Arroyo’s airing of grievances
From the media, to politicians, to Hollywood… no one is safe this Festivus.
This is a rush transcript of "The Ingraham Angle" on December 23, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
RAYMOND ARROYO, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Merry Christmas to you, Tammy. Great job. Hope you enjoy the day and happy new year.
BRUCE: Thank you.
ARROYO: I'm Raymond Arroyo in for Laura Ingraham. This is a special edition of THE INGRAHAM ANGLE. If you thought the COVID vaccines would stop at three jabs. Guess again, Biden has some news for you. Dr. Marty Makary weighs in.
Plus, Biden has been forced to sign a new China trade bill into law. But how enforceable is it? Steven Mosher and Walid Phares are here on that.
And it's a Christmas tragedy, a satanic art display placed next to a Nativity scene in Illinois. It has Franklin Graham fuming. He will be here to hit back. And Jose Feliciano and I may sing a Christmas duet. Stay tuned for that.
But first - now, Christmas is and will always be a holy season and a time I hold sacred. But years ago, Seinfeld introduced its own Yuletide celebration on December 23. They call it Festivus.
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ARROYO: Now, why like completely reject this pagan tradition. As the year comes to an end, I will avail myself of the airing of grievances, because I've got a lot of problems too. Let's see if we share any of these.
Now, this year, when we went down to the border and we brought you the ongoing chaos there. Much of this was caused by Biden's decisions. When he came into office, the President overturned Trump's Remain in Mexico policy. He threatened to end Title 42. That's the health measure that allowed agents to turn migrants away at the border. And he stopped construction of the wall.
Well, less than a year later, Biden has found some border policies that work. He has reinstituted the Remain in Mexico policy, kept Title 42 in place, and he's authorized the construction of parts of the Trump wall. Congratulations.
This little experiment at the border by the way saw more than 1.7 million migrants cross illegally this year. That's an all-time high. And those are only the ones the border agents encountered. Now, here's the wonderful news. You get to pay for their care and well being for years to come. Merry Festivus.
Now, speaking of care and well being. I have a huge grievance over the emotive concern we have four people from foreign countries, like Afghanistan and these migrants, God bless them. But all the while we ignore the care and well being of our own veterans.
When THE INGRAHAM ANGLE discovered a tent encampment on the streets of Los Angeles, a village of homeless vets unable to get into a facility donated for them. We were naturally enraged. And while the vets can now camp on the grounds of the facility, they are still outdoors and not in permanent housing.
Meanwhile, Afghan refugees and illegal immigrants are housed at taxpayer expense in places like the Bethesda Hyatt Regency Hotel. Now, this misplaced concern needs correction in the new year.
And I have a huge grievance against media misinformation. We hear that term a lot. The American people are not stupid. They can see what's going on, trying to convince them that inflation is good for us. And Joe Biden is the man he was 20 years ago. It is not working, guys. Not on any level.
And here's another grievance. Stop trying to take credit for things that are not true, especially you, Jen Psaki.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Good news. We've saved Christmas.
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ARROYO: Truly tragic. That was from a White House celebrity-only Christmas concert the other night. Only Joe Biden could manage to defame Christmas, health care workers, and a great Jerry Herman song all at the same time.
And by the way, I hope we don't see any more singing nurses in the new year. There's a nursing shortage. Your patients need you without accompaniment and choreography. Thank you.
And this is a big grievance that I've had really throughout 2021. Our elder statesman have got to stop talking about the past that includes my pop, corn pop, and the election that went pop.
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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: This is like back in the day when my grandpop. My dad used to say, Remember, Joe. And she walks up to me and goes, Joe baby, grabs my cheek. Corn pop was a bad dude. And he ran a bunch of bad boys.
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ARROYO: Bad boys. Americans want leaders that will look to the future and point the way forward, not revisit old tales from the past. In fact, as much as I revere the things of the past, and I do, I hope we see no more reboots in 2022. This year, we had sequels or prequels of the matrix, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Home Alone, The Sopranos, The Wonder Years, Sex in the City.
Be honest. the nostalgia was not worth the trip. You can't recreate what was. So, let's just create new franchises for this generation, for this time, not regurgitate the past badly. And I grieve the pairing of younger pop stars with worn-out acts far past their prime. They look no better next to a pop princess, though you can decide which pairing this year was more offensive.
