Biden Mumbles Through Farewell Speech, and Jill's Mean Girl Exit, with Ana Kasparian, Kevin Madden, Amala Ekpunobi, and Link Lauren | Ep. 984
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Welcome to The Megyn Kelly Show, live on Sirius XM Channel 111 every weekday at noon east.

Hey, everyone. I'm Megyn Kelly. Welcome to The Megyn Kelly Show. More of President-elect Donald Trump's top cabinet nominees are on Capitol Hill today after Attorney General nominee Pam Bondi's dominating performance yesterday. She crushed it. We will bring you more of those highlights. They really are highlights. It's like these nominees are changing the game on how this whole thing is done. There's no genuflecting. There's no kissing of the ring. These Democrat senators...

They don't need their votes. They don't go in there trying to be rude or looking for a fight. But if you're going to treat them like shit, which is clearly what's happening, they're going to fight back. They're going to stand their ground. And I am loving it. It comes as President Joe Biden bid farewell to the White House finally and his 50 year political career from the Oval Office by talking about his huge account. No, by mumbling about Elon Musk.

50 years in office and it comes down to Elon Musk. But don't worry, part two is tonight where he sits down with the venerable Lawrence O'Donnell, who I think might go from two viewers to four as he does, I guess, an exit interview, but he won't do.

a final press conference as virtually every president has done before him in modern history. And Curry and Jean-Pierre, you'll be shocked to learn, had absolutely no reasons for why. Just a bunch of mumbling muck produced by her on why he won't actually answer to the rest of us. Why won't he speak to us?

and our representatives, which, like it or not, are the American media. Joining me now on Those Stories and More, two first-time guests on the show. Well, are they? I know Anna is. Anna Kasparian is a host and producer of The Young Turks, who's been making headlines for calling out her own side recently. And Kevin Madden, I guess, Kevin, it's your first on this program, but you've been on my shows many times. He's a Republican strategist and senior partner at the Penta Group.

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Yeah. I mean, Kevin, my God, we go way back, but I guess it's the first time we've done this particular platform. So great to see you again. And Anna, I've been watching your evolution and you're sort of speaking out about your ideas with great interest. It's been fascinating.

It's been very interesting. I feel like in some ways I experienced something similar myself where I was certainly more, I think, on the left 10 years ago than I am now, for sure. I would never have described myself as a liberal past like college, but I see what you're going through. And I think a lot of people can relate to where it's like,

you just get so aggravated with shit breaking down that you believed in. You feel like you have no choice, but you just start calling it out. So I guess that's a fine place to start. Do you want to explain to the audience who hasn't seen you on like Glenn Beck or elsewhere, kind of where you are? Because most people know you as part of the Young Turks, which is a left-leaning podcast. It's very successful, but it's certainly not center or center-right.

Yes. So it is true. It's a left-wing show and I still consider myself for the most part on the left and

But, you know, there's been this growing culture among the Democratic Party in particular where there seems to be a lack of self-reflection, maybe even, you know, kind of taking note or inventory of some of the policies that we've been championing or supporting, endorsing. Once some of those policies are implemented, there might be flaws, there might be some issues that

policymakers didn't see coming into it. But once you see some of the negative ramifications of these policies, I mean, I used to be under the assumption, and this was, I guess, a terrible assumption to have because it's not true, that there would be a recalibration of some of these policies in order to actually serve the

the best interests of the American people. But what I've noticed, certainly on a local level, is that there's absolutely no self-reflection, no recalibration of said policies. And on a national level, there seems to be more interest in serving the egos and the narcissism of Democratic leadership. And so the cover-up involving Joe Biden's mental decline

really bothered me. The fact that he was pushed out of, you know, running for reelection and then Kamala Harris was anointed really bothered me, especially when, you know, the whole centerpiece of the Democratic campaign was, you

protecting democracy. Well, Democratic voters didn't get a say in who their Democratic nominee would be. So there are all sorts of issues. And it doesn't mean that I've completely changed my political identity. If anything, I'm holding true to my political identity. And I feel that the Democrats do a lot of projection. They like to point fingers at the right for engaging in all sorts of nefarious behavior. But then they themselves are

engage in the same nefarious behavior. After Biden lost the election, you know, on Pod Save America, you hear, I'm sorry, after Harris lost the election on Pod Save America, you have members of her campaign talking about what they've learned following the Democrats loss. And what really bothered me is one of the things that they believe they did wrong was they didn't break campaign finance laws enough by having the campaign coordinate with the super PAC.

That's against the law. They accused Trump of doing that without providing any evidence. And then they said, we need to stop listening to our lawyers and we need to do a little more of what the Trump campaign did. I'm paraphrasing, but that was essentially the message that goes against my values and principles. So interesting. I mean, I just feel like we've heard so much of that kind of messaging, especially from the left.

In the either the right had its big breakup when Trump was elected in 16, you know, and it it was fierce and it was ugly. And now there's been a resettling, I think, as he's come into office, coming into office for the second time. And the left is having a lot of defectors, it seems to me, as of late. Maybe it's because they're looking at things a new way. Maybe it's because some of them are excited about this very interesting Trump coalition thing.

you know, or maybe some like the Biden thing I think really did hurt on the left more than people realize, like the lies people knew that you can't look at him and tell me this is the best Joe Biden ever. And then ask me to continue believing you. Okay. But let's, well, let's start with Biden because he's in the news after his big farewell address last night, Kevin, John Podoretz, who hosts a podcast and commentary magazine and runs commentary magazine

uh, and used to be a presidential speechwriter for Reagan and beyond, um, said it's the worst presidential address he's ever heard in his life. He said it was not, it was the number one least effective, most painful speech he's ever heard. He said the first half in his view was written by AI. And the second was written by somebody who did policy back in 1975, who must be on the Biden staff, but he was completely underwhelmed. What did you think?

I agree 100 percent. It seemed like it was like mailed in by not only Biden, but the speechwriting staff of the White House. Like they're probably thinking, OK, we've got another week to go. Let's just see what we can do. And just, you know, let's give this to the boss and let him let him let it rip and then move on. Right. Find our next job.

It was also a bit of like a microcosm of the Biden presidency in that sense, in that I'm sure it was well-intentioned, right? And they came in with lofty goals for it, but it quickly descended into incoherence. And then that was matched with a lot of the hypocrisy, like just the idea of

you know, make is it delivering this message about how America is being controlled by this wealthy oligarchy one week after you just hung a medal around George Soros's neck in the White House?

It's a bit rich, so to speak. And I think as a staffer, one of the things I said to myself immediately upon hearing that was like, who thought that was a good idea to push that given the optics and the pageantry of the last week? Yeah, who didn't see the vulnerability? Right, nobody thought that that would not go over well and that we'd be called on for the hypocrisy of it. Stand by, let me play that so the audience can hear it. Hold your second thought. Here it is, Sat 9.

I have no doubt that America is in a position to continue to succeed. That's why my farewell address tonight, I want to warn the country of some things that give me great concern. This is a dangerous concert and that's the dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultra wealthy people. The dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked. Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy.

our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead. Keep going, Kevin. So, you know, here we are where, you know, they just spent an election where they tried to frame everything as this pivot point for American democracy. And every single public poll shows that people were more worried about the Biden administration and its threat to democracy.

So, you know, it just not only did it is it I think it's you know, there's a false sense of alarmism that they're trying to continue to push. But it's just the hypocrisy of the message and how that message continues to land very poorly with the public. It just it continues to boggle my mind why they continue to push that. And then I think the last thing is. Oh, yeah. Sorry. Go ahead.

Yeah, there's just there's a whole bunch of empty platitudes like Joe Biden's sort of go to move is to always say, and there's nothing America can achieve if we put our minds to it. You know, five minutes after he just listed all of the things that are sort of dangerous and destructive about what the other half of the country has believes and has essentially taken to an electorate and won on.

So I just, you know, and like the last thing I'd say is like, it was 15 minutes long. Most of the people that I talked to about it when I asked their reaction said they didn't even get their way through it. Now that's a 15 minute speech that people couldn't sit through.

And, you know, it harkens back to the Capitol. I'm sorry, the State of the Union speech, which the Biden administration had swore was going to be this, you know, big energizing jolt to the American electorate to reframe the 2020 race. And, you know, all of the reviews of that State of the Union, they all said that that was going to be a, you know, a game changer for their campaign 48 hours later.

later from the State of the Union just like this, instantly forgettable. It's almost like it's like I always call like cotton candy messaging, like it melts on contact. No one's even going to remember it 48 hours from now.

Well, I mean, your hips remember the cotton candy. So there's that distinction. Here's one of the things, the galling things. Kevin mentions, you know, George Soros. There's a very long list of billionaires on both sides that make donations. But it's two to one Dems to Republicans. It's the Democrats definitely outweigh the Republicans when it comes to billionaire donors. It's to the point where you may remember this moment, too. During the Kamala Harris campaign, she went on with Stephen Colbert and they had this moment.

There are quite a few billionaires who support you. You are from Northern California, after all, where they grow them in fields out there. Who's your favorite billionaire? Because we all have a favorite billionaire. On three. One, two, three. Oprah. I'm sorry. I claimed Oprah. You can't take her now.

I mean, like we all know this. So what is it? Why is Biden do it? Is it it's just if you're a tech billionaire and suddenly you're part of this oligopoly that's trying to rule America with a tech iron fist.

