Hunter bails on deposition; Comer, Jordan to initiate contempt charges

From the Fox News Radio Studios in Midtown Manhattan, it's the fastest growing radio talk show. Brian Kilmead. Hi, everyone. Brian Kilmeat here.

So glad to be with you. Get closer and closer to Christmas. Everyone's got that feel. Pandemic's behind us. The place is packed.

Every store is packed. No one's talking about it. Which makes you wonder when people do show up with a mask. I'm thinking to myself, uh. Either they're carrying something, or they are ridiculously paranoid about the future, or they're looking not to be noticed.

Rich Lowry is coming up this hour. That'll be great. And we are looking at a situation where Hunter Biden is expected to show up any minute for his deposition behind closed doors. I don't know what he's going to say. Enter all the questions.

Oh, let me tell you about my dad's role in our business. Or let me just take the fifth over and over again. Let me just not go to jail. We know he has left California. He has arrived in Washington last night.

We will let you know if he shows up.

So, in the meantime, let's get to the big three.

Now, with the stories you need to know, it's Brian's big three. Number three. If we're going to have a national security package of spending, national security begins at our own border. This is about our own sovereignty. These are policy changes that could be easily made, but the White House has been very reluctant.

Speaker Mike Johnson, massive aid package on hold. This is GOP stands strong on the border and immigration reform. And Joe Biden tries to badger Republicans into funding three war zones. I'm for the funding, 100% in support of bulking up the border. Let's hope for a Hail Mary deal as we head to Christmas break.

Number two. With regard to the flooding of the tunnels, there is assertions being made that there's quite sure there are no hostages in any of these tunnels. Uh but I don't know that for a fact.

Well, all things Gaza. IDF looking to flood the terror tunnels plus the campus chaos here at home as it relates to the conflict as the White House support for Israel goes wobbly. Number one. We talked Friday. I think we talk a lot.

We've been texting, as I have been with Ron and Chris and Nikki through the past couple months. We talked Friday, I let her know I'm all in, I'm on board, let's get this thing done. And this isn't an endorsement to say, I'm endorsing her, so you have to get behind it. Everybody is getting there. Everyone is realizing that Nikki makes a connection with individuals, not big government solutions.

It's pretty awesome. I like both these guys. I really like Governor Chris Sununu, and he endorses Nikki Haley. But will it be enough to take on Trump and get past Trump? This is Ron DeSantis takes aim at his former friend for being too old, shutting down the country for COVID and draining the swamp.

I don't think any of those three elements are Donald Trump's weaknesses. I just don't. I mean, you really fault him for not finishing the wall. You think he wasn't trying? In the end, his own Congress wasn't giving him the money, so we repurposed defense funding, and people challenged that in court.

Draining the swamp, he tried to get rid of sanctuary cities. They flipped that in court. Are you supposed to go fire a judge? You know, that's just it. I mean, you know, crime, you got to blame him on crime in the cities.

He put federal troops out there. I think Donald Trump's got vulnerabilities, but I was just shocked to see that Ron DeSantis went at him that way last night in a CNN town hall. But I give him credit for doing it.

Meanwhile, the Suffolk County poll, the Suffolk University poll, and the Boston Globe and USA Today did a poll, and they say 86% of likely New Hampshire Republican primary voters said a Sununu endorsement would not impact their vote. But it does mean a lot. He's got a lot of respect among other governors. His name is Gold in New Hampshire because his dad and his brother served there. And he has been extremely popular of having to run every two years and will not run again.

In New Hampshire, excuse me, in Iowa, Trump is up fifty one to nineteen, Dehaley sixteen. DeSantis with nineteen Ramaswamy is five, Christie is four, and now we find out what the impact is going to be. Like Chris said. She's getting a lot of endorsements. Ken Langone, founder of Home Depot, the co-founder of LinkedIn.

We know about the Koch brothers, and now she gets a key endorsement from a governor. We'll see where that goes. You heard a little bit from them. Here's more. Cut one.

There was a sweet old. who has come to a lot of events. And I saw her coming in here, and she said, So are you going to finally endorse Nikki Haley for president? You bet you. Let's get this thing done!

We are all in on Nikki Hilly! On Nikki! It doesn't get any better than this. To go and get endorsed by the live-free or die governor is about as rock-solid of an endorsement as we could hope for. That is over modulated audio at a key moment that we kept using over and over again.

But look, I think it matters. There's only 1.4 million people in New Hampshire. A lot of them are independents. That's how they define themselves. But something It looks like it's Trump's to lose, but again, we have not played a game.

We have not played a game. Let's talk about what's happening at the IDF. The President of the United States seems to be jumping off the Israeli bandwagon, and here's why. He knows he's losing in places like Michigan because of his way left of the people who subscribe to the squad. And we know that it's been really tough.

The IDF is fighting extremely tough. They're blowing up a lot of places and there are civilian casualties. But I don't know why, and to color me naive, that the President of the United States doesn't handle his criticism behind closed doors. He says, essentially, we need a new government in Israel and they're losing momentum. Cut eleven.

Well, I have had conversations with PB Netanyahu and I want to make sure that We don't forget uh What we're doing here. We have to support Israel because they're an independent nation. It's been, I mean, the brutality. the inhumanity, the way in which The Hamas treated the Israelis and I mean, raping and burning and beheading. I mean, it just.

Just beyond comparison. Beyond comparison. And uh to anything else that I've seen since I've been hearing them been around for a long time. But I think that we have made it clear to to the Israelis and are aware that the indepe the the safety of innocent Palestinians is still of great concern.

Okay. And then evidently, he, behind closed doors, says he does say they're going to lose global support. He says, I think it has to change. This government in Israel is making it very difficult for him to move. And as the European Union, it has Europe.

It has most of the world supporting it. But they're starting to lose that support by the indiscriminate bombing that takes place. We have to make sure that BB understands that.

Now, listen, a couple of things. He's more experienced at war than President Biden. Absolutely. His instincts are better than President Biden. Absolutely.

I don't think that you could say that the IDF is doing indiscriminate bombing. There's a reason for all of it. The thing that's making it difficult, and I wish the President would just stay on this line because it's true. Hamas hides amongst the people. They make sure the hostages are there first and the Palestinian people are their human shields.

And now you can't look the other way if you are Israel. You have to finish them off. And now it's time to get to the hierarchy. They're going to be very well protected. They're going to be dug in.

And that is why I'm seeing some of that footage of them trying to. Maybe get some of the Mediterranean seawater and pumping it into the tunnels by the beaches. I find out that they're just doing testing where they know that there is no hostages to see how effective it's going to be. They're not necessarily going to flood them. They're going to just Flush them out.

They're desperate. They're desperate to end this thing quickly and to dig these people out so they don't come to fight another day, which they pledged to do. That's the Wall Street Journal story today.

So again, right out of the Mediterranean, we'll see where that goes. And we'll come back and we'll talk about that. The other big story is what's happening with the anti-Semitism in this country and the ramifications and the fallout from when the MIT, University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard presidents all went to Capitol Hill and basically would not commit into saying anti-Semitism is bad, even when it results into violence. Then it has people like the University of Pennsylvania president getting removed, she can still teach, and the Harvard president getting so much support she won't be removed. But the other subplot to this is they looked into her background.

And it turns out And this woman, Claudine Gay, Looks like she plagiarized her whole Paper v they got her a Ph D.

So she's a phony, she's a fraud. Christopher Ruffo did a lot of this work. He's a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, CUD 17. This goes deeper than you might imagine. On Sunday, I broke the story of the Claudian Gay plagiarism scandal on my substack.

Then a few days later, the great reporter Aaron Sabariam broke additional instances of plagiarism at the Washington Free Beacon. And now three professors have come forward alleging that Gay stole from their work to varying degrees of severity. We're talking about a large portion of all of her published papers, which are actually very few in number. She's not a prolific scholar by any sense of the word. And it is really damning.

But the twist is that if she were a run-of-the-mill university president, she would have been out yesterday. But Harvard has decided, because of her race, because of her gender, and more importantly, because of her politics, they have to do everything they can to save her. It seems it I don't know. It seems it, but Christopher Ruffo, a fine journalist who def definitely focuses in the education area, went on to say this: Cut 18. They've lost reportedly a billion dollars in donations, but that's all worth it because she is the great totem, the great avatar of left-wing identity politics.

She enforces the principles of DEI at Harvard, and this is the real heart of the story. Harvard has abandoned its classical motto, Veritas, meaning truth, all for racial politics. This is the story of our time.

Well, it's not just Harvard and it's not just her. And I don't necessarily think that firing any of these presidents mean anything. They're there for a reason, and the agenda they put forward is not counterintuitive to what the mandate of the institution is. We have to start looking at this, exposing it, and they got to feel it not only with donations, but in enrollment. I know I'm dreaming.

If your kid got into an Ivy League school, you don't worry about this. Maybe. I would. CUT 19 is the bigger picture as Christopher Ruffo expands with this curriculum and what is actually happening on these campuses, which in places like Columbia, maybe even Harvard, are still having pro-Palestinian, pro-Hamas rallies. CUT 19.

Left-wing radicals have taken over all of the elite culture-shaping institutions in our country, with very few exceptions. And conservatives need to get serious. We need to develop a strategy for recapturing these institutions, for taming these institutions, and for revitalizing these institutions in support of American principles of freedom, equality, merit, excellence, and accomplishment. Harvard is the key prize. And so I'm going to be fighting.

Harvard threatened the New York Post to bury the New York Post in lawsuits if they reported this story. I was not scared. I'm never going to back down. I'm going to keep coming after the university, of which I'm an alumnus, until this travesty is over and until we've restored truth as the highest principle of Harvard University. University.

Right. Harvard came out with a series of statements. I'll read one of them.

So many people have suffered tremendous damage and pain because of Hamas's brutal terrorist attack. And the university's initial statement should have been an immediate, direct, and unequivocal condemnation. Calls for genocide are despicable and contrary to fundamental human values. President Gay has apologized for how she handled her congressional testimony and has committed to redoubling the university's fight against anti-Semitism. The problem is, nobody believes it.

1-866-408-7669. What are you experiencing in your school? I'm not just talking about if you're in a university. Are you seeing some of this? Amongst your students, classmates, amongst your kids.

You listen to Brian Kill Me Show.

So glad you're here. Don't move. Politics, current events, and news that affects you. Brian's got a lot more to say. Stay with Brian Kilmead.

I'm Dana Perino. Join me for my brand new podcast, Perino on Politics. As we analyze the 2024 election cycle, make sure you subscribe to this series on FoxNewsPodcast.com or wherever you download podcasts and leave me a rating and review. From the Fox News Podcasts Network. I'm Ben Dominich, Fox News contributor and editor of the Transom.com daily newsletter, and I'm inviting you to join a conversation every week.

It's the Ben Dominich Podcast. Subscribe and listen now by going to FoxNewsPodcasts.com. From his mouth to your ears, it's Brian Kilmead. There's no doubt almost any Republican can beat Joe Biden. That's how bad Joe Biden is.

But we heard that in 2022, and guess what? Where was that red wave? It didn't happen. We heard it was going to be a big win in 20. It didn't happen.

