Howard weve all seen this movie before way too many times, its washington Melodrama Beloved by the media, suspenseful story, a ticking clock. Its a selfinflicted crises with a Government Shutdown hanging in the balance, and journalists start issuing dire warnings of all the people whod be hurt if the feds cant pay their bills. Talk about a waste of time, an endless parade of dysfunction. Its real americans who will be paying the price while the elect representatives who are suppose to be working for you, they arent doing that. A Government Shutdown that will leave roughly 7 million women and children without s. M. A. P. Benefits which means they could go hungry. Active duty Military Members will go without pay. Howard the warnings come true and the focus shifts to how long the politicians will keep squabbling before coming to their senses, or theres a last minute if deal. Thats what happened last night. And usually that means a stopgap funding measure, in this case about six weeks, that just kicks the can down the road. Now, what makes this unusual is its not a battle between republicans and democrats. In, this was about Kevin Mccarthy and his republican backers against a dozen or so is gop hardliners who want deeper spending cuts than the two parties agreed to last spring. Unfortunately for the rebels, they are a small minority within the gop which only controls onethird of the government. The democrats provided the votes to bail out the speaker, fueling threats by matt gaetz who said today he will soon file a motion to oust mccarthy. But remember, the temporary deal ducked all the hard choices, so in a few weeks the media get to cover this crazy game of chicken all over again. Im howd kurt and this is im howard kurtz and this is mediabuzz. Howard joining us now to analyze the coverage here in washington, rich lowry in person, editorinchief of national review, and in phoenix, lucy caldwell, an adviser to renew democracy. Rich, if the shutdown had happened as most of us expected, would republicans have been blamed . You dont have to take the medias word for it, Mitch Mcconnell said they would. Yeah, they certainly would have. Thats what the media normally does. And you have republican division, so the whole formula was for republicans to be blamed. I think Kevin Mccarthy realized that and and did really the only thing he could do stop short howard you think that the republican rebels wanted a shutdown. It wasnt that they were overplaying their hand, they wanted to see the government shut down. Why . Some of them did. Because i think they filed to failed to learn the lesson, you put a big padlock on the washington monument, look at this disappointed tourist from missouri who wanted to bring with her family howard right. No one likes it, even their ordinary lives arent affectedded, but you end up having to back down anyway. Howard lucy, i would say some lives were affected because People Living paycheck to paycheck dont get their paychecks for a while. People dont like government in abstract, but when federal workers, soldiers arent being paid, air Traffic Controller training shuts down and Border Patrol agents dont get paid, they tend to get tick off. Sure, they tend to get tick thed off, but one of the things thats really irresponsible about, i think, the whole discourse over the past week was if you asked a typical american what ises this fight even about, they might be able to muster Something LikeGovernment Shutdown, but they really probably couldnt tell you much more than that. Its very confusing, theres not a lot of effective reporting on the fact that this was around, you know, authorization of continued [laughter] continued spending around the debt ceiling, around our looming debt default, and theres a much more systemic issue here that just did not get covered. It becomes the coverage of, you know, do you want to help moms who want to get s. N. A. P. Benefits for their kids and put food on the table versus the bad guys. Of and thats the fault of the people that youre calling the socalled republican rebels. They really do reflect the maga base, in this case in a way its ken mccarthy whos rebelling against that howard right. But shame on those socall rebels who really do not do a good job of actually making the policy case really ever, but that that do do whatever it takes to get on newsmax, to make the biggest splash on social media howard right. They are not exactly heroses of small government themselves. Howard well, and speaking of Kevin Mccarthy, here he is sounding rather exasperated after he pulled the rabbit out of the hat and got the house vote to pass yesterday. If somebody wants to make a motion against me, bring it. There has to be an adult in the room. I am going to govern with what is best for this country. I dont understand how long will it take to understand that. Howard since mccarthy had to rely on far more democratic votes to get this through which he didnt want to do and matt gaetz was on cnn calling him a liar and saying hes going to file this motion, is the speakers job in jeopardy . Yeah, i think it is. But i do think hes been consistently underestimated beginning with the wave of votes he needed to become speaker. The thoughts always been he doesnt know when hes doing, this is pointless, hes never going to get it done, and to this juncture, hes been pretty effective. Howard right. Thisll be a new test. And the iron new york, obvious irony, of course, what is matt gaetz going to have to do if hes really going to topple Kevin Mccarthy as speaker . Rely on democratic vet ises. Howard and, you know, if he were to be successful, and im not sure he will be, person that gets the job next, are they going to have a magic wand to resolve all these internal conflicts within the Republican Party . I dont think so. Lucy, President Biden in signing the bill called it a manufactured crisis caused by extreme maga republicans, but the democrats