SPEAKER 07 : 0:00

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SPEAKER 13 : 0:41

From the wild world of D.C. politics to America’s culture clash, brace yourself for the reality check you’ve been waiting for. The one and only Mike Gallagher.

SPEAKER 12 : 0:51

All right, it’s the day before Thanksgiving. Do we start with the good news or the bad news? What do you want first? Let me just ask the audience. Here we are, Wednesday, November 26th. I made it safely to New York. Nobody lit me on fire on the subway. All is good. Nobody attacked me. Mom Donnie hasn’t taken over yet, so I’m thankful to be in New York for maybe my final Thanksgiving. I like coming to New York for Thanksgiving. I like the parade. I like the vibe. I like New York. I’ve always loved New York. But I’m heartbroken over what the voters here wound up doing. And so it feels good. It kind of feels like I’m in the last chapter right before Escape from New York occurs. So you want good news first or you want bad news? I want to take a quick mini straw poll. Get your fingers ready. Get your phones out. The MyPillow text line is wide open. Just tell me you want good news first or bad news. 800-655-MIKE. And I’ll go with you. You be my program director right now. 800-655-6453. Text good news or bad news. And I will go by what you guide me into doing. I’m in that kind of a mood today. I’m in the studio. I got the geyser here. I brought in donuts from Krispy Kreme. They’re not hot, though. The Fulton subway station does not serve warm Krispy Kremes. You know, that’s a great American tradition. When they’ve got the big light on outside Krispy Kreme, that means that they’re serving warm donuts. When the light’s turned off, they’ve only got cold donuts. Well, the light at the Krispy Kreme at the Fulton Street subway station is permanently out. There’s never any warm donuts. Wait till you hear the story about… New York and the subways and a tourist who just got a jury award of damages. Wait until you hear this. Oh, I got to save that. You want to talk about bad news? It’s bad news in a comical way. All right, look at the… Let’s see, let’s see. One, two, three. Eight votes for bad news. One vote for good news. Sounds like you’re in a feisty mood. And that’s okay. That’s kind of a… A good harbinger of things to come. Let’s see. Good, good, good. Bad, then good. Yeah, I kind of like that. Well, you know I’m going to do it all. It’s just a matter of what I start with. I think I’ll start with the bad news. I have to. Bad news first. Yep, that’s right. Let’s get the bad news out of the way. Thank you for your vote. Thank you for your love and your support. Thank you for your… Thanksgiving greetings. Because I’m going to give you a dose of news. Let me just play the report for you out of Minnesota. Cut number 15. This is the Minneapolis NBC affiliate, NBC 11. A judge has decided that a jury decision to find Abdufattah Youssef guilty of defrauding To the tune of $7.2 million. Jury took about four hours to convict him. Observers say, look, it seemed like a very open and shut case. Guy’s guilty of sin, said the jury. But a judge, here we go again, with a judge, had other plans.

SPEAKER 04 : 4:34

At the August trial for Abdi Fattah Youssef, the jury heard evidence that he ran his home health care company, Promise Health, out of a mailbox at a Central Avenue address where multiple other home health care companies were supposedly located. Youssef and his wife, Lowell Ahmed, were charged with stealing $7.2 million of taxpayer money through Medicaid overbilling in a personal care assistant or PCA scam. The couple allegedly spent tens of thousands of the fraud money on luxury items for themselves. Despite the jury swiftly convicting Youssef, Judge Sarah West last week decided they got it wrong.

SPEAKER 05 : 5:08

It’s reversing or overturning a jury’s verdict.

SPEAKER 04 : 5:11

Defense attorney Joe Tamburino, who’s not affiliated with this case, reviewed the decision and analyzed it for KARE 11 News. He says Judge West ruled that the state’s case relied heavily on circumstantial evidence and that she believed the state did not rule out other reasonable inferences.

SPEAKER 05 : 5:27

that in fact there could have been other reasonable theories other than guilt in this case. That’s what it comes down to.

