RUSH: The media is blowing up now. There is a leak that a temporary shutdown agreement has been reached and will be announced by the president at 1 o’clock today. Let’s see, what are the…? (muttering) “Temporary… Temporarily reached … Government…” “Reopen Temporarily,” is what the headline is on Drudge. Why would that be? Why would there be a “temporary” reopening of the government? Doesn’t say for how long.
Maybe to pay people. Maybe to see if the Democrats will come to some agreement on paying all these people that are not being paid, because there have been bills. The Republicans have put forth proposal after proposal after proposal to pay people, to pay federal workers who have been furloughed and who have been laid off during the shutdown, and the Democrats have voted against those!
They’ve voted them all down! Everybody is blaming Trump and the Republicans for all of the starvation that’s happening out there, unable to get medicine, unable… Whenever there’s any kind of hardship, it always boils down to the people in pain have to choose between dog food and medicine. It never changes, no matter who the people are. And government workers, you know, they’re not… You wouldn’t consider them in poverty. They’re not minimum wage workers.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: According to a member of the White House press corps five minutes ago, the president is expected to speak at the White House this afternoon on the shutdown. The Drive-By Media is saying there’s lots of desire in the White House to end this episode, but it’s unclear what the president will say. That basically comes from somebody named Josh Dawsey I thought was a Washington Post reporter that’s always on CNN, but maybe CNN hired him.
Anyway, they need two cameras for the guy, regardless. My guess is that this is… Folks, I don’t think this is gonna be a cave. I just don’t see this being a cave. I see the ongoing effort here to put the Democrats on the spot. If I had to guess, that’s what this is. It’s an ongoing effort to try to illustrate, “Look, we’ve done everything. We’ve offered legislation to pay the air traffic controllers and the Coast Guard and all these people. It’s the Democrats that have voted it down.”
So my guess is that there’s gonna be some kind of a mechanism here that would, quote-unquote, “reopen” the government. What it really is gonna do is pay these people, but it’s not gonna be permanent! If it’s permanent, then, of course, it would constitute a fold.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: We are waiting on an announcement from the White House. President Trump is supposed to announce a proposal to end or deal with the government shutdown. And whenever it happens, we will drop everything and go there live and cover it as such. In the meantime, we continue here. (interruption) Well, I can guess. Yeah, I can speculate what this is gonna be. But why? Just sit here and sit tight. 800-282-2882 is the number if you want to be on Open Line Friday. The email address, ElRushbo@eibnet.us.
I think the objective of it is gonna be to get people paid. You know… Look, it didn’t help that Wilbur Ross went out there yesterday and said to federal workers, “Go get a loan. You can find something. Go get a loan, here.” Pelosi’s out saying, “That that let-’em-eat-cake attitude, we can’t have that.” So, you know, everybody had to run and circle the wagons after Wilbur made that (sigh) ill-advised comment. “Well, hell, they can just get some loans to tide ’em over.
“Yeah, they’ll have some interest payments and so forth. But the idea that people can’t get money…?” Now, in Wilbur Ross’s world, getting money is easy. You can find anybody to loan you money. You can find a shoeshine guy to loan you a dime. You can find a bank to loan you whatever you need. Of course, debt and managing debt is for a lot of people the route to wealth — especially if you’re on the side extending the debt. Hee-hee-hee. And receiving the interest payments on the back end. So I imagine that’s where the pressure point’s gonna be: Finding a way to make sure federal workers are paid.
But I’d be stunned if there is a concession on the substance. But I could be wrong.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: The Drive-By Media is assembled breathlessly outside the Rose Garden in the White House where the president is slated to emerge momentarily and announce… I don’t know if it’s a deal that’s been already made with Pelosi or if it is a proposal. But I’m gathering here that whatever this is, it’s either something that’s been agreed to or it is the president proposing something, that it is going to include a little money for the wall to get started.
Although Drudge says there isn’t any money for the wall in it, and temporarily reopen the government with a down payment on wall money so that all of these government works can get paid. Now, remember the Republicans already offered legislation that would pay furloughed workers. They’re all gonna get back pay. But because of the media sob stories of the pain and suffering and the choice between dog food or medicine (which is common in these stories after missing a paycheck), the pressure is on to see to it these people are paid.