played a role by insisting on keeping Ukraine Military aid which many republicans either oppose and, of course, republicans insisted on more money for border security, and they both had to drop that in the edge. Yeah. Its not a manufactured crisis because the thing that we actually dont spend nearly enough time talking about is the fact that we are on an unsustainable trajectory around american spending. It is a manufactured crisis in that both republicans and democrats are happy to, you know, day after day go and pass irresponsible spending bills and thats how we get to this point. And then this kind of Phony Song And Dance where everyones surprised we have to get another authorization to continue our spending spree. Now, the ukraine and immigration piece, that i think reflects a war that is much deeper than anything around spending. I think its a horrible shame that we didnt get continued aid to the ukraine in that spending, clean spending package, but i think that that is, you know, its business as usual, its kicking the can down the road, and they can have that fight tomorrow. Howard well e, on that point, rich, everyone in the capitol now is highfiving each other, and everybodys Breathing A Sigh of relief, no shutdown. Its no great victory, its just a of a 6week delay. Yeah, its not quite status quo because we just discussed Kevin Mccarthys job could be in jeopardy. Clearly, ukraine fundings going to be harder even if some still gets through. And also mcconnells people kind of neglected, he took a hit because he wanted to get the ukraine funding through and kind of jam the house, and the republicans, no, were not going to do that. So there were, theres some consequences from this. Howard yeah. There really is a split in the Republican Party about funding for ukraine. Lucy, as much as the media enjoy the drama, dont want anybody to deny it because it keeps you on the air [laughter] were the rebels, ill call them the rebels, the us house hardliners, were they basically asking Kevin Mccar Mccarthy to do the impossible; that is, deliver what democrats would not acceptsome. I dont know. I mean, rebels, whackos, we can call them a lot of Different Things howard theres quite a spread there between rebels and whackos. [laughter] i dont know. Although even the best rebels are a little whacko, right . Howard right. I would put ge gaetz on the whacko side on the spectrum. The reality is matt gaetz, if he does get through his supposed stated mission of getting Kevin Mccarthy out as speaker matt gaetz is going to be the dog who caught the car, is and his whole group will be the dogs who caught the car. They will have no idea what to do with it. He is this no position to govern. And so i think that, actually, matt gaetz won this week too because he can go back to his district, and he can go back to his audiences and say, look, im still the guy out fighting the good fight. Howard yeah. Even though hes actually just a person its also not, i its important also not to pretend that every single republican who was reluctant to do this deal is matt gaetz. Howard yeah. Theres a spectrum here [inaudible conversations] just want to blow things up. Through but there are sincere republicans who really care about howard all right. Very briefly, i want to turn to the campaign. Rfk jr. Reporting that hes going to run as an independent even though his family, of course, has a hallowed democratic history. Rich, does he potentially hurt joe biden or donald trump more . You know, he might hurt trump more, you know . If the key element of this race or one way to look at it is establishment versus antiestablishment, rfks more antiestablishment than establishment. Weve been arguing about the definition of rebel. Usually the media likes rebels. Heres a rebel on all sorts of stuff, and he is going to get negative coverage up and down because the fear will be that he hurts joe biden. Howard right. Well,ing he was not really getting anywhere in the democratic races this part because the incumbent president has it locked up. But for him to suddenly switch horses, lucy, i wonder whether rich is right. I think hes popular with some republicans. Of hes been on fox a lot. But there are all the crazy conspiracy theories. Hes antivax. Its really hard to say what the introduction do of rfk jr. Into the race as an independent does. There are republican donors who believe he hurts biden. We know that from the ad spends theyre funding. Look, the reason rfk jr. Is getting coverage is a couple of fold. One, hes a kennedy, so hes getting coverage that he wouldnt otherwise get. And then there are some other things like hes a crazy antivaxer and spreading disinformation, and hes also, seems to be, have some other pretty problematic views like vaguely antisemite. So i will just say on the rfk jr. Point, shame on the democrats for not keeping him in the primary. Howard weve got to go. Whos to say . Howard ahead, coverage of first Impeachment Hearing against joe biden, but when we come back, why when democrats say indicted senator bob menendez shouldd resign. Up in your body to help you go. Free your gut. And your mood will follow. For 8 grams of fiber, try new mirafiber gummies. Tech need to get your windshield fixed . Safelite makes it easy. Tech vo you can schedule in just a few clicks. And well come to you with a replacement you can trust. Man looks great. Tech thats service on your time. Schedule now. Singers safelite repair, safelite replace. Im sholeh, and i lost 75 pounds with golo. I went from a size 20 to a size 6. Before golo, nothing seemed to work. I was exercising for over an hour every day. It was really discouraging. But golos so easy, the weight just falls off. Charlotte charl every day can be extraordinary with rich, creamy, Delicious Fage total yogurt. Every day, businesses everywhere are asking is it possible . With comcast business. It is. Is it possible to use predictive monitoring