Sen. Barrasso 'surprised' Manchin agreed to vastly pared back version of Build Back Better
Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., argues that every Republican is against the reconciliation bill because it will 'burn a deeper hole into the wallets and the savings accounts' of Americans.
This is a rush transcript from "Sunday Morning Futures," July 31, 2022. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
MARIA BARTIROMO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Good Sunday morning, everyone. Welcome to "Sunday Morning Futures." I'm Maria Bartiromo.
Today: amateurish, underwater and dangerous. This week, we learned what many expected. The economy is in recession. But instead of leading with a path forward, the Biden administration decided to mislead the American people again, going on full spin control mode, attempting to redefine what recession really means, and instead pushing a new talking point, transition.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN DEESE, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: The United States in a better place than almost any other country globally to deal with the serious global challenges that we face, with inflation being first and foremost among them.
So we are in the midst of this transition.
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: That's what we are, after a strong economy, a transition into more stable and steady growth.
JANET YELLEN, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: That's appropriate and necessary to transition from rapid growth and recovery.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's no doubt we expect growth to be slower last -- than last year, for the rapid clip we had. But that's consistent with the transition to a stable, steady growth and low inflation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARTIROMO: Yes, unfortunately, the transition to a recession is working.
Coming up, Wyoming Senator John Barrasso on the reality of 40-year-high inflation and the potential job cuts to come.
Plus: Were the Republicans outsmarted again with a CHIPS bill and plans for more spending and tax increases?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): We have never spent this much money, even as much as we had originally.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARTIROMO: Then: all the wrong priorities.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm Kamala Harris. My pronouns are she and her. I'm a woman sitting at the table wearing a blue suit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARTIROMO: Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk and New York Post communist Miranda Devine on the Democrats' priorities and the people's business, including the first family and selling influence, the impact of a compromised commander in chief.
Plus: the FBI exposed, first pushing lies over Trump collusion, then hiding evidence during a presidential impeachment trial, all the while covering up serious influence peddling, which has put America in serious danger. Now communist China threatens the president and the speaker of the House, forcing the Pentagon to get involved.
Coming up, former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe on China's plans to invade Taiwan, while the FBI and the DOJ are playing politics, plus Biden's two-hour phone call with Xi Jinping.
Then: Liz Cheney has been the face of the January 6 Committee and the new darling of the Democrats, while her Republican challenger is winning over Wyoming voters. House candidate Harriet Hageman is here with her plan to unseat Cheney in November.
It's all right here, right now, on "Sunday Morning Futures."
And first this morning: President Biden with COVID again, testing positive on Saturday after testing negative for four days prior.
Even before the second case of COVID, worries heightened over the commander in chief's mental capacity and ability to lead.
Here's Dr. Ben Carson on this program last week, calling Biden's condition a national security risk.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN CARSON, FORMER U.S. HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT SECRETARY: Well, there's no question he's in that age range that puts him in at increased risk. And he has underlying problems as well.
So it is a serious issue. The good thing, of course, is, he has access to the best medical care in the world at Walter Reed. So I suspect he will get through it. But I hope and pray, like many others, that he will recover from that.
But that still leaves the problems with his ability to communicate appropriately, not to make gaffes and to create confidence. One of the things that a leader is supposed to do is to create confidence in those who are following him. And we have exactly the opposite of that.
And he's the laughingstock around the world. This is not good for America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARTIROMO: And, this week, Senator Chuck Schumer will try to amass more support for a new version of Biden's Build Back Better agenda, after getting the support of West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin to spend additional hundreds of billions of dollars on Biden's climate change priority, while also raising taxes.
Joining me right now is a member of Senate leadership. He is Wyoming Senator John Barrasso.
Senator, it's great to have you this morning. Thanks so much for being here.
SEN. JOHN BARRASSO (R-WY): Great to be with you, Maria. Thank you.
BARTIROMO: So, before we get into this new spending-and-tax package, let me get your thoughts as a doctor.
You are an orthopedic surgeon, as well as a leader in the Senate. Your thoughts on this reinfection with COVID that President Biden is facing now?
BARRASSO: Well, it's certainly a concern. We want the president to fully recover.
But we do know that people who have been reinfected have higher health risks going forward, health risks of long-term COVID and health risks in terms of heart, lungs, even neurologic issues, and bigger problems with fatigue. So we hope that the president doesn't fall into that category. We want him to recover fully.
