President Trump on Hunter Biden's Ukraine and China ties, whether Joe Biden has the stamina to be president
Sean Hannity sits down for an exclusive interview with President Trump in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," June 26, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
JASON CHAFFETZ, GUEST HOST: Welcome to the special edition of "Hannity".
You're looking at live pictures from our nation's capital where protesters are threatening to tear down the statue of Abraham Lincoln and a freed slave. This is a monument that celebrates the Emancipation Proclamation. We'll take you there live in just a moment.
But, first, yesterday, President Trump sat down with Sean for a "Hannity" town hall in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Here is part two of that interview where Sean and the president are talking about Biden's alleged corruption.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: If a guy like corrupt Joe -- because you say it better than anybody with the quid pro quo with his son - - I mean --
SEAN HANNITY, HOST: Zero experience Hunter, that's how I (ph) --
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Can you imagine if I made that statement that he made? He's on television -- I don't know, I guess he didn't know he was on or something. I'm looking at that tape, that can't be.
And the press, the media, the fake news media -- and it is fake, it's terrible actually -- but they don't want to put it on. I say, why don't you ever put that clip on? They don't want to. Could you image if that were me instead of him?
HANNITY: The clip you're referring to, because I played it often, is Joe Biden bragging, I told -- I said, fire the prosecutor or you're not getting the $1 billion and you've got six hours.
TRUMP: Right.
HANNITY: Now his son, who has no experience in oil, gas, energy or anything to do with Ukraine, was getting paid millions of dollars. So son of a B -- his words -- they fired him and his son continued to make more money.
But by the way, there's also another -- Peter Schweizer outlines this well in his book --
TRUMP: Right, it's a great book.
HANNITY: -- $1.5 billion deal -
TRUMP: China.
HANNITY: -- with no experience that I can find in private equity with the Bank of China after flying with his father a week earlier on Air Force Two.
TRUMP: And I asked some of the biggest people on Wall Street -- the smartest, the -- I know them all. I know rich ones and poor ones, OK? I know them all.
I said, can somebody walk into China and walk out 10 minutes later with $1.5 billion to manage, where you get hundreds of thousands -- even millions of dollars a year -- for managing it? He said, it's an impossibility. They don't do business that way.
This young guy who didn't have a job, who got thrown out of the military service, didn't have a job for a number of years -- all of a sudden, he's making millions of dollars a year. Don't forget, Ukraine paid him 83 -- but it was turning out to be $150,000 a month. They have him $3 million up front. They're paying a lot of money. What -- what's this thing about?
And the father is there saying, get rid of the prosecutor. If you don't get rid of the prosecutor, forget it. Was it $2 billion? You're not going to get it.
HANNITY: One billion.
TRUMP: I never saw anything like this. And you can't find that clip today.
HANNITY: I have it.
TRUMP: Oh, you have it? You're --
HANNITY: I play it.
TRUMP: -- about it.
HANNITY: Yes.
TRUMP: Thank goodness we have Sean.
HANNITY: All right, thank you. Let me stay on Joe Biden. I think you'd agree with this statement because - - and you're living it -- but I would say being the president of the United States of America is the hardest job in the world, because the free world depends on the president. TRUMP: My job was made -- just to say -- my job was made harder by phony witch hunts, by Russia, Russia, Russia nonsense. I was tougher on Russian than any president that's ever lived. Any president -- nobody's done what I've done with sanctions and all -- exposing the pipeline deal going into Europe, nobody did that. Nobody even talked about it. I've been tougher on Russian than anybody. Even our military -- how about the fact that we've become the number one energy in the world through me, and that's their primary business?
HANNITY: By the way, that's the first time in 75 years we're energy independent.
TRUMP: We're energy independent. We're the number one in the world. We're number one --
HANNITY: Number one producer.
TRUMP: Yes, in the world.
HANNITY: That has (ph) never happened.
TRUMP: By far.
HANNITY: We have the election in 131 days. It's been 84 days since Joe Biden had to answer any questions. There's a lot going on in the world. I heard he might be making it out of his basement bunker today.
