-Fox News host Brian Kilmeade said
it's not the government's job to protect people from COVID.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump and a former Fox News host,
Bill O'Reilly, were having trouble
selling tickets for an arena tour.
For more on this, it's time for "A Closer Look."
♪♪
As COVID cases surge once again
thanks to lagging vaccination rates
and the highly contagious delta variant,
the Biden administration is desperately trying
to get as many people vaccinated as possible.
Some local governments, like Los Angeles County,
are also reimposing indoor mask mandates
to curb the surge in cases.
And now the latest COVID news has created some tension
on the set of "Fox & Friends."
This morning, Steve Doocy strongly urged viewers
to get vaccinated while Brian Kilmeade insisted
it's not the government's job to protect people.
-But listen. If you didn't get a vaccination,
that's your choice.
And if you did like I did
and and they did and maybe you did,
then you should not wear a mask, and if you didn't --
If you want to go cliff diving this weekend,
you don't have to check with me.
It seems a little dangerous, but I'm not going to judge you.
And if you go ahead and put yourself in danger,
if you feel as though this is not something for you,
don't do it, but don't affect my life.
-99% of the people who are dying from COVID
are unvaccinated.
-That's their choice. -They don't want to die.
So they are --
The administration and the government is saying
we need the mask mandate to protect the unvaccinated.
-That is not -- That's not their job!
It's not their job to protect anybody.
-Yeah, if the government was supposed to protect you,
they'd have a department for it,
like the Department of Defense or something.
By the way, that is the most animated
I've ever seen Brian Kilmeade.
Usually he just sits there like that teddy bear
they always find in the wreckage after a house fire
just sitting there shell-shocked
with his unblinking black button eyes.
Also, to address your cliff-diving analogy,
unlike COVID, cliff-diving isn't contagious.
And if it was contagious, I would never leave the house
because I'm scared of catching COVID,
but I would be terrified of catching cliff-diving.
I mean, I can't even imagine being in a Starbucks
and some thrill junkie behind me sneezes,
and the next thing I know, I'm in a flying squirrel
wingsuit in Brazil while some guy named Lalo
fastens a GoPro to my head and tells me,
"You're about to finally live!"
And my wife calls and says,
"What are you doing?! You hate heights!
You got dizzy when you filmed the show in our attic!"
And all I can do is scream back with tears in my eyes,
"I don't know what's happening to me!"
Also, yes, it's everyone's choice to get vaccinated,
but you're in a position of influence.
At the very minimum, you have a moral responsibility
to give people accurate information
about life-saving vaccines, and you also have an opportunity
to tell people they can protect themselves
and their loved ones and their communities
by getting vaccinated. Why wouldn't you take it?
If there was a deadly rash of Sharknados
plaguing the country, would you tell people
they're dangerous and to stay away?
Or would you say, "Look, go ahead
and fight the Sharknado with your bare hands if you want.
I'm not going to tell you what to do."
There's been a lot of attention, rightly,
on the role social-media platforms like Facebook
have played in amplifying anti-vax misinformation.
But while we're talking about Facebook,
let's not lose sight of the fact that Rupert Murdoch,
who got vaccinated in December of last year,
currently pays people to lie and fearmonger about the vaccines
on a daily basis for ratings.
If you watch Fox News, you probably think Joe Biden
is going to send an army of Antifa super soldiers
to your house to strap you down,
inject you with the vaccine, and steal your hamburgers.
In the case of Facebook, one of the main problems
is that Facebook is just too big and too powerful.
It's designed to spread misinformation.
That's the core of the business model.
It should be broken up, which progressives
like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren
have already called for.
No private company should be that big and powerful,
especially one where your grandma can accidentally post
her Google searches as Facebook updates.
Why did she write the words "lawn bowling shoes size 9"?
Amid all of this, it's worth noting
that these people wield outsized influence
compared to their actual popularity.
Trump and his movement have never commanded
majority support in elections or polls.
A vivid explanation of that came last week
when Politico reported that Trump is having trouble
selling advance tickets for his upcoming speaking tour
with conservative pundit Bill O'Reilly.
So far, the pace of purchases has been slow
compared to other acts, arena officials say.
In Orlando, where the duo is hosting an event
at the 20,000-capacity Amway Center on December 12th,
a box-office employee for the arena
said, "There's still a lot of tickets open."
The person added, "We have concerts
that are doing a lot better than this."
I'm sure they do. First of all, it's in Orlando.
There's a wealth of theme parks.
Why go to a Trump/O'Reilly history tour
when you can learn more about US history
at the Hall of Presidents or even Space Mountain?
Hell, even SeaWorld would probably be
a better use of your time.
Either way, you're gonna be in a splash zone.
Who the hell wants to go see a so-called history tour
with a disgraced former cable-news host
and a man who was just quoted as having said,
"I think it would be hard
if George Washington came back from the dead
and he chose Abraham Lincoln as his vice president.
I think it would have been very hard for them to beat me."
[As Trump] Now, of course, that all goes out the window
if they're riding a T-Rex.