BARTIROMO: Absolutely. We are praying for that, for sure.
Let me get your take on the agenda, Senator. Last week, your colleague on the left Joe Manchin agreed with Senator Chuck Schumer to spend hundreds of billions of dollars more and raise taxes to pay for it. Were you blindsided by this?
BARRASSO: Well, I know Joe has been working on this, but let's take a look at what happened last week.
We saw economic numbers continue to come out. We saw the president's poll numbers continue to fall. He's at historic levels. He's pushing for the Life Alert button because he's fallen and he can't get up.
And the problem with what Manchin and the Democrats are proposing here is, the American public is having a hard time keeping up. They just can't do it. You can't afford a full tank of gas. You can't afford a week's worth of groceries.
And what Manchin and the Democrats and the president are now proposing are the two cardinal sins that you don't want to do when the economy is in such a dire situation. Number one is, they want to raise taxes in the middle of a recession. Now, I know Joe Biden says it's not a recession.
But if you Google recession, it's a recession. Two-thirds of the American people believe we're in a recession. They're living it. The other is, they want to do massive government spending. They have a 725-page bill, and it's over a billion dollars a page.
At the time when we're at 40-year-high inflation, this is going to make inflation worse.
BARTIROMO: Yes, I want to get your take on this $80 billion to double the number of IRS agents as well.
But you're mentioning the $369 billion energy and climate efforts. Only in Washington can you come out with more hundreds of billions of dollars in spending and call it an Inflation Reduction Act, Senator. We know how inflation got stoked. We have the inflation timeline right here.
Consumer prices are up 9.1 percent in the last reading, and they were at 1.4 percent when Joe Biden walked into the Oval Office. How is it possible that your colleagues are voting for something that will likely make inflation worse? Do you believe inflation gets worse as a result of this?
BARRASSO: I believe inflation gets worse.
The experts who are looking at it believe -- experts believe that the inflation will get worse. Look, this is false advertising by the Democrats. This is the last big wish, a dying wish of a party that knows they're going to get shellacked come November. They have all the spending and the taxes in this that they have been trying to get.
There's no guarantee that is going to get passed. And we can talk about that in a second. But the things that are in this, look, this is the parade of horribles from last year. They are hiring 86,000 additional IRS agents. That's not just to go after a couple of big companies. They're coming after families, farmers, small businesses.
And what do they want to use the money for? They're going after energy producers, so they can give subsidies and pay people to buy electric vehicles. These are going to go to rich people. This is going to make the pain at the pump worse. It's going to drive up inflation, and it's going to hurt the economy even more, Maria.
BARTIROMO: Yes, it's just incredible.
Does it pass? I know that you have got a week back at work before you go on recess in the Senate. What's happening this upcoming week? And how will Senator Sinema take on this?
BARRASSO: Well, you make the important point here that Senator Sinema hasn't -- I know she felt blindsided by this.
And she has a spine of steel. She's not going to easily be twisted. The interesting thing is that Joe -- Joe Manchin has bought into this. There are things included in this bill that last year he called shell games and smoke and mirrors and accounting gimmicks.
So I'm not sure what Chuck Schumer promised him, but I think he's going to regret making this decision to sign onto this. Every Republican is against it, because we know it is going to burn a deeper hole into the wallets and the savings accounts of American people.
In terms of, will this pass, they need all 50 Democrats on board and in the room, Maria. And what we know is that, due to COVID and due to surgery of some of the Democrat members, they haven't had 50 senators show up for work in well over a month.
So, this is far from done.
BARTIROMO: Well, I mean, I think you make a good point.
But if it doesn't pass, is it just pure luck? I mean, let's face it, Senator. Your colleagues continue to disappoint on many levels. Did the Republicans get duped again? That's what Kim Strassel wrote in The Wall Street Journal this week. I know you saw that op-ed.
But they introduced this new version of Build Back Better under a new name just hours after they get the CHIPS bill passed. You did not vote for the CHIPS bill. What is going on with your colleagues handing the Democrats a win, when, everywhere you look, there is another blowup, when you have a wide open border, and they refuse to acknowledge it?
What's wrong with your colleagues?
BARRASSO: Well, number one, as you know, I did not vote for that bill. I thought it spent too much money and focused on a specific industry.
