'The Ingraham Angle' on Biden's foreign policy failures

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The impossible clean-up

Laura Ingraham: Even the left knows Biden is making gargantuan mistakes

This is a rush transcript from "The Ingraham Angle," March 28, 2022. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST: I'm Laura Ingraham. This is THE INGRAHAM ANGLE from Washington tonight. The slap in the face at last night's Oscars that really mattered. Hint: It wasn't across Chris Rock's face.

And Jada Pinkett isn't the only woman who's been on the receiving end of a Chris Rock jab. Raymond Arroyo has the video of what Rock said to me 25 years ago, in Seen and Unseen.

But first, the impossible clean-up. That's the focus of tonight's 'Angle'.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Biden back in Washington late Sunday trying to walk back his ad-libbed remark day earlier in Poland.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you concerned that by walking back the President's comments, you and other administration officials may be undermining him on the world stage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Last week, I told you that it was a mistake for the White House to even send Biden to Europe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: If he thinks these appearances on the world stage are somehow going to boost him, he's got another thing coming. This entire trip to Brussels was just a waste of jet fuel.

Biden should have just participated over Zoom or something. It would have been easier. The man's incoherent enough without jetlag.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: And unfortunately, the 'Angle' was correct.

Now, overseas in the midst of a horrifying war in Ukraine, Biden was a human-wrecking ball. When asked about reports that Russia may use chemical weapons in Ukraine, he said the U.S. would respond in kind.

Now, French President Macron immediately warned against the American President escalating things. So, of course, the White House had to do their favorite dance. It's called the walk back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE SULLIVAN, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR TO U.S. PRESIDENT: The United States has no intention of using chemical weapons, period, under any circumstances. I will just say with respect to any use of weapons of mass destruction, nuclear, chemical, biological, Russia would pay a severe price.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Got it? And in-kind response actually just means severe response. OK. And while visiting the troops in Poland, Biden seem to casually announce 180 degree change in policy after originally insisting there'd be no U.S. boots on the ground in Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: And you're going to see when you're there. And some of you have been there. You're going to see women. Young people stand in the middle - front of the damn tank, who's just saying I'm not leaving.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: And again, his staff had to scramble. A White House spokesperson later tried to clarify the President's remarks saying, "The President has been clear we are not sending U.S. troops to Ukraine and there's no change in that position."

But the most dangerous flub heard around the world were his ad-libbed comments on Putin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia. We will have a different future, a brighter future rooted in democracy and principle, hope in life. For God's sake, this man cannot remain in power.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Why is he always screaming as well? Now, this was another instance of Biden playing pundit instead of acting like a president, directly targeting Putin plays right into his hands, boosting his propaganda efforts back on the homefront, and Mother Russia, and making it less likely that he'll take any off ramp even if one appears.

Now, Reagan never said this during the darkest days of the Cold War. But, Biden, he dismissed any diplomatic fallout today, playing clean up man for himself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have more foreign policy experience than any president who's ever held this office. You understand why people would believe you as someone commanding one of the largest nuclear arsenals in the world, saying someone cannot remain in power is a statement of U.S. policy. And also, are you concerned about propaganda use of those remarks by the Russians?

BIDEN: No and no. Nobody believes we're going to take down. I was going to - I was talking about taking down Putin. I was expressing my outrage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Every time they send Biden out to speak, or they build up some speeches, a major address, he just digs himself and America into a deeper hole. It happens every time.

Today, remember, was supposed to be his chance to reassure our allies after his big speech last week. But he still couldn't get it right. And things again went sideways.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you believe what you said, that Putin can't remain in power?

BIDEN: I'm not walking any back. The fact of the matter is, I was expressing the more outrage I felt toward the way Putin is dealing and the actions of this man, which is just brutality.

I want to make it clear. I wasn't then nor am I now articulating a policy change. I was expressing the more outrage that I feel and I make no apologies for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: OK. It's all getting really confusing for Joe and his team, because they even had to walk back his non walk back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It sounded like you told U.S. troops, they were going to Ukraine.