Leadership at the top, the voice at the top, the brand at the top, really matters in terms of not just winning the presidency, but winning those congressional seats, winning the governorship, winning a school board seat. Don't we want to all win our school board seats and not have Republicans have to try to explain away the top of the ticket? When you remove the drama, you go forward. Are we a country that goes backwards? Are we a country that looks at yesterday's news and says that's the leadership of tomorrow?

No, no, no. We are always up for the next innovation, the next big idea, the next generation of leadership. That is in our DNA as Americans, and that is what you're seeing here in America. People getting excited about that opportunity to have someone with this type of background, this type of charisma, if you will, and this type of leadership in the White House, but not as a big Government Republican, as someone who's putting individuals first. That's what we're hearing all over the place, and that's why the momentum is so real.

Well, that is he speaks. He speaks like a machine gun, very New York-centric for a guy in very rural New Hampshire. But he's not running again. I bet you he would be a real asset to. Anyone's cabinet.

Obviously, Trump won't hire him. He probably won't go there. But if it's Nikki Haley, you know he'll be in. I know, I think Kevin McCarthy will absolutely be in, if you ask me, somebody, whether it's Chief of Staff or Deputy Secretary of State or something of that knowledge, somebody who can use his knowledge of Congress along with his policy, and he's got great foreign policy knowledge.

So, Ron DeSantis last night, this is, and listen, I'm not saying it's easy. But to criticize Trump. If you're a Republican. And want to get the votes, this is not the way. Cut five.

I think the first three years of the Trump administration, the economy is better than it has been. But that last year with COVID, I think was mishandled dramatically. Shutting down the country was a huge mistake. Printing trillions and trillions of dollars was a huge mistake. That set the foundation for the inflation that we see.

Granted, Biden came in and poured gas on the fire. It was reckless that he did trillions. Hmm. Listen, in retrospect, I wish we didn't shut down one day. But there was nobody that thought And there was no country really outside Sweden that wasn't shutting down.

So I'm I'm really f In retrospect, let's learn from the pandemic. But immediately that Florida shut down. And then they were quick to open up. Georgia shut down, but they were quick to open up. After that, you couldn't get these people to open up schools after that.

I just don't think that that is a, maybe I'm wrong, I don't think that's a vulnerability with Trump. Hey, John, you're over in Ohio. Hey, John. Hey, how you doing, Brian? Good.

What's your mind? Hey, just curious, you know, I I think Still, the biggest issue that, and Viva called it out in the debates, is censorship. And if you look at the people and the money influencing censorship. The Comcast, the owner Roberts, who's a Jew. And I'm not anti-Semitic whatsoever.

I'm full support of our country and those beliefs. And uh but what we see is Is these people with a lot of money, the BlackRocks, even Warren Buffett that own percentages of Comcast and all these other media companies, including seeing Google and Facebook and all of them who were censored and fined for doing the things they did over the last four years? But How many people are talking about the censorship as if we keep moving forward, but we can't say what we want freely? I think we've got a problem. I'm curious on your view.

Well, no, look, number one, I'm throwing the Twitter's in good hands now, even though people say it's crazy. And I use it for what I use it for. I'm not disappointed. And I think everything else has been exposed. I think we're all have our antennas up for suppression.

I'm not sure we're going to be 100%, but a lot better. We're going to be aware of the Zuckerbox flowing into key districts ahead of time. We're aware of how certain people are trying to manipulate the vote. I think we're going to have money for the GOP and DNC to go ahead and look at some of these key precincts and make sure there's no chicanery going around.

So I feel better about this election. I don't like the drive-by voting. I wish we didn't have month-long voting. I wish we had more of a day. But having said that, I feel like most states, key states, have reined in the drop boxes.

I think that's a huge problem, and we got to have cameras on it. And they reigned him in big time. Marty, listening on W DBO in Orlando. I was on this morning in Orlando. Hey, Marty.

Hi, Brian. Hey, President Biden and that fundraiser warned Israel against the indiscriminate bombing of Gaza. And I was wondering, this is coming from an administration. that bond after the Afghanistan debacle withdrawal They did an over-the-horizon structure. and they killed a bunch of civilians.

I mean, mistakes happen. Israel's made some mistakes, but they've also gone out of their way to Avoid civilian casualties. The group that has not gone out of their way to avoid civilian casualties is Hamas, and they don't seem to get any criticism. I know, and that's why I would constantly be pounding that. Understand why this conflict happened.

Understand Hamas, the big brave terrorist, hiding behind women and children, hoping these civilian casualties get so high. Israel will be forced to stop their offensive. They're not going to stop it. But they know it's not in their interest to kill one civilian. And they have hearts, or else every one of the two million would be dead.

I'm Benjamin Hall, Fox News correspondent and New York Times best-selling author. Join me for my brand new podcast, Searching for Heroes. Make sure you subscribe to this series wherever you download podcasts and leave a rating and review. A talk show that's real. This is the Brian Kill Me Show.

Well, unlike some people running, if someone doesn't endorse me, I'm not going to go trash them. Chris is a good guy. He's done a good job. And I'm going to continue to say he's good. He's a really good campaigner.

Even a campaigner as good as Chris is not going to be able to paper over Nikki being an establishment candidate. I mean, she's getting funded. By liberal Democrats from California, like a founder of LinkedIn, people on Wall Street, like the head of JPMorgan.

So that's what Governor DeSantis is going to do. That's a tactic. You know, they get along fine, but he's pointing out the difference between the two, and I think he's 100% right. Rich Lowry, is that a good professional response to not getting Chris Inuno's endorsement in New Hampshire? Yeah, it is.

And my worry about DeSantis, I mean, obviously, it's basically not a race, Brian, right? Until something changes, it's not a race. But it's very Iowa-oriented, which it has to be, but also very, very right-oriented. You know, he's run to the right from the beginning of the primary. And the thing is, if he's ever going to have a chance of winning plurality, he's got to soak up those Nikki Haley supporters.

And there's just been very little expression of any interest having that element of the party, which would which would be crucial to him.

So I mean his strategy all along is I'll work at kind of the MAGA MAGA lane, people may be tired of Trump, but MAGA ish. get those people, get a nice, impressive number, and then the non-Trump people have no choice but to go along with me. And obviously there have been two problems with this. You know, it's been harder getting mega voters off of Trump, one. And two, Nikki Haley's now soaked up those non-Trump voters.

So everything so far, Brian, everything has broken down Trump's way. Why? Why do you think he is?

Well, you've got to you would need one of these candidates, DeSantis or Haley, to be much stronger than the other and driving the other down and taking away all their supporters and having broad enough appeal to do it. It seems as though they're kind of stuck in this basically a second place tie. Even if you add up their numbers, though, right, nationally it's not close to Trump. Even in Iowa and New Hampshire, you know, it doesn't get there. And, you know, the indictments, as we talked about a lot, have helped Trump.

And then the other thing that Biden has done is collapse in the polling.

So the DeSantis argument was always going to be, you might like Trump, you might like his policies, but he can't win. And he's still kind of trying to make that argument, but he can't do it. Do it in the face of like every single respectable polling outlet showing Trump close or ahead. Yeah, I haven't seen him trailing in two months, Rich. Larry's our guest from So, Rich, I haven't seen him I would I pointed out, w what about the fact in the CNN poll?

It pained them. You have to see the broadcast. I'm sure you don't watch. When they had to announce it That Trump has been winning in Michigan by 10. I mean, they almost had to go to a test pattern rather than say it.

And basically, the answer is why. And the answer why is. It's not that Trump's playing the perfect game. You or I never say that. But they overreact to everything he says and continue to make him the worst person in the world.

Like his comment to Sean Hannity, I'll be a dictator for one day. He's having fun. But they led with it every hour. And yet the polls come out and nobody listens. And it's not a reflection of their rating, it's the credibility.

Yeah, no, absolutely. And this is another thing just Not to dump on DeSantis, I'm an admirer of his, but you know that that line about I'll be dictator uh for a day, it was funny. And the thing is, like Trump at the average rally says like ten funnier things than Ron DeSantis has ever said in his life. DeSantis is not a funny guy, right? He's a serious guy, he's a policy guy, I think he'd be a good president.

But these things matter to people, they they attract people to political figures, and just Trump has that showmanship. off the charts, obviously. And then we got to give credit to Susie Wiles and Chris LaSavita. This is, I think, the most impressive campaign team Trump has ever had. He listens to them to the extent that he listens to anyone, and they've been very shrewd.

So I want to fast forward over to Gaza right now. The President of the United States made it clear in a fundraiser yesterday that he thinks this right-wing government is being too indiscriminate with the bombing and that they're beginning to lose public worldwide support for their action. Number one, I just don't like saying things that matter so much to a crowd. If you really want to change the policies, that to me is not the way to do it unless you're so frustrated that no one's listening. And I don't know if I would characterize anything that Netanyahu is doing as indiscriminate because he knows it doesn't work for him.

Yeah. No, absolutely. This serious matter is not for crowds like that. And I hate the word indiscriminate. I don't think it applies.

It's been a punishing campaign. It's been a grueling campaign. It's been a disruptive campaign. But there's no indication that Israel has done anything but hit legitimate targets that we all know. I mean, this debate feels old now.

We've all said it so many times, but it bears repeating over and over again. Hamas hides its infrastructure, its headquarters, its fighters among civilians.

So what are you going to do? You're just going to let them go because of that, or are you going to hit him anyway, even though there's a terrible price? And obviously, the moral responsibility for that terrible price is ultimately on Hamas. You know, the U.S. government should know that.

It at times has indicated as such, but then is getting pulled by the left and by just sort of conventional wisdom into this posture. Oh, gosh, Israel has to stop. I'm just announcing to our audience, we'll be bringing you back shortly. The audio is. Not great, but Hunter Biden is not only showing up today, he is speaking right now before going behind closed doors.

I talked to Jim Jordan about this or probably on Fox and Friends today, and he says, I have no idea if he's showing up. I don't know if he's taken the fifth. I have no idea how candid he is going to be.

So. When we bring this back, we'll find out what he's saying. Roughly, Rich, does it surprise you that he's going to show up? And what do you expect him to do behind closed doors? I would be shocked if he doesn't take the fifth.

It would be legal incompetence at the highest level if he doesn't take the fifth. I mean, he's under a couple of indictments, very serious charges. Perhaps, you know, unfortunately, I've let the statute of limitations lapse on a lot of the. Potential influence peddling type offenses, but perhaps more charges in the way on the way.

So there's no way. I don't think there's any way that he'll actually testify. I think he'll take the fifth and he can kind of say, Well, I didn't want to talk to you guys in private anyway. You know, I want to do this publicly, which is a bit of a scam because any investigation you talk to key witnesses privately first, so you can do an extensive lawyerly deposition. For hours and hours, and get everything you need rather than a hearing where each congressperson has five minutes and is oftentimes futile and worthless.

