former president donald j. trump. want to be part of the audience just go to hannity.com. your tickets are free and i can't wait to see you all in iowa. i wish the fair was going on, i like fried twinkies and pinkles and oreos and pork chop on a stick. love it all. set your dvr never miss an episode meanwhile let not your heart be troubled, peted hegseth is in for laura. >> good to see you sean wish i could get a ticket for tomorrow. can't wait to see tomorrow night. have a great show. >> good to see you. >> thank you. i'm pete hegseth in for laura ingraham and this is a special edition of the ingraham angle. we start tonight with a fox news alert. moments ago, you saw it, despite severe division within the gop, the house did pass the biden mccarthy debt ceiling bill by a vote of 314-170, majority democrats in that vote actually.

joining me live from capitol hill is fox senior correspondent chad pergram. chad anything surprise you? we expected it to pass but by this margin? >> pete, it was a robust vote for a bill that no one liked, a bipartisan coalition from both parties supported the bill, but more democrats supported the bill than gop members. 149 republicans voted yes, 165 democrats voted yes. house minority leader hakeem jeffries touted democratic support for the bill. >> earlier today, 29 house republicans voted to default on our nation's debt and against an agreement that you negotiated, extreme maga republicans attempted to take control of the house floor. democrats took it back. >> the bill now goes to the senate. conservatives are criticizing the bill there. mike lee and rand paul want the senate to consider an

alternative. >> rather than offering substantive solutions toss tackle the root causes of our fiscal woes, it appears to be a p paltive pill. it's a bad look for membering, an advocation of our responsibility to protect american's economic security and well-being. >> it's unclear if lee or others will slow down the bill in the senate. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell said the markets need assurances soon. pete? >> chad, before we get to the senate, i want to get to that in a moment, was there a pile on effect here where people realized the bill was going to pass so more republicans voted against it than we expected? >> yeah, it was interesting when i talked to an awful lot of members. they would say they were undecided. and i've always described this as like the old mikey cereal commercials where everybody would go around the table and nobody would eat the cereal.

once they realized, if you remember the commercials back from the 70s and 80s, once mikey started to eat the cereal all the other brothers at the table started to eat the cereal too. the same thing on capitol hill, once they realized they had the votes to pass this everyone said i should vote for that too. also democrats were waiting to see if republicans could deliver their votes. hakeem jeffries said he wanted to see 150 republicans on the board, they were just shy at 149 but democrats carried most of the freight on the floor tonight. >> they d and top the senate, what would republicans who don't like this bill, would recourse would they have? is it likely to pass? >> well, they can take up some time. you have to get 60 votes to overcome a filibuster there but they also are mindful that they need to get this done by monday or the markets, as mitch mcconnell indicated, are going to react in a negative fashion f mike lee and rand paul said we don't want to gum up the works here but we want amendments to be considered.

chuck schumer the democratic leader was asked today whether or not there would be amendments. he said we can't change the bill because if you alter the bill in the senate you have to bounce it back to the house of representatives. so what they usually do is give people an amendment some time to debate and what they do is they raise the bar, they submit that amendment to a 60-vote threshold so they make sure that the amendment does not pass. >> interesting the. chad, thank you very much for all your work >> joining me now is north carolina congressman dan bishop who voted against the bill in wisconsin, congressman derrick van ordan who voted for the bill. congressman bishop a few moments ago joe biden said this agreement is good news for the american people and the american economy. 165 democrats voted for you, you opposed it. is about it news for the american people? >> pete, i think the indication in the vote that more democrats voted for the bill than republicans did, and, of course,

republicans have a larger number of members in the chamber, is a sign who got the best of the deal, and that the benefits of the deal, as sold by the leadership, have not -- they haven't been square with the american people about it. biggest problem of all is the debt limit by kevin mccarthy's own initiative and without the advance agreement of the conference, is stretched out a year longer than we proposed to do, and the incurens of probably -- nobody has an exact number because they didn't specify tonight the bill although they should have, four trillion maybe more in additional debt on the american people to be incurred without any opportunity to come again and try to gain more in terms of real and substantial benefits. so it's a missed opportunity. obviously the biggest problem it split the republican congress deeply and now kevin mccarthy has toss discover how to reacquire the unity we started