BIDEN: You interpret the language that way. I was talking to the troops. We're talking about helping train the troops in - that are - the Ukrainian troops that are in Poland. That's with the context.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So when you said, you're going to see when you're there, you were not intending--

BIDEN: I was referring it with - being with and talking with the Ukrainian troops that are in Poland.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: OK. This would obviously be a dangerous escalation. When reached for comment by Politico, "A Pentagon spokesperson didn't respond, nor did representatives for the Ukrainian government."

The White House got the Swiffer backout saying, "There are Ukrainian soldiers in Poland interacting on a regular basis with U.S. troops. And that's what the President was referring to."

Now, this has gone from sad to scary. He is the leader of the free world. He's not an ordinary citizen, kind of finding things out as he goes, or maybe he is, at this point. But this is a really sensitive situation.

Every word an American President utters has global repercussions. He is simply not capable of freelancing. But nevertheless, the dutiful dupes at CNN tried their best to help in the impossible clean-up mission.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was speaking really out of frustration and anger. Clearly, this is a president who is responding with emotions here.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN HOST: Candor is unappreciated in diplomacy. This is a president who can very often be candid, and tell you what he's thinking. And he's hugging children who have lost their parents and have seen death. That's what he was reflecting.

It wasn't a policy change, and we're not used to presidents who do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Yes. Gloria, that's the concern. Biden's too candid.

And of course, the media, they weren't alone. Here's the former CIA director and Sec Def.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think President Biden made that mistake?

LEON PANETTA, FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: I happen to think that Joe Biden is Irish, really has a great deal of compassion when he sees that people are suffering. And I think it overwhelmed him in this--

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: He actually said, it's because Biden is Irish.

OK, trafficking and emotionalism when it comes to Putin, could make life even more painful for the Ukrainians by giving Putin an excuse to just really ramp things up even worse than they have already been.

But we got to remember, this isn't the first time Joe's clean-up crew used his empathy to excuse what was a major diplomatic mistake.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Biden directly labeled Putin a "war criminal". Has something changed in the administration's assessment?

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president was - the President's remarks speak for themselves. He was speaking from his heart. And speaking from what you've seen on television.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: The inconvenient truth is even the left knows that Biden has made a gargantuan mistake in Poland.

Now, look at this headline from Salon of all places. "Nine words that shook the world. What was Joe Biden thinking?"

Now, from day one. It was obvious that the entire rationale for this trip was political. The White House, it looks like hope that seemed Biden on the international stage, would somehow distract voters back at home from all the economic calamities they're facing. Of course, the opposite has happened.

For Democrats, the results of the new NBC poll are simply nightmarish. In Chuck Todd's own words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHUCK TODD, NBC NEWS HOST: By a fairly large 71 to 28 percent margin, Americans say they do not have a lot of confidence in President Biden's ability to respond to this war.

57 percent say, we are already at war with Russia, or will be within a year. What's more, 68 percent would prefer Mr. Biden make the economy his top priority. Overall, President Biden's job approval stands at just 40 percent with 55 percent disapproving. This is his worse showing yet in our poll since he became president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Everyone knows that if you put a microphone in front of Biden, he's bound to say anything that pops into his mind at the time. It's always been this way. When he was Obama's VP, no one ever took him seriously, or what he said seriously, not even Obama.

And now as president, he doesn't have the self discipline or the mental acuity to weigh his words more carefully. He undermines the very efforts that his administration is making to keep Europe on our side. And we all know that the major NATO countries have no interest in forcing regime change in Russia. We all know that.

But Biden thinks that appeal to the press corps right in front of them is what matters most. Well, of course, it's not what matters most. The White House, I think, keeps hoping for it's George W. Bush moment with a bullhorn on all the rubble. That somehow this crisis in Ukraine is going to help his party in the midterms, like it helped Republicans in 2002.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you concerned this remark might escalate the conflict?