If Washington and Lincoln
are on the same ticket riding a T-Rex,
I'm worried about my chances.
[Normal voice] A history tour with Trump
is like the opposite of a Ken Burns documentary.
Let's remember Trump thought
Frederick Douglass was still alive
and thought the Civil War happened for no reason,
saying -- and this is his exact quote --
"People don't ask that question, but why was there a Civil War?"
Yeah, why don't people ask that question more?
For years, people have just shrugged off the Civil War.
I remember when we got to it in history class
and my teacher said, "The Civil War was, like, so random."
[ Laughter ]
Now, apparently, that report touched a nerve
because, in response, O'Reilly threatened to sue
the Politico reporter. O'Reilly said it was bull [bleep]
that ticket sales for Atlanta have been lackluster.
But when asked how many tickets have been sold at the venue,
he said he didn't know.
"I don't have that information," he said.
"I do grosses. I'm not the ticket counter."
O'Reilly threatened to sue the reporter, saying,
"You put one word in there that's not true,
I'll sue your ass off, and you can quote me on that."
It's nice to know O'Reilly hasn't chilled out
even a little bit, given all that time
to relax after you were [bleep] canned.
I guess part of me thought when you get forced out
and publicly disgraced the way O'Reilly did,
you might take up yoga or meditation,
although even if he did, he'd probably still do it angrily.
"Now, let's move into child's pose
and everyone say your mantra. Bill, do you have a mantra yet?"
-[Bleep] thing sucks!
[ Laughter ]
"Maybe you should try Pilates. You have a Pilates energy."
Also, I just want to say
I hope O'Reilly doesn't threaten to sue us
because we cannot afford it.
We can't even afford a MC Hammer sample.
All our money goes to pay Wally for his extra lines.
-Hey! That's not true! I'll sue your ass off!
And you can quote me on that! -All right. Geez.
Now, we should say the shows are in December,
so they have plenty of time
and could very well end up selling out.
Who knows? But so far, it's not going great.
The website Mediaite pulled up the seating map
for the Orlando show.
Let's just say there were still a lot of seats left
as of Friday morning. Yikes!
We have more people in our audience,
and we don't have an audience.
Trump and O'Reilly would have a bigger crowd
if they did their history tour
on the Coney Island-bound F train.
But it makes sense that ticket sales are slow
because even the people who go see Trump
don't want a history lecture.
They want him to get up on stage and say crazy [bleep]
about celebrities he met in 1982.
[As Trump] "Steve Guttenberg. Met him at Studio 54.
Nice guy. Hated my guts. 'Police Academy.'
Remember the guy who made the sounds?
Whoosh. Beep, beep. Zing.
It was like the chain saw was in the room.
Lawn mowers? Couldn't he do lawn mowers?
You bet he could.
We love the funny sounds, don't we, folks?"
So, people aren't flocking en masse
to Trump's arena tour, at least not yet.
In fact, Americans are reporting
that they're generally happier and more hopeful
now that Trump is no longer
a constant presence in their lives.
New CBS poll has found
that six months into President Biden's administration,
Americans are less apprehensive about the year
than they were at the start of it,
with 64% saying the US handling of the pandemic
is going well, compared to just 35%
at the end of Trump's term.
I guess it's not surprising that people are less apprehensive
now than they were during Trump's presidency,
given that waking up every morning
and looking at your phone in the Trump era
was like opening a shower curtain in a horror movie
or a metal cupboard in the galley
of an abandoned spacecraft in a science-fiction movie.
"Well, I'm on a floating spacecraft
with no signs of life.
I might just see if they have any dehydrated milk left.
And I'm dead!"
Now, obviously, there are still major crises swirling.
COVID cases have risen in all 50 states,
doubling in recent weeks, as the highly contagious
delta variant becomes dominant and vaccination rates lag.
And yet with all that going on,
the GOP remains fully enthralled to a disgraced former president
who oversaw a cataclysmic response to the pandemic
and never once achieved majority support.
In fact, they're still deeply committed
to the cult of personality of Trumpism,
as this Fox interview with Lindsey Graham
on Saturday shows.
-You know, there's a lot going on in America today,
and I understand that you played golf with President Trump
and had dinner with him over the last few days.
And I know also that Congressman Kevin McCarthy
joined him for a meal or two. What's going on?
What's happening with the president?
-Well, his golf game is just incredible.
He's busting his driver
and knocking the pins down with his iron
and putting like a wild man. I mean, I'm not joking.
I've never seen him play this well.
But the president's worried about our country.
-Oh, is he? Sounds real concerned.
[As Graham] "Donald's playing 36 holes a day.
He walks the whole course,
carries everyone's clubs on his back,
hits 600-foot drives, putts from the tee,
and hit a ball so hard, he killed a whole flock of geese
and the ball still went straight into the hole.
But Donald's also real concerned about this dental variant
or whatever it's called."
I mean, do you guys not have any shame at all?
I know you have to constantly
slather praise on Trump on television
so he'll see it and you'll stay in his good graces,
but have a little self-respect.