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LADY GAGA, AMERICAN SINGER: Let's sing anything goes. OK. Because nowadays anything goes.
OLIVIA RODRIGO, AMERICAN SINGER: Hey, I'm Olivia Rodrigo, and I'm here with the President Biden talking about the importance of getting vaccinated.
BIDEN: It's critical. Especially people Olivia's age.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ARROYO: I think I'll take Gaga and Bennett over the other pair. At least they occasionally hit the right notes. I'm also agreed by the faux outrage and vindictiveness hurled at those who dared to speak their minds this year.
Whether it was Dave Chappelle, JK Rowling, Sharon Osborne, Gina Carano, or The Bachelor's Chris Harrison. Each of them suffered for speech, thinking freely and daring to express ideas, especially unpopular ones should not get people canceled. No word should be unforgivable. In fact, it's the nature of art to contradict the status quo and get us to think differently.
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DAVE CHAPPELLE, AMERICAN STAND-UP COMEDIAN: To the transgender community, I'm more than willing to give you an audience. She will not summon me. I am not bending to anybody's demands.
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ARROYO: OK. And here are some final scraps of grievance that must be mentioned. How does Chrissy Teigen get to stage a comeback, while Sharon Osborne and JK Rowling are in perpetual punish corner?
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One person said that you said something to her, to this person saying, "I can't wait for you to die", and you apologized, and you apologize profusely.
CHRISSY TEIGEN, AMERICAN MODEL: I feel like there was honestly so much - having this period of time and time to digest it all and to look back and to realize that honestly, there is always so much time to grow and to learn and to become more empathetic.
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ARROYO: Does everybody get to be forgiven for unfortunate nasty comments in 2022? Does everybody get to be more empathetic? Let's hope so.
And what about Hunter Biden, who made millions off of his ink-spilled canvases this year? If you or I spit ink through a straw, somebody would call the Police. But when the President is your daddy, it's called art. And though I'm grieved by his hygiene failures, no one elevated coughing this year to the art form that Joe Biden did.
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BIDEN: Since the end of October - excuse me, with private business and labor, we won't put - excuse me.
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ARROYO: Poor man. I hope that new White House dog is carrying an oxygen tank on its back. Oh, and as we move toward midterms, neither mentions of January 6, nor let's go brand and our governing agendas. I hope both parties are listening. I could go on and on. And feel free to send me your grievances on Twitter.
But here's the problem with Festivus, with this airing of grievances. Complaints only get you so far. While it's fun and even therapeutic, it lacks something we desperately need when things do go wrong. And when times are so dark, faith and love, and those are best found near family and your God at Christmas. May you have a merry one and a grievance free Christmas tide.
Now joining me is Mercedes Schlapp, former Trump White House comms director; and Horace Cooper, Project 21 co-chair. Merry Christmas to you both. Mercedes, did you share any of those grievances with me?
MERCEDES SCHLAPP, FORMER WHITE HOUSE STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Oh, my goodness. I think your list was longer than mine, Raymond. But I got to say, I think we can all agree that we are so ready for 2021 to be over. You've seen these poll numbers come out saying that half of the Americans really think that it's been the worst year of their lives.
But you know, I do think that in the midst of President Biden, really pushing the fact that those that are unvaccinated are going to have a very dark and very dreary winter. You know, I really remain hopeful. I really feel that there has been a rise of the American people that we are strong, that we are resilient, that we will fight back against what I see are forced vaccine mandates, and fight back against these unfair, really radical policies like CRT and this gender confusion that they're pushing on our schools.
It has been the rise of the Americans, of the deplorables, of the parents who have said, no more. And I think that it's really been an awakening for so many Americans to stand up against what I would call is a radical agenda by many of these politicians. And the people are saying, no more. So we need to be hopeful at this point.
ARROYO: Mercedes, it is curious how these policies, at times radical policies, have brought together this new coalition of Hispanics and women, and Democrats, and African-Americans. It's very curious how that's all forming almost a new coalition.
Horace, Kamala Harris doesn't think she's to blame for any of this or her abysmal poll numbers. The New York Times reporting, "Ms. Harris has privately told her allies that the news coverage of her would be different if she were any of her 48 predecessors, whom she has described as all white and male."
Horace, her approval recently hit 28 percent. Does that explanation hold for you? Is it racism or sexism?