the year with as a result of the contest for the speaker's election. >> i want to get to that in a moment, but representative van orden, are you concerned, we thought maybe 35-40 republicans would vote against it, the number was 71 on the final vote. are you concerned by the fact that so many democrats liked it and so many conservative republicans didn't? >> no, i'm not. i'm not at all, pete. there's a lot of people talking about what is not in that bill but let's talk about what is in that bill. it protects the people that built this nation, those are our seniors. it protects the people that protected this nation, those are our veterans. it protects the people that feed this nation, those are our farmers by making sure that our fuel industries remain viable. and it helps the people most in need in the united states of america. i'm on the staff committee on purpose because i was raised in poverty on food stamps. so what this does is it allows these folks to get back into the work force because we have real

work requirements in this bill for the first time in a very long time and it allows people the dignity to be able to support their own families. i'm not worried about how many republicans didn't vote for this i'm sure we'll get together on monday again and work together as a conference because that's what adults do. governing is very difficult and we're at it hard here if the house. >> i'm curious congressman, what did you hear from constituents, like on balance were they for or against this? was there a sense in your office? >> you know what? it was about 50/50. and the reason being is that there's a lot of stuff being put out by the biden administration saying that veteran's benefits are going to get cut. that was a lie. they're saying social security and medicare are going to get cut. that was a lie. so a lot of the constituents that i have were concerned about their benefits. i have with a 93 year old korean war veteran at an american legion in sparta wisconsin who was shaken to the core because he thought he wasn't going to

get his veteran benefits and that's a result of incredibly disingenuous messaging by the biden administration and it's unacceptable. >> representative bishop you talked about unity there wasn't a lot of unity on the floor tonight. there are some that suggested that a motion to vacate could become part of this process. are we at that point where the man on the screen right now his job is in generality because of the vote? is unity standing behind him even if you don't agree on everything or does he have to be with you all the time? >> pete, we're not going to agree on everything. no one ever has such an expectation. but we came to a resolution of our disagreements at the beginning of the year when kevin became speaker around an agreement that was specific in terms. and it had certain key components. kevin has violated one of those in the negotiations he undertook. so that agreement produced, until now, amazing unity and the ability to work effectively as a

majority. that unfortunately has been damaged badly or perhaps destroyed, i think we have to look now to kevin and see what his next move is to see if that can be recovered. >> the violation was what specifically? >> well, there were specific terms about, that he would be committed to reducing discretion area spending to the 2022 levels, that didn't occur in its entirety in this bill. and, furthermore, although we spent all these months having conferences and staying in touch across the conference to keep people in the loop, here kevin went off, for the first time, to do a negotiation on his own and without notice, not only did he double the amount of debt the nation would incur before we get into the negotiation again, he abandoned that core ten enof the agreement. and so that, the very least that was necessary. >> are you saying today you will -- would you support, based order what you know right now do you support kevin mccarthy as the speaker of the house? >> well, there's a question that

must be answered, which is, how does this get rectified. i don't think you just go forward after he's abandoned the agreement that we entered the congress under and just hope for the best. i think it will get worse and worse because this -- because people were so badly abused by the way the negotiation was handled. >> representative van orden last word real quick. colleagues talking about breaks in trust. what do you make of it? >> i think that monday morning we're going to get back together as a conference, probably wind my colleague mr. bishop and make sure we work for the people that represent us. so the 750 thousand people of wisconsin third congressional district sent me to washington, dc to work for them and this bill worked for our seniors, our vets, our farmers and those most in need. aim proud to support it and i have the up most confidence in kevin mccarthy's leadership. this conference is going to work

together because we are he all adults and putting the best interest of the united states of america over our own personal interest and that's how you're supposed to govern and that's exactly what the house of representatives is doing and we proved it today. >> well, the speaker made a deal and it did pass. we will a see what the future holds. congressman bishop and van orden thank you very much >> more newse oversight committee chair james comer said he's starting contempt of congress proceedings against christopher wray. he gave a month to turn over a document of a criminal bribery scheme involving then vice-president joe biden they didn't produce it and offered instead to show it to comer: that's not really how subpoenas work so wray is finding himself in a bit of a pickle. as all that's happening disgraced fbi head james comey is on a publicity tour speaking to all the usual suspects and of

