Hume: Liberalism has changed, attitudes of liberals have changed
Is there room for moderates in today's Democratic Party? senior political analyst Brit Hume weighs in.
This is a rush transcript from "Tucker Carlson Tonight," July 16, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
TUCKER CARLSON, HOST: Good evening and welcome to “Tucker Carlson Tonight.” As one of its many checks and balances, the Constitution, you probably remember, allows Congress to impeach a President for quote, "treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors," end quote.
Well, treason and bribery are fairly clear cut, you know what those are, but what exactly are high crimes and misdemeanors? Scholars have debated that very question for centuries now. But no longer.
This week, a group of newly elected Democratic Members of Congress finally defined the term. Here it is. "A high crime and misdemeanor is when you insult liberals."
This weekend, the President wrote a series of nasty tweets about four Congresswomen, and you may have read about it. They were Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna, Pressley and Rashida Tlaib. Doing that, sending those tweets we soon learned is tantamount to bribery and treason. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. AL GREEN, D-TX: Bring articles of impeachment to the floor of the House of Representatives.
REP. ILHAN OMAR, D-MINN.: Impeach this President.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go ahead with the impeachment today.
REP. RASHIDA TLAIB, D-MICH.: Impeach this lawless President today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Wow. It kind of puts everything in perspective, doesn't it? Remember collusion with Russia, obstruction of justice -- all those other high crimes and misdemeanors that CNN promised us for two years would justify removing a sitting President. It turned out that none of that, bad as it was, was as immoral as hurting Ilhan Omar's feelings. Doing that, they're telling us on cable news was the final straw.
The President though seems unbothered by all of this. Here's what he said today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT: Go wherever they want them or they can stay, but they should love our country. They shouldn't hate our country. You look at what they've said. I have clips right here. The most vile, horrible statements about our country, about Israel, about others. It's up to them to do what they want. They can leave, they can stay. But they should love our country, and they should work for the good of our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Whatever you think of the President's original tweets, that what you just heard is indisputably true. Lawmakers in this country should love this country and the people of this country. If they don't, they shouldn't be lawmakers. It doesn't work.
Lawmakers who dislike their country are like parents who despise their children. It doesn't end well, ever. Ilhan Omar for example despises the United States. We don't have to guess about it. She says so often. Listen to her, for example, explain that America and Al Qaeda are morally indistinguishable.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OMAR: When I was in college I took a terrorism class. Every time the Professor said Al Qaeda, he sort of like -- his shoulders went up and you know --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, he is in command here.
OMAR: Al Qaeda, you know, Hezbollah. You don't say "America" with an intensity. You don't say "England" with an intensity. You know, you don't -- you don't say "the army" with an intensity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Not only does she hate America, she is pompous. I wonder if she learned that here. Probably. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez meanwhile, doesn't settle for comparing her country to Al Qaeda. She compares it to Nazi Germany.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ, D-N.Y.: The United States is running concentration camps on our southern border. And that is exactly what they are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: It turns out this isn't a harmless rhetoric. Just this past weekend, an armed terrorist, a lunatic, an Antifa guy attacked a Federal facility in Tacoma, Washington. In his manifesto -- he was killed by the way -- he used Ocasio-Cortez's concentration camp line.
All four of these Congresswomen meanwhile have accused their countrymen, most Americans of being racist. Recently, they suggested even Nancy Pelosi is a racist. But this is projection like everything they say.
These women, they're the ones who reduce other people to their skin color. Listen, for example -- we have many examples -- here is just one. Here is Ayanna Pressley explaining that if you're nonwhite, but think of the wrong thoughts, you don't deserve to talk at all.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. AYANNA PRESSLEY, D-MASS.: We don't need any more brown faces that don't want to be a brown voice. We don't need black faces that don't want to be a black voice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: What does that even mean? Who knows? Dare to ask? They will denounce you as racist. Nothing any of these four women say can be criticized by definition. We're learning that. That's what we're hearing on cable news, 24/7. That's the new rule. Okay. But there's a cost to that.
The Democratic Party has decided to defend these lunatics no matter what. That means the Democratic Party now owns their positions. The American people are racist. Borders are immoral. The United States is no different from Al Qaeda or Nazi Germany. That's what they're saying. That's the party's new message.
Is that a message Democrats can win an election on? We're about to find out. John Kennedy is a Republican senator representing the State of Louisiana. And he joins us tonight. Sir, thanks very much for coming on.
So the idea appears to be that if you call enough people racist, you can get elected President. Do you think that works?