HORACE COOPER, PROJECT 21 CO-CHAIRMAN: Well, first, let me say, Merry Christmas, because this is a wonderful time to celebrate the greatest gift of all. I wish that as we head into 2022, that people like our Vice President and other Americans actually took some responsibility for their actions.
You know, it's said, that if you're digging a hole, and you're down to 28 percent approval rating, maybe you just stop digging. Maybe you should reverse course. There have been a myriad number of very, very bad policies. The great thing about America is: one, we've got some elections coming up; but two, it's our resilience. It makes it possible for us to overcome even some of the most bumbling, even some of the most backwards policies.
ARROYO: Yes. The malaise overshadowing this economy has really taken hold even of Biden's aides, guys. Politico reports, "Camaraderie has been fleeting and many teams are suffering from low morale. Many are also currently eyeing the exits, creating the potential for higher-than usual turnover at the beginning of the year.
Mercedes, it looks like Kamala Harris' office isn't the only one with the problem here.
SCHLAPP: Now, I have to tell you, and I read that article. And actually, some of these staffers were also complaining they didn't get invited to holiday parties. It's like, people, the American people are suffering right now. This is not about the White House Christmas party. Let's be real.
But, you know, look, here's the deal. What you - there's so much dysfunction happening in this White House, because you really don't know who's in charge. And in essence, when you're getting one negative poll after the other, when you have a president that you don't feel is strong enough to lead, when you've had one policy failure after the other, that puts an enormous amount of stress on the staff, because what's happening is that they're on defense. They're not on offense.
And, look, even President Biden admitted this week in the interview with ABC, that he has failed on the pandemic, that they should have done better. There was no strategy in place. And we also saw with Afghanistan that the decision making that - of that group, of that team, of that administration, they failed the Afghan people, they failed the Americans, they failed our Military.
And on the economy, this is the driving issue for the election next year. And all we keep hearing is inflation, higher food prices, higher gas prices. And for the American people, these pocketbook issues will make the difference. So these White House staffers can be mad and upset, but it's because this administration is failing the American people.
ARROYO: Now, Horace, I need to shift to Congress. Here are all the members of Congress who have tested positive for COVID over the last week alone. What do all of them have in common? They're all fully vaccinated. Some are even boosted.
Horace, what does that microcosm of Congress tell us about the effectiveness of the Biden vaccine mandates outside of Congress?
COOPER: Well, Congress, you know, has set up some of the most restrictive policies possible as part of their so-called COVID mitigation. And it's not working.
One of the most serious ones, ones that I think that our founders would be very concerned about, is this work from home. It's already like work as it is to be a member of Congress. Now, you don't even have to show up and matter. You just send your message in, you just send your vote in. But there is a reckoning coming.
And just, look, you see the COVID numbers exploding, but I'm watching the number of retirees, the resignation announcements that are occurring. They're running like scalded dogs, as we would say here in Texas.
ARROYO: Mercedes, Horace, before I go, 15 seconds each. Do you have a personal grievance of the year? I'll start with you, Mercedes.
SCHLAPP: You know, I think for the most part, it's been the lack of responsibility, the lack of vision and optimism by the Biden administration. They are providing no message of hope, no strategy, no plan, and I think that it has been very destructive and created a huge fatigue amongst the American people.
ARROYO: Oh, Mercedes, we had dancing nurses and a new dog and cat. Come on. Horace, what's your grievance?
COOPER: I wish, I wish that our courts were a lot more sympathetic to the liberty interest of the American people. Instead of waiting and delaying, they should just boldly announce these actions, these mandates, these interferences of your rights, and your freedoms are unconstitutional. Get it over with.
ARROYO: Oh, you have cued me up perfectly. Mercedes, Horace, Merry Christmas. Biden just teased the possibility of a fourth booster shot for COVID. But is it necessary?
Dr. Marty Makary lays out the facts and the Supreme Court, as Horace just teed up, will take on Biden vaccine mandates in the new year. Harmeet Dhillon breaks down what it could mean for you? Don't go away.
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ARROYO: THE INGRAHAM ANGLE warned you long ago that Biden and the medicrates would shift the goalposts on what counts as fully vaxxed. What started as two jabs quickly became three. And last night, Biden hinted that three jabs might not be enough.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me ask you about what we heard from Israel overnight. They're already moving forward with a second booster now. So this would be the fourth shot for people 60 and older, and for frontline medical workers. Is that something you're considering?