course defending his successor. >> director wray is a person of principle so i'm sure he's trying to ascertain what's the right thing to do consistent with department of justice policy and tradition, and these are the kind of kerfuffles that blow up every so often in dc now it's insnared the fbi. it will pass. >> it will pass. joining me now is john radcliffe former director of national intelligence under president trump. john, this person of principle seems to be slow-walking an investigation. we checked. it doesn't seem -- i could be wrong on this, you might know, that a previous fbi director, has been held in contempt. can they do it? where does this showdown go? >> yeah. so, pete, i think, you know, we heard from not one, not two, but three whistle blowers that said when it comes toss investigations into the bidens, the fbi and th of justice were giving preferential treatment and were slow walking aspects of the investigation.

and, you know, christopher wray's actions as director here with regard to the fd-1023 really would seem to support the whistleblower's contention toss that. look, legally director wray does not have any legal basis to not comply with this congressional oversight subpoena. this is not a top secret document. it's not a secret document. there are no national security concerns here. this is an unclassified document. and what director wray is now taking the position is, well, doj won't let us turn it over because we've got to protect sources and methods. well, there was a time, pete, where an fbi director could have gotten away with that but after the last six or seven years between director comey and director wray, a litany of fbi abuses that have primarily gone one way, against one party, there's no capitol, there's no good will built up, no trust for director wray. especially since we heard this before.

in 2017 it was director wray when the nunez fisa memo came out we wanted to see those fisa applications he said we would be jeopardizes sources and methods and would cause great damage to our national security. turns out the only thing it was protecting was 17 violations of the law by the fbi according to the inspector general. so, you know, this is kind of more of the same. and i think that director wray has run out of rope with respect to republicans. and from a legal standpoint, he's going to lose this battle. you know, the fbi is created by congress and congress has an oversight role here. no legal or constitutional privilege, and i would expect james, jamie comer to move forward with this contempt proceeding. >> and it feels like sources -- how many times were sources and methods revealed or compromised when, you know, topics with less -- with even more gravity were leaked to the press against donald trump. i mean, they've hid behind that, now they're saying he can't

present it. ultimately hannity just a few minutes ago, james comey -- congressman comer was on saying he wouldn't even admit christopher wray, that the document existed. so it's digging and digging and digging that leads to even any of this coming to the surface. so, you're right. there is no trust in this process. but let's say he is held in contempt or the document does come out, do you think we're able to draw connections here, if it is true? >> well, you know, the point is, you know, the underlying allegation according to sources here, pete, is that a foreign national offered a $5 million bribe to joe biden for foreign policy direction or considerations. and, again, if we were talking about protecting sources or intelligence collections,

intelligence streams as it related to foreign nationals you would expect this document to be the marked secret or top secret. >> of course. >> and this is the an unclassified document. so, you know, the point about jim comey weighing in on this, gosh, you know, the guy loves the sound of his voice when he's giving interviews that are not under oath but when he's offered the opportunity to testify under oath, you know, like john durham did to talk about the litany of abuses that took place in the durham report, he refused to cooperate. so even though john durham did not subpoena jim comey i hope house republicans will r because, pete, his testimony from march of 2017 and december of 2018 is entirely inconsistent with the durham report. and someone, even if he wants to assert a fifth amendment right against self-incrimination, needs to ask him certain questions under oath. they need to, you know, ask him, you know, you were asked dozens

of questions about the russia goth and trump russia collusion and you never mentioned you were aware and briefed of the hillary clinton intelligence plan and the fact that you offered a million dollars to christopher steele for the -- to corroborate the steele dossier and couldn't do that. so those are the types of questions i would like to see jim comey asked under oath. >> yeah. there's no reason for the house oversight committee to back down on this at all. just letting you see the paper's not going to cut it. john, thank you very much >> all right, what conservatives are doing now to fight back against any business aligning itself with radical left-wing policies. baseball great kurt schilling and goya ceo bob are here with you next. stay right there.