SEN. JOHN KENNEDY, R-LA: No. And I think the American people are getting a little tired of it. I hesitate to contribute to this freak show, but I'll offer you my thoughts, Tucker for what they're worth.
I don't think President Trump is a racist. I don't think his original tweet was racist. I think it was a poor choice of words, which is why he clarified. What he has said now in clarification is that this is not China, this is America.
And in America, if you hate our country, you're free to leave. Now, he said that in response to the behavior of the four Congresswomen that you're talking about, the so-called "squad." I'm not sure the President should exchange playground insults with them.
You know, when you try to argue with a fool that proves thereto. But the President decided to do so. That simple fact of the matter is that the four Congresswomen think that America was wicked in its origins. They think that America and its people are even more wicked now that we are all racist, and misogynistic, and evil.
Now, this is -- they're entitled to their opinion. They're Americans. But I'm entitled to my opinion and I just think they're left-wing cranks and they're the reason that their direction is on a shampoo bottle, I think we should ignore them.
CARLSON: I wonder, though, if we can't ignore them. I mean, the Democratic Party has made a decision to embrace and defend these four members. And by doing that, it's basically taken ownership of their positions, and those positions will define the political season we're now entering.
And I just wonder if that's not as a political matter, a massive mistake. Is there a huge constituency, is there a market for these ideas in America?
KENNEDY: Well, there's no question that the so-called "squad" has moved the Democratic Party substantially left. What I was referring to, Tucker is I guess, rule number one of political combat, never interrupt your opponent when he is screwing up. Just let him screw up.
And they are destroying the Democratic Party. It's just -- I am appalled that so many of our presidential candidates are falling all over themselves to try to agree with the Four Horsewomen of the Apocalypse.
Now, they're entitled to their opinion --
CARLSON: May I ask you --
KENNEDY: But I'm entitled me say that they're whack jobs.
CARLSON: Can I ask you one question quickly? So you represent a state where there are a lot of conservative Democrats, including I would argue your Governor, you know, a lot of Democrats, I know that you're friends with some, what are they think of this? What do they tell you in private about all this?
KENNEDY: They're embarrassed by it. They don't want to talk about it. They're embarrassed that this is dominating the discussion in Washington, D.C. right now, this freak show, when we have so many other issues to be talking about.
And, look, I've told the President before, I said, "Mr. President, tweeting less would not cause brain damage." But he has decided this is the way he wants to communicate, and I do not believe his original comments were racist. I do not believe he is a racist.
But if the Democrats want to continue to pursue this line and say that America is a wicked country, and it was wicked when it was founded, and it's even more wicked today, and we need tear it down and start over, I don't think the American people believe that. I may be wrong, but I doubt it.
CARLSON: No. Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana, great to see you Senator. Thank you very much.
KENNEDY: Thank you.
CARLSON: Well, in case you need more evidence that Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez and her friends run the show in the Democratic Party as of tonight, just days ago, Ocasio-Cortez suggested that Nancy Pelosi was a racist.
Today, Pelosi appeared on the House floor to say that in fact, Trump is a racist for attacking Ocasio-Cortez. It quickly sparked a battle on the House floor. Here's part of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI, D-CALIF.: To do anything less would be a shocking rejection of our values, and a shameful abdication of our oath of office to protect the American people. I urge a unanimous vote and yield back the balance of my time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The gentleman from Georgia.
REP. DOUG COLLINS, R-GA: Thank you. I was just going to give the general Speaker of the House if she would like to rephrase that comment.
PELOSI: I have cleared my remarks as a Parliamentarian before I read them.
COLLINS: The gentlewoman's words are unparliamentary and be taken down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: It was a bizarre moment. For some perspective, Pelosi's remarks, how strange were they? Well, even Congressman Steny Hoyer, probably her closest friend in the House said they were out of order. Hoyer of course is the number two Democrat in the House of Representatives.
Tammy Bruce of Independent Women's Voice. She is the President. Host of "Get Tammy Bruce" on Fox nation was watching this carefully today. She joins us tonight for a recap. What did you think of this, Tammy?
TAMMY BRUCE, FOX NATION HOST: Well, it's awful, isn't it? For the nation, it's awful. It's a sign of how far we have fallen. It's clearly an indication that Nancy Pelosi with Donald Trump's help, has lost that fight with the squad.
She was of course herself called -- well, the inference was that from Ocasio-Cortez that Nancy Pelosi was a racist for simply disagreeing and criticizing them for their vote against border aid -- aid for the border facilities, and then that fight began.