[As Pirro] "I understand you saw the president
at a make-your-own-sundae bar
put something together that looked restaurant quality!"
[As Graham] "Oh, it's true, Jeanine.
I think a lot of us, when faced with the wealth of options
at a sundae bar, get overwhelmed.
We tend to forget that not all flavors go together.
We can make the mistake of putting on too much hot fudge
or too much caramel sauce, but the president,
well, you could have photographed his sundae
for the Friendly's menu.
It was that good.
Cherry balanced right on top."
Polls have consistently shown the majority of Americans
are relieved to have moved on from the Trump era
and have no desire to go back.
There's a huge temperamental difference
between Trump and Biden,
and voters clearly appreciate the change of pace,
given that Biden's approval ratings
have consistently been much higher than Trump's ever were.
Even the people who voted for Trump didn't really like him.
They talked about him in the way sports-radio hosts
talk about the type of manager they want for the Yankees.
"Boone's a nice guy, but we need a [bleep] to get in there
and kick some butt! All right. Let's take some calls!
Cigarette-smoking cockroach, you're on WFAN!"
[Gravelly voice] "Hey, Mad Dog. First time, long time.
What's up with his Mets bullpen? We need some fresh arms.
Is John Franco available? I'll hang up and listen."
[ Laughter ]
The Biden era's, of course, a stark change
from the Trump years, a change most voters approve of.
For one thing, we no longer
have to bear the collective national indignity
of watching the president whine and moan
and throw red-faced temper tantrums
while standing next to world leaders
who are so befuddled and embarrassed,
they all do that thing where they turn and glance
at the camera like the exasperated dad on a sitcom.
Remember when Trump shook Shinzo Abe's hand for 19 seconds,
and by the end, Abe looked like he'd just eaten
an extra-spicy wing on "Hot Ones"?
Speaking of "Hot Ones," now that Eric Adams
is likely to be our new mayor, can his first act be to change
the pronunciation of New York City
to the way Elizabeth Olsen said it
after eating 10 spicy wings?
-New York Cit-ay.
-If there was a show where Elizabeth Olsen
ate spicy foods and sassily said the name of cities,
that would be my favorite show.
The Trump/world leaders dynamic was perhaps most notable
with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Whenever she did a press conference with Trump,
she'd look directly at the camera like
she was doing a couch testimonial on "Modern Family."
[As Merkel] "Well, he got so excited
to play golf with his friends, he forgot my birthday again.
And he forgot to fix the step!"
And Trump would inevitably make it weird
by trying to drag her into whatever his latest mass was,
like the time he claimed for some reason
that they fire people quickly in Germany.
-When somebody treats our veterans badly,
we can fire them so fast,
almost as fast as they fire people in Germany.
We'll get rid of them.
And I will tell you, we're getting choice.
We're putting choice in very, very strongly.
-My sense was that, in Germany,
like in most Northern European countries,
it's not easy to get fired.
That's why so few people in the hospitality business
over there are, you know, hospitable.
That and the fact that you asked for a side
of barbecue sauce with your crepe.
And why are you pulling her into this?
Trump's like a stand-up
who tries to get the audience involved.
"Women love to shop. Am I right?
This lady knows what I'm talking about. Right, ma'am?
You love to shop. Don't you, ma'am?
Could you maybe take that phone call later, ma'am?
I'm trying to do crowd work. What's that?
You're calling to get a refund?
A refund for what? These tickets?"
Now, let's compare Trump's meeting with Merkel
to the one Joe Biden had at the White House,
the last trip Merkel will make to DC
before leaving office.
-Chancellor Merkel has been here
frequently over the past 16 years.
Matter of fact, she knows the Oval Office as well as I do.
But on a personal note, I must tell you,
I'll miss seeing you at our summits.
I truly will.
-Mr. President, dear Joe, thank you for the invitation.
Thank you for making it possible to talk to you.
It's my first visit since 2019.
And I'm so much --
so happy about the personal exchange.
We have seen again today
that we're not only partners and allies,
but we're very close friends.
-Wow. We're one Diane Keaton appearance away
from an early 2000's Nancy Meyers movie.
All that was missing was two big ol' wine glasses.
Normally when two people that age discuss
a long personal history, they're "On Golden Pond"
or, as it was titled in Germany,
"Auf dem Schimmernden Stillgewasser
der aus Erinnerungen besteht."
Yet, we're in the midst of yet another wave
of surging COVID cases, and we desperately need
everyone's help to convince as many Americans as possible
to get a vaccination, and yet Trump and his loyalists
and the GOP and on FOX remain more committed
to lying and fearmongering and advancing their own
petty political goals,
despite the fact that a majority of voters
say they're happy to have moved on from the Trump era.
Asking us to go back to that is like saying...
-Do you want to go cliff diving?
-This has been "A Closer Look."
♪♪
God's Love We Deliver cooks and brings
over two million meals a year
to men, women, and children living with HIV/AIDS,
cancer, and other serious illnesses,
and they need your help now more than ever.
If you're watching this online, you can hit the donate button.
Stay safe. Get vaccinated. We love you.