It's interesting, you know, what Terry McAuliffe said, I'm fine with Joe in the bunker. You know, he only sees two people a day, his two body men. And I think this question is fair. They asked it in 1984 about Ronald Reagan. And that is, do you believe that Joe Biden has the strength, the stamina, the mental alertness -- is that a nice way to say it, because seems confused a lot. He can't seem to utter three sentences without looking down. He can't even do a podcast.
Does he have the strength that we would need in a president, in your view?
TRUMP: I can only say that I go 20 hours a day and I'm all over the place, and everybody really says it. And what I've done is it does take a lot of - - it takes a lot of energy. Takes a lot of energy, and if you don't have a lot of energy, you're not going to be a good president. I really believe that, you need a lot of energy to do this job. You need, up here really good, but you need a lot of energy and --
HANNITY: Tough skin I'd say too.
TRUMP: -- it has to be coupled with a lot of other things. So, I don't know. I don't want to comment on it. But look, we'll see. The fact is that he was OK against Bernie in the debate. He really was. It surprised me. He was OK. Now at other debates, he was terrible. You know, I though that he was out of it, because he had two or three debates, the other debates, pre-Bernie, where it was so bad, I said, he's not a candidate -- he can't be a candidate. And he has something that's very unique. He didn't go down that much, he went down a couple of points. Instead of being out of it, he'd go down a little bit, because they've known him for a long. You know, he's been doing this for 47 years or something.
HANNITY: Fifty.
TRUMP: Yes, whatever. Long time.
And what has he done? When you think, what has he done?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHAFFETZ: As President Trump just detailed, Joe Biden has a lot of issues that must be addressed. Chief among them, Biden is heavily influenced by the radical far left factions inside the Democratic Party. They keep pushing him further and further left.
And while the vice president all but ignores the anarchy taking hold in American cities, he is threatening if elected to use the federal government to force law-abiding Americans to wear facial coverings whenever they leave their homes.
This comes as the church restrictions put in place by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio were struck down by a federal court earlier today.
Joining us now with more is an American Conservative Union Chairman Matt Schlapp, FOX News contributor Lisa Boothe, and a former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Thank you all for joining us here tonight.
Attorney General Bondi, I want to -- I want to start with you.
How exactly what Joe Biden from the federal government forced Americans to wear a facial covering when they leave their home? How can that be done?
PAM BONDI, FORMER FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL: Well, Jason, perhaps it's because he believed that a third of our entire population had died from the COVID disease. That was the first false thing he said.
Then he comes in and tries to do away with every essence of our federalist society, our laws, states have the right, local governments have the right to take care of the health, welfare, and safety of individuals. He could care less about that.
What's it similar too? In Cuba, where Castro makes all school-age children wear the Pioneers scarf. What's going to be next? Banning guns?
He's falling -- the first words out of his mouth are talking about making every American wear a mask. And again, that's going to be just like you said, that socialist agenda, Bernie Sanders, AOC, that's where he's headed, that's the path America would be headed down with that man as president.
CHAFFETZ: Well, Matt, I mean, you just look at his record and what he had to do in order to get the nomination but normally, once you get the nomination, they go a little bit further to the center, but Joe Biden hasn't gone further to the center, he seems to be lurching even further to the left.
MATT SCHLAPP, AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE UNION CHAIRMAN: Yes, that's right. I mean, at the ACU, we have looked at all of his votes in the Senate over the years. He's got a very left wing voting record, but the one characteristic over time is even on the issues like life, he has moved over time to be a captive of the radical left.
You know, he even voted against all the defense spending to take on the Soviet Union. He's been wrong on almost every national security question and I you come to this question of mandating certain things in this virus emergency. Jason, we have to get back to the words of the Constitution. I don't recall the question of a mask appearing anywhere in the Constitution.
