Sean covers the latest reaction toward the controversial moves by several NFL players who, this past Sunday, refused to stand for the national anthem. Why is this such a divisive issue? Sean breaks it down and shares what he'd do if he were an NFL owner. The Sean Hannity Show is live weekdays from 3 pm to 6 pm ET on iHeartRadio and Hannity.com. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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All right, the battle over Graham Cassidy and the health care repeal.
We'll have Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows and Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin are going to join us.
We're getting into the NFL.
Our top story today: Spencer Tillman of CBS College Football Today, Dan Bongino, former Secret Service agent, will join us.
And also, we'll do a quick check-in with Roy Moore.
We'll find out how that race is going down in Alabama.
And I guess we've got to start with where everybody's head is at today, and that is what happened over the weekend.
Well, I can tell you now the ratings are in, and it has not been good for the NFL.
They have now experienced another ratings drop of 8%.
All this starting last year, Colin Kaepernick.
Remember Colin Kaepernick?
The same guy that had referring to pigs on his socks, the same guy offering support for Fidel Castro, and he's taken a knee during the national anthem.
And now it has gone.
200-plus players took a knee this weekend because the president addressed it.
President now, President Trump calling for a boycott.
A lot of fans booing over the weekend.
He's saying, in spite of everyone, well, this has to do with race.
I don't think it has anything to do with race.
I think people genuinely and affectionately love our flag and our country and our anthem and think that we should respect it.
It's that simple.
Other people want to make political points.
Well, we're going to talk about the rules that govern the NFL and some of the past history in terms of the NFL squashing the right of players to have freedom of speech.
Roger Goodell now is not even abiding by his own rules.
In my opinion, he's probably lost all control over this.
And the net result is not going to be good for anybody.
It's not going to be good for fans because they're going to be tuning out.
It's not going to be good for attendance.
It's not going to be good for ratings.
It's not going to be good for players.
It's not going to be good for owners.
And I think it's probably going to be a boom for college football.
Because I just, I, this weekend, I was like, I just, I don't tune into the NFL for political statements.
And you can say, well, maybe that's your problem, Hannity.
You make your living with political statements.
You're right, I do.
And there is a time and a place for everything.
You know, one of the things about the NFL I've always loved is there is a camaraderie.
There is a spirit of teamwork.
There is, I love the high-fiving.
I love at the end of the game.
I mean, you think of an NFL game.
I mean, you're broken, you're busted, you're bruised.
You're trying to, you're basically trying to kill each other.
You got warriors on both sides, some of the most gifted, talented people in the country playing a real, real tough sport.
They're all battered and bruised at the end of a game.
And then oftentimes you'll see players get in a circle, and sometimes even the refs I've seen get in a circle.
Both teams get in a circle, they thank God.
I think it's a generic prayer.
I don't know if it's not.
I don't know.
I've never been in the circle.
And they just thank God and they appreciate their health, the togetherness, the opportunity to play this great game in front of massive audiences and appreciating their blessings.
I always loved that.
Always thought it was something that united the country.
Now, the NFL has some very strict rules as it relates to making statements.
And I'll give you some examples of this.
This is the same NFL, if you remember, now defending the players' rights to take a knee or not come out of the locker room for the national anthem.
You know, the same group of players that demonstrating their support.
Remember, the Dallas Cowboys wanted to demonstrate support when five Dallas police officers were gunned down while guarding a, I think it was a Black Lives Matter protest at the time, just last year.
And I have the Washington Times from August 2016.
One of the things that fans won't see during the NFL preseason, pro-police decals on the helmets of the Dallas Cowboys players thanks to a league ruling that blocked the tribute to the slain officers.
And supporters have decried the NFL's ban as an arm-and-arm helmet decals, which players have worn during practices as a display of unity.
These are officers that died in their city, in the city of Dallas, and they wanted to honor them and honor their families and honor their service.
Anyway, five of them were massacred back in the previous July of last year, 2016.
I remember being on the air when I heard the news.
The NFL had an opportunity to be leaders and advocates for change in law enforcement.
Sergeant Dominic or Dimitri Penny said of the Dallas Fallen Officer Foundation, he said, these are our friends, our loved ones.
It hurts not to have the NFL fully support us.
They made a statement.
Dallas Cowboy owner, Jerry Jones, and the players drew notice for opening training camp by walking into the field, et cetera, with the police chief and the Dallas mayor and relatives of the slain officers.
Now, if you're wondering legally where the president is correct, well, the president's to me, you know, I love that the president immediately the left and the media, this has to be about race.
Well, it's not all about race.
There are people that fought, bled, and died fighting for this country, fighting for the freedoms that we celebrate, including the freedom to protest.
So if people are offended because they fought under that flag, fought for their country, fought for everybody's freedom.
And there are a lot of good reasons to stand for the anthem and the flag and the people that fought, bled, and died.
And you could just do it because you want to honor them.
There's no perfect country on this earth that I know of.
There's no perfect people on this earth that I know of.
But there's never been a country in the history of mankind that has accumulated more power and abused it less and used less than the United States of America.
There's never been a country that has done more to advance the human condition than the United States of America.
There's never been a country with all the failings of our founders and framers.
There's never been a country that put in place a system where, albeit ever so slowly at times, that allows the correction of wrong and evil and injustices as proven by our history.
We don't always get it right, but we work to get it right.
And so with all this talk about, well, this is the First Amendment of the NFL, well, the Constitution's freedom of expression applies to government action.
That doesn't apply to the NFL.
First Amendment, Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech.
It says nothing about private action or reaction.
And I can tell you, every contract I've ever signed in my life and radio and television, it has all sorts of clauses in there that I could be fired for cause for this, for this, for this, for this, for that, and moral turpitude clauses, etc.
Anyway, but the players have contracts, and a contract allows the NFL to terminate any players for behavior that they deem to injure the organization or the league.
And one of the things that's in the actual NFL standard players contract, that they promise to conduct themselves on and off the field with appropriate recognition of the fact that the success of professional football depends largely on public respect for and approval of those associated with the game.
If a player is engaged in personal conduct reasonably judged by the club to adversely affect or reflect on the club, then the club may terminate the contract.
Now, the language, you know, was put out there pretty clear.
Now, here's the most insane part of this.
If you remember, not only the Dallas Cowboys couldn't honor the policeman, I always love RG3, Robert Griffin III.
Remember, he was fined $10,000.
He wore a T-shirt during a press conference, Operation Patience.
The shirt was created by Reebok, and players are required to only wear clothes sold by Nike.
So if he wore a Reebok shirt, he had to pay $10,000.
RG3 ran in trouble another time.
He was wearing a shirt that said, no, Jesus, no peace.
You know, the Dallas Cowboys were banned from wearing a decal on their helmet, honoring the slain officers.
Tennessee Titans linebacker Avery Williamson, you know, he was banned from honoring 9-11 victims by wearing cleats that read 9-1101.
And never forget, on the 15th anniversary last year of the September 11th terrorist attacks, NFL has banned players from wearing beats headphones because they have a deal with Bose headphones.
I guess when it comes to the bottom line, there's a lot of restrictions on freedom of speech.
The Steelers, William Gay, was fined for wearing purple cleats.
He wanted to raise awareness for domestic violence.
So, you know, this seems to be arbitrary and a little bit capricious here.
And if you look at the rules of the NFL, they have specific rules on the players and what they're supposed to do.
Anyway, the national anthem must be played prior to every NFL game, and all players must be on the sidelines for the national anthem.
During the national anthem, players on the field in the bench area should stand at attention, face the flag, hold their helmets in their left hand, refrain from talking.
The home team should ensure the American flag is in good condition.
It should, it further goes on to say it should be pointed out to the players and coaches that we continue to be judged by the public in this area of respect for our flag and country.
Failure to be on the field by the start of the national anthem may result in discipline, like fines and suspensions or forfeiture of a draft choice for violations of the above, including first offenses.
All right.
On Sunday, almost, you know, anywhere between 100 and 200 people took a knee.
Okay, I don't think that's helping out.
At the end of the day, the American people have a natural love affinity of this country and that anthem and what that anthem stands for and those people that fought, bled, and died to preserve this country for future generations.
Now, for example, Jerry Jones, who wasn't allowed to put the decal on the players' helmets for the slain officers, well, he's been pretty outspoken and said, you can't work for me.
You can't be on my team.
If you're going to go ahead and take a knee for the national anthem, it means that much to him.
How many of you know taxpayers have spent billions of dollars subsidizing the NFL?
Over the past 20 years, the American public has spent more than $7 billion to build or renovate NFL stadiums, taking on 46% of the total cost of the projects.
The numbers are pretty staggering, according to Fox Sports.
Franchises have been unabashed in taking public funds.
Five teams have received more than $400 million from the public or public funding to renovate their stadiums or build new ones.
The Falcons' $1.4 billion stadium has cost the public close to $600 million.
That number is expected to continue to rise ahead of their 2017, their recent opening.
I didn't get the final figures out.
Same thing in Minnesota, $500 million from the public.
Cincinnati, $424 million from the public.
And it goes on for Lucas Oil Stadium, where the Colts play, $719 million for the downtown area.
That's taxpayer money.
$619 million in public funding is still the largest in NFL history.
So I'm saying to you that, you know, and everyone's, look at what NASCAR said.
Sports are a unifying influence in our society, bringing people of differing backgrounds and beliefs together.
Our respect for the anthem has always been a hallmark of our pre-race events.
Thanks to the sacrifices of many, we live in a country of unparalleled freedoms and countless liberties, including the right to peacefully express one's opinion.
That doesn't mean you have the right to do it on an NFL sideline.
Otherwise, the Cowboys would have been free to honor the slain officers.