What we then saw though, was Nancy Pelosi really trying to marginalize and move them away from being the face of the Democratic Party. And that is in part we believe, because of an internal Democratic poll that became public through Axios that indicated that, in fact, these four women are not part of a movement. They are not liked.
It was a poll of Trump swing voters, people that the Democrats need to win back and the approval rating of like Ilhan Omar was at nine percent, of Ocasio-Cortez 22 percent. Socialism is toxic as a discussion and as an issue, and there are suddenly a realization that these people are dangerous for the future of the party.
Now, you would know that if you weren't in a coma, the politicians need polls to show them. But this is why suddenly and even Representative Clay chimed in from Missouri, saying that they're effectively immature and ignorant, and then suddenly enter Donald Trump and with his tweets, bringing back this argument to the nature of what is going on in the Democratic Party and forcing the Democrats to once again embrace them.
And it just shows you the lack of control Nancy Pelosi as she must have known that this is what was going on. The President is always underestimated. Yes. David Axelrod called his approach cold and hard. Well, you know what? The future of the country is at stake and all of our futures with our families is at stake. And I expect the President to be cold and hard in making sure that Americans know exactly what's going on. He's done that. It was chaos on the floor. And it's an indication of the chaos that Democratic leadership brings.
CARLSON: It's a really remarkable story to watch on live.
BRUCE: It is.
CARLSON: I have to ask you, by the way, speaking of stories unfolding live, late breaking news here, Planned Parenthood has just fired its President. Her name is Leana Wen. She was on the job just 10 months.
In a statement, she suggested that she was pushed out because she wanted Planned Parenthood to focus on being a healthcare organization rather than a political outfit focused on promoting abortion.
Also, we're learning tonight that apparently according to BuzzFeed, Wen was unpopular because she refused to use quote, "trans-inclusive language" and referred to women as women rather than people.
BRUCE: What a shock. What a shocker there.
CARLSON: What do you make of this?
BRUCE: She also in her letter -- leaving -- her resignation letter that was open public on Twitter. She wanted to find common ground with Americans who care about healthcare, and not have it be about the politics of abortion. Now that's another crime, of course.
This is the same circle firing squad that we saw unfold in the House. This is what liberals and Democrats are doing to each other now that there is -- it's a zero sum game, that there is such a reservoir of bitter hatred, because that's what they promote politically.
Yes, everyone's a racist, and if everyone is well, then you know, my friend, I'm sitting next to over here is a racist, and that there can be no part given to the issue of finding common ground with Americans in general. Dr. Wen is a medical doctor. And she there's a suggestion obviously here that maybe politics is not what Planned Parenthood should be doing.
That's what Americans also believe that Dr. Wen will be proven correct here, and it's time I think, for the Federal government, especially to see Planned Parenthood not as a recipient of its largess in grants, and that they're the political organization that we believe them to be.
CARLSON: Of course, of course. Half a billion dollars in taxpayer funds every year.
BRUCE: That's right. That's right.
CARLSON: Tammy Bruce, thank you for that.
BRUCE: Thank you, sir.
CARLSON: Well, the left has promoted Antifa from the first day and continues to even as they launched terror attacks inside our country. Our investigation into Antifa continues next.
Now, Congressman Matt Gaetz says Federal investigators are ignoring incredible death threats against him. Here's a preview. The Congressman joins us after the break. Listen.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gaetz, you pathetic piece of [bleep]. Do you know that I could blow your [bleep] head clean off your shoulders from over a mile away?
(END AUDIO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CARLSON: While the left tries to overthrow an elected President for the crime of insulting them, they seem totally unconcerned about the growth of a domestic terror movement right here in this country.
On Sunday, terrorist Willem Van Spronsen attacked a Federal I.C.E. facility. He showed up with an AR-15 rifle and tried to blow up a propane tank. Van Spronsen was killed by police before he could murder anyone, but he certainly tried.
Van Spronsen was a terrorist. Mercifully, he was an incompetent terrorist. We might not be so lucky the next time. The next Antifa terrorist to attack a Federal facility murder an agent or five or 10. And if that happens, it's not an exaggeration to say CNN, the cable news network will have blood on its hands.
Again, we don't say that lightly. But for years, Antifa has been growing in strength and ambition and every step of the way CNN has cheered them on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: It says it right in the name, Antifa, anti-fascism, which is what they were there fighting. Listen, there's, you know -- no organization is perfect. There are some violence. No one condones violence. But there were different reasons for Antifa and for these neo- Nazis to be there. One, racist-fascist, the other group fighting racist fascist. There's a distinction there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who brought Antifa to the rally?
