'The Five' react to Texas hitting zero COVID deaths
President Biden slammed the governor's plan to drop masks as 'Neanderthal thinking' months ago; reaction from 'The Five'
This is a rush transcript from "The Five," May 18, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
JESSE WATTERS, FOX NEWS HOST: Hello, everybody. I'm Jesse Watters along with Greg Gutfeld, Dana Perino, Juan Williams and Dagen McDowell. It's 5:00 in New York City and this is THE FIVE.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: Mr. President?
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED SATES OF AMERICA: This sucker is quick.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: Mounting crisis cease be damned. President Biden is more interested in driving electric vehicles and going pedal to metal on his massive socialist agenda. Gas shortages are still happening and prices at the pump are rising.
But Biden thinks it's best to tool around in the new electric F-150 and show off to reporters. The president in Michigan today trying to sell his $4 trillion green new deal infrastructure plan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: When I think of the climate crisis, beyond this devastation of lives and livelihoods and health of our very planet, I think jobs. I think jobs and I think climate change, good paying union jobs.
We're going to put Americans to work modernizing our roads, our highways, our ports, airports, rails and transit systems. America is back. America is back.
(APPLAUSE)
And the competition for the 21st century, the future will be built right here in America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: All right, Juan Williams, the electric Ford-150. Now, I want you to be honest here, Juan, knowing what you know about the American people and truck drivers, do you think the electric F-150 will sell? Yes or no?
JUAN WILLIAMS, FOX NEWS HOST: Yes.
WATTERS: Really?
WILLIAMS: I mean, yes, it's the best-selling car in America. I think we all know that and it's been that for a long time.
WATTERS: The electric? Not the electric.
WILLIAMS: No, I said the F-150. I think -- I'm pretty sure the Ford F-150 is the best-selling car in America. And so I think that when you put something new on what is already a very successful product, people are attracted. People will in fact, I think, flock to it.
You know, the thing about this as you talk about gas crisis, we didn't have a gas crisis, not like he is wasting time. We had a cyber-crisis in terms of an oil pipeline being hacked. I mean, it could have been hospital records. It could have been, you know, anything. We have a cybersecurity issue here and I'm sure we're going to pay attention and figure that out.
But, when you talk about electric cars, you got to realize it's not just Biden taking this initiative but that the car companies, G.M., for example, Ford, they have all said they are going to stop making gas-powered cars within the next 15, 20 years, Jesse. That's the future.
And I think what Biden is saying is we don't want Germany, we don't want Japan, we don't want Korea taking the lead. We want those jobs, the technology and the profits stamped made in the good old U.S.A.
WATTERS: All right. Well, I will bet you 10 grand right now in 15 years Detroit is still making gas powered cars. Dagen McDowell, here is the president playing around, having a little fun with the press and the car. Roll the tape.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: Mr. President, can I ask you a quick question on Israel before you drive away since it's all important?
BIDEN: No, you can't. Not unless you get in front of the car as I step on it. I'm only teasing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: Imagine if Trump said that? It's actually funny.
DAGEN MCDOWELL, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: That's what I was going to say. All those reporters would have been he is joking about people killed in the Gaza -- the Hamas, Israel conflict and he is threatening to run over a member of the White House Press Corps.
They would have been clutching their chest laid out on the asphalt, except for Jim Acosta who'd be standing in front of the T.V. reporting about how President Trump is trying to basically kill members of the press.
It's nice to see that Joe Biden has a little bit of giggle in his giddy up still left, so to speak. I wonder if he knows that Ford F-150 owners didn't vote for him. Certainly not people who have trailer hitches. But Juan is talking about will people buy the electric F-150 if the government gives them a big enough bribe.
The government has spent billions upon billions of dollars in subsidies to get people to buy electric vehicles. And every year, year after year, they still represent only 2 percent of all vehicles sold because the breakthrough technology is not there. They don't go far enough. They are not cheap enough. You can't fill them up as easily as a gasoline powered car.