BIDEN: I listen to the scientists, and I'm sure the scientists are paying very close attention to that. There may be a need for another booster. But that remains to be seen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So it remains a possibility?
BIDEN: It remains a possibility.
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ARROYO: Joining me now is Dr. Marty Makary. He is the John Hopkins School of Medicine professor and a Fox News medical contributor, and author of the book, 'The Price We Pay'.
Dr. Makary, the President is just booster-addicted at this point. I mean, they're even pushing them on 16 to 17 year olds. Is that scientifically necessary? He said, he wants to follow the science.
MARTY MAKARY, "THE PRICE WE PAY" AUTHOR: Well, there's no evidence to support it. And actually the few places in the world that are doing boosters are admittedly saying, we're not doing it with science, we're just doing it based on a theory that we think you might need it.
Pretty soon, I think we're going to move to unfortunately an annual booster with no scientific basis. Now look, if the data supports an annual booster, I will let you know. But you will hear a language that says are you up to date? It could be every six months, every year. And I think we're going to move away from boosters to this conversation of annual, could be every six months, and then just simply the question are you up to date?
ARROYO: Doctor, you wrote a big piece in 'The Wall Street Journal'. You're very concerned about these boosters for 16 to 17-year olds, even university students that are facing a mandate. Why? Very quickly.
MAKARY: Well, there's no evidence to support boosters in young healthy people. The WHO is against boosters in young healthy people. The CDC and FDA experts are - have been against boosters in young healthy people. That's why they voted against them. But the FDA bypass them and so did the CDC and that's where we got this recommendation from.
Look, study showed if you just have the primary series of boosters and people under 30, the risk of dying is zero. You cannot lower that risk with a booster and yet that's the recommendation we have.
ARROYO: We're learning from South Africa that cases after spiking or dropping like a rock, they expect the same to happen here. Which begs the question, why are we freaking out? And are you concerned about the adverse reactions people are having to these boosters? Not only myocarditis.
I have a friend here in New Orleans, he got a booster. He's a grown man. And he's got something called (ph) Serova, which is a reaction in the shoulder from these vaccines.
MAKARY: Well, look, we know the reactions from the vaccines are as high as one in 7000 young males. That's heart inflammation that come - presents to a doctor, and probably more cases out there that don't make their way to a doctor.
So, look, many of us have been concerned about a booster when there's no benefit that's documented. And we're in a bit of uncharted territory. We have 41 million cases of Influenza in each year roughly. And we don't test them every day and graph it and talk about a crisis. What we need to do is just take reasonable precautions and use testing selectively.
ARROYO: I want to talk about this new Merck pill, this anti-COVID pill. The FDA has approved it, but there are real warnings here, high-risk for adults. The New York Times notes, "The FDA's decision reflects concerns that Merck's pill is only modestly effective, while also carrying the possible risk of causing reproductive harm."
Dr. Makary, your reaction, what's happening at the FDA?
MAKARY: Well, there has been this concern, because if you - what they do is they give the drug in high dose in mice. And in that super high dose, they look for some forms of mutation. Even though that's not a dose given in humans are recommended, it does raise some questions.
So the drug molnupiravir from Merck should not be given to children or pregnant women, in my opinion. It can be life saving, so there could be a risk-benefit analysis to do there. But we've got paxlovid from Pfizer. It does not have the concern of mutagenesis, and it cut COVID deaths to zero. We just need more of the drug.
ARROYO: Dr. Makary, thank you for your time. Merry Christmas. We'll talk to you in the new year.
In just two weeks, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments regarding Biden's vaccine mandates as well as masks. Now, despite some early setbacks in lower courts, the Biden administration is confident their mandates will prevail.
Joining me now, Harmeet Dhillon, she's the civil rights attorney and managing partner at the Dhillon Law Group. Harmeet, the circuit courts were split on the constitutionality of these mandates. You petitioned the Supreme Court to hear this case. What are they looking forward, do you think?
HARMEET DHILLON, CEO, CENTER FOR AMERICAN LIBERTY: Well, you know, in fact that the mandates have actually met with pretty, pretty harsh responses from the courts of appeals. And right now, two of the three Biden mandates have been enjoined by the court. And the one that I petitioned on behalf of my client, The Daily Wire to the Sixth Circuit, is the only one where a court has actually acted to set aside a injunction of a mandate. So right now, that's the one where we are trying to get the Supreme Court to change the position of the lower court.