to address Operations Issues . We can help with that. Can we provide health care virtually anywhere . We can help with that, too. Is it possible to survey foot traffic across all of our locations . Yeah absolutely. With the advanced connectivity and intelligence of global secure networking from comcast business. Its not just possible. Its happening. Howard democratic senator bob menendez is still refusing to resign despite a powerful indictment that says he abuse his office in exchange for half a Million Dollars in cash, a Mercedes Benz and a bunch of gold bars, and he took no questions from reporters. For 30 years i have withdrawn thousands of dollars in cash from my personal saving account which i have kept for emergencies and because of the history of my family facing confiscation cuba. Menendez better have withdrawal slips and monthly statements if he thinks a jury is going to buy this ridiculous tale. I dont see how in the world he could ever prove that the Department Of Justice went after him because hes latino. Why wont you resign, sir . Because im innocent. Whats wrong with you guys . Howard indictment of a senator is always a big story, but what i would say is with the gold bars and the money stuffed in a jacket that had his name embroideredded on it and passing Sensitive Information to egypt, the media are mesmerized by this. Yeah. And also there are pictures of these things, which always helps. We all know inflationary economy, gold is the only way to retain value, right . He said, oh, i have a cuban background, i was worried the government was going to confiscate my money. Sure enough, the government took the money. [laughter] obviously, in the background is the politics of trump, and i think at least one of the elements that makes democrats really eager to dump this guy is a little bit like how they wanted to dump al franken for Sexual Harassment stuff. Were purer e, right . Somebody gets indicted on our side of the aisle, we never want to see them again. You have offyear elections coming in new jersey, and it is shocking and one wo think howard yeah, it does get your attention. Menendez was indicted once before, i know its new jersey, a lot of corruption, but i dont sense a lot of sympathy for the guy. Yeah. And i dont know why menendez didnt just explain that he has a money tree in his backyard that grows hundreds. That really could just clear a lot of this up. No, there is not sympathy for menendez, and there shouldnt be, and i think it is right and good that so Many Democrats have come out this week and said hes got to go especially as he continues to put forward things that are really offensive like the idea that hes hispanic and thats why they came after him. Thats a disgusting thing to say. Howard yeah. Youre right, he has been through this before. He was indicted before. He got off, but a lot of people were saying this week how could he do this again . Look, its like someone whos pulled over for drunk driving, its probably not the first time theyve driven drunk. In fact, probably the previous Driving Drunk has caused them to think they can get away with it. Bob menendez thought he could get away with it, he cant, and good on the democrats who are saying get him out of here. And hopefully, people like Chuck Schumer will start saying that more firmly and loudly. A sense of entitlement there, right . Theres a difference between unethical conduct and an actual crime. Howard hes entitled to a trial. Yeah. The Supreme Court has narrowed the definition of corruption. There sob a couple of high have been a couple of high profile cases that have failed, so its not a given that hes going to be convicted, a although Sleazily Behavior howard you dont necessarily want to be his lawyer. At first no Democratic Senators told him to resign, you know, like that. And then when cory booker did, his fellow new jersey democrat, after that there was a stampede. The number has risen to 30, although the white house has had little to say about this. Yeah. He was the key everyone was waiting for. He knows most about new jersey politic, so everyone was waiting for the signal. Is helpful to democrats in new jersey or not, and cory said, yes,sing resign howard 5149 senate. Lucy, if menendez is so convinced of his innocence, why did he call the press together and then refuse to take a single question . For the same reason that donald trump often thinks that the thing to do when hes up against a wall is call press, because he is trying to redefine the narrative. And hes trying to redefine the narrative to exactly the frame we just talked about, the innocent until Proven Guilty frame, right . Will he be convict or not. I want to remind people, innocent until Proven Guilty, thats the term of art that we use when were talking about whether someone should be prosecuted and convicted and whether they should be incarcerate9. We are allowed to have Higher Standards for people that we send to the u. S. Senate or people that we howard fair point. All right, lucy so keep that in mind. [laughter] howard lucy caldwell, rich lowry, thanks for joining us. Up next, the first biden Impeachment Hearing. Has it moved the ball . Or ni im feeling better. Cough . Congestion . All in one and done with new Mucinex Kickstart. Aaaaah ah hated that. Headache . Better. Ah fever . Body pain . Better now. Aaaaah new Mucinex Kickstart gives all in one and done relief with a morning jolt of instant cooling sensation. Its not cold and flu season. Its comeback season. Have you ever considered getting a walkin tub . Well, look no further. When you purchase your brandnew safe step walktub youll receive a free Shower Package. Yes a free Shower Package. And if you call today youll also receive 1,500 off your entire order call now to receive a free Shower Package plus 1,500 off your brandnew safe step walkin tub [female narrator] they line up by the thousands. Each one with a story that breaks your