So here comes the president supposedly offering a temporary end to the shutdown, a temporary opening, reopening of the government so as to get the federal employees paid and get Coast Guard back to work, TSA up to full staff, ATC, all this. And then what? During this period of time, are there going to be negotiations? Democrats have said, “Reopen the government and then we’ll talk!” Everybody knows they’re not gonna talk. Everybody knows they are not going to, in negotiations, give Trump any money for a wall!
Everybody should know that. But they have nevertheless said… The Democrats have all said from Pelosi to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, “Open the government and then we can talk about it. That’s all you gotta do, Mr. President! Open the government and we’ll be happy to negotiate.” Except there have been numerous Republican proposals — and the media, by the way, is not reporting that. I think there are three different Republican proposals — two in the House, one in the Senate (might be vice-versa) — to actually pay furloughed government workers. Not reopen the government, but pay them.
‘Cause they’re gonna get back pay anyway. So it’s just a matter of when you cut the check or make the deposit. The Democrats voted it down. The Democrats are the reason all this is happening. It was proposed in the Senate, and, of course, the Democrats had their own version, then of course six Republican senators had to join the Democrats and vote with their proposal led by Commandant Romney. Both Republican and Democrat ideas in the Senate failed. So the stalemate continues.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: It has pretty much leaked out what’s gonna go on here, and the Drive-Bys are characterizing this as a cave by the president. Of course, they would no matter what. If any action is taken by the president that results in the government reopening, they’re gonna call it a Trump cave. So you need to prepare yourself for that. Now, the theory is… You got keep in mind the Republicans have offered all kinds of legislation to pay furloughed government workers. Democrats have opposed it!
The Democrats do not want this government shutdown ended. They do not want it ended because they are getting away with Trump being blamed for it in the media. They do not want this to end. However, if it ends with Trump being the impetus for it… Let’s say that the rumors of what this is are true and that the president’s gonna propose a temporary three-week reopening of the government so that furloughed workers can be paid and then during that three-week period we’re gonna negotiate with the Democrats — ’cause that’s what they’ve said.
The Democrats have said, “Open the government and then we’ll talk! If you want to chat about the wall, if you want talk about border security, open the government and then we’ll talk.” So Trump comes along; opens the government. I’m speaking hypothetically. I hope we find out before three o’clock eastern. If the president comes along reopens the government and ends the shutdown on any kind of a temporary basis, does anybody think…? I just want to take your temperature here, folks.
Does anybody think the Democrats are gonna start negotiating with Trump about the wall? No. In fact, it’s gonna be worse than that. The Democrats are gonna drop all interest in the whole subject of border security. (impression) “Wall? What are you talking about, Mr. President? Wall? W-w-what do you mean, wall? We don’t want a wall!” “Well, border security. We have a gigantic border security problem.” “No, we don’t have a border security problem. We just need the Border Patrol and Customs and the ICE people do what they’re supposed to do and we’ll be fine.”
So there are risks here in whatever you call it. If the objective is to pay these people, what I would do is announce more legislation to pay them. Keep the government closed. Announce legislation. Put them on the spot. Don’t reopen it. Do not reopen it temporary, tertiary, secondary, whatever. Do not reopen it, because if you reopen it, that’s done. And if you reopen it and say, “If you don’t do what I want on this wall, I’m shutting it down in two or three weeks again,” you better do it! (chuckles) You had better be prepared to shut it down again after the Super Bowl, after everybody’s gotten to Atlanta, watched the game, gotten out of there via Hartsfield International.
(sigh) We’re all just speculating here. I know, I know. You’re all shouting, “What about the national emergency?” I’m sure that’s somewhere on the president’s checklist. I just don’t know where and I don’t know when. But just to review that briefly while we patiently wait for the president to emerge from the Oval Office and descend the short steps to the Rose Garden, once you declare a national emergency you’re effectively ending this because there’s gonna be a judge somewhere that will issue a stay of execution on the presidential declaration of emergency. Even though there is legislation, the National Emergencies Act of 2006, it doesn’t matter.
The president was totally within his bounds on the travel ban, and they still went and they found some left-wing, progressive judge to issue a stay. They’ll do that here, and then the whole thing grinds to a screeching halt, folks, and there isn’t any money being spent to build the wall, unless the president wants to defy the court. You tell me whether that would happen. But then not only does the emergency get stopped — and the building of the wall, the allocation of funds cease — by virtue of court order, but then guess what the subject becomes?