SPEAKER 04 : 5:34

Despite the ruling, even Judge West wrote that she is troubled by the manner in which fraud was able to be perpetuated at Promise Health.

SPEAKER 09 : 5:41

I was stunned.

SPEAKER 04 : 5:41

State Representative Kristen Robbins, chair of the House Fraud Prevention and State Oversight Committee, says she’s now reviewing if any state laws need to be tightened.

SPEAKER 09 : 5:50

We want to strengthen state law so that we can get prosecutions out of these cases because clearly a jury thought he was guilty.

SPEAKER 04 : 5:57

Jurors in the case can’t believe the decision.

SPEAKER 08 : 6:00

I am shocked. I’m shocked based off of all of the evidence that was presented to us and the obvious guilt that we saw based off of the said evidence. It was not a difficult decision whatsoever. The deliberation took probably four hours at most. Based off of the state’s evidence that was presented, I was beyond a reasonable doubt.

SPEAKER 04 : 6:22

The attorney for Mr. Youssef, Ian Burrell, sent me a statement today that says, in part, Judge West’s ruling affirms what we have maintained from the beginning, that our client, Mr. Youssef, was wrongfully accused and did not commit fraud or racketeering. The Attorney General’s Office filed an appeal this afternoon, so the Minnesota Court of Appeals will take a second look at this decision. Julie?

SPEAKER 01 : 6:43

So, Lou, did Mr. Tamburino, was he, did he have any kind of emotional reaction? This is pretty stunning. This does not happen.

SPEAKER 04 : 6:50

Yeah, he leaned towards the idea that this was kind of a one-off and that it would have a good chance at appeal. But the worry is that there’s so many other cases just like it where somebody’s in the exact same position as Mr. Youssef but is charged with fraud. And if the judge can determine that maybe they didn’t know that the fraud was going on underneath them in the case, then other judges could throw it out just like this one.

SPEAKER 01 : 7:16

Do you know how quickly the Court of Appeals would take this up?

SPEAKER 04 : 7:18

Probably months.

SPEAKER 12 : 7:22

sheer lunacy. And you should see this judge. She looks like every Karen you’ve ever seen yelling at a neighbor to get their kid’s wiffle ball off her… She looks like she’s about 19 years old. This judge, Sarah, whatever her name… A jury. This Somali guy, he’s a Somalian man. And the fraud, evidently, I’m told from Minnesotans who call the show, say there’s all kinds of crimes and fraud and abuse being committed by the Somalian community in Minnesota. So you know this woke, leftist, radical, lunatic judge… feel sorry for the Somalian man who was living the high life, stealing $7.2 million from the taxpayers, living large, buying all these luxury items. The jury foreperson you just heard, well, we’re kind of shocked. I mean, it was pretty open and shut. It took us about four hours. I mean, I can’t do anything but laugh at this. Hey, Minnesotans, get out now. Get out now, because your state is going down the tubes faster than the Titanic hitting the iceberg. Wow. 800-655-MIKE. I’ve got to ask you something, and I mean it. We talk a good game about figuring out how to deal with these activist, lunatic, radical judges. Tell me once and for all what we’re going to do about it. I mean, boy, I wish, think about all the judges. Why didn’t Judge Ito overrule the jury’s not guilty verdict of OJ? There’s a whole lot of judges who go, oh, you know what? I don’t like that jury verdict. I’m going to go ahead. A jury of this guy, supposedly a jury of his peers, finds him guilty and Judge Karen finds Karen Duguider comes along and says, well, no, we can’t be mean to the poor Somalian man and his wife. We’ve got to let them go spend all their money. We’ve got to let them enjoy their luxury items that they’re using after bilking the taxpayers of over $7 million. Wow. I love the reporter, too. Mr. Yousef. 1-800-655-MIKE. Oh, boy. That’s the bad news. Not a lot of good news, as well. But the good news is, I’ll bet you’re going to fill up my phone lines with your reaction to this crazy story out of Minnesota, especially Minnesotans who listen in the Twin Cities. Join me. 800-655-6453. You know, it’s so unusual. Every single day it’s a joy to remind you that portions of our show are sponsored by MyPillow. As you know, our friend Mike Lindell, big legal victory last week. He’s been in a ton of hot water, as you know, because he believes in election integrity. Of course, due to his friendship with President Trump. Well, last week there was a $5 million vote. judgment against Mike that was overturned by the courts. Good news for MyPillow. So you keep praying for MyPillow, and you keep supporting this great American company. The premium MyPillow, limited time, great price, $18.98. If you go to MyPillow.com, this pillow is a godsend. Look, I bring the MyPillow products with me when I’m on the road. Here at the hotel in Washington State, I’ve got the MySlippers with me, those unbelievable slippers, because I pat around in the hotel room. I don’t know what’s on that rug. I bring the MyPillow with me. I roll it up into the suitcase. I’ve even got my MyPillow loungewear. Tons of great products. If you haven’t been to the site in a while, go check it out. Go to MyPillow.com. Look for the Mike Gallagher specials. Click on that box. And with anything you order, enter the promo code MikeG. You’re going to save big. The slippers, the doggy beds, and the Giza dream sheets. MyPillow.com. Promo code MikeG. MyPillow.com. Promo code MikeG. Or call 800-928-6034. 800-928-6034. Like we love to sing.