heart. Like ravette. Every step, brought her pain. Their only hope mercy ships. The largest floating civilian hospital in the world. Bringing free surgeries to people who have no other hope. 19 a month will help provide urgently needed surgery for so many still suffering. So dont wait, call the number on your screen. Or donate at mercyships. Org. Howard most of the media werent exactly applauding House Republicans as they held their first hearing in the Impeachment Inquiry into President Biden. The coverage and the hearing predictably partisan. As we all know, the bidens had nothing to sell except the brand which was joe biden. My democratic colleagues is have done a great job of showing theres absolutely zero evidence linking President Joe Biden to any wrongdoing. Zero, none. I do not believe that the Current Evidence would support articles of impeachment. That is something that an inquiry has to establish. Howard joining us thousand in st. Louis, ohio began giddy who was hogan gidley and michael la rosa, former Special Assistant to President Biden who has informally advised the hunter biden legal team. Hogan, no new evidence involving joe biden, no smoking gun, waste of time. Your thoughts. Yeah. Im shocked by all of that. Its overwhelming. There are mountains of evidence linking hunter and joe biden to several Business Deals at this point. Look, while there is no new news to the people on cha committee, the American People dont know a lot of this because the legacy media has refused to cover it. Fox has cone a good job, but so many others out there just were silent on it. 527 immediate media the legacy immediate minutes the legacy media spent on donald trump, but 0 minutes on hunter and joe. Look, 20 shell companies, 25 million, 20 phone calls, 200 suspicious activity reports, whatsapp messages, text messages, emails, fake email accounts from joe biden. I mean, the mountains are growing and growing and growing here. The American People deserve to know what happened. I think this committees getting to the bottom of it because, look, real quickly, took em five months to come up with this information and package it for the American People. The fbi and doj had it for five years, so it shows these federal agencies are designed to prosecute some and protect others. Howard michael, the allday hearing, some of it carried by cnn, msnbc had nothing, was mostly tedious when you get into the Anytimety Gritty of it. Nittygritty of it. Did it move the needle. No, not at all. And the reason why you know it didnt move the needle is because the next morning fox friends went back to the border coverage as their first a block and didnt even get to the Impeachment Hearing until 20 minutes into their show. Morning joe led with it. Democrats were delighted with how the day went. Democrats showed up preparessed, ready to perform, and they had a ton of viral moments. They had a lot of fun with it. Howard the day before the meeting, the committee released saying one thing tony brings to to the table that im willing to sign over my familys brand with. Went on to say im not going to give this bully the keys to my familys only asset. That because not sound good. It doesnt. And these things arent clandestine, theyre not Behind Closed Doors anymore. You have actual Business Partners from Hunter Biden Out publicly now talking about joe biden being the big guy. This money obviously changed hands. No one asked what hunter did to get it. We know it all went there because we have the bank reports. Democrats dont want to talk about the evidence, the witnesses, whether they be irs whistleblowers or Business Partners with hunter, theyre just going to talk about trump because they dont want to be confronted with the fact that their boss could face serious political peril and, eventually, legal trouble as well. Howard no argument with your trump point. Michael, whats your take on the hunter tragedy . Because while his foreign Influence Peddling may be sleazy, may not be criminal or impeachment for his father, doesnt it look awful for owe . He puts it that way express sitly. You mean the way neil bush sol his brand or Jared Kushner just took 2 billion on his way out of the house howard im not saying its unprecedented. So the rules are changing thousand . Howard no, but youre deflecting. Doesnt it look bad . No. Hunter was an investor in a private company. He received payment for his work just like any other person. I assume people in the Republican Party understand what its like to do business because they do a lot of it. Hunter was doing business. He earned compensation for that. And this notion that hunter was supplying the biden family with money is just insane. That when he was, in 2017, President Biden and jill biden had made book deals worth 17 million. They didnt need money from hunter biden. Howard got it. Well, well see how the further hearings jared and ivanka, jared and ivanka were millionaire Business People before the white house. Hunter biden was a crackhead. Im sorry, theres a big difference. Hogan, they worked in the white house and took hundred from the saudi government. This were millionaires before, michael. Howard next on mediabuzz, the Fox Business Debate again without donald trump where the other candidates were left to squabble on their own. Your to jump into the fun and join in the celebration. To help get you ready, your aspen dental team is celebrating 25 years of Affordable Care with an epic anniversary savings event. Right now, new patients without insurance get a free full exam and xrays. Plus, everyone can get 20 off their treatment plan. But hurry, because while the season wont last, the memories you make together will. Aspen dental. Book today. Hi, my name is damion clark. And if you have both medicare and medicaid, i have some really encouraging news that youll definitely want to hear. Depending on the plans available in your area, you may be eligible to get extra