And what's going to happen is, the subsidies, $100 billion in bribes in this infrastructure plan, $74 billion in charging stations, it will not be enough money for any of this to make sense so they're ultimately going to have to mandate that people buy these. Kamala Harris actually proposed that. No more gasoline powered cars.
So you're going to have a bunch of old kooks reminiscing about getting some nooky in the back of a Ford Fairlane and they are going to be deciding what kind of car you have to drive.
WATTERS: So, Greg, this is interesting. When Trump was president, Ford announced that they were going to build a big plant in Ohio, $900 million investment, 1,500 jobs create. And the second Joe Biden got elected, they said, you know what? We are going to build it in Mexico instead. And now the union workers are just freaking out. It kind of -- and they took the money for the subsidies for the electric. It kind of just shows you how they play the game.
GREG GUTFELD, FOX NEWS HOST: Well, I mean, first of all, if this were a country of rich liberals, the gas powered car would go away, but it's not. Because right now the only people buying Tesla are kind of rich lefties and some otherwise rich libertarians.
By the way, if you want to make electric cars the choice for Americans, you don't try to hit them with guilt and virtue signaling and tying to a climate crisis that does not exist. There is climate change, but to pretend that there is some kind of crisis, some of the things that Joe Biden said makes no sense.
It's like he is reading off a scrabble board as opposed to a teleprompter. What is this devastation of lives and livelihood? Can he be specific about that when he is talking about the climate crisis? Because it's not extreme weather because our own data says that that is not actually happening, that is not due to the climate crisis.
By the way, that's the only thing he could talk about in terms of crisis. It's incredible. And he says that China is leading the race in electric cars? Is that true? And if that's true? Why. Why would that be? Is it because they are building coal plants so fast you can't count them?
Is it because they are using slave labor? I don't want to know. I don't think he should be comparing us to China in that regard. This is a man who is killing pipelines while he is like lifting sanctions on a Russian pipeline -- what he called the Nord Stream.
So he is basically, I will give him this. He wrote -- he drove that truck in a straight line, which is more than I expected from him and so with that, I want to use an analogy. I'm going to use the analogy of a beautiful sleek car, okay.
That's the economy. That is the American economy. It's often built by Republicans and its run on incentives and disincentives directly linked to human behavior. Now, the Democrats are like that idiot dim wit brother who hops into the car when the Republicans are out of town doing work and then smashes the thing to bits.
And then the Republicans have to come home, wrestle the keys away from this punk, and then fix the car. That's what we're going through right now. We got four years of this. And then we're going to have to come back and fix this thing.
But, if you make an electric car that is cool, like the way the iPhone was designed so everybody wanted it, which I think Elon Musk is probably doing right now, people might buy a car because it's sweet-looking, that it's attractive.
We don't have a lot of design competition anymore in cars. So the person that designs a really beautiful car, electric or not, could win. That's the way you look at it. Create an appealing car and not a car that is supposed to play on lies and guilt. All right.
WATTERS: You know, Greg brings up a good point, Dana. I'm going to have Johnny fact check in the break. Have you ever heard of a Chinese electric car on the market? I haven't. But we're going to look into it to see if Biden is telling the truth. Go ahead.
DANA PERINO, FOX NEWS HOST: I'm not an expert on the Chinese car market although I will do some research and get back with you and Johnny and I will check that.
WATTERS: Thank you.
PERINO: But I know, obviously, they are trying to do a lot of things. I think Greg's point about letting the market decide means that actually the best will win. Okay, so that's what we should do. That's what we have always done.
And I appreciate that the administration wants to look ahead and, even at these car companies have said we're going to go in a different direction. We're going to go to electric. Well, that's great. But, in the meantime, I'm not saying there is a gas shortage necessarily, but there are definitely gas price increases.
And the president wants to pass a big, big infrastructure bill. Wants to spend $2 trillion and most Americans are looking at this situation going, okay, in the meantime, can you do something about the fact that it just cost me an extra $50 to fill up my tank.
