Turley: Court-packing would be a 'blunder of the first order' by Biden

close

Video

Turley: Court-packing would be a 'blunder of the first order' by Biden

Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley tells 'Hannity' why Joe Biden should say whether he'll expand the Supreme Court

This is a rush transcript from “Hannity” October 12, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST:  All right. Tucker, thank you.

And welcome to HANNITY.

We start the week with yet another big breaking news night. President Trump has been given a clean bill of health. He is now back on the campaign trail, will be all week, moments of go wrapping up a massive rally and I mean massive. It looks like 30,000 people if I had to guess, in Florida.

And in the upcoming days, the president will crisscross the country with the rallies in North Carolina, and Georgia, and Iowa, and elsewhere.

Hannity -- election correspondent Lawrence Jones is standing by on the ground in Florida. He has a full report about the events just earlier tonight.

Lawrence will ask voters what they think of Biden's sneaky, sketchy, underhanded behavior on the issue of court packing. I'll tell you after, you don't have a right to know because that's what Joe is now saying that you, the American people, do not deserve to know he's position on these controversial issues until after the election. We will play you his new unconscionable remarks coming up.

And we'll also break down why this is such a critically important issue with constitutional scholar Jonathan Turley.

Also tonight, we also have the file lights from day one of Judge Amy Coney Barrett's hearings. Judge Barrett delivered a stellar performance. The Democrats, as usual, looking small and petty in comparison, but with just

22 days until you're the ultimate jury and the election takes place, let's turn back to the campaign trail where Joe Biden has finally mustered up the courage to leave his basement bunker for a few hours.

In fact, Joe left his home state of Delaware today -- a rare occurrence for the weak, frail, cognitively struggling Democrat, and needless to say, he was totally overwhelmed. At one point, he confused Robert Byrd with Ted Kennedy. At another point, Joe could not even remember Senator Mitt Romney's name, referring to him as that -- that Mormon.

Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE:  You may remember, I've got in trouble when we were running against the senator who was a Mormon. The governor, okay? I took him on. Anybody -- no one's faith should be questioned.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY:  The Mormon guy, the Mormon. We hold these truths to be self- evident that all men are created equal endowed by the thing, you know, whatever, the thing.

God, the creator of everything.

So, that's how Biden's day began and it only got worse from there. Mr. Joe

30330 once again struggling to literally completely promote a campaign website.

And, by the way, maybe somebody on the staff might want to remind the ever forgetful Joe that he is running for president. He's not running for senator. He keeps forgetting, forgets the day of the week, forgets what office he's running for.

He is running for president, not senator. Somebody remind him.

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN:  You know, we have to come together, that is why I'm running. I'm running as a proud Democrat for the Senate.

So vote! Vote! God bless you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY:  Can somebody tell Joe, by the way, it's not a real Website, and Joe, you're running for president, not senator. By the way, the senator, and the Mormon guy is Mitt Romney, not some Mormon governor.

Now, sadly, what we showed you, that's just from a couple hours today, because every time that Joe actually leaves the basement bunker and stays out past 10:00 a.m., well, disaster ensues. Here's a quick reminder.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

BIDEN:  Look, tomorrow is Super Thurs -- Tuesday, and I want to thank you all. I tell you what, I'm rushing ahead, aren't I?

We hold these truths to be self-evident, all men and women created by -- oh, you know the -- you know the thing.

If you agree with me, go to Joe 30330.

We choose truth over facts.

Play the radio, make sure television -- excuse me, make sure you have the record player on at night. The phone -- make sure the kids hear words. Poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids.

Donald Trump does pose an excellent strength to this -- it's not hypothetical.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

HANNITY:  This is pretty serious. By the way, these are way beyond an occasional campaign gaffe, and I am beginning -- well, I'm more than worried that this man could represent a clear and present danger to this country.

He is obviously not capable of leading. He has been hiding the entire campaign and the corrupt media mob is covering for him. Joe wants to be the president of the United States of America, that would be the toughest job in the world and at times Joe doesn't seem to remember that he's running for president, or what state he's in, what day of the week it is.

Does anyone really believe that if elected, Joe Biden will actually be in control of anything? That brings up another scary thought, that would be his most radical. Vice presidential running make, Kamala Harris.

Now, he knows his radical socialist base, they are going to be the ones in charge. That's Kamala Harris. That's Bolshevik Bernie. That's AOC.

And, by the way, they are saying what the stated plans are to fundamentally transform this country. Court packing, ending the legislative filibuster, what, starting the process to ban the Electoral College, adding D.C., Puerto Rico, as states? Oh, four more Democrats, so you have a Democratic run Senate in perpetuity.

