Sean Hannity opens the show from Washington, D.C. he labels "the swamp," though he notes a visible law enforcement improvement since Donald Trumps presidency. The episode covers the official end of the "Schumer shutdown," with Sean highlighting government reopening and cost details shared by National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett. Guest highlights include updates on Alina Haba and Sean Duffy, along with sharp commentary on issues from homelessness and law enforcement to alarming reports of crime tied to unvetted migrants. Hannity frames these stories as examples of failed leadership and ongoing economic burdens under Biden, contrasting with improved periods under Trump. Why it matters: Listeners get an insider political take, guest perspectives, and Sean's signature on-the-ground observations that emphasize accountability, economic health, and public safety.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Write down our toll-free telephone number if you want to be a part of the program.
It's 800-941 Sean.
If you want to join us, we are in our nation's capital.
We are in the swamp.
We're in the sewer known as Washington, D.C. I will say this as we start the show.
Since Donald Trump has put in law enforcement in our nation's capital, it is a discernible difference.
I have security with me today.
You don't want to mess with MK.
MK is a killer, and he is sitting out there laughing, right?
A discernible difference.
I am calling it less of a swamp, more of a pond.
No, it's still a swamp.
It's a pond.
Well, you have all the Democrats that live here.
I mean, no, thank you.
I live without them.
They're still on vacation.
By the way, our prayers as we start the show today, John Fetterman, Pennsylvania, had to be hospitalized after a fall near his home, which caused minor injuries to his face, according to a spokesperson.
He fell to the ground after feeling lightheaded due to a ventricular fib flare-up, according to the statement.
That's a type of irregular heartbeat.
Fetterman is remaining at the hospital for observation so doctors can fine-tune his medications.
He had this to say.
He's got a good sense of humor.
If you thought my face looked bad before, wait until you see it now.
Apparently doing well, receiving routine observation at the hospital.
Our prayers are with him.
Scary, Alina Haba, was turned away.
An attacker came armed with a baseball bat.
This is in the New York Times today.
Law enforcement authorities were seeking a man who brings this bat to the office of the acting U.S. attorney in New Jersey, Alina Haba, who's a longtime friend of this program, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
The man appeared outside the Newark office Wednesday, barred by security from entering with a bat.
How many people enter a U.S. attorney's office with a bat?
Anyway, when the man returned without the bat, security officers allowed him to enter the building, which is, you know, this, this is insane.
You know, so D.C., you can see a discernible difference.
You see less of a homeless presence, a dramatically decline, a dramatic decline in that area.
You know, I don't understand this.
Homeless people, if you're smart, take my advice.
Go to California and Gavin Newsom.
Gavin wants you.
Gavin encourages you to go out there.
Gavin will give you everything for free.
If you prefer the colder weather, go to New York, New York City, and say, Haida Zoran, Marxist, Kami Mamdani.
He's going to feed you and house you, and he's going to take away rich people's homes and put you in it.
I mean, you may end up with a multi-million dollar brownstone by the time he's done in four years.
Who knows?
I mean, if I was homeless, why would you ever hang out in the freezing weather in New York or in D.C. when you can go to Gavin Newsom and hang out in LA or hang out in Santa Barbara?
You know, when I lived in Santa Barbara back in the 80s, I mean, I used to, at that point in my life, I had had a very successful contracting business, and I just figured, oh, I can bring that business and build it up as quickly as I did the first time in Rhode Island.
It wasn't so easy in the beginning.
And I had these days where I had nothing to do.
I was bored out of my mind.
So I'd, you know, get on my bicycle.
At that point in my life, I had like this moped, and I'd fly down to the beach.
And all these homeless people, there's this big fig tree they used to hang out under.
You're finding this interesting.
Why are you finding it interesting?
And then I'd go to the beach and on the beach, all these homeless guys.
And I used to hang with them for a lot of them.
What year is this?
86, 78.
Nothing has changed.
It's just gotten worse.
No, I just, but I'd hang out with these guys.
A lot of them, for example, U.S. vets.
You know, we didn't really know about PTSD back then, right?
And, but that's not what they were talking about.
We'd just, you know, shoot the Adam Schiff and hang out.
And a lot of them would be drinking, you know, whatever they were drinking, they'd pass it on to me.
I'd actually drink it, hang out with them.
You know, if there was a base, there was a softball old guys that would play softball, and I'd go join them and, you know, borrow mint and play softball for a couple hours.
I mean, I was bored.
I didn't have anything to do.
I mean, not working, not having a purpose in life is not a good thing.
But this is before Maureen Blount or after?
