every occasion. his press conference wasn't so bad, white house press secretary of propaganda jen psaki had to circle back and was forced to issue not one but two lengthy statements clarifying biden's remarks. "he really meant to say this," including the president's inept comments surrounding ukraine that shocked the world. and between the lying, the rage, and the bizarre whispering and bouts of confusion, joe biden all but gave the green light foe ukraine, so long as it was a "minor incursion." the russians are testing us. joe biden failed that test. people are concerned, rightly so. >> they watched those remarks, i think, with or were.. one ukrainian official who i have been in close contact with while this marathon press conference is underway said that he was, i am quoting here, "shocked" that president biden would give a green light to vladimir putin in this way. what he was alluding to is that it gives putin, and this is another quote, "gives the green light to put into end the ukraine at his pleasure. coastal's that's not just one ukrainian officials. official. >> hannity: the president of ukraine tweeted "we want to remind you that there are no minor incursions and small nations, just as there are no minor casualties and reef from the loss of loved ones. no matter what you think about russia's looming invasion, keep this in mind: president trump was impeached by democrats, accused of being a russian plant --" ally implanted by hillary clinton's russian dossier, and then, the issue of the routine phone call with the president of the ukraine. joe biden has essentially invited vitamin put into invade the ukraine. democrats could care less, the mob, the media could care less. joe biden literally giving putin a waiver to build the pipeline ,simultaneously firing thousands of american workers on the keystone xl pipeline, high paying career jobs. millions from russia, and oligarchs, a pro-putin ukrainian oligarch, as vice president joe leveraged billions of your tax dollars, had a prosecutor fired from the ukraine after his crack addicted son being investigated with no experience. think about that. does none of this seemed strange to you? let's ask the question: what of his last name was "trump?" joe biden's pressure was so terrible that some in the media mob couldn't even hide their shock and horror. >> there was a moment where he talked about a minor incursion. there is no minor incursion. >> at the end of a press conference, and you have to put a statement out to clear up what happened, that's never good. >> you can be a foggy, meandering present, like reagan or the end, if you are winning come of it if you are foggy and meandering on key questions and also not winning, then you got a real problem. >> hannity: let there be no mistake: he is no ronald reagan. in fairness to joe, there was at least one person who loved his performance: the number one chief conspiracy theorists in all of america, rachel maddow, claimant biden held a lengthy press conference to show off his tremendous stamina in front of vladimir putin. okay. of course, that stamina completely evaporated today as he tried to avoid and ignore any and all tough questions surrounding his blunder with putin and the ukraine. >> why are you waiting on putin to make the first move? >> hannity: that was a question from our very own fox news correspondent jacqui heinrich. according to obama's director of global engagement, "it isn't a stupid question. it's a really important one. we continue to allow putin to set the terms, timeline, and trajectory of this crisis. it's time we stop being so reactive and start creating some of our own conditions." if joe biden want to see something really stupid, he might want to look in the mirror. according to his own colleagues, joe is allegedly considered one of the dumbest u.s. senators in congress, and now, his steep cognitive decline is only making that worse. today, for the second time, he could not remember the name of his own infrastructures are. take a look at this embarrassing, typical moment. >> president biden: thank you very much. going to turn it over to the guy who i asked to come out of retirement -- not retirement, but come to take over this gigantic job for me. >> mr. president, thank you so much, i am honored. >> hannity: that guy has a name: it is mitch landrieu, joey. last time, you called him mitch mcconnell by mistake. at this point, is anyone in this country surprised that joe's poll numbers are in the gutter? 33%. today, a new low in the ap survey my vast majority disapprove of his job as president. only 28% of the american people want this guy to run for reelection. according to -- republicans now have a 13-point advantage on the generic ballot. i started 2021 at a 9-point deficit. now, in an effort to boost his poll numbers, the biden administration is trotting out somebody even more unpopular than joe cole and his vice president kamala harris. this morning, she participated in a handful of televised interviews. not one of them went well. during a tense interview on nbc, not exactly the hardest hitting news in the world, harris had to forcibly remind savannah guthrie that she is the vice president of the united states and reserves respect. >> ukrainian officials reportedly heard these words from president biden "with alarm." another white house tried to clear it up afterwards, but with the damage done, you can't unring the bell. is vladimir putin likely to listen to a later statement from the white house press secretary or the words of president biden? >> vice president harris: i will repeat myself, and i am vice president of the united states, and the president and i work closely together, and i know his position. he has been consistent in that regard. >> hannity: it sounds like al franken on "saturday night live." tonight, it's clear that we have a president and vice president, they are not up to this job here and i know this and you know this: america's enemies, they are seeing everything we are -- as a result, our country is less secure -- a lot to say about it in a few moments, but first, joining us now with reaction, former white house chief of staff weights previous command