RUSH: They canceled another major event in the United Kingdom. They canceled the British Open golf tournament, which is scheduled for July. That goes along with the cancellation of Wimbledon that occurred yesterday.
I referenced earlier in the program Gavin Newsom. The left, the media, the media’s very, very troubled here. Gavin Newsom was being interviewed by Jake Tapper, CNN yesterday, and Gavin Newsom was praising Donald Trump to the hilt. And Tapper looked stunned and shocked, didn’t quite know what to do with it. Gavin Newsom, governor of California: Yeah, everything that we’ve needed he’s provided. He answers my calls every time, every time I call he’s on the phone immediately. I have to tell you, Donald Trump’s doing everything we want.
But one of the reasons Gavin Newsom is so excited is because he’s openly talking about how coronavirus is an opportunity for reimagining a more progressive era. Meaning, “All right. Coronavirus. An opportunity to be even more socialist, to be even more liberal.” And I’ll tell you, while all this is going on, folks, we cannot ignore the politics of this, because the left politicizes everything, and they are off and running politicizing this.
Trump and his team are dealing with it as a medical issue each and every day at this briefing. They’re dealing with it as a modeling medical issue. But the left is getting hysterical in its drive to socialize the economy. We’ve got Pelosi — grab sound bite number 25. To illustrate the point, Nancy Pelosi this afternoon on Andrea Mitchell Reports, MSNBC, Washington. Question: “Do you think more needs to be done in the next stimulus package now that we’ve seen these appalling historic unemployment numbers?”
PELOSI: Yes. Yes, indeed. And not only do I think so. You can just ask the Democratic and Republican governors. I’m very proud of my governor, Governor Gavin Newsom in California. In this bill we want to include some infrastructure that directly relates to the coronavirus crisis. For example, clean water. Clean water is a very important part of our infrastructure proposal. Community health centers. There’s funding for additional money for construction, rehabilitation, et cetera, of community health centers. Internet, broadband. Look at how we’re all dependent. And then the grid that makes so much of that possible as part of that.
RUSH: Yeah, the grid. The grid’s electricity. You people tried to shut it down with your Green New Deal. What do you mean? You’re the biggest hypocrite that’s come along during this crisis. Clean water, who the hell is opposed to it? What do you mean we need clean water initiatives in the infrastructure bill? Is there anybody out there in favor of dirty water? Who is opposed to this?
So they’re seeing this as an opportunity to decapitate the United States capitalist economy. And they are salivating over it. For them it’s the crisis opportunity of a lifetime to push through their agenda. Despite this, despite the fact that the facts show that it is capitalism and farmers and frackers and truckers who are saving us. People in many industries the left impugns and laughs at and makes fun of, they make fun of farmers, they make fun of people in flyover country, they make fun of people who make their living in the dirt, they make fun of people who take showers after work, they impugn all kinds of people in manual labor jobs. We would be able to survive this without them.
It is capitalism. It is the capitalist supply chain. It is supply and demand. It is farmers. It is frackers. It is people that maintain the electrical grid and the internet who are saving us today. And, by the way, thank God for getting rid of net neutrality, beause if we hadn’t gotten rid of net neutrality and if there were all kinds of these left-wing regulations on the internet, it wouldn’t be up and running as it is today. Go to the U.K., go to the European Union, you’ll find out that the internet and broadband service over there has been greatly interrupted in all this. Because they have massive more regulation of the internet than we do.
We reversed net neutrality, and we saved internet connectability for times like this. And the absolute worst thing that could happen to this country right now is for people like Pelosi and her agenda to get a foothold and win. Gavin Newsom is out there saying that today the virus and the shutdown opens up progressive avenues to moderate capitalism, to moderate it. Capitalism is what’s saving us right now. Capitalism is what gave us a three-year roaring economy, created a cushion to be able to withstand turning off that economy, as we have done.