No, that was after because I lived in Rhode Island five years, then California five years.
California is when I started my radio career.
Got it, got it, got it.
Okay, but before that ever happened, because once I got behind this radio mic, my life changed forever and didn't want to do anything else.
Got it.
And I still don't want to do anything else.
And so I feel blessed to do what I do.
And anyway, long story short, I'd hang out with these guys and I got to know them.
They were actually nice people.
And a lot of them, now there was another group of them that were crazy and mentally ill.
And you could obviously spot them and kind of keep a distance.
But there were other people that, you know, they used to use the term down on your luck.
There were just people that were beaten, beaten up by life, beaten up by, you know, abandoned by their government, you know, veterans.
We didn't know what PTSD was.
There was no veterans facilities.
And falling into bad habits, bad cycles in life, many of them became alcoholics.
A lot of them smoked weed even back in that day.
And I never touched that stuff.
But on those days when I had nothing to do, I just, I'd hang out at the beach.
I was pretty tan back then.
No, that's true.
Other than that tan.
Bro, you're so Irish.
Federal judge.
This does not surprise me.
I think there will be another way to go around this today suggesting that she could toss the charges against the ex-FBI boss, James Comey, and New York Attorney General Letitia James because she agrees with their arguments that Lindsey Halligan, the prosecutor, who brought the case, is illegitimate.
And the Alexandria, oh, what a shock.
District judge Cameron McGowan Curry appointed to the bench by Bill Hannity.
I appointed that guy, and I'm telling you right now, Cameron is a good dude, and he's into hot chicks like I am.
Anyway, appeared skeptical of several of the government's arguments about why the appointment of Halligan as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia was above board.
The core of the argument, the question of whether the U.S. Attorney General, in this case, Pam Bondi, can make multiple interim appointments to fill a U.S. attorney position.
Anyway, so the prosecutor, Henry Whittaker, countered during the hearing, the Attorney General is entitled to multiple 120-day appointments.
Curry appeared not to agree with Whitaker's arguments.
I would imagine if that's the case, it wouldn't be double jeopardy because they never tried them.
You just get a different person that can file the case against Comey and et cetera, et cetera.
And because they were filed on time before the statute of limitations had passed, I don't think that'll be a factor, but you just, you know, sometimes you just never know.
Another sad story on the illegal immigrant front.
DNA evidence links to illegal alien who had been deported eight times, 17 rapes in Nevada.
17.
You know, what have I said that nobody seems willing to say?
All of these unvetted Biden-Harris Maorcas illegals that have murdered and raped and committed other violent crimes that Joe, Kamala, Majorkis have blood on their hands.
And because we have known terrorists in the country, I mean, last week we were reporting Kash Patel, DOJ, Alina Haba in that case, identifying people involved in a terror plot, a Halloween terror plot.
What was that, a week and a half ago?
And, you know, thank God they found them.
But to me, if you have all these known terrorists, they're coming from countries with all these terror ties.
They're coming from Iran.
They're coming from Egypt, Muslim Brotherhood.
They're coming from, you know, Syria, ISIS.
It's inevitable.
I don't see if we ever lucked out and did not have an attack on the homeland, I would be stunned, shocked, and surprised.
I don't want it.
I pray to God that I'm wrong, but I would say it's when and not if.
And a lot of people think it's, you know, when I say, oh, that's just hyperbole.
It's not hyperbole.
It's not hard.
It's not difficult.
It's not demanding what I'm asking.
And that is that if you come into this country, you respect our laws, borders, and sovereignty, that we get a chance to vet you.
That means we make sure you don't have radical associations, radical views.
That means that in a post-COVID world, we do a health check.
That means that we means test you so that you do not become a financial burden on the American people that are graciously opening their door and allowing you an opportunity to live in freedom.
Likely better from wherever you're coming or else you wouldn't be coming here.
All right, the Schumer shutdown officially over.
The government is officially open.
That's the good news.
And by the way, all credit to the president, you know, he said they're not going to extort a million five, which a couple of hundred million would go to illegal immigrants, refunding NPR PBS, DEI programs, not even within American shores, but abroad, not going to happen.
And that the president said he will never give in to extortion.
This whole shutdown of Schumer, this performative stunt of the Democrats have cost the Republicans an estimated $1.5 trillion.
The president, you know, he said something last night.
I'm not sure if it got picked up by many people, thanking unions, thanking the government workers union, largely Democrat, the Teamsters unions, the fraternal order police unions, because all of these unions rightly advocating on behalf of those people that work for them, their rank and file, that we're getting no paychecks.
