November 30, 2023 • 32 mins
Former Speaker Newt Gingrich talks about the role of smaller government and how that philosophy is winning elections all over the world. It's a simple message and one that will drive America to greatness...again.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, we have come in your site way Agintas and
saying you a con will all be desire.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
And if you want a little banging and ye come along.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
And together we made progress.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
You know, from Turkey to air travel to tank of gas.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Cross went down, It went down.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
The economy was on a tail set a tailspin.
Speaker 4 (00:31):
That is the fact, because of the last administration, because
of the Trump administration.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
You know, we're going to set up follow up calls
with every governor we met with to make sure we're available.
As I think it was President Reagan said, we're from
the government.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
We're here to help Frado.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
Is that in style?
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Welcome to the revolution.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Coming to your se.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Going the way out Againsas and saying you a concert,
Celenn New.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
Sean Hennity Show more, I have the scenes information on
freaking news and more bold inspired solutions for America. All right,
thanks Scott Shoan an hour two Sean Hannity Show, toll free.
It's eight hundred and ninety four one, Shawn, if you
want to be a part of the program. All right,
we are in Alfaretta, Georgia. Uh well, not strange territory.
(01:23):
To our next guest, former Speaker of the House, nuwke
Gingrich is with us. Uh boy, I remember the cop galleria.
The night was election night nineteen ninety four. I was
your MC you had that night. You brought Republicans out
of the wilderness for the first time in forty years.
Republicans got a majority of the House of Representatives, and
(01:43):
you became Speaker, and that became a part of my
life's history and I am forever grateful. And then you
ended up balancing the budget four years in a row,
and it's not been balanced since, and it wasn't bounced
for a long time before, and I don't see any
hope that it's going to be balanced anytime soon.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Well, I'm a little more up. I think that we
actually have a pretty good Budget Committee chairman, and I
think that they are working very hard. They've actually produced
a budget which would be in balanced in ten years now.
They they got to want to carry the country and
pick up a heck of a lot of seats next year.
But if they did that, you know, Jody Errington as
(02:19):
chairman has proven that you could balance the budget if
you had the willpower. And the question will be whether
we are a president and a House and a Senate
that are willing to do it, and I think spending
under control, balancing the budget, getting back to three and
a half or four percent economic growth, and dramatically overhauling
the federal government. I think that just so in Argentina,
(02:42):
that's a pretty winning package when you're dealing with people
who are very unhappy and who see that their money
is being spent in crazy ways and that they're getting
poorer while their government gets richer.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
Let me ask you about the Republican majority, it's very slim.
A lot of reports that Kevin McCart Dorothy and one
other congressmen are thinking about resigning before the end of
the year or maybe early into next year. Then the
whole George Santos fiasco, to me, that is an unmitigated disaster.
On top of the fact that Republicans can't even unite
(03:15):
on some of the most basic items or as you
call them, the ninety ten, eighty twenty issues, that the
low hanging fruit that everybody should agree on if they're
a Republican.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Yeah, I think this is the news. Speaker Mike Johnson
has an enormous challenge, and that's one that ultimately is
as brilliant as he is and as much as I
admire Kevin McCarthey, he couldn't find a way to both
keep his entire conference. You know, he got ninety six
(03:43):
percent of the House Republican conference voted to keep him,
but the four percent who sided with the Democrats were
the margin of defeating him. And in that kind of environment,
I think Mike Johnson's gonna find pretty rapidly he's going
to have similar problems because the block of Republicans who
get up every morning knowing they're voting, no, they just
(04:04):
don't know what they're voting on. And remind me, you
used to wake up and Hitty's first comment was we
need more money, and then he said, now what's the issue?
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (04:13):
I mean you have a wealth of experience. That's pretty
much how it works, all right. With that said, because look,
you have various factions within the Republican Party, but they
are the majority. It's frustrating to me as a conservative
that Republicans don't stand on principle. You know, I would
think that demanding a border bill alone would not be
(04:34):
that heavy a lift for them and just not be
willing to go along with any other spending until they
do that, or for example, Chuck Schumer gave you know,
a passionate speech about anti Semitism yesterday, a little late
for my liking. He could have done this when Congresswoman
to Lee was talking about wiping Israel off the map
from the river to the sea, but she didn't get
(04:55):
kicked out of Congress.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
And the reality is, Chuck, I'm sorry.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
Schumer this week had an opportunity to have a standalone
Israel funding bill, and he chose not to support it,
and he got all the Democrats not to support it
because he wants the big omnibus bills. He wants Ukraine
tied to it, he wants Taiwan tied to it, maybe
some border security money just to get the House to
go along. Why can't they just have every Bilvia standalone
(05:22):
bill and work that way.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Well you could, but you probably couldn't get anything through
at that point. You know. What they're trying to do
is figure out are there enough things that if each
one brings let's say, seventy or one hundred votes, So
if I can get three or four things that each
brings seventy one hundred votes, can I get to a majority.
I think that the border ought to be a much
bigger issue than it is. I just read a thing
(05:45):
this morning about a ninety four year old World War
Two veteran being kicked out of his nursing home so
they can turn it over to Biden's legal immigrants. And
I've decided every time I use the term illegal, I'm
going I'm coming to put Biden's name in front of it,
because none of this is an accident. This is a
deliberate policy by Biden and the Democrats to drown the
(06:08):
country and people who are here illegally, and they know it,
and they're doing it willfully and deliberately, and I think
that we need to make them accept the consequence of
their behavior.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Well, I mean, I tend to agree with you on
every front. How do you do it?
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Well, I think, first of all, you've got to get
agreement on what you're at least willing to talk about.
Because if you get two hundred plus Republicans in the
House and forty eight or Republicans of the Senate and
they have the same language, they can drive things. I mean,
Reagan managed me long before Rush Limball became famous, long
before there was a Fox News. Reagan understood that just
(06:47):
sheer repetition you could get through despite all the efforts
of the news media. And so I think that's a
fascinating way to approach this. And I think that you know,
that's why, for example, I've talked so much about big
government socialism, because that's what they are and it's very unpopular.
And again, to cite you know, recently, we've had elections
(07:10):
in Argentina, in Holland, in Finland, in Hungary, in Italy,
in Greece, in South Korea, and again and again, the
people who are second tired of big government and second
tired of left wing values I have been winning astonishing victories.
And I think that Republicans should focus first of all
(07:32):
on what do we have to do next year to
make sure we win the biggest possible victory at every
level House, Senate, President, governors, what have you, and how
do we draw the issues so clearly? Then focus on
the mean. I think the Congress ought to go to
New York and hold some field hearings with the senior
citizens who are being kicked out of their homes in
(07:54):
order to take care of a legal eminence. Just to
give you any example. Second, I think, and if you
want any single argument for why it's good to have
a Republican house. Look at the work they're doing to
bring to the surface just how corrupt and how sick
the Biden family is. And I think that none of
that would be happening if the Democrats weren't charged. So
(08:17):
these are serious things. When somebody who says serious and careful,
as Andy McCarthy, who used to be a prosecuting federal
attorney and prosecuted the terrorists who had the first World
Trade Center bombing in nineteen ninety three, when McCarthy writes
a piece that starts with it's now clear that we
have the equivalent of a Chinese communist agent sitting in
(08:39):
the Oval office. That's pretty devastating. There's a hole zone here,
not just of corruption, but basically selling out America and
doing things for foreign dictatorships and foreign olive arts that
clearly violate any commitment to improving America. And I think
that's to be part of it. But Biden also faces
(09:02):
just reality. I mean, when you have a nine hundred
come sorry, eight hundred cars carjacked in Washington, d C.