Now, if Roger Goodell wants to selectively impose these rules and artificially impose them, then I'm telling you what's going to happen.
And I don't believe in boycotts.
I'm not calling for a boycott.
But I'm not as interested in watching NFL players take a knee.
And then the players are going to be hurt, ratings and revenue are going to be hurt, and people are going to stay away.
You just watch.
It's just, I'm telling you what's going to happen, not what I want to have happen, but what's going to happen.
All right, we have a lot more on this, and we'll have a debate.
Spencer Tillman, Dan Bongino coming up, 800-941, Sean, our number.
All right, as we roll along, Sean Hannity Show, 800-941, Sean Tolfrey telephone number, if you want to be a part of the program.
You know, I think I just feel like a lot of other people here, and I feel like a lot of Americans here.
And when you disrespect the flag, you know what?
You're not uniting the country.
I'll tell you the story again about Robert Kraft.
Robert Kraft goes out with some of his players when this is happening with Colin Kaepernick.
And he goes out with people and he says, okay, I don't want people on my team taking a knee.
And then he says, he goes into, he meets with the police in some of the tougher areas of town and he says to them, he says, you know what?
I'll match dollar for dollar any charity that you have that's going to help anything that you feel passionately about and we can work together and make things better.
And I think that pretty much says it all.
But there's nothing here.
The fact that people on the left cannot understand those of us that are offended by this.
You know, America is not perfect, but America is great.
And America can be even better.
And America's provided more hope and more opportunity than any other country that I know of.
And when you think of America that beat back fascism, Nazism, communism, Imperial Japan, America that has stood on the world stage as the sole protector of the human spirit at times.
And you think of American blood shed for the cause of liberty and freedom and the right of people to speak out.
And the bottom line is, whether the NFL likes it or not, they blew this.
The NFL didn't even follow their own rules.
And the NFL selectively, you know, picking and choosing what they want.
This isn't helping anybody in poverty on food stamps out of the labor force get work.
And for those of us that look at this and are disgusted, it's like you're spitting in the eye of servicemen and women who fought, bled, and died for everybody's right for free speech.
And you know what?
You can do this all you want, but you know what?
You're just going to push away the American consumer that's always loved the unity of the NFL.
That's where I think they're making their big mistake.
You know, it's amazing.
The hero, I think, of the weekend ended up being the Pittsburgh Steelers, Alejandro Villanueva, who literally on his own against his own team, came out, put his hand over his heart, stood for the anthem.
And his team owner did not want him to do it.
Now he's a former U.S. Army Ranger, the only Pittsburgh Steeler player to exit the locker room and stand for the anthem on Sunday.
Here's a guy that earned a bronze star with valor during a combat deployment, one of three in Afghanistan.
The one he got the bronze star for was in Afghanistan in 2011.
No Steeler was on the sideline during the anthem.
Anyway, he's a veteran.
He served in the Army.
He stood near the tunnel.
Everybody could see him.
And he recounted how on August 25th, 2011, the story of his valor in 2014 in an interview with ESPN, and his unit was described as being tipped off at night to the presence of multiple Taliban in a nearby Kandahar village.
And when his unit arrived, he found no Taliban and began questioning an Afghan leader.
At that point, ESPN described the night.
As the elder began to explain, Villanueva and his troops were ambushed by as many as eight Taliban militants in a spray of bullets.
Special Sergeant Martin Piggott was shot in the kneecap.
Sergeant Roy Dunton was shot in the back of the leg.
Army Private First Class Jesse Diertrich was shot near the armpit.
And under heavy fire, Villanueva pulled the wounded Dietrich down into an alley and into a second mosque where a medic took over.
And Villanueva then returned to the fight.
When he came back to check on the injured soldiers, the medic told him they needed to move the wounded soldiers to a safer location.
So he carried Piggett on his shoulders and Villanueva took the three to a nearby school where they waited for a chopper that would transport the wounded to the city of Kandahar.
Help me, Sir Dietrich cried to Villanueva.
He's pretty scared, he said, and he kept asking for help.
By the time Villanueva lifted Dietrich onto the helicopter, his eyes were purple.
He died a short time later.
As the platoon leader, I feel responsible for everything my platoon does or fails to do.
I failed to keep Jesse Dietrich safe, and you know what?
It was just tough.
I kept thinking of the other guys, you know, and other ways I could have done this.
That's a very tough mission.
The enemy beat us that day.
It was just a really bad night.
He served two additional tours in Afghanistan beyond that one before starting his NFL career by first signing with the Eagles in 2014.
He just signed a pretty big, long four-year deal.
So that's the hero of the weekend.
And that's why Americans stand for the anthem.
If for nothing else, I'm all for righting wrongs and correcting injustices.
I'm all for freedom of speech.
I'm all for all of it.
I make my living with freedom of speech.
And I'm not calling for a boycott of anybody.
I'm just saying for me, it just is like I'm watching a game that used to unite the country.
And now it decided to enter into this arena following Colin Coppernick, who, you know, has pigs, you know, the image of cops displayed as pigs on his socks, supporting murdering dictators like Fidel Castro.
And I'm sorry, I'm just having a hard time understanding why the NFL, even though it's in their rules, which I read to you in the last half hour, is allowing the players to do it.
Jerry Jones isn't letting the Dallas Cowboys do it.
I think Jerry Jones is about, he's dead on, absolutely serious about he's not going to let this happen.
But this story about Villa Nueva is amazing.
Anyway, so, and then off comes the media.
Let's listen to the media.
Racism, racism, racism.
How about it has to do with honoring our country, honoring the fallen, honoring the wounded, honoring those who fought, bled, and died for all of our freedoms?
Let's play it.
Ryan, it's hard to ignore the racial component here.
The president went on this jag on Friday night in front of a largely white audience.
What's your view on the racial component here?
Well, I think there's a lot of talk now about coded language.
You think about what he said, disrespecting our heritage, we, to that largely white crowd.
I think there's a lot of folks out there that look at this and say, what are you really trying to say here?
The White House likes this fight.
They think this is ultimately good politics for them.
They think that they're on the right side of this and that somehow it'll be the left or some of these players that overstep.
I don't know.
We'll see.
This feels like a culture war that's exploding right before our eyes.
There is an unmistakable racial element to this story.
And that's why I come down on the side of covering this and covering it big, even if it is a distraction, so to speak.
Because who Trump chooses to criticize tells us a lot.
This story is ultimately about patriotism.
It's about the right to protest.
It's about what it means to be an American.
And the subtext, the awkward subtext, is a question we asked a few weeks ago on this program.
Is President Trump a racist?
We heard the president himself say, this is not about race.
And I've got to say, this is so much bigger than the president versus the players.
People in this country are going to feel completely against the notion that this is not about race.
If the president comes out and says this is not about race, that's a little bit like saying I'm not a crook.
If you have to say it, you're already in trouble.
When it comes to sensitive issues like this, you know, past presidents, I want to talk to Matt about this, past presidents have done their best to put out the flame, not fan the flame, not throw gasoline on it.
And many have pointed out that President Trump's language, SOB, referring to NFL players who peacefully protest racial injustice, SOB, that language far stronger than what the president said about white supremacists in Charlottesville.
And then you have the president of the United States, in my estimation, this is just my estimation, I want to be clear about that, coming perilously close to race baiting on a Friday night in Alabama.
And then through the weekend, majoring in division of this country rather than bringing the country together.
He goes to bed one night provoking the leader of North Korea into a mistake.
He wakes up the very next morning going after professional athletes, almost all of whom in some sports, the majority of them African American.
This is the United States of America.
He does not understand the United States of America.
Well, he understands the worst.
All right, that's enough enough.
You notice every voice of every Trump hater who's always hated him.
Well, is there coded language?
I don't think Donald Trump is anything but direct.
Could it be that this has to do with respect for the country, respect for the men and women who fought, bled, and died, respect for all of these things that we hold dear?
Do we have to go to, well, I think it might be coded language.
He didn't say it, though.
And I mean, the stupidity, it's all the same media people that hate him again and again.
Oh, the white supremacist argument.
It's ridiculous.
And you know what?
The NFL is, they've dug themselves their own hole here.
Because if they're not going to allow honoring cops that were killed in a city, and they're not going to allow, and they're going to allow players to break and defy their own rules, and they want the NFL to go fully, full-on, full-bore political, I'm going to tell you how this is going to end, and it's not going to end well.
It's going to end with people losing money and revenues and ratings and an audience.
Now, as I said to myself over the weekend, I'm like, what's the point?
They keep doubling down on their knees and they keep going and they keep protesting.
I don't even know fully, completely what everybody's protesting here.
What was Kaepernick protesting with socks that depicted policemen as pigs?
You have one NFL player I saw over the weekend, former Oakland Raider and New York jet Burgess Owens.
And he was on Fox and Friends over the weekend.
And he went on to say that, let me tell you about what our responsibility is.
And every generation has done this throughout the history of our country.
It's give our kids more hope than we had.
My parents' generation, my grandparents' generation succeeded in sowing hope.
That's how they fought racism.
We have the greatest country and the most freedom today.
And we have more people, particularly black Americans, who have less hope.
And that's because they have very successful men telling them that they can do it, but black Americans can't do it.
He's saying that.
And he's a black American.
He's going to be on this program tomorrow.
And it's really time for us to stand up and say, listen, guys, this country gives us everything we want.
And if I did it, you can do it too.
And stop the whole thing.
If you want to have demonstrations, demonstrate someplace else.
But not standing for our flag that gives us freedom to be the greatest people in the history of mankind.
I think that sums it up for a lot of people.
I think it sums it up for a lot of Americans.
I have national anthem singers are even taking knees.
And now baseball is getting into the act.
The Oakland A's catcher got into the act, I guess, Friday night.