You know, never mind the pain that was inflicted on, what, 42 million Americans that are beneficiaries of SNAP.
And it's not like they're going to, no pun intended, snap their fingers and make it all open in a second.
That's still going to take time.
I had Sean Duffy on this week.
20,000 plus delays, cancellations if you're flying out of an airport.
The president did point out, we've had this, I know the stock market wasn't great today, but he had set a record 48 records in terms of the stock market.
I don't view the stock market as my biggest best barometer because a lot of people aren't in the stock market.
And so, however, it is an indication.
And I want to just go over some of the numbers that I gave to you yesterday because I think it is, I think it's critical that people understand the economy a little bit more.
And it's hard to say this.
I spent time after I interviewed the vice president with some of the political team at the White House, people that, you know, they live, eat, breathe, sleep, politics, et cetera, et cetera.
And I said, when will people feel that the economy's better?
Because there is a 10% improvement from when Joe Biden was president to where we are now.
And I can give you some examples.
Like, one example would be, you know, Target announcing they're cutting their price on thousands of food items.
By the way, go shop at Target.
I love Target.
That's where Linda couldn't pick out her train.
You've been traumatized by going to Target after you wouldn't pick out a train for an hour.
So I bought the whole lot out.
I have to tell you, Ethan on our team put together the funniest video of you in Target swiping all the trains off of the shelf.
It was hysterical.
I have to post it.
I want to see it.
But Kraft Mac and Cheese is down significantly.
Gerber Kids Snacks is down a lot.
A lot of people prefer ham over turkey for Thanksgiving.
Okay, they have market pantry, Hickory Smokes, a spiral cut, bone-in ham.
It used to be $2.49 a pound.
Now it's $1.49 a pound.
That's a big difference.
By the way, I love ham.
I love it.
Pillsbury pie crust.
I don't know.
It sounds great.
Used to be $4.59, now $319.
Target highlighted their Thanksgiving meal for four that could cost less than $20 before taxes.
Walmart, they made the big announcement.
I think it's a big announcement.
I think it's a big deal that they're down 25%.
So I'm talking to these guys, and let me get the exact number from Walmart.
Yeah.
Yeah, no, they're down 25% in terms of Thanksgiving meal than where they were last year.
That's a big freaking deal.
Now, Treasury Secretary Besson predicted Americans will soon feel more confident about their finances, hinted prices on grocery store items now are getting lower.
Here's the challenge, though, these guys told me today.
Yeah, it's all true, Sean.
We are down.
We've improved it 10%.
The problem is under Biden, from where Trump left it, it went down a whopping 26%.
So people are still lagging behind 16%.
That's what I affectionately refer to as the Biden-Harris economic hangover that we're all living through.
And they're pretty confident first quarter to second quarter, latest third quarter next year, which would be just enough time for the American people to factor into their voting in a year in the midterms that Donald Trump changed the economy.
You know, we have all the manufacturing commitment money, trillions and trillions of dollars.
The energy, it's a factor is incalculable.
It's the lifeblood of the economy.
Saving money there is going to be tremendously important.
Largest tax cuts in history the Democrats voted against.
No tax on tips, overtime Social Security.
You know, this is a big problem, and perception sometimes is reality for a lot of people.
And I was mentioning the economy.
And this Schumer shutdown cost, I couldn't believe this when I saw this today.
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said today the Democratic Force government shut down the Schumer shutdown, cost the country about $15 billion per week.
It is expected to knock 1 to 1.5% off the GDP.
Oh, Trump Anomics has failed.
You can hear the argument now.
Meanwhile, they caused it.
They knew the impact that this would have.
The airline industries were screaming that they're going bankrupt because of this.
They cannot afford it.
Do you know what it's like?
If your plane can't take off, they usually go through a check system, right?
If you have good pilots and friends of mine or pilot, everyone I've ever met that's a pilot has wanted to be a pilot their entire life.
Everyone that's a cop that I've met in my life, they always wanted to be in law enforcement their entire life.
Everybody, every teacher, same thing.
Every nurse, the same thing.
Every doctor, the same thing.
I'm the only one that never thought I could ever be a talk show host.
And I just listened to, you know, in my early teen years, talk radio, the great pioneers.
And I'd stay up all night.
My parents would scream, shut that radio off.
It wasn't TV for me.
It was radio.
Turn the radio off.
Now it's TV and radio.
Now it's TV, radio, and multitasking on my phone.
It's like it just never stops.
And playing chess.com simultaneously, which, by the way, is an art in and of itself.