What we are seeking is simply a ruling that is consistent with all of the statutory basis that covers OSHA. Namely that OSHA does not have the power. Congress never granted OSHA the power to mandate to employers to take a particular drug, to classify workers as hazardous substances in the workplace and to impose regulations without any kind of notice and comment and regulations that are frankly illogical.
So these are the things that we're petitioning the court for. The court has agreed to hear to - to petitioners in this case.
ARROYO: Harmeet, you make the case that these could be constituted as police powers. Why is that a problem for Biden and his mandate?
DHILLON: It's a problem for the federal government, because the federal government in the United States has very limited police powers. By contrast, States and localities likely do have significant powers to impose mandates, maybe not this kind of mandate. But the federal government simply doesn't have it, and Congress never granted it. That's why.
ARROYO: Harmeet, given the shifting science, we were just talking about this with the doctor earlier. The vaccines don't seem to stop, either the infection or the spread of Omicron. Will that have any bearing, do you think, on the high court's ruling here?
DHILLON: That is one of the arguments that we made in our papers, namely that the evidence currently before us right in front of our eyes is that vaccinated or not, people are spreading this virus. And the idea that that's some kind of an appropriate barrier as opposed to, by the way, completely ignoring natural immunity, which clearly provides significant protection for many people.
These are arbitrary, illogical, ineffective, and frankly, I think unsafe mandates even if they were permitted by Congress, which they aren't.
And another point, Raymond, is that employers don't want to be in the position of getting into this information with their employees, because it actually puts them at legal risk. If you then go on to want to fire an employee who's doing a bad job, sleeping on the job, or whatever, you are suddenly going to be accused of disability discrimination if you are firing somebody who chose not to get vaccinated, or maybe didn't have the right number of shots. We don't something want to be in that position as employers. That's another harmful consideration.
RAYMOND ARROYO, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Harmeet, given the gravity of this and how many people will be affected, 12 million federal and state workers, 100 million employees across the country, why is the court, the high court, only allowing one hour for oral arguments?
DHILLON: They are allowing one hour for the Medicare and the federal contractors, and then they are allowing two parties to argue and the other one. You raise a very good question. Our case was not one of the ones that was selected. I'm hoping that that's a signal that the court has already spent a lot of time thinking about this, and they are acting very promptly.
But the deadline is looming. Just five days after the court hearing is going to be the deadline for people to implement these policies, and so I suspect right now all of the Supreme Court law clerks have had their Christmases canceled because they are going to be writing dueling opinions in these cases. So sorry for them.
ARROYO: OK, we'll keep our eyes on this, check in with you. And by the way, I love the new sweater, which apparently you knitted yourself. Thank you, Harmeet. Merry Christmas.
Now that Biden has been forced to sign a bill banning Chinese goods tied to slave labor, how do you ensure that corporate America doesn't game and work around outlaw? Steven Mosher, Walid Phares, sound off, and Jose Feliciano is coming up. Stay with us.
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ARROYO: Welcome back to THE INGRAHAM ANGLE. Biden signed the Uighur Forced Labor Prevention Act today. Now, America should hold the Chinese Communist Party accountable for its atrocities and keep their goods made with slave labor out of our market. But it's important to remember why it took this bill so long to pass in the first place. Not only was it opposed by the Biden administration, but corporate America didn't like it either.
So how do you make sure the Biden administration rigorously enforces the law and corporations like Nike and Apple don't exploit the loopholes? For answers we turn to Steven Mosher, author of "The Bully of Asia," and foreign affairs analyst Walid Phares. Thank you both for being here. Steven, even the president of the U.S.-China Chamber of Commerce admitted he doesn't know how they will implement this law or enforce it. Are you confident they can?
STEVEN MOSHER, AUTHOR, "BULLY OF ASIA": No, I'm not confident the Biden administration will enforce any laws passed by the U.S. Congress, quite frankly. We've had laws on the books, Raymond, banning the impartation of goods made with slave labor since 1932, prison labor. It was passed because of the use of prison labor, slave labor in the Soviet Union, to keep those goods out of the United States. I testified two decades ago before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about prison made goods that were flooding into the U.S. even then.
So these laws exist. We've got 2 million Uighurs in prison in eastern Turkestan, what the Chinese Xinjiang, right now, making goods for export in many cases. They are forced to work seven days a week. All it takes is the political will to enforce the old law on the books and now this new law.
