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Potential savings will vary, not available in all states or situations. Do you think the political violence problem on the right is worse than what it is on the left. I think it's a false comparison in the first place. We should have a leader that is responsible enough to denounce political violence. period, it's not about where it comes from.
It's about the fact that it is happening. It is never okay. He did. I guess she doesn't watch Fox News, Fox and Friends, because he did on Thursday. That is Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, who might be gerrymandered right out of a district.
Howie Kurtz joins us now, Fox News political analyst and media analyst. Howie, always great to have you on. I want to play just some of the reaction the way people are handling this political violence. First off, there's no doubt about. The motive, and there's no doubt that this is a strong case against the alleged assassin.
And I find her analysis of the situation Which is going to get worse when I play another sound bite. Disappointing. Can you hear me? Oh, sorry. Yeah, yeah.
Go ahead. But you were tossing. Yeah, look, there's absolutely no question that most of the political violence in recent years. have been committed uh by left-wingers. Uh but it's not That Democrats never get this.
I mean, just as one example, the burning down of the governor's mansion in Pennsylvania, Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro. That was by a Pal by the way, that was by a Palestinian crazy who didn't like the fact that he was Jewish.
So that was an attack on a Jewish governor. Right. Um, but you know, everybody's got their grievances. I mean, look, my Basic. Gut feeling here.
Uh uh is that People who do this, who are attempted assassins or actual assassins. Are insane. They're crazy. People who shoot up schools, they're nuts. And I don't care all that much about the motives.
I think in political debate, it's fair to point out why somebody wanted to kill Charlie Kirk, who, you know, even those who disagree with him are just deeply, deeply wounded by this. I know I am. It's heartbreaking, and he's got two little kids and all of that. Um but I think others are just sort of uh trying to capitalize on it so they can get their face on T V or on the radio. Yeah, I mean, tell me if you can understand this reasoning, cut 16.
Please tell me who is fostering this gun culture. Right? I mean, the reality is that the average person on the left probably couldn't make a shot from 200 yards because they haven't been playing with assault rifles since they were a little kid. Like, that is just the reality of how people on the left. typically work.
So do you understand wh what truth she's Uh she's grounded in. Sure, but I think I was as surprised as everybody else. I assumed this must be some expert marksman or something and long planning.
Well, apparently, according to his own words and the texts that investigators have recovered, you know, he planned this in about a week. And I don't think, I guess he grew up in a household that had a lot of guns, but I'm not turning this into a, we must do something about guns. There's a lot of things we need to do. But I must say that I'll tell you what really, really drives me crazy. And I'm sure you've touched on this, Brian, and that is the sickos out there who are celebrating this, who didn't like Charlie Cook or his phosphor for some reason or another, like, yeah, this is great.
He said, and a lot of people have been fired over that, and they should be. I'm not saying you have to say that everything that Charlie Kirk did was completely defensible. If you have a different point of view, fine, but this is unacceptable in America. And the people who can't. realize that and actually university professors, far left professors and others including some journalists, have been fired and should be fired.
For that kind of twisted mentality. Yeah, I mean, I hear it. I mean, a person who I think sounds like somebody that you're referring to, they got it right, is Jamie Lee Curtis. She's not a conservative, she's not a Republican, not close, but listen to her. I'm going to bring something up with you just because it's front of mind.
Um Charlie Christ was killed two days ago. Correct yeah, Charlie. I'm sorry. Kirk. Kirk.
I just call him Christ. I think because of Christ. of Because of his deep deep belief. But I believe he was a man of faith? Mm.
And I hope in that moment when he died That He felt connected to his faith even though And find what he Uh His ideas were abhorrent to me. I still believe He's a father and a husband and a man of faith, and I I hope whatever connection to God Means That he f Belt it. You know what it sounds like to me, Howie, is that she saw the video. And that's why, in a way, I don't want in one way I don't want anyone to see the video, and another way I want everyone to see the video. Because he isn't just alive one day and dead the next.
There's a reason. And the way he died. Really should scare people into understanding how much this has got to stop. What are your thoughts?
Well first of all, good for J.B. Lee Curtis and boy that was a heartfelt comment and we need more of that. Secondly, anybody who chooses to see the video, fine, but what's happening is these tech companies, X in particular, are automatically playing it. Uh, for a lot of people who don't want to see it, and that's just because that's how they make their money, their algorithms, and all that. And I think social media has a big burden here because, you know, and they fuel the anger in this country, and there's a lot of anger in this country, and I understand why, but I don't think anybody should be forced to see it against their will.
So I think Discord's got to be under scrutiny.
Now, I know this guy didn't, I don't know anything about him. I've seen him testify, but I know he didn't say, let me put up a site that will allow murderers to talk to each other. But there's a lot of these chat rooms that Cash Patel said yesterday that they are researching maybe the hundreds. That are really concerning that a lot of this happened. And I'm wondering.
If there's somebody inciting some of this behavior on that platform in particular, because the buffalo murderer also from there. Look, um We can't put the toothpaste back in the tube.
Social media is a cesspool. There's a lot of toxic stuff on there, particularly for these people who don't even use their real names. They hide behind a screen name. And they would never say something like that to your face. They just wouldn't.