Bruce Maxwell.
He was the first one to take a knee.
NFL players and LeBron James and Steve Curry and everybody, they can do it all they want.
You know, one of the things about sports is it's people of every race, background, color in one stadium, having the time of their lives, and people loving the whole experience.
Now we're going to take a big wedge and put it in between football.
And my advice to college football, nip this in the bud now.
Don't follow the NFL.
Jerry Jones, Cowboys owner, warned us players what's going to happen if they protest the anthem.
They're done.
They won't play for the Dallas Cowboys.
No wonder my son is such a Dallas Cowboys fan.
I have no idea how that happened.
I have no idea.
He's the biggest Dallas Cowboys fan in the entire world.
Anyway, 800-941-Sean, a toll-free telephone number.
You want to be a part of the program.
A big Senate race tomorrow that I would argue is now coming down as a referendum against Mitch McConnell and establishment Republicans.
I proudly endorsed Judge Roy Moore in his race against Luther Strange.
And I know the president was down there supporting Strange on Friday night, which is where all this controversy on football came up.
Now, you're going to be there tonight.
I know Steve Bannon's there.
I know you had Sarah Palin there.
I know you had my buddy Sebastian Gorka there and a bunch of other people.
And you've been up as high as 13 points in the polls.
How's it looking now?
It's looking very good, Sean.
And we think that the people of Alabama see through what they're trying to do in Washington is by the vote of the people of Alabama with, according to the MSNBC, over $30 million.
And they've run negative ads.
They have done this for two months, and it hasn't changed the people of Alabama because they can't be bought.
They understand what's going on, and they will not succumb to Mitch McConnell and his cronies in the Senate because they've got a lot of money.
How aware are the people in Alabama that this money is coming from the establishment like McConnell?
Very.
They're very aware of it, and we've made them aware of it.
And, of course, all the ads, Senate Leadership Fund, is right at the bottom of it.
And they know Mitch McConnell's at the base of that.
I think I had four mailers in today in my box for Luther Strange.
I mean, this has gone on for months, and he has not run an ethical campaign, in my opinion.
And how much has been spent from outside sources, outside Alabama money?
And look, you know, I lived in Alabama for a couple of years.
How much money from outside of Alabama is coming in?
You're talking about for his campaign?
Yes, for I couldn't, I couldn't say.
I really can't.
But it's millions and millions of dollars.
They have put everything because they see this as a referendum on the future 2018 elections.
They want to see that if there's people out in this country, and I believe there are many, will follow and challenge them.
And if they can't beat me, they've got a crack in the dam and it's going to fall.
Well, I predict you're on track to win this thing tomorrow.
And if that happens, you will work with the president.
You actually like the president's agenda.
Absolutely.
Do you understand that he had this previous relationship with Strange, and that's why he probably endorsed him?
That relationship was developed since he got into the race, and that's what's happened.
And he's been told certain things, like McConnell was not aware of Strange, which is ridiculous.
And this is, it's just, he's been misinformed by people around him, I believe.
All right, Judge Roy Moore, we're going to be watching.
I think it's a referendum on Mitch, who seems to be incapable of getting anything done or keeping any promises.
We'll see how this turns out this week on the Graham Cassidy bill, which we'll get into in the final hour of the program.
When we come back, Spencer Tillman is going to debate Dan Bongino.
That's coming up 800-941 Sean as our number.
I want to remind you that Hannity is moving to a new time.
We're really excited.
Everyone in there knows who's coming up this week.
All I can say is we've got a great, great week on television.
All right, so we're back to our old time, which is our new time, which is 9 o'clock Eastern.
Obviously, we'll be getting into the NFL controversy.
Steve Bannon is going to be joining us tonight from Alabama, where he's campaigning for Roy Moore.
Newt Gingrich, Laura Ingram tonight, and so much more.
All right, so 9 Eastern.
Please start resetting your DVR Fox News channel.
You're going to love the week we have.
Trust me.
Ryan, it's hard to ignore the racial component here.
The president went on this jag on Friday night in front of a largely white audience.
What's your view on the racial component here?
Well, I think there's a lot of talk now about coded language.
You think about what he said, disrespecting our heritage, we, to that largely white crowd.
I think there's a lot of folks out there that look at this and say, what are you really trying to say here?
The White House likes this fight.
They think this is ultimately good politics for them.
They think that they're on the right side of this and that somehow it'll be the left or some of these players that overstep.
I don't know.
We'll see.
This feels like a culture war that's exploding right before our eyes.
There is an unmistakable racial element to this story.
And that's why I come down on the side of covering this and covering it big, even if it is a distraction, so to speak.
Because who Trump chooses to criticize tells us a lot.
This story is ultimately about patriotism.
It's about the right to protest.
It's about what it means to be an American.
And the subtext, the awkward subtext, is a question we asked a few weeks ago on this program.
Is President Trump a racist?
We heard the president himself say, this is not about race.
And I've got to say, this is so much bigger than the president versus the players.
People in this country are going to feel completely against this notion that this is not about race.
If the president comes out and says this is not about race, that's a little bit like saying I'm not a crook.
If you have to say it, you're already in trouble.
When it comes to sensitive issues like this, you know, past presidents, I want to talk to Matt about this, past presidents have done their best to put out the flame, not fan the flame, not throw gasoline on it.
And many have pointed out that President Trump's language, SOB, referring to NFL players who peacefully protest racial injustice, SOB, that language far stronger than what the president said about white supremacists in Charlottesville.
And then you have the president of the United States, in my estimation, this is just my estimation, I want to be clear about that, coming perilously close to race baiting on a Friday night in Alabama.
And then through the weekend, majoring in division of this country rather than bringing the country together.
Right.
He goes to bed one night provoking the leader of North Korea into a mistake.
He wakes up the very next morning going after professional athletes, almost all of whom in some sports, a majority of them African American.
This is the United States of America.
He does not understand the United States of America.
Well, he understands the worst of America.
He doesn't understand the best of America.
But he certainly does understand how to bait people, whether it's race baiting or political baiting or whatever baiting.
And it leaves the country in a horrible place.
It puts politics into sports in a way that isn't good for anyone, and he does know exactly what he's doing.
If you're, I mean, the president is putting this country in a horrible place.
And if you have any question in your mind as to whether or not he is race baiting at a certain point of time, just think of Charlottesville.
It'll give you some clarity.
Unbelievable the differing interpretations that are happening here.
800-941-Sean, hour two of the Sean Hannity show.
Look, I've given you a lot of my opinion in the last hour.
To me, this flag, that standing for that anthem means the world to all of those people that have fought, bled, and died for this country.
To me, that's one thing that is universal.
I think there are ways to make a statement, but I also think that the NFL is being hypocritical when you look at the different rules that they have on the books.
They're not even abiding by their own rule book.
And it raises the question: all right, fans are reacting their way.
The president's reacting his way.
And then you see the reaction of the players, some 200-plus players taking a knee this weekend.
And I like to watch football because I love football and I love to see some of the most talented athletes in the country compete.
You know, I do like at the end of a tough game that people get in a circle together and hold hands and they say a prayer.
And they're thankful that they're healthy.
They're thankful that they got a chance to participate in one of the greatest sports ever.
And you can see what's happening.
Anyway, joining us now, two friends of mine, Spencer Tillman, lead studio analyst for college football today, the CBS Television Network's pregame halftime studio show, and former running back for eight seasons.
He was with the then Houston Oilers and San Francisco 49ers.
Dan Bongino's with us, former Secret Service agent, NYPD, contributing editor of Conservative Review.
Welcome both of you back to the program.
I want to start with this, though.
So last year when this whole Colin Kaepernick issue kicked in, Spencer, I'll start with you.
It kicks in, and I happened to have a discussion with Robert Kraft.
I'm not friends with him, but I met him and I had an opportunity to talk to him.
And we talked at length about Colin Kaepernick.
And he said that on his team, a little different than what he said yesterday.
He said at the time that he doesn't want his players to take a knee.
And he got some of the leaders on his team and they went around to some of the tougher neighborhoods in and around Boston and Foxborough.
And they went with some police officers that were dealing with some real hardcore problems in the community.
And he said, guys, you want to do something?
I'll tell you what I'm going to do.
I'll match it dollar for dollar.
Every dollar you raise and donate, I'll match it and we'll help our community out together and we'll make a positive change.
And I thought that was a great, great antidote.
And frankly, I think that I think the American people that love their military, love their country, and respect those that fought, bled, and died under that flag find it beyond insulting.
Your thoughts?
I think I have great respect for what Robert Kraft did, but I will say this.
This is not a money problem.
No amount of money can fix America's heart.
This is a heart and an ability to empathize with people.
And if we can't empathize, we can sure sympathize with people and listen.
That's what this is about at the end of the day, Sean.
And so the way I see it is it's kind of like a very predictable problem.
We, this nation, because of its unique history with 300-plus years of slavery, another 50 years of Jim Crow law on the titular books, it is moving from scabs to scars.
And that is a process.
I think what Donald Trump did, unfortunately, and I'm a car-carrying conservative with a conscience, I think what he did, and using the language, the incendiary language that he used, he picked at a scar that is not yet a scar.
He picked at a scab that is trying to get to that scar status.
The ability to move from scabs to scars requires people who understand the context of history.
It doesn't require a P.T. Barnum.
That's the last thing in the world that it needs because people are moving.
These brave Americans who have defended our nation that you referred to and in the soundbites referred to did that.
And they are passionate about that.
But you cannot understand.
We've got to take the same measure of empathy with the people in this nation who are the byproducts, the grandchildren of slaves.
I have one question, though.
Why are you assuming that this is a P.T. Barnum moment when there are real Americans that find real offense as to what has happened here?