But, no, I never trusted Chuck Schumer. I knew he was going to continue to try to put together some reckless tax-and-spending bill to the final moment of the final day of the fiscal year. So I knew he wasn't going to stop. No Republican should ever believe Chuck Schumer.
With regard to the bill that passed, there are Republicans and Democrats who know we have a specific problem with China. I say never again can we be dependent on China for medicines, for materials, for important minerals. Never again.
They're trying to get at a problem. I just think it didn't provide what we needed to do to prevent China from stealing our trade secrets. I have been on the conference committee for that bill. The votes were there. I'm not surprised it passed.
What I am surprised is that Joe Manchin has signed on to Chuck Schumer's bill. I'm not surprised that Chuck Schumer will continue to tell people anything that it will help him go very, very liberal with his agenda.
BARTIROMO: Well, Senator, I guess what I'm asking you is, should the Republicans be doing better at this point?
Look everywhere, whether it's inflation, whether it's wide-open border, foreign policy disasters like Afghanistan. China, he refuses to call an adversary, only a competitor. And look at the congressional generic ballot and the congressional vote preference that we have here, Democrat 41 percent, Republican 44 percent.
Shouldn't the gap the wider? Shouldn't Republicans be winning? And shouldn't it be an assumption that the Republicans take over not just the House, but the Senate as well? Why these numbers, in your view?
BARRASSO: Well, I'm very optimistic about the elections in November. It's still 100 days away.
Maria, this is going to be a rejection election. The American people are going to reject the Democrats and Joe Biden because of the things that you just mentioned, crushing inflation, chaos at the border, crime in the cities. This is a reason to eliminate and to remove and to defeat all of the Democrats who are on the ticket.
We need to take the majorities, so we can stop this reckless agenda, radical agenda that the Democrats have. We need to get back to the job of building the economy, not building the government, which is what the Democrats want to do.
BARTIROMO: Yes. Real quick before...
BARRASSO: We take over the Senate, I will be chairman of the Energy Committee, and we will -- go ahead.
BARTIROMO: Go ahead. No, you please continue. You will be chairman of the Energy....
BARRASSO: We take over the Senate, I will be chairman of the Energy Committee.
BARTIROMO: Yes. Yes.
BARRASSO: I will be chairman of the Energy Committee.
And we will put on Joe Biden's desk bills that will actually bring down the cost of energy by drilling and getting the permits to do the infrastructure. We will hold this administration accountable.
BARTIROMO: Real quick, I want to get your take on why your colleagues voted for the CHIPS Act. Was it because the liberal universities want more money?
And how do they explain that this administration wants every accounting in everybody's account? They want to know any time you take $600 out of your account or have a transaction of $600. Wasn't that the proposal in the initial Build Back Better?
BARRASSO: Well, there are a couple of things there.
Look, I have great concerns with China. And this is the new battlefield of the 21st century. It's not just weaponry. It's information, as China tries to be the military, the economic and the technological superpower of the world. We can't stop. We have to continue to work to stop them from allowing that to happen.
That's what our focus needs to be. And we have members that have been working to do that. I think this bill didn't accomplish it.
The other issue we raised...
BARTIROMO: And that's -- you're referring -- yes.
BARRASSO: ... of the taxes, these...
BARTIROMO: Yes, go ahead.
BARRASSO: I mean, in terms of their Build Back Better, they're coming after everybody with raising taxes.
That's who they're going after, families and farmers, everyone, in an effort to pay for liberal things that I think are going to make the economy worse. It's going to make inflation worse, deepen a recession.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
BARRASSO: These guys, it looked like what they're doing, the Democrats are trying to do, is get to double-digit -- double-digit inflation.
We want to get inflation down.
BARTIROMO: Wow.
BARRASSO: Their proposals actually seem to raise it.
BARTIROMO: Senator, thank you very much for being here and for your leadership.
Senator John Barrasso.
Quick break, then Miranda Devine and Charlie Kirk on brand-new evidence they say ties Joe Biden directly to his son Hunter Biden's business deals in China just weeks before the 2020 election.
Will Democrats and the media use it to throw the president under the bus and off the 2024 ticket?
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. RONNY JACKSON (R-TX): This is going to continue to get worse, and they're going to have to do something about it.
Now, I don't know if they will go so far as to enact the 25th Amendment or to talk him into resigning based on this cognitive issue and admit that they were wrong about that. But there are other ways that they could get rid of him.