benefits with a humana Medicare Advantage dualeligible Special Needs plan. All of these plans include a Healthy Options allowance. A monthly allowance to help pay for eligible groceries, utilities, rent, and overthecounter items like vitamins, pain relievers, firstaid supplies and more. The Healthy Options allowance is loaded onto a prepaid card each month. And whatever you dont spend, carries over from each month. Other benefits on these plans include free rides to and from your medical appointments. You pay nothing for covered prescriptions, all year long. All plans have dental coverage which includes 2 free cleanings a year, fillings, and a yearly exam. They also have Vision Coverage including vision exams and a yearly allowance towards eyewear such as lenses or contacts. And hearing coverage, which includes routine Hearing Tests and coverage for hearing aids. Youll also have a 0 copay for the shingles and other routine vaccines at innetwork retail pharmacies. Plus, your doctor, hospital and pharmacy may already be part of our large humana networks. So, call the number on your screen now to speak with a licensed humana sales agent. Wouldnt you love benefits like a monthly allowance to help pay for eligible groceries, utilities, rent and overthecounter items . So, if you have medicare and medicaid, call the number on your screen now and speak with a licensed humana sales agent. If youre eligible, they can even help enroll you over the phone in a humana Medicare Advantage dualeligible Special Needs plan. So, call now. Humana. A more human way to healthcare. Only the new sleep number smart beds let you both sleep at your ideal level of comfort. Your sleep number setting. And now, all of our new next gen smart beds have temperature benefits. Save 400 on the new sleep number c4 smart bed. Now only 1,499. Sleep next level. Shop now only at sleep number howard the Fox Business Debate at the Reagan Library was loud, row cause and a Second Chance for the republican contenders to boost themselves at the expense of the man who wasnt there. The former president , you know, hes missing in action tonight. Hes had a lot to say about that. He should be here explaining his comments to try to say that prolife protections are somehow a terrible thing. Joe biden hides in his basement and wont answer as to why hes raising the debt the way hes done, and donald trump hides behind the walls of his golf clubs and wont show up here to answer questions. I, honestly, every time i hear you, i feel a little bit dumber for what you say. We cant trust you [inaudible conversations] they disagree have a legitimate disagreement, thats what i would say. Sir, well have to cut your mic, and i dont want to do that, i dont. So that debate was a disaster. We learn nothing. The real housewives headache more sense than that. Last night was an absolute crap show, it was than sense. There was nothing redeeming about it. Howard joining us now, jim geraghty, senior Political Correspondent for national review, and kevin corke who covers the white house for fox news. Jim, the media was looking for a breakout moment, and Nikki Haley May Have had one, we just saw, Chris Christie may have had one. Fairly or unfairly, were the other candidates relegated by the media to what many are are calling the kids that table . Look, it is very tough to stand out on a debate stage of seven candidates. I think a lot of folks have said its time for this stage to get a little smaller, that the 1 ers probably dont these to be up there howard theyre all talking the at the same time. Theres that, yeah. [laughter] candidates dont realize how much crosstalk doesnt work, and its not good for anybody howard nobody. Stop talking because youre talking. Howard thank you for that. [laughter] stop interrupting me while im talking. Nikki haley might have attracted Donald Trumps attention because now hes calling her bird brain. Kevin, the moderators tried their best, but when the candidates are constantly talking over ooh each other and you cant make out what theyre saying, it doesnt give any of them a chance really to break out. And thats the real issuer here issue here. The key and if youre talking to the viewers ask not just sort of trying to figure out how can i get that sound bite in howard right. You could really make a difference in your campaign. I felt like everyone was looking for that dunk. You know its like in basketball, take the open shot, hit the jumper. Dont try to go for the dunk every time because sometimes youre going to mess up on a great play. Howard and sometimes it looks force. I wish they had cut somebodys mic a couple times, because it might have been a lesson to all of them to wait their turn. Jim, has trumps huge lead kind of taken the drama out of these debates . The ratings dropped somewhat, 2, 3 million for the second debate. Is there a widespread media perception, right or wrong, that then of these candidates have much chance of catching him . Yeah. First of all, that perception is there. I think the only thing that could have increased the ratings for the debate more than trump changing his mind than if taylor swift was in the audience. [laughter] see, this is the the the debates right now are the race to see whos the distant second, and thats not all that meaningful. Howard kevin, i wrote a column this week saying the media with in reality are practically declaring the primaries over. Even stories that are not about debates say, well, when trump and biden face off, or it just seems to be the default position. Of course, journalists would love a hot race on either pseudo, but when side, but when ron desantis is at 15 and trumps at 50something, its hard to imagine an upset unless he gets tripped up in iowa or new hampshire. The big thing is, howie, there are those on that stage who are hoping that something and they may not admit or acknowledge this, but theyre saying im here just in case. Im the Insurance