former massachusetts senator with a brand-new knee and everything, we call him the bionic senator scott brown. [laughter] you doing all right, senator? >> senator brown: it is amazing, been walking in three days. >> hannity: i never want to, but it's better than when my father had it years ago. [laughter] let's start with your overall view of last night, how damaging it was a long term to biden, harris, and the democratic party. >> first of all, president trump put draconian sanctions on russia. thanks to him, a lot of what you are seeing now is in place and can only be removed by congress. what you see with biden approving their pipeline, as you referenced earlier, destroying our american jobs and our energy independence that president trump -- for the first time in a long time, we are exporting natural gas and resources. our gas was at $1.80. i wasn't surprised that joe biden had a presentation he had. it's been going on for years. i wasn't surprised either that kamala harris is battling, because quite frankly she is in way over her head. we are in deep trouble. our enemies do not -- that's very scary. the beauty of what you are seeing is that in them in terms we should have a very strong turnout, be that check and balance against the out-of-control policies here, because we do have some very, very real and dangerous issues. i think ukraine is going to give russia a run for their money, thanks to the javelin, obviously, the antitank muscles. there is a strong sense of nationalism in the ukraine right now. i don't think it's going to be as easy as people think. >> we are in an amazing time for this president. mr. president, your team is walking out on you. two more democrats were tired today. makes 20 democrats that are not seeking office again. it is like the court of echoes out at halftime and his team doesn't come back for the second half. they have walked out on this president. they have walked out on him for a lot of reasons. first of all, joe biden lost his brand. he was supposed to be the unifier. he said in november, so that in december after the electoral college was counted. he said that on inauguration day. he tied george washington in the most uses of words of "togetherness" and "a unity." what has he done? he has polarized the country. you mention it, more people are polarized today in america than ever. his reelected numbers are worse. the democrats are worse off today than they were in 1994. 14% more people believe that republicans are better for them than democrats. now, he's trying to tell the make and people that martin luther king is going to roll over in his grave if republicans don't support universal online voting! this is what he think america wants to talk about. it is a joke, but it's also sad for the country. >> hannity: let me play the question of james rosen last night about joe biden's cognitive states. then, i want to lay some of joe biden's cognitive lapses, let's call them, and asked both of you what you think of this question. let's play the question, and then play the -- >> i would like to raise a delicate subject, but with utmost respect for your life a competence and the high office you hold. a poll released this morning by politico morning consult found 49% of registered voters disagreeing with the statement "joe biden is mentally fit." not even a majority of democrats who responded strongly affirmed that statement. >> president biden: you don't make the judgment. >> the question i have for you sir, if you would let me finish, is why would you suppose such a large segment of the american electorate have come to harbor such profound concerns about your cognitive fitness? thank you. >> president biden: i have no idea. alison harris, please. this pandemic, we want to expand pre-k for 3-4-year-olds, millions of precare. [cheers and applause] 40% of all products coming in the united states of america, on the west coast, go to los angeles and uh, umm, umm -- what am i doing here? i commuted every single day is vice president of the united states. ♪ ♪ i tell you what, i would like to -- this job, this jobs, the jobs -- i want to thank the former general, i keep calling him general of mine, mike, the guy who runs that outfit over there. >> hannity: senator brown, i have been making the case since he was a candidate that he is not the same guy that left office in 2016 or early 2017. he seems to be getting worse to me. i see it. the polls show that the american people see it. i believe our enemies see it. thoughts. >> senator brown: you remember when president trump had a limp and they thought "he had a stroke." "we need to know immediately about his mental and physical health," yet with president biden, you don't see any questions until today. respectfully, that's a first time i've heard somebody asked the president. i know joe biden. i served with him appeared i used to go to his house. i had beers with him. i went to the oval office, the white house, his office there. what i'm seeing is sad. it's just sad. i think we all know people who are going through those difficulties. i am hopeful that our somebody there to some love and support. our allies don't fear us for sure -- i'm sorry, i really don't trust us and our enemies aren't fearing a solid economy -- inflation is up, gas prices are up. home heating oil, you name it. it's all gone upside down since president trump's administration, and it's just, it's -- it is sad and scary. >> hannity: specifically though, on his cognitive states, reince priebus. >> reince: here's the issue. it's one thing to forget who your cabinet is. it's another thing when you go out on a press conference and you start slipping up with your mouth and starts claiming that a minor incursion from russia isn't going to be the problem. then, you have your vice president and secretary cleaning up your mess. you're getting tweeted at by the ukrainian president, who you are now reacting to, and doing more cleanup. that's the real issue for america. it's true: fitness and having a sound state of mind is very important for the president. he is giving us rise to questioning that fitness. but, what's more important is when, because of slip-ups and