And I see them looking the other way while some of this -- some of this Hunter Biden stuff blows up, and maybe just letting him fall on his sword like that. I think that they will look for opportunity to throw him under the bus in the next few years and try to -- or in the next few months and try to get rid of him, because I know that -- I think that they also know he cannot make it to the end of this term in 2024.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARTIROMO: Well, that was former White House physician and Congressman Ronny Jackson on the program earlier this month questioning Joe Biden's ability to lead amidst talk on both sides of the aisle about who will be the Democrat nominee in 2024, despite Joe insisting that he plans to run for reelection, this as the president's approval rating hit a new low this week of 38 percent.
Joining me right now on whether Biden will be on the ballot in 2024, let alone finish his first term, is Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk. He's out with a new book, "The College Scam: How America's Universities Are Bankrupting and Brainwashing Away the Future of America's Youth." He is here, along with Miranda Devine, a FOX News contributor and author of the "Laptop from Hell: Hunter Biden, Big Tech, and the Dirty Secrets the President Tried to Hide."
Good morning to you both. Thank you so much for being here.
Miranda, I want to get to your latest reporting that you say proves Joe Biden knew about Hunter's deals.
But, first, do you agree with Ronny Jackson that he may not be able to finish this first term?
MIRANDA DEVINE, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Look, I think there's probably a 50/50 chance of that, although the big obstacle for the Democrats changing horses midstream is Kamala Harris, whose popularity is really rock bottom and her performance is woeful.
But, look, Joe Biden has done what they brought him in to do. And that was to fool American voters into thinking that he was a moderate, that he would unify the country, that he was honest Joe. And I think the opinion polls show that the American people have been red-pilled. They now see who Joe Biden really is. And there's no coming back from that.
So I think, probably, they will use long COVID or some health reason to bundle him off, if they do decide to do that. I don't think that they will use the Hunter Biden embarrassment that is going to come down the pike next year.
But Joe Biden certainly won't want to give that any credence. So, whether or not they use Joe Biden's sort of feebleness to morally blackmail the Republicans into not pressing hard on his family's corruption is another issue.
BARTIROMO: Charlie, what about the Democrats and their plans to set up a different candidate for 2024?
We have got a new survey by University of New Hampshire. Pete Buttigieg is leading the pack. Joe Biden comes in at number two. Kamala Harris is at number seven.
Your thoughts on his own party setting the stage for a different candidate?
CHARLIE KIRK, FOUNDER, TURNING POINT USA: Yes, there's so much to take away from that poll. The sitting vice president is number seven in a New Hampshire poll and the head of transportation is number one?
Anyway, yes, so, look, I don't think Joe Biden is going to run in 2024. I actually think he's going to finish his term, because he's actually more useful that way. Whether it be some sort of health excuse, or whether it be some sort of legal excuse that they don't actually say publicly, it's all about politics.
The approval ratings are just abysmal, especially with younger voters, by the way, Maria. And we're seeing a great realignment happening right now that are making a lot of Democrats incredibly nervous. Hispanics are becoming Republicans in record numbers.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
KIRK: Young people are defecting from the Democrat Party.
And, because of this, I think Democrats are saying, wait a second, we have to get a new leader and change things completely.
BARTIROMO: And then a very serious situation developing around China. China's watching Biden's weakness, preparing a power grab, not just in Taiwan, but right here on U.S. soil, including at dozens of college campuses.
More on that after this break. And we will also get into the big guy.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN RATCLIFFE, FORMER U.S. DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: Let me be clear. The intelligence community doesn't believe that, because there's no intelligence that supports that.
And we have shared no intelligence with Chairman Schiff or any other member of Congress that Hunter Biden's laptop is part of some Russian disinformation campaign. It's simply not true.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARTIROMO: And that was the truth in October 2020. It was former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe setting the record straight with me on the legitimacy of Hunter Biden's laptop on "Mornings With Maria" back in October of 2020, just weeks before the election.
He will join us later in the hour this morning to weigh in on a new whistle-blower's claim that the FBI falsely labeled the laptop as disinformation to help Joe win the election.
And we're back with Miranda Devine and Charlie Kirk.
And, Miranda, we saw all of the spies who lied, and The Post put it on the cover, right in the face of what John Ratcliffe was telling us. He told the truth, and 50 others were signing their name to this disinformation note.