By Thanksgiving, there's something profoundly wrong when you learn that
the estimate is that there have been four point two
billion dollars stolen from stores in New York City, and
(09:22):
you just go case by case and realize the Biden
policies don't work. The Left doesn't work, and you and
you you feel it in your pocketbook, you feel it
in the quality of life in your neighborhood. Uh, you
know you have give the and you're gonna have this
great debate tonight, which christ and I are both really
looking forward to and running is a very very innovative idea,
(09:45):
and it's really a choice of two profoundly different governing philosophies.
And I was fascinated that Governor Newsom, in order to
welcome the Chinese dictator Juzhenping to San Francisco, created a
totally phony of Hempkin Village, cleaned up the city just
long enough for Jujuenping to visit, and then promptly it
(10:06):
collapse again. And I just thought, I mean, what does
it tell you when the policies are so bad that
they have to go about creating a phony appearance in
order to have a Chinese dictator show up?
Speaker 4 (10:17):
Yeah, all right, quick break right back more with Speaker
new king Rich on the other side. Then we'll get
to your calls. We continue from Alpharetta, Georgia. Tonight's big
debate on Hannity nine Eastern sy DVR nine to eleven.
Tonight is Gavin Newsom versus Ron De Santis. Should be fun.
You don't want to miss it, right We continue now
we're in Alfaretta, Georgia for tonight's big debate with Governor
(10:37):
Ron De Santis versus Governor Gavin Newsom. That's nine Eastern
Tonight on box. But we continue at Speaker of the House,
new Gingrish, former speaker. By the way, I have an
old friend of yours in studio here with us. You
might remember when I was here from ninety two to
ninety six doing my show, my radio show on the
News Monster, a guy by the name Eric slug Sadel.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Do you remember Slugo.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Of course, let's go outy nude.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
How are you.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Almost like it must be a gold home week.
Speaker 4 (11:06):
Well, well, he didn't pay me very much when I
was here. Just for the record, I.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Go back to when you were still a college professor Newton,
when I first met you.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
Wow at Cannesaw State College.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
No, no, no, he was at West Georgia.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
You were at West Georgia. That's right, okay, sorry, And.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
You may remember I came in one time to substitute
for Neil Boorn and I learned the hard way the
doing three hours of talk radio is real work.
Speaker 4 (11:33):
Oh yeah, well, don't don't give away the secret. They
actually have to work at this show. I love people
that said, well, you only work three hours a day
on the radio. I'm like, okay, for every hour you're on,
there's like three hours of preparation.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
I think. Me. You know, I thought I could just
do it, and I went in there, and by about
the second hour I was dying.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
I mean, well you were not. Come on, you have
filled in for me before the.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Look, the things that interested me had no interest to
anybody else, and I didn't prepare correctly. I didn't understand
them the nature of a Neil Boards audience. And you know,
ever since, I've had enormous respect for people like you
and Rush You're because you know, both of you understand
you have to entertain in order to educate, and so
(12:20):
you've got to have a show that's lively and informative
and that people want to listen to because they have
many things they can do with their lives. And I
think Eric would agree totally that there are a handful
of people who get it so well they become sort
of artists of what they're doing.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Now.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
I have to also confess back when they weren't paying
you very much, you weren't quite up to the office
level yet.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
But well.
Speaker 4 (12:43):
But the first time I interviewed Newt was in a
holiday inn in Decatur, Alabama, when I was doing radio
in Huntsville from ninety to ninety two. Funny story about
Neil boards Neil boorts made me a much better host.
I'm driving in one morning and I tune in to
our competitor station and it was six fifteen in the morning.
I'm driving to work, and then on comes Neil Boortz
(13:05):
at six fifteen. Every morning, he would be there at
six fifteen. He told his audience every topic that he
would be discussing that day, meaning he had read every
newspaper already. That means he had been there for a
couple of hours. And I'm like, I'm still driving to work.
And from that day forward, I got my ass to
work very early, and I would listen to him at
(13:27):
six fifteen every morning, and then he would give away
his whole show, and if he was going to be talking,
and if he didn't have many guests. So if he
had a really good topic and there was a great
guest I could get and book. I'd rather have the
guest and let it rather than him just going off
on stuff. The other thing is, so one day he
announces he has Robert Shapiro. This is right after the
(13:48):
oj Simpson trial. That's going to be on a show
at ten pm. Our shows started.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Nine probably ten am.
Speaker 4 (13:54):
I'm sorry at ten am. And so anyway, I called
my producer, Eric's thing. We didn't get Rob Shapiro.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
What's going on?
Speaker 4 (14:02):
He goes, no, I think he's going to be on
an FM station that we had a relationship with. We
actually did an April fol switch joke one year which
turned out.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
To be ninety nine X.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
Yeah, ninety nine X.
Speaker 4 (14:11):
He calls over there and says, is there any chance
that mister Shapiro would like to do an interview with
Sean Hannity at nine am?
Speaker 1 (14:17):
She goes, sure, we're free, right, Okay, they come over.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
I get him first, and then at the end of
the hour, I said, mister Shapiro, this is going so well,
would you mind staying a little bit longer, maybe into
the next hour. He stays till about ten forty five,
then heads over to Neil's show. You'll meets him in
the parking lot nearly has a fistfight with the guy.
I mean, those are the old school of radio wars
that used to take place. But he made me a
better host because I knew how good he was. I
(14:41):
knew how smart he was. And then we feed him
stories on the topics that we knew that his audience
was bored stiff with.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
And every day we try to like feed.
Speaker 4 (14:50):
Him stories that would send them off on the typical tangent,
which worked often.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
That's well, I have to tell you, Neil, who is
you know.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Who's in front of it. We're best friends. I love him well.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
He now has me coming to do some breakfast group
an early four and the only reason I'm doing it
is Neil. I mean, he has such a great friend.
We've been We've known each other so long. But you know,
he and Rush were very similar in that neither on
him actually wanted to have guests. Now. I think in
Neils because he really liked listening to himself, and then
(15:24):
Rush he knew that his audience didn't want to listen
to anybody else. They wanted to listen to Rush. And
I remember one time I asked you a question because
you'd begun opening the evening TV with a monologue, and
you said, well, the challenge is that's actually the highest
rated part of the show because people are curious about
what you think. And then you let us let Lesser Mortals.
Speaker 4 (15:45):
Come on and okay, former Speaker of the House Lesser
Mortals sluggo, you get the last word.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Hi.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
Look, nude, it's good to talk to you. And I
haven't seen you for a while, but I remember when
during a World Braves World Series game and I had
no you for many years, and my brother was in
town who was a GC lawyer, and he wanted to
meet you. Although he came from an opposite end of
the political spectrum, but he was very nice. I was
really terrified about introducing you, but he was very very courteous.
Speaker 4 (16:15):
Anyway, mister Speaker, we love having you. Thank you so much.
We'll talk a little bit more with Slugo as the
program goes on. He's going to tell you lies about
me in my past. But I'm just giving you a
preview of coming attractions. Eight hundred ninety four one, Shawn
or in Alfaretta, Georgia, Tonight's big debate, Governor ron De
Santis versus Governor Gavin Newsom. Yet your dose of independence
(16:37):
and liberty every weekday right here on the Sean Hannity Show,
all right, twenty five till the top of the hour.