The subject changes from illegal immigration and the wall and border security and the fact that we’re being overrun to, “Once again, President Trump shut down the government as he intended to act outside the bounds of his legal authority.” And the left and media be doing cartwheels and cheers over the fact that the court, finally, reined in this out of control guy “who’s so unpopular, you can’t even get Congress to agree with him on reopening the government.” I can see all of this now.
I can envision and hear all of it now. While we wait — and it’s got to be momentarily — there are other things here in the Stack of Stuff that have nothing to do with the FBI raid of Roger Stone’s house with 29 agents, 19 vehicles. Heavily armed, body armor for a guy who’s asleep. They didn’t put up any barricades to keep the media at bay. They let the media get practically as close to the front door as they wanted to get. So the whole thing was planned and staged.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: By the way, the president is preparing the language, the draft of the implementation of a national emergency, and they have identified $7 billion that they have found elsewhere in the government to build the wall. So, I mean, it’s on the table, and they’re thinking about it, obviously. Somebody just strode to the microphone there at the podium, maybe giving the 90 seconds or two-minute warning so that the Drive-Bys can tell their head-shot people to wrap it up here and get ready for the president to show up.
Oh, there’s a fascinating piece here that I ran across about Pelosi and the State of the Union and why she really is not permitting it, and we addressed this last week, that these freshmen on the Democrat side are gonna make a spectacle of this. They may come in with banners. They may wear outlandish clothing. They may start chanting and protesting during the State of the Union. The story is that Pelosi is fully aware of how out of control these young Millennial members of Congress are, and she does not want that spectacle. This is the theory, that it’s not Pelosi denying the president his constitutional requirement to do the State of the Union.
It’s that she doesn’t want her own party looking bad by disrupting the ceremony, because it does have a tradition of reverence, politeness. There are never active protests. I mean, the closest we got to it was when a Republican congressman shouted to Obama, “You lie!” When Obama lied about Obamacare. Joe something, I think was his name. But that was one of the biggest breaches of protocol ever. That guy was besmirched and impugned for the rest of his career. But there may be something to it. I think the young Millennial bunch would go nuts.
All right. Here comes the president wearing the overcoat. He’s now approaching the podium. He just left the doors of the Oval Office — and, again, our microphones are there and so let’s JIP it…
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much my fellow Americans. I’m very proud to announce today that we have reached a deal to end the shutdown and reopen the federal government.
CROWD: (applause)
THE PRESIDENT: As everyone knows, I have a very powerful alternative, but I didn’t want to use it at this time. Hopefully, it will be unnecessary. I want to thank all of the incredible federal workers and their amazing families who have shown such extraordinary devotion in the face of this recent hardship. You are fantastic people. You are incredible patriots. Many of you have suffered far greater than anyone but your families would know or understand, and not only did you not complain, but in many cases you encouraged me to keep going because you care so much about our country and about its border security.
Again, I thank you. All Americans, I thank you.
You are very special people. I am so proud that you are citizens of our country. When I say, “Make America Great Again,” it could never be done without you great people. In a short while, I will sign a bill to open our government for three weeks until February 15th. I will make sure that all employees receive their back pay very quickly or as soon as possible. It will happen fast. I am asking Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to put this proposal on the floor immediately. After 36 days of spirited debate and dialogue, I have seen and heard from enough Democrats and Republicans that they are willing to put partisanship aside — I think — and put the security of the American people first.
I do believe they’re going to do that. They have said they are for complete border security, and they have finally and fully acknowledged that having barriers, fencing, or walls — or whatever you want to call it — will be an important part of the solution. A bipartisan conference committee of House and Senate lawmakers and leaders will immediately begin reviewing the requests of our Homeland Security experts — and experts they are — and also loft parole officers who have to worked with us so closely. We want to thank Border Patrol, ICE, and all law enforcement. You’ve been incredible.
CROWD: (applause)
THE PRESIDENT: Based on operational guidance from the experts in the field, they will put together a Homeland Security package for me to shortly sign into law. Over the next 21 days, I expect that both Democrats and Republicans will operate in good faith. This is an opportunity for all parties to work together for the benefit of our whole beautiful, wonderful nation. If we make a fair deal, the American people will be proud of their government for proving that we can put country before party.
