Byron York: Teachers unions continuing effort to become most unpopular group in US
'Special Report' All-Star panel discusses Democrats messaging on critical race theory and crime
This is a rush transcript from "Special Report with Bret Baier," July 7, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
EMANUEL: President Biden was in Illinois today, met with Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Violence in major cities, including Chicago, a huge concern right now.
Let's bring in our panel, Byron York, chief political correspondent of "The Washington Examiner," Jonathan Swan, national political reporter for "Axios," and Jonah Goldberg, editor in chief of "The Dispatch." Gentlemen, welcome. Byron, your thoughts on the crime crisis we're seeing in major cities coast to coast?
BYRON YORK, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, "THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER": Well, we just heard Mayor Lightfoot saying she is doing absolutely everything that can be done. And that's just self-evidently not true. Now, lately she and the police chief have taking to blaming some judges, some of the courts, for bonding out, for freeing violent suspects. And there's something to that. That's really part of the problem. But they are focused totally -- Democrats, Mayor Lightfoot, the Biden administration, on the question of guns.
And if you listen to President Biden's crime address a while back, it was just Democratic same old, same old. We've got to get assault weapons out of the hands of criminals. The fact is long guns play a very, very small part in the violence crisis in Chicago. It's handguns, handguns all over the place. So Democrats do not seem to be equipped to deal with the problem they are facing right now.
EMANUEL: At the White House Jen Psaki suggested some of this is seasonal. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president continues to work to address violent crime. We have seen raids go up over the last 18 months around the country, including in the city of Chicago. We see spikes in violent crime typically during summer months, often, unfortunately, during holiday weekends. And we saw that over the last weekend.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
EMANUEL: Jonathan, your thoughts?
JONATHAN SWAN, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, "AXIOS": Well, crime is the last thing that the Biden White House wants to be talking about. The only context in which they wanted to be talking about crime in Biden's first year as president was in the context of criminal justice reform and increased accountability for police officers.
But the homicide rates that are increasing in cities across the country have forced this issue on to their plate. And what I have learned from my reporting is that there are several Democrats who are quite influential in the party who are close to the White House who have been urging them, actually, for months that they need to get in front of this issue, that this issue is salient with voters. And, in fact, many believe who analyze the polling that the defund the police issue helped Republicans pick up seats in the House in the 2020 elections and is a real political liability for Joe Biden even though he himself has said that he doesn't support defunding the police.
So, the fact that the White House is talking about this issue and trying to frame it on their own terms is revealing in and of itself because it's not something they want to talk about. They want to be talking about COVID and vaccines and the economy all day long.
EMANUEL: Jonah, obviously the biggest impact is this these communities where violence is way up. But what about the political impact?
JONAH GOLDBERG, "THE DISPATCH": Yes, first of all, I really like the talking point that it's seasonal. If it's seasonal, that means it's predictable, and maybe you should have been ready for it rather than taken by surprise for it.
But more broadly, I think this is one of the lowest hanging fruits that could be possibly in front of Joe Biden. He actually has a record about putting more cops on the street going back to the crime bill. The rank and file Democratic voters are way to the right of the sort of blue checkmark Twitter crowd that seems to drive the messaging in all of this stuff, and the D.C. media elite. The average Democratic voter cares a lot about crime. We just saw that in New York City. He could very easily send a signal breaking with the people who have a stranglehold on the messaging of the Democratic Party by actually taking a popular position and taking crime and border security seriously.
EMANUEL: Another red hot topic right now, even though it's the middle of summer, Critical Race Theory in the classroom. Let's play this clip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY SAND, CALIFORNIA TEACHERS EMPOWERMENT NETWORK: Randi Weingarten is talking about Critical Race Theory as if it's fact. It is not fact. It is a theory.
RANDI WEINGARTEN, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS: Culture warriors are labeling any discussion of race, racism, or discrimination as CRT to try to make it toxic.
We teach history, not hate.
IAN PRICE, PARENT: They're being taught specifically that white people are bad. The way you constantly hit our kids in the head with white people did this, white people did this. Black people did this, black people did that. Hispanic people did this, Hispanic people did that. They tend to formulate those thoughts of hate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
EMANUEL: Randi Weingarten calling it honest history. Byron, lead us off.
YORK: Well, I think the teachers' unions are continuing their effort to become the most unpopular group in America. After a year of showing that they did not want to be in classrooms teaching children, now they are taking this side on the CRT debate. And, besides, Randi Weingarten says the union has a large war chest to file suit against state legislators and localities that ban Critical Race Theory. But those are groups, legislatures, localities, that do have the right, the responsibility to help set school curricula.
And, by the way, not everything is allowed in. Remember "Huckleberry Finn," "To Kill a Mockingbird." What about all the Dr. Suess stuff? Controlling what is in school curricula is what local authorities do without lawsuits from the American Federation of Teachers.
EMANUEL: Jonathan, your thoughts?
SWAN: Well, this issue, it interesting, I have been trying to understand from the Republican point of view why they see it as such a good issue politically. I still haven't seen enough raw polling and focus group information to put my finger on it. But what's clear from what we do know is that it's definitely an issue that resonates with Republican voters. And what Republicans who are running from office believe is it's going to be an issue that effects swing voters and suburban women, some of these groups that they have drifted away from the Republican Party during the Trump years.
So certainly, any time I talk to a candidate who is running for office, and they're the ones who are spending a ton of money on the research and the data, they see this as one of the most positive issues they have. So I'm watching it pretty closely from that perspective.
EMANUEL: Jonah, your thoughts?
GOLDBERG: I think Jonathan is right. We have seen a mass exodus of what were once traditional Republican voters. Suburbanite married couples raising, college educated, they have fled the Republican Party to vote for Joe Biden. And this seems like one of the very few issues that can pull some of them back while also still holding onto the more Trump-ified base. It makes sense that Republicans are going after it. It's also true that some of them are exaggerating, and it's also true that the left is exaggerating. But the core issue about treating people equally, the Republicans are on the right side of it, and it's smart politics for them to be on it.
EMANUEL: We'll stay on it.
When we come back, tomorrow's headlines.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
EMANUEL: Finally tonight, a look at tomorrow's headlines. Byron York, lead us off, please.
YORK: We've had a new wave of ransomware attacks. It's coming from Russia, we know that. So my headline for tomorrow is, Biden promises to get tough on Putin, any day now.
EMANUEL: Jonathan Swan, your turn.
SWAN: My headline is J.D. Vance emerges as one to watch in Ohio Senate race.
EMANUEL: Interest, battleground Ohio, always a hot race when you are looking at the balance of power in the United States Senate. Jonah, you are up.
GOLDBERG: Randi Weingarten, the head of the American Federation of Teachers, insists that no Marxism is being taught in America's schools, but she will defend to the death teachers who teach honest economics against the running dog capitalist pigs.
EMANUEL: Byron, Jonathan, Jonah, thanks so much, have a great evening, gentlemen.
Tomorrow on SPECIAL REPORT, how the firearms industry is trying to blow up the nomination of the president's pick to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
Thank you for watching SPECIAL REPORT. I'm Mike Emanuel. It's been a pleasure.
"FOX NEWS PRIMETIME" hosted by Mark Steyn starts right now. Mark, good evening. Have an awesome show.
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