But that strength of will, especially when it comes to China, seems to be missing from the White House. You mentioned the Biden administration opposed this bill. It was only because people like Senator Marco Rubio and Congressman Chris Smith that it was passed unanimously in Congress. It imposes sanctions on individuals, but you have to actually impose the sanctions. The Trump administration did that.
ARROYO: The bill only bars imports from that Xinjiang region that you mentioned, Steve.
Walid, intel, they apologized to the Chinese government because they'd have to end certain supply chains from that Xinjiang region. How do you ensure that they don't wash those goods and those items through other parts of China, move them through Hong Kong and then to the United States?
WALID PHARES, FORMER TRUMP 2020 MIDDLE EAST ADVISER: You are absolutely right, but we have a much larger problem, which is the following. The Chinese leadership does not believe the Biden administration is going to implement serious sanctions, it's going to go after China, not just because of the Uighurs, others, Hong Long, and many other issues related to Chinese quality, because of many reasons we need to pay attention to, one of which is how this administration has conducted foreign policy near China. The withdrawal from Afghanistan was catastrophic. The Chinese saw that. What we are doing now with the Iran deal, the Chinese saw that, and also of course because of our domestic situation, which we can talk about. So Beijing believes that the Biden administration, though they signed off on this legislation, are not going to take the posture of fighting, politically fighting with China.
ARROYO: Amazon is now bowing to the CCP. Reuters is reporting the company was selling a book of President Xi's writing and speeches when Beijing handed down in edict that Amazon must stop allowing any customer ratings and reviews in China. A negative review of Xi's book prompted the demand. One of the people said I think the issue was anything under five stars. Steven, this is just a small example of how far corporate America is willing to bend for China.
MOSHER: Oh, yes, bend over backwards, kneel down, kowtow, literally kneeling and beating your head on the floor, all in order for access -- to get access to the China market, which is actually collapsing before our very eyes. Consumers in China are very scared now. There are shortages of all kinds. There's a housing crisis. And so I think the Chinese economy is near collapse. We are not in real good shape ourselves, but they're in very, very bad shape.
And as far as sanctioning members of the Chinese Communist Party, last year during the Trump administration, they sanctioned Chen Quanguo, the party chief of Xinjiang, a member of the Chinese Communist Party's politburo, the first time a member of the politburo had ever been sanctioned.
The order to illuminate the Uighurs, to commit genocide on the Uighurs in eastern Turkestan came from Xi Jinping himself, so he is the one who should be sanctioned. But under the Biden administration, don't expect him to do that anytime soon.
ARROYO: No, and now that Hong Kong is securely in Beijing's hands, China is taking this opportunity to erase history, which sounds familiar, by removing the pillar of shame. That's the city's last public commemoration of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. Walid, how long before Hong Kongers don't even remember that this event happened?
PHARES: Strategically, Hong Kong has fallen actually to China when it decided to move in, number one, and then to crush the democracy movement, and now they are moving to the deeper layer, which is to take over the schooling system, the education, and the culture. That's going to be in less than a generation unfortunately, if we do not as an international community led by a U.S. administration counter these moves.
ARROYO: It's outrageous what's happening there, and the way they rounded up those democracy advocates, so many good people caught up in those sweeps. We should pray for all of them. Many of them rotting in Chinese prisons tonight. Gentlemen, thank you both, merry Christmas.
A satanic display is featured next to a nativity in the Illinois state house. You will not believe this. Reverend Franklin Graham is here on what this says about the state of our country and what we should be focused on. Don't go away.
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ARROYO: Welcome back to THE INGRAHAM ANGLE. Imagine walking into your state's capital during the week of Christmas and seeing this monstrosity. It's a so-called art display in Illinois depicting the satanic figure Baphomet as a baby. It sits right next to the nativity. It's so obvious what the Satanic Temple, the group who put this thing on, is doing. They are mocking religious expression and the nativity.
Joining me now is Reverend Franklin Graham. He's president and CEO of Samaritan's Purse. Reverend Graham, merry Christmas. Your reaction to this blasphemous image at the Illinois capital?
REV. FRANKLIN GRAHAM, SAMARITAN'S PURSE PRESIDENT AND CEO: Well, first of all, the devil has been trying to destroy Christmas for 2,000 years when King Herod sent his troops to Bethlehem to hunt for the baby Jesus to kill him. And so the devil has been trying to destroy Christmas ever since, and this is just another very sad attempt.
But Christmas is about God's love. It's not about the Satanic Temple. It's about God so loving this world that he sent his son Jesus Christ to this earth to take our sins. Jesus died for our sins. He was buried. He rose again. He's alive. If we are willing to repent, turn from those sins, and put our faith and trust in him, God will forgive our sins and he's heal our hearts, and he'll invite us to be with him for eternity. But this is what Christmas is all about. It's about God loving this earth and loving you and loving me.
ARROYO: Reverend graham, I need to ask you about this new poll that just came out. The percentage of Americans who identify as Christian has dropped 15 percent over the last 14 years. It's now about three in 10 adults who consider themselves religious-nons, which are atheist or agnostics or just nothing. Why is this happening? And what can the church do about it?
GRAHAM: Well, I think the church has got a lot of work to do, and we need to be doing evangelism. We need to be sharing with people how they can have a relationship with God through faith in Christ. I'm not talking about religion. There's a lot of religion in the world. I'm talking about how you can have a relationship with God, and that's through faith in his son, Jesus Christ.
So I think we've got a lot of work. I'm certainly not going to be out of a job, I don't think, because there's a lot of work to do. And I hope that pastors and churches across this country will be willing to preach and tell others how they can have that relationship with Jesus Christ.
ARROYO: Despite those trying to divide the country, Reverend, Samaritan's Purse, your group, is bringing people together for Operation Christmas Child. I know our producer, every year she and her son stuffs their shoe box, presents are donated and delivered to children all over the world who may otherwise get nothing. How many gifts are you set to distribute this Christmas?
GRAHAM: This year we've taken in just a little over 10 million, I think it's about 10.2 million shoe boxes, and this will be delivered to children in 110 different countries. And so it's an incredible program, and these are children who have nothing, children when you give them a gift, for many it's the only gift they've ever received in their life. And the joy and the hope that it gives them, and the fact that they know that there's somebody out there loves them, somebody out there hasn't forgotten them. And I want the children of the world to know the true meaning of Christmas, about God's love.
ARROYO: Like the wisemen, we continue giving on Christ's birthday to the rest of the world to those near us.
Samaritan's Purse is also putting a lot of effort, I know, into helping those devastated by the tornadoes in Kentucky and Arkansas. Franklin, you have hundreds of volunteers on the ground right now. What are you doing to help, what can viewers do to help, and how are you spending your Christmas Eve?
GRAHAM: Well, I'm going to be -- let me answer the question what a person can do. They can go to our website, Samaritanspurse.org, and find out how they can volunteer or how they can be a part of helping this relief effort. But I'm going to be there Christmas Eve. We are going to serve a Christmas lunch to about 5,000 people. Ricky Skaggs is going to be with me, and we are going to serve from 11:00 to about 3:00 in the afternoon. And it's for everybody in the Mayfield area. They can come by and have a free lunch. And Ricky will play, and I'm going to say a few words to them. And so then we work on Christmas, we will have teams of people working through Christmas. We don't take Christmas off. The people up there need our help now, and I think it's important that we stay there true Christmas helping them.
ARROYO: God bless you, Reverend Graham, and your efforts. Merry Christmas to you and to all those at Samaritan's Purse, and thank you for your great work.
GRAHAM: Thank you, and God bless you and a merry Christmas.
ARROYO: Still ahead, one of my favorite moments from an All-American Christmas Together special I hosted on FOX Nation. A little duet. Stay right there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ARROYO: My pal Jose Feliciano and I sang a little duet that captures my wishes for you this Christmas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SINGING)
JOSE FELICIANO, SINGER: Through the years we all will be together.
ARROYO: I hope so.
FELICIANO: If the fates allow.
ARROYO: Hanging a shining star upon the highest bough, and have yourself a merry little Christmas now.
FELICIANO: Hey, Raymond, have yourself a merry little Christmas.
ARROYO: Jose, have yourself a merry little Christmas now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ARROYO: An American Christmas together is now on FOX Nation. Thank you, Jose. And you can still get "The Spider Who Save Christmas" wherever books are sold.
That's it for us. Join Laura and me for a hilarious Christmas Eve special. And I'm part of FOX's New Year's Eve coverage from New Orleans. A blessed and joyful Christmas to you.
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