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: And did not go there to fight against hate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Not long before his attack, CNN gave aid and comfort to Willem Van Spronsen. On May 5th of this year, a CNN host called Kamau Bell profiled Antifa members in Seattle. It wasn't a balanced, informative look at what they were doing. No, it was a full blown propaganda piece. It was a celebration of Antifa and a celebration of their commitment to violence.
We're not exaggerating. Look at it yourself. (On camera), Bell caresses their weapons, talks about how much he likes their weapons, describes them as heroes. And then after the show aired, Bell asked CNN's viewers to send money to the terror group.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
W. KAMAU BELL, HOST, UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA: Oh. I love that these are --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know, I like that.
BELL: Can I put in here and try on one. I want to ask -- wow. And this is a --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I usually have a couple of those on me just in case.
BELL: Just in case.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I use it for whatever I need to use it for.
BELL: Point taken.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: So just in case you think we're being unfair, and believe it or not, we try not to be unfair on this show, but just in case you think we are in our drawing a connection that's invalid. The Tacoma terrorist himself Willem Van Spronsen appeared in Bell's episode. This ran on CNN. Here are the screenshots to prove it.
So let's be clear, Antifa a terror organization. They use violence for political ends. They don't hide that, they brag about it. Since Van Spronsen's terror attack over the weekend, Antifa has celebrated him as a martyr.
This is the group that CNN called heroes. Has this weekend's terror attack changed their mind over at CNN? Well, today we contacted Kamau Bell to find out. We asked him if he regretted promoting Antifa. He did not reply to us.
So then we contacted as CNN spokeswoman to see if the channel stands by Bell's Antifa documentary and to see if CNN plans to air it again, complete with the picture of the dead terrorist. CNN didn't respond to that request.
So then we call the network's parent company, AT&T and asked those questions. Will this air again on CNN? As of tonight, AT&T has not gotten back to us, nor has Jeff Zucker, who runs CNN. We're going to keep trying to get an answer to that question. We think it's important.
A domestic terrorist tried to murder Federal agents. CNN egged him on beforehand. Now, they're pretending like nothing ever happened. And it's not just them, by the way, it's the attitude of the entire left.
Not a single Democratic presidential candidate has condemned Van Spronsen as of tonight. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar initially ignored questions about it, as if condemning a terror attack requires careful thought. And those are just -- those are the good reactions actually.
Some journalists have been praising Van Spronsen, the dead terrorist, outright. This is insanity, and it leads in only one direction. Political violence isn't like other crime. It's far worse than that. It destroys countries.
America is fortunate that unlike, for example, Somalia and just about every country in Latin America, we've got many generations without serious political violence in this country. Thanks to the left, that appears to be changing.
Gabriel Nadales is a field coordinator for the Leadership Institute. But before that, he was a member of Antifa. We're happy to have him on tonight. Thank you very much for joining us.
GABRIEL NADALES, FIELD COORDINATOR, LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE: Thank you for having me.
CARLSON: So as you see, CNN -- and I want to be fair, it's not simply CNN, and I think they've been the most kind of egregious about it, but there are many on the left who are encouraging Antifa, making excuses for it -- its behavior -- having been inside the organization, what's your reaction to that?
NADALES: You know, it's ridiculous. And it's telling that the CNN journalist, he is laughing. This is not a laughing matter. People are dying, oh, sorry, people are being attacked because of Antifa. We need to be able to hold Antifa accountable.
CARLSON: Yes. So when you hear Bell or a couple of the primetime anchors over on CNN suggest that Antifa is really not a threat, that they're the good guys. They are the white hats going after the Nazis?
NADALES: No, this is a --
CARLSON: You were in Antifa. Is that accurate?
NADALES: Yes, well, I was in Antifa when I was just 16. So like, almost 10 years ago, and I'm telling you this, back then it was just a group that went out and go protest against what people we thought were anti-fascist.
However, Antigfa is far more violent today than it ever was. There's multiple professors -- to really understand Antifa, we have to go into the college campuses.
Throughout the country, we have a lot of different professors who are advocating for violence. We have Mark Bray from Dartmouth University, who wrote "Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook" where he praises and he advocates for political violence.
And then most recently, at the Leadership Institute Campus Reform, we had a professor from Colorado State University, who said that she was done talking to people on her opposition and that she was ready to punch them in the neck. And unfortunately, we are seeing a resurgence of political violence by the left.
CARLSON: So you believe that Antifa is being incubated on college campuses -- every one of them Federally subsidized, by the way -- by professors?