Thank you for being with us. Eight hundred ninety four one,
Shawn our number. You want to be a part of
the program. We are in Alpharetta, Georgia today, Tonight's big debate,
state versus state, Red versus Blue, Governor Ronda Santis of
Florida versus Governor Gavin Newsom. I will tell you the
(17:01):
amount of interest in this. Did you see the drudger
of for tonight? I mean the Real Debate Hannity's show
on what does it say? Hannity's Show Something. I got
to pull it up here. It was pretty it was
pretty funny. Here it is Hannity's show in the spotlight.
I don't know if that's good or bad. It says
tonight the real debate Left and Right Coast Square Off.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
I'm glad there's a lot of interest in it.
Speaker 4 (17:24):
And as I've been telling many of you, even some
of you that are critical, Why are you giving Gavin
news any airtime?
Speaker 1 (17:29):
I'm like, you better pay attention to this guy.
Speaker 4 (17:32):
And you know he acts like, what are the odds
that Joe Biden might not be on the ticket a
year from now? Is that a real possibility? Because I
think the answer is yes, if I am right, and
that's a real possibility, you better know who's behind him.
Now we know about Kamala Harris. He's more of a
known entity nationwide. People know about Gavin Newsom, but they
(17:54):
don't really know his record.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
The people of California do.
Speaker 4 (17:59):
And I to just highlight these diametrically opposed political views
and philosophies and look at the results and or failures
of them, or the justification for why things are the
way they are is going to be very interesting. And anyways,
that's happening. Nineties going to go till ten thirty. Then
we'll do a half hour analysis of the debate. We'll
(18:21):
put up on Hannity dot com. If you want to
vote who won the debate, we'll put that up there.
Or if you want to grade the moderator and give
me an a plus, I'd take that too, But that's
not part of the equation anyway. First, I want to
remind you Mike Lindell, he's always looking for new ways
to solve everyday problems. For example, you go into a store,
you need new towels, You feel them, they feel soft,
(18:43):
you think they're going to be absorbent.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
You take them home.
Speaker 4 (18:45):
And by the way, that first shower, that first bath,
if you like to take baths, I'm not a bath person.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Guess what.
Speaker 4 (18:50):
It's absorbent and it's soft anyway. Then you do it
the third or fourth time, and that softness kind of disappears,
the absorbency not quite what it used to be. My pillows,
they have now announced two brand new lines of my
towels for you to try. And what makes these towels
great is they're now made with what's called one hundred
percent long staple shorper cotton. Now it's comb ringspun cotton.
(19:13):
That's what makes the towels absorbent and softer than ever.
Right now, you can get a six piece set fifty
percent off at twenty nine to ninety eight. Go to
MyPillow dot com the Sean Hannity Square if you'd like
their designer premium line well, that's twenty bucks more, but
it's also fifty percent off. Just go to MyPillow dot
com Sean Hannitysquare. They have other deep discounts on other
great MyPillow products. Or you can call eight hundred nine
(19:36):
one nine six zero nine zero and just mention my
name Hannity.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Anyway, it's great to be back.
Speaker 4 (19:42):
I'm now started my twenty eighth year at the Fox
News Channel, and I promise you if you would have
looked at any of the early shows of then Hannity
and Comb's and think that I'd still be there, I
promise you you'd be like wondering, how did they put this
guy on TV?
Speaker 1 (19:58):
And you they were writing then what they said.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
The first review of Hannity and Combs said, Alan Colmes
looks funereal, and Sean Hannity has a bad haircut and
has no business being on television, and I have a
face for radio. He didn't say that part though. Now
I have since done many interviews. Verngay of Newsday wrote it,
and I've done many interviews, and every time we do
(20:21):
an interview, I'm like, we bring it up and we
kind of laugh about it. Now I've become the longest
running prime time cable host in the history of cable news.
I never thought that would ever happen. All I knew
in my life and in my career is I grew
up listening to radio.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Its fascinated with radio.
Speaker 4 (20:37):
My parents were furious at my radio listening because I
would listen to talk shows, you know, late into the
night in New York and guys like Barry Farmer, who
became a dear friend of mine, and Barry Gray and
you know, all these late night hosts. And then it
evolved them, you know, the acerbic Bob green Hey, get
off my phone news scumbag stuff like that, it says.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
And I had a little of that style in me.
I guess when I.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
Started, did you ever all right, we'll.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
Get to that, and I say, calm down, I'm bringing
I'm about to introduce you. But all I knew that
light went on and that's what I wanted to do.
And rightly, I was fired at a university station, but frankly,
everyone on that station should have been fired because they
were all left wing nuts. But once they took the
mic away from me, that's all I wanted to do.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
My life changed. I have no idea Why then you.
Speaker 4 (21:27):
Called me from Atlanta and offered me an opportunity to
audition for two.
Speaker 3 (21:32):
Days there right an all their audition.
Speaker 4 (21:35):
Okay, so I did two days audition. What happened that
behind the scenes after that audition.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
Well, let me you know, we go back. I was
telling Linda Blair and James we go back thirty one
years now. Right, So you were in a talk radio
bacinette at the time.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Thanks a lot.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
It looks like you just slipped out of your own
glass and had there slugo's chair nearly went right.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
To the ground.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
Uh, so we really had to work with you, and
you were You came on very strong. You had the
edge of a New Yorker.
Speaker 4 (22:07):
Well, I had a much thicker New York accent at
the time. Yeah, I sounded like Linda.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
See, I don't remember that so much as as how
abrupt you could be with callers and even with guests.
And I think and Nancy's intech our executive producer, and
I used to tell you you're in the Deep South, mellow
out a little.
Speaker 4 (22:29):
You didn't really tell me until it was an until moment.
I don't remember if you gave me how many year
contract it was originally I think it was a for life,
was it. No, it was not for life, not even
close to for life.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
And you didn't pay me very much.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
Just for the record, well we paid you based on
the cost of living here, which is far less than
New York.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
It's not that less.
Speaker 4 (22:51):
But actually, in retrospect, I would never have had the
opportunities I had not being in Atlanta, because then I
started doing TV at fake News CNN and they were
calling me like every other day.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
Well you and you also did a couple of talk
shows and you Gal Jesse yep, and you did done.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
Here, we did. Donnie Borts was on that.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
Yeah, and you also went up on weekends and did
see NBC. That's where Roger Als learned about.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
That's correct, So all that happened.
Speaker 4 (23:19):
So anyway, long story short, and he's going to distort
the story, but I'll let you give your version of it.
One day you called me in your office and you
confronted me over my confrontational style on the air.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
And I will tell you as you if you've ever watched.
Speaker 4 (23:36):
Howard Stern's movie Private Parts, you know it's like when
you start on radio, you're selling an idiot, you know,
and now with chock it today's weather, he's the hot human.
Cancel later afternoon thunderstorms. I know, seventy eight degrees slight
drizzle on wwww W NBC. You know that's all real.
That's how you start out. I think you become your
(23:59):
best host, or the way to become the best host
you can be, is when you are true, truly yourself.
There is no doubt that New York rough and tumble.
Get off my phone, you creep, got into my bloodstreet,
and I thought that was how to do a talk show.
It's not my natural style. It definitely is Levin's natural style.
(24:20):
For example, get off my phone, you big dope, right,
but it's not mine. And so you bring me into
your office and I remember this well, and Nancy was
in the meeting, and I remember you're kinda in a
very nice way. You didn't yell, you didn't scream. He
just said you got to you gotta calm down. Callers
are I'm telling you, we're getting complaints about how not
(24:43):
what you say. They agree with you, but how you're
saying it.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
Well, that's exactly right now. Greg. I knew from the
time I heard your tapes before we ever brought you
into Atlanta for the on air audition. So this is
the guy. Yeah, he's young, he's inexperience, but he's where
we need him to be politically. Okay. So I played
the Nancy, you know, is sort of to the left
(25:08):
of the left. But she I have to give her credit.