It would be the biggest power grab in the history of the country. Then they want open borders, why, they hope all the 11 and 50 million people die got amnesty, they're hoping that they will vote Democratic. According to Chuck Schumer, he said it, everything is on the table.

Now, at least one emboldened far left activist group, they've even posted online a guide on how to disrupt and shut down this entire country by force if the 2020 race is too close to call.

We'll have more on that coming up in a special report. But, first, here is what President Trump had to say about his struggling Democratic opponent and his radical base. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:  Sleepily Joe Biden, not a nice guy, by the way, I have to be honest. He's not a nice guy. You have people say, oh, he's such a nice guy.

He had a very bad day today. He had a very bad day. You saw what happened.

If I ever had a day like he had today, they'd say it's over. It's over.

We have somebody running who's not 100 percent. He's not 80 percent. He's not 60 percent. We can't have this, as a country we can't have it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY:  By the way, a tribute to the great researchers and scientists, the new therapeutics that they have developed to help people overcome

COVID-19 is unbelievable. And we are on our way towards a vaccine on top of that with Operation Warp Speed.

Now, we'll have more of my monologue coming up straight ahead.

First, joining us now, former White House press secretary, FOX News contributor, Ari Fleischer.

OK, Ari, part of it is I like to laugh, I like to make fun of campaign gaffes. John Kerry once famously said, I voted for the 87 billion before I voted against it.

OK, that was a gaffe. Bernie Sanders I think is the same age if not older, Bernie's got his together. Bernie's together. Bernie is sharp. Bernie is a fighter. Bernie is articulate.

There's something going on here, Ari, that is scary if this man is the president of the United States. Is this now a fair and real argument?

ARI FLEISCHER, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR:  Oh, it's always been a fair and real argument, Sean. I think we all know watching Joe Biden that's he's -- he's a few French fries rush short of a happy meal.

(LAUGHTER)

FLEISCHER:  But the problem is, and you pointed out in your opening, you're the only one talking about it, very few in the mainstream media, CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, they don't show it.

So, here's the challenge, Sean, President Trump at the upcoming debate has got to exercise sufficient restraint to let the Biden speak. If he stubbly and bubbly as you say, and we think, Biden has got to show it to an audience of 70 million, 80 million Americans without being stepped on by the power of Donald Trump.

HANNITY:  OK.

FLEISCHER:  The American people need to see ad for them self.

HANNITY:  If my theory is right, if you notice that Joe Biden went into the hiding before the first debate for days. Now, I think -- 

FLEISCHER:  Yeah.

HANNITY:  -- they altered his daily clock. I think they tried to maximize his best cognitive hour to be during debate time. He disappeared for almost half the month of September putting a lid on events, at 9:00, 9:30, 10:00 a.m. in the morning, and God knows, you know, what 12 cups of Red Bull might do for somebody to get him through an hour and a half.

So, you know, you can probably get in an hour and a half out of anybody to survive, but when you see the real Biden under the real stress of a campaign, it comes out -- very different from a debate.

FLEISCHER:  That's all true, and that's what typically campaigns do test.

But this cycle -- this election is not testing that. This election, so far, has been a referendum on the President Trump. It has not been a choice between President Trump and Vice President Biden. And that right now is harming President Trump.

And so, the trick here and you pointed out the media bias, it's not showing this to the American people, the trick here is for Donald Trump to take advantage of one big event that remains, with 70 million and 80 million people watching and he has to deliver and let Biden fail.

Now, if he -- I don't know what he does between the debates or doesn't do, but if he is able to keep it together for an hour and a half on stage, it's going to be the Biden's advantage. And therefore, the other thing the president needs to do is make Biden to the left, show how liberal he is.

And there are many number of ways to do it but again, he's got to put Biden in a liberal box and let Biden show just how far to the left he is on taxes, on energy, on cutting police funding. Not defunding the police, cutting police funding. He is for cutting the police -- 

HANNITY:  Hey, Ari -- 

FLEISCHER:  -- you got him dead on on that one.

HANNITY:  Doesn't -- wouldn't it be -- if the president does anything else, but trying to demand answers to, will you pack the courts, yes or no, and then be quiet? Will you end the filibuster, yes or no? Do you support eliminating the Electoral College? Yes or no? Why did you say you'd end fracking?

You know, because I don't expect any moderators are going to ask the right questions, do you?

FLEISCHER:  No, but the present has to do that. It's a two-part set-up, Sean. The president has to make it -- set it up, put the ball on the tee.

And when Biden doesn't swing, when Biden ducks, when Biden dodges, let Biden duck and dodge, don't interrupt him.