NADALES: I think so. I think that that's where they're getting a lot of their philosophy from. And I'm actually really excited to start a college tour, where I'm going to be talking to college students throughout the country about my story and why I joined Antifa.
And I know you mentioned about how CNN is basically inoculating Antifa, but it goes far beyond that. We also have to look at where their sentiment comes from.
I am Mexican and I grew up watching Telemundo and Univision, and I can tell you that they are far worse than CNN. They like to teach their audiences that President Trump is the worst person in the world. And a lot of people in Antifa are taking a lot of ideas from these networks.
CARLSON: I'm not surprised at all. Gabriel, thank you very much for that report. I appreciate it.
NADALES: Thank you.
Well, Federal agents working to secure our borders are not the only ones in danger from an increasingly extreme left wing. Two years ago, a maniac tried to murder Republicans practicing for congressional baseball game.
Now, Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida says he has been receiving threatening voicemails at his office. Here is one of them.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gaetz, you pathetic piece of [bleep]. Do you know that I could blow your [bleep] head clean off your shoulders from over a mile away? Watch your back [bleep]. You pathetic little piece of [bleep]. You got your head so far up Trump's [bleep], I could still take it off your shoulders. [Bleep] you Gaetz. I'm coming after you [bleep].
(END AUDIO CLIP)
CARLSON: So that's about as clear cut as it could be. Those are threats, they are a crime. Here's the remarkable part. According to Gaetz, the F.B.I. has already identified the person you just heard, the person who threatened him. But a Federal prosecutor has decided not to bring charges.
Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida joins us tonight. Congressman, am I misstating any of that?
REP. MATT GAETZ, R-FLA: No, I received word late last week that the U.S. Attorney's office where this individual lived had reviewed the information and had deemed these messages and I'm quoting directly, "a nonthreat." It's obviously a crime -- a Federal crime to make these types of threats against any Federal official.
This year -- this Congress, I should say, we're on record for 10,000 threats against Members of Congress and I condemn them whether they're against Republicans, Democrats, liberals, conservatives, you know, this is just no way to operate within our country.
And I just wonder like, is it the fact that I've been a critic of some of the senior officials at the F.B.I. that maybe leads to different treatment for the people who threaten me as opposed to the people who actually get arrested who have threatened Eric Swalwell, you know, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib -- those people actually get arrested, whereas when people threaten conservatives, I hope there's not a double standard.
But I mean, you heard the messages. And there were even other messages where they threaten my family, Tucker.
CARLSON: Who is this prosecutor who told you that that was -- that what we just listened to, clearly a threat of violence was somehow not a threat.
GAETZ: It was the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California that their office made the determination that this was a closed matter, that they would bring no charges, and that we're just supposed to deal with that.
And it's really people on the left who want to talk about threats to our democracy. Our democracy is served when our representatives have fidelity to the constitution and to our constituents, when you have to have fidelity to some concern that someone is going to, you know, kill you or kill your family or harm you at a public event, it erodes the representation that every Member of Congress should be able to provide their district regardless of their viewpoint.
CARLSON: That's -- I mean, this is lunatic. Have you received any support from your Democratic colleagues on this?
GAETZ: Look, it's been a crazy few weeks for me. I mean, just a few weeks ago, I had a member of Antifa, a state of member of Antifa assault me at a Town Hall meeting and get arrested.
One fantastic Democratic Congresswoman, Stephanie Murphy of Florida condemned it. She was the only one since then. A Pete Buttigieg staff member said that people should throw urine on me and then I received these threatening messages and no Federal prosecutors so far seem to be interested in in those cases.
And you know, just -- this is no way to get together and solve the problems we have to solve for the country. It's no way to govern and I wish there would be more bipartisan support for nonviolence.
CARLSON: Yes, throw urine on you. Buttigieg should be ashamed, though, of course you never will be. Congressman, great to see you tonight. Thank you.
GAETZ: Thank you.
CARLSON: Godspeed. Between impeachment and Antifa calling America a racist country, the left seems to be moving towards something certainly, reaching a tipping point. How much have they changed for the Democratic Party of even a few years ago? Brit Hume has watched the entire span. He will join us next for some perspective.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CARLSON: Well, the Democratic presidential race has devolved into the victimhood Olympics. You've got to be a victim or you can't compete.
This is tough for people like Cory Booker who grew up in an affluent family. Both parents were IBM executives. He was a Rhodes Scholar. He went to Yale Law School. But they're pretending to be oppressed anyway.
Others like Joe Biden have found themselves in the wrong side. Biden is now described as an oppressor, told to shuffle off the ash heap of history.