He’s taking credit for policies that do not explain the California paradox. The California paradox is they have so few cases of coronavirus per million population compared to other places. Now, a year ago, Gavin Newsom was bragging about his new inclusive capitalism. Inclusive capitalism is just a misnomer for socialism. And, folks, I’m gonna tell you, I do not believe that because California got a two-day head start on social distancing over New York, I don’t think that explains why they have relatively so few cases of coronavirus compared to New York and other states.
I think what has happened out there is what could be termed herd immunity, h-e-r-d, herd immunity. I think it’s the exact opposite of social distancing. Herd immunity is five to 7,000 Chinese people arriving at airports in California every day, in December, in January, intermingling with people in California, some of them carrying the coronavirus.
People in California got sick, didn’t know what it was. It wasn’t the flu, it wasn’t a cold, they didn’t go to the hospital, some of them didn’t. Most didn’t. Just dealt with it. They got over it. They got better. But it was something they hadn’t experienced before, didn’t know what it was. Didn’t ring any alarm bells. They’ve now built up herd immunity to it in California. There’s no way that two days of social distancing head start can explain the massive amount of fewer cases of COVID-19 in California — 40 million people in that state.
It may not have as large a Chinese population as New York City does, but it does have an arrival and departure point for Chinese citizens coming into and leaving the country. So the term “herd immunity.” I can’t prove it. I’m not saying it ontologically certitude. I’m just a layman with the caveat that I could well be wrong about it. But I don’t believe two days of social distance — they want everybody to so invest in social distancing, they want everybody to so believe it that they’re willing to tell us that California, two days. Well, California instituted social distancing March 13th. This is only April the 2nd. March 13th, two and a half weeks ago. California, March 11th. New York, March 13th, I think. California had a two-day head start. And they want to tell us this is why the number of COVID-19 cases is dramatically less per million population than California.
Two days is not enough to make this kind of difference, to my common-sensical mind. California governor Gavin Newsom told a press conference on Wednesday — yesterday — the coronavirus crisis provided an opportunity to usher in a progressive era through policy changes that shift American society away from capitalism. Bad news. Capitalism is the only thing saving us right now. “What do you mean, capitalism, Rush? It’s the government writing checks.”
Where do you think the money is coming from? Where do you think the supply chain’s operating? How do you think it’s operating? What are the principles by which food remains available to you? What are the principles by which you turn on your TV and it works? What are the principals by which you turn on your phone or your washer and dryer, your stove, your refrigerator, air conditioner, whatever, what are the principles keeping these things running? It ain’t the state.
A reporter with Bloomberg News asked Gavin Newsom whether he saw the potential as many in the Democrat Party do for a new progressive era in national politics. He said, “Hell, yes.” We don’t want any part of it.
Now, yesterday on the Fox Business Network, Mike Pence — the vice president — appeared with Making Money host Charles Payne. Charles Payne first said this to the vice president…
PAYNE: I think the fate of free market capitalism is on the line right now and that the administration and Big Business have got to show the American people that this is the best system. This, to me, is the moment of truth when capitalism is being tested, and it is your administration — you and President Trump — that have gotta prove that it is the best way to go about life.
RUSH: I am so glad that he mentioned this to the vice president. He’s exactly right — and coming on the face of Gavin Newsom in California. The fate of free market capitalism is on the line right now, and we have shut it down. He says, “The administration and Big Business have got to show the American people this is the best system.” Here’s the vice president’s reaction…
PENCE: I actually think American business has proven that every day. Literally every business we’ve reached out to and asked to increase medical supplies or help us construct more of the N95 masks for health care workers or build ventilators — every business — has said, “We’ll drop everything, we’ll go to work, we’ll make it happen.”
The fact that you’ve got farmers in the field working, you got grocery store clerks working the checkout counter? It’s keeping food on the table for every American. What you’re seeing is the American people are rising to the challenge. Our businesses across the country are rising to the challenge.
RUSH: So that’s the vice president making the case that it is capitalism that’s keeping things going.