Then the next question comes to President Trump, go back to the previous question.

Ladies and gentlemen, would you just heard before, Joe Biden won't tell you if he'll pack the court, Joe Biden did tell you he's going to raise taxes twice as much as Hillary, he is going to cut police spending. I veto. I'll veto packing the court.

Joe, will you veto packing the court? And force Biden to respond.

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY:  Just asked the question and be quiet.

FLEISCHER:  It's an art. It's a tough art and what the president likes to do is to be the alpha male on the stage. It's gotten him quite far in life and in politics. He cleaned all the clocks of the Republican candidates in the primaries, but it's very different than 2016, and that's why the president has got to have the discipline, Sean, to be quiet, enough. He can set it up, he can be aggressive, but yet quiet and let Biden fail.

HANNITY:  All right. Ari Fleischer, good advice, and I think on your part, something -- a lot to chew on there.

All right. Tonight, as we speak, Democrats are looking for ways to rule this country in perpetuity with what will be the sink is to power grab by any one political party ever. In the last 150 years, they don't like checks and balances, they don't value coequal branches of government. And, clearly, they do not care about the Constitution.

And, by the way, they don't seem to give a damn about your Second Amendment rights either. As per Kamala Harris, she would illuminate gun rights through executive fiat. So, it's no wonder Democrats are planning to destroy the U.S. Supreme Court with a practice known as court packing.

A friend of called me this weekend and he said, Sean, you know, most people don't know what it means. Let me explain it.

It is a corrupt scheme where by a president would increase for the first time in hundred 50 years the number of Supreme Court justices giving that president an opportunity to nominate endless judges that believe -- well, not in our Constitution, that they could bypass the other two branches of government, the legislative branch, the executive branch, and basically rule by executive fiat. Things that Democrats could never accomplish legislatively or at the ballot box, they would then use a packed court to enforce on the country.

If they are successful, that would be the biggest and the most destabilizing power grab in over 150 years.

Now, the Supreme Court would no longer function as a coequal branch of government, it would no longer check the executive branch or the legislative branch. It would basically take over for the legislative branch. This would have significant, real, and extraordinarily dangerous ramifications, including the potential collapse of our constitutional republic.

Joe Biden doesn't think you deserve to know where he stands on this critical issue. This is what he said again. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER:  Sir, I've got to ask you about packing the court and I know that

-- 

BIDEN:  Sure.

REPORTER:  -- you said yesterday you're not going to enter the question until after the election. But this is the number one thing that I've been asked about from viewers in the past couple days.

BIDEN:  Well, you've been asked by the viewers who are probably Republicans who do want me to continue to talk about what they're doing to the court right now.

REPORTER:  Well, sir, don't do the voters deserve to know --

(CROSSTALK)

BIDEN:  No, they don't, I'm not going to play his game. He'd love me to talk about -- I've already said something on the packing the court, but he'd love to be the discussion, instead of what he's doing now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY:  You don't deserve to know, I'll tell you after the election. He's not going to play Trump's game.

How about you tell us before the election, before we vote? You know, the one where you tell voters what you believe and then they support your belief system.

And meanwhile, his radical running mate also refusing to answer that question and said that Joe has been very clear on where he stands.

Actually, he hasn't been. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER:  About expanding the court, have you guys decided on when you will announce whether or not you would?

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE:  Joe's been really clear and I'm really care that we are 22 days away from an election and people are voting right now and that's the focus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY:  As we pointed out last week, Kamala Harris has already said she is open to the idea. And if Joe and Kamala answer to no one on the campaign trail, imagine what they could possibly do if they are in power?

This is extraordinarily scary, the very future now of our democratic constitutional republic would weigh in the balance. This is not hyperbole.

In fact, years before Joe Biden was co-opted by the radical members of his own party, he was warning Americans against the idea of court packing.

He called it a bonehead idea and a corrupt power grab. Here's Joe back then.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN:  Roosevelt, and remember this old adage about power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Corrupted by power in my view unveiled the court packing plan. It took an act of courage in the part of his party institutionally to stand up against this power grab.

It was totally within his right to do that. He violated no law. He was legalistic absolutely correct, but it was a bonehead idea. It was a terrible, terrible mistake to make.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY:  Boneheaded idea, terrible mistake, Joe, what changed?

I think the answer is clear. The Democratic Party is now controlled by radical extreme socialists that will do anything for power. Joe is now frankly an empty suit and they are using him to push their insane agenda.

And it's not only about court packing, they're planning to, what, Adam Schiff said it this weekend, he loves the idea of banning the Electoral College.

And we know from Chuck Schumer, he would get rid of the legislative filibuster. We know Democrats want to add places like D.C., and Puerto Rico states. Why? Oh, they think they'll get four extra senators which would keep them in the Senate majority for perhaps perpetuity.

And if Chuck Schumer stated for the second time, every thing is on the table -- threats, by Chuck Schumer. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), SENATE MINORITY LEADER:  So, this idea that Democrats are packing the court, they've already done it. As for ourselves, what I said is were going to win the election, God willing, president, may be hopefully take back the Senate. It's not an easy fight but we are doing well, and then every thing will be on the table. That's all. But we're not going to fall in the trap of debating that now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY:  Well, we're not going to tell you what we believe now when they tell you what they are plotting, you need to assume they mean it. If you value our constitutional system of governance, our limited federal government, capitalism over private property, the very way of life -- pay attention -- if you believe in coequal branches of government, separation of powers, that is what's at stake and it is not serious. And only you, the American people, have the power to stop the Democrats from accomplishing this mission and to their radical agenda at the ballot box.

Joining us now, constitutional scholar, FOX News contributor, Jonathan Turley.

All right. So, it's packing the courts, they won't give an answer. You basically heard from Chuck. He'll end the legislative filibuster.

We know they want D.C. and Puerto Rico statehood. We know they want amnesty which could be, I think Democrats want to because they think it's going to be more Democratic votes down the line. And even some talking about a constitutional amendment to get rid of the Electoral College.

How scary is that to you?

JONATHAN TURLEY, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR:  Well, the most unnerving thing about these plans is that this country is already divided. We've never needed the Supreme Court more. The Supreme Court is an extraordinary institution. As President Jackson says, it has no army. And yet, presidents have yielded to it, the American public has yielded to it, because it has credibility, because it has authority. If you packed the courts, you lose that. And when you lose the Supreme Court as this moderating institution, this stabilizing institution, things can go really badly and really bad times.

And this is one of those times. We've been divided as a nation before, but we've always had this stabilizing influence. That's why it's wrong for Biden to refuse to answer -- many people of both parties will not vote for someone who is even considering a court packing plan. And to say that you're not going to tell people until after the election is just rather bizarre.

HANNITY:  I probably shouldn't do this to you, but I'm going to do it anyway. You're a lifelong Democrat, right? You've been a Democrat most of your life.

TURLEY:  I was. I come from a very strong Democratic and liberal family in Chicago. I now consider myself now an independent. I --

HANNITY:  I forgive you. It's okay.

TURLEY:  I have a lot of respect for Biden, I have a lot of respect for Biden. I have a lot of respect when he was in the Senate.

And I find this all rather strange because the Biden that many of us on the Senate was very popular because he would speak to you straight up, and particularly when it came to constitutional matters. He had a North Star that you can rely on.

I -- this is not the Joe Biden that many of us on the Senate.

HANNITY:  So, between all the things -- D.C. statehood, packing the courts, amnesty, I think it's a power grab.

Am I wrong in my observation that he seems weak to you, frail to you as he does me and cognitively that he struggling? Is that a fair observation because they said it about McCain, they said about it Ronald Reagan. It's a fair question for them.

TURLEY:  Yeah, I don't want to assume that he's in decline, but I do think it's fair for people to ask why there's such a lack of clarity and coherence in his positions. He -- I'm not -- this is really a blunder of the first order come on refusal to talk about whether you're going to take this destructive step in the courts.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg before she passed spoke against this proposal as something that will destroy the institution she loved.

HANNITY:  Yeah.

All right. Well, by the way, Jonathan, welcome to the FOX family. I appreciate your insight.

When we come back, Judge Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation hearing started today. Democrats wasted little time doing what they always do, that's politicizing it.

Senator Lindsey Graham, he's chairing up these proceedings. He'll join us.

Our Lawrence Jones, our 2020 correspondent on the ground, he was with the president in Florida today, speaking to Trump supporters at the rally.

We've got the tape and Newt Gingrich will give us his analysis. Three weeks from tomorrow, you are the ultimate jury, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY:  All right. Earlier today, the Senate kicked off confirmation hearings for Judge Amy Coney Barrett. And while Republicans on the president's nominee were committed to talking about judicial philosophy, the rule of law, well, Democrats predictably tried to use the occasion to fearmonger about Obamacare and launched many baseless attacks against Judge Barrett. And it's only the beginning of what should be a very fascinating week of smears, lies, slander, and besmirchment.

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN):  Yes, judge, I think this hearing is a sham.

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT):  Your nomination is about the Republican goal of appealing the Affordable Care Act. The Obamacare Act, they seem to detest so much.

SEN. MAZIE HIRONO (D-HI):  To help the president keep his promise, our Republican colleagues are rushing to confirm Judge Barrett is a hypocritical, illegitimate process.

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ):  We're here because in the middle of the deadly pandemic, in the middle of an ongoing election, Senate Republicans have found a nominee in Judge Barrett who they know will do what they couldn't do, subvert the will of the American people and overturn the ACA and overturn Roe v. Wade.

HARRIS:  More than 9 million Americans have already voted and millions more will vote, while this illegitimate committee process is underway.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY:  Illegitimate, no, 29 times and 29 presidential election years, all 29 presidents appointed the nominee to the court, including Kamala, honest, A (ph), if you do not get the story right.

And, by the way, yeah, that is called the constitutional duty of the president, advice and consent, that would be the role of the U.S. Senate.

And that's the process you're involved in and the review of today's transcript found the Obamacare related terms will use a whopping 140 times.

But I'd like to remind every American to ask yourself, how many of you lost your doctors and lost your plans and how many of you are paying less for your health care than you were paying before? Because millions lost their doctors, millions lost their precious plans, and guess what? States like Alabama, Wyoming, there's only one Biden Obamacare provider to choose from, that's almost 40 percent of the country.

And let's also be clear: almost everybody is paying 200 percent more.

Whatever happened to the on average, average families going to save $2,500 a year? Not one single Obamacare promised Democrats made, Biden and Obama made, was ever kept. And there's nothing illegitimate about this week's hearings.

The president is the president. The president swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States. The president, like 29 presidents before, during presidential election years, well, he did his job and made a Supreme Court nomination.

And with the advice and the consent of the U.S. Senate, that nomination will hopefully elevate Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court. And it is that simple. It is that straightforward.

Here with more reaction, Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, Lindsey Graham.

Now, I'll be honest, every possible -- not one senator had to be in the room. You made teleconferencing, Zooming, FaceTiming, whatever you want to call it, available to everybody.

I understand that antivirals were cleaned out in the entire room ahead of time. I saw distancing of what, 12 feet between every senator. People have the option as I understand to get more tests if they felt the need to do so.

Mike Lee was cleared by his doctor to be there, but yet, they tried to attack you on that issue.

Your reaction?

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC):  Well, it's probably the safest room in America to be in. We took a lot of care to make sure it was CDC compliant.

Millions of America went to work today, in restaurants and factories.

Military members reported for duty, police and firemen. When you have a positive in the unit, you don't shut the unit down, you deal with it responsibly.

I don't need to be tested to. I was negative a week ago. Friday, I have no reason under the guidelines to be tested. It was a safe place to conduct the hearing but it was important.

And let me tell you what I got out of this. Nobody has really mentioned this today. When Joni Ernst and Marsha Blackburn spoke in there 10 minutes, you could see the emotion coming from their soul. Why is this so important?

Donald Trump nominated someone to the court, the fifth woman in the history of our nation, who is unashamedly pro-life, and conservative. We have to win this for all the young women out there who are conservative, to show them there's a place at the table for you.

Finally, women go through hell who embraced conservatism, who dared to be pro-life in a liberal media's eyes.

HANNITY:  Senator -- 

GRAHAM:  Tim Scott goes through hell.

HANNITY:  Senator, if I remember correctly, and I don't agree with you at the time, didn't you vote for liberal justices on the Supreme Court? What were their names? Elena Kagan, I believe, and Sonia Sotomayor, correct?

GRAHAM:  Yeah.

HANNITY:  And you knew their judicial philosophy different from yours?

GRAHAM:  Sure. Yeah, so Justice Scalia got 98 votes and Justice Ginsburg got 96 votes. It used to not be this way. It's Thomas, it's Bork, Alito and Kavanaugh.

If we had backed out on Kavanaugh, who would step forward in the conservative world? If we can get this wonderfully qualified conservative woman on the court, we'll be making a statement to all young conservative women, there's a place at the table for you.

This may be the most important thing I ever do in the United States Senate is to make sure this fine nominee, who happens to be a conservative woman, makes it through the process. I promise everybody who's listening, I will do my best.

HANNITY:  Let me ask you this -- they are trying to scare the American people that they know that Amy Coney Barrett will get rid of Obamacare, which, by the way, none of the promises were kept.

GRAHAM:  Yeah, right.

HANNITY:  And that Roe v. Wade, which, by the way, if it ever was overturned -- which I don't really think it will, and, by the way, even Amy Coney Barrett had said that -- all abortion would be illegal (ph), no, it would be sent back to the states.

