STEVE DEACE (HOST): It's not about the mistakes that were made in the moment with something unforeseen. That was an unforeseen ambushing of a country and a presidency. Or presidency and by extension a country. That's why I compared it to Pearl Harbor at the time. That -- Pearl Harbor is the singular greatest threat on our own home soil, to our liberty, since the Brits burned down the White House in the War of 1812. That is the closest anyone has come within our own homeland of imposing their will on us, since then, was Pearl Harbor. COVID was next, in my view.
Some would say 9/11. But remember, and I get that, and, of course, that was an awful tragic event. How did our way of life other than it became less convenient to fly in airports? How did the rest of our way of life change because of 9/11? In fact, they went out of our way to not have a sacrifice. They went out of our way to not have us have like a, like, homefront and join the effort. We were back to playing football games two weeks later. Like, go to Wal-Mart, don't let the terrorists win. Right?
TODD ERZEN (CO-HOST): Exactly.
DEACE: So our – just like life in America was different from December 6th and to December 7th 1941, like a Thanos snap, life in America changed. Right? Life changed. There was life in America March 15th 2020, and then there was life in America on March 16th, 2020. There was not life in America on September 10th and September 11th. We thought about it for a little bit. We thought maybe we should maybe be reflective and change some things, and we just went back to we're doing. And, you know, within a decade, now we've got Muslim -- we had we had Muslim terrorist shooting up Fort Hood and the head of the Army is on scene and concerned about his diversity outreach program. Nothing changed. Nothing changed. Just how convenient it was to fly in America changed, and that was it. That was the only thing that changed. That was the only thing that changed. March 16th, 2020, we got up, the whole world had changed. December 7th, 1941, you got up the next day, everything changed. That's why I made that comparison.
Let's assume that Trump – because it's not the mistakes that he made in the moment getting ambushed like this. We look at FDR as the hero of World War II now. If we had, like, talk radio and blogs in the winter of 1942, didn't – you're like, dude, we're gonna lose our entire civilization here. I mean, wasn't looking that good. Right? But now we're at the end of the story, so we know how it ends. It's the fact that he won't own up to those mistakes, so there's no – we have no assurance thing won't just get made again. There won't be some other contrived – there won't be some other contrived crisis with some other contrived agency of swamp rat bureaucrats who right when he's got this thing humming and come say, you shut it all down or we're all gonna die. And he's like, don't want that to happen. Take it. Take it. You run the country. You -- I'll do whatever you tell me. Can't – we need to know. So, it's not that he made those mistakes, is that there is no recompense, there is no self-awareness about them. I have no regrets, he told Bret Baier. I'm comfortable with everything.
Let's assume that didn't happen. Let's assume he even made the mistake of thirty days to slow the spread, because that was the moment when the narrative was lost and the blue state governors were empowered to just keep this going now as long as they wanted to to wreck the economy, their own states, him, everything. Right?
ERZEN: Yes.
DEACE: Let's assume at some point -- in fact, let's assume it even happened really late. Like, finally, people like me and Daniel had gotten to Scott Atlas enough exposure that he gets a job in the White House – which is what happened, frankly, if we're being honest. And he comes in and what was it? Late July, early August, if I remember right. And let's assume that that is the moment, finally, after all this damage has been done, that Trump says, you know what, man? You are my son, Mr. Atlas, in whom I am well placed. Okay? I have one command for you. I want you to reenact Robert DeNiro's famous scene in The Untouchables. I want you to gather the entire, what was it called? The coronavirus, what was the name of the committee? Do you guys remember what he called it?
ERZEN: Task force.
DEACE: Yeah. I want you to gather the entire coronavirus task force at a table. Pick a room. Any room you want in the White House. Gather them all. And I want you to teach them that a team is only as good as its weakest link, and just trash this entire thing. Okay? And then we're gonna do what you said. And wins the election.
...
DEACE: Do you guys realize how much different things would be right now?
ERZEN: Sure.
DEACE: He would be under no serious legal jeopardy. Right now, guys, I'm telling you. He is in serious jeopardy. If he doesn't win this next election and pardon himself or get somebody that will do it for him, he is going to spend -- there are better odds that Donald Trump will spend the rest of his natural life wearing an ankle bracelet at Mar-a-Lago then spend one more night in the White House as president. That doesn't happen if he wins this election. This animus and animosity that we have right now on our side, where the two disruptor candidates and their supporters are killing each other right now between Trump and DeSantis. We have a line of succession.
ERZEN: Yeah.
DEACE: Trump now looks to Ron DeSantis and says, exactly why I picked you to be governor of my – exactly why I picked you to be governor of my new home state. And you did exactly what I thought you would do, and that's why we made it my new home state. This is my successor in whom I am well pleased, and we all know what the line of succession is. We've got, like, a plan, years laid out. Everybody's on the same team. We are all mobilized against one enemy. You see what I'm saying?
ERZEN: Yeah.
DEACE: Everything would be different.