I mean, honestly, I agree with the message that Biden was trying to put out there in this speech, which I also agree. I had a difficult time getting through it. It was kind of boring for me. So I got through maybe 25 percent.

tried to watch it multiple times, could not get through it. But in regard to the message that he's trying to put out there in regard to corporate rule in America and money in politics in America, that is an accurate message. But you both make a great point about how money in politics has corrupted both political parties. And for the Democrats to pretend as though they're totally innocent of this is ridiculous to me, especially considering what we experienced in the last election cycle. I mean, Kamala Harris,

raised far more money than the Trump campaign did. And in fact, she raised far more dark money than the Trump campaign did. And then she moved forward in essentially squandering all of that money. And I think this past election really shows the kind of grift that exists within our election cycles because that money gets spent with all these consultants and all these various PR groups and

the amount of money they charge for their services, which have proven to be a failure in this past election cycle for the Democrats, is absolutely outrageous. And so I feel like our elections have become more about, you know, a business for various industries that surround... What do you think he's talking about there? Do you think he's talking about...

money in politics? Or do you think he's talking about Elon Musk? Like, I'm angry that Elon is the world's richest man and has joined BFF style with the sitting president. And and also Zuckerberg is Bethany and Bezos is Bethany. And therefore, I see this as an as an emerging oligarchy. Like, I I feel like it was a complaint about Elon Musk and his outsized role in politics. That's how I read it, too. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, I was gonna say, Anna, I read it as a as a sort of veiled criticism of of the big three, so to speak. And the interesting thing on that, again, is the hypocrisy is so apparent just because all three, Matt Musk, Bezos and Trump.

Zuckerberg have a history of having supported Democrats and have a history of supporting left-leaning causes previously. And so it was fine then, but now- That's not an oligarchy. Yeah, now it's not. Now it's a huge threat. And I think there is a very, to your point, there is a very worthy, substantive debate that we can have about this in the country. But

If you're not going to be honest about it and why all of a sudden you believe it's a threat, then I think you actually broadly lose the American public's ability to persuade them and the ability to raise it as a priority for them.

Um, and so like that, that's where I think this is why one of the reasons why I think he complained. Yes, he doesn't like Elon. He doesn't like all that money. And of course Elon's using it. I mean, he's, he bought X, which has changed the national conversation than Twitter. He's threatening to primary people who are trying to stop or threatening to stop Trump's agenda. So he's definitely a thorn in the Democrat side, but no more so than George Soros, who's funded every left wing initiative that we've seen for the past decade plus.

However, he goes on to talk about one of his other complaints, his big complaints about what he's worried about in America. And it kind of is revealing about one of the things he hates about these tech so-called oligarchs in Sat-10. President Eisenhower spoke of the dangers of the military industrial complex. He warned us then about, and I quote, the potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power, end of quote, six decades later.

I'm equally concerned about the potential rise of a tech industrial complex that could pose real dangers for our country as well. Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation, enabling the abuse of power. The free press is crumbling. Editors are disappearing. Social media is giving up on fact-checking. The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit.

Okay. Just for those of you playing at home, that was editors are disappearing. Errors is disappearing. We, it was editors, I guess he said. So he's lamenting in essence, the Facebook change in policy, the meta change in policy, Kevin saying, we're not going to be doing fact checking anymore. Elon Musk leaves it up to community notes. Zuckerberg is going to be doing that as well. Something akin to that he has said. And Elon,

He, as the man behind the pressure campaign to get them to do what he wanted during COVID and around his son's laptop, is, I think, feeling genuine sadness that they're no longer going to listen.

I think that's right. First, I mean, just for a scene setter, I believe that since technology and the technology industry is one of our greatest, strongest exports around the globe, that it's important for business leaders to have a voice in public policy, for them to have interactions with policymakers. That's a really good, smart, important thing. And so, yeah.

That's the thing that's missing from the context, I think, of his criticism is exactly what you mentioned, Megan, is that

There was undue pressure put on a lot of these leaders when it was about Hunter's laptop and some of the information that was involved there and how that shaped the outcome of of of the election. So, you know, that's one of the things that I think has been lost on the Biden administration is, again, they just do they they don't have an accurate picture.

reflection on just how hypocritical so much of their criticism, so much, how much of their criticism is really coming off with the public. There's no, there's no come to Jesus, Anna. It's like Zuckerberg was on with Rogan a week ago talking about the bullies in the White House who

who tried to make them censor people's discussions, in particular during COVID, around vaccine side effects, which are real. It's a real issue. Not everybody on earth suffered them, but a significant enough portion, especially teenage boys, that it was absolutely criminal not to let this discussion flow freely and doctors speak freely about it. And here's Zuckerberg talking about the Biden administration and vaccine side effects in Sat 14 on Rogan.

They pushed us super hard to take down things that were honestly were true. Right. I mean, they basically pushed us and said, you know, anything that says that vaccines might have side effects, you basically need to take down. That's crazy. And now he has the nerve to get up there and say we're going in a dark period where misinformation is going to run wild.

Yeah, I think it- Oh, sorry about that. Go ahead. I just wanted to say, I think that the Democrats really leaning into campaigning on fear is a bad idea because people are sick of it. They're fatigued by it. I don't think most people are buying it at this point. And voters are looking at their own households, their own personal finances, and they're like,

And they want representation that improves their lives. And just constantly voting for someone because he's not Donald Trump or she's not Donald Trump is not really an inspiring message. So I just I really hope that they wake up to that fact. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And look, the other thing I'll say is,

I actually think that one of the things that Musk did with X, and I will admit, I was very skeptical going into it, but community notes ended up being fantastic. And in fact, the era of, you know,

censorship on social media really did lead to platforms like Facebook, for instance, throwing the baby out with the bathwater. So Facebook as a platform was great for independent news sources in order to get their message out, get their content out. And then because of

the censorious era. Facebook deprioritized news entirely, and I thought that that was a terrible way of responding to what was going on. I think the best way to fight misinformation is through more speech, and

the way that it's been implemented on X is excellent. I think community notes is fantastic. So that's what Facebook wants to do. I think that's the right way to go about it. Can I just ask you guys about Zuckerberg for a minute? Cause I, we haven't gotten to this, his appearance on Rogan yet on this show. And I do wonder like, okay, it's a new administration. Trump's in power. I get it. Like he wants to be cozying up to the president who's in power. But that makes sense to me for some of this turnaround that he's purporting to have made. But for me, like

Facebook is very dated. You know, Facebook is not the cool hip app that young people are turning to at all. You know, when I first started at Fox 20 years ago, Rupert had just bought MySpace and there was a question back then, which one will prevail, MySpace or Facebook?

And I mean, then Facebook had its apex and it's long past that now, right? Now it's something older people use to share photos and updates on their lives. But the younger people are on Snap and they're on TikTok and they're, you know, some to some extent on Insta, but it's not really Facebook. And I realize Meta also owns Insta. But my point is like, how much do you think Zuckerberg is worried about

that his photo sharing family update piece of his platform is quickly becoming obsolete. And

And the one thing that was making him good money and that was doing really well, he killed, which was the newsfeed. He killed it for the reasons you just outlined, Anna. And now he's looking at this saying, holy shit, I had a viable business model. It was with conservatives. They were the ones who were dominating his platform when he came to news sharing, not entirely, but they were dominating.

And if I am smart, I will go back to them on bended knee and say, I'm sorry I censored you. I got rid of news. And I'm sorry I spent $425 million to elect Joe Biden. Kevin, thoughts? Well, first of all, I still think back. You're right. I mean, Facebook is kind of for the olds like me. I still think back to when I first joined Facebook. It was

Somewhere in 2007 or 2008 when I was working on the Romney campaign. And that was a key part of our sort of emerging e-campaign was to be on social media. And I signed up for it, never went back until it got our Facebook pages and some of our other social media pages had gotten hacked. And so I had to go and go into my page to look at it to see what the hacking issue was first.

for the Romney campaign Facebook. And then I found there's like 20 or 30 people that I went to grammar school with that were looking for me. So it was an education then. But if we fast forward to where we are- Isn't there a reason we disconnect from those people? Now I talk to them like once a week. It's crazy.

But it is the thing. The thing that I think is changing is that we are in this, I think, technology and workforce around technology, the tax policy, trade policy around our technology in the next five years. And even the information system around technology is going to change in the next five years. That's really going to affect the economy of the next 25 years.

And Mark Zuckerberg and Meta want to be a part of that conversation. And, um,

That is why I think he is engaging this administration and it's smart. It would be as a CEO, it would be an abdication of his responsibilities and duties as a CEO if he wasn't doing it with this administration. And, you know, Meta, the company that is now like we're the future for Meta and its sort of product and its approach is going to be in the metaverse. And a lot of that technology and a lot of the laws and the regulations related to it

related to AI and automation, all that is going to be written and it's going to be worked out over the next five years. So he needs to be at the table on that. So I think it's important for him. I think it's important, right. I think it's important for him and other leaders to make sure that they are engaged in his policy makers. The thing I thought was most important

In his remarks on Joe Rogan. And remember, this is a three hour conversation that really got atomized down to a couple of soundbites. But one of the key soundbites was that we were at a cultural tipping point when it came to our politics and how we discuss our politics. And Trump has changed that. That's the one thing like as somebody who, you know, more of a classical liberal and a small C conservative Republican in the Mitt Romney mold.

I've become a political anthropologist of sorts since 2016 too, which is Trump has dramatically changed the profile of the party. He's dramatically changed how we campaign, how we talk about issues, how we persuade public, how we build public coalitions. And I think Zuckerberg sees a lot of that as a social sort of anthropologist on this stuff.

And he's interested in learning more and he's interested in engaging rather than you cannot as a CEO or any business leader or any organizational leader, you cannot sit on the curb and clap as the parade goes by. You have to be a part of it. I think that was the main takeaway I got from that interview with Joe Rogan. We have a little bit of that. Let's take a listen.