So, President Biden, behind closed doors, according to Axios, says he feels personally guilty, sad, and angry when his son's attacked. He says his relationship with Garwin, which was already tense, has become more frigid amid Biden's frustration at the lengthy criminal investigation and now prosecution of Hunter by justice. One person close to the president unflatteringly compared Garwin to James Comey, claiming they have both have been obsessed with the appearance of having integrity rather than just trying to make the right decision. The appearance of having the integrity. I think that's a good description of the entire Biden administration.

Look, this is awful. You're extracting negative consequences on your attorney general for doing his job when your whole thing, your public posture is then, I want him to do his job. I want the chips to fall where they may. But of course, they never wanted that. They always thought they would be protected.

And they were protected for the longest time and would have continued to be protected with that original outrageous plea deal if a judge hadn't said, wait a minute, what are we doing here? And the whole thing fell apart.

So this is, I think, the three big scandals in the Trump years: the Russia collusion hoax, the indictments, and the trials, and perhaps the attempt to jail him, and this, the way it was attempted to be covered up in real time during the 2020 campaign, and then the ongoing legal effort to stop from serious consequences. And just the sheer, just Biden's lying. I mean, he's lied about it from the beginning, he's lying about it now. Yes, we can all feel sympathy for Hunter and his addiction, and how much of his life he wasted with that, but that's not the issue. The issue is that the foreign actors were sending him millions of dollars that was sluicing through Biden's accounts, and some of it got to Joe, and he knew it was happening.

A couple of things. Usually, when you're addicted, you're on Skid Row, you find yourself waking up in the alley. He found himself with high-priced hookers. And in speeding 130 miles an hour in cars, drunk or high, or both. Not only that, he he was getting major business deals.

Usually you're down and out on Coke. Chinese potentates don't come to you and say, here's ten million dollars, right? That just doesn't happen. Or we we'd all at least briefly acquire Coke habits.

So the president goes on to say, telling friends, telling close associates, he believes his son would not be facing federal indictment if he hadn't run for president. And his relationship with Garland, obviously, we just talked about that. No kidding. I don't really know how many investigations would do into retired vice president, Joe Biden, but he did it anyway. He knew what he was up to and not up to.

He knew what Jim and Joe Biden, Jim, and what James Biden was up to. He knew what Hunter was up to. And he put it all out there. And the minute he knows better than anyone literally in the country, he presided over so many so-called scandals. Was he in office even during Watergate or right afterwards?

He saw Iran Country. He saw all these things. And he saw the complications with the taxes and Trump. Trump knew, for example, this tax was going to be very controversial if he ran. He can't say, wow, I really wish I didn't run for president and wouldn't have looked for my taxes.

Well, you knew that. There's nothing he doesn't know right here. And, Rich, what does it tell you? They looked in the camera and said, I never knew anything about my overseas business dealings. When we have him golfing with Sherwin, we have him calling into meetings, showing up twice in Cafe Milano, and then we have his jetting over to Mexico City to meet with Carlos Slim.

He looked in the camera as if to say to us. I had nothing to do with it. What and what about 51 Intel experts say it's classic Russian disinformation, knowing it's his voice and his emails? If he's that comfortable lying, what else is he lying about? I mean, the reason why he he ran and thought he could get away with it is because he thought a lot of people would cover for him and he would lie.

And he was right. And, you know, it it he was close to getting away with it actually. And, you know, had those national security officials writing the letter. They knew it wasn't Russian disinformation, or they should have known. The FBI knew, you know, this is something people neglect, Brian.

The FBI had the laptop before it was public, before anyone else knew about it. They knew it was a legit, but they're going around giving these vague warnings to Twitter and others, be careful, there could be Russian disinformation out there. It's just completely scandalous. Um and and there you know, I forget the exact text or message or whatever, but in the the trove of messages back and forth with all these characters, there'd be occasionally, you know, d don't worry that th this guy's one of our guys, he's he's not gonna press us hard on this investigation. Or whatever it is.

So they thought they had the thing wired. They thought the media would cover for them. They thought the media was so invested in the narrative that Joe Biden is the great honest savior of democracy that they could get away with it. And they kind of, you know, they did, at least from 2020. Yeah, well, he won, if you could say that.

So I want you to hear Hunter Biden. The audio is not great, but he just wrapped up what I thought was a five-minute speech. Prepare remarks. Here's some. For six years, MAGA Republicans, including members of the House committees who are in a closed-door chess session right now, have imputed my character, invaded my privacy, attacked my wife, my children, my family, and my friends.

They've ridiculed my struggle with addiction. They've belittled my recovery, and they have tried to dehumanize me, all to embarrass and damage my father. Who has devoted his entire public life to service?

Okay, victim again. You dropped off the laptop, that was all you, you got away with it, and now when people are calling you out on it and everything else you're doing, you wrote a book chronicling the whole thing and then did a book tour after that was used in the deposition, which was 54 pages. Yeah. So this statement we've seen reporting last couple of weeks, the Hunter people want to be more aggressive. They feel as though they haven't been out there enough.

And a lot of Democrats are very uncomfortable with this, you know, because the more talk about Hunter Biden, the worse for Joe. I mean, it's just not a good story for them. But clearly, this is a more aggressive posture that Hunter and his team want to adopt. Notice MAGA Republicans? Mm-hmm.

Yep. I did.

So, Rich, so real quick, your reaction: what do you predict will happen behind closed doors? It'll be legal malpractice for him to do anything except take the fifth. Is that what you're saying? I think he'll take the fifth. I've been shot before.

Maybe I'm wrong. I'll eat Crow next week if I'm wrong, but I think he has to take the fifth. It's hard for me to see anything else happening. All right. And do you think we'll ever get to a deal, a massive deal, on aid to the war zones in exchange for new border rules and asylum qualifications?

I think eventually. But the border rules really need to bite. It can't just be more resources. And I think Republicans are motivated on this. They've got to limit Biden's ability to parole illegal immigrants into the country.

I mean, that's got to be the ask. Rich Larry, thanks so much. Hey, thanks, Brian. All right, 1-866-408-7669. When we come back, we'll recap, bringing more of the Hunter comments that he just made kind of caught a lot of people by surprise, but we got him.

The audio is not great, but you can hear it back at a moment. Newsmakers and newsbreakers, hear it first on the Brian Kill Meet Show. A radio show like no other. It's Brian Killmead. For six years I have been the target.

of the unrelenting Trump attack machine shouting, where's Hunter?

Well, here's my answer. I am here. Let me state as clearly as I can. My father was not financially involved in my business, not as a practicing lawyer, not as a board member of Burisma, not in my partnership with a Chinese private businessman, not in my investments at home nor abroad, and certainly not as an artist. During my battle with addiction, my parents were there for me.

They literally saved my life. They helped me in ways that I will never be able to repay. Of course, they would never expect me to. And in the depths of my addiction, I was extremely irresponsible with my finances. But to suggest that is grounds for an impeachment inquiry is beyond the absurd, it's shameless.

There is no evidence to support the allegations that my father was financially involved in my business. because it did not happen.

Well, we're going to find out, aren't we? We didn't know a lot about a lot of things before we didn't know about all your Shell accounts either. And that is Hunter Biden. More of his comments that lasted about five minutes. And the one thing that's easy to point out that Bill McGurn pointed out a moment ago, do you notice that Hunter said My dad was never invol was not involved in business.

Hunter did not say my dad was not involved in his business. He said he was not financially involved in his business. That's interesting.

Well, what was your business? What were you selling, Hunter Biden? Just tell me what you're doing. You're an internationally known lawyer who gets people out of tough situations? No.

You were on the Amtrak board, so you needed some train expertise in Kazakhstan? Nope. Were you somebody that I don't know. Had a huge lobbying background that could help the richest woman in Moscow. Yeah.

The question that Jim Jordan and everyone else has for you. And I don't think they've made conclusions yet. Is what was your selling? You're selling the Biden name. Who?

of the Bidens had the influence, the former vice president. though twenty or thirty year Senator who is on the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. And you said it's your name, got you places. You wrote a book about it, all the things you did. The laptop was dropped off by you, nobody else, even though you're suing the laptop owner who did the right thing by handing it to the FBI.

Along the way, you should not only thank your parents, you got to thank the FBI, you got to thank David Weiss for holding on to this for five years.

So, I don't know how you're affording Abby Lowell. I don't know how you afford the private jet flights to come in to deny your paternity on the kid that you owe, and you want to complete poverty in order to pay her child support. That's on you. Attack your kids. I don't think you attack your kids.

I think what they were trying to say is you should own up to your kid. That was brought up, that you should hang that extra stocking. Uh Mr. President, because you have another grandson, granddaughter. And that was brought up by Maureen Dow.

That's not MAGA Republicans. Anytime you hear MAGA Republicans, that's pure politics. And that's what this is. Hey, I hope to see everyone Friday night. Go to Brian Kilmey Show BrianKilme.com.

I want to owe tickets over to beautiful Mun Hall, Pennsylvania. I'll be d doing this great show based on Teddy and Booker T in all my history books. And don't forget, Saturday in Michigan. From Hayatown Fox News headquarters in New York City, always seeking solutions, never sowing division. It's Brian Kilmead.

Hi, boy, welcome to the latest moments of the Brighton Kill Me Show.

So glad you're here. I come to you from Midtown Manhattan. And we have a lot going on today in this city alone. I thought it was very interesting, Mayor Adams came out and said: there's things about the illegal immigration problem. In our city, the federal government is not familiar with.

And that is his. I mean, he's making it so clear that he is fractured from this president. And the president not meeting with him when he's there, or White House officials not meeting with him there last week, tells the story. And the reason why I bring up New York in particular, because we have it the worst, no question. We need it the most, no question.

It costs us $7 billion a year, and we got to cut other services because of it. And can you imagine if all this is happening with somebody in your own party and they don't want to hear it, nor do they fully understand it? It's got to be frustrating. This hour. Uh we're going to be joined.

Uh by Will Pierce. And And Britt Hume. Right now, I'm just looking at the T V screen. AOC is speaking about the Hunter Biden impeachment inquiry. I'm sure she's in support of it.

I can't read her lips, but she seems incensed. Anything? Anything About Hunter, getting to the truth about Hunter is not something she's interested in.

So let's get to the big three.

Now, with the stories you need to know, it's Brian's big three. Number three. If we're going to have a national security package of spending, national security begins at our own border. This is about our own sovereignty. These are policy changes that could be easily made, but the White House has been very reluctant.

Massive, that by the way, the Speaker Johnson, massive aid package. John Hall does the GOP stand strong to get border and immigration reform. He wants to make it happen. They want to get it done before Christmas, but no one plans on staying past tomorrow. Both things can happen, guys.

Number two. With regard to the flooding of the tunnels, there is. assertions being made that There's quite sure there are no hostages in any of these tunnels. But I don't know that for a fact. President Biden, all things Gaza.

Idea of looking to flood the terror tunnels plus the campus chaos here at home as it relates to the conflicts that the White House supports for Israel and the White House support for Israel seems to be going wobbly. Number We talk Friday, I think. We talk a lot. We've been texting, as I have been with Ron and Chris and Nikki through the past couple months. We talked Friday, I let her know I'm all in, I'm on board, let's get this thing done.