♪ >> pete: we've been calling for this for a long time, and finally conservatives are flexing their muscles comes multiple fronts against woke corporate america. which we'll get to in a moment with goya food ceo bob unanue. but first to the baseball diamond. you all know how outraged christians are and ought to be over the la dodgers plan to honor the sisters of perpetual indulgence during the team's

pride night next month. if you're not familiar with the work of the sisters, who are actually not sisters, check this out. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> pete: take that down. it's disgusting. it's evil. that's what america's past time has come to? because of gar beige like that, even some of the players are speaking out. dodgers pitcher and legend clayton kershaw pushed to organize a christian faith day in response, which will happen. but perhaps the most impactful statement came from his teammate blake trenian who posteded this on twitter through a pastor. i'm disappointed to see the sisters of perpetual indulgence being honored as heroes at dodgers stadium. many of the performances like the one you saw are blasphemous

and they display hate and mockery of catholics and the christian faith he goes on talk about his convictions in jesus christ always coming first and playing is just a privilege. now we're learning tonight the california state legislature is planning to honor one of these so-called sisters for its pride night. of course california's going to double down. joining me now is kurt schilling. he spent 20 seasons as a major league baseball pitcher. kurt you were willing to speak out a lot at your career and after. how much are these players risking by putting out a statement like that? >> let me just say i was listening to the piece before this and i have to tell you, i am repulsed to hear people like james comey and brennan and schrock and all these people use the words men of character and honor and integrity when they absolutely butchered the meaning of every one of those words. at a father of a newly minted united states marine i despise people like that using honor and integrity.

sorry about that. >> pete: fair point. >> and i'm very thankful my video wasn't working to see that video again. it is -- here's the thing. the dodgers clearly picked a side, right? i mean, they were going to have this night, and a christian group, a catholic group, came out and said, hey, what you know? this is incredibly offensive to our religion and the dodgers said okay, we'll cancel it. this small minority of very vocal people got up in arms and the dodgers recanted. so they picked a side. we would rather offend catholics than we would the sisters of whatever bad dancing on polls they call themselves. i don't even know. point being they picked a side. and if one thing has not been seen over the last 30 days, it's that we as conservatives, capitalism is a wonderful thing. what we're doing to the companies that are going woke and the value that they're dropping, the billions and billions of dollars, needs to be the wake-up call, because -- and i'll ask you this question. in the last two years, have you

seen a liberal trans boycott that has negatively impacted the bottom line of a company to the point it's been reportedd in the news? i haven't. >> pete: no. i mean, that's a great point. >> no. because you know why? because there aren't that many of them t and that's neither here nor there. i don't care. i really don't. it's offensive material, i don't watch it. i don't care. but i sure as hell know baseball fans don't go to the game to see this crap. much less honoring these people? what are they being honored for? again, i don't care about their life style. don't waste it on me. don't put it -- yeah just don't put tonight front of me. i don't want to see it. >> pete: but there are other players that have been forceded to apologize for speaking out. >> yes, yes. >> pete: speaking out about bud light and target, a blue jays player. >> i was very saddened to see mr. bass have to recant his statement because -- and, listen, if the media had been this way when i played, i don't

know that i would have had as long a career as i did. or -- because, listen, and this is a fact. your ability to speak out against causes and your ability to speak for your -- and stand for your principles and more or less is directly tieded to the value of your contract your era or your batting average. if you're the 24th player on a roster you're getting cut. you're getting sent down or traded there. are people in toronto, a writer in toronto asking for the release of a player because of his stance. and it's not a stance against other beliefs it's a stance on his principles and beliefs. witty the liberals do this we're supposed to respect it right? we're supposed to be tolerant and for the most part we do. i don't care. i'm not going to say anything i'm just not going to watch i'm not going to turn the channel. when we stand for our principles the world needs to turn on an access for them. it's repulsive and the fact we're being played.