She was a terrific producer. She understood the talk talent
and she helped produce to your strengths. Did it with
Neil too when I was there. But all we needed
new you had to just grow, and you were young.
I thought you'd bring a younger audience, you know. Yeah,
(25:28):
you were young at one time, Sean.
Speaker 4 (25:31):
And by the way, we did Yeah, I remember books
men twenty five fifty four were twelve and a half shares.
Speaker 3 (25:37):
But don't forget we had the braves too.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (25:39):
When you lost the Braves, I said goodbye. Yeah, well
you did stay for the Olympics. That was very kind
of you. You do know what the AJAC said in
the year end edition in nineteen ninety six, right.
Speaker 3 (25:50):
I remember you remember these things better than I do.
Speaker 4 (25:53):
Go Well, I actually have the article saved. It said
nineteen ninety six was a great year. The Olympics came
and Sean Hannity left, Yeah, which was funny. But that meeting,
I remember what I said to you. I said, you've
lost confidence in me. That's what I said to you.
Speaker 3 (26:07):
And what did I say?
Speaker 1 (26:09):
You were very nice? Honestly you were.
Speaker 4 (26:11):
You were a great mentor, you were what you didn't
want to do. And then I figured out what had happened.
That a big research project had been conducted on the station,
on me, and you would not share the information with me,
but you wanted to filter the information to me.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
It's all correct, right, Critical mass Media did it?
Speaker 3 (26:31):
Would Joel it? Would?
Speaker 2 (26:32):
You know?
Speaker 3 (26:33):
We really needed to procter that to you and other talent.
Speaker 4 (26:36):
Okay, And there are a lot of talent that really
can't handle research.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
I'm not one of them.
Speaker 3 (26:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (26:43):
So one night I was there late, just happened to
see an open office door if that was locked, not necessarily,
I don't recall that part that was our news store
that was locked.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
And I found that perceptual.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
Yeah, it just jumped into your hands, it did.
Speaker 4 (26:59):
And I read the sogo. I read the whole thing.
I know you did, and the verbatims are what got
to you. The verbatims were unsolicited comments about varying hosts,
and the audience was shouting at me to calm the
hell down.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
They liked my opinions, they did not like my style.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
This is everything we were telling you too. But uh yeah, but.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
When I had but I had to read it myself
to get it.
Speaker 3 (27:21):
Yeah, I never lost confidence in you. I knew what
you could do. And again for our audience, the target
we were hitting, you were perfect for that, and it
was just a matter to grow into that role in
a more be yourself. As you said, how long can
you not be yourself? How long can you be that disuti?
Speaker 4 (27:42):
Eventually the real person had cast to come out of
its radio.
Speaker 1 (27:46):
Radio is a warmthed medium.
Speaker 3 (27:47):
You can't live a lie like that, especially when and
this is a very intimate medium.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
Totally agree. So I took it seriously.
Speaker 4 (27:55):
And by the way, they were probably about twenty years
in my career, and I've told I've never really got
into great detail.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
I pay for research on myself, I know, and.
Speaker 4 (28:05):
I would read it just the way I read the
research because that helped me improve more than anything, because
what I realized is the audience.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
Is never wrong.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
One thing I want to go back at the time
you had the nervous system of jello. You were. You
were so insecure. You've told me every day you thought
I'd fire you.
Speaker 4 (28:24):
Every day after the show, I would go into the
into the control room, steal the tapes and make it
that you could not listen to the show from that
day because you were a meeting the whole show. I
would have stang or walk the building and find out
where you were and I and do do topics you
didn't want me to do.
Speaker 3 (28:43):
I hope you've gained some confidence in me.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
Well, you know, I thank you.
Speaker 4 (28:48):
I think Bill Donovant, I think Roger, I think everybody
that's had an impact on my career, and.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
It's been an amazing jury.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
Well, nobody works harder than you. I've got and that
your your work ethic was one of the things we
saw right away, and that was such a strength, and
it's been such a strength for you all along. Your
success to a great extent is due to you.
Speaker 4 (29:11):
All Right, quick break more with my former boss and
friend Eric Slugo. Sidella is with us. We'll get to
your calls later on in the program. At the top
of the hour, in Christine Nomill join us and don't
forget our debate tonight Blue State, Red State, Red State,
Blue State, the Great State Debate. It's happening in Alpharetta, Georgia,
nine Eastern Governor Rond De Santis versus Governor Gavin Newsom.
(29:32):
I your host, will be your moderator my Alpharetta, Georgia
for the big Blue State Red State Debate happening tonight.
And Eric Slugo sidell is with us. He is my
former boss when I was here here locally in Atlanta.
You know that story I told about Neil Borts is true,
and you know I've told you that story before. And
(29:53):
I was shocked that he was at work and I
was still driving to work and I wasn't on for
another two and a half hours, and that he had
already read everything. And I'm like, I'll never survive. Then
I'm taking my first vacation. Like a year later, I'm
in my car now. Neil switched stations. The reason I
got hired by you is because he went to a
(30:13):
competing station. The one I'm on now, the good station WSB, the.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
One we had doesn't exist here anymore.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
That's true. So Neil's on the air.
Speaker 4 (30:23):
I'm listening to him as I'm going on vacation and
he's like, Sean Hannity, I know you're listening. How the
hell do you know I'm listening. He goes, Sean, your
phone's about to ring. It's going to be slug O.
Slugo's going to say, come on back because of what
I'm about to announce starting Monday morning, I'm going back
to my old time slot. He was supposed to compete
(30:43):
against Rush. Didn't work out.
Speaker 3 (30:45):
Well, No, he thought he could beat Rush and he couldn't.
Speaker 4 (30:47):
Okay, so he's going back and then he's going to
start a show fifteen minutes before me. I get to
the airport and I'm like, I'm coming back. You would
not let me come back, right, And I had no
power to fight you on that. It was the worst
vacation I've ever had in my life.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
Well, I'm sorry about that. I thought you needed to break.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
But I you know, and I think you filled in
for me in the meantime.
Speaker 3 (31:10):
And the ratings were incredible that they want to hear
a lot of blank space. Oh man, but you know
Nude said something I could never do this full time
you cushaw it is it is so the amount of
work that goes into this.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
You did ask the program director all the time.
Speaker 3 (31:31):
Yeah, I was asked the manager as the manager. Sorry,
and there were times when I filled in when I
would do topics too. But for the moment, this is
I guess, this is why I went into management, Why
I couldn't do I did news. I came up through news,
not through talk. So you know that.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
But you know what's odd for me is I can't
even believe that.
Speaker 4 (31:51):
I don't know what my life would be like if
I didn't have this three hour outlet every day. You
guys talk about how hard it is. I can't think
about life without it. Not weird, No, not at all,
not at all. It's what hits you. It's in your heart.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
Slugo.
Speaker 4 (32:05):
I'm grateful for you and you've been friends ever since.
Bill Dunovant, grateful for him. Everybody that's helped me in
TV and radio. My current partners, I mean, they're amazing,
you know, everyone from Julie to Bob Pittman. Might I
have the best radio team. They're half here, sweet Baby
James is here, Linda Blair here, and the same with
my TV style.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
Great people.
Speaker 3 (32:27):
You're an easy guy to like by the way that
people don't they.
Speaker 4 (32:30):
Like because I give him bonuses and I pay for lunch.
Should I pay for dinner?
Speaker 3 (32:33):
You're an easy guy to like and people people should
get to know. I hope can get to know you
on a different level because you are a terrific human
to do.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
You're a great mass logo. Thank you for helping me.