goof ups, he's creating a potential world disaster. that's where the problem is. >> let me ask you a final exit question, one word answers: do you both believe that he's really making the calls in the white house? reince, i will go to you first. do you see him calling the shots? >> reince: no, he is not. he has been talked into this world. road that he has taken. it's a disastrous road, starting with executive orders on day one. i'm not sure if he regrets it or not. he has put himself in a position where he has become something that he claims he never was. he is somebody that most republicans say "i don't recognize this guy." >> hannity: it's an uncomfortable question. if it was donald trump, i don't think anybody in the political world would have any problem talking about it. scott brown, do believe he's calling the shots? do you believe he is -- >> senator brown: i am on record. i don't think so. i think there's quite a few people there who, from my understanding, based on speaking to former colleagues and doing my own due diligence, yeah, i think it's very sad. as reince said, it is dangerous. we need a leader who can make strong, immediate decisions, and not beat, basically, influenced by people who may not have our best interests at heart. >> hannity: well said. reince priebus, scott brown, thank you. before we get to president trump, who will be joining us, our count from afghanistan: "we will never forget," on the show continues. >> day 159. >> 159 days joe biden stabbed our fellow americans in the back. he did something 13 days earlier he said he would never do: he abandoned them, he abandoned thousands of people that had green cards, eligible to live in this country. even some military family members. literally tens of thousands of our afghan allies as well. his answer last night? no apologies for this botched withdrawal. in fact, biden is making no apologies for any of a crisis that he himself caused. here with more house minority leader kevin mccarthy. >> rep. mccarthy: it's more then danger what he did last night. remember, he left hundreds behind in afghanistan. now, with his comments with ukraine, there's going to be more blood on his hands. this is not just a slip up, a slight of tongue. this is damaging beyond damaging. this is putting a threat in. remember what's happening. this is the 100th year of the creation of the soviet union. putin wants to put all the country back together again. why do you think he wouldn't enter now and he's been given a pipeline, but america was denied a pipeline question mike why do you think he couldn't enter now, when he watched the president of the united states actually saidd enter? >> hannity: let me ask you specifically what the possible ramifications for this is a period when i heard "minor incursion," i nearly fell off the chair. i couldn't believe what i was hearing. more importantly, he's outperformed expectations pure he's had the most successful first year as president. i will go through that record when president trump joins us, but can you name a single thing you must cite "he did a good job?" >> rep. mccarthy: i can name one. the only thing he is accomplished is to change my opinion of the jimmy carter administration. [laughter] >> hannity: a clever answer, i like it but with a little bit of humor. my question is this, and i get asked this on my radio show all the time. we got these midterms coming up. what i hear over and over again is that the base of the conservative movement and republicans, they want leaders that will make promises, that will fight like hell to keep them, and really go to back up for what they say they are going to do. will the republican party, now they have an opening -- we see the numbers, they are very clear, from a 9-point deficit. the generic ballot has a 13-point republican lead. my question is, you want to be the next speaker of the house: what do you say to republicans that want assurance that republicans, if they get control of the house and senate, what they are going to do? >> rep. mccarthy: we are not just going to say it. we are going to put it out to the public. we are going to make our commitment to america. we will lay out what we are going to do about securing our border, ending inflation, keeping our streets safe, ending these mandates, keeping this administration and holding them accountable. ending and attorney general that is going after parents because he think they are terrorists. this is things that we will lay out we will nationalize this campaign, and not just promise you but tell you to hold us accountable, because every member will be behind it. we will be saying this, starting on monday, all the ranking members, those working on the task force working this out -- we have one thing in the goal: to make the next century the american century. we can only do that by changing this course of history. we need to fire pelosi. if you want to join us, go to firepelosi.com. >> hannity: kevin mccarthy, we thank you. joining us live on the phone, author of this brand-new book. i am in to cope new pages of it, which should make it the biggest best-seller of all time. "our journey together: the 45th president of the united states," donald j. trump. the president, thank you for being with us. let's get your thoughts about the nearly two hour press conference with joe biden joe biden yesterday. >> president trump: well, it was a very sad time for our country. forget politics. i want him to do well. he's got to do well. our country is in trouble. what happened in the last year, i don't think we've had anything like it in this country. you look at that horrible situation in afghanistan, the way they got out. getting out was good, but the way they got out -- we could have got with strength and dignity and kept -- one hour away from where they nuclear weapons, and china, we should have kept it. people told us years ago to build. the way we got out, soldiers killed. on top of it, $85 billion worth of equipment, the best equipment anywhere in the world. they have one of the biggest and most well-equipped armies. now, they are selling it to russia, china, anybody that wants it. leaving $85 billion worth of airplanes