I'm getting better at chess.
Anyway, our Council of Economic Advisors said that $15 billion a week, that accumulates to one to one and a half percent of the GDP when you account for multiplier effects.
Their current estimate is that 60,000 Americans, not government workers, have lost their jobs because of reduced economic output.
And again, I go back to the airplane for a second.
You know, you're an airline and you've got scheduled flights.
Okay, you go through your checklist, you start your engines.
When you're sitting on a tarmac, they are burning fuel.
And, you know, jet fuel is much higher than what you're paying at the pump for a gallon of gasoline, you know, like three times the amount.
And they're burning through it like crazy.
So then all of a sudden they're turning their engines off.
Then they have to go back and they'll taxi back.
Then they're told, no, it's going to be about a half hour.
Okay, we'll keep the engines on.
They're burning more fuel.
And never mind, the flights get canceled.
And now they're losing revenue because, you know, the way they run these planes is, all right, you start out that a plane starts at six o'clock at, say, JFK or LaGuardia, heads out to LAX and lands at LAX.
And it is, you know, they have a turnaround time.
They clean out the plane.
They refuel it.
They get new pilots and they're ready to, you know, turn and burn and head on back to New York or DC or wherever else on the East Coast that they're going.
And then they have another late-night flight.
Those planes don't stop.
You ask yourself in aviation.
I only learned this from some of my pilot friends.
Aviation's fascinating.
Probably most of you without even knowing it have flown in a plane.
If you're, let's say you're a baby boomer, I guarantee you you've flown in a plane from the 1960s.
I guarantee you've flown in a plane from the 1970s in your adult life.
And planes are constantly being rebuilt.
So, for example, whatever the hours are, I don't know the exact number of hours.
I'm not that deep in the weeds, but engines on planes, you get X number of hours that you can use it.
Let's say the engines are perfect.
They're running perfectly.
There's nothing wrong with the engine.
Doesn't matter.
X number of hours, that engine gets pulled, that engine gets taken out, a new engine gets put in.
Landing gear, you get X number of landings, landing gear comes out, pull it out, boom.
Then, you know, every number of years, they have to strip the entire airplane down to the, you know, pop rivets for crying out loud.
And they go over with basically a magnifying glass and they look at every inch of that plane.
They're looking for cracks.
They're looking for corrosion.
They're looking for all this other stuff.
So, you know, these planes are meant to fly.
They are designed to fly continuously.
And anyway, so, you know, this is, you know, you have to factor this in.
Now, there are going to be some of you that say, okay, well, Hannah, you're telling me that Donald Trump and the price at Walmart and the price at Target.
Somebody just texted me.
You do know Target supports DEI.
I wasn't talking about that part of it.
I don't support DEI and companies, period, end of sentence, and gender affirmation and all those madness.
That to me is like, how do I chase customers away?
Because people don't want your crazy politics in the store that they go to.
I've never really seen that with Walmart.
I don't think Walmart's had those.
Costco's, I love Costco's.
Costco's, what do you pay for a hot dog?
The buck 99 for a hot dog and a Coke and a slice of pizza.
I mean, it's nothing.
They lose money on it.
It's a lost leader.
Because, and then people, I know people, friends of mine, by the way, wealthy friends of mine that go there like once a week and get either a hot dog, a pizza, and a Coke for next to nothing.
And they think it's the greatest thing in the entire world that they save that money.
But here's the best thing.
I'm not going to tell the audience that it's you.
You can just admit it.
You've made it.
No, I've fine.
You can say it.
My name is Sean.
If I can go to hot dogs once a week at Costco.
If I can go to any of those stores, I'm going.
I love it.
I'm a big proponent of them.
I'm grateful for the Walmarts, the Super Walmarts, the Costco's of the world.
I'm grateful for all of them.
Here's the thing.
They give you all the stuff that you want at the best prices, and they buy in bulk and they buy in volume.
I remember when my first book, Left Freedom Ring, came out, it was a big deal that these companies took on my book.
It ended up, I sold more books at Walmart and Costco than any other book chain store in the country, you know, because they'd put like a big bin and they'd have hundreds and hundreds of books in a setup.
Boom.
You know, people see it.
They get it.
By the way, at a discounted rate, at a good price.
And they buy in bulk, which was cool.
And I was very grateful.
But I'm not planning on writing any more books if I do.
No, I'm not.
Well, say it on the camera.
Say it on air.
Don't just sit there and you are so full of crap.
No, I'm not.
I'm totally going to write another book.
No, I'm not.
Yes, you are.
No.
Just like you're going to retire young.