SPEAKER 02 : 11:24

For the best night’s sleep in the whole wide world, visit MyPillow.com.

SPEAKER 12 : 11:34

Promo code MikeG.

SPEAKER 13 : 11:45

Mike Gallagher.

SPEAKER 12 : 11:46

Here’s a live look at St. Paul, Minnesota on the Salem News Channel camera network. If you’re watching today, we appreciate you. Thanks for tuning in. SNC.TV. A lot of great things going on, too, at Salem News Channel. I was talking to Adam Dozier, one of the… driving forces behind SNC yesterday, and they got some just exciting interactive stuff happening. You can comment on the show, interact, find a lot of the articles and the video clips we play, snc.tv, and thanks for tuning in from all over the world. Your antidote to the mainstream media. Of course, that’s where St. Paul, of course, home to AM 1280, the Patriot. We’re heard in the Twin Cities there. That’s what Brett from St. Paul is listening to. He texted me on the MyPillow text line. Mike, it’s getting mighty embarrassing living here in Minnesota and being the laughingstock of the nation. And just so you know, with the culture here, nothing will change. The fraud will continue. Another one from Minnesota, from Minneapolis. Minnesota’s definitely going to hell. These activist judges need to be replaced. And speaking of bad news, crazy news, actually. I haven’t even gotten to the hair discrimination bill in Pennsylvania. You think they’ve got any problems in Pennsylvania? You might want to start with the governor. Did you know that hair discrimination was a problem in the Commonwealth? Who knew? Who knew? And the funny part is, I haven’t even really reviewed the story. When Tracy presented it to me today before the show and said, get a load of this. They’re very excited in the governor’s office of Pennsylvania because Shapiro signed a hair discrimination bill. I almost didn’t want to know. I told Tracy, I don’t want to know. I don’t know. I don’t care. A hair discrimination. And without even reading it or knowing about it, I’m trying to guess what that could be. It’s got to be race, right? It’s got to be a racial thing. It’s got to be something to do. I’m going to guess. Now, I don’t know this. I’m going to do this story like Larry King used to interview authors. Larry King would never read the book of an author he was going to interview. Drove my friend Mark Davis crazy. He thought that was lazy. He thought it was stupid. I think it’s kind of refreshing. Because then Larry King didn’t have any predisposition tendencies when he would do the interview. He’d be a blank slate. And we’d just start from scratch. I think it’s kind of novel. Look, Larry King was legend in our world. He’s probably the reason I’m a talk show host today. When I was a kid, I used to hide under the covers late at night and listen to Larry King’s talk show on the mutual broadcasting system. And I fell in love with talk radio as a kid listening to Larry. Anyway, I don’t even know this story. I’m going to guess that… Activists in Pennsylvania complained that black people get discriminated against if they have like cornrows as their hair. Like if they make their, I don’t even know what the right terminology is, but now you can’t be fired. I’m going to guess, I don’t know the story. Haven’t tackled it yet. Haven’t read the story. I just know that Governor Josh Shapiro has signed a hair discrimination bill into law. I’m going to guess this prevents employers from firing employees who have cornrows. I think that’s my only… And I don’t know. I don’t know. We’ll find out. All right, let’s start here with the Minnesota case, though. A Minnesota judge… overturned the guilty verdict of Abdi Fattah Youssef, a Somalian man who stole $7.2 million in taxpayer money from fake Medicaid billing. I’m told from people who live in Minnesota, this is an ongoing problem, particularly within the Somali community. And this judge decided, well, yeah, the jury said guilty. I’m going to overturn it because there may have been just extenuating circumstances. Maybe they needed all those luxury items that they bought with stolen taxpayer funds. I mean, we can’t pick on the poor guy from Somalia. Lisa in North Carolina. We’ll start there. 25 past the hour. Our number is 800-655-MIKE. Hey, Lisa, can you believe this story?