This is like a very big sea change in terms of like who are the voices that matter. And, you know, what we do is we try to build a platform that gives people a voice. But I know there's this wholesale generational shift in who are the people who are being listened to. And I think that that's like a very fascinating thing that is going on because I think that that's like what is what's going on here. It's not it's it's not just the government.

And people saying hey, we want like a very big change here I think it's just like a wholesale shift in saying we just want different people who we actually trust who are actually gonna like tell us the truth then like and Not give us like the bullshit opinions that you're supposed to say but like the type of stuff that I would actually Like when I'm sitting with my in my living room with my friends like the stuff that we know is true like who are the people who kind of have the courage to actually just say that stuff and

I don't know. I think that whole cultural elite class needs to get repopulated with people who people actually trust. I've got to say, I have nothing against Mark Zuckerberg, but it's

somewhat galling to listen to him. Hello. There are many of us in the country who have been saying that for decades now, and you've been stifling us, you know, I mean, especially conservatives. His platform has been stifling conservative speech from the, I'm sure the very people he's referencing there as these breaths of fresh air. Oh, well, if only we could have heard from them earlier. Why didn't we? I have some thoughts, Mark.

What do you make of it? My quick thought on that, though, is declare victory. Do not criticize it. Like when you've won. Too late. No, you're saying be classy. That ship has sailed. It's not necessarily because it's like, hey, you know, like you engage the audience. You made your case publicly and now you've won. And

I don't think it's time to sort of like, you know, beat your chest on it, but it's like, take this as the opportunity for exactly what it is. It's fine. No, I get what you're saying. He's welcome aboard the free speech train, but I, forgive me if I want to spend a few minutes, you know, I don't want to say rubbing his nose in it, but like,

Hello, he was wrong. He was 100% wrong in what he did. And it was un-American. It was really un-American what he and the Biden administration were doing on the stifling of speech. And I would have liked Anna to have heard more of a mea culpa. I was really wrong and I'm really sorry. And I was 100% hashtag part of the problem. Before we get to the healing phase,

Yeah. Well, look, I find what he said there entirely dubious because he had pushed for...

the type of culture that we're currently dealing with right now, because everything that was incentivized on his platform was the extreme ends of the political spectrum. So he says, you know, people are really looking for the truth. Well, the people that were really promoted on your platform for a long time were individuals who were on the extreme left or the extreme right, especially when it comes to some of the cultural issues. Anyone who wanted to be reasonable, who wanted to be fair,

who wanted to, you know, go for evidence based commentary was not really incentivized on that platform for a long, long time. And so I think that's part of the reason why you now have two political parties that have a difficult time speaking to each other. And I'm not talking about those in power. I'm talking about the actual voters. And what I'm trying to do

through the work I'm putting out there at TYT is to get Democratic voters to understand that the voters on the other side of the aisle are not a monolith. They're not Nazis. They're not going to come for you. They're not going to imprison you. They're not going to, you know, bust into your home with guns and murder you. Like all of the fear mongering that was promoted on these platforms is untrue. And the only way that we're going to save this country is if we open

up lines of dialogue and speak to each other again and actually see each other as human beings who might have political disagreements, who might want to engage in hot debates. And that's totally fine. But you have to see the humanity in people first. And that has been disincentivized over the last, I would say, 10 years. It was amazing to hear some of those lies repeated at the Senate confirmation hearing of Pam Bondi yesterday, where they were trying to suggest

That, you know, would you as attorney general enforce an order or maybe no, it was Hegseth. Would you enforce an order to send the military in against President Trump's enemy from within? Like, OK, you've conflated so many different remarks that Trump made there. He did say enemy within. He did not say he would unleash the military on the enemy within, which is a political body or animal or opponent that he doesn't like.

What he said was asked by Maria Bartiromo was if things get crazy around the election and we have mass riots, would you bring in the military? And in that context, he said, yes. Anyway, it's turned into like this Senate question that has to be asked of all the nominees whether they'll do it. It's a lie. It is divisive. And it's probably one of the reasons that Anna's listeners or some of them think Trump might show up with, you know, a machete and a Marine to arrest them if they voted for Kamala, which is

Yeah, that's what's going to happen. Yeah. And look, I would say that one of Trump's flaws is the fact that he says things that are extreme and irresponsible and he hurts himself that way because I think that he does have some good instincts and those good instincts get totally drowned out by some of the more irresponsible rhetoric he engages in. And of course, the Democratic Party is going to capitalize on that. They're going to exploit that for their own political purposes.

And so I think Susie Wiles has actually been a really good influence on Donald Trump. I think that she has managed to kind of keep him on the straight and narrow. And as a result of that, there's been a lot more focus on what he wants to do policy wise as opposed to his rhetoric. So hopefully that continues. And I don't agree with everything he does. Obviously, I don't agree with all of his policies, but at least we're having a conversation about policy.

All right. He's changed all the conversations we're having in this country versus where we were 10 years ago. All right. Let me spend some time on the nominees because I do think it's very interesting what's happening on Capitol Hill. And we left off yesterday with Pam Bondi, who was on the hot seat while we were on the air. And it didn't get any nicer for her after we went off the air. But she handled herself so beautifully. I mean, like a pro, it's very hard to shake a seasoned lawyer with

You're purported tough cross-examination. A lot of these lawmakers on Capitol Hill are in fact lawyers. Most of the ones who were questioning yesterday didn't seem like they were. I'll put it that way. And she just like a boss was in there. I was very impressed by her. I've known her for a long time, but she was at her best. And here is here are a couple of examples. Here she is with Senator Alex Padilla of California Democrat holding her ground and sought one.

Senator, you were speaking. May I speak? You cut me off when I was speaking. I want to ask you the next question. You can speak, and I hope you answer, Ms. Bondi. Well, I'd like to answer the previous one, Senator. When we met yesterday, you did not seem to be familiar with the citizenship clause.

That was good. Okay. Just started setting the ground rules like I'm here and I'm not a pushover. Here's the second one. Same, same two. Watch. Same two people. You have an opportunity to study overnight. So can you tell me in this committee what the citizenship clause of the 14th amendment says?

Senator, I'm here to answer your questions. I'm not here to do your homework and study for you. If I am confirmed as Attorney General... You're the one asking for a confirmation vote, ma'am. Hey, you cut me off. Can I please finish? What does the 14th Amendment say? Senator...

Senator, the 14th Amendment we all know addresses birthright citizenship. I've been a state prosecutor. I've been a state AG. I look forward to even given your remarks today, working with you and the people of California if I am confirmed as the 87th Attorney General of the United States of America. I didn't take your homework assignment. I'm sorry. I was preparing for today. Kevin, I don't know how you do better than that.

You know, one of the things that Bondi, I think, benefited from in particular is that there's this inside the bubble and a lot of it's from inside the beltway. But this is inside the bubble sort of assessment of anybody who is a Trump supporter and any of Trump's nominees.

that they so many of these Democratic senators just bought into and they didn't really do or or or I think do their due diligence or really sort of get as good an assessment as they should have about the

The long and lengthy resume of accomplishment and the long and lengthy resume of and the history that they have as elected officials. And that, you know, Pam Bondi, having been an elected attorney general in Florida, which is a very, very tough place to prosper as an elected official, you know, really has a lot of public strengths. And that was on display in this hearing.

And I think the other benefit that Pam Bondi had is that she tended to really benefit from, I think, the incompetence of her opponents. And the way that the questioning went about, the personal criticism and just like the impolite nature of it all just really played to her strengths. Now, if this had happened, if this was a flip, this is Republicans that were questioning a Democratic woman in this in this way.

There had been outrage across a lot of the cable networks about how rude they were and how insensitive they were and how this was going to turn off women voters all across the country. And so, you know, those were my immediate thoughts upon upon watching it and witnessing it yesterday. But they they know that the media won't do that because she's a Republican, but also because she was so solid, like she was unbullyable and.

which is lovely to see. I have to say, after watching the Democratic female senators at the Hegseth hearing on Monday, it was a delight, or whatever that day, Tuesday was, it was a delight to see a strong, smart, composed woman being on the hot seat and handling herself like a professional, which is what the vast majority of women behave like, not like the hysterics we saw on Tuesday. What you said was mean. Those are remarks I've

Marks are very hurtful. Like what did you do here? U S Senator stopped talking about people's feelings for the love of God. And anyway, that was what you guys thought, what you guys thought. Oh, I was going to ask about Jill brand. I actually think Jill brand did a pretty fantastic job talking about, you know, the role of women in the military. I mean, look, I gotta be honest at this moment when the military is having an incredibly difficult time recruiting at a time when America is still struggling with obesity, uh,

I beggars can't be choosers. And if you have women who are fit enough, who are able to pass that fitness test in order to be in combat roles, uh,

I think it's fair to ask Pete Hegzith why he has an issue with women being included in said combat roles. So I thought I had, I actually didn't really have a problem with the questions themselves that she asked. I didn't really agree with the premise because I do understand what Pete, what Pete's position has been having listened to it a long, long time for many, many years.

It's not about women in general. It is about, we just can't lower standards. And her response, which is, which was, we haven't like, give me a specific examples where we have.

That was totally fair game. It was a good response. What? And he had an answer to it. But what I objected to with her was that the nature of the delivery, the hysterics she sounded. I cringe when our fellow women who make their way into these halls of power behave like the hysterical women. Many men still believe they always are like, would you keep it together for the love of God? Like she was shouting. I was in the room and she was like, what you said is her

That is hurtful. It's mean. Her facial expressions looked like she was losing it. She looked overly emotional, playing right to stereotype.