They don't necessarily think 15 to 20 years ahead. So, that's why I think the White House tonight, just recently put out a memo talking about their economic approach, the economic outlook, what they are seeing and how they have been able to right the economy after COVID. Again, left to be seen.
Also, my last point is, I brought this up before. I just can't believe that there aren't reporters that want to drive news on the fact that the Secretary of Energy, Secretary Granholm, has all of this multimillions of stock in electric car company batteries. I mean, it's like, that's the story. It's got Pulitzer written right all over it and nobody wants to touch it. I don't get it.
WATTERS: Maybe "Watters' World" will win the Pulitzer when we discuss that this weekend.
PERINO: Oh, very good.
GUTFELD: Yes. Who are you going to have on?
WATTERS: I'm sure we're in the running for that.
GUTFELD: Jesse, who you're going to have on to talk about it?
WATTERS: Pete Hegseth.
(LAUGHTER)
WATTERS: No offense to Pete but is he great. Up next, President Biden called it Neanderthal thinking, but COVID cases and deaths in Texas have dropped big time since.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: The last thing, the last we need is a Neanderthal thinking and that in the meantime, everything is fine, take off your mask, forget it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUTFELD: Back in March, the president scolded Texas for getting rid of its mask mandate and opening up the state 100 percent. Since then cases and hospitalizations have been plunging. Texas reported zero COVID deaths on Sunday. Governor Greg Abbott responding today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREG ABBOTT, GOVERNOR OF TEXAS: At this point in time, we will never declare victory; however, it is interesting. I still have not yet received a phone call or an apology from the president. All the liberals and all the media in the state of Texas issued the same declaration. Some people said I had issued a death warrant. The people on the Democrat side, they want to push narratives where as what I was looking at was both math and science.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUTFELD: You know, Jesse, I think that was the most infuriating thing. Nearly everybody in the media whom they attacked they often would bill as murderers or they had blood on their hands. They went after DeSantis falsely on a number of smears. Anybody who talked about the viral leak they were called racist.
Trump had blood on his hands. Texans had blood on their hands. Meanwhile, they were protecting people like Cuomo. Do you think that they will actually apologize, Jesse?
WATTERS: No, I do not, Gregory Gutfeld. And you can just say Biden had blood on his hands, too, and you go back a year ago. He was against the travel ban.
GUTFELD: Right.
WATTERS: If he was president, how many Americans would have died from that? He wanted the lockdown longer. How many more businesses would he have crushed? He was against school openings at the time, against sports reopening.
He cast a lot of doubt on warp speed and raised a lot of suspicions which led to a lot of people hesitating. So, he was wrong on masks, too. I mean, almost every little quadrant of this last cycle, he has been wrong on.
But the media paints him as this guy that follows the science. I just think he is kind of looking for answers as he wanders blindly around. Update on the electric car deal in China, we're going to say it's mostly true with some caveats.
A company, Neo, has sold more cars that are electric than Tesla, but they cost 70 grand and they get huge subsidies from the communist Chinese government and are produced in a region known for unfair labor practices.
GUTFELD: So, slave labor. I was right.
WATTERS: I don't know about that.
GUTFELD: Also, the coal plants that they are building, generating the electricity, I'm right again. I think I should leave now while I'm ahead. I'll see you guys later. So, Dana --
WATTERS: Later, Greg.
GUTFELD: Dana, is Governor Abbott guilty of what I like to call Neanderthal privilege? He is essentially flaunting Texas' extraordinary simple common sense in our faces and we have to suck it up.
PERINO: Yes, and it's actually interesting. When he raised this morning that he hadn't received a phone call. You think like, actually, the Joe Biden before the White House, he might have actually made that call.
GUTFELD: Yes.
PERINO: And it would have been beneficial to him. You know, he wants to get this infrastructure bill done. He's got Democrats -- he doesn't have enough Democrats. Probably only has 45 Democrats, right, to pass it right now. So, he's got to look for some Republican support. Why not call somebody like Greg Abbott, like, you nailed it, man, and congratulations on that. Keep it up. We're going to be following suit. Hey, but while I have you on the phone, can I talk to you about this? I mean, just do a little politicking around here, Greg.
