The Rich Zeoli Show- Full Episode (01/18/2024):

3:05pm- Nick Corasaniti of The New York Times writes: “Former President Donald J. Trump’s resounding victory in Iowa significantly raises the stakes of next week’s New Hampshire primary for Nikki Haley and the increasingly desperate contingent of Republicans who want to move on from Mr. Trump. While Iowa was largely a foregone conclusion at the top, with a spirited battle only for second place, a small but ever narrowing path still exists for Ms. Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, to beat Mr. Trump in New Hampshire. It relies heavily on tens of thousands of independent voters expected to participate in the Republican primary.” You can read the full article here: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/16/us/politics/haley-new-hampshire-independents-trump.html

3:15pm- Despite finishing behind former President Donald and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in Monday’s Iowa caucus, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley claimed that the Republican presidential nomination is now a “two-person race” between herself and Trump. According to Real Clear Politics polling averages, Trump leads Haley 44% to 29% in New Hampshire and 52% to 22% in her home state of South Carolina. Does she have any chance of actually winning Tuesday’s NH primary?

3:20pm- On a recent episode of The Journal podcast, New Hampshire voters revealed that they are changing their party affiliation from Democrat to Republican prior to the state’s January 23rd primary. Because they can’t vote for their preferred candidate—Joe Biden—as he won’t appear on the ballot following a Democrat National Committee feud with the state over scheduling dates, many Democrat voters are now registering as Republicans in order to vote against Donald Trump, supporting rival candidates like Nikki Haley. Democrats have seemingly destroyed their own New Hampshire primary, are they impacting the Republican primary as well?

3:40pm- Rich appeared on Fox News with host Dana Perino earlier today and he won’t stop mentioning. We are less than an hour into the show and he has already mentioned it seven times! Also, does he need Botox?

3:50pm- A video posted to Fox News’ website documents a secret China-run lab in California—which was seemingly used to experiment on dangerous viruses and diseases including Ebola.

3:55pm- Robby Soave of Reason writes: “The World Economic Forum's (WEF) annual meeting is underway in Davos, Switzerland. Last year, disinformation stole the spotlight and was featured as a key problem for global elites to address. This year, the WEF has upped the ante, releasing a report that lists ‘misinformation and disinformation’ as the No. 1 short-term risk facing the world—beating out interstate armed conflict, climate change, and lack of economic opportunity. One of the first events at this year's meeting was a panel discussion, ‘Liberating Science,’ which largely focused on disinformation as it relates to the climate change agenda.” You can read his full editorial here: https://reason.com/2024/01/18/world-economic-forum-davos-science-disinformation/

4:05pm- At the World Economic Forum, Harvard Professor Naomi Orsekes accused the social media platform X of disseminating fake information—and, when pressed, she refused to deny that she would recommend censoring the platform. During a panel discussion, Orsekes also claimed that animal agriculture is a “major driver of climate change” and called on people to drastically reduce the amount of meat they consume.

4:15pm- A video posted to Fox News’ website documents a secret China-run lab in California—which was seemingly used to experiment on dangerous viruses and diseases including Ebola. Why didn’t the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) take the incident more seriously?

4:30pm- During a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland several speakers expressed outrage because citizens of the world no longer trust science blindly—questioning “when did the word ‘expert’ become an insult?”

4:40pm- While appearing on Fox News with Sean Hannity, Rep. Jim Jordan accused the U.S. federal government—with the help of tech companies and universities—of targeting conservative voices for censorship prior to the 2020 presidential election.

4:50pm- Following Monday’s results of the Iowa caucus, MSNBC host Joy Reid claimed that Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley finished third because of her skin color—arguing that GOP voters could never elect a woman of color. Haley slammed Reid for her comments noting that she was elected to serve as Governor of South Carolina, and that America is not a racist country.

5:05pm- The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board writes: “No one escapes the climate police these days, and that includes Taylor Swift. The pop star has been criticized recently for emitting CO2 on her frequent trips on a private jet to see her beau Travis Kelce play for the Kansas City Chiefs. But not to worry. A spokesperson for the entertainer says Ms. Swift has been buying carbon offsets.” You can read the full editorial here: https://www.wsj.com/articles/taylor-swift-co2-offsets-private-jet-emissions-climate-82bb7d61?mod=opinion_lead_pos1

5:20pm- While participating in a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Vanessa Kerry—daughter of U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry—alleged that the climate crisis is actually a “health crisis.”

5:30pm- On Thursday, Congress passed a bill that would extend government funding into March—temporarily avoiding a government shutdown. The legislation passed 77-18 in the Senate and 314-108 in the House of Representatives. In response to the deal, the House Freedom Caucus tweeted: “The House Freedom Caucus strongly opposes the proposed short-term Continuing Resolution extending government funding to March to facilitate the passage of the Johnson-Schumer agreement's appropriations bills. Americans did not give Republicans a majority in the House to continue Nancy Pelosi's inflationary spending and Joe Biden's failed policies. Unfortunately, that's precisely what has been proposed in order to buy time—incredibly—to pass full-year appropriations that increase Pelosi's spending level and likely preserve Biden's policies. This is not what we promised the American people. Instead, Speaker Mike Johnson should walk away from his agreement with Senate Majority Leader Schumer and pass an appropriations package that meaningfully reduces spending year-over-year and secures our southern border. That is what winning looks like. Seven months ago, over the opposition of many conservatives, Congress raised the debt limit by roughly $4 trillion to January 2025 and, in exchange, established modest spending caps. The recent Johnson-Schumer topline agreement uses those ‘side deals’ to spend past the caps by a whopping $69 billion for an unprecedented total of $1.659 trillion—without securing a single commitment on Republican policy priorities. This doesn't preserve the status quo. It makes it worse.” You can find the tweet here: https://twitter.com/freedomcaucus/status/1748077616635007478/photo/1

5:40pm- Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday, Argentine President Javier Milei told those in attendance “do not surrender” to socialism and to instead embrace capitalism and free markets. He explained, “collectivist experiments are never the solution to the problems that afflict the citizens of the world. Rather, they are the root cause.” Meanwhile, Kevin Roberts, the president of The Heritage Foundation, went nuclear on totalitarian elites at the forum—defending Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump as a protector of individual liberties.

6:05pm- Amy Gardner and Holly Bailey write: “A state judge overseeing the election interference case against former president Donald Trump in Georgia has scheduled a hearing for Feb. 15 to hear evidence regarding accusations that Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis (D) and her lead prosecutor engaged in an improper relationship and mishandled public money.” You can read the full article here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/01/18/judge-orders-hearing-fani-willis-misconduct-georgia-case/

6:20pm- On Fox News last night, Jesse Waters noted that the lead prosecutor in the Donald Trump Georgia election interference criminal case, Nathan Wade, billed Fulton County for 24-hours of work in a single day. Wade is alleged to have had an improper relationship with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

6:30pm- Has Rich mentioned that he was on Fox News with Dana Perino earlier today? At least 17 or 18 times, actually.

6:40pm- Why is snortable caffeine a thing? And who could have ever predicted that it isn’t good for you?

6:50pm- During a House hearing, Rep. Max Frost (D-FL) drafted a bill to remove the Statue of Liberty in response to Republican demands to secure the U.S. Southern border. Rep. Frost bizarrely argued that the promise of the Statue of Liberty could not be fulfilled without open borders and unrestricted immigration.