He might believe it is good policy, but good policy should be legislated. It shouldn't be dictated by the courts. Joe Biden is a captive of the left wing and the president is right. If he -- if he becomes president, which I don't believe he will, he is not really in charge because he's not really all they are. AOC, the radicals, the socialists, they will dictate everything. This is America versus socialism and we need Donald Trump to get a second term to stop all this.
CHAFFETZ: Now, Lisa, you've seen what the vice president has done. We've seen the gaffes that happened on almost -- daily if not hourly basis, and then you see him taking these policy positions that are so radical, so foreign to what Americans are used too. How does that play in the context of defunding the police which -- I mean, is where the left wants to go, how was I going to play out in 2020?
LISA BOOTHE, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, yes, Jason, here is the thing. I don't necessarily think that Joe Biden is a progressive and the way that AOC is a progressive, but he's going to be the progressive's puppet, and we saw what Matt pointed out with Joe Biden literally abandoned his opposition taxpayer-funded abortions, something he believed for decades within 24 hours of criticism. So, of course, he is going to adhere and be malleable to these progressives on the left to you pointed out want to defund the police.
And that should terrify everyone watching right now because look around the country and look at what's happening in these liberal cities. These policies are actually getting people killed. I mean, you look at what happened in Seattle, the mayor there cheer-leaded and allowed an autonomous zone to be set up, someone got killed and other people got shot.
You look at Minneapolis, they have had 100 shootings since George Floyd's death, yet what does the city council do? They take steps to dismantle the police department there.
And then you look at New York City, they've seen more shootings in June in New York City than they have in a quarter-century. And what does Bill de Blasio do? He talks about the fact there's going to be very substantial cuts to the NYPD budget. So not only are there policies literally putting American lives in danger.
CHAFFETZ: Yes. It's amazing that you take 600 policemen under cover, take them away, and there's going to be a huge consequence. But, Pam, I want to go to the church ruling that happened today shooting down really what the governor and the mayor of New York City were trying to do it and putting these restrictions on churches.
Give me your impression and your read on this as a former attorney general.
BONDI: Certainly, Jason. Judge Sharp (ph) issued a great opinion today, and what he said is first of all, you can't infringe on our First Amendment right. You can't, and the right to worship as one of our most basic rights. As well as the right to press, First Amendment right to speech, assemble, protest.
So what they were doing, Governor Cuomo and Mayor De Blasio were out there endorsing these protests while simultaneously telling people they cannot gather in church. And that's what destroyed their argument. At the clear was that mass protests are more deserving of preferential treatment than churchgoers. That was a great opinion by the judge.
And of course, they can't do that and encourage the protest and tell people they can't go to church at the same time.
CHAFFETZ: Now, Matt, there's a real attack on churches in general and on religion that is going on as we approach this election. This is one ruling, but these things happen in other states as well. Tell me what your perspective is as it relates to churches and the attacks on religion going into 2020.
SCHLAPP: Well, America was founded by people who wanted to come and exercise and have free expression when it comes to their religious views. That's what America is all about. When you see these fascists on the left like Governor Cuomo, like Governor Northam, like Governor Whitmer, and all of these blue state governors, they are trying to get between us and our constitutional rights.
There is really a very clear wall in the First Amendment about how we can exercise our religious freedoms like Pam just said, like the attorney general just said, you know, our religious freedoms, our ability to speak, our ability to assemble. When it comes to our religious views, the governor of Virginia, the governor of New York, it's a very, very high bar they must reach to restrict it, and what Bill Barr has said great attorney general is that they can no longer say that there is a higher bar to walk into a church than there is to go buy marijuana or liquor or receive your social services.
And that's what's going on in society. Fascist left-wing governors telling us what we can do and what we can't commit Americans must stand up. The Constitution is at stake. It's not so much our health, the health of our democracy.
CHAFFETZ: Lisa, ten seconds, your thought on this?
BOOTHE: Well, I was going to -- we've already ceded so much control to the government and you see how they are taking advantage of it, with Bill de Blasio dictating who gets to exercise their First Amendment rights that should scare everyone as we go down a society that is becoming less tolerant of other ideologies and viewpoints. So that should be concerning how someone like Bill de Blasio chooses to wield his power.