And this isn't an endorsement to say, I'm endorsing our show, you have to get behind it. Everybody is getting there. Everyone is realizing that Nikki makes a connection with individuals, not big government solutions. It's pretty awesome. Governor Sununu, all in for Nikki Haley.

But will it be enough to take out Trump? This is Ron DeSantis takes him, aim at his former friend being too old and shutting down the country during the pandemic. I'm pretty sure that's an area that is not going to. Yield results. With me right now is Britt Hume.

Britt, a short time ago, we heard Hunter Biden make his way to the microphones, AOC firing back, representing the Democratic Party. Nothing to do with Hunter's comments. Were you surprised Hunter spoke first today before going behind closed doors, or that he even showed up? Yeah, I was actually surprised to see him do that. you know, he's been pretty elusive.

For a long time And they he and his lawyer now decide I guess a more aggressive approach is going to have to be what they do because you know, uh, his lawyer was was trying to get the this depos this deposition opened up and made public. That's not how they do it under procedures on Capitol Hill as a rule. They, you know, depose you in private first and then you know, call you have live testimony later. Um But so he's clearly trying to go on the offensive here. I want you to hear a little at our audience here.

The audio is not great, but you can hear him. For six years I have been the target of the unrelenting Trump attack machine shouting, where's Hunter?

Well, here's my answer. I am here. Let me state as clearly as I can. My father was not financially involved in my business, not as a practicing lawyer, not as a board member of Burisma, not in my partnership with a Chinese private businessman, not in my investments at home nor abroad, and certainly not as an artist. During my battle with addiction, my parents were there for me.

They literally saved my life. They helped me in ways that I will never be able to repay. Of course, they would never expect me to. And in the depths of my addiction, I was extremely irresponsible with my finances. But to suggest that as grounds for an impeachment inquiry is beyond the absurd, it's shameless.

There is no evidence to support the allegations that my father was financially involved in my business. Because it did not happen.

So, financially involved in my business, because it did not happen, Britt. What is your take?

Well The question really is not whether he was sitting next to his son as a partner in these enterprises. his son was involved in. The question is whether he, Joe Biden, Um In the background as a source of influence and power in Washington when he was in office and even when he was not. And the rest of that question is whether he, Joe Biden, benefited from it. You know, you look at the way Joe Biden lives and has lived for some time.

uh including when he was in office. as a senator and then vice president. Um, he lives lavishly For a man who was on a government payroll for all those years.

So the question has always hung over him: how did he get so rich? And Hunter to you know, the investigators on Capitol Hill, all they suspect and they g he got rich through his son and his son got rich through him.

So Jim Jordan told me this morning on Fox and Friends that they think they have the votes to move forward the impeachment inquiry. I know we're not lawyers, Britt, but behind closed doors right now, what are Hunter's options as he submits to questioning here? I mean, everyone could just say he could take the fifth, but I think there's a part of him that probably wants to accomplish something today.

Well the option is to say under federal indictment and I I have to you know uh protect my rights. The other option would be for him to do some of what you just saw on the screen when he was outside the Capitol this morning, and that was to g to attack the the uh investigation as being a witch hunt against his father. Um, and I suspect he may do a little of both.

Well, when they asked things to Eric Sherwin, his role, why were you meeting with the richest woman in Moscow? What was the product that you had for sale? What were the contacts you were looking to use? Were you representing a foreign entity when you were over there in a foreign country? I mean, should you have registered as a foreign agent?

Did your dad know when you were on Air Force 2 and landed in China that you were going to cut a side deal? And what about the perception? Even if nothing was going on, oh, you're doing it. Did that concern him at all? And you can't say that writing a book was probably.

A smart move. It ended up almost all in the indictment.

So, this is not a, not only is he not, you know, this is not somebody who's made a lot of great moves.

Well, I agree. And I think I think Brian, you know that one of the you notice that the defense of Joe Biden Has diminished with time. For a long time, it was held that he held that he never, ever discussed. His son's businesses, which is implausible to begin with with any father and son who were thought to be close. And then of course you had that Air Force two trip that you mentioned.

Um wh you know, what are they s so he young Biden is on the plane and he's going to do some business in China. and Joe Biden is Vice President. And His son's on the plane with him, going over there. And He never says anything about his business. What did he say?

Fancy meeting you here, Hunter. What are you doing? Whatever you're doing, don't tell me. I don't think so. I don't think so.

Right now, James Comer is speaking, too, before he goes behind closed doors. They don't know what they're going to be getting. And Jim Jordan did say today, I don't know. We tried to contact his attorneys yesterday and see if he was going to show up today.

So he didn't even know he was going to show up, but they said they are ready to go, and they were going to focus on December 4th, where this big meeting took place. I want to talk about yesterday, Chris Sununu and Nikki Haley getting together, him announcing that Nikki Haley will be endorsing him. Here is the little of their conversation from this morning. uh endorsing uh governor snoo very popular new hampshire governor endorsing nikki haley We talk Friday, I think. We talk a lot.

We've been texting, as I have been with Ron and Chris and Nikki through the past couple months. We talk Friday, I let her know I'm all in, I'm on board, let's get this thing done. And I think it's just going to be a really intense, fun 40 days as you see momentum build, as you see a lot of folks come on board, everybody's getting engaged here in New Hampshire. This isn't an endorsement to say, you know, the governor, I'm endorsing her, so you have to get behind it. It's everybody is getting there.

Everyone is realizing that Nikki makes a connection with individuals, not big government solutions. It's pretty awesome. So what changes now? Uh, well, I I don't know I'm not sure much changes. Brian, I mean, I uh we've been waiting all year for some sign of the ero of a real erosion in Donald Trump's support in the Republican Party, and it has not happened.

And And you know, we're now weeks away from Iowa and then New Hampshire quickly to follow. And I think it would take an earthquake. Uh to change the composition of the race.

So it's a race for second place between Haley and and Ron DeSantis and and the second place isn't worth much. You know, it's amazing. Remember, the frontrunner, George Bush, governor of Texas, and John McCain rocked his world, and it would end up being a tough one. Pat Buchanan really stirred things up for Bush 41. And you would think that somebody would at least stir things up for the former vice president, the former president, who endorsed some candidates that were not successful just two years ago, and who coming off January 6th, the investigations and the indictments.

How can you explain? The unshakable support that he's gotten, that you would argue, judging by the polls, that has grown. I can't explain it uh in It has been a source of mystery to me all along. I can, you know, the rebellion that led to his election in 2016, we kind of had a chance to digest that. and see the forces that uh that caused it.

Well, they're still active. And some of the problem many of the problems that Trump tried to deal with are still there.

So the case for him as a general election candidate, once nominated, is pretty clear. The case for him to be the most Likely to win is much less clear, and yet the support continues.

So, this impeachment inquiry. Is it a risk? If they pass the vote, that's a risk, but they feel that they got the votes. Is there a risk in the inquiry? Yeah, there well, I think there is.

I mean it Because Um impeachment, I think, is still viewed by a majority of the public is a quite drastic step. And because this investigation so far has centered on Hunter Biden more than it has on Joe Biden, although he's Yeah, he's Joe Biden is obviously where people are are really looking. I think, you know, the public may look at this and say, wait a minute, we got all kinds of problems, we got all this stuff going on in our country with the crime and inflation and border problems and wars overseas, and these guys are trying to dislodge the President of the United States. Uh that may not sit well. It hasn't in the past.

Impeachment have not been popular in the past. uh, particularly with Clinton where Clinton was concerned and where Trump was concerned, really. We're talking to Brittany now, and we're seeing all the things rocking everybody behind. You know, before they go behind closed doors, with Hunter Biden, he's going to go in there. And my sense, he'll do something besides take the fifth, because then that'll be a big story.

I think burnish more, make it harder for people like Jamie Raskin to defend. I want to ask you about what's happening with these Ivy League schools. Brett, here's Elise DeFonic reacting to the fact that they're not firing the Harvard president, Cut 15. This is a moral failure of Harvard's leadership and higher education leadership at the highest levels. And the only change they have made to their code of conduct, where they failed to condemn calls for genocide of the Jewish people, the only update to the code of conduct is to allow a plagiarist as the president of Harvard.

And that's what's emerged. This president has emerged as somebody who's got 27 separate times in their PhD paper accused of plagiarism. your reaction to this exposure here and in the big picture, could this finally address the what we're seeing on these Ivy League institutions and even ones that aren't places like Stanford? That's the right question, bro. Yeah.

What I have been concerned would happen is this. That they fire p the p one of the presidents or maybe all of them. But nothing really changes. Because uh what they'll probably do Is add Jews to the list of protected classes. of people who are um you know who are not who who can who cannot be attacked.

Um The problem has been always the inconsistency of the application of the free speech principles at these institutions. And and there's a whole categories of people, you know, g Gays and and and uh and people who've changed their sex and all that, uh uh blacks and so on, they're kind of a protected class. Uh And if they just add one more group to that, it just furthers the problem. The problem is the unequal application of free speech principles at these colleges. And which is what made that testimony so jarring when they were when when these presidents were unable to say unequivocally um that they condemned uh and and and w and would punish the calls for for genocide of Jews.

So I think Yeah, that that th th well it's fine for these politicians to pursue the firing of these college presidents. I don't think that really gets at the problem. And the problem is also what these students are being taught. in these schools about, for example, the history of the Mideast. They seem shockingly ignorant of it.

I know. You know what I hope, too, is it's blurring the line. It's not a bunch of Republicans saying reform your schools. There are Democratic donors who might be as liberal as anybody who are just horrified by the anti-Semitism that they're seeing and finding themselves saying we have to address this. Maybe Republicans were not making it up and it wasn't part of a culture war.

Maybe there is something here. That gives me hope.

Well, I think you need to keep our eye on the ball, and that is, will the curriculum be changed to be more historically accurate, which you would think would be a no-brainer, but apparently. Apparently it's not at these schools. and this kind of educational rot Is is widespread and has been going on for a long time and has produced student bodies that heavily favor Palest the Palestinians regardless. And it has produced a uh an entire generation of faculty members who are imbued with the same nonsense.

So that is where the deeper problem lies, and that is the one that's going to be much harder to get at than the firing of a few presidents or the addition of one more group to a protected class. He is Britt Hume. Britt, it's going to be another exciting year of coverage. I hope to see you out on the trail and in the studio. Thanks so much.

I look forward to that, Brian. Thank you. You got it. Back in a moment. It's Brian Killmeid.

Radio that makes you think. This is the Brian Kill Me Show.

Hey, welcome back, everyone. It looks like Hunter Biden is blowing off. Going behind closed doors and will not. Give the deposition.

So he shows up. Gets the media. and skips the deposition. Amazing.

So now there's going to be a little bit. There was a mini press conference going on. We'll bring some of that.

So it looks like he is not going to be speaking. Unbelievable. See, it doesn't help. It creates more drama. I'm telling you right now, the White House cannot be happy about this.

All it does is create more drama.

Now, every channel that was enjoying not covering this. Wanted to talk about the crazy Republican caucus.