Policy in case something keeps the former president from actually being able to be the nominee. Howard if he falls off the stage something, right. [laughter] i think the real miss here is if youre really at the kids table and the truth is most of these candidates are, it doesnt really have the drama that i think were looking for. Howard well, i think thats an astute observation. Jim, i love policy, but should there have been more questions about frontrunner . For instance, the Fraud Trial Ruling against him and his Company Rather than just the setting up the internal squabblesesome. So im not going to give too much grief to the moderators. I think they tried to cover a wide range of topics this is this debate. When you have seven candidates on stage, you ask questions for the first three or four, and then they change topics, and the candidates who didnt get a question about that topic, before i answer that question howard yeah, before you know it. And youre kind of flipping between topics, and it turned into. Verbal jumble which nobody had a particularly good, clear message through. Howard had they asked a lot of questions about trump, i suppose they would have gotten predictable criticism, although itd be interesting to see whether it followed the route of Chris Christie and even ron desantis saying he should be here. But he wasnt there. And on that point, does this you know, all these Genius Pundits said, you know what . If donald trump doesnt show up, hes doing republican dissing republican voters, theres going to be a backlash, but this seems to vindicate his decision because its not hurting him. Its interesting, i listened to Kellyanne Conway make the comment several weeks ago that its always useful to be in the mix the share your ideas, but in this instance when someone is so far, i mean, whats the lead now, 30, 40 points . Howard it depends on whether you look at national or state polls, but even state polls, because its a statebystate the race as you know, hes got a really sizable lead. So why risk it . Thats what i would say. You get out there when you need to, but this then, let them hash it out. Howard what if i would say this hurts democracy, and the guy who wants to be the nominee should be standing there even if it means fending off attacks many. First of all, it does hurt democracy. I think its good for candidates to make their case this front of voters. I also think were establishing a precedent where if youre a frontrunner this future president ial primaries, why should you show up . Theres certainly no punishment here. Howard whether youre ahead by 5 points or 50 points. Trump has roughly half the the Republican Party is hell bent that donald trump should be the nominee finish. Howard no matter what. If you want to beat trump, you need to consolidate that other roughly half the party and, unfortunately, all these guys having a really hard time doing that because theres seven people on stage. Howard right. Theyre potentially splitting whatever the, i dont want to say antitrump the nontrump. Howard yes, very good. A true diplomat. But i interrupted [laughter] howe hu its already. Ill have you back in a little bit. After the break, donald trump threatens to retaliate against two Major Networks and fights the ruling that could jeopardize his company. Eagle Screeches energetic music plays there he is its right there oh, hes straight ahead. Hes straight ahead. Straight ahead. Go go go. Cover more ground in the kia sportage turbohybrid. Kia. Movement that inspires. Howard the thing about donald trump is he tells you exactly what he plans to do. On truth social he suggested hed look into yanking tv licenses. Comcast, with its oneside and vicious coverage by nbc news and in particular msnbc, should be investigated for its countrythreatening treason. I say up front openly and proudly that when i win the presidency of the United States, they and other of the lame stream media will be thoroughly scrutinized for their knowingly dishonest and corrupt coverage of people, things and events. So, hogan the news network that that, that is most critical of him should be taken off the air. This is not a reach. I could go back and talk about nazi germany. Its scary to hear this kind of thing. I dont know what is bluster and what is actual intent. Howard and were back with hogan gidley and michael la rosa. Even if you believe nbc has been terribly unfair to donald trump, whats the treason in lots of president s and president ial candidates dont like their coverage. Well, its more than unfair, or howie. Theres a reason that the popularity of the legacy media sits somewhere between congress and covid. Its because theyve been proven time and time again to have lied to us about some of the biggest issues and problems we face this country. Fox news wouldnt be a channel, you wouldnt exist had it not been for all the malfeasance and failures of the legacy media for decades in this country. Not to mention you look at covid, what they did there lying to the American People, the russia hoax on no evidence. They ran with stories all the time and treat them as fact when theyre not. And the real problem here is so many of these quoteunquote News Networks try to pass off their opinion as news whereas fox does a good job differentiating between the two. Most networks dont. Its a problem in this country, ask thats a main reason why so many others around america are turning to alternative sources for news, because theyre not getting it from the mainstream media. Howard all right. Well, michael, control of the regulatory agencies, should we be concerned thatnd donald trump might actually shut down Certain Networks he doesnt like . And what about the use of the word treason . Yeah, i mean, its hard to know what is bark or bite with donald trump. I think hes mostly bite. If joe biden were to Say Something similar about fox, can you imagine what would be happening right now in