I'll give you an example.
The Dallas Cowboys and Jerry Jones will not allow his players to take a knee.
And Jerry Jones wanted to honor the police officers that were killed, if you remember last year in Dallas.
The NFL said no.
The NFL Ravens quarterback, you know, did what Peyton Manning at the Colts wanted to do, but, you know, he put his black high-top cleats on, and he ended up getting a fine.
You can't yell at the ref.
Up till this year, you couldn't celebrate in the end zone.
And so my only point is, if you can't honor dead police officers and you really don't have free speech in the NFL and all these other ways and you can't put anything on your jersey, aren't they all, aren't they all ways that the NFL says you cannot have total free, complete speech?
And then I'll read you the rules in a second.
Well, Sean, are you really seriously comparing whether or not a person does a jig, whether it's an Irish jig or a funky soul dance that may be perceived as erotic or therefore beyond the means of what's acceptable and boarding on pornographic?
No, no, no.
I'm saying that if Jerry Jones wants to honor dead policemen and he's not allowed to and his team's not allowed to, I think that's a pretty strong message against any political statements in football.
Well, I think Jerry Jones should be allowed to honor in that regard.
That's my point.
That's a league.
That's a league issue.
The league has got to deal with that.
It's dealing with a host of issues, all the way from CTE to any of these matters that we're talking about right now.
That's Roger Goodell's issue, and he's got to deal with that.
Listen, they've been facing this music long before the Ray Rice situation came up or Colin Kaepernick.
So they've got to understand they've got to look themselves in the mirror and be consistent with their management of themselves.
There's no question about that.
But this bigger issue that we're talking about, we're visiting the family.
Well, let me give you another issue.
Let me give you another issue.
RG3, I was the biggest RG fan that was out there.
I thought one of the most talented people ever to play in the NFL.
And I'm sad that his career didn't go as I think it could have.
Remember, he got in trouble with the league.
He was wearing a shirt that said, no, Jesus, no peace.
You've had NFL players, you know, literally banned because they were wearing beats headphones on the field, which violated the league's deal with Bose.
Or the Steelers, William Gray, I think his name is, was fined for wearing purple cleats because he wanted to raise awareness for domestic violence.
You know, so many instances where the freedom of speech of players are inhibited.
And the rule of the NFL, and we got to bring in our friend Dan Bongino here, says this.
During the national anthem, players on the field and bench area should stand at attention.
They should face the flag, hold helmets in their left hand, and refrain from talking.
The home team should ensure the American flag is in good condition.
It should be pointed out to players and coaches.
We continue to be judged by the public in this area of respect for the flag on our country.
Failure to be on the field by the start of the anthem may result in discipline, fine, suspension, and or forfeiture of draft choices for violations of the above, including first offenses.
So that's the Rules League.
What's your take, Dan Bongino?
Well, Sean, this goes to show you that the American left is now taking over the NFL.
And with the American left, the only acceptable form of protest is one that craps all over America.
You know, Spencer said the protest was about her history of slavery and that it moved on to Jim Crow.
And this is the problem with this protest.
You ask a thousand people what this protest is about, a thousand people give you a thousand different answers.
Let's remember how this started and what everyone who supports this thing is supporting.
Colin Kaepernick wore a pair of socks depicting cops as pigs.
He also decided to wear a shirt at an August 26th press conference celebrating a totalitarian murderer known as Fidel Castro, who I don't know if anybody knows.
This is, let me get this straight, NFL, to the clowns at the NFL.
And I do mean clowns, absolutely clowns.
This is the hill you want to die on?
This is the joker you want to get into bed with to protest what?
Systematic oppression?
What is this protest has completely overshadowed its cause because it doesn't have a cause.
It's a bunch of grievance leftist crap garbage BS politics, Sean, and it's sickening over probably 50 to 60 percent of the NFL audience.
They are going to lose dramatically on this thing, and defending this thing is a loser.
You want to go get into this?
Then go get out and volunteer at a soup kitchen or go do something in your communities.
Kneeling at our flag, a flag that means something to people that people have literally died for?
No, that's a loser.
You dropped a big L on this, the NFL.
And let me tell you, the ramifications have yet to be seen for this.
Last time we spoke, we made the point that Colin Kaepernick abused the optics of this.
The iconography that he was pushing forward with the pigs on the socks, all of that was bad.
It was dumb.
It was stupid.
But I don't think for one minute that you would be so naive to construe this larger argument with something as superficial as Sox or an Afro or something he did in an event in April some years ago.
That is not what this is about.
He made a mistake in the way he posited his argument.
He made a mistake in the way that he made his decisions about what he did.
That was wrong.
But those are two isolated incidences.
This is not just about those two incidences.
What is Spencer?
What is it about?
All right, guys, stay right there.
We're going to pick it up.
We have it for the full hour as we continue.
Spencer Tillman and Dan Bongino.
We'll get right back to this.
800-941 Sean is on number.
Also, we have Mark Meadows and Senator Johnson on the healthcare bill.
All right, as we continue with Dan Pongino, Spencer Tillman debating the issue of 200 players over the weekend.
Now ratings dropped again over the weekend.
Sunday night football down another 8% last night.
Probably just the beginning if this continues every Sunday in the NFL.
Dan, why don't you reiterate your point and then let Spencer respond to it for those just joining us?
This is a very sincere question.
I'm really not trying to push your buttons on this, Spencer.
What specifically is this about?
Let me just give you a quick example here of why I'm asking this question.
If this was a conservative protest and I were, God forbid, I would never do this, but in poor taste, to show up at the protest with a picture of, say, Barack Obama dressed in the form of some animal, whatever it would be, whatever I said after that would be duly discounted because of the poor choices I make reflecting on that protest.
This was not an isolated incident, Colin Kaepernick with the pig socks.
He showed up at a press conference celebrating Fidel Castro, a murderous dictator, and he has never since recounted that.
So I'm asking you again, and I mean it sincerely, what is this about?
What are you hoping to change?
Well, you keep bringing it back to that incident.
He's not recanted.
What has he done since that time that even falls anywhere close to that category?
He has since gotten counsel from those mistakes that he made, right?
They were wrong.
He thought he was trying to do something that was positive.
It's not.
To answer your question, Dan, the fact that you don't know what this is about speaks volumes to why we need to have this discussion and why America as a whole needs to know.
The way I liken it, Dan, it's like a divorce.
If you are served papers in a divorce and you're surprised by it totally after 25 years and your spouse comes to you and says, hey, look, it's over with.
One party has ignored one and is totally unaware, bereft of anything that could be going awry within that relationship.
Why does that happen?
It's because they're insular.
It's isolated and they're not connected to the disheartenment.
My dad gave me some advice many, many years ago in marriage.
He said, son, a woman gets on the road to leaving a man.
She's just not going to leave.
She gets on the road.
But if she ever gets to the point where she's willing to tell you that she's going to leave, she'll be the first one to tell you what you could have done to keep her, but she's gone.
So let me give you some advice, son.
Always ask her, how are we doing?
How are we doing?
You ask my wife every other morning, typically, I'll do it two or three times in the course of the week.
I wake up asking her, how are we doing?
Why?
Because I care and I want to know.
If I'm not doing something right, I want to get it fixed because I respect the fact that I am a father of four beautiful daughters, a wife of 32 years, and I value that.
That's why we have to do it.
This nation has a history that it refuses to acknowledge fully.
I can't even go in my neighborhood, Dan, and I'm a wealthy black man without routinely getting stopped.
That's the reason why Colin Kaepernick is doing what he's doing.
That's the reason why it is what I do because I get a form and an opportunity to talk about it in this context.
You can't do it in a soundbite, but Sean provides a format where we can do it.
Now, we're getting hype right now.
We're excited about all of this, but we need to bring this thing down a notch and begin to listen to one another and articulate exactly what's happening.
By the way, I want to break, and I know Dan Bongino's dynamo respond, Spencer Tillman, Dan Bongino.
And I do think that there are options here without insulting vast majorities of the population that find this, what is happening, insulting, and it's really hurting a game that so many people like.
We'll take a break.
We'll come back, 800-941.
Sean, if you want to be a part of the program, it's the Sean Hannity Show.
Straight ahead.
All right, 25 till the top of the hour, 800-941.
Sean, you want to be a part of the programmer?
All right, some of the recap from the weekend.
Football ratings have gone down.
The president calling for an NFL boycott.
And this in relation to the 200-plus players this weekend, which is 20%, 23% of the league that now has decided to take a knee, following in the heels of Colin Kaepernick and all that happened last year.
Roger Goodell, some of the owners, are angry at President Trump.
Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys says, Not on my team.
You're standing for the national anthem or you won't play for the Dallas Cowboys.
And it's just now become a major issue.
And we continue with Spencer Tillman.
And Spencer, of course, is well known.
He is the lead studio analyst for college football today on CBS.
And of course, their pre and halftime shows.
And former running back with the Oilers and the 49ers.
And Dan Bongino, former Secret Service agent, NYPD, contributing editor.
I think we left off with Spencer.
Dan, I'll start with you and give you an opportunity.
You know, it does break my heart when I do hear stories from friends of mine that are stopped for no other reason except that they're black or they're a minority.
That does happen.
You cannot deny the evil that is racism in our country's history.
I would argue, on the other hand, I don't think there's ever been a country in the history of man that has accumulated more power, abused it less.
And for all of the failings, and we've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, but for all of our failings and the failings of our framers and founders, they did design a system where we correct wrongs, correct evil, correct injustices, which, by the way, this country has a pretty good history, slowly, albeit very slowly, of starting to get things right.
Thoughts, Dan?
Exactly.
And what's bothering me about Spencer's point?
What's bothering me about this is, you know, you said, Spencer, in the last segment, you said it's, you know, you have to listen.