and tanks, 700,000 machine guns and rifles and everything else. i think i heard 70,000 trucks, 70,000. there is no car company in the country that would have 70,000 cars or trucks. it's a very, very sad time for our country. >> hannity: when you say you want him to do well, that's a rare statements from anybody in politics. secretly, deep down inside, you know what? they don't want the other side to do well, because they don't believe their philosophy will work. i want america to do well. i want might really do with all my heart. the only way that i see that he could change course is, as "the wall street journal" pointed out today, rightly so -- there is no course correction with him. he seems locked into every one of these failed policies. you keep banging your head against the wall. why would you expect a different result? >> president trump: we would have had the wall completed in three weeks. it was largely completed. we did a most 500 miles of wall. it was really working. it really had an impact. we were working along with mexico, guatemala, honduras, el salvador. stopped paying them because of the fact they were treating us so badly, with the caravans, putting criminals -- emptying their jails into our country. they stopped 100%, so we have the most secure border we've ever had. that includes not only people, and the wrong people coming in, we had the lowest number in 40 years in terms of drugs coming in. people couldn't believe. it's all gone in one instance. at first, i thought it was miss confidence, but now, it is in competent policy. they want to have an open border. i still look at it with amazement. this week, as you probably read, 121 different countries poured into our country. we have no idea who these people are. you look at that and the other things happening, what's going on. we are disrespected all over the world. don't forget, president xi of china, pollutant, kim jong un, around, all these leaders are watching. when they watch our border -- i think it was the most embarrassing day ever, but as i say, what happened in afghanistan, the way we got out, it looked like a surrender. they look at that, and all of a sudden, they have great bravery, so now you have a problem in the ukraine, which you would have never had under my administration. you have a big problem. you watch after the olympics. you have a big problem with taiwan. you have kim jong un, who i got along with very well, but you have kim jong un now, does not like biden. he is doing his missile thing again. you have a rom at a level that we have not seen in a long time. we would have dealt with it in one week. we would've had it in one week. china now is buying massive amounts of oil, of energy from around. that is giving them a lot of money. they are fueling up and getting rich. it's a whole different deal. it's very sad. they are all watching, and they cannot believe what they are seeing. >> you started with international foreign affairs. you are right about afghanistan, in my view. i doubt you would have abandoned americans the way joe did when he promised not to, but he did. i don't see any hope of getting them out. then, you have president xi, and they are flying their fighter jets over taiwan airspace. they keep talking about reunification. i agree with your prediction that it will happen after the olympics. you are right about north korea. they are trying to bring back the horrific iran deal, lifting sanctions. i want to play for you the, i think, most disastrous moment of last night, yesterday afternoon's press conference. it was also as a late for him to stay up, i assume. that is the minor incursion comment he made about russia, putin, and ukraine. >> president biden: russia will be held accountable if it invades, and it depends on what it does. it's one thing if it's a minor incursion, and we end up having to fight about what to do not to to, et cetera. >> hannity: mr. president, if i wanted to stop putin, 48% of his economy is energy. he got a waiver to build the north stream pipeline to give energy to our western european allies. i would out produce him and get our energy to western europe. if i wanted to stop china, i would stop all imports from china, and get our allies to join with us. that would probably put them in line, because it would impact them so negatively economically. what is your response to his answer, and what would you do if you were present? >> president trump: we took in hundreds of billions of dollars from china with taxes and tariffs, and companies started moving back because it was no longer so good to be there. we had a huge impact. then, you look at what happened with -- if you take a look at what happened with everything having to do with russia, really, what he said last night, when he said "they may go in, they will go in," and he talks about a minor incursion. i said "i don't believe he said that." they use the term "green light." he was green-lighted. very interesting. the president of the ukraine, last night, he was seen in some unusual pictures. he could not believe what he heard. he couldn't believe what he heard, and i couldn't believe what -- whether you are for strong stoppage or not, you're really telling them "you might as well go in." you can't just talk in terms of sanctions. sanctions domain too much to russia. if you want to stop somebody, you are not going to just be talking about sanctions. i think this is a whole different ball game right now. if you see what's going on with russia and the ukraine, but they have done at the border, they are loaded up with soldiers. that never happened with me. i would've never happened with me. i had a very good relationship with putin. remember, i stopped there pipeline. if we would go back to producing energy -- we were energy independent for the first time in probably 72 years, maybe ever, but the first time in at least 72 years. we had it so much energy we didn't know what to do with it. when dollars $0.87 at the pumps when i left. now, it's over $5. intel hornet, over $7. no gasoline! inflation is killing us. we have not talked about inflation. it's killing us. a lot of inflation has to do with the cost of energy. it