SPEAKER 14 : 16:51

No, I can’t. Golly. The judge is patting her pocket a little bit.

SPEAKER 12 : 16:56

Everybody’s saying that. Everybody’s saying check her bank account.

SPEAKER 14 : 17:03

It wouldn’t surprise me at all.

SPEAKER 12 : 17:05

All right. Thank you, Lisa. Dennis in Indiana. One open line. Dennis, welcome. How you doing? Happy Thanksgiving.

SPEAKER 03 : 17:11

Happy Thanksgiving. How are you? Concerning this overturning of the judge of the juror verdict,

SPEAKER 12 : 17:19

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER 03 : 17:20

If you what would a judge be thinking if that couple would have been white? Well, it’s funny that you book Adam for life.

SPEAKER 12 : 17:30

They get the death penalty. That’s right. They’d be they’d face a firing squad. Oh, my. They would. I mean, this is and race always takes over these cases over and over and over again. I mean, again, do I dare look into the Pennsylvania story? Do you want me to? Do you want to hear why Governor Josh Shapiro called a press conference to proudly announce that he’s signing a hair discrimination bill into law? Again, I haven’t even cracked open this story, but I will. All right, there’s enough bad news for a few minutes. Can I give you some good news? We just kicked off our Angel Tree Christmas campaign on Monday, as you know. And as usual, we’ve got this massive goal, 4,300 kids that we want to send Christmas presents to. It’s a simple ministry. For $30, you can have a Christmas present delivered to the child of a prisoner who’s currently in America. That child gets a Christmas present, a Bible, and a personal note from that mom or dad who’s in prison. And we started out. You know, the first day, just gangbusters. Do you want to know where we are right now? How many kids you’ve already sponsored in two days? After two days of the campaign? 833 kids. $30, a Christmas present, a Bible. And these are all small donors. These aren’t a bunch of, you know, $10,000 donors. You’ve stepped up already, and you’ve given us one of the biggest starts to our Christmastime Angel Tree campaign we’ve ever experienced. Now, here’s my prayer. If we can head into Thanksgiving tomorrow with a thousand children receiving presents, what an incredible blessing that’s going to be. If you feel like you just feel giving right now and your heart is full of love and gratitude and you want to pay it forward, please go to MikeOnline.com right now because if we can get to 1,000 by the end of the show today, and I think we will. I mean, my gosh, I think we got 400-plus kids sponsored yesterday. All we need is like 130, what is it, 170 kids. Please go to MikeOnline.com. Support the Angel Tree campaign. Let’s see how high we can get this to go. MikeOnline.com.