The other side's not listening to us.
And I strongly, strongly dispute that.
The side that's not listening is Colin Kaepernick and the NFL.
I don't have a friend or an associate who would dispute anything you said about racism.
Of course, racism exists.
Of course, it is the most outside of like child pornography and murder, the most abhorrent thing you can be called is a racist.
You are absolutely correct.
Point stipulated.
There's no disputing that.
You are correct.
All I'm saying to you is the format you're deciding or defending, this kneeling at the flag, you're not listening.
Americans think that flag means something far different than the people kneeling in front of it thinking it means.
If you think kneeling in front of it is some form of respect, Americans are tuning out.
Ratings are down.
Polls are crystal clear on this.
People are pissed.
They do not want to see as a form of protest you disrespecting the flag.
Everybody's open to listen.
You want to have this conversation?
It is a fair conversation to have.
It is not a fair conversation to have to disrespect our flag and our anthem and make that about something it's not.
That's not the way to do it.
Let me ask you this, Dan.
What would you say to a Bob McNair?
What would you say, who I come to know is one of the most sterling personalities and benevolent human beings I've ever met in my life?
I hold him in the highest regard.
People of his ilk who have strong statements that they've made in opposition to what our president stated the other day when he used the profane language that he did to describe, in effect, if not directly, indirectly, the cohort of people who were taking a knee.
When he uses that language, what do you say to a Bob McNair who had strong commentary that was the antithesis of what the president said?
Are these people unpatriotic?
Yeah, he can plant the big one on my caboose.
I couldn't care any less.
The president of the United States is not the problem here, Spencer.
The person who started this was Colin Kaepernick, who wore a pair of socks depicting cops as pigs.
And I keep going back to that because it's just amazing to me.
No, wait, hold on.
Let me finish my point.
That again, this is somehow Donald Trump's problem.
He had nothing to do with starting this.
Donald Trump doesn't kneel in front of the flag.
Donald Trump simply said what the overwhelming number of Americans I come into contact with, and most of my friends do believe, that you're going to kneel in front of that flag, then you can get the hell off that field and you fill in the blank.
And you know what?
Bob McWhy don't even know.
I couldn't care any less about his response to the president.
Donald Trump said what just about every patriotic American was feeling.
And I'm telling you, the NFL is on the wrong side of this.
Here's what, Dan.
Here's why there's a huge difference between what the president said and anything Colin Kaepernick can truly do.
Colin Kaepernick can't have some influence because a celebrity or star can do that.
But there is a vast difference between racism and prejudice.
Now, hear me now on this.
This is so important.
Colin Kaepernick can't be a racist.
He can't even, he can have a bias about something, but racism, and get this definition, is prejudice plus power.
That's crap.
The president of the United States wills power, therefore influence.
And that can manifest itself in our laws and the way we go about doing things.
Spencer, I got a question about this.
Why can't you just accept that the president, like so many other Americans, are deeply in his heart and soul genuinely, deeply affected by what the players are doing?
Now, I can also, because, you know, I can also bring on this program, Spencer, because I know him really well.
A lot of people from a lot of races, a lot of backgrounds that have worked with him, that he's donated to, that he's hired, that love him for who he is.
Why are you questioning his sincerity in this?
Because a lot of Americans are offended.
I'm one.
I'm offended.
Listen, Sean, I'm not questioning his sincerity.
I'm questioning his depth and his willingness to go the same length to find out what these other people who he's in diametrical opposition to are truly feeling.
There is no capacity or desire for empathy or to try to find out.
You cannot have that polar op attitude that he has in expressing his articulation.
You cannot have that and be empathetic or sympathetic with are you saying that I can't be sympathetic or empathetic?
Because my whole life has been a president.
If you're the president and you make that statement, you are not applying the same level of empathy or capacity for sympathy that you are to your position.
All right, Dan Bungee.
What I'm saying, you're buying into this critical theory junk that's taught in college.
You know, race plus power.
You can't be racist.
Only white people can be.
That's just garbage.
I totally dismiss that out of hand.
And frankly, you want to know why Donald Trump won the election.
It's because people were being told things for years in academia, Hollywood, and through the media that they saw on their face as being patently crap, garbage junk.
Like, wait, what do you mean if only white people can be racist?
I mean, that's an inherently racist statement to say that.
So if you get someone who's Hispanic or Asian or black who says, listen, I hate white people.
They have to be in a position of power to be taken seriously.
Do you understand how years of year after year of saying this repeatedly in working class communities in Pennsylvania and Michigan and Wisconsin, how people would be alienated and be like, wait, let me get this straight.
That I judge people strictly by their character, but when someone judges me because I'm white, that's not racism because of some fancy academic definition.
This is ridiculous.
You live in this insulated bubble, if you believe that, that's totally isolated from the real world.
It's insane.
Let's get a quick response, and then I want to ask you both the same question.
Go ahead, Spencer.
Do you think there's any antidote or solution here, any middle ground?
Because I agree with you in the sense that I don't see any upside here for anybody in the NFL, for sports fans everywhere.
And I think now that it's entered the political arena, it's not going to go out of the way or get out of the way.
Dan Bongino.
Sean, the only way to fix this is to, you got to take this Jerry Jones approach or this NASCAR approach.
Right now, they've isolated so much of their audience and really alienated, I should say, not isolated, alienated so many people.
I'm not sure that audience ever is going to come back.
I know I'm not.
I'm frankly done.
But the only way to do it is to put a league-wide policy out there that, you know what, you're going to stand for the darn national anthem.
You have the microphone after the game.
You have a bunch of sports reporters.
You have something to say after the game about systematic oppression or police brutality.
You know, that's fine.
Knock yourself out after the game.
It's your forum.
But this stand on the sideline kneeling to disrespect our anthem and our flag.
You know, this is a loser.
This is a lose-lose for everyone.
The NFL, money talks, and the other garbage walks.
And I think once they start losing advertising dollars, something's going to change and change fast.
See, I think what's going to happen is what we see happening.
I think over the long term, I think the NFL is hurting themselves.
And I just think that nobody wants the NFL to be political in any way.
All right, let me bring up Spencer Tillman again because he dropped for a second.
Spencer, welcome back.
Sorry we lost you.
Well, here's the deal.
I never said that only white people could be racist.
That's part of the problem.
You've taken what I've said and swung that pendulum all the way to the other side.
Colin Kaepernick happens to be mix of mixed race, but I was using an example of someone who is in a position of power like the president.
You have biases against another race or a group of people, and that shows up in your decisions and your choices and your statements.
And you will position that perilous, that is perilously close to what a racist is.
It is prejudice plus power.
I'm not worried about the guy running down the street in the Ku Klux Klan hat on who doesn't own a dime.
He can have his opinions, and I'm definitely saddened that he feels that way.
But if he's not in a position to affect his biases on me, he does not have power.
Therefore, he cannot be a racist in the strictest sense of the definition.
He can have bias toward me as a black person, but that's not what I'm afraid of.
I'm concerned about the commander-in-chief who makes statements about a league that has nearly 72% of its participants happen to be people of color, and he calls them sons of bitches.
That is a problem for me.
Well, I think he was specifically saying those that were taking a knee and doing what he said clearly with dishonoring the flag and the anthem.
And does that by default not mean that the majority of them happen to be African-Americans, Sean?
Come on.
No, I think the only thing I would say to you is I think people like me, I'm genuinely offended.
Now, if there's an answer or a solution, I want to find it, and I want to find it quickly.
Because as somebody that is an NFL fan, I'm turning to college.
Sean, you can't find an answer quickly to this.
Do you understand what I'm saying?
We're talking about the pressure.
Well, but no, but Spencer, why not?
Spencer, what's the point then, Spencer?
What's the point?
Listen, let me throw out one thing because we're running out of time, and I want to throw this out.
I don't want to not talk about an answer.
I like what Robert Kraft offered.
I would like if every NFL team could take this moment and say, all right, how can we help our community?
Every player, every race, every background.
That would be great.
That would be great.
That's a great solution.
And then on Sunday, we get to see football because we have enough politics.
Let's be honest.
I make my living in politics.
We have enough division and disagreement in the country.
And I think that's another part of it.
I mean, I think American people, when they see people taking it, they are offended.
So, how do we make that happen?
We'll start with Dan, then we'll go to Spencer.
Well, first, we could stop with this garbage academic nonsense about, you know, well, race plus power.
No, here's racism.
You judge someone by the color of their skin.
You're a racist.
And this story.
I'm not interested in some fancy academic definitions.
That's ridiculous.
Sean, I guarantee you, 90% of the audience is listening to this going, yes, racism, judging someone by the color of their skin.
Let me give Spencer the last word.
I am not saying that every person that is white is a racist or only a white person.
I didn't hear you say that everybody said.
But that's what he said, though.
You cannot fix what it took almost 400 years to create this problem.
You want it done overnight.
You cannot change the hearts of people.
You cannot do that overnight.
America is really fighting something deeper than this, Sean.
This will be the first millennial cohort that will not eclipse their parents in terms of being able to move from one socioeconomic quintile to the next.
The average person is going to have between seven and 11 jobs before they reach, quote unquote, retirement.
That's not the American dream.
Hey, Spencer, let me ask America.
Everybody is fearful.
That's why you want to make America great again.
That's why people are fearful.
And someone like Donald Trump, who I actually respect a great deal of his conservative philosophy, is playing the role of P.T. Barnum.
And that is dangerous.
You cannot play fast and loose with this nation's history for the benefit of a political cause.
You cannot do it.
It is morally wrong, and it's untenable on any level, Sean.
I think I'm the only person on radio and TV nationally that talks nonstop about the forgotten men and women in this country, the people in poverty on food stamps, out of work that can't buy their first home.