Just like you won't sign another.
You won't do another.
You're full of baloney.
I think your next book should be Everything Linda Said Was Right.
And I can finally say it.
It's a great title.
It has a nice ring to it.
You know, flow.
How long was it in 2020 when I came out with Live Free or Die?
America and the World on the Brink?
How many years?
It was hard because that was during COVID.
We did a lot of virtual stuff, but we did that.
No, okay.
And it was the number one New York Times bestseller for weeks on end.
And it was.
And I'm very grateful, but I felt the moment needed it.
Oh, my God.
Yeah.
Your chapter four was all on socialism.
Who knows?
Socialism and its history of failure.
That was the chapter.
But the point is, I didn't want to write.
Writing to me is painful.
Yeah.
You know, what I do here.
But now you can do talk to text.
You could just write your whole book just yapping.
Linda, I do.
I did that from Let Freedom Ring.
I would dictate a lot of the book.
What are you crying about?
You're going to be fine.
Who's crying?
I'm just saying.
Just a little bit.
Okay, here's the problem.
Even Matt knows.
Matt loves it.
Everybody knows.
All right, Matt Towery is in.
He's going to join us later in the program.
Hello, Mr. Towery.
I hear you're hobnobbing with the president.
What's up with that?
We got to get to that.
We're going to find out that story.
A tough life.
He has.
He calls me earlier in this week.
I told him, yeah, I think I'm going to be in D.C. this week.
He goes, oh, I'm going to be there.
And I'm like, oh, awesome.
Maybe we'll catch up.
And he goes, yeah, by the way, it's 20 below.
What was it, 20 below?
It was cold.
It was cold in the beginning of the week.
It's much warmer today, for sure.
I ended up carrying a coat.
I don't need a coat in Florida.
That's the beauty of living in Florida.
I never need a coat.
Yeah, that's why you live in Florida.
So, this is a vacation to come up in the freezing cold.
What did you want to go see?
The Washington Monument or the Lincoln Memorial?
I have, you know, all the times I've been here, I've never gone to see the sites.
Why?
Because I don't want to.
You should go with your family.
Go see it.
I have this uncanny ability.
And maybe those of you out listening to me can understand this.
If I want to see something that I haven't seen, you can go online.
You can.
And online, it will give you every view you ever want.
Yeah, it's a 3D tour.
3D tour.
That's correct.
And you get a 3D tour.
Oh, get this.
Eric Swalwell hit with a new criminal referral claiming a committed mortgage fraud.
Whoa.
Does he know Tish?
Move over, Letitia James and Adam, you know, the congenital liar shift Eric Swalwell.
Isn't that Mr. Fang Fang?
Fang Fang.
Fang Fang is going to need a seat on the Democratic Mortgage Fraud Express.
Top housing official, according to NBC News in President Trump's administration, has now referred the California Democrat Eric Swalwell, better known as Mr. Fang Fang, to the Justice Department for a potential federal criminal probe based on allegations of mortgage and tax fraud related to a D.C. home, according to a person familiar with the referral.
I wonder if they're going to investigate Nancy Pelosi or 17,000% gains.
Whoever thought of taking her public disclosures and making the public aware and following what she invested in was pretty smart.
Oh, I'm sorry.
Not her.
Her husband.
17,000% return.
Unbelievable.
Anyway, so it's costing a fortune, the Schumer shutdown.
That is a lot.
Here's the thing.
I've gone over what the president has laid down.
I call it foundationally has set this country up for great economic success.
You know, show me the money.
I know you want solutions now.
Unfortunately, I can't give it to you now.
However, and I spent a lot of time with the White House and their data and their information.
We have improved the economy 10%, but under Biden, it went down 26%.
So most of you not noticing the change.
So when people say things are expensive, you have to remember they're expensive because that was inherited, an inflation cost from the Biden administration.
But the signs are all going in the right direction.
Foundationally, when you add trillions of dollars in committed manufacturing monies, accelerated with bonus depreciation, 100% bonus depreciation.
In other words, a manufacturer gets to deduct the cost of building out the manufacturing center 100% of it in year one.
That incentivizes them to move faster.
That means, you know, shovels in the ground, ribbon cuttings, and all the above.
Yeah, egg price is down, the price of energy down, gasoline down.
And then you add the impact of lowering the cost of energy because we'll be energy dominant.
Then the largest tax cuts in history.
That's what Reagan pulled off.
Doubling revenues, 21 million new jobs, longest period of peacetime economic growth.
But if you live in paycheck to paycheck, it's not exactly what you want to hear now.