CHAFFETZ: Yes, and Governor Cuomo as well. Matt, Lisa, Pam, thank you so much for joining us tonight.
All right. Coming up, Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa has put forth a bill that would block federal funds from going to cities and states that allowed, quote, autonomous zones. The senator joins us next to be explained as the special edition of "Hannity" continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHAFFETZ: Welcome back to this "Hannity" special.
A protest continued tonight in Washington, D.C., where people are calling for the removal of the Emancipation Memorial in Lincoln Park.
Kevin Corke is live on the ground with the latest -- Kevin.
KEVIN CORKE, FOX NEWS CORRESPODENT: Jason, good to be with you, my friend.
I can just say this -- early on in the protest, we're talking about several weeks now, we have seen massive crowds, and we've seen some pretty lean crowds. I'm going to step out of the camera so you can see just how lean the crowd is here tonight. This is the second consecutive night where a number of protesters said they would come, they did show up at least in relatively small numbers right around 6:00. There were some speakers. There was some bit of conversation, some of it heated, but as you see here tonight, a relatively quiet and sparse crowd.
Now, that doesn't change the idea behind the gathering. A lot of people very strongly that they want to remove the statue but I can tell you this, I also spoke to a number of people who said listen, leave that statue where it is if you want to put up another statue, if you want to have a conversation about whether it belongs in a museum or right where it is, we can have that conversation.
But tearing it down is not something they're going to allow -- especially, let me step out again as I describe, there is fence. That fence is about 9 feet high. It is a lot sturdier than it looks on camera, might think it is a nice lean bench you can push it over. No, that's a pretty substantial fence they are. We have law enforcement all around and so far, all quiet here at the nation's capital.
CHAFFETZ: Kevin, thank you. Fences do work.
So, all right. Left-wing lawlessness is also gripping the West Coast today has so-called CHOP protesters in Seattle are continuing to stop city workers from clearing out the area. And businesses and residents are fed up with the failure of leadership, suing the city and accusing leaders of being complicit in the chaos and crime in the zone.
But Republicans are taking action, because breaking tonight, President Trump has signed a new executive order to protect our national monument and he's vowing to restore order, tweeting earlier today, quote: I was going to go to Bedminster, New Jersey, this weekend, but we wanted to stay in Washington, D.C., to make sure law and order is enforced.
And over in the United States Senate, Iowa Senator Joni Ernst has a new bill to end anarchy in the streets by denying federal funds to cities and states that allowed these types of lawless autonomous zones. Here to explain more is author of the new book "Daughter of the Heartland", Iowa Republican Senator Joni Ernst.
Senator, thank you so much for joining us here. Explain what your new bill would do.
SEN. JONI ERNST, R-IOWA: Well, it is great to be with you, Jason. Thank you very much.
And the bill would prevent federal taxpayer dollars from going to those autonomous zones, and the mayors and the governors that enable the lawlessness to continue. For those mayors that prevent law enforcement from actually going into these areas and policing as they should be doing, we would strip away the federal funding that goes to those cities.
So, we think it is a right thing to do. We certainly don't want to enable those areas. If they truly want to be autonomous, then they can exist on their own.
CHAFFETZ: Yeahs, I think most people would be shocked and surprised by how many funeral funds flow to these different cities, states, Department of Justice grants, those types of things.
Senator, when you see what has happened and transpired in Seattle, in CHOP or CHAZ, or whatever they're calling themselves at the moment, what runs through your mind?
ERNST: Well, I think it is actually quite ironic because we saw with the death of George Floyd, a law enforcement officer that had lost morality, was corrupt, lost all empathy for a fellow human beings, and that's exactly what we see these different groups embracing, is lawlessness, corruption, and anarchy. You know, everything that they said that they were against, they are actually practicing in these autonomous zones.