is this big topic. it has to do with the making of everything. if we were energy independence, got prices down, inflation would start to drop. i don't think they are going to do it. i don't think they are going to finish the wall, which would could have been done in three weeks. three weeks! texas wanted to finish it, and they would not let them have the fencing that was already botched. very expensive fencing, by the way. they would let them use it, very bad, very bad spirit. we would be energy independence -- if the cost of energy came down, you would see a tremendous hit on inflation. right now, it's the worst in probably 62 years. >> hannity: it's also good for national security, because then, we don't have to really worry what's happening in the streets of -- where a lot of the world's energy passes through, or alarm. we would not have to worry about middle eastern politics as much, and it certainly wouldn't be good for vladimir putin, as their economy is so reliant on energy. i want to get back to the economy in a minute. more broadly, he claims, biden claimed last night that he is has probably outperformed expectations. >> inflation is up, your legislation is stalled in congress. a few hours from now, the senate will deal with voting rights and voting reform legislation that is going to fail. covid-19 is still taking the lives of 1500 americans every day, and the nation's divisions are just as raw as they were a year ago. could you -- how do you plan to course correct? >> president biden: you are an optimist. i did not overpromise. i have outperformed what i think people thought would happen. can you think of any president who has done as much in one year customer name one. >> i'm asking you. >> president biden: i'm serious. >> hannity: inflation is at a 40 year high. socialism is dead. we talked about the afghanistan disaster. we will get to covid in a minute, go back to the economy in a minute. apparently, he thinks he's doing a great job. your reaction to that comment. >> president trump: i think our country has never been so disrespected as it is right now by the rest of the world, the leaders of the rest of the world. i don't think we've ever been in this position. even i, i look at it and i feel ashamed at what has happened in the last year with our country. i am ashamed of what is going on. so are americans. they are ashamed and embarrassed. i don't think we've ever seen this like this. we have lost -- you know, they talk about allies. our allies were ripping us off for a long time, and i got it stopped. our allies, they respect it is. now, our allies -- i don't think they are allies. they don't trust us anymore. the way they do things, even getting out -- i was the one that got us down to 2,000 soldiers in afghanistan. i was getting out. we were going to get out with strength, dignity, do with the right way. we didn't lose one soldier, speech anyone coming 18 months. i spoke with the leader of the taliban and said "don't do it." i won't get into it on this call, but it was a rough call. we did not lose one soldier in 18 months, and then, many horribly wounded. >> hannity: i know the secret because you said a publicly you said he would wipe them off the face of the earth. is that true? >> president trump: we had a strong phone call, let me put it that way. >> hannity: that seems pretty strong. >> president trump: it was strong. he understood it. honestly, it was going to be very smooth. there was no reason for this to happen. i said "i want to take out every nuts, bolts, plane, tank, truck. we are going to take everything out," and to leave it behind and leave the hostages -- you mentioned the hostages before -- nobody knows how many americans are there. now, they are having a really hard time getting out. we have some great people in there trying to get them out. they were successful initially. now, they are not being successful, as you know better than anybody. you have been incredible on the subject. they are having a really hard time getting them out. it's dangerous business, but to leave them there, it would have been so easy. you don't take the military out of first. he took the military out first. it's not even believable. military comes at last. it's a very tough situation. we had it so beautifully under control. we had the economy under control, no inflation, low no energ dependence. we got and were approved, perhaps the biggest site in the world, perhaps as big of saudi arabia. now, they terminated it in alaska, they terminated it. no help from lisa murkowski, by the way. it's very sad to see what's happening. it's joyous when you look back -- that's why think you mentioned the book. the book has done well, because people look back at the period, even with all the witch hunts and fake russia hoaxes that was started by hillary clinton and the democrats, and all of the different hoaxes -- the impeachment hopes number one, number two, the mueller situation about collision, when there was no collusion at all -- it was a joyous time. our country did so well. our economy was so good. we did so well. then, we got hit with the china virus. we came up with everything we could. the mandates are killing this country. no mandates grade got a good decision from the supreme court. i put on three justices of the supreme court. almost 300 judges. we had almost 300. changed the whole system. they just gave a good ruling on that. they are coming up with good rulings. every good rulings coming up. it was a very beautiful time. people wanted to celebrate it, and i think that's why the book has been so successful. >> hannity: let me go back to the economy. you mentioned that we were energy independent of the first time in decades, and net exporter for energy. we are now paying $1.50 more a gallon. it's going to cost people $500 -$1,000 more to heat their homes this summer -- heat their homes this winter, cool their homes over the summer. inflation is at a 40 year high. analysis says it's costing the average american household $5,000 in but i tax. biden's inflation tax. i've been a strong believer that maybe one of your biggest accompaniment had to do with energy. it impacts the economy but also