Your reaction, as we see this text from James Gilliar saying: "I don't see how this would work for them."
Your thoughts on what we saw there with the 50 intelligence agents lying? What can you tell us now?
DEVINE: Well, look, this new communication is really a bombshell.
And it comes from a whistle-blower who has gone to the Republican congressional investigators who are looking into Hunter Biden's laptop. And it's from James Gilliar, former special forces from -- in the U.K., links to the U.K. intelligence.
He's heard here talking to another of Hunter's associates about The New York Post story, which had just come out that day in October 2020, blowing the first story that we had on the laptop. And they're panicked. They're discussing it. What are the implications? Are -- is Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, Joe's campaign going to throw us under the bus?
And James Gilliar responds basically with scenarios, saying, no, the big guy is not going to throw us under the bus, effectively. He refers to Joe Biden as the big guy. So this is just the sort of clinching moment that we needed to say -- corroborate what Tony Bobulinski has already told us, which is that, yes, Joe Biden is the big guy who was in the laptop receiving 10 percent of one of the biggest deals that Hunter Biden and his uncle, Jim Biden, did with the Chinese.
BARTIROMO: It just is unbelievable.
Charlie, the FBI, meanwhile, just warned us that China is trying to influence our elections. Obviously, they got their guy in there in 2020, and buying up land near U.S. military bases, critical infrastructure.
KIRK: Right.
BARTIROMO: You're concerned about the Confucius Institutes' centers on college campuses across the country.
And we just heard from John Barrasso. One of the reasons he believes some of his colleagues voted for the CHIPS pact is because those liberal universities are getting a ton of money.
KIRK: Yes.
BARTIROMO: And they want to continue getting that money. And it's coming from the CCP.
KIRK: It's a massive handout to higher education, a broken cartel. I talk about part of that in my book "The College Scam."
But, Maria, you hit on something so important, which is, the Chinese infiltration is everywhere. It's our farmland. It's our universities. It's in our sports. It's in Hollywood. It's in our banking system. I mean, just one example, you have the Chinese Communist Party finalizing a land transaction in North Dakota right near Grand Forks Air Force Base that even Democrats and national intelligence is saying, this is not a good idea.
Yet the Republican governor of North Dakota is inviting the CCP to go buy this farmland right near our military installations. You mentioned the Confucius Institutes. The Confucius Institutes are Chinese Communist Party installations on American college campuses that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has said, this is a major national security threat.
Now, thankfully, some of those are finally starting to shut down, but there's still dozens of them across the country. In what world is it acceptable, prudent or wise for America to invite our greatest enemy -- you call it an adversary or rival, whatever -- they're not our friend -- into our universities, our farmland, our schools, near our children?
It is backwards. And it is, for some -- for some reason that I can't quite figure out, Maria, we are doing this to ourselves.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
KIRK: I hope that these new Republican candidates will start to draw the line and say, China has no business in our farmland or our schools.
BARTIROMO: Well, under the Trump administration, we were seeing a consistent string of indictments for the surveillance and for the intellectual property theft.
But, of course, Joe Biden canceled the China Initiative, Miranda. And now we see that the agencies -- I mean, how many times can Christopher Wray tell us that China is the biggest threat and then do nothing about it? What's wrong with the FBI? We're going to talk with John Ratcliffe coming up, as we are following this and have been for a long time.
The FBI does not seem to be working for the American people, Miranda. I know you're working on a piece this week about this.
DEVINE: No, it doesn't.
And, look, there's just been a string of failures and scandals with the FBI, Ruby Ridge, the gymnastics, NASA, the Russia hoax, now Hunter Biden. And there's never any accountability.
And Christopher Wray is showing up on Thursday in front of the Oversight Committee to be grilled. He always has a smirk on his face. He seems to be very happy with his own management of the agency, which is a disaster. I think the opinion polls show that the American people hold the FBI in contempt.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
DEVINE: That's a terrible thing for an agency that we spend $10 billion a year funding.
BARTIROMO: Yes. We're going to talk about that coming up with John Ratcliffe.
And, Charlie, congrats on the book...
KIRK: Thank you.
BARTIROMO: ... "The College Scam," examining the impact college is having for our country, inflation big time there as well.
Thank you to you both. We will continue to follow this situation.
Coming up: The FBI is under fire, from Lois Lerner's IRS scandal, to lies that Trump colluded with Russia, and Hunter Biden's laptop was disinformation. When did the FBI turn against truth and toward politics?