We can show all Americans and people all around the world that both political parties are united when it comes to protecting our country and protecting our people. Many disagree, but I really feel that working with Democrats and Republicans, we can make a truly great and secure deal happen for everyone. Walls should not be controversial. Our country has built 654 miles of barrier over the last 15 years, and every career border control agent I have spoken with has told me that walls work. They do work.
RUSH: What about…?
THE PRESIDENT: No matter where you go, they work. Israel built a wall. It’s 99.9% successful. Won’t be any different for us. They keep criminals out. They save good people from attempting a very dangerous journey from other countries — thousands of miles — because they think they have a glimmer of hope of coming through. With a wall, they don’t have that hope. They keep drugs out, and they dramatically increase efficiency by allowing us to patrol far larger areas with far fewer people. It’s just common sense. Walls work.
RUSH: What about DACA?
THE PRESIDENT: That’s why most of the Democrats in Congress have voted for bills that include walls and physical barriers and walls and very powerful fences.
RUSH: DACA, TPS, what about that?
THE PRESIDENT: The walls we are building are not medieval walls. They are smart walls, designed to meet the needs of front-line border agents and are operationally effective. These barriers are made of steel, have see-through visibility — which is very important — and are equipped with sensors, monitors, and cutting-edge technology including state-of-the-art drones. We do not need 2,000 miles of concrete wall from sea to shining sea. We never did. We never prepared that.
We never wanted that, because we have barriers at the border where natural structures are as good anything that we can build. They’re already there. They’ve been there for millions of years. Our proposed structures will be in predetermined, high-risk locations that have been specifically identified by the Border Patrol to stop elicit flows of people and drugs. No border security plan ever work without a physical barrier. It just doesn’t happen. At the same time, we need to increase drug-detection technology and manpower to modernize our ports of entry, which are obsolete.
The equipment’s obsolete, they’re old, they’re tired. This is something we have all come to degree on and will allow for quicker and safer commerce. These critical investments will improve and facilitate legal trade and travel through our lawful ports of entry. Our plan also includes desperately needed humanitarian assistance for those being exploited and abused by coyotes, smugglers, and the dangerous journey north. The requests we have put before Congress are vital to ending the humanitarian and security crisis on our southern border. Absolutely vital. It will not work without it.
RUSH: What about DACA?
THE PRESIDENT: This crisis threatens the safety of our country and thousands of American lives. Criminal cartels, narco terrorists, transnational gangs like MS-13, and human traffickers are brazenly violating U.S. laws and terrorizing innocent communities. Human traffickers! The victims are women and children. Maybe to a lesser extent, believe it or not, children. Women are tied up,. They’re bound, duct tape put around their faces, around their mouths. In many cases they can’t even breathe. They’re put in the backs of cars or vans or trucks. They don’t go through your port of entry. They make a right turn going very quickly.
They go into dessert areas or whatever areas you can look at, and as soon as there’s no protection, they make a left or a right into the United States of America. There’s nobody to catch ’em. There’s nobody to find ’em. They can’t come through the port because if they come through the port, people will see four women sitting in a van with tape around their face and around their mouth. Can’t have that — and that problem, because of the internet, is the biggest problem. It’s never been like this before… That you can imagine. It’s at the worst level, human trafficking, in the history of the world.
This is not a United States problem. This is a world problem. But they come through areas where they have no protection, where they have no steel barriers, where they have no walls — and we can stop almost a hundred percent of that. The profits reaped by these murderous organizations are used to fund their malign and destabilizing conduct throughout this hemisphere. Last year alone, ICE officers removed 10,000 known or suspected gang members, like MS-13, and members as bad as them, horrible people, tough, mean, sadistic.
In the last two years ICE officers arrested a total of 266,000 criminal aliens inside of the United States, including those charged or convicted of nearly 100,000 all it is, 30,000 sex crimes, and 4,000 homicides — or, as you would call them, violent, vicious killings. It can be stopped. Vast quantities of lethal drugs including meth, fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine are smuggled across our southern border and into us schools and communities. Drugs kill much more than 70,000 Americans a year and cost our society in excess of $700 billion.