You were you definitely help me.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
I take a lot of pride with
Well, we have come in your site way Agintas and
saying you a con will all be desire.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
And if you want a little banging and ye come along.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
And together we made progress.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
You know, from Turkey to air travel to tank of gas.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Cross went down, It went down.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
The economy was on a tail set a tailspin.
Speaker 4 (00:31):
That is the fact, because of the last administration, because
of the Trump administration.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
You know, we're going to set up follow up calls
with every governor we met with to make sure we're available.
As I think it was President Reagan said, we're from
the government.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
We're here to help Frado.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
Is that in style?
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Welcome to the revolution.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Coming to your se.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Going the way out Againsas and saying you a concert,
Celenn New.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
Sean Hennity Show more, I have the scenes information on
freaking news and more bold inspired solutions for America. All right,
thanks Scott Shoan an hour two Sean Hannity Show, toll free.
It's eight hundred and ninety four one, Shawn, if you
want to be a part of the program. All right,
we are in Alfaretta, Georgia. Uh well, not strange territory.
(01:23):
To our next guest, former Speaker of the House, nuwke
Gingrich is with us. Uh boy, I remember the cop galleria.
The night was election night nineteen ninety four. I was
your MC you had that night. You brought Republicans out
of the wilderness for the first time in forty years.
Republicans got a majority of the House of Representatives, and
(01:43):
you became Speaker, and that became a part of my
life's history and I am forever grateful. And then you
ended up balancing the budget four years in a row,
and it's not been balanced since, and it wasn't bounced
for a long time before, and I don't see any
hope that it's going to be balanced anytime soon.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Well, I'm a little more up. I think that we
actually have a pretty good Budget Committee chairman, and I
think that they are working very hard. They've actually produced
a budget which would be in balanced in ten years now.
They they got to want to carry the country and
pick up a heck of a lot of seats next year.
But if they did that, you know, Jody Errington as
(02:19):
chairman has proven that you could balance the budget if
you had the willpower. And the question will be whether
we are a president and a House and a Senate
that are willing to do it, and I think spending
under control, balancing the budget, getting back to three and
a half or four percent economic growth, and dramatically overhauling
the federal government. I think that just so in Argentina,
(02:42):
that's a pretty winning package when you're dealing with people
who are very unhappy and who see that their money
is being spent in crazy ways and that they're getting
poorer while their government gets richer.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
Let me ask you about the Republican majority, it's very slim.
A lot of reports that Kevin McCart Dorothy and one
other congressmen are thinking about resigning before the end of
the year or maybe early into next year. Then the
whole George Santos fiasco, to me, that is an unmitigated disaster.
On top of the fact that Republicans can't even unite
(03:15):
on some of the most basic items or as you
call them, the ninety ten, eighty twenty issues, that the
low hanging fruit that everybody should agree on if they're
a Republican.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Yeah, I think this is the news. Speaker Mike Johnson
has an enormous challenge, and that's one that ultimately is
as brilliant as he is and as much as I
admire Kevin McCarthey, he couldn't find a way to both
keep his entire conference. You know, he got ninety six
(03:43):
percent of the House Republican conference voted to keep him,
but the four percent who sided with the Democrats were
the margin of defeating him. And in that kind of environment,
I think Mike Johnson's gonna find pretty rapidly he's going
to have similar problems because the block of Republicans who
get up every morning knowing they're voting, no, they just
(04:04):
don't know what they're voting on. And remind me, you
used to wake up and Hitty's first comment was we
need more money, and then he said, now what's the issue?
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (04:13):
I mean you have a wealth of experience. That's pretty
much how it works, all right. With that said, because look,
you have various factions within the Republican Party, but they
are the majority. It's frustrating to me as a conservative
that Republicans don't stand on principle. You know, I would
think that demanding a border bill alone would not be
(04:34):
that heavy a lift for them and just not be
willing to go along with any other spending until they
do that, or for example, Chuck Schumer gave you know,
a passionate speech about anti Semitism yesterday, a little late
for my liking. He could have done this when Congresswoman
to Lee was talking about wiping Israel off the map
from the river to the sea, but she didn't get
(04:55):
kicked out of Congress.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
And the reality is, Chuck, I'm sorry.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
Schumer this week had an opportunity to have a standalone
Israel funding bill, and he chose not to support it,
and he got all the Democrats not to support it
because he wants the big omnibus bills. He wants Ukraine
tied to it, he wants Taiwan tied to it, maybe
some border security money just to get the House to
go along. Why can't they just have every Bilvia standalone
(05:22):
bill and work that way.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Well you could, but you probably couldn't get anything through
at that point. You know. What they're trying to do
is figure out are there enough things that if each
one brings let's say, seventy or one hundred votes, So
if I can get three or four things that each
brings seventy one hundred votes, can I get to a majority.
I think that the border ought to be a much
bigger issue than it is. I just read a thing
(05:45):
this morning about a ninety four year old World War
Two veteran being kicked out of his nursing home so
they can turn it over to Biden's legal immigrants. And
I've decided every time I use the term illegal, I'm
going I'm coming to put Biden's name in front of it,
because none of this is an accident. This is a
deliberate policy by Biden and the Democrats to drown the
(06:08):
country and people who are here illegally, and they know it,
and they're doing it willfully and deliberately, and I think
that we need to make them accept the consequence of
their behavior.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Well, I mean, I tend to agree with you on
every front. How do you do it?
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Well, I think, first of all, you've got to get
agreement on what you're at least willing to talk about.
Because if you get two hundred plus Republicans in the
House and forty eight or Republicans of the Senate and
they have the same language, they can drive things. I mean,
Reagan managed me long before Rush Limball became famous, long
before there was a Fox News. Reagan understood that just
(06:47):
sheer repetition you could get through despite all the efforts
of the news media. And so I think that's a
fascinating way to approach this. And I think that you know,
that's why, for example, I've talked so much about big
government socialism, because that's what they are and it's very unpopular.
And again, to cite you know, recently, we've had elections
(07:10):
in Argentina, in Holland, in Finland, in Hungary, in Italy,
in Greece, in South Korea, and again and again, the
people who are second tired of big government and second
tired of left wing values I have been winning astonishing victories.
And I think that Republicans should focus first of all
(07:32):
on what do we have to do next year to
make sure we win the biggest possible victory at every
level House, Senate, President, governors, what have you, and how
do we draw the issues so clearly? Then focus on
the mean. I think the Congress ought to go to
New York and hold some field hearings with the senior
citizens who are being kicked out of their homes in
(07:54):
order to take care of a legal eminence. Just to
give you any example. Second, I think, and if you
want any single argument for why it's good to have
a Republican house. Look at the work they're doing to
bring to the surface just how corrupt and how sick
the Biden family is. And I think that none of
that would be happening if the Democrats weren't charged. So
(08:17):
these are serious things. When somebody who says serious and careful,
as Andy McCarthy, who used to be a prosecuting federal
attorney and prosecuted the terrorists who had the first World
Trade Center bombing in nineteen ninety three, when McCarthy writes
a piece that starts with it's now clear that we
have the equivalent of a Chinese communist agent sitting in
(08:39):
the Oval office. That's pretty devastating. There's a hole zone here,
not just of corruption, but basically selling out America and
doing things for foreign dictatorships and foreign olive arts that
clearly violate any commitment to improving America. And I think
that's to be part of it. But Biden also faces
(09:02):
just reality. I mean, when you have a nine hundred
come sorry, eight hundred cars carjacked in Washington, d C.