So, I think it is rather ironic that they are going down that path and I think it's actually very sad. We truly are a great nation and we should celebrate our diversity, have peaceful discussions. Anarchy is not part of that conversation.
CHAFFETZ: And how do you react to those cities and states, and that really the Democrats on the far left wing -- they have taken this position about defunding the police department? Defunding things seems to get their attention. It seems your bill would actually get even more of their attention.
ERNST: Right, it should get their attention. However, defunding the police is just a provocative catchphrase that the liberal elites will use just to get attention. But truly, when the day comes, when they have defunded and dismantled their police departments, and they really need someone to come to their aid, they will regret that movement.
We are a country of law and order, and we need to make sure that we are training our police properly, that we are moving forward on police reform legislation which the Senate Democrats blocked the other day. I don't understand that move.
But we do have the best and brightest out there working in uniforms and blue. And so, we need to support them. Make sure that they are trained and equipped properly. Make sure that they can de-escalate certain situations. But simply getting rid of them, dismantling them, it is not a viable option.
CHAFFETZ: And what is Chuck Schumer and the Democrats there in the Senate, what are they thinking about when Senator Tim Scott puts forward a bill? My understanding is that we're going to be up to some odd 20-something amendments that would be allowed in this process.
ERNST: Uh-huh.
CHAFFETZ: But the Democrats literally voted to block even the debate of this bill.
ERNST: Exactly. It is so disheartening when our nation is crying out for justice, correction (ph) of racial injustice, and that we have an opportunity to come together in Congress and provide a path forward and the Democrats blocked it. Just straight out, didn't even want to debate the merits of the bill, which the Tim Scott bill had probably 70 to 80 percent of what the Democrats wanted to see as a first step.
And yet, they were unwilling to make a move and debate the merits of the bill. And that tells me when you don't want to debate a bill, you're not really looking for solutions.
And Tim Scott --
CHAFFETZ: Yes.
ERNST: -- said it best. He really did.
It wasn't that they didn't want a bill. They just didn't want us, the Republicans, leading on the bill.
CHAFFETZ: Oh, that's exactly right.
Now, Senator, I've got to tell you, law and order will be a key component going into 2020. I don't know how a national party like the Democrats fights against the Border Patrol, against ICE, and against law enforcement in general and survives.
I've only got like ten seconds or so, but if you had to guess right now, who does Joe Biden pick up as his vice president?
ERNST: Well, I will guess -- either Stacey Abrams or Val Demings. But again, I don't think it's going to matter in the end, because I think President Trump will see another term.
CHAFFETZ: Yes, I do, too. I think Americans when they study this, they look at it, and I can't wait for the debates.
Senator, congratulations on the new book and thanks for joining us on this Friday night. We do appreciate it.
ERNST: Thank you, Jason.
CHAFFETZ: All right. Up next, the lawlessness in liberal cities across America is spiraling out of control. Leo Terrell and Ted Williams will join us.
And later, we'll show you Sean Hannity's one-on-one discussion with former Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Don't go away as the special edition of "Hannity" continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHAFFETZ: Welcome back to the special edition of "Hannity".
Tonight, the lawlessness on the left is spiraling out of control. The Minneapolis City Council is now officially moving ahead with their plans to dismantle their police department. The city council voted to replace the police with a Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention, which would provide a, quote, holistic public health oriented approach -- whatever that means.
Meanwhile, one neighborhood in Minneapolis that vowed not to use police is now facing the scourge of a 300-plus person homeless encampment. And in New York City, the police commissioner has issued a dire warning, the criminal justice system is imploding, and violent crime is on the rise.
So just how bad is it going to get as some on the far left continue to push efforts to defund the police?
Joining us now with reaction, civil rights attorney Leo Terrell, and Fox News contributor Ted Williams.
Leo, I want to start with you here. Come on. Is this really the way we are going to do this?
I mean, one of the definitions in the city council in Minneapolis said the head of this new department, the holistic one, have non-law enforcement experience. That's what they're looking for, somebody who has non-law enforcement experience to replace the police department, really?