The sheer volume of illegal immigration has overwhelmed federal authorities and stretched our immigration system beyond the breaking point. Nearly 50 migrants a day are being referred for medical assistance — they are very, very sick — making this a health crisis as well. It’s a very big health crisis. People have no idea how big it is unless you’re there. Our backlog in the immigration courts is now far greater than the 800,000 cases that you’ve been hearing about over the last couple of years. Think of that, though: 800,000 cases, because our laws are obsolete.
So obsolete. They’re the laughingstock all over the world. Our immigration laws, all over the world — they’ve been there for a long time — are the laughingstock. All over the world. We do not have the necessary space or resources to detain, house, vet, screen, and safely process this tremendous influx of people. In short, we do not have control over who is entering our country, where they come from, who they are, why they are coming. The result for many years is a colossal danger to public safety. We’re gonna straight it out. It’s not hard. It’s easy if given the resources.
Last month was the third straight month in a row with 60,000 apprehensions on our southern border. Think of that. We apprehended 60,000 people. That’s like a stadium full of people, a big stadium. There are many criminals being apprehended, but vast numbers are coming because our economy is so strong. We have the strongest economy now in the entire world. You see what’s happening. We have nowhere left to house them and no way to promptly remove them. We can’t get ’em out, because our laws are so obsolete, so antiquated, and so bad. Without new resources from Congress, we will be forced to release these people into communities — something we don’t want to do, called catch-and-release. You catch them. Even if they’re criminals, you then release them, and you can’t release them from where they came —
RUSH: Well, that’s current Obama policy!
THE PRESIDENT: — so they go into our country and end up in places you would least suspect. And we do as little releasing as possible.
RUSH: That’s what hat the Democrats want.
THE PRESIDENT: They’re coming in the hundreds of thousands. I have had zero Democrat lawmakers volunteer to have them released into their districts or states. And I think they know that, and that’s what we’re going to do discussing over the next three weeks. The painful reality is that the tremendous economic and financial burdens of illegal immigration fall on the shoulders of low-income Americans — including millions of wonderful, patriotic, law-abiding immigrants who enrich our nation. As commander-in-chief, my highest priority is the defense of our great country.
We cannot surrender operational control over the nation’s borders to foreign cartels, traffickers, and smugglers. We want future Americans to come to our country legally and through a system based on merit. We need people to come to our country. We have great companies moving back into the United States, and we have the lowest employment (sic) and the best employment numbers that we’ve ever had. There are more people working today in the United States than have ever worked in our country. We need people to come in to help us with their farms and with all of these great companies that are moving back. Finally, they’re moving back. People said it couldn’t happen; it’s happening.
RUSH: (sigh)
THE PRESIDENT: And we want them to enjoy the blessings of safety and liberty and the rule of law. We cannot protect and deliver these blessings without a strong and secure border. I believe that crime in this country can go down by a massive percentage if we have great security on our southern border. I believe drugs — large percentages of which come through the southern border — will be cut by a number that nobody will believe. So let me be very clear. We really have no choice but to build a powerful wall or steel barrier. If we don’t a fair deal from Congress, the government will either shut down on February 15th — again — or I will use the powers afforded to me under the laws and the Constitution of the United States to address this emergency.
RUSH: Well, there we go.
THE PRESIDENT: We will have great security, and I want to thank you all very much. Thank you very much.
REPORTERS: (shouting questions)
RUSH: Well, there you have it. President Trump. I’ve gotta get to a break here very quickly, but it took us a while to get there. So apparently, it’s three weeks to negotiate with the Democrats exactly as they wanted. Three weeks for the Democrats to get to a wall agreement with President Trump. That’s what they said they wanted. They wanted to get the government reopened “and then we’ll talk.” Well, President Trump said that he “trusts the Democrats will negotiate in good faith,” which is the flaw here in the thinking.
But he knows that. So I have to think that Wilbur Ross telling people to go get a loan yesterday has to be a factor in what’s happened here. But it’s done, it’s done. So we’re gonna reopen the government for three weeks, gonna pay people who have been furloughed and have missed a couple paychecks. We’re gonna pay them, and then three weeks come and go. We’re gonna negotiate what the president set up there as the need, once again, to batten down security at the border and get it done, and if after three weeks the Democrats have not made a move and they’re not serious, then here comes the national emergency declaration.
