Shannon Bream and the FOX NEWS AT NIGHT take it all from here.

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