And it was unbecoming. And then you went down the line, just got worse. She was the best of the Democrats, but they just got worse. I mean, Hirono was a nightmare. Tammy Duckworth, who you think would have been the most composed, I mean, an actual soldier who'd been in war. No, no, she wasn't. So a lot of what I objected to was there, you don't hear men behaving like that. And we really need to like,

Be a little bit more professional. You can punch as hard as you want to with the rhetoric and the words, but keep your tone, the nasal nature of the comments, the facial expressions, the near tears look that the un-Botoxed eyebrows will allow. Those are bad.

Yeah, I mean, look, I think a lot of these hearings end up being performances. You know, it's really political theater. 100%. Good point. Right now for Democrats, it's nothing but political theater because all you need is a simple majority in the Senate to, you know, confirm these Trump nominees. And so they're using this as a moment to kind of do their own political virtue signaling to their base. And so I understand that. And look, I mean...

what you're saying is really subjective. Some women are super into it. Some people are really into seeing like a strong fighter, especially a woman in the Senate. Others are turned off by it. So I totally hear what you're saying, but I do think that Jill LeBrand has some pretty good questions. So we'll see what happens. And it's right. Just real quick, Megan.

Yeah, yeah. And it makes a great point here. I didn't find it offensive for any of those other reasons. I found it offensive as a purported professional communicator, because for me, I couldn't figure out who the audience was that was persuadable or who they were seeking to mobilize beyond their most active base. And I think that's the big problem, right? And I think that's consistent with Anna's assessment of it too, which is that if you're only communicating to this

already converted part of your party, what's the real political objective here? And if the Democratic Party has to find a way to get back with Latino voters, get back its strength with working class voters, get back its strength with outside of the urban areas and more suburban and rural areas and build up that support given what happened in 2024. None of whom is watching us.

None of them are watching it, but they are seeing the atomized version of it all. And if it's not focused in a way that really sort of motivates them to care, motivates them to sort of feel that they have a stake in it, and it's only Matsi Hirono and Kirsten Gillibrand or Sheldon Whitehouse who

you know, very harsh, active liberal voices inside the party berating, you know, nominees who, you know, the thing I think about that's most, that's most, that's strongest about Hegseth's nomination is, and I, again, I, I think it was an entire discussion we should have about how he brought it back, how he resuscitated it, because it was hanging on a thread there for a while. But like, it's that there's, he wants to bring an infantry perspective to,

national security decision making and to the posture of the armed services. And there is a focus on making sure that the president's vision is executed and implemented, despite what some of the military brass would disagree. Like that's a however you fall on that. That's a really good, strong place to argue.

rather than some of the topics that they choose to fight on, which were very specifically tailored to an already converted liberal Democratic base. Yeah. You cheated on your wives. Like, okay. I want to say this. Having...

practiced law for many years and sat in the Supreme court as a correspondent for three, they should be more like the Supreme court justices who disagree vehemently, but it's almost never 1% of the time. Maybe if that, maybe not, maybe I'm being ungenerous.

Do you ever hear hysterics from the left or the right, from the women or the men, the women on, on this U S Supreme court far left, though they may be, you know, Sotomayor, Brown, Jackson, you, they don't behave that way. They maintain their composure and their dignity, and they can slice and dice with the best of them. And I realized they have a different audience. They're trying to persuade, which is most of the righties down the, down the way.

But, uh, and, and there to your point, Anna, that these women were trying to get sound bites that would be energetic or motivating or soothing in some way to their base. Um, but I think womankind suffers when they behave like the hysterical fifties housewives who men would rush to drug up when they behave that way. Okay. Let's move on because I want to play you another soundbite. Um,

Where did it go? Number four, this is Adam Schiff and Pam Bondi. You have the independence to say that. You have the gravitas, the stature, the intestinal fortitude to say, Donald Trump, you lost the 2020 election. Can you tell us that here today?

Senator, what I can tell you is I will never play politics. You're trying to engage me in a gotcha. I won't do it. I won't play politics with any ongoing investigation like you did leaking your colleague Devin Nunes' memo. All right, Anna, what I see there is a page out of the Kayleigh McEnany book. Remember when Trump went through all these press secretaries and he settled on Kayleigh McEnany, who was young, like sort of an ingenue,

recently out of Harvard Law and had spent some time at CNN. And she got up there and turned the tables inside that press briefing room where she would attack the press. And Republicans hate the press. So it was absolutely risk-free for her. And it worked. It worked really well. Trump loved it. Republicans enjoyed it. People started watching the briefings again. They got...

I like I'm seeing this pattern now with Bondi a little bit with Pete. They've been nice to Marco Rubio, but there's like this is an effective tactic that most importantly, I think the boss enjoys. Yeah, definitely. I mean, I'm sure if Trump was watching, he absolutely loved the way she handled the confirmation hearing yesterday. But I will say this.

Look, I think she did a good job in terms of optics, for sure. I wish that the Senate confirmation hearings were less about the optics and politics and more about the records of these individuals. And so I would have preferred that she just said,

Biden won the 2020 election. That way it would take the one and only question away from the Democrats. Well, she said Biden is the president. She said he's president. Yeah, exactly. And so that allowed for the Democrats to continue asking the same boring question over and over and over and over again. And I would have loved for them to delve into her record in Florida, right? I want to learn more about her. I'm sure the American people want to learn more about her. But it's

Honestly, at this point, the Democratic Party has one speed and one speed only. And I'm sure it was aggravating for her as well to be asked the exact same question over and over again. And to talk about optics briefly, I think that the way Adam Schiff behaved in that Senate confirmation hearing was the absolute worst because he wasn't really interested in hearing her answers at all and seemed to be interrupting her before she could answer. It came across as bullying, and I don't think it's a good look at all.

at all. So Democrats aren't really thinking about the optics. They're not really delving into the records of these individuals. And I think that's a big problem. All right. I'm going to shock the world right now and defend Adam Schiff, not in response to what you just said, but in response to the heat he's getting for the following clip, SOT 7. Nappy time.

It is an existential threat, Senator. Also, I have not seen it yet, but from what I've heard about FBI, former FBI director Ray, comments on 60 Minutes regarding China, sleeper cells within our own country, infiltrating our water systems, our natural gas lines. Ah!

I defend Adam Schiff because these confirmation hearings are boring. We put the highlights on TV, but having just sat through the one on Tuesday, and that was the spiciest of them all, they're boring. It's hard. And I even said to one of the senators after the fact, I'm like, God, that's boring. And this person said to me, normally we don't sit in there the whole time. They said, we all just sat in there because-

There were so many people and this was an exciting one and we knew it was gonna be spicy. But normally we just do our part and we get out of there because Kevin, it's boring. - It is. And you know, having worked up on Capitol Hill for a long time, I know that it is when you're sitting through, and those places are not comfortable, right? I mean, if you've ever been in one of those hearing rooms,

There's a lot of droning on, there's a lot of talking, but it's also not very comfortable and they're also very stuffy. So I would not hold it against anybody to take a little 10-minute eye close now. Who could blame him? She was asleep half the time her last couple of years on the bench. Like, eh, I get it. 80% of the time, these folks that get caught on camera doing that are actually just probably looking at their cell phone, looking down at their cell phone. Yeah.

But yeah, I don't blame anybody for taking a little eye rest during one of these. All right. So final question before I let you go. We got a minute left. Do any one of these nominees get stopped? Is there a single nominee who's not going to get through Kevin and then Anna? No, I think they're all going to make their I think Hegseth will probably be the closest followed by Tulsi Gabbard. But I think they'll all find their way through.

Anna, what do you think? I agree. I think all of them will very likely be confirmed. Just my personal preferences, I have the biggest issue with Pete Hegseth given the allegations against him. I'm pretty sure everyone in your audience disagrees with me, but it's not just the allegations. I'm concerned about the lack of experience for an incredibly important role. Secretary of Defense is not

a small thing. And I'm worried that, you know, at a time when we're involved in conflicts abroad, that we're going to have someone at the helm who is not experienced for this position. I got you. Although I will point out that Barack Obama became our commander in chief after being a community organizer. So it's like,

It's all relative. I think you're right. They're all getting through. And I think that's a good thing. And if they stink, we've got the fire in chief in the Oval Office. He loves to fire people. He's proven he'll do it over and over. So we've got that fail safe. Anna, Kevin, thank you both so much. That was great. We appreciate it. Up next.

Next, Link and Amala are back and much, much more to discuss. Are you ready to make better sleep your New Year's resolution? Let me tell you about Cozy Earth. Their sheets made with 100% premium viscose from bamboo are incredibly soft, breathable, and get even softer with every wash. Good sleep is essential to your routine, gives you the energy to tackle your day and feel your best.

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Well, the inauguration of Donald Trump is next week. It's down to days now. Can you believe it? That we will finally be saying goodbye to Joe Biden and hello again to Mr. Trump. And the left is melting down over Carrie Underwood accepting an invitation to perform at the inauguration. Meantime, Jill Biden, that's Dr. Jill, for those of you playing at home, takes the first shot at Nancy Pelosi. Well,

I mean, the first shot publicly. I do believe Nancy fired the first shot at them in a Washington Post exit interview that will make your stomach turn, but also has some interesting things in it. Joining me now to discuss it all, Amala Epinobi, host of the Amala Epinobi podcast, and Link Loren, former senior advisor to RFK Jr. and social media influencer. Welcome back, guys. Great to see you. There's so much to go over here. I love the Dr. Jill thing.

sit down piece with the Washington Post. This is how it begins. Okay, hold on. I got to put on my glasses because the print is so teeny tiny. It says, okay, the first lady says she's at peace with this ending, but...