BIDEN: No, I'm not. I'm not at all. NATO has never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever been as strong as it is today. Never.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Never. Now, the entire problem here is that no one inside the Biden administration has a clear strategy about what we're actually trying to accomplish, and how to advance our interests in a prudent and sophisticated manner.

The only strategy seems to be - to keep the media happy and hope for a rally around the flag momentum going into November. So all their time and effort is getting eaten up by their PR and their spin campaign. They did the same thing, remember, leading up to the Afghan withdrawal, and we know how that ended.

They keep getting this wrong. It's actually - it's unreal to watch this when you really sit back and think about it. The way to fix your poll numbers, Joe, isn't to showcase America's weakness and get bogged down in an impossible situation in Europe. The way to fix your poll numbers is to make America stronger.

That means a domestic policy crafted by Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer and Janet Yellen. No, no, that's not the one. That's only going to deliver more misery for more people.

And unfortunately, trying to clean that up, will be left to the Republicans who end up trouncing them in the fall and in 2024. And that's the 'Angle'.

Joining me now is Tom Bevan, the co-founder and president of RealClearPolitics; and Mark Penn, former Clinton adviser and Democrat pollster.

Tom, the entire presidency is more like, Bush's mission accomplished than Bush's bullhorn moment at this point.

TOM BEVAN, CO-FOUNDER & PRESIDENT, REALCLEARPOLITICS: Yes, obviously, his writings on handling of Ukraine as Chuck Todd even was forced to point out, not great.

I mean, the problem for this administration is, they are not focused on what the American people care about. I mean, they care about inflation. And when you have a disease, you need to treat the disease. You can't pretend that you don't have the disease. You can't treat something else.

And the administration continues to not focus on addressing inflation, which is the disease, the political disease that this administration is facing. It's eroding them across the board. And they continue to not have a strategy to deal with it. They should be focused on that every single day from the White House podium. And instead, it's just not happening, and they're paying a political price for it.

INGRAHAM: Now, Mark, your latest poll is showing that Biden is in the 30s on some of the top issues that Americans care about, the economy, inflation, foreign affairs and crime.

So when is there going to be a pivot back to the United States? I mean, I know he unveiled his big budget. We're getting to that later in the show tonight, that's a train wreck. But are the Democrats going to try to save themselves here, given how low Biden is gone?

MARK PENN, PRESIDENT, STAGWELL GROUP: I don't think there's going to be a pivot. I mean, I've been calling for a pivot for a long time as the numbers keep dropping, as he's in the 30s on almost all of these issues. And you can't win an election being in the 30s with all of the primary issues.

So, I think it's just going to be like 2010 when Obama didn't pivot until the election results came in, or '94 when Clinton didn't pivot until the election results came in.

INGRAHAM: But, Tom, I have to say that, Biden, even if he goes down into the 30s on these issues, he can always count on the media, or at least some of the media, to try to frame the situation for him, like CNN's Don Lemon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: The President is saying exactly what most of the world feels. This is a media manufactured story. I think we should ease off a little bit. I just think it's out of proportion to what is going on. We're in the middle of a war. I think that we need to take a step back. This is the stance that the people of America, especially the people of Ukraine want the leader of the free world to have, to be strong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Well, he's talking about the regime change comments that they claim weren't really about regime change. Tom, I think that that was just really a pathetic attempt to circle the wagons for Joe at this point.

BEVAN: Well, I'm not sure that that - I'm not sure how many viewers CNN has. It's not enough to make a change in public opinion for sure.

But again, I think Mark's right, the way that to address the issues that the American people care about, Biden would have to pursue policies like opening up energy exploration, domestic production. Those are policies that he's simply not going to pursue that his base won't allow him to pursue and so he's kind of stuck.

I mean, they have to ride it out, they have to try. And, remember, a couple of months ago or just a few weeks ago, he tried to blame this all on Putin and call it Putin's price hike. That didn't work. They've denied that inflation existed. That hasn't worked. They've said, it's transitory. That hasn't worked.

And so, I think they'll continue that, because that's the only strategy that they have at this point, because they're not going to change policy.