>> pete: absolutely. curt schilling thank you. great perspective from someone who's been there >> now to the second way conservatives are flexing their muscles is increasingly aligning itself not just against traditional values but in support of radical left wing social agendas. bud line, target, cole's all taking massive hits in their profit. next up a name we didn't expect to see on the list possibly and that's chick-fil-a. the fast food chain known for being closed on sundays due to the christian faith is being called for a boycott for being woke. many pointing to their diversion equity and inclusion and that it has a dei executive on the payroll. both there have been for years but just got noticed and going viral. the irony is chick-fil-a has faced boycotts from the left over their traditional values over and over again for years and yet continue to stand

strong. which makes this turn to dei or at least the revelation of it disorienting. joining me now is bob unanue, ceo of goya foods. bob, you know, i didn't see this one coming but is this really the same as bud light's trans can or target's tuck it in? if you look at the web site for chick-fil-a, they still talk about honoring god, that is the pursuit, their mission statement. how do you -- is this the same? >> well, pete, first of all we just had memorial day pass and i thank you for your service and for our freedom to this country. your generation has only known freedom and i like the analogy of the guy that built dubai who said his grandfather rode a camel et cetera. he said strong -- hard times create strong people. strong people create easy times, easy times create weak and soft people, and soft people create hard times. and if we don't get our act

together, we're going to be riding camels and pulling rick shaws pretty soon. as far as the boycotts go, i have an easy solution. they should have come to me first because all you've got to do is bring in aoc and have her boycott your company, and our sales, when she did that to us, she was eating her own, our sales went through the roof. but, seriously, and we made her honorary employee of the year for -- >> pete: employee of the month. >> for donating 4.5 million pounds of food working with the obamas, working with president trump and saying we were blessed. i used the word blessed and that pissed everybody off. but more importantly, this isn't about boycotts, as curt schilling said and god bless his son and semper fi. as curt said, you know we are in a war, what i'm saying is we are in a war of good versus evil. good versus wokeness, greed,

pride, pride is a sin, indulgence is a sin. i've seen the video on the sisters of perpetual indulgence. it's horrific. it's a war against culture against the family against a child. we are exploiting, abusing our children. and there's no age limit. when you don't respect life in the womb you're not going to respect it out of the womb. there is no line. it's not a blurred line. they've taken away the line. we're not respecting life. >> pete: how do corporations avoid this bob? do you have to have a mission statement that's iron clad, is it a border directors stomach how does this stuff sneak in? how do you arm yourself. >> all these big companies are run by investment funds, the black rocks one of the biggest investors in target is black rock. they have their agenda. they're not firing their president. laura ingraham almost three years ago asked me if i was going to apologize. i said hell no. you apologize and then you're

fired. you have to have kahunas all rights we'll trans that later. and they're run by these corporate funds, these investment funds that have no agenda except to bring in wokism which is communism. they don't give a crap about the people. they're setting the agenda. it's not the companies. it's the board who is put in by these woke investment companies. >> pete: interesting. so companies lose control. >> we have to fire these boards and -- they're killing our 401-ks, they're destroying it. >> pete: yeah. >> we are going down. and i'm latino also. we come from countries where they're destroying the company, moving away from god. we've got to move toward god and we've got to say, you know, we've got to move toward salvation. >> pete: absolutely right.

culture -- amen amen and cultures are difficult to protect t you've done that at guy i can't and not backed down. bob, thank you so much >> all right, what's the worst thing that could happen at your college graduation and who is the us putting our future in the hands of? raymond arroyo has all the answers in seen and unseen. that's next.

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report hearing better with their friends, family, and colleagues. with jabra enhance select, you can get the same advanced hearing aid technology and professional care you expect from a clinic at a fraction of the cost. try at risk free for 100 days. visit jabraenhance.com. >> pete: it's time for our seen and unseen segment where we reveal the story behind the headlines for that we turn always to fox news contributor raymond arroyo. ray, great to see you. the commencement season is in full swing. i know you've been tracking it. >> pete, i think there's nothing more depressing or tragic than after four years and hundreds of thousands of dollars in some cases, students finally graduate and face commencement catastrophes. imagine you're a student at johns hopkins university and for your commencement you get a foreign zoom call. >> almost president zelenskyy to