Now goes, okay, guess who just helped with the crazy? Showed up with the most expensive lawyer in D.C., gives a press conference where he says, woe is me. And then gets back in the car and goes. I'm telling you. I know this guy Abby Lowe is supposed to be a genius.

Everyone's like, oh my god, he's a fantastic lawyer. Please tell me what he's done good. He's suing the laptop owner. That makes sense. Suing Tony Bobolinski, challenging him to produce evidence that they had a business relationship.

And he's saying, please bring it on. I beg of you. Follow through with this. Suing different media outlets? Good luck with that.

And you think it's gonna get better from here? You crazy? Unbelievable. And I'll tell you, the President of the United States wants to talk about what's going on with this funding stuff, but this is going to be everywhere. Even the Jake Tappers of the world, they're going to have to cover this now.

Oops. Breaking news, unique opinions. Hear it all on the Brian Kill Me Show.

Now, what he is saying is that the plan is to hopefully get 42% as the internal benchmark that his campaign has set for New Hampshire. The reason why they've set on that number is because in 1968, that's what Eugene McCarthy got against Lyndon Johnson. Johnson won the New Hampshire primary, but was so embarrassed by the Democrats turning away from him, they ended up dropping out of his campaign. Phillips says that that's what he wants to happen for Joe Biden here, and he's going to keep on making that case. Into the spring, into June, maybe even into the convention, he points out that in 1968, Hubert Humphrey won the nomination despite not winning even one primary then.

McCarthy and Hubert Humphrey, both Minnesotans, he points out now. And he also points out that he's a super delegate himself, so he will have some. Role at the convention, no matter what, even if it's a very small one, and that he intends to keep on pushing this. That is Isaac Dover, CNN, trying to figure out why Dean Phillips is running. Why?

He's very confident, he can finance himself, self-made multi-millionaire, maybe a billionaire, some would say. I knew nothing about him until about two months ago, but he's running. He goes, put me in New Hampshire, put me into South Carolina, wherever. I'm running against Joe Biden, even though he doesn't want to say he's running against Joe Biden. It is bizarre.

Just run. I mean, I've never heard such people speed so deferential towards a sitting president. Will Pierce, former executive director of the Draft Biden 2016 campaign. He worked for Bernie Sanders in 2016 and 2020, raised funds for President Biden in 2020, and has left the Democratic Party now. Why would that be?

Will, why did you do what you did?

Well, Brian, overall, I view politics as a game of addiction addiction on a math. You have to get two fifty percent plus one. In the Democratic Party, they're just not understanding that. They're more focused on ideological and you have to agree with them one hundred percent. And if you do not agree with them one hundred percent, then you're out of the party.

So right now, just your take on why you think Joe Biden is somebody that you can't back when you were in his camp before. It's well, the nation and to be honest, President Biden has changed in the past four years. When I originally supported President Biden, it was because of his authenticity, his openness. But as you probably know, that is not the case right now. You can see going on right now in Capitol Hill with his son Hunter and everything that's going on today up on Capitol Hill with the Biden family as well.

I'm looking overall for a leader that can lead our country and not divide our country. Right now, our country is very divided overall. I've noticed. Who would you back then? I'm looking at the field right now.

This is the good thing about the Republican primary. You allow open dialogue. You allow candidates to say what they say and had to go for the vote. You're not seeing it on the Democratic side. Right now, with the quote-unquote Democratic primary between President Biden and Dean Phillips, that's not a primary.

I feel that in an authoritarian countries, they had a more open election than what's going on on the Democratic primary side right now. I want you to hear what Sean Steele says. He's with the California Republican National Committee. And this is what he's noticing on the ground and why Steve Garvey actually thinks he's got a shot in the jungle primary that's coming up this spring, even though he's a Republican, going for the Senate, see, cut seven. It's compounding with more polls after 538 said that, and that's a left-wing organization, said that Biden is the least popular president in modern history.

And all they do is do polls, real clear politics, same kind of thing. It's not just one poll. Wall Street Journal is very. Let's say they don't take chances, and it's not really friendly to Trump, but there's some good things we need to understand. Uh everything Biden touched seems to turn bad.

It's you know, obviously the inflation, the economy, the whole world's on fire. People sort of remember it was calm under the society was calm, it seemed to be safer under Trump, but under this circumstance these polls are going bad. It's great news for Trump, bad news for uh Biden So you've noticed that. Uh what he's been saying. Yes, I have noticed that.

And I think the nation is noticing as well. Like if you look at recent polling as well, you're seeing that in unaffiliated and undecided voters and also on both sides of the party, they're upset at the political divide right now. We're not supposed to be this divided as a nation. We can have our disagreements. We can we do not have to agree one hundred percent on everything, but we do have to come together as people, as a nation and agree on some basic things.

And what are they? I mean, basically, they look at the border policy of this president. You look at the spending programs and the transition to this green economy, which this country is not embracing. They're not embracing the windmills. They're not embracing the electric cars.

They're wondering about inflation. They know that the interest rates make it impossible to move or buy a house. They're seeing a lot of these things and saying, I remember the other guy, this wasn't happening. Yeah, and like my thing is this, when we pay our taxes, we pay it so we can make sure that the least income or like the lower class of us are protected, that we have the basic things such as safety, public safety, education, that sort of thing. That money should not be going overseas to other countries.

If you look at what's going on at the border, you have a lot of immigrants coming across the border and they're getting more programs than actual Americans who are tax paying Americans who are working every single day. If you look at what's going on right now in Chicago, New York, countless cities that are led by Democratic mayors, not just for one term, but for multiple terms, multiple administrations, the American people, they're being left behind. I agree.

So this Hunter Biden situation is fascinating. They're going to do an impeachment inquiry. I am not for an impeachment. And we saw after the Ukrainian situation when you're trying to impeach President Trump, and then we saw what happened after, people just get up and speak. The whole country stops.

And we already know that it's all baked in that they're not going to get impeached. Got it. Having said that, I'm interested in finding out what Joe was involved in and not involved in. In 2020, they said it was absolutely not. If you tweeted something like that out, your account would be suspended.

So now it's something different. Do you think that Abby Lowell's client, Hunter Biden, going up on Capitol Hill? Today, and going on the Senate side, not the House side, holding oppressor, and then refusing to go behind closed doors. Hurts the president. It does.

If you do not have anything to hide, you testify, and then you just end it right there. If you don't testify, you create a bigger issue overall. My thing is this: when the first impeachment happened against President Trump, I came out very against it because, overall, that opened the door to this kind of precedent.

Now, we're going to have in every administration on a Democratic side, on a Republican side, you know, it's another four years. Let's impeach this person, let's impeach that person, let's do this, let's do that. Instead of sitting there and being able to unite as a country and be like, okay, he may not be the person that I chose, but you know what? Let's put him in there for now, and then we can, you know, we can try to replace him in four years. Very, very it's very bad, President Bryan.

And put it this way, if you're President Biden, you want this story to go away, not only because it's your son, but because you want to debate the issues and move on by di doing something as theatrical as this today. And then storming off, now you make every network.

Now, I'm interested in this. My show's going to cover this. But you make everybody make this their top or their second biggest story.

So Joe Biden has got to be saying, what is he doing?

Now all of a sudden, by not testifying, by showing up, calling oppressor, now everyone's running your sound bites, now everyone's going over this, now there's going to be more motivation to make sure this impeachment inquiry passes. I get the sense they're not coordinating with the White House. I get that sense as well. And like you can even go see it back in the early part of the administration as well, but from Camela Harrison with Biden. There's no coordination over there going on.

So when you could you ever see yourself supporting a Republican? Yes, I could. Yeah, I'm, you know, I actually registered as a Republican a few months ago. I'm, you know, I'm looking at the candidates right now. It's, and that's the thing that I like about the Republican Party.

You can look, you can be, hey, I'm in favor of 60 to 70 percent of what they have to say, and you know, and you can have that open dialogue. If you look at the Democratic side, if you do not agree with every single issue, if you are not in stepline toe with the party, then you are racist, sexist, that's it. That's not what our country is, and that's not what we need right now.

Well, it's interesting because you could sit there and work for Bernie Sanders and still be open to working, to supporting a Republican? Absolutely, yeah. I agreed with, and this is the thing when I worked for Bernie Sanders. I agreed with some of the things he was saying, and that's the thing. I did not agree with everything.

You know, no one's going to agree with everything on every different candidate. But at the same time, some of the basic principles that Bernie Sanders was saying are basic principles we all can hold. We have to take care of the less fortunate. We have to make sure that they are protected. We have to make sure that our country is in a good place.

Now, some of the stuff, some of the other stuff that Senator Sanders says, not in agreement with him, but that's the thing about our country. We have to sit there and see what things that we agree on, get together behind that, and move forward as a nation.

Well, I guess we'll see where this goes.

Now, just a quick thing: your expertise. Nikki Haley gets the endorsement of Governor Sununu, gets the financial support from Ken Langone, gets the financial support from the Koch brothers. These things are happening. She is moving up to a solid second in most polls. Do you see her closing the gap with this type of momentum behind her?

Well, this is an important thing. It's going to be a long primary season, I feel. You don't think it's over quick. I don't think it's over, so he has to keep this momentum up. If he if he backs down a little bit, then like then it's then any momentums he built up goes away.

You have New Hampshire, you have South Carolina where it's former governor there, so he can do a lot of stuff there. You have Iowa. If he keeps the momentum up, it's going to be a really potential race. All right, thanks so much. Appreciate it, Will Pierce.

Thank you. All right. So we're watching things as they are developing now in Capitol Hill. It's just unbelievable how tone-deaf or. Intentionally.

Ignorant to the ways of the White House.

So for. Hunter Biden to come out and say, My dad has done so much, I wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for my mom and my dad to help me in the most difficult time. They don't want to re uh, they're not asking for repayment, and then I then nor should I would they expect for repayment, but they really basically saved his life.

So you write a book detailing your drug use, idiots. I idiotic thing to do. Then you have You suddenly become a painter. As you blow paint through a straw, You have a high ranking f you have a High profile. Invitation only.

Gallery Where people show up and pay you way too much for your paintings, and people say, Wait a second, what kind of favorites do they want for Hunter Biden? Nobody wants this painting. There's got to be some type of favorite.

So you bring up more questions about that. And then you have a situation where you drop your laptop off because you're in a, I imagine you're in some type of drunken stupor. You drop this laptop off, and then to create more angst. And more worry and more questions in the pressroom, you sue the laptop owner for defamation for bringing it forward while never admitting that it's yours. And then today.

You come out, by the way, you do a podcast interview. Maybe that was strategic, I'm not sure. And then you'd come out today and do a press conference and then say, I'm not going behind closed doors. This is after the indictment. That it was handed down last week.

Would you say you've been unfairly targeted because of your last name? If you don't pay taxes on millions of dollars worth of transactions, Foreign or domestic, with 20 shell companies, as well as the suspicious activity reports. And you think the reason you're being indicted is because people don't like your dad? The only reason you're not in jail. is people like your dad.

The only reason you can afford Abby Lowell is because someone is literally writing you million-dollar checks. in Malibu where you supposedly have no money but you're living in one of the most high profile places on the planet. Hey, go to BrianKillme.com. I want to see you in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Friday night. And Saturday night, I need to see you in Michigan.