INGRAHAM: Mark, I want to play something else that Leon Panetta said, that was actually more on point than the Irish comment. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PANETTA: From a personal point of view, I understand what he said. But at the same time, when you're President of the United States, you just have to be disciplined to make sure you don't make comments that ultimately have to be clarified by the White House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Mark, you and I both know that Biden's been around for, what, almost 50 years in Washington, has the word disciplined ever been used to describe him?

PENN: Well, no. And as you know, he got into a lot of trouble with speeches, with plagiarism, with issues around that over the history. And look, I worked with Leon Panetta, President Clinton. He was incredibly disciplined when it came to the words of foreign policy. He knew that every single one of them has meaning that reverberates around the world.

INGRAHAM: All right. Tom and Mark, great to see you both tonight. Thank you.

And if Biden's team really cared about stopping autocrats, while they'd be reaching out to Americans who voted for Trump and standing up to China. Instead, they're reaching out to China and bashing Republicans.

And a major announcement today, Politico reports that the White House has indefinitely postponed a special summit with leaders from across Southeast Asia that was initially scheduled for this week. Wow.

Joining me now is Michael Pillsbury, director for Chinese Strategy at Hudson, author of "The Hundred-Year Marathon".

Speaking of pivots, Michael, remember, we had Obama who was going to do the great pivot to Asia. Never happened. Biden was going to do the great pivot to Asia, never happened. At least hasn't happened so far. And now, we're bogged down in this clean-up mission, constantly on Biden's comments in Ukraine. And we're canceling a major summit regarding the most serious adversary we have, China.

MICHAEL PILLSBURY, DIRECTOR FOR CHINESE STRATEGY AT HUDSON INSTITUTE: Well, I agree with you, Laura. The summit was really quite important to us. 12 prime ministers to come to Washington, DC. This is a historic occasion. It would give Biden a chance to roll out his China's strategy.

When Xi first said a year ago in March, he was going to present. He still hasn't done so. I noticed with the operation clean-up, you're talking about, you know, he mentioned twice on television that Taiwan is independent. And that's a red line for the Chinese. They say, if Taiwan goes independent, we will invade Taiwan.

So the Biden team had to take it back. And just said, he meant they are kind of independent, but they're really not. So China - China's strategy is an area where the major gaffes could be made that will set us back decades.

INGRAHAM: Well, Mike, thank you for adding to our clean-up mission count, which is hard to keep up with.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, speaking of someone who's been around a long time. He said today that his country's relations with China were at their strongest levels ever. Meanwhile, Biden's dolts, Mike, are still pretending like they don't know where the CCP stands on Ukraine. Your reaction to those words by Lavrov?

PILLSBURY: Well, I think Lavrov is just giving the fact that the world knows that China is supporting Russia against Ukraine. China has been very careful to do some things. They claim they're abiding by the sanctions, but there's no proof of that. They claim that they support the integrity and territorial sovereignty of Ukraine, at least rhetorically, but they haven't done anything to really help Biden.

I think, Laura, that's why the long, long phone calls between Biden and Xi Jinping have not been publicly released. I think there's only one word used to characterize the last Biden and Xi Jinping phone call, which was the word candid.

So obviously, there's not good news from the Chinese. So I think Lavrov is quite correct. We're seeing the formation of really a major alignment against us by two major powers. This is statesmanship at its worst.

INGRAHAM: Mike, today he did talk briefly, or mentioned briefly, China, in relation to the budget and our priorities. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: For the second quarter of the 21st century, once again facing increased competition from other nation states. China and Russia, which are going to require investments to make things like space and cyber and other advanced capabilities, including hypersonics.

And this will be among the largest investments in our national security and history. Some people don't like the increase, but we're in a different world today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Michael, so we gave away a lot of our technology, advanced technology to China in our great quest for globalization. Now we have to catch up to China, is that the message?

PILLSBURY: Yes, that's what he's saying. And just to mention some breaking news, just about two hours ago, the Pentagon released its new budget strategy. The national defense strategy in - as a fact sheet. They say the classified strategy is on its way to Congress.

And in that document, they ranked China higher than Russia as a threat to America. So gold pacing threat for the entire defense department. So they're consistent. I would give them an A-plus on rhetoric. They say China is the number one threat.

But when you try to drill down, what you find is a lot of very depressed Biden-China advisors, who forward these ideas to him and then he doesn't really act on them. It's a growing mystery to me, why the China advisors or the Biden administration don't speak out.

Some of them I think are leaking to the press, their dissatisfaction. They've got to do with Biden's personal views, I think.

INGRAHAM: I was going to say, we should ask Hunter about all that. Mike, thank you.

And Joe Biden isn't content making the rest of the world miserable, while fumbling to the response to the war in Ukraine. He also proposed, as I said, a $5.8 trillion budget with record tax hikes. And wait until you hear where that money is going. Stephen Miller and Charlie Hurt are here revealing it all. Stay there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: The budget I'm releasing today sends a clear message to the American people that we've - what we value. First, fiscal responsibility; second, safety and security; and thirdly, - excuse me, investments needed to build a better America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: So where is the $5.8 trillion going to make the so-called better America? Well, it would allocate $10 billion to respond to the unprecedented need arising from conflict. Translation, increased refugees, as our country itself is struggling economically.

And it's going to allocate $765 million to efficiently process increasing asylum case loads. Increasing? And address the immigration application backlog. Translation, we'll make those borders flood even more and make it more appealing for those to cross.

Joining me now is Stephen Miller, founder of America First Legal, and former senior adviser in the Trump White Housel; and Charlie Hurt, Washington Times opinion editor, Fox News contributor.

Stephen, most people don't read these budgets. They just hear whatever the media says or cherry picks from them. $5.8 trillion is staggering. Obviously, a lot of this goes to entitlements like Social Security. But talk about this refugee resettlement issue. And what that portends?

STEPHEN MILLER, "AMERICA FIRST LEGAL" FOUNDER: Well, first of all, as you mentioned, this is a colossal amount of spending. It's a trillion and a half dollars more than the last full budget before the pandemic in 2019.

So first off, it's going to send inflation even further out of control. On immigration, this budget facilitates the mass resettlement of illegal immigrants by slashing ICE detention. And as you mentioned, boosting funding for the agency that grants amnesty.

So on the one hand, they're going to get rid of all the beds. So even if they wanted to deport people, they would not be able to. Then on the other hand, they're going to give money to the bureaucrats that handout work permits, asylum benefits, refugee status and green cards.

INGRAHAM: Now, Charlie, the White House budget report also says that it's going to invest a total of $45 billion to tackle the climate crisis, a $16.7 billion increase over last year. So to give you an idea of where some of that money will go, $3.8 billion to support clean energy projects, Solyndra. $18 billion for climate resilience and adaptation programs. What is that? $11 billion in international climate finance. That's money down the drain.

Charlie, I hear international climate finance, and you just want to start laughing and crying at the same time. Thoughts?

CHARLIE HURT, WASHINGTON TIMES OPINION EDITOR: Yes, exactly. It's a (ph) Panzi scheme. Yes - no, it's interesting that if there's a silver lining to a year of the Biden presidency, it's that everybody now knows that when the Biden administration wants to spend a billion - trillion dollars on climate change, what they're really saying is they want to raise your gas prices even further.

Not only will this bill raise gas prices, it will, as you've mentioned, it's going to make inflation much worse. And it is a - literally a trillion-dollar bill aimed at Amnesty and it will do nothing to secure the border. And anything that doesn't try to curb inflation, lower gas prices and secure the border is going to doom Democrats in November.

And so, part of me says, I don't think they're going to get this thing through. I think they're going to hit a lot of problems even among sensible Democrats, the handful of sensible Democrats left in Congress. But it will definitely doom their chances for November.

INGRAHAM: Now, I want to get to this, Stephen, this Google billionaire, Eric Schmidt, he's been influencing the White House. According to this report from Politico, "More than a dozen officials in the 140-person White House office had been associates of Eric Schmidt, including some current and former Schmidt employees, and his charity, Schmidt futures, indirectly paid the salaries of two of these science office employees, including for six weeks." So this is a science office, in part it looks like bought and paid for by a Google billionaire. Stephen, we are all living on the Death Star now.

MILLER: If you ever needed any more evidence that big tech controls Joe Biden and the White House, big tech is literally financing White House employees. When I worked in the White House, it was clear to me and all thinking people, you cannot simultaneously be on the payroll of anybody, let alone big tech. You are talking about Google here. The guy that actually ran Google is paying for the salaries of White House technology employees. This to me is one of the biggest scandals in America right now. If you want to know why Biden isn't working to break up big tech, why Biden isn't working to regulate big tech, look no further than the tentacles of big tech money encircling the White House.

INGRAHAM: Where are the ethics watch dogs, Charlie? And I know Schmidt sits on a lot of public boards with business before the government, with a huge amount of money to make with government contracts and other changes in policy, climate, and otherwise. Where are the ethics watchdogs? They were all crawling over Trump all the time for nothing.

CHARLES HURT, OPINION EDITOR, "THE WASHINGTON TIMES": Yes, I think this is what you get when you have a president who is a complete figment of the media's imagination. The only reason he is in the White House is because the media ran interference for him, hid stories that were damaging to him, and promoted him and propped him up throughout the entire campaign. So they're continuing to cover for him.

Can you imagine an oil baron or the U.S. steel baron working inside the White House? These people, they don't have a problem with it. It's not going to get called out because this is how these people operate. And they have no compunction about it whatsoever.

INGRAHAM: The de facto censors. Gentlemen, thank you.

And you've seen Will Smith's Oscar smackdown, I know that, but what fueled it? And what didn't you see? Raymond Arroyo has new insight tonight. "Seen and Unseen" is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: It's time for our "Seen and Unseen" segment where we explore the cultural stories of the day. And for that we turn to FOX News contributor, Raymond Arroyo. Raymond, the Oscars were important, but not so much for the films they celebrated, a lot of people didn't see the films, than what happened during the ceremony.

RAYMOND ARROYO, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, look, Laura, the Academy is excited that the ratings were up from last year. But those were at a historic low. Actually, these awards were about to be the lowest ever until that bad boy slap down. You know the Oscars are going to bad when one fright follows another. First it was Amy Schumer in a Spiderman outfit which I could have lived without seeing, then Will Smith's battery of Chris Rock, which we'll discuss in a moment. And just when you thought it couldn't get worse, Lady Gaga wheels Liza Minnelli out to end the evening. Poor Liza was very confused, but I have to say Gaga was civil and kind to her, a contrast to what proceeded them.

The message here is whatever Hollywood had, Laura, it's over. It was a boring show, filled with female hosts groping male presenters, quickie movie cast reunions to compensate for the nominated films you never heard of.

INGRAHAM: And then came the moment, Raymond, that ate it up whole.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS ROCK, COMEDIAN: Jada, I love you. "G.I. Jane 2" I can't wait to see it.

(LAUGHTER)

ROCK: That was a nice one. OK. Uh-oh.

(LAUGHTER)

ROCK: Oh, wow. Wow. Will Smith just smacked the -- out of me.

WILL SMITH, ACTOR: Keep my wife's name out of your -- mouth.

ROCK: Wow, dude, it was a "G.I. Jane" joke.

SMITH: Keep my wife's name out of your -- mouth.

ROCK: I'm going to, OK?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: Will Smith initially howled at that joke. He was laughing. It was only after his wife's displeasure and whatever transpired between the two of them that he flipped into this maniacal rage. But look, it was uncouth, it was uncalled for, violent.

And I have to say, for a group of people who pride themselves for standing with this cause and speaking out on that cause, it was amazing to me, and I think everyone, to watch them sit on their hands as a colleague was assaulted and say nothing. No boo, no get him out of here, no condemnation at all. That shocked me.

INGRAHAM: What if Jon Voight had gone up there and punched somebody in the face? If someone who was even known to have a conservative thought, or maybe any non-diverse actor had done that, I don't know what would have happened, but they probably wouldn't have made it through the ceremony. They probably would have been walked out of there and probably never worked again.

ARROYO: Well, when Smith won the best actor statuette, Laura, he used the speech to justify the shocking display. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILL SMITH, ACTOR: Love will make you do crazy things. I want to be a vessel for love. I hope the Academy invites me back. Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: I actually hope they don't invite him back, and that's not a vessel of love. Smith has issued an apology to Chris Rock tonight, and the Academy is investigating that smack, Laura. There is talk of revoking his Oscar, which I think is probably a bridge too far, though booting him from the academy and disinviting him from next year's show, that's the least I think they can do. Meanwhile, he was partying it up, by the way, at the "Vanity Fair" party. Did you see this?

INGRAHAM: Yes, he was partying, he was having a good time.

ARROYO: Yes, like nothing happened.

INGRAHAM: You know what I was thinking, after doing the "Angle" on the Biden walk-back, non walk-back, what they're about Biden is that he basically feels too deeply. He has too much empathy. So that's the whole thing about the regime change, he feels so bad for all these people suffering. It's kind of like Will Smith.

ARROYO: And they're justifying Will Smith, saying he's protecting his wife. Meanwhile, families, mothers and fathers are derided as terrorists at school boards, but this guy defends his family by popping somebody, no problem at all. After Smith's bombshell, the presenters and winners tried to pick up the pieces, Laura, but it was kind of impossible.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will Smith said it all. What more can be said? Let's have peace and love and quiet.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is violence and hate crimes being perpetuated on innocent civilians all over the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: Yes, and innocent civilians right on your stage. Giving him a standing ovation, Laura, after that assault is really everything that is wrong with us as a people. And I have to say, it was shocking to watch that reaction.

But Laura, I guess you now have grounds for a smackdown, too. We found this clip from the 1990s. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS ROCK, COMEDIAN: What's the lady, Laura Ingraham? With all due respect, ma'am, you are the meanest -- I have ever seen.

Oh my God!

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: Easy there, Laura.

INGRAHAM: That was 1996 at the Republican Convention in San Diego. I think it was one of the first TV appearances I did on another network -- no, it was on "Politically Incorrect." That's right, it was on "Politically Incorrect," Bill Maher's old show. But he kind of does this thing.

ARROYO: No violent reaction.

INGRAHAM: Look at my hair. Most importantly, look at my outfit. That was tragic. Forget what he said. That is shocking to see that after all these years.

ARROYO: I'm glad Will Smith never went to a Don Rickles show, Laura. He insulted by pregnant wife, and she took it and we laughed and had a great time.

INGRAHAM: Comedy is dead. Comedy is dead. Hollywood for the most part is dead. Raymond, I am so upset I fell sleep before the smackdown. Thank you.

And while the Hollywood elites keep the fresh prince on his pedestal, his friends in the media are actually turning on him for perpetuating a long held stereotype about black men. Horace Cooper, Vince Ellison are here in moments. Stay there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: There was something else about the Will Smith assault of Chris Rock that could actually have more lasting and damaging effects. Here was NBC's Craig Melvin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRAIG MELVIN, NBC HOST: If you are rearing a boy, especially in this country, you spend so much time talking to the kid about keeping your hands to yourself, controlling your emotions. And then there is this long held perception in this country that men of color, especially, can't control their rage and their anger. And just to see someone who has been that beloved for decades, it was troubling on so many levels.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Joining me now is Horace Cooper, Project 21 co-chair, and Vince Ellison, author of "25 Lies." Vince, your response to what we saw last night and Melvin's comments?