johns hopkins. >> the time of your life is under your control. the time of life of all ukrainians to live through this terrible russian aggression unfortunately is subject to many factors that are not all in their control. >> now, i thought the time of your life was under your control and then he reversed it. what are graduates supposed to take from this pete and why is this man we paid tens of billions of dollars to fight a war speaking to our students via zoom? >> pete: it's a great question. they seem to love it. i guess maybe if you want to take control, there's a clipboard over off to the side and you, too, can go volunteer to fight for the ukrainians. maybe that's part. >> maybe that's the message there. and west point graduates for the horrors of war their commencement speaker was, you

know -- >> the united states military must remain the most innovative fighting force in the world. now this is where i'm talking to you all based on your generation at this moment in time. so think about it. you see what can be unburdened by what has been. >> think about it, pete. you can be, because of what you've seen. the cyclical logic is remarkable and still joe biden tweeted out kamala is the best partner i could imagine. he's now obviously experiencing imagination impairment as well as other impairments. i guess he can't see what can be, pete. >> pete: no. i mean, but there is, as you know, significance, raymond, to the passage of time, because the passage of time is significant and if you've seen it then maybe having unseen it you can see it again. i don't know. >> yeah. i'm going to try to diagram that and it probably still won't make

sense pete because's highway kamala rolls. but i have a couple unseen important stories that got too little coverage today. the first is, the world health organization just elected north korea onto its executive board. what that means is, kim jong-un will now have influence over the global health policies of this un agency and it could shape america's health decisions moving forward. this shows again the power of china at the un pete. this group, north korea was just designated as the number one persecutor of christians in the world, they starve their people and they're going to now give us health advice? i don't think so. >> pete: this is a real story raymond, north korea world health? you're right it is controlled by china so that doesn't surprise me and china controls north korea. i guess if the world health organization wants an absolute vote in all towns for lock down no matter what, what do we do, lock them down they have that vote all the time from north korea.

>> yeah. and north korea just locked down their people again just back in january. so whatever china says they'll get, and these satellite countries are basically their proxies. >> pete: that's right. >> the other unseen story, this is true, elon musk brain implant company neuralink has been approved for its first human trials, but the early results don't look too good, pete. >> thanks to national oceanic, oceanic, oceanic administration so called noah, the national administration funded hundreds of projects across the country. i asked about one coastal particular town, city. >> i'm joke. he didn't get neuralink. >> pete: is that before or after the brain implant? >> i think that must be before because he could use the help. >> pete: that's the before. the after can't be worse. >> you got it. >> pete: those are two stories i had not seen, well done.

by the way, raymond. >> thank you, my friend. >> pete: we're going to see you friday you're sitting in for laura on friday night. >> yes. >> pete: and then saturday you have a book signing at the thomas edison national park in west orange, details at raymondarroyo.com. love it. >> we're going to have fun. let there be light. >> pete: west orange new jersey. let there be light, well done. love it >> up next the 2024 republican field is expanding in many ways. who's getting in now, and do they actually have a shot? ben dom niche and chris bedford react to the latest next. ♪ this is iowa. we just haven't been properly introduced. say hello to the place where rolling hills meets low bills. where our fields, inside and out, are always growing. and where the fun is just getting started. this is iowa. so, when are you coming to see us?

♪

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♪ >> if you're tired of losing, put your trust in a new generation. >> let me assure you as president, i will bring out the best of america. >> i'm the candidate the far left fears the most. >> we need to show the strength to win and we need to do that because the stakes couldn't be higher. >> we are a nation in decline. i have no doubt, nevertheless, that we will make america great again. >> pete: the republican field is getting even bigger starting next week. on tuesday, former new jersey governor and failed 2016 presidential candidate chris

christie is throwing his hat in the ring announcing at a new hampshire town hall. on wednesday in des moines iowa former vice-president mike pence currently polling below 4% will also announce and also on wednesday, north dakota governor doug burgum is set to announce a bid. i didn't have him on my presidential bingo card. so the big question now is who asked for any of this. joining me now is ben domenech fox news contributor and chris bedford executive editor for the common sense society. now, ben, i've traveled, you have. i haven't met a single republican who said, you know who would be great in the white house, doug bergum or chris christie. have you? >> you haven't met the burgeoning burgum fan done sweeping the nation it's the biggest thing going on in