And it's what I want and dream.
I just think that people are going to have a different perspective.
All right, Dan, you get the last word.
Well, again, insinuating that Donald Trump is somehow the P.T. Barnum of this and has somehow engaged in some kind of divisive racist rhetoric.
It's just complete junk.
It's total garbage.
And the NFL's been called on the carpet.
That's it.
Donald Trump spoke for the majority of America.
Doesn't want you disrespecting our flag and our anthem.
The NFL look like, you know, they look like a bunch of jerks in this whole thing.
They're losing ratings.
People aren't showing up at the stadiums.
And they've been called.
And responding back, blaming this on Donald Trump is really pathetic and it's kind of sad.
I mean, I really kind of feel bad for you feeling that way because you're definitely in the overwhelming minority on this one.
All right.
I do love you both.
This is a very, very hot topic, but also you both handled it with class.
I think my audience is going to get a lot out of it.
And I don't think it's, I think Spencer's right.
It's going to be something we're going to have to work on every day.
Thank you both for being with us.
800-941-Sean, toll-free telephone number.
Quick break.
We'll come back.
We'll continue straight ahead.
Final hour roundup is next.
You do not want to miss it.
And stay tuned for the final hour free-for-all on the Sean Hannity Show.
Remind everybody, Hannity tonight, 10 Eastern on the Fox News Channel now goes to 9 Eastern.
See, I'm so used to saying 10 myself, I forgot.
Well, 9 was our old slot.
Now it's our new slot.
Here's what I just want to tell you: if you can, everybody in the media wants this show to fail.
Everybody's wanted me to fail my whole career.
Meaning the people in the media, people on the left side of the aisle, and they've done everything.
They boycott.
I mean, there's more fake news.
There was even a fake news story that I died in a bicycle accident.
That's how much they love me.
Or if my family has a cosmetic company selling something.
Just everything they say is pretty much full of lies.
They don't like conservatism.
And, you know, that I went to Trump Tower and flew in an 80-year-old was a 70-year-old lobster and paid $45,000 for a dinner at Trump Tower.
Fake news.
I mean, some of it is just hardly even worth responding to, but it just never stops.
The only reason the show's been successful is you, and I want to thank all of you.
And we got a great lineup tonight.
We'll obviously be talking about the NFL, and we have a passionate debate scheduled for that.
Then we've got Steve Bannon from Alabama, where he's standing up for Judge Roy Moore.
We'll get Newt Gingrich's take on the issues of the day, including the agenda, the most important 12 weeks in the Republican Party's recent modern history.
And Laura Ingram will talk for the first time about her new show.
So we got a great show tonight.
The surprises we have for the rest of the week, Linda, on a scale of one to 10, how great are these surprises?
I think that these surprises are 12, but I might be a little biased.
12, like 100 out of a 10 scale.
John McCain, if you look at his campaign, his last campaign was all about repeal and replace, repeal and replace.
So he decided to do something different, and that's fine.
And I say we still have a chance to, oh, we're going to do it eventually.
We're going to do it eventually.
With Luther and everything, we're going to do it.
Your premiums are surging.
Your deductibles are through the roof.
Alabama is way up, but we have states that are up 150%.
We have one state, the state of Alaska, it's up more than 200%.
And I'm having a hard time getting a certain vote, but she's a good person, and I think she's going to come through.
I mean, if you look, Alaska is up over 200%.
So that means Obamacare is no good.
So we shouldn't have a hard time getting her vote.
And I think she's going to come through.
I hope so.
Insurers are fleeing.
Doctors are quitting.
Choices are disappearing.
Congress must do its job by ending the Obamacare nightmare.
I've been listening for seven years as many of these people.
Now, Richard kept voting against it, but many of these people kept saying repeal and replace, repeal and replace.
Then they finally have now.
They didn't care.
Nobody cared because they had a president that wasn't going to sign it.
And they didn't have the Senate, so it didn't matter.
So it didn't take much courage.
So they were getting all these great votes.
You know, like, I think they voted, what, 61 times?
Like, 61 times to repeal and replace.
They finally get a president who will sign the legislation, and they don't have the guts to vote for it.
Okay?
They don't have the guts to vote.
All right, there's the president making his pitch on the Graham Cassidy bill.
And remember, you got the September 30th deadline looming five days from now in terms of being able to use the reconciliation process, meaning you only need 51 or 50 votes.
And then the vice president would be a tie in the Senate, being the president of the Senate.
We expect that Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin will join us in a minute.
We'll find out what the very latest is there.
First, joining us is the chairman of the Freedom Caucus, Mark Meadows, is with us, and he throws a lot of weight behind this bill, obviously believing that this is a lot better than what we've got, and that is millions losing their doctors, losing their plans, and paying a lot more money, as the president pointed out, in states like Arizona, states like Maine, states like Alaska.
Welcome back to the program, Congressman.
How are you?
It's great to be back with you, Sean.
And, you know, you've heard the booze from that audience there in Alabama.
Most of America should be booing because we're not doing what we said we would do.
What we should have done on January 20th, and that is repeal this Obamacare and live up to our promises.
It's time to get it done.
It's time to get it done, and it's not getting done, and it's frustrating that the daylights out of people.
I think one of the biggest surprises were for people like me that actually believed that, in fact, the congressmen that voted 60 times in the House of Representatives where you work actually meant it when they voted to repeal and replace.
Apparently, they did not.
Well, they did.
Not all of them meant it because you see the intestinal fortitude is lacking when it comes to just doing what we sent to President Obama.
It's time that we do it.
And you're right.
I mean, everybody thought that November 8th was a watershed event.
Things were going to be different in Washington, D.C.
And what they're finding out is some in their own party have let them down, and we need to hold them accountable.
We need to send them home if they're not willing to live up to their campaign promises.
Yeah.
Well, I agree.
So what is the status of this?
I spoke to you a couple of times over the weekend.
Obviously, I want to know what's happening.
And you've been willing to share what's going on behind the scenes.
I want to bring our audience up to speed.
What's happening?
Well, let me bring them up to speed.
And Sean, you know, if the American people and your listeners knew how much you cared about this country and the fact that you would spend multiple phone calls talking to a number of different people on Capitol Hill over the weekend just to try to actually deliver on the president's agenda, they would have a new appreciation for Sean Hannity as I do.
But I can tell you right now, what we're seeing, Sean, is the bill was changed over the weekend.
They're going into a hearing today where this hearing probably will go on for hours because the Democrats are going to try to draw it out so that they can't have a hearing.
One more procedural hurdle to try to keep Obamacare there.
But you hit it.
It's actually the numbers now are better for Maine.
They're better for Arizona.
They're better for Alaska.
These key senators that are talking about voting no, they're actually voting to hurt their constituency if they vote no because it financially is better for everyone in those states.
And so hopefully we'll see that cooler heads prevail and that perhaps Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski will vote yes on this and that we'll finally be able to do what we promised the American people we would do for so long.
So my question is, I mean, they're not hard-nosed yet, and I've got to believe that they want to do what's in the best interest of the people in their state.
Look, this is not the perfect plan.
If Mark Meadows, Sean Hannity, the Freedom Caucus was sitting down and Ted Cruz and others were sitting down and trying to come up with a plan, it would include the health care cooperatives, health care savings accounts, the innovative ideas that, frankly, we've been talking about way too long without any action.
But when you think of states being able to choose what they want, it's not quite federalism, but it's the concept of federalism where the states will be in charge, and they're certainly going to be held accountable in terms of their local governors and lieutenant governors and their representatives.
I think they're going to spend money a lot more wisely than they would out of Washington.
Well, they would, and it's moving the right direction.
It's getting fewer decisions made in Washington, D.C. and moving it to the state.
It does keep a lot of the money, the taxes in place.
But part of this is that the Democratic machine knew that once you give somebody a handout from the government, it's very hard to change anything about it.
But I can tell you that you mentioned Ted Cruz.
Ted Cruz and Mike Lee are actually making some good recommendations to strengthen this bill.
It's a work in progress, even though we're looking at a September 30th deadline.
I'm optimistic that a few more changes can be made.
And as long as we get Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski on board or miraculously have John McCain turn the other way, it still has a shot.
I mean, I know the president is very disgusted with the Senate right now that they haven't performed.
One of my biggest fears is that states like California, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, they're going to go single-payer, which they've already tried in California.
It's bankrupting them.
They already have a 13.5% state income tax, and it probably is going to go higher.
These states are going to come back hat in hand, and states that were responsible with their appropriated money are going to be asked to bail them out.
Is there any provision to prevent that?
Well, it's interesting you say that.
I think one of the major provisions in there is to not do that in that it puts a finite number on the amount of money that's going.
Now, you can't say that future Congresses couldn't come back and suggest that we need to appropriate more money.
But generally speaking, members from California or members from New York in a Republican-controlled House and Senate, that wouldn't happen.
And the only reason why they get a disproportionate share now is because the Democrats passed this without a single Republican vote just a few years back.
Yeah, pretty amazing.
The only other question I have is if this, number two, did you get in touch with Ted Cruz?
He had been skeptical of this.
Yeah, I did get in touch with actually our staff spoke to his staff.
He's got some good recommendations.
And I think he and Mike are on the same sheet of music saying that if you can make these few minor changes, then I think that what we'll see is that they'll be able to come around and support it.
So he's not a no.
He's just saying we've got to give governors real flexibility.
We've got to actually lower premiums.
And both of those are accurate and need to be in there.
And unlike some of his colleagues, Senator Ted Cruz and Mike Lee actually have read the bill.
And so it's critical that we do that.
I know that you're going to have Ron Johnson on.
By the way, he's here now.
Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin is with us.