LEO TERRELL, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Well, Jason, let me tell you right now, the extremists have hijacked the Democratic Party. I know about the Democratic playbook -- it's play the race card and ignore black on black crime.
In Seattle, they claim they are dismantling the police department because of excessive force against people of color. Jason, there is more black on black crime than police misconduct against black individuals. They have used the George Floyd case, a horrible case, to dismantle police, and what is happening is, it's happening in Democratic cities throughout America.
The most ridiculous thing, Jason, is that they claim there is systemic discrimination in Democratic cities where the people of color run the government. I will pay -- I am making -- I will pay any mayor and any of these Democratic cities to debate made to establish systemic discrimination in Chicago, Baltimore, Atlanta, or L.A.
It's impossible. There is no systemic discrimination, but they are playing the race card and they're ignoring the black on black crime, which is the number one killer of black men.
CHAFFETZ: I mean, you look at Chicago, that's certainly one of the factors.
Ted, what's your reaction to what Leo is saying?
TED WILLIAMS, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, you know, no civilized society can survive without public safety. Public safety is threatened when you talk about disbanding or defunding a police department. Who are you going to call, Ghostbusters when someone is going into your home?
There was a criminal element out here that is trying to do us harm. But there is another side to this, and that is that police officers must be held accountable.
I was just listening earlier to the case of a young kid, Elijah McClain out in Colorado who was going home who was stopped by law enforcement officers. They got on top of him. He started vomiting. They took him to the hospital and as he was going to the hospital, he died of a heart attack.
So what I'm simply is, we cannot excuse the fact that there are some bad police officers out here, but we also must realize that there are a lot of excellent police officers out here who are trying to do their job, serving and protecting the members of their communities.
CHAFFETZ: Yes --
(CROSSTALK)
TERRELL: Let me just make this point. This is very important. It's not -- it's 98 percent of the officers are great, great. They protect us at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning.
And here's the irony of this whole situation -- Black Lives said they care about all black lives. I have a family member who's black who's in law enforcement. Does her life matter? She is out protecting black people and white folks.
So my point -- my point is this, you can't have it both ways, Black Lives Matter, because they were black folks representing law enforcement, but yet you're saying dismantle the police. It doesn't make sense. Black officers, white officers protect and the only barrier between --
(CROSSTALK)
WILLIAMS: Leo, you are right. Doesn't make sense, but I can tell you, Leo, that there are a lot of black men and women who are in a gray crying out saying that they were abused by police officers and they died as a result of that abuse.
So, we've got to look at this.
TERRELL: That --
WILLIAMS: It's a double-edged sword. We got to look at both sides of this picture.
TERRELL: No, no, what is happening is this, Ted, that is the Democrats have used racism as a political tool. I have -- I have sued police departments for 25 years. It happens, but it's not systemic. There is not institutional racism within police departments.
This is not 1960. We don't have Lester Maddox. We don't have George Wallace.
This is all a hoax to raise money. That's all it is, by Democrats.
CHAFFETZ: Hey, listen -- hey, listen, I've got to tell you, law enforcement needs to know that we love them and we care for them.
TERRELL: Yes.
CHAFFETZ: And if somebody steps out of line, they need to help us to call out those people. But I'm telling you, when you need help, like I've needed help in my life from time to time, you dial 911, you are begging for those police officers to come. And those families need to know that we love and care for them and we appreciate what they're doing.
TERRELL: Absolutely.
CHAFFETZ: Ted Williams, Leo Terrell, thank you so much for joining us tonight.
Democrats are eager to make Washington, D.C., the 51st state, but Republicans are calling it a power grab. Congressman Andy Biggs and Debbie Lesko joined me next to react.
And later, Sean recently sat down with the former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to talk about why this is one of the most important elections in modern history. You don't want to miss it.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHAFFETZ: Democrats in the House of Representatives today passed a bill approving D.C. statehood as part of their larger effort to have the Democratic stronghold bolster the number of Democrats in Congress.