GUTFELD: Yes. You know, Dagen, I think that's why this is just me hypothesizing, and since I was right in the previous block, I'm probably right now or you can probably bet on it.
MCDOWELL: You're always right.
GUTFELD: I am. I can't help it.
MCDOWELL: Okay.
GUTFELD: This is -- I think this is the reason why President Joe said that all 50 states are declaring a decline because he had to wait for the blues to catch up with the reds in his way -- so he could blur the gaping gulf in success. The whole country is doing well, but he couldn't just say wow, the reds are doing way better.
MCDOWELL: Right. Those Neanderthals really knew what they were doing. But as a southerner, I completely expect this because people will always under estimate you and think you're stupid, quite frankly, based on where you're from and the way that you speak. But then you get -- I'm kind of a sore winner. I wouldn't take it as nicely as Governor Abbott did.
I would have been, you know, doing a little dance, but you get to step back and when you're right and you start winning, you can just watch their pomposity melt into horror.
But, one more thing what Jesse was saying, and to your point earlier, here is what Joe Biden said yesterday about masks. He is still saying this. He said the science now shows that your vaccination protects you as well as being masked.
PERINO: What?
GUTFELD: What?
MCDOWELL: Or better than being masked. Anyway, I will shut up.
GUTFELD: It's okay. You know, it's amazing, Juan, I sense that like when I'm looking at how great the Republican governors have done, DeWine, DeSantis, Abbott, and then you look at the Democrats, Gavin Newsom, Cuomo, they suck. This has got to just -- this is not going to be good for the Democratic Party in the long run. I just might pack it in, Juan.
(LAUGHTER)
WILLIAMS: Yes. It's just like you on the -- you and Jesse on the Chinese electric cars. Yes, we should all pack it in. You know, I just think you guys are spiking the football a little early here. Of course, that's Texas bravado. I love it, but it's, you know, you just have to look at the numbers and realize things are getting better nationwide and things are getting better in Texas.
But last week, according to the numbers, COVID deaths dropped 11 percent nationally, but in Texas they were up 7 percent. So you have to -- you know, let's -- we had a one day with no deaths and god bless him, thank you, but let's not pretend like oh, yeah, you know, Texas is doing so much better than everyone else.
WATTERS: Wait Juan, is 7 percent like two to four?
WILLIAMS: I mean, Biden made -- let me say -- hey, Jesse, let me finish. Jesse, stop. I am so tired of you doing that. Let me finish. Biden made that Neanderthal comment, I think it was March 2nd. Since then, we've had 6,767 deaths in Texas from COVID. In New York, and I know you guys love to beat up on Cuomo.
GUTFELD: We don't have.
WILLIAMS: Since March 2nd, only 1,500 fewer deaths with the mask mandate. I mean, and also, right now, Texas is near the bottom when it comes to vaccination rates. So, maybe we should put some needles in those Neanderthal arms because I would love to congratulate Texas on the idea that we -- they are now, you know, one day leading all of us in the right direction. That's where we could say congratulations to Texas.
GUTFELD: All right. Up next, far left Democrats are pushing to stop criminal gang members from being deported. Great idea.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MCDOWELL: If you think that the crisis at the southern border is bad, just listen to this. AOC and other far left Democrats are demanding an end to targeted deportations of criminal illegal immigrants. That includes suspected gang members like people in MS-13. These lefty members of Congress argue that America's immigration enforcement laws are racist. Dana, can you explain this?
PERINO: Well, here is the thing. I think about Abigail Spanberger. She is a congresswoman from Virginia, a Democrat, one of the swing district. And remember, right after the 2020 election, she was on a conference call with all the other Democrats and saying, let me tell you something right now, all this far left progressivism is what nearly cost us the House. We barely held on to our seats and kept Nancy Pelosi as speaker.
And I think that the more somebody like AOC and others continue to say things like this, that they will pay a price for it in 2022 because people are going to pay attention. They are giving the Republicans huge openings and really a stiff wind could blow over this Democratic majority. It's very slim right now.