My question to you is, is any judicial nominee for the Supreme Court, has any of them ever telegraphed how they would vote on any topic or is there something called the Ruth Bader Ginsburg answer?

GRAHAM:  Well, the Ginsburg rule is that you're not supposed to tip your hand or tell somebody how you may rule in ongoing litigations. Justice Ginsburg said a couple years ago, a president is elected for four years, not three. The Ginsburg rule is alive and well.

You cannot ask her to tell us in the committee how she would rule on the particular case. You can't bargain with the judge. If you tell me how you're going to vote, I'll vote for you.

Here's what's important -- three hundred and sixty million dollars have been raised since the passing of Justice Ginsburg by Democrats. I am worried about tomorrow, and Wednesday. I'm afraid that the Democratic base is going to push these senators to declare war on this nominee.

My opponent raised $57 million. One of the reasons he's raising so much money is I stood up for Kavanaugh. They tried to take Kavanaugh out.

I'm worried about Amy Barrett, she can handle what comes her way but our -- our Republicans need to defend her and we will. So, help me at https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__lindseygraham.com&d=DwICAg&c=cnx1hdOQtepEQkpermZGwQ&r=66NL-BOo471AGSm_KnwRE_qfHEjM19jJhbDYidH1S1U&m=894IC0-QnZlfHNx4A8Ln2NS2g-cY07yV9NQyhNFoeYE&s=-z_1Cjlr35RND8xsJAo-4Rh5ljCyylape2SQ5-8b628&e= .

HANNITY:  Well -- 

GRAHAM:  They're trying to silence us all by swamping us with money. So, this is a fight that really does matter.

HANNITY:  Nearly $100 million thrown at you by the likes of Rosie O'Donnell, Barbra Streisand.

GRAHAM:  Yeah.

HANNITY:  Every -- I think Rob Reiner, if I'm not mistaken.

GRAHAM:  Right.

HANNITY:  I hope people in South Carolina don't allow Barbra Streisand and Rosie to decide your race for the president -- or the race for president.

Thank you, sir, for being with us.

All right. Now, also, tonight president is healthy, back on the campaign trail, he's been declared by his doctors, a massive rally earlier tonight.

Sanford, Florida, our very own Lawrence Jones, our 2020 correspondent, he was on the ground. He gets all the hard assignments. He gets to hang out and get all the love, everybody recognizes LJ wherever he goes.

He's a rock star. He's doing selfies and signing autographs. And, you know, we're just -- it's unbelievable, LJ, I saw the B-role of the crowds loving on you tonight.

LAWRENCE JONES, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR:  Oh, good evening, Sean. It was a busy day indeed in the Sunshine State. This was the president's first rally since tested positive for the coronavirus. And, Sean, he was fired up and so were his supporters.

The topic of discussion, court packing, do voters deserve to know if Joe Biden plans on packing the court? Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONES:  Joe Biden says that he's not going to let people know if he's going to pack the court until after the election. Do voters deserve to know if he's going to pack the court now before they vote?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:  Yes, they do need -- he needs to put out his list and if he's going to yea or nay pack the court. Him

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  Him not answering clearly says that that is that's a decision he's going with, is to pack the court.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:  I think it's completely disrespectful to the voters and his non-answer is an answer. He will pack the courts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  Nobody even knows what the guy stands for. Why can't he answer it? That's the question.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  If he's running for president, you got to be -- you know, he got to straight up like President Trump.

JONES:  Are you shocked by the fact out here waiting to get into the rally?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:  Wasn't going please. Not really surprised.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:  Not surprised at all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  You walk around Florida for two seconds, you're going to realize it's really a red state.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  Trump's going to win, baby.

JONES:  Florida is a swing state. The president won it the last time. Will he win this time?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:  Absolutely, go Trump! 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES:  Sean, as you played earlier and the show, Joe Biden responded to reporters saying this, voters don't deserve to know. Twenty-two days out until the election is here, Sean, I think voters have decided if they deserve to know when they cast their ballot. We'll see.

HANNITY:  And, by the way, don't think I didn't notice that the hard assignment that we give you today that I heard, you know, one of the greatest all-time classic bands and classic tunes of all time. "Free Bird"

playing in the background by Leonard Skynyrd, unbelievable.

You know, we've got to switch jobs. I'll go out on the road, you sit in this chair.

All right. LJ, you're the man. Thank you.

JONES:  People are asking for you, Sean. They want you back out here.

HANNITY:  Uh-oh. I want to go back out. I miss -- I miss being on the road.

Stay safe, my friend. Thank you. Great report.

Now, the ever weak, frail, forgetful Joe, well, he continues to try and erase his past positions, let's see on fracking, telling a small group of reporters in Pennsylvania, and I mean, small teensy weensy little group, that he is not going to ban it.

The only problem is, Joe, well, we have you and we have your running mate on tape saying the exact opposite. You said it during this campaign trial.

That's the real Joe Biden in my view. I don't trust you.

But we'll let our viewers decide.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN:  I am not, not, not banning fracking, period.

But, kiddo, I want you just to take a look, okay? You don't have to agree, but I want you to look in my eyes. I guarantee you, I guarantee you, we're going to end fossil fuel and I'm not going to cooperate on that, okay?

No more, no new fracking.

DEBATE MODERATOR:  Would there be any place for fossil fuels including coal and fracking in a Biden administration?

BIDEN:  No, we would -- we would work at out. We would make sure it's eliminated and n no more subsidies for either one of those.

JESSIE BLUEDORN, CLIMATE ACTIVIST:  Would you commit to implementing a federal ban on fracking your first day in office, adding the United States to the list of countries who have banned this devastating practice?

HARRIS:  There's no question I'm in favor of banning fracking? So, yes.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY:  Yeah. Okay.

So, now, who do you think Biden and Harris are beholden to? The hardworking Pennsylvania, Ohio, let's see, Oklahoma, Texas, or the new radical extreme socialist left?

Joe actually lied during the debate. I don't have the Bernie-Biden manifesto. Yeah, you do, all 110 pages of it.

Here with the reaction, author of "The New York Times" best seller "Trump and the American Future", FOX News contributor, Newt Gingrich.

OK. The guy flips and flops and flails in every position. He said -- when he was fighting for the nomination, he said it numerous times. Kamala said it numerous times.

But now, I guess he's come to realize, oh, I may lose Pennsylvania and Ohio because of that.

Your thoughts?

NEWT GINGRICH, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR:  Well, I mean, how do you take seriously a guy who just this week explained that he's running for the U.S.

Senate? Who couldn't quite remember Mitt Romney's name and referred to him, you know, that Mormon guy.

You know, who knows what -- deep in his heart, who knows what Joe Biden believes? Or who knows what Joe Biden remembers what Joe Biden believes?

That's the most amazing thing to me is the American people are seriously considering putting in as commander-in-chief somebody who clearly is less and less in touch with reality.

So, a few weeks ago when he is running with the liberal nomination, of course, he's going to ban fracking. Now that he has the nomination, and he's trying to run for centrist voters, well, he never meant to ban fracking. And just as he said he was going to ban fracking doesn't mean that you should think he's going to ban fracking.

Of course, the problem is we live in the age of videotapes where we have both he and Harris making very, very radical positions that are on tape, it's a little hard for them to walk away from.

So, my guess is in the end, people are going to see, you know, this is exactly what his politics give him a bad name. They'd say that this guy is just lying.

HANNITY:  He was asked again if voters deserve know if he is going to pack the U.S. court. He says, no, they don't deserve to know.

Now, Schumer said he's going to end the filibuster. We know they want D.C.

statehood, Puerto Rico statehood, and they want amnesty. Now, to me, this seems like what the Democrats are trying to do is what the statists have done historically and that would they want one party rule and they want no accountability and no chance that an opposition party could ever basically exist if they accomplish that.

How dangerous is that in your mind?

GINGRICH:  Well, I think this is the most dangerous election since 1864 when Lincoln's opponent would have allowed the South to succeed and destroy the Union. I think that if they could control, they will do everything they can to turn the entire country to California. To make it a one party system, a system of mass corruption, a system that's extraordinarily radical ideas.

If you look at what's happening in San Francisco where, of course, the vice presidential nominee Harris is from, where anti-Pelosi is from, you look at what's happening whether it's the wildfires, running out of electricity because they want to invest in the system, brand-new efforts to control your life, between the increasingly Cuomo dictatorial position in New York, which I'm told, for example, led them to shut the gates of the Jewish cemetery, the kind of behavior that you don't associate with America at all.

You have Cuomo in New York, then you have what's happening in California.

That's the future if they win control of the country.

HANNITY:  How do you see this election? It seems -- the polls seem similar.

Hillary Clinton winning by 14 points, 15 points. 12 points. Same thing this time.

Why should people not be deflated by these polls even though they were so wrong last time?

GINGRICH:  That's the thing that's amazing, like watching Lucy with the football in the Charlie Brown series. You know, the very same polls who are off massively, I just read a great article this morning that said, if you have believed the polls in 2018, we have a Democratic governor of Ohio, we have a Democratic governor of Iowa, and they went on this list and they said, the fact is the polls in '18 in the Midwest were as bad as the polls in '16.