Pete Buttigieg in a weird position though. Buttigieg wants to be president, so he has to be a victim. But it's kind of hard to pose this one. He went to Harvard, child of a college professor then he got a Rhodes scholarship. He was a consultant for McKinsey. Now he's Wall Street's favorite Democratic candidate at the age of 37. How can he possibly claim to be a victim or oppressed? Easy, Pete Buttigieg is the victim of racism. "Huh?" You say. True.
On Sunday, Buttigieg tweeted this and we're quoting, "As an immigrant and a citizen, my dad cared deeply about this country. Once, when he was speaking at a campus protest against Reagan's accommodation of apartheid, a passing student noticed dad's brown skin and unique accent and called out 'go home.' He answered, 'I am home.'"
Poignant moment. Keep in mind, Pete Buttigieg's dad, who seems pretty European really was a professor at Notre Dame, one of the country's elite colleges. And yet even he couldn't escape America's all-consuming racism. And that's the most important thing for you to know. America is racist, says Pete Buttigieg, hateful and racist. And he's been a victim of that racism.
But you know what? You can atone for that racism by making him the President. That's his pitch. Great story of the year. Pete Buttigieg, a judge the victim of racism.
It's just another sign that the Democratic Party is spiraling completely out of control and becoming something very different. In Washington, the group led by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez now appears to set the agenda or some of it anyway.
Across America, Antifa terrorizes American citizens while CNN cheers them on. What is happening exactly? And what does it mean for the country for the long view? We go, as we always do to Brit Hume. He is Fox's senior political analyst and he joins us tonight.
Now, it's pretty easy, Brit, as you well know, and I sometime fall victim to this, to lose perspective, get spun up, kind of forget that it's still America. Give us some perspective here. How much has the Democratic Party changed?
BRIT HUME, SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it's -- the Democratic Party has changed in the sense that liberalism has changed and the attitudes of liberals have changed. And what I sense in all of this, among other things, is a loss of humility about one's own political viewpoint.
And what I see is people have such conviction and certainty, that their views are right and wise and obviously correct, that they therefore believe that anyone who holds up opposing views cannot possibly be doing so for any sincere reasons.
And therefore, they must be acting out of some ulterior motive, some nefarious motive, whether it be racism, or greed, or whatever it is. And that kind of viewpoint leads to a kind of rage where you see how can anybody possibly think this? How can anyone possibly say this?
I mean, I get this all the time. You know, it's said to me all the time. I hear this on Twitter all the time, "You know, you used to be a good journalist, you used to be respected. But then you sold out and went to Fox News."
Well, this comes from people who want my years as a journalist at ABC News and elsewhere, you know, I kept my opinions to myself, so nobody knew what I might have thought. Now, that I'm -- as an analyst and commentator, able to express, some people find out that well, I might be a conservative. Well, you can't possibly be a conservative for the right reasons. You must have sold out. You must be doing it for money.
But once you start to take that view of people of opposing views, it's not very far to the kind of rage that you see in which the word racist is hurled around with such abandon, in which violent threats are being made because, you know, if people hold these absolutely untenable views, and do you think they're going to ruin the country with them, well, next thing, you know, this is what you get.
CARLSON: When Christianity recedes, the country becomes much less charitable, I would say.
HUME: You know, I think that would be a factor here. The loss of -- a loss belief in God and a loss of belief in the need for human humility, and the possibility we all should share that we just might be wrong.
CARLSON: That's exactly right. And that's something we should all meditate on. Amen. Brit Hume, thank you for that.
HUME: You bet, Tucker.
CARLSON: I want to bring you a Fox News Alert. Fox can confirm tonight that former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court John Paul Stevens has died at the age of 99. Steven served on the court for almost 35 years. He retired at the age of 90.
He was appointed in 1975 by President Gerald Ford, but later became known as one of the court's more liberal members. He moved steadily left over those years, as justices tend to. He was succeeded in his seat by Current Justice Elena Kagan.
Even after his retirement into his late 90s, Stevens remained active. Just last year he wrote an op-ed calling for the repeal of the Second Amendment and then attacked Trump Supreme Court's nominee Brett Kavanaugh as unfit to serve on the Supreme Court. He became a wild eyed crazed partisan in his final years, unfortunately.
Speaking of Brett Kavanaugh, a brand new book has new insights on the epic conformation battle that all of us watched. We've got its authors, after the break.
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CARLSON: It feels like a lifetime ago, but in fact, it hasn't even been a calendar year since the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation drama stopped Washington in its tracks for an entire month. You'll remember, the fate of the Supreme Court hinged on hazy college memories and mysterious writings in high school yearbooks.