protects us on foreign policy. we are not involved in the middle east. we are not begging opec, not begging putin. we are creating high paying energy jobs and also have the benefit of low-price energy. that is the one thing, i would argue, that he could do immediately that would help, dramatically, the inflation crisis we have, the 40 year high we have. do you see that happening? would you tell him "joe, this is the single best thing you could do?" >> president trump: i would tell him that, but he would never do it. the progressives, the radical leftists, they would never allow it to happen. they will never allow the border to be sealed up. i tell them "seal of the border immediately." you can do it in four weeks. we did so much. we had the border. it's so secure. never been like that. within a period of months, they just allowed millions of people in the former then you see -- you show the pictures. on the news, they don't show. if you go to cnn and msnbc, these various networks, they never show it on nbc. they never show the border. they never show what's really happening. news, you're supposed to see what's going on. it's very sad. they don't ever show the border. they don't ever talk about the horror of the afghan withdrawal. getting out again, the way they got out was so bad. most incompetent withdrawal from the battle site in the history of any country. there's never been any country that went through like bats, grossly incompetent. >> hannity: you referenced covid earlier. you left office with three vaccines and antibodies that you had created which, to this day, i think are the best. i advised people to talk to doctors. the rnc put together an ad of joe biden during the campaign, saying he will shut down the virus. we have more deaths in 2021 than 2020 from coronavirus. i will tell you his remarks during one of the president general debates and get you to respond on the other side. >> president biden: i'm not going to shut down the economy, the country, but i'm going to shut down the virus. i'm going to shut down the virus. i'm going to shut down the virus. i will take care of this, end this, make sure we have a plan. i'm going to shut down the virus. i will shut down the virus. we are going to shut down the virus. what i would say is i'm going to shut down the virus. i'm going to shut down the virus. 220,000 americans dead. hearing nothing else, i say tonight, hear this: anyone who is responsible for not taking control -- in fact, not saying -- "i take no response about it" initially -- anyone responsible for that many deaths should not remain as president of the united states of america. >> hannity: you gave him those vaccines, those antibodies, and we had more deaths from covid in 2021 than in 2020. you heard his comments, but then he said he had no idea." we did not see omicron coming." ran out of the antibodies, medicines that doctors have been praising for months are still unavailable. how is that possible when he said it was a travesty that you did not have enough tests in the beginning of the pandemic? >> president trump: sean, we did such a great job. we got hit with something that nobody had any idea what it was. i closed the country to china way early, way before anybody thought possible. i did something nobody in the white house -- we had 21 people in the oval office. everybody except me said "keep it open to china." we saved hundreds of thousands of people. i then closed it to europe. we start up our country with we stocked up our country with ventilators. we were making them not only for our country but all over the world, helping other countries. we stocked up our shelves. the cupboards were all dry, all the states, everybody drive. the federal government had nothing. we did a great job. we haven't been given the credit we deserve. our people did an incredible job. when he took it over, we were stocked up, ready to go. he had to vaccines, though therapeutics, and he didn't know how to use them up. they more people in that year when people didn't know what this horrible thing that floated in from china was. it's a terrible thing. he used it to talk about how he's going to close it up, but he did not do well with h1n1. he did very poorly with that. it sounded good at the time. when he got in, i said "i hope he does it" but he didn't do it. they were totally unprepared for the new variance, totally unprepared: no tests, no anything. it's been a real mess. a lot of people have died, a lot more. it's going to be a lot more than under an administration were nobody even knew what it was for a period of time. we figured it out pretty fast, and you are right, we got the vaccines in nine months instead of five years. it wasn't supposed to take 5-12 years, and guys like fauci said "we won't do it in time." we did in less than nine months, nobody could believe it. the therapeutics, likewise, but nobody knew how to use them. i think they don't trust biden, don't trust the administration, and that's why they are not taking them to the extent they should be. >> hannity: i played earlier in the program for reince priebus and scott brown, the question about a poll that americans don't think that joe biden is mentally fit for the office. in other words, they are talking about his cognitive decline. i followed up with a montage of these long pauses and drifting answers and is seemingly mumbling, bumbling, incoheren at times. do you believe he is struggling cognitively? that question was raised about you. i've been around long enough to know that's not a problem for you at all. >> president trump: well, i went and took a test. as dr. ronnie jackson, who is a great guy, now a congressman, and they love him in texas -- he said "he aced it." i don't think he ever saw anyone a sit. i immediately said, because they started passing the false narrative -- "i think i will know when the time is coming. maybe, you will too when your time is coming." no, i aced it. i thought it was very important, because they started to put out "did he say this?" what i turned out to say was all right. we made a lot of great decisions. when you watch the press conference, i don't want to be the one to say "but that's not