SPEAKER 06 : 19:54

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SPEAKER 12 : 20:21

All right, I guess we’re back. What happened to the music? The music just kind of went away. Felt like I was having a stroke there. It’s going to be one of those days. 26 before the hour. It’s just a crazy day. It’s kind of crazyville, isn’t it? Absolutely nuts. A judge overturning a jury verdict. Now, let’s get even nuttier before we get some sanity from our friends over at Americans for Prosperity. And portions of the Mike Gallagher Show are sponsored by AFP. I don’t know this story. Tracy didn’t give me a story on this story. All I have is a clip. I just have the governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro. You see, when I get a rundown and we put together the show and the outline, I get, you know, like a cut sheet. And I have a bunch of cuts of video clips. Now, I have no idea why there’s a need for a hair discrimination bill being passed into law in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. If you live in Pennsylvania, you probably already know this story. Maybe you know this story somewhere else in the country because maybe you’ve been covering this story or following this story. I have not. All I know is that Michelle Obama did some photo shoot somewhere. And she complained about how white people are forcing her to change her hair. Now, I would think a strong woman like Michelle Obama doesn’t need any white person to tell her what to do with her hair. But that’s just me. What do I know? So, again, we’re learning this story together for the first time. I give you the esteemed governor of the state of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, proudly announcing his resolve, proudly sharing with the world why he felt it necessary to sign a hair discrimination bill into law.

SPEAKER 11 : 22:25

And today, when I sign the Crown Act into law, that will be the next step in making good on that promise of bringing about real freedom for all Pennsylvanians. Look, we know that this is an issue that disproportionately affects black Pennsylvanians who wear their hair in protective styles like locks and natural braids or twists. And it can manifest itself in a number of different ways, from someone getting fired simply because of how they look, or maybe someone getting passed over for a job because of the way they wear their hair. That’s unacceptable.

SPEAKER 12 : 23:08

Yes, that’s a problem that the governor of Pennsylvania felt a need to address. The CROWN Act, does that stand for something? Does that mean, I mean, according to Channel 6 in Philadelphia, ABC 6, as the old saying goes, your hair is your crown. Have you ever heard that saying? I’ve never heard that saying. Your hair is your crown. If that’s the case, I’m in big trouble because I am one haggard king. I am one battered, haggard, tired king. I’m like the king, you know, in The Lion King? Who was it? Scar, the real skinny, mangy king? That’s me. Hair-based discrimination… has left many Pennsylvanians feeling not too regal, says 6abc.com. That all changed with the signing of the Crown Act. Sometimes words fail me. Some days, words fail me. Come on. You’ve got to come through with good news today. 833 kids. I’m refreshing the computer, and I’m not seeing any. I’ve got to get some growth here. We’ve got to get to 1,000. By the end of the day, we must. You’ve got to keep me soaring here. Do you know how demoralized I’m going to be if we can’t get 1,000 kids sponsored by the end of the show? And I need this audience to do it now. We’ve got to get going. 833 kids. Our goal is 4,333. The Angel Tree Christmas campaign, where you can sponsor a child, they get a Christmas gift. A Bible. You’re going to save souls. You’re going to save lives. You’re going to save Christmas for kids. I mean, this is the kind of thing that matters. Not the stupid Hair Discrimination Act. You’re going to be saving lives. And yes, a lot of these children are kids who are black and brown and white. Kids from all walks of life who have a parent in prison. Those children have done nothing to deserve that. But you can save Christmas for them. And what a magnificent way for you to celebrate the season. Please go to MikeOnline.com. Tracy hasn’t given me an update yet, so that means we probably don’t have an update. That means you’re probably still at $8.33. Come on, we get to $900 in the next 15. It’s $30. So what do we need? We just need like 30 people to pop in $30, get me to $900, and then getting to $1,000 will be a piece of cake. We can do this. You and me together. Let’s move mountains. Come on. If you’re thankful, if you’re grateful, if you feel blessed, then bless these kids, will you? 800-655-MIKE is our number. If you text the keyword ANGEL, we’ll send you back the link to the MyPillow text line. Or just go to MikeOnline.com. And thank you for blessing these kids. Jim is in Kansas. Hey, Jim, welcome back to the Mike Gallagher Show. Happy Thanksgiving.