But in a way, it encourages the sort of like online mobs, I guess I would say. It's not like we're going back to the days, you know, look, what rules now? Radio shows, podcasts. I still like cable TV. It's still how I earn my living at Fox.
But I think There's a lot blame to go around to these Silicon Valley giants.
So, I want to talk about Cash Patel, and he was under scrutiny yesterday. He was just, he wasn't pulled in front of the oversight committee. He was scheduled to be there. It just so happened they were probably going to just grill him on Epstein, but instead they grilled him on this, the 33 hours it took to get him. A post that he made said they got him and it was wrong.
He should have phrased it differently. He told us. On Tuesday. He said, I should probably have said we got, I should have said we have a suspect in custody, obviously, but he wants to be transparent. He wants to be different.
And then in 33 hours, they got the guy. But man, there's some fiery exchanges here. I want you to hear one of them that we haven't played yet. Here's one with Cash Patel and Adam Schiff, cut 28. What I am doing is protecting this country, providing historic reform, and combating the weaponization of intelligence by the likes of you.
And we have countlessly proven you to be a liar in Russia gate in January 6th. You are the biggest fraud to ever sit in the United States Senate. You are a political buffoon at best.
So that was the exchange of a guy that knows how to handle himself in debates, who is the FBI director. That's not Robert Mueller. That's not Christopher Wray. Your thoughts.
Well, look, the every Democrat on that committee And that was a classic example, was trying to get His sound bites played by being even more outrageous and angry and so forth. And, you know, it is having covered. You know, hundreds of Capitol Hill hearings. It is a game that both parties play. But it seems like if they're just talking over each other, and Cash Pertell at one point gave it right back to him, he wasn't just going to sit there and take this constant stream of abuse from Democratic members.
I think it made the Democrats look bad. It made it look like. They were more interested in beating up on Cash Patel than they were in getting any real answers. Yeah, I'm never getting used to the fact that when you have somebody in front of you, ask questions, wait for the answer. Ask questions, wait for the answer.
It's just it looks like speeches and yelling. And I always say, at the end of it, what was the point?
So, and both sides do that too. Big picture, Howie. I have never and we probably will never experience again. A president willing to talk about everything at any time, multiple times a day. Also, with people around him.
To capitalize on it, whether he's with a world leader or he's announcing an executive order, could you express, with all your years of experience, how different even this Trump term is from any other you've seen? Um Actually, it's kind of ironic because, you know, Trump doesn't make And he bones about not liking the media coverage of his presidency, which has been 99% hostile, I would say. And you got the suit yesterday against the New York Times. 15 billion. Yeah, 15 billion, suing Wall Street Journal, successfully sued ABC about CBS.
But then he keeps going back to it. In other words, usually the behind the scenes stuff. Journalists had to work to get one or two anonymous sources. It all comes from Trump. All the years I've been doing this, there's always a Trump sound buddy.
He's even sounding off about NFL games. He doesn't like the new kickoffs. He has an opinion on everything. In other words, it's not just politics. People love that about him.
Not everybody loves him, but people love that about him in that he doesn't. Except maybe in national security foreign policy stuff, he doesn't dodge the questions. He stops in front of the helicopter. He stops in front of Air Force One. I've never seen a president do any of this.
And so the same journalists who are beating him up, Have Access that No one in the television age has ever had to a president. I just don't understand it. They should feel, even if you didn't vote for them or never would. If you have a job to do, Joe Biden made it so much harder. You had a press secretary that wasn't well read into any of the policies, just deflecting answers.
We knew she didn't have the answers.
Now we know she never even barely ever met with him. We knew a president's hand was off the wheel. Who knows if it was ever on?
So for four years, you really didn't pursue anything. It was Fox and maybe a handful of others who said, what's going on with the Ukraine situation, with Hunter's laptop, and other things. But for the most part, we said to ourselves, what's going on here? We never see the president. He doesn't give press conferences.
We watch the whole campaign fall apart. We found the truth come out. And then you have somebody who is 180 degrees different. Do you think from the people you know from all your years that they on some level appreciate the access? Oh, they love it.
And it also gets them on the air, it gets them on the front page and all of that. But a quick, interesting point, if I can briefly say this, which is. MSNBC and CNN have stopped covering The Trump pressers.
Now, if it's two hours, I can understand getting out at some point, but Fox carries them all. And I think, but he always makes news. He always makes at 23 hours a day. You say whatever the hell you want. But when the President of the United States comes on and it's, you know, it's not just like he's giving speeches, he's taking questions from journalists, invariably making news.
They've decided they don't want to give him that platform. Then they'll talk about for the next 23 hours all the news that the president made. I did not know that. I should flip around more. I did not know that.
Howie Kurtz, thanks so much. Always appreciate it. Congratulations on an unbelievable run on your Sunday show. And I look forward to seeing you all over the channel on our show, too. Great, thank you.
This is Jimmy Phala, inviting you to join me for Fox Across America, where we'll discuss every single one of the Democrats' dumb ideas. Just kidding, it's only a three-hour show. Listen live at Noon Eastern or get the podcast at foxacrossamerica.com. Mm.