By Thanksgiving, there's something profoundly wrong when you learn that
the estimate is that there have been four point two
billion dollars stolen from stores in New York City, and
(09:22):
you just go case by case and realize the Biden
policies don't work. The Left doesn't work, and you and
you you feel it in your pocketbook, you feel it
in the quality of life in your neighborhood. Uh, you
know you have give the and you're gonna have this
great debate tonight, which christ and I are both really
looking forward to and running is a very very innovative idea,
(09:45):
and it's really a choice of two profoundly different governing philosophies.
And I was fascinated that Governor Newsom, in order to
welcome the Chinese dictator Juzhenping to San Francisco, created a
totally phony of Hempkin Village, cleaned up the city just
long enough for Jujuenping to visit, and then promptly it
(10:06):
collapse again. And I just thought, I mean, what does
it tell you when the policies are so bad that
they have to go about creating a phony appearance in
order to have a Chinese dictator show up?
Speaker 4 (10:17):
Yeah, all right, quick break right back more with Speaker
new king Rich on the other side. Then we'll get
to your calls. We continue from Alpharetta, Georgia. Tonight's big
debate on Hannity nine Eastern sy DVR nine to eleven.
Tonight is Gavin Newsom versus Ron De Santis. Should be fun.
You don't want to miss it, right We continue now
we're in Alfaretta, Georgia for tonight's big debate with Governor
(10:37):
Ron De Santis versus Governor Gavin Newsom. That's nine Eastern
Tonight on box. But we continue at Speaker of the House,
new Gingrish, former speaker. By the way, I have an
old friend of yours in studio here with us. You
might remember when I was here from ninety two to
ninety six doing my show, my radio show on the
News Monster, a guy by the name Eric slug Sadel.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Do you remember Slugo.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Of course, let's go outy nude.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
How are you.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Almost like it must be a gold home week.
Speaker 4 (11:06):
Well, well, he didn't pay me very much when I
was here. Just for the record, I.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Go back to when you were still a college professor Newton,
when I first met you.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
Wow at Cannesaw State College.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
No, no, no, he was at West Georgia.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
You were at West Georgia. That's right, okay, sorry, And.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
You may remember I came in one time to substitute
for Neil Boorn and I learned the hard way the
doing three hours of talk radio is real work.
Speaker 4 (11:33):
Oh yeah, well, don't don't give away the secret. They
actually have to work at this show. I love people
that said, well, you only work three hours a day
on the radio. I'm like, okay, for every hour you're on,
there's like three hours of preparation.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
I think. Me. You know, I thought I could just
do it, and I went in there, and by about
the second hour I was dying.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
I mean, well you were not. Come on, you have
filled in for me before the.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Look, the things that interested me had no interest to
anybody else, and I didn't prepare correctly. I didn't understand
them the nature of a Neil Boards audience. And you know,
ever since, I've had enormous respect for people like you
and Rush You're because you know, both of you understand
you have to entertain in order to educate, and so
(12:20):
you've got to have a show that's lively and informative
and that people want to listen to because they have
many things they can do with their lives. And I
think Eric would agree totally that there are a handful
of people who get it so well they become sort
of artists of what they're doing.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Now.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
I have to also confess back when they weren't paying
you very much, you weren't quite up to the office
level yet.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
But well.
Speaker 4 (12:43):
But the first time I interviewed Newt was in a
holiday inn in Decatur, Alabama, when I was doing radio
in Huntsville from ninety to ninety two. Funny story about
Neil boards Neil boorts made me a much better host.
I'm driving in one morning and I tune in to
our competitor station and it was six fifteen in the morning.
I'm driving to work, and then on comes Neil Boortz
(13:05):
at six fifteen. Every morning, he would be there at
six fifteen. He told his audience every topic that he
would be discussing that day, meaning he had read every
newspaper already. That means he had been there for a
couple of hours. And I'm like, I'm still driving to work.
And from that day forward, I got my ass to
work very early, and I would listen to him at
(13:27):
six fifteen every morning, and then he would give away
his whole show, and if he was going to be talking,
and if he didn't have many guests. So if he
had a really good topic and there was a great
guest I could get and book. I'd rather have the
guest and let it rather than him just going off
on stuff. The other thing is, so one day he
announces he has Robert Shapiro. This is right after the
(13:48):
oj Simpson trial. That's going to be on a show
at ten pm. Our shows started.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Nine probably ten am.
Speaker 4 (13:54):
I'm sorry at ten am. And so anyway, I called
my producer, Eric's thing. We didn't get Rob Shapiro.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
What's going on?
Speaker 4 (14:02):
He goes, no, I think he's going to be on
an FM station that we had a relationship with. We
actually did an April fol switch joke one year which
turned out.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
To be ninety nine X.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
Yeah, ninety nine X.
Speaker 4 (14:11):
He calls over there and says, is there any chance
that mister Shapiro would like to do an interview with
Sean Hannity at nine am?
Speaker 1 (14:17):
She goes, sure, we're free, right, Okay, they come over.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
I get him first, and then at the end of
the hour, I said, mister Shapiro, this is going so well,
would you mind staying a little bit longer, maybe into
the next hour. He stays till about ten forty five,
then heads over to Neil's show. You'll meets him in
the parking lot nearly has a fistfight with the guy.
I mean, those are the old school of radio wars
that used to take place. But he made me a
better host because I knew how good he was. I
(14:41):
knew how smart he was. And then we feed him
stories on the topics that we knew that his audience
was bored stiff with.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
And every day we try to like feed.
Speaker 4 (14:50):
Him stories that would send them off on the typical tangent,
which worked often.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
That's well, I have to tell you, Neil, who is
you know.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Who's in front of it. We're best friends. I love him well.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
He now has me coming to do some breakfast group
an early four and the only reason I'm doing it
is Neil. I mean, he has such a great friend.
We've been We've known each other so long. But you know,
he and Rush were very similar in that neither on
him actually wanted to have guests. Now. I think in
Neils because he really liked listening to himself, and then
(15:24):
Rush he knew that his audience didn't want to listen
to anybody else. They wanted to listen to Rush. And
I remember one time I asked you a question because
you'd begun opening the evening TV with a monologue, and
you said, well, the challenge is that's actually the highest
rated part of the show because people are curious about
what you think. And then you let us let Lesser Mortals.
Speaker 4 (15:45):
Come on and okay, former Speaker of the House Lesser
Mortals sluggo, you get the last word.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Hi.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
Look, nude, it's good to talk to you. And I
haven't seen you for a while, but I remember when
during a World Braves World Series game and I had
no you for many years, and my brother was in
town who was a GC lawyer, and he wanted to
meet you. Although he came from an opposite end of
the political spectrum, but he was very nice. I was
really terrified about introducing you, but he was very very courteous.
Speaker 4 (16:15):
Anyway, mister Speaker, we love having you. Thank you so much.
We'll talk a little bit more with Slugo as the
program goes on. He's going to tell you lies about
me in my past. But I'm just giving you a
preview of coming attractions. Eight hundred ninety four one, Shawn
or in Alfaretta, Georgia, Tonight's big debate, Governor ron De
Santis versus Governor Gavin Newsom. Yet your dose of independence
(16:37):
and liberty every weekday right here on the Sean Hannity Show,
all right, twenty five till the top of the hour.
Thank you for being with us. Eight hundred ninety four one,
Shawn our number. You want to be a part of
the program. We are in Alpharetta, Georgia today, Tonight's big debate,
state versus state, Red versus Blue, Governor Ronda Santis of
Florida versus Governor Gavin Newsom. I will tell you the
(17:01):
amount of interest in this. Did you see the drudger
of for tonight? I mean the Real Debate Hannity's show
on what does it say? Hannity's Show Something. I got
to pull it up here. It was pretty it was
pretty funny. Here it is Hannity's show in the spotlight.