Former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe takes on the FBI's political campaigns and the impact from communist China, as we still do not know what Joe Biden discussed with Xi Jinping for two hours last Thursday.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE POMPEO, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: The Taiwanese are getting ready. They're prepared to do the hard work themselves.
But they're going to need support from the United States, from Japan, and from South Korea. These Southeast Asian countries -- I traveled to Singapore too -- these Southeast Asian countries are all worried. They know Xi Jinping is watching. He's watching America abandon Afghanistan in such a disastrous way.
He's watching the United States get rolled by Vladimir Putin. And Xi Jinping is watching the things that America is prepared to do to help our friends and allies around the world. If we -- if we don't help the Taiwanese people prepare to defend themselves, this will only embolden Xi Jinping.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARTIROMO: And that was former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on this program back in March.
This week, the Chinese Communist Party literally threatened the United States, first with Xi Jinping telling Joe Biden during a two-hour phone call the U.S. should not get involved with China's position toward Taiwan, saying -- quote -- "Those who play with fire will get burnt. Be clear- eyed," this after the CCP-run global state media threatened that the CCP could shoot down Nancy Pelosi's plane if she visited Taiwan.
Then the editor took down that tweet, and he massaged the wording. Pelosi will visit Singapore, Malaysia and Japan. She did not specify if she will go to Taiwan in her most recent press release.
Joining me right now to discuss this and how this trip was managed to begin with and the threat of communist China on America is former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe.
John, good afternoon to you. Thanks very much for being here this morning.
RATCLIFFE: You bet. Great to be with you, Maria.
BARTIROMO: Especially on this very important subject that you have been all over for several years first in the Congress, then as director of national intelligence.
Your thoughts on this trip of Nancy Pelosi and how it was managed? Will she go to Taiwan? Does she need to?
RATCLIFFE: Well, it's been mismanaged. It's been mismanaged by the Biden administration.
And, to this point, she does need to go for the sake of our national security, so that the American people see that the Chinese Communist Party is not the one dictating American foreign policy, that it is the American government doing that, but the Biden administration publicly talking about it ahead of time and then not backing up Nancy Pelosi with the media or on the call with President Xi Jinping.
I mean, I think we have come to expect that President Biden, his weakness comes through. We didn't have high expectations for that call, but, very clearly, he did not backup the speaker's right to go to Taiwan, and, as a result, President Xi is acting on that weakness.
Maria, one of the things that's very concerning here -- I listened to Secretary Pompeo, and his remarks regarding Taiwan are really spot on -- is, as you know, there's open source reporting about our intelligence community being concerned that China may move to invade Taiwan in the next 18 months.
We have long known in the intelligence community that, if the -- if the Chinese weren't able to -- the Chinese government was not able to reunite Taiwan politically, that they would do so militarily. But it's always been nebulous and indefinite in a timetable.
And we now know, from our own intelligence reporting and from our allies in the Indo-Pacific, that President Xi is talking about a timetable of moving on Taiwan in the next 18 months. And I don't think that's any -- that's not a coincidence that that happens to be the timetable during which Joe Biden will continue to be the American president.
He has -- as Secretary Pompeo said, we had this debacle in Afghanistan. The Biden administration lost and surrendered to the Taliban. They did not deter Vladimir Putin in Ukraine. And now we have got this unprecedented circumstance of China literally talking about an invasion of Taiwan through our intelligence community sources.
Any -- any one of these individually would have been -- individual events would have been historic and noteworthy. The fact that all three of these things are happening during the Biden administration really speaks to what a disaster he has been as a foreign policy president.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
And when you look at his policy, he keeps being soft on China. We just spoke with Miranda Devine, who broke so much news on all the money that the Biden family has taken in, reportedly more than $30 million from different deals. Then he fails to demand COVID origins investigation. He had a two- hour phone call with Xi Jinping.
We have no evidence that he brought up the COVID-19 origins. We have no evidence that he confronted him on the fentanyl trafficking. He canceled the China Initiative. So there's no more investigating all the property theft. He's considering lifting tariffs. He sent China oil from America's Strategic Reserve. He's pushing electric vehicles and solar panels and batteries, and they're made in China.
I mean, it's absolutely extraordinary. And then -- and then they start talking openly about a trip to Taiwan, forcing the Pentagon to get involved. So, on a practical basis, what does the Pentagon need to do now? Because they're -- China's already warning that they will respond.