Now, this obvious political stunt is being panned by Republicans as a shameless power grab and is dead-on-arrival in the United States Senate.
But that's not stopping Democrats like Maxine Waters from doubling down and falsely suggesting that opposition is somehow racially motivated. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MAXINE WATERS, D-CALIF.: Make no mistake: Race underlies every argument against D.C. statehood, and denying its citizens equal -- of equal participation and representation is a racial, democratic, and economic injustice we cannot tolerate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHAFFETZ: Of course, we know what this is really about, giving Democrats two more senators, and a representative in the House of Representatives.
Joining me now for reaction, GOP House lawmakers, Congressman Andy Biggs and Congresswoman Debbie Lesko, both of Arizona.
Thank you both for joining us here tonight.
Was there -- let me start with you, Congresswoman Lesko, was there any consideration to the United States Constitution? Did it never even come up when the Democrats talk about this?
REP. DEBBIE LESKO, R-ARIZ.: Of course not, Jason. I mean, this is just another example of an unconstitutional power grab by the Democrats and also radical bills that they keep passing out of that House. I mean, they have this one -- just yesterday, they passed a bill that would undermine police so they couldn't do their job. They want to give $1,200 payments to legal immigrants. They want to give free health care to illegal immigrants.
These are all bills that they've passed out of the House, and if the Democrats control the House, the Senate, and the presidency after November, all of that stuff would be the law of the land.
And so, I hope our listeners are listening to that. That's why this election matters.
CHAFFETZ: Congressman Biggs, again, the reason I was opposed to it when I was in Congress is it's against the Constitution. The Constitution clearly spells this out. But there was no consideration of that today in the debate, was there?
REP. ANDY BIGGS, R-ARIZ.: No, not at all, Jason. You're exactly right.
And if they really were sincere, they would've sent a resolution -- to send this to the people for a constitutional amendment as opposed to -- for ratification by the states, instead of doing what they did today which is simply a bill. And you're correct. I mean, it's just an attempt to power grab.
But it's less than that in some ways because it's merely pandering. They know that it doesn't mean anything other than to summon their base that are interested in this. And so, it's really a shame that they try to manipulate the Constitution this way.
CHAFFETZ: Yes, Congresswoman, I want to ask you. You know, most people don't realize this, but Washington, D.C., goes through the facade of electing shadow -- literally, they call it shadow senators that are prepared to take their seats at the United States Senate at every moment.
So Washington, D.C., has a homeless problem, they have -- you know, how do they fund this, they have all these issues to deal with. Meanwhile, they have office space for shadow senators, and they're not really addressing the real core problems that are actually facing the city.
LESKO: Well, yes, you're absolutely right and in the bill, it said that the mayor of Washington, D.C., would be the governor of -- of this new state. I mean, can you imagine Mayor Bowser being the governor? She can't even run her own city.
Like you said, there's homelessness. The schools are not performing well. Now, there's looting, rioting.
She didn't even want to help President Trump defend, you know, national monuments. I mean, this would be a total disaster.
And, you know, it's just another one of these radical bills that the -- that the Democrats are pushing through even though they know it's not going to pass in the Senate, at least not yet. We can't let the Senate be taken over by Democrats and certainly not the presidency.
CHAFFETZ: Congressman Biggs, quickly. I've only got about 30 seconds. Your reaction?
BIGGS: Yes, you know what? If they really are concerned about getting a right to vote in federal elections and getting electoral votes, they can do what they did in 1847, and we gave some of that land back to Virginia and we can get some of this land that's remaining back to Maryland and keep the federal district in and of itself. So there are options there.
(CROSSTALK)
CHAFFETZ: That's exactly right. That's exactly right.
BIGGS: Yes.
CHAFFETZ: Retrocede the residential areas to Maryland.
BIGGS: Exactly.
CHAFFETZ: But Maryland would never want to do that.
Congressman Biggs, Congresswoman Lesko, thank you so much for joining us. I wish we had more time.