Brett Kavanaugh in the end was confirmed, barely, but his name was tarred forever. Did we learn anything from what happened?
Mollie Hemingway covered every minute of it. She's a senior editor at "The Federalist." She was on this show during a lot of it. Carrie Severino is Chief Counsel and Policy Director at the Judicial Crisis Network. They just co-wrote a book, which is one of the bestselling books in the country right now about the confirmation saga. It's called "Justice on Trial." We just spoke with them. Here's what they said.
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CARLSON: Looking back, though, now that you all have had time to digest all of this, what are the lessons?
MOLLIE HEMINGWAY, CONTRIBUTOR: Right. Well, Carrie and I wanted to write the book because we thought this was the most important thing that the country went through last year, and as we were researching and reporting on it, we did draw a lot of lessons including that thus far, really, a lot of people haven't been held accountable for what happened to Brett Kavanaugh.
And so we looked and kind of go through in detail different people who fell down on the job, whether that we -- you know, we talk a little bit about how the media covered the story, how the Senate broke down in various processes, and how, if we want to avoid from happening again, we have to be knowledgeable about what happened. We also have to hold people accountable for what they did.
CARLSON: Well, yes. I mean, Carrie, there were, among many other charges, charges of felony rape made -- a lot of them. And the people who made them, at least in one case, seemed to be clearly be lying. It was false any way. Was anyone held accountable? Will anyone be held accountable for that?
CARRIE SEVERINO, CHIEF COUNSEL AND POLICY DIRECTOR AT THE JUDICIAL CRISIS NETWORK: Yes, serial gang rape, and there were people who in the process, you know, people are starting to report just crazy stuff to the Senate Judiciary Committee, and it's a crime. It's a crime to lie to the F.B.I., it's the same criminal penalties apply to lying to the Senate.
And so there were people who admitted in the real time, "Oh, I didn't think you were going to be taking this seriously. I'm just tweeting these things out," or "I put postings up on Facebook," and some of them were referred for prosecution by Senate Judiciary Committee. Unfortunately, we haven't heard much. Of course, most famously, Julie Swetnick, Michael Avenatti were also referred for criminal prosecution. I guess they have to take a number on that one. It can get in line.
But we would like to see that there's something -- some follow up because this is -- it's not just damage to Brett Kavanaugh's reputation, which is horrible. It undermines the process and it undermines the ability of the Senate to actually investigate real claims when you have people putting forth spurious allegations like that.
CARLSON: Accuse a man of gang rape? Really? Yes.
HEMINGWAY: And even after the Clarence Thomas hearings, where Anita Hill made her allegations, they relate to the media. The Senate investigated what happened on her. They put out a report. They identified where the leaks likely came from, and they put in process so that it wouldn't happen again, and to our knowledge, the Senate isn't doing anything of that nature.
CARLSON: So based on recent Supreme Court decisions that might take at this stage is that it hasn't dramatically changed the outcome on the Supreme Court. At some point, we're going to get a confirmation fight that will dramatically change the Supreme Court. What's that going to look like?
SEVERINO: Yes, we were concerned when we learned, for example, that Ashley Kavanaugh was already before this confirmation, she didn't know what was coming. She was literally praying that her husband would not get this nomination, not because she didn't think he was the best qualified person country for it, but because she knew what was coming, that it was going to be really hard on the family and he already had a great job --
CARLSON: And can I just pause, because I live here. I don't know the Kavanaughs, but I have talked to her. What a sweet person she is. Someone who did not deserve to see her family destroyed?
SEVERINO: Yes, it's really sad when you see this and you think, who would want to sign themselves and more importantly, their family up for this? And of course this is replacing a swing vote with a Trump nominee.
CARLSON: Exactly.
SEVERINO: What happens when you replace Justice Ginsburg or any other liberal member of the Supreme Court? The heads would be exploding just thinking about it.
CARLSON: Based on all you know about what just happened, is there any right of center nominee who wouldn't be destroyed by the left, do you think at this stage?
HEMINGWAY: I think that we have seen the game plan. This was done before. This was not the first nomination battle where you had this. You saw it with Justice Thomas, you saw it with Judge Bork. It happened in brutal fashion with Judge Kavanaugh, now, Justice Kavanaugh. It would be naive to think it won't happen again.
CARLSON: Has it ever happened the other way? Have Republicans ever destroyed the life of a Supreme Court nominee?
HEMINGWAY: They have played hardball with it. They have -- you know, when Merrick Garland was nominated, they said we're not even going to consider the nomination.