Senator Johnson, say hi to Mark Meadows.
Congressman Meadows, the chairman of the Freedom Caucus.
Hello, Mark Roshan.
How are you doing?
I'm good.
So where are you in the Senate with this?
You've got a firm know, it seems, from McCain and Rand Paul.
So your margin of error seems to be zero.
Ted Cruz is a little bit on the fence.
And then you've got, of course, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski.
Well, first of all, I'm very sympathetic with what Ted and Mike are saying.
I've been the guy leading the charge in terms of forgotten men and women that can't afford coverage anymore because the market reforms I call market distortions that are part of Obamacare causing premiums to more than double nationally.
So I'm right there with them.
I guess the bottom line, though, I come from a manufacturing background, so you just kind of get some grain to your DNA continuous improvement.
This is a binary choice.
If we don't pass Graham, Cassidy, Heller Johnson, we have 100% of Obamacare and the markets will continue to collapse.
There'll be more demands for tens of billions of dollars of federal funds to shore them up.
And by the way, if we don't provide those funds, premiums increase and the insurance companies still get their money through the premium tax credit.
So I think this piece of legislation is a step, a huge step away from a single payer system toward federalism.
It is going to force action.
There will be calls from governors for greater flexibility as the days and weeks and months and years go forward.
If we can cut this tie, cut the control of the federal government, and you do that through these block grants.
I think it was a brilliant idea on the part of Santorum and Cassidy and Lindsey Graham.
That's why I signed on to it.
Is it perfect?
No.
Is it going as far as I'd like it to go?
No.
Does it cut spending enough?
By the way, not cut, reduce the rate of growth and spending enough.
No, but it's a huge step in the right direction.
I just asked Mark Meadows this question, and I want your answer.
One of my big fears is some states are going to go single payer, like California, New York, New Jersey, and probably Illinois.
And what's going to prevent them after they go bankrupt from coming back to the government saying, oh, all you states that did a good job with your block grant, now you're going to have to bail us out because we went so big and so bold and so left-wing that we can't afford it.
The two senators from every state in the union will prevent that because it'll be a couple states.
By the way, there are a couple states right now.
Illinois is not exactly a financial powerhouse.
Illinois is not going to get bailed out because you've got way too many senators that aren't from Illinois, and we won't allow that to happen.
So federalism actually does work.
And a real positive part of Graham Cassidy is we finally put guardrails around one of these mandatory entitlement programs.
It's no longer entitlement program.
It's not an open-ended program.
It's actually appropriate.
It's a 10-year funding source.
And yeah, you can argue it still is increasing spending too much.
I agree with that.
But it's going to have to be reauthorized and reappropriated in 2027.
That is a real significant control that we don't have right now with Obamacare, which is an out-of-control entitlement program.
My what about the issue of these remaining senators?
Are you convinced Lisa Murkowski, are you convinced Susan Collins are going to go for this bill?
Sean, all I can say is as the United States Senator, I would hate to be that Republican senator who promised his or her voters that I was going to repeal and replace Obamacare, oftentimes saying repeal by root and branch, and then be the senator that was that third senator that said no and literally allowed 100% of Obamacare to remain in place.
I would not want to be that person, which is why we're trying to put as much pressure on possible on Leader McConnell to bring it to a vote.
Because I really do believe that if you bring it to a vote, just about every Republican senator is going to be in play.
All right, we've got to take a quick break.
We'll come back more with the Freedom Caucus Chairman, Mark Meadows, and Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.
And also coming up, we shall have.
All right, we continue with Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and the chairman of the Freedom Caucus, Mark Meadows.
When do we expect to vote on this, Congressman Meadows?
Well, obviously, they're going to be debating it.
And I think it's, like I said, it's in committee now that they're trying to hold hearings.
And as they move forward, that's going to be a decision on a go-no-go for Mitch McConnell and the senators over on that side.
But ultimately, I mean, the plans were to have a vote of Rama this week.
If it passed out of the Senate, you know, I fully expect that we would pass it in the House very maybe close, but it would pass in the House next October 2nd or 3rd and sent to the President.
So Senator Johnson is right.
All pressure is on those one or two senators that could be a holdout.
If John McCain could hear the booze that he gets across the country for his funds down, and he's an honorable man, but yet at the same time, they see it as a promise broken on behalf of Republicans.
Well, I agree.
And as, you know, he had promised so often, so many times to repeal and replace Obamacare.
Let me move on to the issue of the budget and the president's economic plan.
And his plan is simple, seven brackets to three.
He wants a corporate tax of 15%.
Paul Ryan said it's probably going to be 20%.
Then we'll have repatriation of trillions of dollars from overseas.
If you couple that with energy independence and funding for the wall, I think Republicans can bail themselves out of the ditch that they've dug for themselves, Congressman Meadows.
Well, I think we can.
And I can tell you, having spoken to those at the White House, even as recent as the last few hours, real progress is being made.
I think both the House and the Senate and the President will roll out real principles that we can all get behind this week.
And when that happens, I think not only will you see the markets recover, but you'll also see the belief that we can't get something done start the jail.
I do believe tax reform is critical.
You know, Senator Johnson is not going to toot his own horn, but he's had some very, very thoughtful ideas on what we need to be doing on tax reform that is truly remarkable and that we would support.
Real quick, Senator Johnson, will this pass in the Senate the president's tax bill and the restructuring?
Well, I believe so.
And the good news is we're really agreeing on the goal, which is economic growth.
So when you agree on the goal, it makes it a whole lot simpler.
And I will say, if we don't get this Graham Cassidy, Howard Johnson crossed the finish line this week, you know, time's running out on this budget reconciliation.
Both Lindsey Graham and I are on the budget committee.
We both said publicly that we're going to insist that we include reconciliation instructions on Obamacare together with tax reform in fiscal year 2018.
So this issue's not going away.
We're going to fight every bit as hard as the Democrats did to pass this to repeal it.
Mitch McConnell needs to get rid of the supermajority enclosure, in my opinion, and make it a simple majority vote.
All right.
Thank you both.
Congressman Mark Meadows, the chair of the Freedom Caucus, Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, will be watching closely.
And this seems like the last-ditch effort.
and hopefully these senators that we're talking about will get on board.
Breaking news straight from the source.
This is the Sean Hannity Show.
All right, 25 till the top of the hour, 800-941.
Sean, you want to be a part of the program?
I know a lot of you still want to talk about the NFL and these players.
You know, I will say there was a hero this weekend, and he plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Alejandro Villanueva stood against the wishes of his team.
And he definitely went out there as somebody.
You know, I know the Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said that he wanted his entire team to stay in the locker room.
I think they were playing the Chicago Bears.
And, you know, you have a couple of hundred NFL players taking a knee, and here he comes out and he says, no, I'm not taking a knee for the anthem.
You know, I just, there's no perfect person in life.
There's no perfect country in the world.
There's never been a country that has provided more hope, more opportunity for the human condition than this one.
And when you honor the flag and you honor the anthem, you're honoring all of those people that gave you the right to take a knee over whatever some of the people are protesting.
And to honor them and make it a sacred honor is something that I don't think the NFL is understanding the reaction here.
I don't think they're understanding that the NFL has a lot of phony rules here.
When the Dallas Cowboys wanted to wear a patch in honor of the police officers that were slain, they weren't allowed to do it.
And you're not allowed to put anything on your jersey.
And up until this year, you weren't allowed to celebrate it in the end zone.
And guess what?
You can't make a lot of other comments.
You can't yell at the ref if you feel like yelling at the ref.
There's all sorts of freedom of speech issues when you're part of a group of people and a team.
And I love what Jerry Jones says.
Not on my team.
You want to do it?
Go ahead.
But you're losing your job over it.
Now, that's Jerry Jones' position.
I'm sure that's in the contract of every player.
I can tell you, every contract I've ever signed in my life has clauses in it or within it.
And so it's something that anybody that's part of an organization, you know, has to, in fact, abide by.
And then I think a lot of people are saying, well, wait a minute.
I know my grandfather fought for this country.
My father fought for this country.
My brother lost his life for this country.
My brother-in-law lost his life.
My brother-in-law lost his likes.
How many people, millions of people that have been slaughtered in the name of defending freedom and beating back evil forces in the world?
You know, I love the conversation.
I mentioned it earlier in the program that I once had with Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots, the owner.
And last year, when this was going on with Colin Kaepernick, he got some of his players together and he went to some of the more dangerous parts of Boston.
And he went out with, I guess, one of the gang squads, I think, one of the police squads that were there to help in these particular areas that were troubled.
And he said to any of the players, you want to help your community, my community, our community?
He goes, I'll help you.
I'll match you dollar for dollar.
Dollar for dollar.
Let's help solve problems.
Taking a knee and insulting those people that honor the flag in their country doesn't produce anything.
Now, what is the NFL dealing with?
Dropping ratings.
Revenue will follow.
And people that are just going to say, well, I don't want to pay $1,000 for a Sunday.
There are people that literally only have enough money for one game a year.
And it's the biggest deal for them and their families.
Because by the time you get to the stadium, you pay for parking.
You pay for the tickets.
You want pretty decent tickets, I assume.
And you buy a couple of hot dogs, a couple of beers, a couple of Cokes, a couple of this, a couple of that, popcorn, cotton candy, whatever it is you like.
By the time you're done, you're spending serious money on a football game.
Same thing with a baseball game.
And you know what?
One of the things Americans like more than anything, it's one thing that's not political.
Hannah, you make your living political.
That's what I do.
It's not what the players do.
And I'd support anybody that is involved in a good cause that's going to help kids, children, et cetera.
You know, I think we're the only show on national TV and radio that listed the names of people that were shot and killed in Chicago in just what, one two-year period of time.
You know, I kept saying, is anybody paying attention here?