its also, you know, going back to hogans point about being let down by the media, you know, telling lies has become an expensive program decision. And i think, you know proposition. I think here on this network you guys have done a good job of trying to correct some of the errors that have taken place about the 2020 election which the president won by 7 million votes, and Everybody Knows it. And so i think thats a dangerous road to go down. Howard also on truth social, hogan, let me put this up on the screen, the president said this about general mark milley who just stepped down as chairman of the joint chiefs this guy turned out to be a woke train wreck who, if the fake News Reporting is correct, was actually dealing with china to give them a heads up on the thinking of the president of the United States. This is an act so egregious that in times gone by, the punishment would have been death. Now, hogan, trump did not say, as a lot of headlines had it, that milley should be executed, but by using the word death, could he be, as the wall street journals conservative Editorial Page put it, encouraging some violent extremists to take a shot at milley in. No, hes not encouraging anything of the sort. But, listen, you tell me what it is, because i dont know. If a president of the United States had Military Plans in place and prepared to attack our foreign adversary like china, our biggest one on the global stage right now, and your head general says he would with alert the country youre about to attack, you tell me what that is. Its egregious, what mark milley was doing behind Donald Trumps back if the reporting, of course, is true, and he is a woke train wreck. I mean, talking about his testimony in front of congress and what he would focus on with different white privileges and transgender in the military and all that nonsense, people understand you want your military folks to focus on protecting the people of this country. And too often what we see time and time again is it is not their focus. Mark milley did a disservice to this country, and i think donald trump is right to point that out. Howard well, let me ive just got to put in a little context, and well let you go. Milley testified that in conjunction with other u. S. Officials, he was reassuring his chinese counterpart that the u. S. Was not planning an attack on china as they apparently believed or some of them believed. Also i do have to say this fairness, trump was punching back against criticism from milley in an interview with the atlantics jeff ily jeffrey goldberg. I was going to say hardly mark milley is the first question to question Donald Trumps mental capacity. I mean, the Republican Leadership in the senate, nancy pelosi, World Leaders think the guys a lunatic, so its really not hard howard he cant question his mental capacity, he call him a wannabe dictator i think the call with china, right, worried about what the guy might do. Howard he says he was trying to deescalate. Okay. Bottom line, its part of a larger narrative republicans having being antimilitary. Its not just what he said about general milley, its about what he said about the people who die for this country calling them losers and suckers, according to the atlantic as well he didnt say that. Its what theyve done with politics taking military families benefits, what theyre doing now on the floor of the senate with promotions for howard senators. [inaudible conversations] he rebuilt the military. Oh [laughter] okay. He rebuilt the military after obama and biden gutted it [inaudible conversations] many front of the military and talks about himself. And you saw what happened yesterday, and is you saw what happened finish. And he cleared out the v. A. When they werent serving the veterans, and biden put the 8,000 people we fired back into place, and they werent even doing their job. They were hurting the military. Dont tell me that the left is supportive of the military. They are not and havent been for a long time. Howard all right the president insulted gold star families, called them losers and suckers howard you guys have not he did not call them that. I was there for that. That was not true, and you know it. Howard you guys are not short on insults today. I want to get to this ruling by the new york judge, this is the civil suit filed by The State Attorneys General that trump organization, donald trump in the judges view, did commit fraud in real estate evaluations, both with Business Licenses and this clearly poses a threat to trumps company. Hogan, do you think this is, as the new york time says, strikes at the image of donald trump being a successful businessman which basically launched him to the presidency . No. In fact, it does the opposite. Look, the left cant keep him from running for president , they cant keep him from winning the presidency, so theyre going to attack him, now his businesses . Theyve gone after his staff, his family, his friends, his attorneys, and now theyre trying to take away the empire that he built. Hes an american success story. He employs thousands of people across this country. He is a billion delay businessman who has done Amazing Things across the spectrum. And the fact that theyre attacking him on this, why didnt the bank come forward and say, wait a minute, there was fraud here . They didnt, because donald trump repaid all of his loans and did so without business. The big banks, in fact, ruined this countrys Housing Market and didnt get fined or anyone get fire for it. So its the all ridiculous. Its purely political. Letitia james ran after get on getting trump. Howard i agree the banks all got repaid, but heres what he said, put it up on the screen, about this judge the wide Spread Attack against me, my family, my supporters has devolved into a new unamerican depth at the hands of a deranged New York State judge. This is a joke. Even trumps own lawyer said he inflated his wealth. Nobody