That is how he “finale’d” this appearance and these remarks. So it was pretty comprehensive. I mean, it was a recitation once again of all the time, of all of the problems and dealing with it about how we’re not at present equipped to deal with the influx nor getting people here illegally back out of the country. We don’t have the mechanisms in place to process them, to house them. Of course, the Democrats have taken care of that with their sanctuary states and sanctuary cities.
He explained that we’re not looking at covering the whole border with a wall or a constructed fence or anything, just certain areas of the southern border where walls will be built. He described the kind of wall that it would be. He said he expects Democrats to negotiate in good faith on all this because this is what everybody wants. And after three weeks, February 15th, if we haven’t gotten where the president wants to get, it’s time to declare the national emergency.
He didn’t say anything here… I’m gonna assume here that… One of the original proposals — you know, the Senate bill that the president proposed — was a continuation of circumstances for the DACA kids, look at to 400,000 to them for people on TPS. I don’t think there’s any change. I don’t believe in these next three weeks that DACA, TPS, path to citizenship are on the table. I think they’re off the table. I don’t think they have anything to do with it. He would have said so otherwise.
The Democrats will probably get ’em to move and put these items on the table. But he also… If there’s… He didn’t say that there’s already been an agreement with a certain amount of money for the wall. I think if he had secured that — even if it was $500,000 to $1billion — he would have announced it. So we’re reopening the government. We’re starting to chat. The Democrats have said that’s what it would take, and we’ll see. Let’s hit to the phones quickly here. Doug in Emily, Minnesota. I’m glad you waited, sir. You’re you can say up next. Hello.
CALLER: Hello, Rush. It’s an honor and a pleasure to talk to you. Mega dittos. Real quick, just to reiterate and echo what you said, the Democrats better be ready to come to the table and negotiate, ’cause that’s all they’ve been saying since government’s been shutdown. So they better hold true to their word and also with the government open again, I see no reason why Trump should not be able to have a State of the Union next week.
RUSH: Well, now, that’s interesting. I was, in fact, thinking while this appearance was going on that he may as well just do it here. He’s off to a rousing start. Just do a State of the Union right now. Just do it and keep going. I was —
CALLER: It did sound a little bit like a State of the Union for a while there when he’s talking about the fence and the riffraff that’s coming across the borders.
RUSH: Well, it was accurate in terms of the state of things at the border.
RUSH: Correct.
RUSH: So we’ll see. Remember the story that I referenced right before the president came out, and that is that there’s some scuttlebutt running around the real reason the gross doesn’t want a State of the Union address is because she does not want these crazed Millennials making a spectacle of it, because she thinks that would not help them, would not help the Democrats. It would look bad. It would… You got the Cortez factions out there wearing a bunch of oddball clothes with all kinds of signs and shouting and heckling the president during the State of the Union, and I have no doubt that will that happen whenever this thing does.
But she doesn’t want it to happen because she thinks that it would detract from the stature of the Democrat Party were that to happen. It’s a good thought. We’ll keep a sharp eye on the status of the State of the Union, because Pelosi also said that we can’t do that ’til the government’s reopened. Now, I also just in terms of the state of negotiations here, am gonna have to check some things during the break. So this is a proposal, or is the government officially reopened because he announced it?
We don’t know what terms he has offered to the Democrats in this other than what he announced here today. But he did say a deal has been reached to reopen the government for three weeks, so presumably that’s what some of the delay was. There is no money — no down payment, if you will — for a wall. So the media’s gonna be in the process of portraying this as a gigantic cave, that Trump folded, that Pelosi and Chuck won. So you need to prepare yourself for that.
We’ll just have to see what happens in the next three weeks and activated next three weeks, ’cause there was a pledge here to declare a national emergency if the Democrats are not willing to talk as they’ve said, and if they are not willing to move off the dime. We’ll have to let the time go by. But now it’s official that LaGuardia can re-staff with air traffic control, that people will be able to get back into Atlanta for the Super Bowl with no hassle. The TSA is fully staffed, and as of today, the questions of dog food or medicine for federal works have been taken off the table.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: I want to get straight to your phone calls and react to what you just heard. (sigh) I’m wondering whether I ought to… Jared Kushner — and this has been reported, so I’m not letting anything out. Jared Kushner has been in the White House been encouraging the president to grant amnesty to the DACA kids and to the 11 million. He’s been pushing for it, “Look, Mr. President, this is exactly what you need going into 2020: Comprehensive immigration reform. Nobody’s been able to do it. You can do it!”