These are real people, real lives, real Americans losing their lives.
So I think the NFL's gotten itself into a pretty tough spot here, and we're going to have to see where this ends up.
All right, let's get to the phones here.
800-941-Sean is our number.
Don is in our nation's capital, officially known on this program as the sewer in the swamp.
Don, how are you?
Welcome from Washington, D.C. What's going on, sir?
Yeah, how's it going, Sean?
I'm on my way home from the swamp, actually.
Yeah, what's going on?
First off, I want to say I'm loving the fact that you're going back to 9 o'clock on your evening TV show.
And I used to watch you all the way back in the Fight With Combs days.
And I was really upset when they moved you to 10.
So I'm an older guy, so that's past my bedtime.
So I'll be watching you again.
And power to you, brother, because I'll tell you what, for what you do and all the people who want to come after you, I think you're brave for what you do.
Oh, I appreciate it.
I really do.
Listen, I'm honored to be going back.
We have a great show tonight, and we're going to have a great show every night.
Let me tell you something.
The media already has declared they want me to fail.
They want the show to fail.
They wanted me to fail pretty much my whole career.
Listen, I can't do this.
We are going to do things that you will not see or hear on any other show because the media is so abusively left-wing, ideological in this country today.
And I really feel that this one little hour, this one channel, is a voice that gives for so many of us that are smeared, slandered, and besmirched on a regular basis.
In other words, those people that proudly stand at a football game for the anthem.
Yeah, that was another thing I wanted to talk about.
Can you imagine Pat Tillman right now rolling around in his grave with what's going on?
Oh, my gosh.
You know, honestly, I can't.
I just.
I was talking to my neighbor last night.
I'm a 40-year Redskin fan.
I said, if one of them kneels tonight, I will not watch football again.
And I'm not watching the rest of the year.
I like Snyder, you know, especially for keeping the Redskins' name.
I wrote him an email, told him maybe next year I'll watch him if no one kneels.
But that's it for me for this year.
I'm done.
I'll be honest, it's taken a lot of wind out of my enthusiasm for the NFL.
Look, you all know that I'm not a big supporter of boycotts, and I'm not, and I'm not going to change.
But I'll be honest, I kind of turned off the TV yesterday.
I didn't want to see it anymore, didn't want to hear it anymore, and I'm frankly disgusted that this is what the NFL is doing.
That's my own position.
Anyway, appreciate it.
800-941 Sean toll free telephone number.
Christian, Senator Love down of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
How are you, Christian?
Glad you called.
Hi, Sean.
Thank you for taking my call, and thank you for being the voice of so many of us who aren't able to have the platform that you have.
Well, thank you.
I appreciate it very, very much.
I'm glad you give me this microphone.
I'm just calling today to run a few thoughts by you and just get your thoughts on them.
And it's regarding the Graham Cassidy bill.
We're very proud of Senator Cassidy down here in Louisiana and a creative bill that he has proposed.
I think you would agree, and most conservatives would agree, it's not a perfect bill, but in action right now regarding Obamacare is just simply simply can't happen right now.
Me personally, since Obamacare went in, our families' insurance rates have went up 400%.
And this bill returns power to the states, which any small government conservative should support.
And another important thing that I wish more people would grasp on the right is that this bill would effectively kill single payer in its tracks, which is what Obamacare was initially intended to lead to.
And lastly, I want your thoughts on, it confuses me that Senator Rand Paul voted yes to the skinny repeal bill a few months ago, which did far less to dismantle Obamacare than this bill, yet he won't support this one.
Your thoughts?
Look, I think Rand's a guy of principle, and Rand is raising a lot of good points on the bill, most of which I actually agree with.
But I also have, you know, this is the quandary that weak Republicans have put all of us conservatives in.
And they're responsible for this.
He's not the problem.
Now, he might be fighting to make the bill a better bill.
And if he is, I hope he wins because the better we can make it, the better that the consumer is going to have it.
You know, I'm just upset because the intellectual thought and power that ought to be behind a bill like this ought to be: oh, well, Hannity interviews this guy, Josh Humber, and it's only 50 bucks a month and 95% reduction in prescriptions, and it's 80 cents for an x-ray, and you get all of your costs handled, unlimited care, concierge service 24-7, 365 for 50 bucks a month, and your kids pay only 10 bucks a month.
And then, oh, while you do that, you get a catastrophic plan with maybe a $5,000, $10,000 deductible, but God forbid you get cancer, break your leg, or have a heart attack.
You're going to be taken care of and you don't have to worry.
You know, those are the solutions or health savings accounts where you build up your own health savings money for your entire life.
And then if you don't do it, give it to your kids.
I mean, it's all these innovative ideas.
Now, I like the idea, send it back to the states, the governors, lieutenant governors, state legislators.
They will be far more responsible with the people's money.
And that's why I like it.
But you got to cap out big states that come up with ridiculous ideas like single payer, because when they eventually go bankrupt, they can't come hat in hand and begging all the states that were responsible for more money.
That's a big thing.
All right.
Thank you.
Michael is in Lehigh Acres in Florida.
What's up, Michael?
How are you?
Glad you called, sir.
Hey, Sean, this is great.
I've been trying to reach you for a long time since you had Spencer and Dan Bongino in talking about Colin Kaepernick a few weeks ago.
And Dan Bongino kept referring to him as a clown.
And I don't think he could have said it any better because these men, they make millions of dollars a year.
And you think with that millions of dollars that they have access to historians, scholars, educators, people who know about our American history and know about our country and how it was built.
And the irony and the hypocrisy is just so over the top.
Now, they kneel during our national anthem, but they stand up to the song God Save the Queen.
We liberated ourselves from Britain to make America so that they could live in the country that they live in, and they stand up for another country that tried to destroy us and tried to enslave us.
You know, I got to tell you something.
That was what threw me over the edge on Sunday.
That was it for me.
Absolutely.
I mean, they stood for God Save the Queen.
I'm like, really?
God save the Queen.
I mean, I literally see this and I'm like, I can't take it.
Now, I'm not supporting a boy.
I'm going to tell you something.
One of the traditions I've had with my son is I take him every year.
His Christmas present is one thing.
I buy him NFL Super Bowl tickets and I take him to the Super Bowl.
Now, we didn't go last year.
Something came up last year.
I wasn't able to go, but we had gone in previous years.
And it's a great weekend.
We have a great time.
It's father-son bonding time.
And I don't know if I want to pay.
Listen, those tickets, I don't have connections or use connections to buy the tickets.
I refuse to do that just because I'm in the public arena.
I just think it's obnoxious when people do that.
So I buy my tickets on StubHub.
And let me tell you, if you get a decent ticket on StubHub, it's not cheap.
So I buy the tickets on StubHub.
I'm like their favorite customer.
And I buy it every year.
We usually bring him and his friends, a couple of friends, maybe a friend or two of mine, and we'd all go to the football game.
And I don't know if I want to do it anymore.
I really don't.
If this is the whole season taking a knee, arguing about Colin Kaepernick again, I'm done.
I don't really want to see that on Sunday.
But I'll tell you what I am interested in, and I hope college football doesn't go the way of the pros.
I like to watch some of the most talented young athletes in the country building their careers.
And you see some amazing football in college games.
And I watched, I actually went to a local sports bar this weekend with my daughter.
I know it's, I went with my daughter.
They serve food, not alcohol, to young children.
And two relatives of mine, and we sat in the sports bar.
I had my baseball hat on and my glasses on.
I went in a corner.
Nobody noticed me.
And we watched football.
We watched college football.
And we had a great time watching college football.
And if this is, if the NFL, ultimately, if they continue, I'm going to tell you how this is going to end.
It's going to end badly for them.
And badly being, they're going to lose ratings and revenue.
And it's going to get old for people.
And then the next thing that's going to happen is salaries of players are going to go down.
Because, look, I mean, there was what?
The LA team can't even fill half the stadium for crying out loud.
Anyway, 800-941-Sean is our number.
George Biloxi, Mississippi, next, Sean Hannity Show.
How are you?
Good.
How are you today?
What's going on?
What's happening?
Hey, hey, a big fan.
Appreciate everything you do for all of us.
Thank you.
I appreciate you giving me this microphone.
Hope you're watching tonight at 9 with the new hour.
Back to our old hour on Hannity on the Fox News channel.
We got a lot to talk about tonight.
Steve Bannon, by the way, will be on his first cable interview since leaving the White House.
Oh, I should absolutely be watching that.
So what's on your mind today?
Well, not so much the NSL.
Not really a big fan.
More of a NASCAR guy.
Wasson Michels, Clinton lawyer for this Awan.
When are we going to start seeing the movement on this?
We've been one of the few, and this, I think, differentiates this show and our TV show from other shows.
We're following it.
And if I had a prediction to make, if there is equal justice under the law, Debbie Wasserman Schultz probably is going to end up being charged.
But, you know, Luke Roziak and Sarah Carter, I mean, we're doing the work of so many people here in terms of the media is never going to touch it.
All they want is anti-Trump news.
And so I promise you, we're going to stay on the issue.
Quick break, right back.
We'll continue.
It's the Sean Hannity show.
All right, that's going to be it for today.
Hannity tonight, new time slot.
Hope you'll lock it into your DVR.
9 Eastern, our old slot.
Well, our new slot is our old slot, which is now new again.
Anyway, we hope you'll join us.
9 tonight, the latest on the NFL, an important opening monologue.
Tune in tonight because you're going to find out the week of guests we've got.
Not going to announce it till we go on the air tonight.
We have a lot of surprises this week as we begin our latest foray into the cable wars.
Steve Bannon tonight, the latest on the NFL.
Also, Laura Ingram will talk about her new job and Newt Kingrich.