But coming up next, this week, Sean spoke with Newt Gingrich about why this election is one of the most important in all of modern history. You won't want to miss this.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHAFFETZ: We all know how important this upcoming election is. In 130 days, you will get to decide the future of this great country.
Former speaker of the House and Fox News contributor, Newt Gingrich, is out with a brand-new book. It's titled "Trump and the American Future: Solving the Great Problems of Our Time".
Newt spoke with Sean earlier this week to discuss the impacts of this selection and how it could fundamentally change America. Have a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HANNITY: We were talking on the radio this week. We're talking about how we first met in 1990 and you are doing a speech in Decatur, Alabama, and you came on. And our history is, I've got to emcee the night you took back Congress for Republicans for the first time in 40 years. I know we say it a lot, and it's been true, but not as true as it is now.
I believe if Joe Biden, the socialist agenda, the New Green Deal, weak foreign policy is implemented, America becomes unrecognizable, and I don't think there's a way to recover. That's how crucial this election is.
NEWT GINGRICH, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Now, look, I think this is the most important election since Abraham Lincoln in 1860. So, 160 years is a long time.
But I don't think it's just Biden. I think it's the machine of Biden, Pelosi, and Schumer, what the three of them would do the minute they had real power, the people they would appoint, they'd immediately repeal all of Trump's executive orders. I think they would do everything they could in the very first year to turn America to California, to impose left-wing values on all of our schools, to reinforce for the big Internet companies that they should eliminate all conservatives.
I truly think it would be a catastrophic election outcome if you ended up with Biden, Pelosi and Schumer in charge of America.
HANNITY: So, let's assume the third quarter, July, August, September numbers, we're already seeing -- I didn't think we see growth numbers this fast based on the economy shutting down, but we're seeing them. So let's assume we have half of the recovery which would be unprecedented job growth in this country and one of the great American comeback success stories.
Let's assume that some of these deep state operatives that plotted against Donald Trump are probably indicted. Let's assume that Joe Biden at some point has to come out of his basement and I know that's going to hurt Terry McAuliffe, who's fine for him to stay down there forever and that he's actually going to have to talk and explain his record and, you know, I don't think it's -- he is going to do particularly well, but that's just me looking into my little, you know, crystal ball.
How does this election then fall out in your view? Because it's hard, you've got to win, you know, Florida, Ohio, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, you know, it's -- you've got -- you've got to literally run the table if you're a Republican.
GINGRICH: No, you know, I don't think so. I've been active as you know for a very long time. I lived through the '72 campaign with Nixon crushing McGovern. I lived through the '84 campaign. I was an activist congressman in San Francisco at the Democratic Convention for Walter Mondale. I've been through a series of these things.
I was with George H.W. Bush when he was behind Dukakis by 19 points. That was in May. He beat him by eight points in November, which meant that one out of every four Americans switch their vote in that period.
So I think one or two things is going to happen. You have Trump makes a reasonable economic recovery, not back to where we were, but clearly moving in that direction.
And if he draws a clear contrast not just with Biden but with Pelosi, Schumer, and Biden as a machine, that is much scarier than just Biden. I think at that point, I don't think it will be close. I think we'll win by a huge margin.
HANNITY: Mr. Speaker, thank you. You're usually right. That's a great -- I am going to cling to your hope because it's nothing but the future of our whole republic at stake, nothing serious. But congratulations on the book.
GINGRICH: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHAFFETZ: More of this special edition of "Hannity" right after the break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHAFFETZ: Welcome back to the special edition of "Hannity." I'm honored and privileged to guest host for Sean.
So, Sean, thank you for letting me sit in your seat.
Unfortunately, that's all the time we have tonight. Now, if you want to dive deeper into your understanding of the swamp, that is Washington, D.C., I recommend my book, "Power Grab." I also wrote one called "The Deep State." I hope you enjoy them.
Thank you for joining us tonight, make sure to set your DVR so you never miss an episode of "Hannity." Sean will be right back here on Monday. I hope you all have a great weekend.
"The Ingraham Angle" is coming up next.
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