american politics is just the excitement for bergum. pete, we have to comb in mind that politicians often run out of things to do and that's when they muck about in our lives in ways that can prove to be truly, you know, irritating and bad for us. and so let's just, you know, acknowledge that running for president is sometimes the least damaging thing that they can actually do when it comes to the ramifications for our lives as for the effect that they have in terms of the cycle, i think a big factor here is whether chris christie can get on the debate stage or not. if he can i think that he absolutely seems to have a target in mind for who he's going to go after. i think bee all know who that is. and i think a real question is, if he can poll high enough, especially in the state of new hampshire, in order to make it to that stage. >> chris, ben mentioned it, kristi's team actually told axios what they can expect from his campaign. here's what christie's camp

said. be authentic a happy warrior and then punch donald trump in the nose. so a happy warrior who punches donald trump in the nose running a national race. chris? >> you know, people should usually be hesitant to get into the ring with donald trump, like a bunch of in other words getting into the ring with a wwe wrestler. chris christie's been there before. he's the kind of guy, i've been thinking about him a lot lately before he threw his hat in the ring he's sort of the ghost of christmas past as to why ron desantis runs now instead of waiting his turn. when he ran in 2016 he was a has been, he had weaknesses a lot of people got sick of him he had been fighting the previous four years with the romney campaign. 2012 is when he was a big person in the republican spotlight probably when he had the best chance to win the nomination. that was something on team kat timpf's minds when they decided to jump in now as opposed to waiting four years.

of all these candidates the only ones running in the populous lanes are desantis and donald trump. the rest are decidedly running 2012 campaigns on 2008 campaigns and that's wild. because while the doper class is certainly in the 2012 lanes, the voters have shown time and time again that they want something a little more populous. >> pete: absolutely right. i don't know what the 2012 lane looks like but it doesn't feel like that moment. ben, real quick, here's what the morning joe team said about all these others jumping in the race. watch. >> the more that jump in, isn't that ultimately better for trump? if they all have mealy mouth criticisms of him and he comes in the way he did last time. >> this is exactly what happened with trump in 2016, right? this is best-case-scenario for donald trump. >> pete: i don't like agreeing with them, ben, but isn't that the case? >> no, it isn't the case. and here's a big factor here. the only senator in the race right now is tim scott. you had a ton of senators

running last time around. you had much bigger names who were fighting over i think the same portion of the pie. to chris's point, i think all these other candidates non-trump non-desantis are fighting over the pieces from the past. not going forward. and that amounts to a side show that can have some effects on the front runners but really isn't likely to change things the way we saw things carved up in bigger chunks back in 2016. >> pete: so, chris, i guess ben you're arguing it's a trump desantis race. usually there's a bump after an announcement, desantis has been very modest, if any. do you see him recovering his footing here, chris? >> i think it's certainly possible. folks have been saying that trump's had the race to himself for six months but the reality is he's had the field to himself for six years. he's never run against anyone coming at him from the more

populous angle and the last year or so it's been strange a president who's show so in touch previously with the american people and what they thought have shown a level of separation from the republican voter. whether it's hyping the vaccines early on, or now attacking desantis repeatedly from the left or saying, as ben just wrote about this week, saying that somehow ron desantis ran a bad job of covid in new york but andrew cuomo did a good job in new york. that's an interesting thing. so when desantis comes at him in his own lane that might actually start to change. >> pete: it's all interesting the. i gist -- yet trump's numbers continue to go up when they see what the left has done to him. i don't know how you take away that baked into the cake amongst his base, tough for anybody to do. ben and chris, thank you very much >> final thoughts when we return.

. >> pete: my final thought is

toss summarize what curt schilling and bob unanue said tonight. never back down on what you believe in. that's it for tonight i'm pete hegseth in for laura ingraham. don't forget to set your dvr every day at 10:00 p.m. eastern so you don't miss an episode of the ingraham angle, and set it saturday and sunday morning 6:00 to 10:00 a.m. eastern. gutfeld next. ♪ ♪ [cheers and applause] ♪ >> greg: yes, yes, yes, yes! yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! happy wednesday everybody. oh, man. make this week end. oh, i'm sorry. so it's just a measly 524 days until the 2024 election. the same amount of