VINCE ELLISON, AUTHOR, "25 LIES": I'm watching the left cannibalize itself, and I'm having a good time doing it. I haven't had this much fun in a long time watching Will Smith plant his right hand across Chris Rock's and watching two liberals go at it on nationwide television. It's a shame because Hollywood has been cannibalizing and misogyny-izing women for a long time. They centralized them, they brutalize them, they treat them like dogs, especially black women.

And to watch these two guys get up there and see this thing go as far as it went, I've never seen in my life, I have never saw another man get on worldwide TV and disrespect another man's ailing wife in his face. Hollywood has taken it too far. Chris Rock took it too far. He got dealt with. And Will Smith took it too far and now he is getting dealt with. We see this type of violence all the time. You have two things going on. You've got a guy with no respect and a guy with no impulse control, then you have the collision. But the left is cannibalizing itself, and that's it.

INGRAHAM: Horace, "The Today Show" mentioned something else about Will Smith's history.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I read Will Smith's autobiography, which was amazing. And in the beginning, he describes himself as a coward. And I thought that was such a poignant thing to say aloud because he couldn't defend himself when his dad was going through this horrible stuff, and you wonder what this moment had to do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was going to be the biggest night of his career.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Horace, his background and his upbringing and the violence in his home made him do it, apparently.

HORACE COOPER, PROJECT 21 CO-CHAIRMAN: The left never gets away from apologizing or normalizing bad behavior. And in this case, they apologized, they normalized, and they racialized it. There is no need for this.

When I was a little kid, my grandmother told me sticks and stones could break my bones but words could never hurt me. That's a lesson that I have lived for my entire life, and that's a good lesson that Will Smith could also have benefitted from.

I will just add it's not actually a cool thing to do to mock people for their medical conditions. I know we want to do a lot of things for a joke, but we probably could find a lot to laugh about without having to go in that particular direction.

INGRAHAM: Vince, when we think about what happened to the culture in general, we are seeing on video Instagram, people beating each other up in airports. And it's the knockout game, pushing people from behind. We see people getting pushed in front of trains in New York. The most rank violence, which it's glorified on social media. And people say isn't this terrible as they watch it again and again and again. And now two big stars, Will Smith beloved, engaging in in conduct.

ELLISON: Yes, this is a harbinger. To see this happen in Hollywood, these people are the people who try to tell us to how to be tolerant, tell us how to be nice to on other. They want to lecture America all the time about our shortcomings. But then you see this, they are hypocrites. They've always been hypocrites. They always will be hypocrites. And we have to pray for them, and hopefully they will be better.

INGRAHAM: Vince, I want to jump to Horace on this, because back to that point, though, about that young males, and I think Craig Melvin was talking about young African American males, feel like this is their stereotype. And they feel like they can't get away from it. And I understand, to the extent I can understand it. And then this. And this just is another, it's a slap in the face to them. People are trying to do a good job every day and work hard. And then this.

COOPER: You know what the most adult and responsible thing that could have happened last night, that would have been if Will Smith heard this joke or this comment and he found it offensive, he and his wife could have immediately stood up and walked out of the assembly. When they called his name to announce that he had actually won an Oscar and he wasn't there, someone would have to explain that that offensive joke created this problem. That's the way a mature adult behaves.

This has nothing to do with race, but it has to do with the left continually normalizing and racializing behavior. How about everybody is capable of good behavior, and bad behavior ought to be frowned upon whenever it happens.

INGRAHAM: That would be nice. Gentlemen, wonderful to see both of you, thank you.

And did Nancy Pelosi just admit to a criminal past? The frozen Last Bite explains.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: If you're wondering why Nancy Pelosi is so soft on crime, maybe it's because she used to commit b and e's back in the day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY PELOSI, (D-CA) HOUSE SPEAKER: We used to go in the middle of the night down to the dining room and break into the freezer to get ice cream. It was locked, so you could only lift it a little bit and put the scooper in there and pull it out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: But her obsession didn't stop there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PELOSI: It's convenient. It's right there. It has a long shelf life. You don't have to worry about it. It's right there. But I have it for breakfast. It's a great way to start the day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Gutfeld is next.

END

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