CARLSON: They didn't have a vote.
HEMINGWAY: They didn't even consider it, but they didn't drag his name through the mud.
CARLSON: What an amazing job you did. Number one book in the country. Well deserved. I hope our viewers buy it because it's worth it.
HEMINGWAY: Thank you very much.
CARLSON: I appreciate you're reporting. Appreciate it.
HEMINGWAY: Thanks.
SEVERINO: Thanks.
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CARLSON: America's top colleges are supposed to be a pure meritocracy. They're not. That's a lie. They are hotbeds of nepotism and racial discrimination. It's false. The system is a scam. But they still have power to control the way our society is structured. Is that a good idea? J.D. Vance who knows this subject well, joins us after the break.
Also following breaking news, Fox News confirming tonight that former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court John Paul Stevens has passed away one year short of a hundred, at 99. We'll be right back.
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CARLSON: America's top universities offer their students a fast track to wealth, power and status. That's the point. A key part of their prestige is that supposedly they're meritocratic, only the best get in, the most deserving. But of course, that's a lie.
A real meritocracy would not allow Chris Cuomo to go to Yale. Obviously, he went because his father was the Governor of New York. It's a scam.
Of course real meritocracy would not discriminate based on skin color, either or political views. But our elite schools do that all the time. J.D. Vance knows this better than anyone. He's the author of "Hillbilly Elegy." And he joins us today. J.D., thanks a lot for coming on. So what effect considering the role universities have in structuring our society? What effect does their corruption have on this country?
J.D. VANCE, AUTHOR, HILLBILLY ELEGY: Yes, so I think there are three really big problems that it's worth unpacking a little bit here, Tucker.
So first, you have universities, which are effectively the gateway way to a better life if you come from a lower, or even a middle income background, and I think that's really a disgusting way to structure society to say that you have to go through this particular social test, you have to get into these particular colleges, if you want to have a good job or raise a good family.
Second, even though it's disgusting, it is true, and given that fact, we live in a world where there are a limited number of admission spots that are going to go to people, and if you tell people that you're going to give an admission spot to somebody who is the son of privilege, who happened to be related to a politician from New York, then what you're effectively telling as a middle class kid or a lower income kid, you don't get that spot because that spot is going to go to somebody who is a child of privilege.
And then the third big thing that we have to be worried about is that part of the reasons why our university system is so corrupt and doesn't work well for the broad middle of the country, is that it isn't actually represented, and it doesn't have the broad middle of the country taking part in its classrooms and taking part in its public debates.
CARLSON: Yes.
VANCE: And so given how exclusive these institutions are, and how important they are in churning out the country's elite, we should want them to be broadly representative of the entire country. And not just say, you get a special spot if you happen to be a child of privilege or if you meet certain social tests. We should want the entire country represented in these institutions, which of course are not.
CARLSON: So you had an extraordinary and unusual experience. And coming from the middle of the country from a working class background, winding up at Yale Law School, you wrote a great book about it. But as you looked around when you were there, you must have seen very few people like you.
VANCE: Yes, that's one of the things that actually motivated me to write the book is I got there, and I sort of felt like, you know, my spaceship had crashed landed in Oz and that I was just completely out of place at an institution like that.
But, you know, again, Tucker, given how important these places are in creating the country's elites, how many of our politicians come from Yale, Harvard, or Stanford Law School? How many of our business leaders? How many of the people who actually call the shots in politics, finance, even are nonprofit organizations?
And so the fact that we're creating this system that is so -- that creates such a bottleneck for having a good life, and yet at the same time, we give precious spots to people who don't deserve them, it's really just the worst of both possible worlds.
And I think, you know, we want to need to build a society where you don't have to go to Harvard Law School to be able to have a pretty good life, and two, where, even if that's true, those institutions are a little bit more open to people who actually represent the country that those institutions deign to govern over.
CARLSON: This conversation really matters and it's a shame you so rarely hear it. J.D. Vance, thank you for your contribution to it. I really appreciate it.
VANCE: Thanks, Tucker. Have a good night.
CARLSON: You, too. Hard to think of many things more important. It is a scam and people know it and then increases resentment of course as people are unfairly locked out. Because the system is so corrupt and Chris Cuomo winds up at Yale. Great.
Tune in every night, 8:00 p.m. including tomorrow night to the show that is the sworn enemy of lying, pomposity, smugness and groupthink. DVR it if you have that capability. And by the way, if you do, you probably deserve to go to Yale Law School. We'll be back tomorrow night. In the meantime, have a great night.
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