This is in quotes.

Quote, you said that I didn't. She interrupts laughing. I don't think I said that, continues the writer. She did, in fact, say that. And then quoting Jill, Joe has an incredible capacity to forgive and he's incapable of holding a grudge. End quote. This is what Jill wrote in her 2019 memoir. But that means I'm

I end up being the holder of grudges. The one who recalls every slight committed, every slight committed against the people I love, which brings us to Nancy Pelosi, whom Jill has known as long, nearly as Joe, her face, uh,

Nearly pearlescent with lustrous foundation. Betrays no particular emotion. She's holding a china cup, tea with honey and lemon. It's been on my mind a lot lately. And Jill pauses. We were friends for 50 years. She's using her teacher's voice now. It was disappointing.

So they're not loving Nanpel. And who could blame them? But Joe Biden, he holds no grudges whatsoever, Amala. Fear not. It's just Dr. Jill.

Yeah. You know, I don't know if Joe Biden has an incredible capacity to forgive or it's his incredible capacity to forget because we all know how he's doing cognitively with all of these things. I think Jill Biden is so upset because she was really a conduit of power through Joe Biden. She was doing so much behind the scenes. You know, Joe, you've answered all the questions. She was on stage.

and through his presidency, she was kind of, you know, a little bit of the president if we're all looking at this, the way we're looking at it. So to be slighted by Nancy Pelosi, who she knows has a dark history and a dark present, she's just not happy about that. I think we've been seeing Jill Biden in the background just be more of herself, be more open about what she's truly thinking about what's happening behind the scenes. And this is just one of those times where I guess when she's on the way out, she's just gonna pull the strings and say what she wants to say.

To me, Link, like the fact that they continue it magazine after magazine, newspaper after newspaper trying to convince us of Jill Biden's just preternatural beauty.

And fashion. I'm like, I'm sick of this is a pattern with her. Like, honestly, they have her on Vogue like like she truly is some supermodel. They never put Milani on there. So it's like, can you stop with the pearlescent skin? Like, just come on. It's over the top.

Absolutely. I mean, they put her on the cover of Vogue three times and then they gave Anna Wintour a Medal of Freedom. So I guess that was the trade off. But Jill Biden, in my opinion, she is going to go down as one of the most unlikable women in politics. She has no one else to blame for herself, for the position that she is in. She has beefs with Nancy Pelosi right now, with Kamala Harris. She is like the Regina George of Washington, DC. This is like senior citizen mean girls, okay? Geriatric mean girls right now.

Jill Biden is burning every bridge. She's stabbing people in the back. She's shanking people. She's like Harry and Meghan in that way. But Jill Biden, she has to blame herself because I don't know any wife or any woman who would have allowed their husband to go on national TV on June 27th and do what he did in that debate. If you had any dignity or respect for your man, you would have said, you know what? It's time to retire years ago. But you were so power hungry and Hunter as well that kept

pushing Joe and pushing Joe when they knew he was cognitively impaired. Yeah, because she wanted access to power. And that's why she's so super upset with Nancy Pelosi. All right. So Nancy Pelosi, speaking of, is not going to be at the inauguration on Monday. We don't know why. Are you more sad that she won't be their link or Michelle Obama? Which one will you miss more? Oh,

Okay, everybody's saying maybe Michelle Obama, she just has morals and principles and she doesn't want to be around Donald Trump. I think she got a facelift or a neck lift. Maybe she's not healed. Pelosi too. I don't think there's some big reason Michelle Obama isn't going to the inauguration, but I digress. Back to you. It would have been ill-timed if she had planned to go to the inauguration to schedule it right before J20. It would have. Either that or divorce. Yeah, something going on there. Oh, oh.

Oh, okay. Well, the, the wine continues to time and we'll continue to watch it, but I, the big inauguration news today is not Pelosi. Yesterday it was Michelle. It's Carrie Underwood. And, and,

Apparently, she's losing all sorts of fan groups. The LGBTQ community in particular, I guess, is very upset about the fact that she's agreed to sing at the inauguration. And she's saying, I love my country. I think this is a great chance to express that love and participate in a moment of unity. Her leftist base is not having it, Amala.

Yeah, I mean, I'm not surprised by this whatsoever. If you have any sort of association with Donald Trump, even if that's just singing at the inauguration, you're going to be cut off by every single left-leaning person who used to be a fan of yours. But really, are we surprised? I mean, just look at Carrie Underwood. Have you guys seen the CMAs? Do you know what's going on in country music? It's pretty typical.

I would think that these people would either be supporters of Donald Trump or love their country so much that they're willing to represent it at the inauguration. And that's exactly what Carrie Underwood has taxed herself with. And let's be real. She hasn't come out and given any statement about her politics or how she feels about the 2024 election. So let her be her and let her love this country. We used to be under the umbrella of a shared love for country, but differences in politics.

And now it's if you love your country, if you want to represent America, you're a white supremacist MAGA supporter.

Mm-hmm. No, here's what she said to TMZ. I love our country and I'm honored to have been asked to sing at the inauguration and to be a small part of this historic event. I am humbled to answer the call at a time when we must all come together in the spirit of unity and looking at the future. She will be performing America the Beautiful. It's like, great. That's what performers do. And the inauguration is not just for Cora Maga, Link. It's for all of America. Why would she say it's the fact

that she doesn't hate him. And by the way, she's actually made fun of him in the past. We don't know what her politics are when it comes to Trump because even some Republicans historically have not liked him. We don't know what her feelings are. But why wouldn't she take this amazing performative opportunity on behalf of the country to try to unify some? Exactly.

Exactly. I mean, Carrie Underwood should 100% perform at the inauguration, but this is what happens with the left or this woke mob on the left, especially in the entertainment industry. They preach about diversity all the time, but not diversity of thought because God forbid you go and perform at a Republican's inauguration, you're suddenly persona non grata. Well, I hate to tell you,

Trump just won in a historic landslide. The popular vote, the House, the Senate, the Electoral College, Carrie Underwood should 100% be there. And the fans she might lose on the left, I'm sure she's gonna gain on the right and she's gonna sound amazing doing it.

This is what Rolling Stone is reporting, that this cohort of queer fans of Underwood have spent more than a decade believing the singer supported them. Now they're in the midst of unraveling what it means to be suddenly shocked into a reality that does not align with their own. Fan accounts dedicated to Underwood have continued to voice their disappointment in her decision, quote, while I will always love and support Carrie, this account will not be covering her upcoming appearance at Trump's inauguration, nor any other

Thank you.

with more outspoken track records, I think, on LGBTQ or anti-Trump matters. If you need another female country artist that actually gives a shit about society and women, I present to you Kacey Musgraves and Maren Morris, one ex-post-red. Time and time again, they explicitly support what's right and publicly reject racist, homophobic BS.

I mean, that's actually surprising to me in country music, Amala, that you've got these two who I don't really know them or what their social media posts are, but that even country is getting divided in the way the rest of the actual country, America, is. Yeah.

Oh, absolutely. 100%. And we've been covering this sort of split that's taking place within country music. And it's been happening over the last few years with Kacey Musgraves and Maren Morris. They're extremely pro LGBTQ. Kacey Musgraves has music videos on lines where she has drag queens running around behind the scenes talking about pride and how love is love. Maren Morris very famously endorsed trans children and transitioning kids and says that we need to protect trans

trans kids, which we all know don't exist. But that created a major rift within country music where a lot of people, artists, were dividing over this and their support of Donald Trump and whether or not that makes them homophobic. I have to point out, though, the sense of entitlement that fans have. The most you know about Carrie Underwood is her...

her music and what she looks like. And you think you have some sense of entitlement over her opinion, her political affiliation. And if she doesn't abide by your or in tow the line of your ideology, you're no longer going to listen to music that you once enjoyed. These are just people robbing themselves of good experiences, of good music. And they can't recognize that there is a divide between you and the artist. You might feel like you have this social relationship with them, but it's a parasocial one and you're not entitled to their opinion.

Yeah. And by the way, she hasn't even expressed one. She's like literally just going to sing America the Beautiful. So calm down. It's ridiculous. Here is the view, Link, weighing in. I know you were waiting to hear what Whoopi Goldberg had to say. And I have it for you. Take a listen. We all were.

I wouldn't do it, even though I can't sing. You would not sing? No, I would not. I would not normalize him. And she says, I love our country. How do you love your country and support and normalize somebody who was a convicted felon who really wants to destroy the country, in my opinion? I don't understand how you say you love your country at the same time as you normalize this convicted felon, which I can say now every day.

I agree with you, Joy. I can't sing a lick, but I certainly, and I have not been asked, but if I were asked, it would be a hard no. People do what they do for whatever reasons. It's like Joe and Mika. They did what they did. They felt that's what they needed to do, and I got to stand behind them. Yeah. You know? And I stand behind her if she's, if, no, no, not or not, because I'm,

If I believe I have the right to make up my mind to go perform someplace, I believe they have the same right. Of course. And so I have to support it.

I mean, of course she has the right to do it. What an inane point to bring them all together. Like what she's saying, absolutely nothing. And those two cretins at the top, right? Joy and Sonny. No, it's a hard no. And I, how can she go perform at the inauguration of a convicted felon? You can see, they just keep wrapping that around themselves. Link, like a lovely little snuggle blanket that a three-year-old uses. Right.