And so, I think -- my guess is Trump wins.

HANNITY:  What you give the odds of that?

GINGRICH:  About 70-30 if he wins.

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY:  I don't like the 30 other percent.

GINGRICH:  It's up to the people.

HANNITY:  People got to vote! 

All right. Mr. Speaker, good to see you.

GINGRICH:  Yeah.

HANNITY:  Pretty unbelievable.

Biden now reportedly considering picking Andrew Cuomo to be the attorney general. Oh, boy, if he wins the election.

Dan Bongino, Geraldo, they're next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY:  Here to weigh-in, 22 days until you are the ultimate jury. He's the author of "Follow the Money," FOX News contributor, Dan Bongino, FOX News correspondent-at-large, Geraldo Rivera.

Dan, by the way, everybody keeps telling me when you see Dan, we are praying for him, we are glad he's getting healthy and they want a speedy recovery.

For Geraldo, I don't know about Geraldo. Geraldo last really pissed the crowd off, it was after debate.

All right. So -- 

GERALDO RIVERA, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT-AT-LARGE:  It's part of my job.

HANNITY:  -- 30 -- 22 days, Dan Bongino. Obviously, struggling cognitively Joe Biden -- where do you see in this campaign?

DAN BONGINO, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR:  Well, Biden is a con man and he's getting exposed, Sean. I keep saying this on your show and I don't like to repeat segments, but this is super important. There's just a couple weeks left.

The guy is a con man. He keeps telling moderate Americans in America on the Democrat side that he's a moderate. He's not. And then he goes to liberals and tells liberals he's this huge liberal and then backs out on them too.

He's lying to both sides.

But most importantly the question you should ask yourself, if you really want to know who Biden is, who is -- who is he surrounding himself with?

Because people are policy. Look at what he's got, AOC running his Green New Deal agenda, Beto running his gun confiscation agenda, Bernie running health care. I mean, who's he going to grab next, resurrect Lenin and maybe Khrushchev and have them run the economy?

I mean, can you get more for the radical left agenda? This guy is the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. He's whatever you think he is. That's his deal.

HANNITY:  I don't think he's a con man. I might disagree with you. I think this guy -- I don't think even knows what he's saying half the time.

Now, Geraldo, you're one of my best friends. You are sharp, you are tough, you are with it. You're aware.

Bernie Sanders, you know what, the guy has got energy, stamina, strength, and a point of view, and he's articulate. Joe, he doesn't have it, Geraldo.

I'm trying to be nice in saying this. The guy is struggling cognitively.

How else can I put that?

RIVERA:  Well, Bernie Sanders will be the Budget Committee chairman if Joe Biden's president, so I think that everybody should put that in their pipe and smoke it, that the only avowed socialist independent in the United States Senate will be the head of the Senate Budgetary Committee. So that should scare every American.

HANNITY:  Do you think Joe is fit for this job? Do you think he's up to the job?

RIVERA:  You know, I don't know, I don't -- I don't know what he has.

Can I talk about our friend Donald Trump?

HANNITY:  Yes.

RIVERA:  I mean, tonight you saw the attraction of a truly charismatic person, a person who has defied the odds from -- you know, from the minute he announced that he was running president. He had defied the odds, the pundits, the polls, everything else, and tonight in Stuart, Florida, you saw the massive numbers of people on very short notice and they were hanging on his every word and he beat this disease, he did an amazing, miraculous -- he didn't do it, his doctors and Mother Nature and God all conspired to make him healthy again, even after he had been whacked by the

COVID-19 virus.

I just wish that when he recuperated and he stepped out there, that he had more -- a bit more humility and more encompassing of others who have suffered and perhaps have not had the spectacularly positive outcome the president did. I want him to see --

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY:  Wait a minute, but what did he say? I want every American to have the same therapeutics that your president have and I'm going to make it happen and I'm going to give it to you for free.

RIVERA:  And they're going to get them, and they're going to get a vaccine.

HANNITY:  For free.

All right. We'll continue.

RIVERA:  A little more Reagan heart.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY:  Time flies when you're having fun. Unfortunately, that's all the time we have left.

Don't forget, we hope you will set your DVR, set it now, 9:00 Eastern, so you never miss an episode of HANNITY.

But the good news is, let not your heart be troubled -- Laura Ingraham, three weeks from tomorrow, are you ready?

END

Content and Programming Copyright 2020 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2020 ASC Services II Media, LLC.  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 ASC Services II Media, LLC. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.