I don't know if that's good or bad. It says
tonight the real debate Left and Right Coast Square Off.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
I'm glad there's a lot of interest in it.
Speaker 4 (17:24):
And as I've been telling many of you, even some
of you that are critical, Why are you giving Gavin
news any airtime?
Speaker 1 (17:29):
I'm like, you better pay attention to this guy.
Speaker 4 (17:32):
And you know he acts like, what are the odds
that Joe Biden might not be on the ticket a
year from now? Is that a real possibility? Because I
think the answer is yes, if I am right, and
that's a real possibility, you better know who's behind him.
Now we know about Kamala Harris. He's more of a
known entity nationwide. People know about Gavin Newsom, but they
(17:54):
don't really know his record.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
The people of California do.
Speaker 4 (17:59):
And I to just highlight these diametrically opposed political views
and philosophies and look at the results and or failures
of them, or the justification for why things are the
way they are is going to be very interesting. And anyways,
that's happening. Nineties going to go till ten thirty. Then
we'll do a half hour analysis of the debate. We'll
(18:21):
put up on Hannity dot com. If you want to
vote who won the debate, we'll put that up there.
Or if you want to grade the moderator and give
me an a plus, I'd take that too, But that's
not part of the equation anyway. First, I want to
remind you Mike Lindell, he's always looking for new ways
to solve everyday problems. For example, you go into a store,
you need new towels, You feel them, they feel soft,
(18:43):
you think they're going to be absorbent.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
You take them home.
Speaker 4 (18:45):
And by the way, that first shower, that first bath,
if you like to take baths, I'm not a bath person.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Guess what.
Speaker 4 (18:50):
It's absorbent and it's soft anyway. Then you do it
the third or fourth time, and that softness kind of disappears,
the absorbency not quite what it used to be. My pillows,
they have now announced two brand new lines of my
towels for you to try. And what makes these towels
great is they're now made with what's called one hundred
percent long staple shorper cotton. Now it's comb ringspun cotton.
(19:13):
That's what makes the towels absorbent and softer than ever.
Right now, you can get a six piece set fifty
percent off at twenty nine to ninety eight. Go to
MyPillow dot com the Sean Hannity Square if you'd like
their designer premium line well, that's twenty bucks more, but
it's also fifty percent off. Just go to MyPillow dot
com Sean Hannitysquare. They have other deep discounts on other
great MyPillow products. Or you can call eight hundred nine
(19:36):
one nine six zero nine zero and just mention my
name Hannity.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Anyway, it's great to be back.
Speaker 4 (19:42):
I'm now started my twenty eighth year at the Fox
News Channel, and I promise you if you would have
looked at any of the early shows of then Hannity
and Comb's and think that I'd still be there, I
promise you you'd be like wondering, how did they put this
guy on TV?
Speaker 1 (19:58):
And you they were writing then what they said.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
The first review of Hannity and Combs said, Alan Colmes
looks funereal, and Sean Hannity has a bad haircut and
has no business being on television, and I have a
face for radio. He didn't say that part though. Now
I have since done many interviews. Verngay of Newsday wrote it,
and I've done many interviews, and every time we do
(20:21):
an interview, I'm like, we bring it up and we
kind of laugh about it. Now I've become the longest
running prime time cable host in the history of cable news.
I never thought that would ever happen. All I knew
in my life and in my career is I grew
up listening to radio.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Its fascinated with radio.
Speaker 4 (20:37):
My parents were furious at my radio listening because I
would listen to talk shows, you know, late into the
night in New York and guys like Barry Farmer, who
became a dear friend of mine, and Barry Gray and
you know, all these late night hosts. And then it
evolved them, you know, the acerbic Bob green Hey, get
off my phone news scumbag stuff like that, it says.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
And I had a little of that style in me.
I guess when I.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
Started, did you ever all right, we'll.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
Get to that, and I say, calm down, I'm bringing
I'm about to introduce you. But all I knew that
light went on and that's what I wanted to do.
And rightly, I was fired at a university station, but frankly,
everyone on that station should have been fired because they
were all left wing nuts. But once they took the
mic away from me, that's all I wanted to do.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
My life changed. I have no idea Why then you.
Speaker 4 (21:27):
Called me from Atlanta and offered me an opportunity to
audition for two.
Speaker 3 (21:32):
Days there right an all their audition.
Speaker 4 (21:35):
Okay, so I did two days audition. What happened that
behind the scenes after that audition.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
Well, let me you know, we go back. I was
telling Linda Blair and James we go back thirty one
years now. Right, So you were in a talk radio
bacinette at the time.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Thanks a lot.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
It looks like you just slipped out of your own
glass and had there slugo's chair nearly went right.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
To the ground.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
Uh, so we really had to work with you, and
you were You came on very strong. You had the
edge of a New Yorker.
Speaker 4 (22:07):
Well, I had a much thicker New York accent at
the time. Yeah, I sounded like Linda.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
See, I don't remember that so much as as how
abrupt you could be with callers and even with guests.
And I think and Nancy's intech our executive producer, and
I used to tell you you're in the Deep South, mellow
out a little.
Speaker 4 (22:29):
You didn't really tell me until it was an until moment.
I don't remember if you gave me how many year
contract it was originally I think it was a for life,
was it. No, it was not for life, not even
close to for life.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
And you didn't pay me very much.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
Just for the record, well we paid you based on
the cost of living here, which is far less than
New York.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
It's not that less.
Speaker 4 (22:51):
But actually, in retrospect, I would never have had the
opportunities I had not being in Atlanta, because then I
started doing TV at fake News CNN and they were
calling me like every other day.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
Well you and you also did a couple of talk
shows and you Gal Jesse yep, and you did done.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
Here, we did. Donnie Borts was on that.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
Yeah, and you also went up on weekends and did
see NBC. That's where Roger Als learned about.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
That's correct, So all that happened.
Speaker 4 (23:19):
So anyway, long story short, and he's going to distort
the story, but I'll let you give your version of it.
One day you called me in your office and you
confronted me over my confrontational style on the air.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
And I will tell you as you if you've ever watched.
Speaker 4 (23:36):
Howard Stern's movie Private Parts, you know it's like when
you start on radio, you're selling an idiot, you know,
and now with chock it today's weather, he's the hot human.
Cancel later afternoon thunderstorms. I know, seventy eight degrees slight
drizzle on wwww W NBC. You know that's all real.
That's how you start out. I think you become your
(23:59):
best host, or the way to become the best host
you can be, is when you are true, truly yourself.
There is no doubt that New York rough and tumble.
Get off my phone, you creep, got into my bloodstreet,
and I thought that was how to do a talk show.
It's not my natural style. It definitely is Levin's natural style.
(24:20):
For example, get off my phone, you big dope, right,
but it's not mine. And so you bring me into
your office and I remember this well, and Nancy was
in the meeting, and I remember you're kinda in a
very nice way. You didn't yell, you didn't scream. He
just said you got to you gotta calm down. Callers
are I'm telling you, we're getting complaints about how not
(24:43):
what you say. They agree with you, but how you're
saying it.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
Well, that's exactly right now. Greg. I knew from the
time I heard your tapes before we ever brought you
into Atlanta for the on air audition. So this is
the guy. Yeah, he's young, he's inexperience, but he's where
we need him to be politically. Okay. So I played
the Nancy, you know, is sort of to the left
(25:08):
of the left. But she I have to give her credit.
She was a terrific producer. She understood the talk talent
and she helped produce to your strengths. Did it with
Neil too when I was there. But all we needed
new you had to just grow, and you were young.
I thought you'd bring a younger audience, you know. Yeah,
(25:28):
you were young at one time, Sean.
Speaker 4 (25:31):
And by the way, we did Yeah, I remember books
men twenty five fifty four were twelve and a half shares.
Speaker 3 (25:37):
But don't forget we had the braves too.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (25:39):
When you lost the Braves, I said goodbye. Yeah, well
you did stay for the Olympics. That was very kind
of you. You do know what the AJAC said in
the year end edition in nineteen ninety six, right.
Speaker 3 (25:50):
I remember you remember these things better than I do.
Speaker 4 (25:53):
Go Well, I actually have the article saved. It said
nineteen ninety six was a great year. The Olympics came
and Sean Hannity left, Yeah, which was funny. But that meeting,
I remember what I said to you. I said, you've
lost confidence in me. That's what I said to you.
Speaker 3 (26:07):
And what did I say?
Speaker 1 (26:09):
You were very nice? Honestly you were.
Speaker 4 (26:11):
You were a great mentor, you were what you didn't
want to do. And then I figured out what had happened.
That a big research project had been conducted on the station,
on me, and you would not share the information with me,
but you wanted to filter the information to me.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
It's all correct, right, Critical mass Media did it?
Speaker 3 (26:31):
Would Joel it? Would?
Speaker 2 (26:32):
You know?
Speaker 3 (26:33):
We really needed to procter that to you and other talent.
Speaker 4 (26:36):
Okay, And there are a lot of talent that really
can't handle research.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
I'm not one of them.
Speaker 3 (26:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (26:43):
So one night I was there late, just happened to
see an open office door if that was locked, not necessarily,
I don't recall that part that was our news store
that was locked.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
And I found that perceptual.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
Yeah, it just jumped into your hands, it did.
Speaker 4 (26:59):
And I read the sogo. I read the whole thing.
I know you did, and the verbatims are what got
to you. The verbatims were unsolicited comments about varying hosts,
and the audience was shouting at me to calm the
hell down.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
They liked my opinions, they did not like my style.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
This is everything we were telling you too. But uh yeah, but.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
When I had but I had to read it myself
to get it.
Speaker 3 (27:21):
Yeah, I never lost confidence in you. I knew what
you could do. And again for our audience, the target
we were hitting, you were perfect for that, and it
was just a matter to grow into that role in
a more be yourself. As you said, how long can
you not be yourself? How long can you be that disuti?
Speaker 4 (27:42):
Eventually the real person had cast to come out of
its radio.
Speaker 1 (27:46):
Radio is a warmthed medium.
Speaker 3 (27:47):
You can't live a lie like that, especially when and
this is a very intimate medium.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
Totally agree. So I took it seriously.
Speaker 4 (27:55):
And by the way, they were probably about twenty years
in my career, and I've told I've never really got
into great detail.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
I pay for research on myself, I know, and.
Speaker 4 (28:05):
I would read it just the way I read the
research because that helped me improve more than anything, because
what I realized is the audience.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
Is never wrong.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
One thing I want to go back at the time
you had the nervous system of jello. You were. You
were so insecure. You've told me every day you thought
I'd fire you.
Speaker 4 (28:24):
Every day after the show, I would go into the
into the control room, steal the tapes and make it
that you could not listen to the show from that
day because you were a meeting the whole show. I
would have stang or walk the building and find out
where you were and I and do do topics you
didn't want me to do.
Speaker 3 (28:43):
I hope you've gained some confidence in me.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
Well, you know, I thank you.
Speaker 4 (28:48):
I think Bill Donovant, I think Roger, I think everybody
that's had an impact on my career, and.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
It's been an amazing jury.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
Well, nobody works harder than you. I've got and that
your your work ethic was one of the things we
saw right away, and that was such a strength, and
it's been such a strength for you all along. Your
success to a great extent is due to you.
Speaker 4 (29:11):
All Right, quick break more with my former boss and
friend Eric Slugo. Sidella is with us. We'll get to
your calls later on in the program. At the top
of the hour, in Christine Nomill join us and don't
forget our debate tonight Blue State, Red State, Red State,
Blue State, the Great State Debate. It's happening in Alpharetta, Georgia,
nine Eastern Governor Rond De Santis versus Governor Gavin Newsom.
(29:32):
I your host, will be your moderator my Alpharetta, Georgia
for the big Blue State Red State Debate happening tonight.
And Eric Slugo sidell is with us. He is my
former boss when I was here here locally in Atlanta.
You know that story I told about Neil Borts is true,
and you know I've told you that story before. And
(29:53):
I was shocked that he was at work and I
was still driving to work and I wasn't on for
another two and a half hours, and that he had
already read everything. And I'm like, I'll never survive. Then
I'm taking my first vacation. Like a year later, I'm
in my car now. Neil switched stations. The reason I
got hired by you is because he went to a
(30:13):
competing station. The one I'm on now, the good station WSB, the.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
One we had doesn't exist here anymore.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
That's true. So Neil's on the air.
Speaker 4 (30:23):
I'm listening to him as I'm going on vacation and
he's like, Sean Hannity, I know you're listening. How the
hell do you know I'm listening. He goes, Sean, your
phone's about to ring. It's going to be slug O.
Slugo's going to say, come on back because of what
I'm about to announce starting Monday morning, I'm going back
to my old time slot. He was supposed to compete
(30:43):
against Rush. Didn't work out.
Speaker 3 (30:45):
Well, No, he thought he could beat Rush and he couldn't.
Speaker 4 (30:47):
Okay, so he's going back and then he's going to
start a show fifteen minutes before me. I get to
the airport and I'm like, I'm coming back. You would
not let me come back, right, And I had no
power to fight you on that. It was the worst
vacation I've ever had in my life.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
Well, I'm sorry about that. I thought you needed to break.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
But I you know, and I think you filled in
for me in the meantime.
Speaker 3 (31:10):
And the ratings were incredible that they want to hear
a lot of blank space. Oh man, but you know
Nude said something I could never do this full time
you cushaw it is it is so the amount of
work that goes into this.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
You did ask the program director all the time.
Speaker 3 (31:31):
Yeah, I was asked the manager as the manager. Sorry,
and there were times when I filled in when I
would do topics too. But for the moment, this is
I guess, this is why I went into management, Why
I couldn't do I did news. I came up through news,
not through talk. So you know that.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
But you know what's odd for me is I can't
even believe that.
Speaker 4 (31:51):
I don't know what my life would be like if
I didn't have this three hour outlet every day. You
guys talk about how hard it is. I can't think
about life without it. Not weird, No, not at all,
not at all. It's what hits you. It's in your heart.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
Slugo.
Speaker 4 (32:05):
I'm grateful for you and you've been friends ever since.
Bill Dunovant, grateful for him. Everybody that's helped me in
TV and radio. My current partners, I mean, they're amazing,
you know, everyone from Julie to Bob Pittman. Might I
have the best radio team. They're half here, sweet Baby
James is here, Linda Blair here, and the same with
my TV style.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
Great people.
Speaker 3 (32:27):
You're an easy guy to like by the way that
people don't they.
Speaker 4 (32:30):
Like because I give him bonuses and I pay for lunch.
Should I pay for dinner?
Speaker 3 (32:33):
You're an easy guy to like and people people should
get to know. I hope can get to know you
on a different level because you are a terrific human
to do.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
You're a great mass logo. Thank you for helping me.
You were you definitely help me.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
I take a lot of pride with
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