a normal situation going on here" they were mostly very soft questions. peter asked a good one. a little tougher than they anticipated, but that was a very soft press conference. most of it was not really questions. they were just giving statements, sort of saying how wonderful things are, but things are not wonderful for our country. our country is in a terrible way, in a position i don't think we've ever been in. if nobody is respecting our country anymore. it is a day and night from what we had. we were spectre. i don't want to say we were feared, but we were respected, at a minimum. i tell you what, they knew we weren't playing games. none of these things would've happened. he wouldn't have had inflation, ukraine problems with russia. it was all working out. everything was fine. i got along well with them. they understood me, i understood them. you were going to have big problems with many things. this is all self-inflicted stuff. if you look at energy, i think the biggest component of what has happened, with respect to inflation, is energy. we did not need anybody. we were exporting energy, making a fortune. we were going to be double the size of russia and china, double their size. we were number one when i left, and adding in a year that we would be bigger than both of them combined. that's something nobody ever thought would have been possible. instead, we gave up the mantle. we looked like a bunch of very sad. >> hannity: joe biden said he had one of the most successful presidencies, first year ever, and his administration has exceeded all expectations. he asked rhetorically, a number of times "what do they stand for?" we pulled up your record in your first year, and his record now that he has been in office for a full year. you signed your first year, 117 bills into law, including dozens of major legislative achievements. you repealed the individual mandate, obamacare. you signed the biggest tax cut in u.s. history, eliminated more regulations than at least 5-10 presidents combined. you opened up oil expiration in alaska. you nominated neil gorsuch to the supreme court, set a record for first year judicial appointments for the federal appellate courts. you saw of historic reduction in the illegal immigration, and you destroyed the caliphate, armed to the living adam schiff out of them, and forced nato members to step up and pay their fair share. joe brought us a 40 year high with inflation, a workers shortage now in the country -- people not even going back in the workplace. the average family is now spending up to $5,000 more a year because of the inflation effects. he shut down the keystone xl pipeline, gave the green light to vladimir putin. he is making russia again. he blocked oil exploration on federal lands. and, now, he is pleading and begging with opec and russia to produce more energy -- what is your response? he was saying that he had a more productive first year than yours. >> president trump: it wasn't close, everybody knows that. what he has done in terms of building this up is incredible. you look at what has happened with china, where there is no retribution whatsoever. you look at russia. russia now is making a fortune. you talk about energy. you will have a oil at $100 a barrel very soon. we will have it there. i had it down to $26 -$29, lower than that during certain periods during the pandemic. we made it affordable, and yet, we have more energy jobs than ever. now all of those, not all, but a lot are gone. if you could start that up again and stop with all of the windmills all over the place that are ruining the atmosphere -- you look at what's happening to these beautiful prairies and planes, these gorgeous areas of our country where they have these resting hulks put up all over the place that are noisy, killing birds. i don't get the environmentalists -- and it is very expensive, probably the most expensive form of energy. he look at what we had -- natural gas is very clean. they have destroyed coal miners. you have clean coal, and the use call for much more now than just energy. they use it for other things also. they destroyed the coal miners in west virginia, wyoming, other places. they are just destroying these people for no reason whatsoever. remember this, china is opening up a coal plant every week, a big one every single week, and other countries -- and we are supposed to be going -- i got out of this paris claimant accord. it was a disaster for our country. it was going to cost trillions of dollars. china and russia did not have to abide by it, and you did not have to abide by it. so we are going to be clean and they are going to be dirty customer get blows right over and past the united states. a must they are not going to do unless they are not going to do it, we are not. they have no intention. all they do is talk. we want to do it. >> hannity: i've asked you this question before, and that is: did you authorize, as required by law, the calling up of up to 20,000 national guard troops on january 4th, and maybe even other occasions, in the lead up to what everybody knew would be a big rally? in every big rally, you always have bad actors, but on the heels of the rioting, 574 riots in the summer of 2020 that killed dozens, injured thousands of cops, caused billions in property damage, did you authorize calling up the guard, and then the chain of command went to nancy pelosi and the mayor of d.c.? did you come as required by law, authorize that? >> president trump: 100% command attested to by many people, and they turned it down. nancy pelosi turned it down. i guess they both did, but nancy pelosi turned it down. she's in charge of the capital, so they run the capital, the security of the capital. if you had 10,000 or 20,000, but if you had 10,000 -- if you have 5,000 soldiers wrapped around the capital, he would've had no january 6th as we know it. there would have been no problem whatsoever, but they turned it down, which tells you everything. it was three days before. >> hannity: how many times did you request this? how many times to specifically do recall requesting it? now, the chairman of the committee has said "nancy pelosi is off limits, the sergeant