You're going to have redistricting. When you take an issue like this where you are talking about safety and moms are paying attention more than ever to this election. They are upset still that kids aren't back in school and they are concerned about the defund the police movement and this adds to that.
MCDOWELL: Jesse, you read about agents near Abrams, Texas picked up a group of 10 migrants including one man who had been arrested in Washington for the rape of a child, later convicted and sentenced to 34 months. There were three who were apprehended. Three convicted child sex offenders. So are AOC and her ilk (ph) standing with child rapist because that's the way it sounds?
WATTERS: Well, you look at the ICE most wanted list, you have Severian Martinez wanted for sex trafficking. Saul Chavez, vehicular homicide. Jose Medina Gonzalez, aggravated homicide. Is AOC saying that these guys should stay in America? Is that what she wants? Because she is saying that ICE shouldn't be arresting and deporting these people.
Well, does she want them in her district to prey on her constituents? I think someone needs to ask her that question. And not to mention the amount of fentanyl that's pouring over.
MCDOWELL: Right.
WATTERS: More fentanyl poured over in the first three months of Biden's administration than the whole of 2020. They were stretched so thin it's coming through the dessert. It's coming across ports of entry. We just can't keep up with it. And we are talking like pounds of it, when like a microgram can kill you. That's how deadly it is.
But I got to go back, in fact, check Juan because he cherry-picked the information and it's actually false, Texas seven-day average for deaths. The last three weeks, these are updated numbers, went from 50 to 49 to 44. That is a solid and consistent decrease in Texas deaths.
MCDOWELL: Well, what I just said to you was the percentages were up, but I am moving on to this topic. But I just want to say, you know, I think AOC is saying that there are in consistencies in terms of how we have to apply deportation, who gets targeted and who doesn't.
I'm not going to go into her argument, but I will say this, and I've been saying this all along, I think on immigration, there's just too much political posturing. And in this case, it would be too much posturing coming from the left and from the Democrats. I mean, the Republicans clearly posture when it comes to this, and we talked about the tweets and the selfies and all of that --
GUTFELD: You do.
WILLIAMS: But to my mind, we need comprehensive immigration reform that would speak to how we go about deportations. But I mean, there's so much we agree on in terms of doing something about people who are already here, about doing something for the DREAMers, about people here -- who are here on temporary status, the farmworkers.
I don't understand why we can't -- I mean, Republicans agreed to a deal back in 2013. Now they're running away from it. And now you get people like AOC putting a political agenda on top of it. We'll never get a solution. We need a solution. Stop it, politicians,
MCDOWELL: Right. Well, I think that people would take issue, Greg, with being called a racist if you believe in immigration laws and a border. And also that cuddling criminals is bad.
GUTFELD: Yes. They have -- they're using a new phrase called -- I'm going to try to pronounce right, the carceral approach, right? Have you heard that phrase?
MCDOWELL: Yes.
GUTFELD: That means jailing. So, you can't jail them and you can't deport them. So, what are you going to do? What's the non-carceral approach? And by the way, when you're talking about inconsistency and deportation, the whole -- what they're objecting to is the prioritizing of deporting gang members.
So, I have two solutions, because Juan asked for solutions. And the problem of the Democrats is they don't have any solutions except these ones, that's why everybody's pissed off. So, I came up with two. If you're a Democrat who feels strongly about not deporting gang members, I have an adopt a gang banger charity.
For just $350 a month, you can adopt a gang banger, OK. Each week, you're going to get a photo in a handwritten letter from the gangbanger telling you who he's assaulted and raped and murdered. And in three months, he could be yours to live at your house.
I also have another idea. Please don't call them an animal though because they're all God's creatures. Now, another idea, I call this the Idiot Thug Exchange Program and it works like this. We will keep one of your thugs as long as they're under 25 because there's a possibility of rehabilitation. In return, you get two far-left media academics who are over 25 because they aren't rehabbed -- they're not ability -- there's no ability to rehab them because the ideas are so poisoned in their brain they come up with really stupid ideas.