SPEAKER 16 : 26:33

Happy Thanksgiving to you, too. Actually, I have two things. And one, I was watching Chris Tagal this morning, and he had mentioned – Michelle Obama complaining how hard it is to get her hair to look like white people, but I don’t remember anyone asking her to do that.

SPEAKER 12 : 26:50

Well, she said, somebody texted me, I mentioned that a minute ago, somebody said she’s complaining that white people are making her change her hair. How can white people make… How does that even work? You’re going to tell Michelle Obama you must change her hair? Why does she change her hair? Because white people want her to? Right.

SPEAKER 16 : 27:08

The other thing is this Crowns Act… and the discrimination. I guess you can’t discriminate against Donald Trump. He has a king’s crown, doesn’t he?

SPEAKER 12 : 27:21

He’s got he’s got if it’s true. I’ve never heard this before, Jim. But if it’s true that your hair is your crown. Well, Trump is an emperor because he’s got about three crowns up there on his head. Again, me, I’ve got like scar head. I’ve got like scar from Lion King. Honestly, if you’re in Minnesota, you’ve got to be in a state of shock over this judge overruling the jury. If you’re in Pennsylvania, you’ve got to be a state of even black Pennsylvanians. Aren’t you worried about the cost of living? You know, the roads, the potholes in the roads. Aren’t there things that Governor Josh Shapiro could take seriously? The Crown Act? The Crown Act. There’s no longer to be discrimination based on a person’s hair. Sheila’s in Milford, Delaware. Hello, Sheila.

SPEAKER 14 : 28:19

Yes, Mike, I am calling you because I’m a black American. And I’ve been in the professional environment now as a nurse. 1984. Oh, wow. And I want to talk to you about the Crown Act. Yes, please. I’m a Republican. I’m a strong President Trump supporter. But I tell you, this Crown Act, you would be surprised. Oh, I am surprised. Yeah, you are, but listen. Our natural hair is considered unprofessional attire when we get evaluations and jobs and everything.

SPEAKER 12 : 29:06

What does that mean, your natural hair? Explain that. What do you mean?

SPEAKER 14 : 29:11

The hair that God makes to grow out of our scalp, curly and kinky, and especially 4C hair, the afro type of hair. My hair, I’m I am biracial, so I have got a past in this. But my cousins, my friends, people with four-seat hair that want to wear braided or in locks or dreads, it has been considered… as unprofessional attire.

SPEAKER 12 : 29:43

Who considers it unprofessional? Who considers it unprofessional?

SPEAKER 14 : 29:48

Okay, when you’re sitting at the front desk and you’re taking in patients, or you’re sitting patients in the room, if a patient complains that we don’t look professional, that goes into a complaint, and then that goes into a discussion.

SPEAKER 12 : 30:04

But I’m lost here. Why are they saying you wouldn’t look professional? Because your hair is kinky?

SPEAKER 14 : 30:12

Some people wear their hair like afros or powder puffs. I don’t know if you, I’m sure you’re familiar with some black hair.

SPEAKER 12 : 30:21

No, no, this is all new to me.

SPEAKER 14 : 30:24

You look up 4C hair and there are other states that are… 4C? Are you saying 4C hair? Yeah, number 4 and a C as in cat.