RATCLIFFE: Well, absolutely.
So, the Pentagon now -- in response to the mismanaged Pelosi travel plans, the Pentagon has to be prepared. They have to move either carriers or fighters into place in the event that the Chinese would follow through on some of the -- some of the rhetoric that's been out there about confronting a Pelosi-led congressional delegation plane, all of this unnecessary.
To your point, there have always been questions about President Biden's weakness mentally, physically. Those issues continue to come up. But the concern also is, as you have pointed out, Maria, is, he has advisers that are soft on China, domestic and foreign policy advisers that worked for BlackRock and have been engaged with the Chinese Communist Party on multiple levels.
His policies have been soft across the board.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
RATCLIFFE: And then the issues about Hunter Biden and the role that that has played, and whether or not there's a financial element to the Biden family that has affected a weak China policy.
We just know that it's likely to continue. And, as we have talked about, that's why there is such a danger to our national security posture with Joe Biden as president right now, particularly as it comes to the Chinese Communist Party...
BARTIROMO: Very dangerous.
RATCLIFFE: ... our number one threat.
BARTIROMO: Very dangerous.
And not only that, but there's $14 million in armament that Taiwan has already paid for, and we haven't sent that equipment. They are owed that equipment. But we have got to wait for that for another time.
I have got to get your thoughts on the FBI. What is going on with the FBI continuing to play politics? Your thoughts on now this new report that whistle-blowers within the DOJ and FBI are saying that there was a scheme at the DOJ and the FBI to suppress all the information on Hunter Biden?
We have been through this umpteen times around the Russia hoax. What can you tell us about the FBI right now?
RATCLIFFE: Yes, this is sounding all too familiar to your viewers, Maria, a scheme at the FBI and the Department of Justice to influence political candidates or campaigns. We saw that with Page, Strzok, Comey, McCabe, Bruce Ohr.
But, at that time, Jim Comey was the FBI director and was complicit with regard to those efforts. The hope was that Chris Wray at the FBI would move away from the politicization at the FBI, but this whistle-blower complaint very clearly on his watch. The names have changed, but the allegations are the same, that these FBI agents were attempting to influence the outcome of the 2020 election by suppressing derogatory information about Hunter Biden and potentially Joe Biden.
And, Maria, here's what's important about this for your viewers to understand is, this is more than just about a two-tiered system of justice, about FBI agents being able to lie and get away with it, when the American people don't.
People need to understand that, when we talk about our intelligence authorities, it is the FBI that is the primary domestic authority for investigating and leading to the prosecution of election influence and election interference. It's really a problem when the agency that is -- that is responsible for investigating those things is engaged in those things.
And so I heard the conversation about a hearing on Capitol Hill, is, I would expect Republicans to be focusing with Director Wray on whether or not his FBI agents were engaged in election influence and election interference at a time where he was publicly backing me and Attorney General Barr.
You remember, as you pointed out -- you played that clip where I very clearly came out and said, look, Adam Schiff is making this information up. There is no Russian disinformation involved here. It is the -- Hunter Biden's laptop and the investigation is real. And that has proven to be true.
Christopher Wray backed that up with a public statement, along with the FBI director -- I mean, with the attorney general. But now we're finding out that there were FBI agents that were doing exactly the opposite and saying exactly the opposite and suppressing that -- that intelligence.
I would expect that to be the subject of much discussion on Capitol Hill this week.
BARTIROMO: So, maybe Adam Schiff was working with the FBI to push this narrative?
RATCLIFFE: Well, I think that's one of the reasons those investigations...
BARTIROMO: OK.
RATCLIFFE: Since Democrats have been in control of Congress, none of these things have happened, which is why I think a Republican-held Congress can finally get answers to this for the American people. And they should.
BARTIROMO: OK.
John, thanks so much.
RATCLIFFE: You bet. Thanks, Maria.
BARTIROMO: John Ratcliffe joining us.
Stay with us. We will be right back with Harriet Hageman.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): What the Democrats have done by creating inflation, the pain, just the points that you put up there, but put it in perspective.
If a person is paid on a salary, they have just lost an entire month of work for free because of the Biden administration.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
MCCARTHY: The border, that's a national security crisis, and they have done nothing but make it worse.
Then, when you look at the crime within our streets, you look what happened to Lee Zeldin...
BARTIROMO: Yes.
MCCARTHY: ... that's a direct effect of what the Democratic policies are.
There is going to be an opportunity in 107 days to change the course of history, a new direction, as we say in the Commitment to America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARTIROMO: And that was GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy on this program last week downplaying recent polls that show Democrats neck and neck with Republicans ahead of the midterm elections.
This USA Today/Suffolk University poll released on Thursday has Democrats with a 4 percent lead on a generic congressional ballot.
Harriet Hageman is running to help Republicans take back the House in November, but, first, she has to unseat Congresswoman Liz Cheney in Wyoming's GOP primary next month.
Harriet joins me right now.
Good morning to you, Harriet. Thanks very much for being here.
HARRIET HAGEMAN (R), WYOMING CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: Good morning, and thank you for having me.
BARTIROMO: Well, Liz Cheney has been focused on the committee for January 6.
Cheney told The New York Times last week that her alliance with the January 6 Committee Democrats is not political, but it's educational. She was born in Wyoming, but, of course, grew up in a Washington, D.C., suburb, only returned, and is now there.
Your thoughts on what's happening on the ground coming up to your primary?
HAGEMAN: Well, first, I don't believe that Liz was born in Wyoming. I believe that she was born in Wisconsin.
Setting that aside, what's going on, on the ground is that Liz Cheney does come to Wyoming and hasn't for quite some time. She will pop in every once in a while, flying a private plane, and go to a private home and have a handful of people that she talks to and a few donors here in Wyoming.
But, for the most part, she's completely abandoned Wyoming for, I guess, bigger and better things, according to what she may think.
I find that to be an interesting comment from her standpoint. The January 6 Committee is clearly political. Every aspect of it is political. The way we refer to it out here is a kangaroo court. They have already described that the sole purpose of it is to make sure that Donald Trump never gets near the Oval Office again.
So, it's a rather bizarre claim, and one that I think she's trying to rewrite history there, in terms of what the purpose of that committee is.
Out here in Wyoming, I am on the ground every day. We are at almost 37,000 miles driving around the state of Wyoming since I announced last September. Yesterday, we were in a parade in Rawlins (AUDIO GAP) 150 public events, as well as...
BARTIROMO: OK.
HAGEMAN: ... many other things here in Wyoming, again, since September.
BARTIROMO: Harriet, stay right there. We're going to take a short break and make sure your audio is right.
Wyoming is a national leader in energy production. I want to get your take on the White House's misleading claims about gasoline prices, as they push a new plan to bring solar energy to the masses.
That's next with Harriet Hageman.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: Well, welcome back.
We're back with Harriet Hageman, who's challenging Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney in Wyoming's 2022 primary.
And, Harriet, I want to get your take on Liz Cheney's new promotional material. She's trying to reach out to Democrats to vote for her. She's got this campaign literature on changing parties. Your thoughts on her literature that is pushing Wyoming to vote for her?
HAGEMAN: She's desperate.
I think that demonstrates that her own internal polling shows that we are far ahead, and she's trying whatever she can possibly do to try to find some way to save face. I think she's attempting to martyr herself over the January 6 Committee that she's working on.
It is absolutely reprehensible. This is a woman who claims to be a conservative. This is someone who claims to stand for the Republican ideals, but she doesn't.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
HAGEMAN: And the very moment that things get a little bit tough for her, she turns to the Democrats for support, which is what she's done with this committee as well.
BARTIROMO: And, of course, your state is an energy state. I saw your tweet on gasoline prices.
Harriet, real quick, what's your platform?
HAGEMAN: Well, my platform is taking our country back from the radical Democrats.
The failed energy policy and monetary policy is why we're seeing the extreme inflation that we are in this country. All of these -- all of these disasters are made -- manmade catastrophes.
BARTIROMO: OK.
Harriet...
HAGEMAN: The Biden administration has destroyed everything that it's touched.
BARTIROMO: Harriet, it's great to have you this week -- this weekend. Thanks very much.
Harriet Hageman joining us.
That will do it for us on "Sunday Morning Futures." I'm Maria Bartiromo. For more, you can watch us again today at 3:00 p.m. Eastern on FOX News.
Join us Wednesday. Check out FOX Nation 11:00 a.m. Eastern. I will be holding a summit on the crisis at the Southern border. We will be live from McAllen.
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