I'll take a gangbanger over gender studies professor in a heartbeat, not maybe as a next-door neighbor, but you know.
MCDOWELL: I could -- I could hear you talk about that actually for a couple of hours. Well, there's always "GUTFELD!," exclamation point, tonight.
GUTFELD: Watch it.
MCDOWELL: Yes. Ahead, America's jobs crisis is so bad that one state is now bribing people to get back to work.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WILLIAMS: Welcome back. President Biden under fire from Republicans who say federal unemployment benefits are stopping people from getting back to work. Connecticut now getting creative by offering $1,000 bonuses to long- term unemployed who find a job and keep it. And Senator Bernie Sanders says critics of the federal jobless benefits are cruel.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): What the Republicans are saying by trying to do away with this supplement on top of unemployment is we're going to starve you back to work. Whether you like it or not, you're going to be forced to go back to work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAMS: Jesse, what do you think of this as a matter of creativity? You have Connecticut using money to incentivize people to get back. Ohio, I think, Governor DeWine was using money to incentivize people, $1 million lottery to get vaccinated. What's wrong with these points?
WATTERS: It sounds like politicians are signing people like the pros. Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont just signed T.J., 23 from Hartford. The resume includes some college and working at his dad's landscaping company, catchphrase, whatever.
We're really now paying people not to work and we're paying them to work, Juan. Come on. And we're just going to go bankrupt now. I'm all for creativity, but this is getting silly.
WILLIAMS: All right. So, Dana, what do you think? Should people who have been long-term unemployed have time to decide what's the best job that they can get and look around a little bit? Is that unreasonable?
PERINO: Well, it depends on how long -- I mean, I think that some of these governors are talking to all of their business owners and realizing that they need workers to get there so that the economy can continue to grow so that we could all benefit from that.
And the thing about this one that Connecticut governor is doing is that he only goes half a step. So, the Governor of Montana said, I'm going to end the enhanced unemployment benefits. So, that's the additional monies that were coming from the government on top of unemployment, but I'm going to give you $1200 that you can get right now, if you take a job.
I mean, it's the same amount of money that way. But what the governor in Connecticut is doing is saying, I'm going to give you $1000, and then I'll think about maybe the other part, which is taking back the enhanced unemployment benefit. That just doesn't make sense. It's not fair to taxpayers.
WILLIAMS: Oh, that was interesting. All right, so, Greg, the economy, though, is starting up. We all agree. And the workforce is part of the economy, so the workforce has to get going. Do you think that in a month or two, the labor market and the work market will find their balance in a capitalistic system?
GUTFELD: I certainly hope so. I think it's interesting -- why would you need to bribe people to come to work when people -- when the jobs are out there? I've talked to people in this city over and over again who are having issues, and I think it's because we've created an environment, although it may be temporary, where not working is possible.
We did that for a reason, because we were going through a pandemic. But we actually talked about this phenomenon, when we would talk about universal basic income, because that's kind of what your experiencing now. It's analogous to it. When you create and deliver in income, no strings attached temporarily, we're seeing the cause and effect, right, a powerful disincentive to work.
It's probably not going to last very long, but it is making it hard for people who need workers to come in and fill jobs because they don't have to. We need urgency we need -- in order to get this economy back up, people got to get to work. And just giving -- and right now, they don't see a reason to.
WILLIAMS: All right, so Dagen, when I look through the articles about this, there's a lot of talk about women, childcare, schools not fully reopen, the need to find a way to get themselves back but they've got to get their family's taken care of first. What do you think?
MCDOWELL: Because the teacher's unions screwed parents and have for the last year. So, it's not about child care, it's about the teacher's unions holding parents across the country, particularly women hostage, number one. Number two, you make on this extra unemployment, it's about $32,000 a year. If you factor it in, it's well more than $15.00 an hour, and you have more than 8 million job openings to this country and nearly 17 million people collecting unemployment.