In Michigan, we're going to be having a great time in Holland, Michigan, and then in KQAM in Wichita, Kansas on Sunday. Teddy and Booker T. If you're interested in it, Brian's talking about it. You're with Brian Kilmead. Hey, welcome back, everyone.

You know, earlier today, I had a chance to talk to Jim Jordan. He's a chairman of the Oversight Committee, and he's also got a bunch of judiciary committee, and he plays a role on oversight, and that's run by James Colmer. And, you know, of course, Hunter Biden goes behind closed doors today in the Capitol. But I wanted to talk to him about the chances of the impeachment inquiry failing. I don't know if you noticed, but they had a little trouble getting a speaker.

And then when they finally got a speaker, they tossed him out, and then they couldn't get another speaker. What makes you think that you're going to be able to have the votes with just a three-vote margin to move forward with an impeachment, aside from losing Ken Buck?

So here's a little of my conversation with Jim Jordan. Besides Ken Buck, has anyone told you they're not voting for it, or has anyone told you I haven't decided yet? I actually expect everyone else to vote for it based on the conversations that I've had talking with Speaker Johnson and others. I think we're going to have the votes to do it. And this is important because, I mean, the impeachment power resides solely in the House of Representatives.

If you now have a majority of the House of Representatives going on record and saying we are officially moving into this phase of our constitutional duty to do oversight, then courts look at that, I think, in a much stronger way. All the scholars say this. We think we get these witnesses in in a more timely fashion. We think we get the documents that Mr. Culmer has been pursuing.

We think we get those documents in a more timely fashion. We think it moves faster so we get the facts for the American people. And again, I already think the evidence is pretty darn compelling, but there are a handful of people we still need to talk to and some documents we still need to get before we make an ultimate decision on whether we move forward with Articles of Impeach. And the timing in which you bring the big guess, the big guests, the big witnesses, is everything because you need background information. It's hard to get a You found out a few things from Devin Archer.

You want to focus on December 4th and also his meeting with the richest woman in Moscow. Yeah, because I think that's when it's all started. You go back to February of 2014. Hunter Biden gets a $3.5 million check from Elena Botsurina, the wealthiest person, wealthiest woman in Russia. He gets that check.

Six days later, Russia goes into Crimea. And then a week and a half later, there are sanctions placed on all kinds of Russian oligarchs.

Somehow she escapes sanctions. And then a month later, this all happens in this short time span. A month later, Hunter Biden is put on the board of Barisma. He meets with Zolachewski in Italy when he offers him that position. And guess who's also in Italy at that time in those meetings?

Elena Botsurina. That's when it all starts. And I think it's continued all the way through 2018 with foreign interests trying to have influence on this family. Where's Joe in all this? And what about Devin Archer coming out saying, yeah, Joe called in a lot.

They had the meetings, but they never talked business. What's your answer to that?

Well, on December 4th, 2015. When Zolachewski, the head of Barisma, asked Hunter Biden and Devin Archer, we need help relieving the pressure we are under from the prosecutor in Ukraine, the very next thing Hunter Biden does, according to Devin Archer, under oath in his deposition, is Hunter Biden gets on the phone and calls his dad. And then three days later, his dad goes to Ukraine and gets the prosecutor fired. And more importantly, he used your tax dollars, your viewers' tax dollars, American tax dollars, to make that happen. He conditioned the money on the firing of the prosecutor who was applying the pressure to the company Hunter Biden was on the board of.

That's not supposed to be how it works. I tell people, this story is as old as the hills. Politician does certain things. Those actions then benefit his family, and then there's an effort to conceal it. And that's what I believe David Weiss has done for the past five years in his investigation of Hunter Biden.

All right, so you don't know what you don't know. You went into the original inquiry and you found out these revelations. From what you've already done, when you just say, yeah, we're doing this, we're not going to vote on it. You have found enough that you feel as though you converted your slim majority. Yeah, I think they will now officially vote for it.

I think when we have that vote today, I think it's scheduled around noon, the debate, and it will be sometime this afternoon when we actually have the vote. I think it'll pass. I think we move into this official phase. And then we need to talk to Eric Schwearn. We need to talk to Rob Walker.

We need to talk to Tony Bobolinski, all under oath. We need to talk to Kevin Morris, the guy who paid a bunch of Hunter Biden's taxes, just out of the blue. Shazam, I'm going to pay his taxes. We need to talk to Jim Biden. We need to talk to two lawyers at the Department of Justice who the Department of Justice has prevented us from having in for an interview.

Mark Daly and Jack Morton. We need to talk to these two guys because they originally said we should charge for the 2014-2015 tax years when the bulk of the burisma income came in. And then nine months later, they changed 180 degrees. No, no, no, we shouldn't charge for those. And they let the statute of limitations lapse.

Why did that happen? I mean, it's one thing to have a gun charge in Delaware. It's another thing to charge for those burisma tax years because burisma gets you to the White House. Burisma involves Joe Biden, and they let the statute of limitations lapse for those. I think that's critical information.

We want to talk to these lawyers. Department of Justice says, no, we're not letting them come in. I think after this impeachment inquiry vote, where the majority of the House goes on record, I think there's a much better chance we get access to those witnesses. Right. We know they've won Paul Manafort didn't answer.

He went to jail.

So we'll see if these guys are going to do it. It's always good talking to him. I mean, one thing about Jim Jordan, my conversation even before the show is just as insightful and beneficial as actually went during the show. Just real quick, I just announcement. I'm kind of excited.

A couple of days away now, I'll be live in Munhall, Pennsylvania at the Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall, where Booker T. Washington actually was. I'll be talking about Teddy and Booker T and President Freedom Fighter and all those patriotic books that I put out that you've been kind enough to support. And it's going to be motivational, inspirational night. Tickets at BrianKillmee.com and then Holland, Michigan on the 16th, Holland Civic Center.

Be there. From the Fox News Radio Studios in Midtown Manhattan, it's the fastest growing radio talk show. Brian In Kill Mead. All right, boy, welcome to the latest moments of the Brian Kilmey Show.

So glad you're here on this Wednesday. We have a lot going on this hour and a special guest to bring you to. We'll follow all the breaking news and we'll also take your calls. And don't forget, BrianKilMeetShow.com is where you can always listen to the show live if you go out of the area of your local affiliate. And don't forget to go to BrianKilme.com and get tickets to the local shows, these Fox Nation shows, where you get a free year and a book.

I'll be in Holland, Michigan, as well as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

So Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, I'll be there on Friday night and Holland, Michigan on Saturday. And then I hope to see everyone in Wichita, Kansas on Sunday, finishing up Teddy and Booker T. Right now, let's bring up a conservative thinker that you probably all have heard from and certainly read about, R. Emmett Tyrell Jr. He's got a new book out.

And the book is really self-explanatory. How do we get here? Half a Century of Laughter and Mayhem at the American Spectator from Bobby Kennedy to Donald Trump. Welcome, Bob. Thanks for joining us.

Nice to be with you, Brian. I think I saw you on television last night. That could have been. I was with Trey Gowdy and I was with, I think, Tyrus last night. Yes, you were with Tyrus when I saw you.

Yeah. So, Emmett, how was. Donald Trump changed conservatism from, let's say, the Ronald Reagan that you knew.

Well, I spent a lot of time with Ronald Reagan that you probably know about from reading the book. And he was a great president, the greatest president of the post-war period. But he was a very nice man, too. Good plan. Donald is a very nice man.

I was one of the early promoters of Donald. And I'm glad I promoted him. He did a very good job for president for as president for about three years. Years. But after that He took too many punches.

He very re he relished returning every assault on him with a f full full att full attack. And it tired tired him out. I think he's frankly at times he str seems very punch drunk to me. Right now. Yeah.

Uh Bring me. He makes mistakes. that he wouldn't have otherwise made, it seems, in the first three years as President He was one of the best presidents we ever had. Leave it at that. Understood.

So in other words, are you surprised he's winning by so much right now in the polls leading up to the caucus, the polls leading up to the New Hampshire primary? Yes, I am surprised. But on the other hand I mean, the attack on him It's been Horrendous. And it's gone on and on and on. I mean, it it the attack began the first day he got came into office, in fact, earlier than that.

And I'm amazed that the people that the opponents haven't figured out that they're just building him up. Yes, they have. We'll see if they can convince moderates in order to win an election. Even moderates undecided, as you know as well as anyone, if the conservatives are there, it just wouldn't be enough.

So how did you become a conservative, Bob?

Okay. I listen to my grandfather. My grandfather was a strong conservative, and he made me into a strong conservative. And that's how I've always been a strong conservative.

So you've come across other major leaders, for example, Bobby Kennedy. What was your interaction with him like?

Well, it was kind of funny. He was speaking at Indiana University and I was on the other side of the curtain. I was the only person on the stage aside from Donald from of the bobby And he burst through the curtains and said, How do we get out of here? That's how I came with it by the title of the book. And I said, Well, this way, sir, and this way and I went to the left.

I went I was lost And I finally got him down to his car. And he reached out to shake my hand and I was inspired. I reached into my pocket and brought out a Reagan for President button and gave him one. He looked down and smiled and laughed. I looked down and smiled and laughed.

He drove off into the night. And six weeks later, he was dead. Assassination's bullet.

Now, his son, Robert Kennedy, RFK Jr. is running. Looks like an independent, not really running on any ticket. Let's go back in time and talk. I'll play some clips, and you tell me how that ranks with the American Spectator, how it's handled it, and what it means to you.

Cut to. I want to say this to the television audience. I made my mistakes. but in all of my years of public life, I have never profited. never profited from public service.

I've earned every cent. And in all of my years of public life, I have never obstructed justice. And I think too that I could say that in my years of public life, That I welcome this kind of examination because people have got to know whether or not their president's a crook.

Well, I'm not a crook.

So he's a two-term president. Got elected overwhelmingly, and then it went south. What did that do to that speech in that moment and the Watergate investigation due to the conservative moment? Movement.

Well, it c it uh did the same thing that uh the attacks on Donald Trump. Have led to whether we were stronger for done as I used to say. I didn't think very highly of Donald of uh Don Donald. I didn't very think very highly of the president until Watergate. Then I started to like him.

Why? Oh, because he was under fire. And frankly, it was very unfair fire. I mean, read this book. I have all kinds of examples in this book where he was screwed one time after another after another.

I mean, in the big picture, the Watergate and what it led to and what people learned from it, and the fact that we had to wait to the 6 o'clock news to find out the latest as opposed to 24-hour news to get the latest. And Trump learned from that, you've got to fight back constantly. And that's really allowed him to survive the Russia scandal, which was no scandal that he did at all. Read the Mueller report. But it gave him because Nixon moves over, it gives an opportunity for a guy like Ronald Reagan to emerge.

And this is one of his classic moments and classic speeches and classic phrases. Was just butchered, by the way, recently. Cut five. I think you all know that I've always felt the. nine most terrifying words in the English language are I'm from the government and I'm here to help.

What was the context of that? But that really provides the mindset of what he thought about what the role of the government should be in our lives. Yes, it does, and he was, as I say, the greatest president of the postwar era. There he goes. And then George H.W.

Bush would take over, cut six. He predicted the Berlin Wall would last another hundred years. And today. Less than one year later, it's the wall that's history.

So two terms of Reagan, one of HW. He does not win reelection despite having high polls, but then the cl the of course, the economy goes into a recession and that gives Bill Clinton the opening he needs. Was that the heyday of the conservative moment? Those three terms? Oh, I think it was.

I think it was a great era for the but now I think we have another opportunity for a great era. We'll see what happens. But I think Either DeSantis Or d uh Donald Trump are capable of carrying it off. Yeah, I mean, the one thing would be conservatism does change. For example, for the longest time, free trade was the mantra.

And a lot of people were against it. Trump came in and said, forget free trade. We're going to just do bilateral trade deals, multi-trade deals, and we're going to just do it to benefit us. And he was totally against it. A lot of people thought that was wrong.

Were you one of them? No, I don't think so. I think it was time for a change, and he brought in change. Here is uh Donald Trump cut ten. To all Americans.

Yeah. In all of our cities. and in all of our towns. I make this promise. We will make America is strong again.

We will make America proud again. We will make America is safe again. And we will make America great again. God bless you and good night. I love you.

Yeah. That was a pumped-up Donald Trump 2016 RNC speech. He gets the nomination. Ted Cruz in the front row refuses to endorse him famously. One drama after the next.

What was. What were you thinking? As a conservative, what were you thinking his chances were in the general after that?

Well, I was up there in the audio up there in the box with his people, and so I didn't dare. think anything but he was going to win. But I said he was going to win before he even den denounced I said he was going to win. And he appreciated that, and he may win again. Are you more confident now leading up to 2024 than you were leading up to 2016?

I'm I'm really I don't know what's going to happen. I'm not as confident as I was then because of the w the wild card. It'd be anybody. But I think He's got a very good chance of winning. Um and Joe Dotbin's got a very bad chance of winning.

A couple of things. We're talking to The author of the new book, How Do We Get Out of Here? Half a Century of Laughter, Mayhem, and the American Spectator. We're talking to. R.

Emmett Tyrell.

So, Bob, you know what's kind of interesting right now is that the Conservative movement is kind of switching. It's now the blue more of a blue collar party. They want to say that they just have conservatives get in there and they're going to cut taxes for their rich friends. That's not flying these days. Why is that?

Well I I don't I I don't really know. I I think it I think it flies And I think that the blue cover is is a r Rich body of people to attempt to bring along with you. I think. And there's no problem with the blue collar worker. There's no problem with the upper class.

Uh the problem is with the media. Yeah. You know better than I that the media is uh dead set against Donald Trump. Have you always felt that way about conservatives? Did they always feel like they had headwinds?

Or is it more Trump feeling that more than most? I think I think Donald Trump got more headwinds than most, that's for sure. Oh But if the press has always been a problem in this country. And it will be for years to come. But we'll just ignore them.

And thank thank God for For your shows that you're on, and we'll proceed from there. Who would you hope that Trump if if Trump does get the nomination That second spot will be extremely valuable because he'll be term-limited out. You know, with the first time since Grover Cleveland, he'll be lose and win again. Who do you think that would be a natural number two that you think would put the Conservative Republican Party in good hands? I think Haley.

You think it's you think it's possible? Judging by the animus between them that's starting to build.

Well, I hope it it it's possible because a a such a ticket would be very hard to beat. Is Haley more of a traditional Republican? Yes. In what way?

Well, she's very strong on foreign policy. That's one way. And she doesn't stress economics the way we stress economics. Um She's a good and she's a good candidate.

So I think she's personable and can put on a pretty good act, and Donald Trump, of course, can put on a terribly good act. Yeah, I mean, they used to get along good. I think that she's gone out of her way not to go over the top, but she has got a nickname that he's throwing her direction. But then again, the president was going after Rand Paul hard and Ted Cruz hard, and now they seem to be friendly. And Marco Rubio hard.

And now they seem to be friendly. All right. Congratulations on the book. Uh I appreciate you coming on. And R.

Emmett Tyrell, you can pick up his book. How do we get out of here? Thanks so much. Glad to be with you. All right.

Brian Kilmicho. Back in a moment. Educating, entertaining, enlightening. You're with Brian Kilmead. The more you listen, the more you'll know.

It's Brian Killmead. Hi everyone, I'm Brian Kilmead. Welcome back. A lot going on. I mean, we've been following what's going on with Hunter.

Follow what's going on. Was he going to go behind closed doors? The answer is yes. He's going to go behind closed doors. And we had cameras out there, but we weren't caught somewhat by surprise about who ended up coming through.

So, Hunter Biden did go and speak and made himself the victim again. I'll tell you one thing: there's legalese. And things you should do as a lawyer. And there's other things people look for to see if you're really An addict that is recovered. And that's taking total responsibility for what you're doing.

And he's still making himself the victim. I didn't listen to that whole podcast they did with Moby, but I listened to maybe four minutes of it. The whole time, you would think this guy was walking down the block just innocent, and people walk up to him and just maybe put a bag of crack in his hand and then he unjustly went to prison. This guy made decisions that showed he couldn't care less about anything for the longest time. Did he have trauma as a kid?

Sure. Did he have the death of his brother by him? Absolutely, but he was doing this stuff anyway. Do I think his family was irresponsible, allowing him to do these business deals in their name, which I assume has been happening? There's been green lighted along the way?

Because when you remember the voicemails that we hear that that was on that computer that he dropped off at the at the uh at the computer repair shop? Remember his dad's voice? The Washington Post story came out. I took a look at it. Looks like you're going to be okay here.

Really? I thought you knew nothing about his business dealings. And again, Having a son that's addicted to drugs is not a crime. He was breaking the law, obviously. But when you use some of those business deals and they were influencing in other countries and you're the sitting vice president, it is wildly irresponsible to let him go on Air Force Two to China and let him go off and cut some business deal.

You've been doing this for decades and you don't know how that will look. And if you do, in fact, run for president, you don't think that's going to hurt? Here's a little of Hunter Biden. For six years, MAGA Republicans, including members of the House committees who are in a closed-door chess session right now, have impeded my character, invaded my privacy, attacked my wife, my children, my family, and my friends. They've ridiculed my struggle with addiction.

They've belittled my recovery. And they have tried to dehumanize me, all to embarrass and damage my father. who has devoted his entire public life to service. Right. Uh, you act like you work for the Red Cross.

He got a lot of benefits from that. A lot of power with that. He traveled the world because of that, and no one made him a sitting senator. He ran for that. And it was controversial around his first election, too.

For Hunter Biden, if you don't like that you've been ridiculed, don't take pictures of yourself naked with hookers all the time. Number two is As Jimmy Kimmel said, get Apple Care.

So there's a lot going on right now, and I just think it's kind of important that people get a perspective. With the inquiry, it's not an impeachment. They just want to find out what happened as it relates to Joe. It's not about him. But he knows everything and they want to ask him a few questions.

So I just got to be fascinated to see if he talks behind closed doors. Remember, everything about Hunter Biden is he's unorthodox.

So if he goes back and just says it takes the Fifth Amendment, he knows he hasn't done anything. I think they'll do something that he does where he gives them a little. Enough to say he went behind closed doors and cooperated. And then And then would look to move on and say, listen, I got other legal problems. But if he just goes behind closed doors and takes the questions in the fifth and then says, listen, I want to testify publicly, no one's going to be satisfied.

It's not going to help Jamie Raskin say there's nothing to see here. And it's not going to help Republicans say, I'm done here.

So, and I know he doesn't want to give him anything to go with because he's still going to talk to Eric Sherwood, who handled all the finances. Jason Riley.

Next. If you're interested in it, Brian's talking about it. You're with Brian Kilmead. His program was different from theirs. that he he was trying to make sure that the blocks acquired skills at Tuskegee Institute, which he founded.

And he and one of the skills they taught was building skills. And so many of those Buildings were built by the students themselves on the basis of what they had been taught. And they were making their own bricks. And th and even in the in the in the s in the segregated south, whites would come over to Tuskegee Institute to buy to buy bricks because they could get a better deal there.

So that is Thomas Sowell, one of the smartest people America has ever produced, talking about the history of African-American relations and talking about Booker T. Washington. And what he was referring to about the bricks, he's not kidding. They actually made bricks.

So when they're trying to build up Tuskegee, literally in Alabama, in the segregated South in the middle of Jim Crow, they realized they were wasting a lot of money on bricks.

So Booker T. Washington said, why don't we do our own?

So he bought a kiln.

Now, in the beginning, buying a kiln, he got the wrong one, didn't do it right, whatever it was. It took his fourth. He ran out of money, so he had to cash in and hock his gold watch and got the kiln. The last one worked. They had the best bricks around.

They ended up donating and giving and be able to sell them and end up being a for-profit business. That's just part of the ingenuity of Booker T. Washington, which is part of the great story that led me to write Teddy and Booker T. Two American Icons Place the Path to Racial Equality. When it comes to racial relations in America, no one has to tell Jason Riley anything, especially Thomas Soule, who we looked up to as a role model, who did a documentary, who we did a documentary on.

He's a Wall Street Journal columnist, Manhattan Institute Senior Fellow, Fox News contributor, and best-selling author of The Black Boom. Jason, welcome. Thank you for having me, Brian. What do you think of hearing Thomas Oll talk about that? I I like hearing Thomas Hull talk about anything.

Right. But yeah, he he has written extensively on education, black education in particular, which of course was the focus of Booker T. Washington's. Life and Solis documented not only that, but also the rivalry that you get into in your book with W.E.B. Du Bois and talking about how that was more of a difference in emphasis rather than goals.

They both wanted what they thought was best for blacks. And Booker T. Washington never renounced civil rights or didn't see any need for them. And Du Bois understood that vocational education was important as well. But they wanted to emphasize different things, but they shared the same goal, that is, you know, upward mobility for blacks.

So there's an inequality out there. You know, in Booker T. Washington, especially in his day, was quoted as saying, and I'll just paraphrase, no doubt about it, the life is harder. He used the term Negro for a Negro man to make it than it is for a white guy. But once you get there and you achieve what you achieve, having worked harder, you'll appreciate it more and achieve more once arrived because anything hardly earned is going to be thoroughly appreciated and it's going to make you stronger along the way.

That was his approach, where W.E.B. Du Bois would. Say, why is that way? That shouldn't be that way. Let's protest.

Let's have a meeting about that. Let's talk to a politician and demand some change. I think there's room for both, but I don't see room to condemn people who thought like Booker T as accommodating. Do you ever get that as a conservative black man? Oh, sure.

And Booker T's experience is a reminder of how long that charge has been around and that discussion among blacks themselves has been around. One of the things I really appreciate about your book, Brian, is I mean, I know you're not an academic historian, but I have read some academic historians on Booker T. Washington, people like Woodward, C. Dann Woodward and John Hope Franklin. And I thought you did a much better job than they did in putting Booker T in the context of his times and the restraints, the constraints that he was operating under.

You know, we're we're after reconstruction now. Funding for public education of blacks is drying up. Booker T wanted to educate black people in the South, where most black people lived. And he reached out to these northern philanthropies. He understood the world that he lived in.

And I thought you just did a great job of putting that into context instead of sort of looking back and judging him by our sensibilities today or the sensibilities that would come along decades after he was gone, which is some of those academic historians have done. And that's why I found your book very, very useful in that respect.

So a couple of things. I mean, one thing I don't want anyone to think I'm making excuses for it.

Well, the lynchings were overstated. No, they weren't. Poll taxes didn't really exist. No, there were absolutely threats to blacks. If they showed up at the polls, they were going to be killed and their families going to be burned down in some cases, in some elections.

That was absolutely the case. People were unjustly tried and jailed. No question about it. If you had an interracial relationship, it was one of the worst things you would think that could happen at that time. It was horrible to think about.

So he lived it. I'm reading about it. He lived it and didn't hate the country and said. How do I begin to change things incrementally the best I can rather than ideally the way it should be? And some people think don't you know, you should reach for the stars.

But if he did, Tuskegee would not have been the institute it is today. That's exactly right. He understood that he had to carry himself a certain way and go about his business a certain way. And he didn't have the luxury that some of his critics in the North had. When it came to loudly protesting certain conditions, he had to live in this world.

And some of the anecdotes you tell in your story about race relations at the time, you know, a b a a black and white person sharing an umbrella was scandalous. I mean, you think of how absurd These conditions were looking back, but Booker T. Washington had to live this in this world. And you do, and since you contrast him with Teddy Roosevelt's upbringing, it was almost like they lived in two different universes, not just two. Two different parts of the country.

You know, the South was just a world unto itself, and Booker T. chose to live and work in that environment. And I think that his focus on education is something we can still learn from today. One of the things that is so sad among certain aspects of lack culture. is this whole idea that if you are bookish If you are an astute student, that you are acting white.

It's a slur that blacks throw. against other blacks who are into school, into education and so forth. And you look back at Booker T. Washington's life devoted to educating black people and the importance of school. And you think, wow, this is so sad.

But he is a reminder of how important blacks once took education, particularly low-income, low-skilled blacks took it in order to lift themselves up economically. And I think his model is something we can still learn from today.

So there's just along the way. And I know people get hesitant on this, but I'll just say it. General Armstrong was an absolute mentor to him. He said he was the finest man he met. He was a Union war hero.

I had to go back and look up, and I go, wait a second, he never mentions white. And, you know, by the way, Booker D. Washington wrote a ton.

So everyone can read it. You could understand the foundation was so easy to find because he wrote so much. And I had to go back and go, wait a second, it's got to be a white guy, right? General Armstrong.

So sure enough, but he never mentioned a white man who was a general and ran Hampton College. He says the finest, best-looking man he's ever met.

Okay. Mrs. Ruffner. Mrs. Ruffner was someone he worked for to teach him to read and write, how to hold himself, lose his regional accent, the basis of hygiene and presentation.

Just saw a kid that was unbelievably ambitious and driven, and he ends up learning so much and living with her. And then you have. Mrs. Mackey, the one who led him into the school and saw through the dirt and grime of going 400 miles on $12 that he had this potential. And there was Natalie Lord.

He says, everything I am as a public speaker, and he might have been the best in the country, and that means anywhere, was Natalie Lord. She taught me about presentation, how to write, how to look people in the eye, how to project your voice. And when people saw Booker T. Washington, they were not only moved by his words, they were moved by his presentation. If you see the pictures, he'd get on the end of the stage and lean forward, almost engaging the audience, saying, I want to be there with you.

So I just found it unbelievably inspirational to, and also anxiety-ridden because you feel so bad about what people had to deal with because of the color of their skin back then. Yeah, and he was ridiculed. He was criticized for going to these white philanthropists in the North to help him in building his schools. One of the relationships I don't believe you mentioned in your book, but was also very important in terms of his educating blacks in the South, was a philanthropist named Julius Rosenwald, who earned his money by running Sears Roebuck. And a Jewish, a German immigrant, well, he was the child of German Jewish immigrants to America, was based in Chicago, where Sears was based.

But he teamed up with Looker T. Washington in the first decade of the 1900s to create thousands of schools. For blacks in the South, high-quality schools. Again, this is a time when public funding for education was drying up. And he and Rosenwald created schools And and Rosalind also helped to fund the Brown versus Board of Education decision that was decided in the 1954.

So there was a lot of Collaboration that went on to the benefit of educating blacks. And Booker T didn't care where the money came from. What he wanted was to use it and put it to good use. And I think he did that. And I also think you did a nice job of pushing back at the criticism that he wasn't interested in civil rights, because we know that he couldn't be outwardly supportive of something like that, again, based on the time period and where he was trying to work.

He knew that there would be a lot of backlash if he did that. But we know how much he did. Secretly. And quietly, in terms of funding court cases, challenging Jim Crow laws, using his own money. And so, again, a lot of that criticism is very unfair, and I thought your book is a nice corrective.

Yeah, thanks so much. We're going to take a short time out. Jason Riley, our guest, Wall Street Journal columnist, best-selling author, Manhattan Institute senior fellow. We're talking about Teddy and Booker T. It's a special now on Fox Nation, soon to be on our channel.

I imagine we'll learn more about this and also what these rich guys did for him. I mean, if anyone ever wanted investors in a project, you know what it's like to go up to people with money and ask them to invest and believe in you. That's what he did. I found it hard to believe he got so much criticism, but he did. When we come back more with Jason, you listen to the Brian Killmeat show.

Educating, entertaining, enlightening. You're with Brian Kilmead. Radio that makes you think. This is the Brian Kill Me Show.

So Jason, I just found that quote that I paraphrased, and here's exactly what Booker T wrote. He says the Niger youth. Must wear Carter and perform his tasks even better than a white youth in order to secure recognition. But out of the hard work and unusual struggle through which he is compelled to pass, he gets a strength, a confidence that one misses whose pathway is comparatively smooth by reason of birth and race. Does that not hold up today?

Oh, absolutely. I mean, what he's essentially saying. Shortcuts. that blacks have to take it upon themselves to build the necessary human capital so that they can advance in society. He was not calling for lowering standards for blacks.

He wanted to bring blacks up to the existing standards. And that is certainly something that continues to need to be said today, because you do have some people out there that are dead set on lowering standards instead of bringing people who are lagging up to existing standards. And in education in particular, you know, this whole debate over getting rid of standardized tests or the SAT and so forth, the whole affirmative action debate is about lowering standards to accommodate groups that are lagging instead of doing what Booker T. Washington wanted to do, which is to bring those groups up to existing standards.

So the book Up From Slavery would turn me on to this project, and I saw Teddy Roosevelt all over his later in life when he became a professional and very well known. And then I realized there might have been something there. But this is what Teddy Roosevelt, what TR said about a reading Up From Slavery. He got an advanced copy. He wrote this in a letter to Booker T.

He had just finished reading the copy. He said, Uh He liked it so much that, quote, my dear Washington. Mrs. Roosevelt and I are pleased, much pleased as I am with your book. I shall not try to tell you what I think about it, my dear sir, for I do not want to seem to flatter you too much.

I do not know who could take your place in the work that you are doing. And I hope to set you up and meet soon. And they would meet April 1st, 1901. And they would talk about how he was going to go down to Tuskegee.

Next thing you know, McKinley gets shot and Teddy Roosevelt becomes president. And their meeting would be in the White House, setting up that dinner that everyone talks about that caused so much controversy. Yes, yes. And in hindsight, the fact that something like that could cause the controversy it did is quite incredible. But Teddy Roosevelt was Is it A lot of people were inspired by that book.

I think that that book did a lot of fundraising for Booker T. Washington. In fact, I think it was the best-selling book ever written by a black person after he published it. And so it was quite influential and opened a lot of doors for him. And fortunately, one of them was a future president.

Yeah, you know what it did, too? It was the best-selling book by an African-American author up until Malcolm X, which is pretty extraordinary. Wow. Yeah. And there's two things that I think people see in the special.

What I wanted to do is link the two, the president and freedom fighter, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, and the Battle to Save America's Soul. What's next?

Well, Frederick Douglass was a role model for Booker T. Washington. And Frederick Douglass actually spoke at Tuskegee. And the link to Teddy Roosevelt and Lincoln was Lincoln's body was brought down Broadway, right here in Manhattan. And as it was brought down Broadway, a seven-year-old Teddy Roosevelt was told by his grandfather and his father, you better come here and witness this historic moment.

And they witnessed it from the second floor of the Apartment, and I went right back to that very street, and I'm sure it's been redone since. But that is the second floor. And you saw a young, you could see the image of a young Teddy Roosevelt looking at the coffin of Abraham Lincoln. And who would think both those men would be on the side of Mount Rushmore? Yeah, quite incredible.

I learned a lot about Roosevelt from reading your book. I was more familiar with Washington's story than Roosevelt's. And he had quite a fascinating life. I mean, just, you know, he would have distinguished himself just as an author, as you know, even if he had never gone into politics. I believe you say that some of his early writings are still consulted when people want to learn about a subject.

It's quite fascinating. He's an incredible figure. Especially the War of 1812.

So get this, talking to Jason Riley. Jason, turns out his two uncles they loved were both exiled out of the country after the Civil War. They fought for the South, and they helped consult him on the War of 1812, what it was actually like, and the detail in which he got and the vernacular and terminology.

So when people read it, he wrote the bones of it in college. Then he expanded on it when he got out. People thought, what an unbelievable detail on it. When I was doing Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates, you saw references to the War of 1812 about Teddy Roosevelt's book. They were referring back to his book.

So that's how bright this guy was. He had the boldness to write a book like that as a college kid. Yeah, and that boldness, I think, is part of the reasons he was able to develop a relationship with Washington, even though it was a taboo thing to do. And this is the other thing about Roosevelt. He didn't need any of this stuff.

This was a guy born to the manner born, as they say. He could have just lived a very comfortable life. He did not need to court the controversies he did, even as president. He did not have to push racial issues the way he pushed them and how he pushed them. He didn't have to do it.

He chose to do it. I mean, it really does say something about his character because he was a person of his times as well. And as you know, this complicated things for him, particularly that invitation, extending that invitation to Booker T to come to the to the to the White House. Yeah, and when he did that, that's what everyone points to, and that John McCain referenced. He said in 2008 after he lost, that there was a time in which inviting a black man to the White House was controversial in Booker T.

Washington, and now a black man will be hosting at the White House.

So that shows you how far the country has come. And that's my point. I don't want to say anything was smoother than it was, because it wasn't. But I think you can acknowledge our past and appreciate where we are. And you might think twice about taking a knee during a football game or a soccer World Cup match.

That was my point. And, Jason, can't thank you enough with your busy schedule for reading it. And I appreciate your insight. Jason Riley, thank you. Thank you.

All right. BrianKillme.com. If you want to order it and you want to get it personalized, don't move. Listen to the show ad-free on Fox News Podcast Plus, on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music with your Prime membership, or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Mm.