believes hes even a billionaire. Howard i dont know what you base that on. The guy went bankrupt twice as a businessman howard he didnt go bankrupt, the organization right. And then as president , he had the worst jobs record since Herbert Hoover howard youre off Joe Biden Howard youre off the point. No, its hart part of economics. I guess he should have had his son just rake in millions from ukraine, china howard i knew have a oneliner. Youve both gotten them in. Thanks very much. Still to come, how the press is handling two president s visiting autoworkers this michigan. Sleep more deeply. And wake up rejuvenated. With purples new mattresses fall asleep 20 faster have less aches and pains and sleep uninterrupted. Visit purple. Com or a store near you. You could look at that person, they look normal, theyre in school, they outside playing with the other kids, but every day isnt like that. Marzavions pain is kind of localized. With dakhiyon, he hurts from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet. The only cure for sickle cell right now is a blood stem cell transplant. The best Potential Match will come from your ethnic background. They deserve a chance to live a normal life. Every day, businesses everywhere are asking is it possible . With comcast business. It is. Is it possible to use predictive monitoring to address Operations Issues . We can help with that. Can we provide health care virtually anywhere . We can help with that, too. Is it possible to survey foot traffic across all of our locations . Yeah absolutely. With the advanced connectivity and intelligence of global secure networking from comcast business. Its not just possible. Its happening. Howard the media kept hailing it as historic as joe biden showed up in michigan. Your companies were in trouble, but now theyre doing incredibly well and, guess what . You should be doing incredibly well too. Howard after the president stood with striking uaw workers, donald trump met with a Different Group of autoworkers the next day. Youre going to lose your beautiful way of life are. Its a transition to hell. Howard were back with kevin corke and jim geraghty. Kevin, the sight of President Biden in the uaw cap on the picket line was stunning. Do you think the press overplayed this as a big win for President Biden . I think they did, and i think that was intentional. I think theres this idea, howie, where the people say if the president doesnt fall over, its a big deal. Howard no sandbag. Yeah, he didnt trip, he didnt fall off a bike, and i think thats part of the narrative. I didnt think it was much im not going to say it was much ado about nothing, real jobs, real people, but i i thought they overhyped it. Howard it looked like biden seized on the fact that trump said he was going to michigan, whether thats true or not, the former president was visiting a nonunion yeah, for all his flaws, hes good at doing things that are a little surprising. You dont usually hear republican candidates say im going to talk to autoworkers. We can argue how many were part of the usual trump crowd. He narrowly won that county. Thats actually a fairly brotrump area, but protrump area, but any other republican candidate could have done the same thing, and they chose not to. Howard excellent point. President bidens scheduled to speak in a few minutes about the deal that averted the Government Shutdown. He gave a speech a couple of days ago, kevin, in which he had trump by name, which he doesnt usually do, he talked about the constitution, he talked about trump, this had toot with the to do with the comments about general milley after promising to govern through vengeance and vindictiveness, excuse me. Is that effective . This comes back to your first answer, are the media effectively on his side . I think they really are, and i do think thats an affect weve fact effective fact a pattern. If the president will name donald trump by name, this draws the distinction hes trying to draw. The problem is when you start measuring them person against person, especially when the debates happen if theyre both the nominee, that may backfire. Well have to see. Howard your thoughts. Polling keeps indicating large majorities of americans dont want a trump versus biden rematch, and yet there are two hen who really want to go up against each other, donald trump and joe biden. Joe bidens elevate ising trump by talking about him as if the hes already the howard oh, i see. A lot of media people are doing that as well. And at the same time, i have the point out that we all thought during the midterms when biden gave a speech on democracy that that was going to fall flat, oh, you should be talking about the economy, and it probably helped democrats. Debatable. Howard youre giving me an inquisitive look here. The republican candidates, the doug mastrianos, folks like that, quality republican candidates actually tanked howard got tata cut off your mic. Thanks, guys. Im howd kurtz. Sub vibe to my subscribe to hi podcast, media buzz meter. Were back here next sunday, 11 eastern, with the only Media Analysis Show on national television. So i choose new neuriva ultra. Unlike some others, it supports 7 brain health indicators, including Mental Alertness from one serving. To help keep me sharp. Try new neuriva ultra. Think bigger. Dude, whatre you doing . Im protecting my car. Thats too much work. Weathertech is so much easier. Lasermeasured floorliners up here, Seat Protector and cargoliner back there. Nice out here, side window deflectors. And mud flaps. And the bumpstep, to keep the bumper dentfree. Cool its the best protection for your vehicle, new or preowned. Great. But where do i . Order. Weathertech. Com. Sfx bubblewrap bubble popped sound. Im gonna hold you forever. Ill be there. You dont. You dont have to worry. Mom mom every day can be extraordinary with rich, creamy, Delicious Fage total yogurt. Arthel the lights are still on