of arms is off limits," who would report to her. muriel bowser is not being subpoenaed. in my understanding, none of their communications are being subpoenaed. if the purpose of the committee is to prevent this from ever happening again, wouldn't those be the people you needed to ask a question mark if you had 20,000 troops, i agree with you: i don't think that they would've happened. >> president trump: and, with a lot less than 20,000 troops. i knew it was going to be a massive rally. this was a protest against the election which they considered to be totally rigged. i was told by so many people up in what we are going down on the 6th." i met with the top people in military and other places. i said "there is a lot of people that will be coming down." i believe it was the biggest crowd of ever spoken to. it was massive. i'm not talking about the people that walked down to the capital. i'm talking about the -- >> hannity: the rally. >> president trump: -- i felt that was going to happen at the rally, whatever you want to call. the people listening to speeches, a lot of different people, and they were also making speeches the night before. it was a lot of love there. believe me, there was a lot of love, a lot of friendship, people that love our country. these are great people. he felt there was going to be a big crowd. i felt "we should have 10,000." this person said "maybe it should be 20." he remembers me saying 10-20. i wanted to have soldiers and/or national guard, and nancy pelosi turned it down. if she didn't turn it down, you would not have had any problem. it would have been absolutely a lovely day. >> hannity: let me ask you -- a friend of mine was with florida governor ron desantis the other day, and had a private conversation. he said it wasn't confidential. he asked if there is any conflict or bickering between you and him, and he said "absolutely not." is he right? >> president trump: he is right. i get along great with rama. ron was very good on the mueller hoax. the republicans really stuck together, and it was a great thing. ron was one of them. he wanted to run and i endorsed him, and that helped him greatly. he has done a terrific job in florida. ron has been a friend of mine for a long time. it's totally fake news. i think ron said last week publicly "the press is never going to get in the middle of my friendship with donald trump. we are not going to do that stuff." he said a very strongly. i thought that was very interesting, and very nice. he said that, and i agree 100%. i have a very good relationship with ron and intend to for a long time. >> hannity: what do you advise republicans for the midterm elections? do you plan on getting active and involved in it? would you think the democrats will run in 2024, and are you considering a run? >> president trump: so, i'm very active. i'm doing a lot of endorsements. i'm 158-2. that's a lot of wins, 158 wins. we are endorsing a whole big flock of very good people. the whole "make america great again --" it's all about make america great again, america first. that's why it's about energy, so many things we are giving away. we are giving them away to other people, other countries, giving all of her tremendous wealth away, all the money that could -- it's about make america great again. we are endorsing a lot of people. they are really good people. i think you are going to have a stronger republican party. we have done a cripple he well with hispanics. you saw that, record numbers. the governor of texas, good guy also, he said "we did better with the hispanic community than anybody since the civil war." if you look at the republican party, we have done tremendously with semantics and our way up with african-americans, way up. it is a stronger party. i have heard -- you were talking to kevin, those are great poll numbers. we have never had numbers like that. the republican party is, i think, really doing well, and it is becoming a very different party, but the inroads we have made with hispanics is beautiful. they are a very entrepreneurial people, strong, smart, entrepreneurial people. they like the republican party a lot. i'm very proud of it. i headed up the republican party at a time where we had numbers. look at my numbers with human americans, venezuelans that live in our country. they are unbelievable numbers. how well i have done in miami during the election. we won the state of florida big, but i did tremendous with hispanics. it was a very fferent party. >> hannity: let me ask you one last question. i was with friends the other night, and your rally was going on. one of my friends, a smart political guy -- we have known each other for all these years -- he said "tell him "don't do interviews with the media mob, just do rallies. when he gets back in office, never talk to the media and redo every policy he did, and stop fighting with people that he knows hates him." "he wanted me to ask you that question. >> president trump: sounded a very smart person. [laughter] the rally the other night in arizona, it was arizona. tens of thousands of people, i would give it a real number but nobody would believe it. many times, tens of thousands, and it was impressive -- as far as the eye could see. people. 41 miles of cars lined up, 41 miles to be there. it was an unbelievable rally. i think we are going to do really well, have a tremendous '22, and are you running in 2024? we have 15 seconds? >> president trump: i think he'll be happy, but will let yo know and later date. >> and you weren't going to answer the question and i knew i'd waste time asking you that question. we appreciate you taking the time and very articulately goin over the issues of the day. we appreciate the 45th president . please set your dvr and never miss an episode. let not your heart be troubled, she's up and inches next, laura ingraham,. >> you waited until the very en to ask that question? he thought for a moment, okay, tonight's the night, going to trigger all the federal electio restrictions and announced on hannity. >> laura: you would've taken up the first part of my show. a excited to hear the conversation, but i didn't want it to take a little bit of my time.