SPEAKER 12 : 30:35

Okay, I’m going to look it up. I’m going to look up 4C hair because I’ve got nothing else to do today. That’s what I’m going to look up because, look, I don’t want – nobody favors discrimination against anybody. But at the end of the day, I wonder if Pennsylvanians think this is an appropriate use of the governor or the legislature’s time. Oh, boy. All right. We’ll try to regroup here. Get a little serious for a couple moments. Talk about the economy. Talk about the grassroots organization AFP and more. By the way, a texter just said from Florida, to the nurse who just called you, Sheila, dreadlocks are not natural. Yeah, I think you’ve got to do something, right? I don’t think it grows that way. Don’t you have to do something to make a dreadlock? Maybe I’ll give that a shot here with my hair. No, that would be cultural appropriation. 800-655-MIKE.

SPEAKER 13 : 31:50

From the wild world of D.C. politics to America’s culture clash, brace yourself for the reality check you’ve been waiting for. The one and only Mike Gallagher.

SPEAKER 12 : 32:03

What a day it is. I was thinking about the Rush Limbaugh, the very famous Rush Limbaugh monologue where he talked about the story of Thanksgiving. I’ve got to play that for you today. I really do. I’m in a Thanksgiving mood. I’m grateful. In fact, today we’re launching the Christmas bumper music. I know it’s the day before Thanksgiving, but you’ve pulled already a miracle. You’ve proven how incredibly generous this audience is. And if you’re not in the holiday season and the holiday spirit right now, you never will be. We’ve got 1,062 kids who are going to get Christmas presents through our Prison Fellowship Angel Tree Christmas campaign already. 1,062 in just two and a half days. Unbelievable. So we’ll keep you posted on how that campaign continues to go. $30, sends a Christmas present, a Bible, and a message from an incarcerated parent to an American child. It’s a beautiful ministry. It’s an incredible campaign, and I’ve got to believe this is the best start we’ve ever had. 1,062 kids already sponsored, according to that big board on the wall. We’ve got a goal of over 4,300, but we’re already, you know, almost a fourth of the way there. So thank you. Happy Thanksgiving. Merry Christmas from all of us at Team Gallagher. We have a lot of challenges. There’s no question. But one of the challenges is how do we deal with Democrats who are convinced that incarcerating criminals is a bad idea? How would you like to have a daughter minding her own business, taking a train, a subway, in Chicago? And you get a call saying, this is an unbelievable story. We’re so heartbroken to tell you this, Dad. But your daughter’s in the ICU with burns over 60% of her body. And this young woman, by the way, Bethany, Bethany McGee, 26 years old, is described as a devout young Christian woman. A beautiful young Christian girl. And she was on a Chicago metro train, just minding her own business. And some monster, a monster… who is beyond explanation, a 50-year-old man named Lawrence Reed. Lawrence Reed decided to pour, I guess, lighter fluid on this poor girl and burn her alive. Okay? Her family released a statement after she was doused in gasoline and set… on fire on the city’s blue line on November 17th in Brandon Johnson’s Chicago. She’s continuing to be hospitalized, obviously, with severe burns. The family, the parents, Greg and Emily, and the brothers, Mark and John, released a statement saying, Bethany is a beloved daughter, sister, sister-in-law, granddaughter, and aunt. She’s a good friend. She’s sensitive, caring, intelligent, imaginative. She loves living in Chicago and her gentle spirit makes her a favorite with every pet she meets. She enjoys playing tabletop and video games. She’s quick to make others feel welcome. She is kind. With such a long road ahead of her, the freedom from financial worries would be a tremendous blessing, they wrote. There’s a GoFundMe for her, and it’s going well. Her dad is a professor of biblical studies at a Christian college in Indiana. Now, let’s talk for just a moment about her attacker, because this is the part of the story that brings me to my knees. The man described as her attacker, 50-year-old Lawrence Reed, is a serial criminal. He was recently freed by a judge after he physically attacked a social worker. He was released on an ankle monitor. He was caught on video, incidentally, pouring alcohol. gasoline all over this poor young girl, over her head and her body. She’s a total stranger to him. In a horrifying chain of events, according to the Daily Mail, McGee attempted to fight off her attacker while he tried to set her on fire. He approached her and repeatedly yelled, burn alive, B-word. And then he did so. He ignited the bottle in his hand. She was engulfed in flames. She attempted to extinguish the flames by dropping to the ground. She collapsed when she arrived at the station. Now, and I’m sorry to be graphic, but I must. You’ve got to be aware of the brutality of this event. She was, her upper body and head had severe third-degree burns. The entire station smelled like burnt hair. It was horrific, one witness said. What was even more sickening is that there were people taking videos and pictures of the event. I got a message for Brandon Johnson and J.B. Pritzker and Democrats who favor cashless bail and believe that you can’t incarcerate your way out of violence. In fact, Christian, can you pull up that clip from Brandon Johnson from earlier in the week? Because we ought to play that. Because I want to tell you how many times this monster has been arrested. Are you ready for this? Take a guess. The guy that’s charged with lighting this young, beautiful, devoutly Christian girl who now is going to spend the rest of her life with these scars, with this trauma, with this pain. And everybody, I think, knows what burn victims experience. Do you want to know how many times this man has been arrested? prior to being freed by a judge after a physical assault against a social worker? Want to know how many times? Yes.

SPEAKER 1 : 39:13

30?

SPEAKER 12 : 39:14

Nope.

SPEAKER 1 : 39:15

40?

SPEAKER 12 : 39:16

No.

SPEAKER 1 : 39:18

50?

SPEAKER 12 : 39:19

Maybe 50 arrests? Nope. Go higher. This monster, this scourge of humanity, this slug, this coward, This degenerate, evil demon has been arrested 72 times. 72 arrests to this cretin. Now, I got a question for Brandon Johnson, who doesn’t believe in incarceration. who doesn’t think a man arrested 72 times should go to jail. In fact, let’s listen together to what this brilliant mayor of Chicago, who’s doing such a fine job for Chicagoans, let’s listen to how he feels about a guy like Lawrence Reed, this 50-year-old man. who lit this young girl on fire. Let’s listen together to the leadership of the city of Chicago.

SPEAKER 10 : 40:36

We cannot incarcerate our way out of violence. We’ve already tried that, and we’ve ended up with the largest prison population in the world without solving the problems of crime and violence. The addiction on jails and incarceration in this country, we have moved past that. It is racist, it is immoral, it is unholy, and it is not the way to drive violence down.

SPEAKER 12 : 41:00

Now, I don’t know if Lawrence Reed is white, black, or green. I don’t know. I don’t care. It doesn’t matter his skin color. What matters is one of America’s major cities doesn’t think that Lawrence Reed should go to jail. We’ve tried that. It’s racist. We’ve got prisons that are too crowded. That doesn’t work. We can’t incarcerate our way out of violence, says the mayor of Chicago. If I had that man in my studio, the mayor of Chicago, I would ask him, Mr. Mayor, how many times does somebody get to be arrested in your city before you throw them behind bars and you lock them up and you throw away the key? How many times does somebody have to go to jail and be arrested before your city says enough is enough? Fifty? 55? 37? I’m going to go out on a limb here and say 72. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say 72 may just be too many. 800-655-MIKE. 800-655-6453. 17 past the hour. We’re in the Relief Factor Studios. I need your calls on this one. And we’re going to lighten the mood a little bit on this Thanksgiving Eve, I promise. I want you to hear Rush Limbaugh tell the story, the late, great Rush Limbaugh, tell the story of the meaning. Never. of Thanksgiving, the history of Thanksgiving, the first Thanksgiving in Russia’s own words. I’ll share that with you as well a little bit later this hour because, boy, do we miss him, huh? Do we miss him? 800-655-MIKE. Call, text. One number does it all. 800-655-6453. Join us.