But this extra money from Connecticut and Idaho and Montana and even Arizona, it's really to help those smaller businesses likes individual restaurant owners, the kind of people Greg talks to, manufacturers and the like, because they don't have the financial heft and size to compete with an Amazon or a McDonald's.
These giant chains, these giant companies are raising wages, hiring people by just thousands of people. Amazon is hiring 75,000 more workers, offering $1,000 signing bonuses. So, somebody who owns a bar or restaurant, once again, is just back on their heels because they can't compete. For the last year, these individual business owners have just gotten the shaft. And so, at least this money from the states will help them hire people.
WILLIAMS: All right. Ahead, accusations of "blood money" after Governor Andrew Cuomo in New York makes millions off of his book deal. That's next on THE FIVE.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PERINO: Andrew Cuomo cashing in on his book deal about pandemic leadership. He called it -- Republicans calling it blood money after tax return show the governor could rake in more than $5 million. That's the book he wrote as thousands died in nursing -- New York nursing homes. And he is now being investigated for potentially covering up those deaths while he was writing the book.
And here's the thing, Greg, big payday, hardly any sales.
GUTFELD: This drives me nuts.
PERINO: Me too.
GUTFELD: You know, almost -- that's almost as much as what I made on The Plus, and I sold books. I mean, my God. I mean, I earned that yacht, I wish. You know, this drives me crazy. I don't understand the economics of the book -- of the book business. It's just based on somebody's name and influence and power.
I think -- you know, he claims he's donated a third of it to COVID relief. I guess he should donate it all to the families of the rest home victims because -- I don't know. Here's the weird thing about it and I'll shut up. This guy has two scandals going at once and he's still there. It's incredible. He's un-cancelable.
PERINO: He's just getting on through, Juan.
WILLIAMS: Yes. Well, you know, I think Cuomo's publishing house, they made a big mistake, Dana. I think they bought high and -- you know, in the stock market terms, they bought high and now the market is falling out. They can't even sell. As you said, the books not selling.
But you know, this reminds me. I think few books about politics -- written by politicians really are worth reading. I think, you know, even people like President Trump said, you know, he didn't even read his own book. He didn't write it either. But I mean, politicians do this all the time.
And what -- the big racket now is they just, you know, have some of their supporters buy in bulk sales, and then it's like a backdoor contribution. To me, it's a -- it becomes a racket. We can see it clearly now picking up on the idea that powerful people, when they're hot, get these exorbitant upfronts, you know, deals, contracts from publishers.
PERINO: Dagen, I guess, they just write it off.
MCDOWELL: Maybe. I want to know -- you know, I'm not a fan of lists, but it's sold 48,000 copies. I would like a list of people who actually paid money to be lied to by this murderous despot who when you were getting it for free for more than a year.
And by the way, let's not forget, this person who killed 16,000 elderly people, lied and stonewalled and stick his goons on the grievant families and then was groping up on women, allegedly. He wrote this in the middle of a pandemic while the entire state that he governed was suffering.
But I haven't -- I want to add one thing. Greg, you'll love this, in terms of the idiots who work at these publishing houses. This is from John Levine at the New York Post. The book was published by Crown, a division of Penguin Random House. And those staffers, Random House staffers cried at the plans to publish Jordan Peterson, sobbing at work. What was the reaction to this?
GUTFELD: Yes, little worms.
MCDOWELL: Yes.
PERINO: And Crown has published some great books. Charles Krauthammer his book was there, for example. I don't know. Anyway, Jesse, you've got a book coming out. How does -- how do you feel about all this? You ready for this crazy book world?
WATTERS: Dana, he wrote a book about how he saved New York. I saved the world.
PERINO: Right. I mean, obviously yours is worth more.
WATTERS: I should be entitled to a lot more than $5 million.
PERINO: Absolutely.
WATTERS: $5 million. I'm not going to lie. I'm with Greg. I'm a little upset about this. But Juan is actually right. It's a grease job. Think about last spring, Cuomo could have been the nominee or at least he was the 24 -- 2024 nominee. So, you're looking at basically paying off a potential president, a democratic president. That's where his trajectory was.