No, as if the music industry is this great moral place. There are tons of convicted felons in the music industry, working the music industry at these record labels. Does she listen to rap music? If Sunny's not careful, her husband's going to be one of them. Her husband. Excuse me, Sunny, her husband. Exactly. He's under investigation. Sunny's going to have to be on that show like, I have a legal note about my husband.

But yeah, no, for a second I thought I was watching Pete Hegseth's confirmation with these screeching women talking over each other. Just painful, painful, painful. I'd rather do anything than watch The View. No, I did not like that. But yeah, no, The View is not a moral authority on anything. I mean, the day I look to Joy Behar for life advice is the day I retire. So no thanks. Wait, can you expand on your reaction to the Pete Hegseth cross-examiner's?

The Pete Hegseth confirmation hearing was like nails on a chalkboard, okay? If I wanted to hear those women screeching and yelling for three hours, like I said, I would go and watch The View. And me, I could not do the confirmation hearings because I don't sit in rooms with fluorescent lighting for that long. I mean, it's hard to make Pete Hegseth look bad. The lighting in there was rough. But no, that confirmation hearing was nothing.

It was nothing but political theater. Tim Kaine made an ass of himself during that confirmation hearing, so...

What an embarrassment. Yeah, he's gotten angrier and angrier. And one of the things that was weird about him during the cross-examination is he kept like sinking further in his seat. Like for the listening audience, I'm going down now. You can only see the top of my head at my desk. He kept slinking down. It was like the lower he went physically is the lower he went rhetorically. And he just looked like a little, like a rat, you know, in the corner, like low and small and the angry eyebrows and, you know, the performance matched it.

Well, also, Tim Kaine is a guy who campaigned with Doug Imhoff, who was accused of open face slapping his girlfriend and then never even really denied it. But the liberal press, they never pressed him on it for the 107 days Kamala Harris ran that campaign. He also campaigned with Bill Clinton, who took how many trips to Epstein's Island? So I don't think Tim Kaine is a moral authority either, but he sat there.

there badgering Pete Hegseth about who we may or may not have slept with 10 years ago. This is someone who's turned his life over to God. He's open about his flaws and everything. He has grit. He's a real man. That's why people resonate with him. The last thing I'll say about Pete Hegseth is he might not have the endorsement of the military contractors or all these lobbyists. He has the endorsement of actual men and women in uniform, and that's what should matter for that role.

Yeah, there were marches of a couple hundred Navy SEALs through Washington in support of Pete. I don't remember ever seeing that. I mean, like, that's what I think got Joni Ernst in the end. Pete met with her repeatedly. To her credit, she took those meetings. But I believe Joni Ernst when she says, and she said it a long time, that she listens to the rank and file. That's whose opinion she's most interested in on military matters. And I believe those men and women spoke to her and she heard them. So good for them because I think they made a difference. Okay, moving on.

Amala, are you from LA? Because I know you've been out there and you've been helping those who have been hurt by the devastation. I'm not from LA. I'm originally from Florida, but I live here in LA and have for the last few years. Okay, so were you or were you not thrilled to see Meghan and Harry show up and offer their support and help, heartfelt, sincere help?

Yeah, you know what? I don't know how much a hug accomplishes in this time. I hope they're doing actual work where they're actually bringing, you know, donations, resources, things that people actually need in the wake of these fires to them. If they're doing that, you know, kudos to you. I have a feeling they knew there were going to be some cameras present and we're seeing a lot of celebrities.

whom were not directly impacted showing up to give a hug here and a slap on the back there. I hope they're actually doing something rather than showing up for their photo op. Did you make sure that you were caught by the cameras when you went to help? Did you make sure that your name got in the press?

Yes, absolutely. I actually called beforehand and I said, you know what, if there's not at least 10 cameras there, just send me on another day. Let me know when to really be there. If it's not documented, it didn't happen. What we've now established is that Amala is the nicest of the three of us because I know you and I are more like-minded about this visit.

These two hucksters should have stayed home, okay? The fact that they're out there getting a private tour of Pasadena and walking through the rubble. There are people who lost everything and they haven't been allowed to go back and to see if even a photo album made it. But Harry and Meghan are out traipsing through doing a photo shoot with paparazzi in tow. The Duke and Duchess of White Castle

are so delusional. I am sick of seeing them. They should go back to the UK and eat crumpets and scones and beg for forgiveness from King Charles, express contrition. We don't need them there. Let me just say, Meghan, when I saw the headline that said Meghan Markle was out surveying the damage, why is she surveying the damage? Is she a first responder? Is she a firefighter? Is she going to say, let's bring in the excavator and the crane? She had no business being there whatsoever.

whatsoever. The only silver lining from all of this is that her cringeworthy Netflix show got pushed back. That's the only good thing to come out of all of this. Now they're saying it was only pushed back to March, which is shocking because that's way too soon. Good luck to her. She's already battling record low disapproval, record low approval ratings.

releasing a show about her fabulous life in Montecito in her mansion and how to create lovely home events when her city is in ashes. In March, nothing will have been rebuilt, never mind even cleaned up. And she's going to be out there in the flowing gown in the middle of her mansion like, oh, let me show you the perfect tea and champagne combo. Good luck, sister. That's not going to go well. I do want to say this. The Post, New

that they were offended by Justine Bateman calling them disaster tourists. The Post reports, quote, it's offensive to Meghan and Harry that anybody would think this is merely a photo op. A source exclusively tells Page Six, which is obviously Meghan. They have dedicated countless hours to volunteering long before the media even caught wind of their involvement, the source tells us.

And of course, Bateman had tweeted out their ambulance chasers. This is a repulsive photo op. They're touring the damage. Are they politicians? They don't live here. They're tourists, disaster tourists. So we'll see whether they actually don't drop that Netflix show because I just I don't see how they can possibly do it in the wake of. Can I add one more thing about Harry and Meghan? Yeah.

If I was in a crisis, they would be the last people I call. Okay. Their own lives are in shambles. They ran their lives into the ground. So why the hell would I call them in a crisis? Imagine your house is burning down. I was thinking about this the other day when I saw the pictures, your house is burning down. You're grabbing your dog, your passport, your kids. You look out the window through the smoke. Oh my God, Harry and

Meghan are here to save me. They had no business being there. Good for Justine Bateman. What a revival for her and her career. She's really getting a lot of press from this, too. So shout out to Justine Bateman. She's been amazing. Justine's been spectacular. If you don't follow her on X, you absolutely should. No, you're exactly right. The people of California have suffered enough. They don't need these two adding to their troubles. Who wants to see them? And by the way, if I were like a man and Meghan Markle came over to hug me, I'd be worried. These two are so soon happy. I'd be like, next thing she's going to say, me too.

Don't say anything to Harry because he's definitely going to sue you for defamation, claiming that you said something that was untrue about him. Like they are so happy. They are what we call vexatious litigants. So I would stay as far away from those two. If I were a property owner and they were on my property, burned or not, I'd be like, oh my God.

Like, oh my God, don't let them slip and fall. They'll sue me even though my house is in ashes. I just, it's very dangerous. Stay away from them. That's the only possible route forward. All right, speaking of the LA fires, I didn't get to this yesterday because we had breaking news about Israel, but Karen Bass, you knew it was gonna happen eventually that the pictures of her in Ghana would get released and they did not disappoint anyone.

She was having a grand old time as her city was burning. And she was actually asked after the fact, we'll put the pictures up in a second, but she was here. Look at her. Here she is chit chatting away in an absolutely lovely, sweet, um,

I mean, I don't know exactly. I am told that she was there. Hold on. I want to find my notes. That's the king of Ghana that we see her with. Oh, I can't find my notes, but his name is like Tikotika Taki. It's like Tiki Taco Tuka. I can't remember what it is, but she was having a great time with this man. Instead of flying back to LA, and now somebody asked her,

Do you regret going to Ghana when, like, the National Weather Service was jumping up and down saying you're going to have devastating winds, these actually are going to be really dangerous? And here's what she said. Looking back, would you have taken that trip overseas? You know, I am going to focus today on what we know.

No, no regrets being with King Tacky Tiki Truro II, Tacky Tiki Truro II of Ghana. No problems whatsoever and no regrets at all. The insensitivity of it, Link, is stunning.

Well, the thing about being a Democrat is you get to fail upward like Kamala Harris. She's been an utter calamity, but then she gets to be the nominee for 107 days, right? So this doesn't happen in any other party. And when it comes to Karen Bass, she needs to resign immediately. What were you doing in Ghana on some Eat, Pray, Love Journey Safari as your city is burning down? What are you doing, Karen Bass? You need to resign immediately.

Okay. We're, we're, we lost Amo's fee, but we're trying to fix it. So standby, we will get her back. Um, no, I think it's actually outrageous. And I have to tell you a fun story though, about Ghana. My brother, um, has run a number of companies and, and one of his big companies, there was a guy who kept missing work.

And my brother sat him down and said, like, you can't, you know, sick leave is fine. Some family leave, I get it. But like, you can't just keep missing work. You got to show up at the office more regularly. And the guy said, well, you know, what about, I don't know what the guy's name was. Joe, Joe, he keeps missing work all the time. And it turns out that Joe who worked for my brother, this is years ago, was the youngest son ever.

of the King of Ghana. And the tradition in Ghana is that the youngest son has to be the one to go take care of the King of Ghana if he's ill. And so my brother looked at the first guy and he said, he is the youngest son of the King of Ghana. You are not. So you do have to be here and sorry for that. I mean, I would understand if Joe were in Ghana taking care of, again, King

Taki Tiki Truro the second that I would understand, but Karen Bass did not need to be there. And the fact that she's out there like, no, I don't regret going is an absurdity that I think will come back to haunt her. Amala, your thoughts. Yeah, I mean, absolutely. The devastation that she missed out on and which she was part of and privy to is just absolutely unbelievable. Just the question is, what are you doing there? What could you have possibly

gained in any way, shape or form being in Ghana at the time this was taking place. And mind you, this is not typically characteristic of when wildfires start here in Los Angeles. But you are the mayor. Shouldn't you be spending most, if not all of your time in the city that you are a leader in? And it was just unbelievable for her to get here and take no accountability whatsoever for being gone and saying, you know, well, as soon as I heard I jumped on on the quickest footpath

flight and I've been doing this and that. Meanwhile, she cut the budget that very well contributed to this entire disaster that we're experiencing right now and would take no sense of accountability for all the leadership mistakes she made leading up to her big trip to Ghana that landed us in this position.

Here's what's really galling. You've got MSNBC's Alex Wagner, and she's not the only one out there trying to make it sound like it's conservatives who are making an issue of the gender or DEI status of these firefighters, et cetera. Like that it's conservatives who have brought up, for example, the lesbianism of the top three fire officials in the LAFD. Take a listen here. It's not 25.

You want to talk about fires, they want to talk about DEI. You want to talk about the heroes that have been putting these fires out, they want to talk about the fact that the women that run the fire department are, well, the people that run the fire department are women. They want to talk about DEI. They want to smear a Democrat because he's the guy in charge, if only because he's a Democrat.

Link, this is infuriating that there is a conservative who wants to talk about the sexual preferences of the fire chief, not a single person, not no one. She wanted to talk about it, which is the reason we are reacting to her making it a thing.

Right. I mean, you can tell MSNBC is all about DEI because the entire primetime lineup looks transgender. But one thing Alex Wagner forgot to mention was there were tons of firefighters who were fired for not getting the vaccination, right? So they were great men and women who were fired for not getting the vaccination. Also, I don't care if someone is Black,

white, Asian, Hispanic, Indian, male, female, as long as the hydrants have water in them and you can pick me up, scoop me up, and carry me out of the burning building. Other than that, I don't really care who you love, who you go to sleep with, anything like that. But Alex Wagner, all she knows is identity politics. These are her talking points. She's on that show, a very liberal show with a very liberal audience. So of course she's preaching to the choir.

It's amazing how they do this every time. They make identity an issue in the first line of the bio in the case of the L.A.F.D. But so many videos that they've put out pushing how they have too many white men and they need more diversity and they need more women. And yeah, I'm a lesbian as if anybody cares who she's sleeping with. Never mind her second and third in command.

And then when conservatives after a massive disaster, and by the way, it's not just the right. There are many people who are like, why has this been such an issue? Why did taxpayer dollars go to this instead of filling the hydrants? Then they say, oh, it's a conservative pound situation. Look what, well, look what the conservatives care about. They want to talk about the color or the gender or the sexual orientation of the people involved here. No, that's not how it went down.

Yeah, 100%. You know, they say every time you see somebody who you do not like, you call them a DEI hire. Excuse me. We don't have to call you DEI hires. You do it yourself. We've seen the diversity, equity, and inclusion roll out all through LAFD. And people are retorting back and saying, look at this fire chief. She's not just a lesbian. She's not just a woman. She's had 22 years experience as a firefighter and an engineer. Excuse me. You're the

the ones who didn't tell us about the 22 years of experience. You rolled her out as a lesbian woman who's now the fire chief and they've wasted time and resources and money, our money on training these firefighters on implicit bias and white supremacy and the hierarchy of race. That is time and resources that could have been spent doing brush clearance or controlled fires or making sure the fire hydrants actually had water in them.

or that we could use the water reservoir that had 117 million gallons of water that was rendered unusable in these wildfires. So that's why we're discussing a diversity, equity, inclusion. Yeah. And that Schellenberger was pointing out that, okay, so they had to make repairs to the cover, which is why it was empty. Why did they have to make it during peak fire season? Why couldn't they wait until we weren't in peak fire season? Like how grossly irresponsible these, there are unquestionably management issues

fall downs left and right when it comes to what happened out there. And eventually they will be held to account. I know on this subject of look at me, look at me, I'm this, I'm a first this, I'm a first that,

We have to say goodbye to Karine Jean-Pierre. I am sorry, guys, but she's going. It's like this is the way it's going to, you know, it's the one sadness of Trump winning because let's face it, we're going to miss her a little bit. Like, I mean, I kind of missed her word salads. In fact, I'll start with the word salads just so you two will be feeling the pangs that I've been feeling. Here's a little montage of some of the best slash worst of Karine Jean-Pierre at the podium.

Great. It is hard for us to keep up with this president. What I see is a strong, resolute president. We're seeing these deep fakes, these manipulated videos. By the way, used to make beer brewed here. It is used to make the brew beer in this fire.

Oh, Earth riders, thanks for the Great Lakes. Is there any possibility that the president would end up pardoning his son? No. You've also said several times that the president would not pardon or commute sentences for his son, Hunter. I just want to make sure that that is not going to change over the next six months. The president's

It's still a no. It's still a no. It's still a no. It will be a no. It is a no. And I don't have anything else to add. Three U.S. winners of the 2022 Nobel Prize, who won the Nobel Prize in chemistry, who won the Nobel Prize in physics, who won the Nobel Prize in economic sciences. I don't have anything. I don't have anything. I don't have anything. I don't have anything. I just don't have anything. I don't have anything. We don't have anything.

Okay, we could have kept going because let's not forget when he thought that the dead congresswoman was alive. Where's Jackie? She was just top of mind. She was top of mind. That's a Korean jump here. Tried to tell us and the obsessive note reading, right? She could not do the job without reading for the first two years of it. She got a little better on that towards the end. Well, as she goes out, this is her closing message. SOT 20.

The job you do questioning leaders and holding the powerful accountable is important. The give and take that happens here is incredibly healthy and it is part of our democracy. It is my sincere hope that I will, that I, while I may, be the first for many things at this podium, behind this lectern, I am not the last.

I hope my presence at this podium has served as inspiration to many young girls out there who look at me

and look at this job and look at what we've been able to do and have a similar background as me. And hopefully they can follow their dreams. Progress is not always a straight line, but we all must do our part. In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose birthday is a D today, bend it towards justice and pay it forward.

Her closing message, Amala, is I hope you've found me as inspirational as I find me and that the little girls of America look up to me.

What do you make of that? Yeah. And let's not forget, not just, not all little girls, the little girls who look like me. Okay. So check your skin color first, make sure that we look alike and then we can relate on this. Yeah. I mean, she's patting herself on the back for her job. I don't know how well she, she did that job. She was really good at skirting questions. One thing I'm

really going to miss is the neon highlighter outfits. Like, I can't wait to see what outfits she wears out there sometimes. And her budding romance with Peter Doocy. I love that relationship. I loved watching that play out. I love the banter and the theater of it all. But I don't know that I'm going to miss Karine Jean-Pierre. I mean, of course, what she's referring to, Link, is the fact that she's black and she's a lesbian. Like, this is what the left celebrates.

That's that's her history making role that she hopes everybody will find inspirational, like like lesbian children were growing up all over the country thinking I'm never going to be press secretary because I'm a lesbian. I mean, so what are we in 1950?

Once again, the left is more obsessed with skin color, race, gender than anybody I know on the right. I don't care what Kareem Jean-Pierre looks like. I care that she sat up there and gaslit the American people for the last four years into thinking Joe Biden's fine. He's doing cartwheels in private. He's in great shape. All the while, we are seeing with our own very eyes the guy is fine.

not doing well. So Karine Jean-Pierre, I'm not gonna miss her. I hope the door doesn't hit her on her way out with her big binder. She should have spent less time doing Vogue photo shoots and more time preparing for those briefings because she would get up there and say a whole bunch of nothing.

It's amazing how little she obviously knows. I don't think she knows that Nobel is a proper noun, that it's a man. It was an actual person. It was a family. And I don't think she understands. I think she thinks it's actually like a noble. It's a prize for being noble. We're noble people. Okay.

I don't, I don't think she knows. She said it over and over and over. Like how humiliating, right? Anyway. Okay. Quick pause. We're back in one minute and I'm going to get links take on Mike Pence attacking RFKJ. All right. Stand by for that. Hi,

I'm Megan Kelly, host of The Megan Kelly Show on Sirius XM. It's your home for open, honest, and provocative conversations with the most interesting and important political, legal, and cultural figures today. You can catch The Megan Kelly Show on Triumph, a Sirius XM channel featuring lots of hosts you may know and probably love. Great people like Dr. Laura, Glenn Beck, Nancy Grace, Dave,

We'll be right back.

So, Link, you've worked for RFKJ.

And you are going to be very distressed to learn that a major adversary has emerged to his confirmation. He used to be the vice president of the United States under Donald Trump, and his name is Mike Pence. His organization, Advancing American Freedom, is calling for senators to vote against RFKJ's nomination for health and human services secretary.

over his past support for abortion access. The letter criticized Kennedy as being pro-abortion. This is via Politico, specifically over his past support for abortions later in pregnancy. This position is, quote, completely out of step with the strong pro-life record of the first Trump administration. Are you shaking in your boots? I mean, this is a powerful adversary.

Absolutely not. Mike Pence, I'm sure he's a lovely person at times. We have mutual acquaintances. He does great work with Young America's Foundation, but it's my job to call it like I see it. And in this instance, Mike Pence looks like a smarmy slime ball.

This is nothing but an attempt to get some press, to get some attention a few days before Donald Trump's inauguration. Tell me this isn't some high school stuff. A few days before Trump is inaugurated, you release a statement trying to undermine his cabinet appointees. It is so wrong.

obvious. There is nobody who is going to fight harder for children in this country than Robert F. Kennedy Jr. When we were out there on the campaign trail talking about seed oils, soil in general, dyes in our food, childhood diabetes, public health, there were other GOP challengers saying we were just curating a vibe, we were a fringe campaign, we were a joke. But as it turns out, these are the top concerns for moms and dads across

the country. Kids are sicker than they've ever been before. 90% of our healthcare costs, about $4 trillion, goes to chronic disease. So when doctors, when insurance companies, when the pharmaceutical industries see a sick kid come in, they hear cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching, and dollar signs for decades to come. And my issue with Mike Pence is this.

Advancing American Freedom, unlike other super PACs, unlike other 501c3s, they do not disclose their donors. So I'm not alleging that he's being influenced, but this is a fair question to say, are you getting money through your organization from pharmaceutical companies? You were in charge of Operation Warp Speed. That is really your wheelhouse. You have a lot of friends in the industry. His presidential campaign was also run by a pretty swampy lobbyist.

So I would question what his intentions are. And the next thing I'll say is this. Bobby is very reachable. He is notoriously reachable. The man always has his phone in his hand. If Mike Pence sincerely cared about this issue, if Mike Pence was sincere, which I don't think he is, look at the timing, he just wants press, he could have very well called Bobby and said, you know what? I have reservations about past comments you've made on X or Y.

Y and Z. He could have handled it man to man and private and that's not what he did. He decided to put out the statement to get some press because he's still upset with Donald Trump. But what really bothers Mike Pence, what really bothers him is that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a real guy with grit and character. He's open about his flaws, warts and all. And he's going to be much more consequential in the history books than Mike Pence ever will be. And that's what's getting under his skin.

RFKJ is becoming like a superhero. I mean, he's, he's got like superstar. He's one of those people who are like, now he walks into an airport and everybody's like, Oh, I mean, he was, he was persona non grata two years ago. You couldn't even platform him anywhere. And like the transformation has been absolutely remarkable. And, uh,

akin to what we just discussed yesterday about how great things were already starting to happen just with the anticipation of Trump being sworn in, like the deal between the Israelis and Gaza, uh, like according to Pete already seeing recruiting numbers go up in the armed forces. Um,

like the protection of women and girls in sports act passing in the house. Like things are already starting to go in the right direction. We got another, it's a smaller piece, but as a mom myself, I love it. Um, where the FDA has now banned red dye number three from foods. They had it banned from makeup because they recognized it was a carcinogen, but not from foods. What sense does that make?

And I have to say, I'll just stick with you on this link since you work for RKJ. It's another thing that he's been jumping up and down about, but people have been dismissing him as a kook. And now what do you know? The FDA comes around to see it his way.

Right. I mean, not to make this all about me. And let me preface this by saying I'm only speaking for myself right now. I love Bobby, his family, close with some of his kids, his wife, Cheryl, but I'm only speaking for myself right now. When we were on the campaign trail and speaking about these issues, like the dyes in our food, the mainstream media mocked us, laughed at us, called us a fringe campaign. We were taking bows and arrows. But we knew very deliberately these were top

winning issues. And it's why in a recent YouGovCBS poll, RFKJ, as you call him, has the highest favorability of any incoming appointee from the Trump administration, right? So he has the highest favorability. So it's not surprising that there are bows and arrows coming at him from Mike Pence and some of these swampy creatures. But when we traveled across the country, the moms and the dads, I will say, who came up at events saying, "I have a sick child,"

and I can't get answers. It was every single event. I know because I was signed in on all of his social media accounts, thousands of comments and messages every single day. My child has diabetes and asthma and the doctors say they can't figure out what's wrong. We are being mass poisoned by our food and that's not hyperbole, right? I'm not a conspiracy theorist. I'm actually quite a boring person, but we are being mass poisoned by what we're ingesting. We have things in other countries that we have things here that they don't have in other countries. So

I'm not going to sit here and just defend Bobby all day long, but this is what it is. No, now they're going to have to find something else to color the cough syrup like beets the way they do in Europe, something edible that doesn't cause cancer. This is why I think it's so interesting, Amala, as we get ready for the RFKJ confirmation hearing, that the Democrats are in a tough spot because they're

First of all, his positions, when actually explained, are going to be very popular, very popular with most Americans when they actually hear him. And second of all, there is not a more effective advocate for said positions than this man who is extremely articulate and there's

There's no one who will be better prepared on. He has 70 years of living each one of these issues and debating them in courts, in legal papers with his critics, his harshest critics. He's not like a Democrat behind closed doors who never has to engage. So it's going to be actually, I think, potentially explosive and highly entertaining for the rest of us.

Yeah, and I think they've already exhausted every single avenue of attack in Trump's first term. So I don't know how the media is going to be able to spin everything that this administration is doing when this is truly a bipartisan issue. I mean, we are all experiencing the sickness that is running rampant in this country, the high rates of the obesity of a chronic illness, the industry.

that the big pharma has become and how much it's become a staple in each of our lives. When you have a nation that is trying to answer childhood obesity rates with putting them on Ozempic, we clearly have a problem. And RFK is going to come in and just point out things that should be blatantly obvious to every single American. So I think there's going to be some initial media pull of calling him a conspiracy theorist and an anti-vaxxer and trying to

to call out this connection that he wants to make between vaccines and autism. But once that dies down and he starts effectively working on everyday issues that every single American is struggling through right now, once our food gets better, once we start exercising more, once obesity rates start going down, once rates of chronic illness start going down, there's gonna be nothing to say about this man.

So I do want to tell the audience that after Casey Means came on the show and I read her amazing book, Good Energy, and she and Callie Means are working with RFKJ on a lot of things. We did do what she recommended, which was get a carbon filter for our entire house. If you have a big water tank in your basement or whatever, they basically just have to replace it with one that has a carbon filter. And so it's big. You have to get one of those and it filters the water. But then on top of that, out of the drinking faucet, the main drinking faucet in the kitchen, we didn't do it on every...

every sink. We got an RO filter. So the water that we drink, you know, most of the time we drink out of some other faucets too, also goes through the RO filter and the water is so clean and tastes fantastic.

So good. And it gets rid of so many bad things that are in your water. I don't want fluoride in my water. And my friends at the fifth column mocked RFKJ for that. And I said, you just wait. It actually is a neurotoxin. Why is it in our way? We don't need it in our water. I think it's going to come out of the water and it should. And more and more states are starting to do it. Not to mention chlorine that's in there, a bunch of other minerals and metals and things that you don't need. And if you want to re-infuse your water with certain minerals, you can. We chose not to do it. But anyway...

I do feel like it's the beginning of a new day with him coming in, talking sense about our food, our agriculture, our medicine, our drugs. Like, thank God, I'm sure he's going to be confirmed. We have somebody who's willing to say these things and is not owned by anyone. His confirmation hearing has not yet been set. It will be. He will be subjected to this horrible, painful cross-examination that these people can come up with. But no one's going to be able to lay a glove on him, Link.

Absolutely not. I mean, this man, he loves to argue. He's been an attorney for decades. He's argued massive cases. I mean, look at the Monsanto case, right? So one thing I know about Bobby is he is not stressing or scared about this confirmation hearing whatsoever. If you asked him right now, he would tell you verbatim, it's in God's hands. It's God's will. It's up to God. What's meant to be will be. And he genuinely believes that. And one thing about him also is

He is fearless. He is not scared about bad press. He's not scared about being embarrassed, humiliated. They will throw everything in in the kitchen sink at him during this confirmation hearing. But if he can save one child in this country, then he knows it's all worth it. Okay. I want to end with this because it's amazing. The iconic photo of Trump in his mugshot

right, which served as just a rallying cry for so many Americans who were incensed by the lawfare against him. You remember that mugshot, right? Well, now he has to, as he's about to be inaugurated for the second time, he needs an official presidential photograph. And last night it was revealed on X by chief photographer for the president-elect Donald J. Trump, Daniel Torok, T-O-R-O-K. Look at this. Oh my goodness.

It's amazing. He's effectively recreated the mugshot as president. This says so much, doesn't it? Defiant, not afraid to remind you of what they put him through and back, baby. What do you make of it? Right.

I mean, it's absolutely iconic that he's done this. It's finally somebody getting the last laugh after everything that he's been subjected to, the tax on his family, the lawfare against him, the endless witch hunts, the media propaganda. I mean, it's just been absolutely endless. And the fact that he's even here to make it through to a second term and is willing to do that for this country has just been absolutely amazing. So to make that final shot look so close to that mugshot is simply amazing.

iconic. And now he has these next four years to really, truly transcend everything and every single attack that anybody has ever made against him, including arresting him in this way. It had to be intentional, Link. No.

Oh, totally intentional. Daniel was a friend of mine and he was texting me yesterday. He's like, check your inbox, check your inbox. I'm like, why, why, why? And then he had tagged me in this picture. I'm like, this is sick. This is exactly what he needed to do. Reclaim that mugshot. All of the lawfare against Trump, the millions, probably hundreds of millions of tax dollars that were spent trying to throw him in prison. And it did not

work. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. He just came back stronger and won the election in a landslide and is on his way to the inauguration in a few days. So I love the picture. Trump knows good iconography, good imagery, and this was perfect. I love it too. I love it. Link, thank you both so much for being here. Love to see you. And we are back tomorrow with Maureen Callahan. We'll see you then. Thanks for listening to The Megyn Kelly Show. No BS, no agenda, and no fear.