Other people have prevailed, but now in this next three weeks — and you know as well as I do that the Drive-Bys are gonna portray this as a total failure for Trump, that Democrats got exactly what they wanted. “Trump shut down the government; he got all the blame in the polling data. He didn’t get anything he wanted. He got no wall, he got no money for the wall, he is forced to reopen it! Federal workers got repaid.” Democrats are gonna be able to say, along with their media buddies, that Trump caved because he knew he couldn’t beat the Democrats ’cause he knew it was not good to shut down the government, blah, blah, blah.
I just want to prep you for what you’re gonna hear. Steel your spine for it. Here’s Wendy in Pittsburgh as we hit the phones. Great to have you. Hi.
CALLER: Hi I, Rush. I just want to say that I thought I heard a wonderful State of the Union dress just now from the president. He mentioned — let’s see — this wonderful country of ours, our wonderful federal workers. We have a great economy. You know, all the superlatives he uses: The greatest, the best. Jobs are up. He detailed all that and about how great the wall is going to be once it’s built, and he went into the long explanation of why we need that wall. He also talked about money we need to help all the people who are suffering, you know, from the crime — and even the people that are being trafficked over the border. He even mentioned make “Make America Great Again,” which I think helps those poor Covington kids. So I thought it was a real great State of the Union Address.
RUSH: Do you expect to see it portrayed that way in other sectors of the media? Do you think other people will see it that way as well?
CALLER: (chuckles) I don’t think the media — you know, the leftist media — is going to portray it that way. But I think if people were really listening to it and listening to what he was saying, you really can’t miss it. I think he outsmarted them. (chuckles) I really do.
RUSH: Interesting take.
CALLER: Everybody was listening! You know, everybody was listening. You know, “Oh, the president’s going to speak!” Even the media, “Oh, the president’s coming on! He’s gonna cave,” and so everybody, you know —
RUSH: Well, they didn’t hear anything the way you heard it. Look, all they heard was the cave. In media world, let me tell you what’s happened, in media world what’s happened, exactly what’s happened. Trump shuts down government. Federal workers don’t get paid. They experience hardships. It’s either can’t buy diapers, can’t buy tampons or medicine for the kids. They’re starving. The Trump commerce secretary says, “Don’t worry. Get loans! All you have to do is pay back the interest.”
Then we get news that TSA is not staffed up as airports so there’s slowdowns at Dulles, at LaGuardia, and elsewhere. Meanwhile, there’s no money for the wall. The Democrats are not offering a dime. They’re not moving one inch to end the shutdown so Trump ends the shutdown. Media’s saying, “The Democrats got everything they want! They got Trump to hurt himself in the polls, they got Trump blamed in the media for the shutdown, and they got no money for the wall in order to reopen the government.”
So your take on this, which is I think a common take that Trump supporters are gonna have… The media didn’t hear this the way you heard it. They’re not interested in hearing it the way. The media doesn’t think there’s a problem on the border. It’s all being the made up. There’s no crisis. The Republican Never-Trumpers in Washington don’t think there’s trouble on the border. They don’t think there’s a crisis. They don’t think there’s any reason to shut down the government. There’s no reason for emergency legislation. There’s nothing, everything’s fine.
All this crisis stuff just made up. As far as the media is concern, the only take on this is, “How can we harm and damage Trump the most?” They don’t care about circumstances on the border. They don’t care about human trafficking. They don’t care about the drug problem. They don’t care about the inherent criminal problem. They don’t care about the damage to the country. They don’t care about any of that! Trump could say this to them for five days in a row; it wouldn’t permeate. They’re not interested.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Well, the president made an attempt to sway public opinion to his side of things. You can at least say that about this. The recitation of the problems, the commitment to address them and deal with them — and there is no question that that was a tremendous recitation and reminder to people of the problem, and a reminder that the Democrats have said they will negotiate once the government was reopened. So, this is pretty much what he said. If we don’t get a fair deal from Congress, the government will either shut down again on February 15th or he will use the emergency powers he has under the Constitution to address this. So we’ll see what happens.