So, they think, let's get in good and maybe Random House will get the memoirs, you know, the presidential memoirs. It was like an investment.
PERINO: And don't they realize -- and they don't realize that you're more likely to be president.
WATTERS: I know. Who, I am?
PERINO: I'm just giving you an upgrade and try to pump up some book sales.
WATTERS: I am. I am.
PERINO: How Jesse save the world. "ONE MORE THING" is up next. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WATTERS: Time for "ONE MORE THING." Congratulations to the Parkers. Brian and Jillian got married over the weekend in Nashville, Tennessee. They were wed at the Whitman Chapel where I cried. It's very beautiful. And then we had the reception at Southall Meadows. Lee Brice performed. They dance to I Don't Dance, which is very appropriate for Brian.
Kenny Chesney was there along other celebrities like Dana Perino who you see right there. A good time was had by all. Thank you guys so much. We're still feeling it.
PERINO: Jesse was looking rough, Sunday morning at the airport.
GUTFELD: At the airport.
WATTERS: Go ahead, Dana.
PERINO: OK.
WATTERS: Yes, that's why they pulled me over.
PERINO: There were a lot of celebrities at this wedding and there was one celebrity who wasn't there but this young woman thought she was, so here's what happened. Peter puts up this young girl -- puts her up for this challenge, right. Her name is Shay Hendricks, a beautiful young girl.
He says, hey, do us a favor. Go over to that table over there and you see that guy there, Jesse Watters. Go and ask him if you can get a picture because you think that he's Ross from Friends. So, she does it.
WATTERS: Yes.
PERINO: And Jesse doesn't tell her that he's not Ross from Friends. And there they are. They look a lot alike. So, I have a feeling that Jesse just going around wedding crashing telling -- you know, letting people think that he's David Schwimmer.
WATTERS: I had a feeling someone put her up. That's why. It's happened before. Go ahead, Greg.
GUTFELD: Let's do this. Greg's Which One Doesn't Belong. I'm going to show you a video of three golden doodles or as Jessie likes to call them, pitbulls. And you tell me which one doesn't belong. Actually, there's four golden doodles in there. Golden doodle is half golden retriever and half cheese doodle. Did you know that? That's a definitely a strange doodle. It is very cute. Jessie, very cute indeed. I'm going to shut up now.
WATTERS: Adorable. Yes, please. I'm wondering when you were going to say that. Go ahead, Juan.
WILLIAMS: OK, guys, you know, Memorial Day, Fourth of July are just around the corner. So, how about a box full of chocolates with a patriotic theme? You're looking at Philip Ashley Chocolates with every state in the Union represented by a distinctive flavor.
In my home state of New York, the chocolate is flavored with Junior's cheesecake.
PERINO: Wow.
WILLIAMS: Jesse, this one is for you. What do you think Pennsylvania's chocolates are flavored with, Jessie?
GUTFELD: Homelessness.
WATTERS: Cheesesteak.
WILLIAMS: Cheese? No, no. Jesse. How about salty pretzels and kettle chips? Dagen, how about Virginia? What do you think?
MCDOWELL: Peanuts.
WILLIAMS: Well, close, close. Peanut butter and jelly, Dagen? Let's swing around the country. Dana, Wyoming, what's your bet?
PERINO: Oh, gosh, pine nuts?
WILLIAMS: Pretty close. Chokecherry. So, that's another kind of thing. All right, and Greg, in your home state of California, what do you thinking?
GUTFELD: Feces?
WILLIAMS: Oh, gosh. No, no, no. Napa Valley -- Napa Valley red wine. Anyway, you can buy this red, white, and blue box of chocolates beginning in July.
PERINO: It looks good.
WATTERS: Wow. I would recommend that maybe they send us a complimentary box.
PERINO: That's how that works.
WILLIAMS: Yes, that would be nice.
WATTERS: All right, sorry. Dagen. We got to run.
MCDOWELL: Later.
Content and Programming Copyright 2021 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2021 VIQ Media Transcription, Inc. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of VIQ Media Transcription, Inc. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox