Tucker: ‘Impotent’ leaders are threatening the ‘Freedom Convoy’ because they lost – Fox News

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

This is a rush transcript from "Tucker Carlson Tonight," February 11, 2022. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (via phone): They do not belong in office. They are a danger to our country. They do not belong in office.

JESSE WATTERS, FOX NEWS CHANNEL HOST: I have announced it. We are defunding the squad, you heard it here first.

Check out Tucker next and always remember, I'm Watters and this is my world.

TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS CHANNEL HOST: Good evening and welcome to TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT.

After months of informing the rest of us that Ukraine's territorial integrity is more important than our own, it looks like the Biden ministration may finally be getting the conflict it has longed for.

Multiple outlets are reporting tonight that Russian military units may soon move across the border into Eastern Ukraine. There are a number of credible indications of this, including the fact that Russian ground forces appear to be heading from training areas to assembly points.

At the White House, officials have said they expect the Russians to move imminently within days. They have been saying that for quite some time, but this feels a little different, which is why we're bringing it to you tonight.

According to POLITICO, Joe Biden has told fellow NATO members that day could be February 16th. That's next Wednesday. We'll see.

In the meantime, at a briefing today, the National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan called for American citizens to leave Ukraine right away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE SULLIVAN, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: We encourage all American citizens who remain in Ukraine to depart immediately. We want to be crystal clear on this point.

Any American in Ukraine should leave as soon as possible, and in any event in the next 24 to 48 hours. We obviously cannot predict the future. We don't know exactly what is going to happen, but the risk is now high enough, and the threat is now immediate enough that this is what prudence demands.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: So a good number of the Americans, Jake Sullivan, just referred to currently serve in the U.S. military, as well as in various intelligence agencies. FOX News reported that as of a few days ago, there are more than 300 American troops in Ukraine, including some unspecified number of Special Operations Forces.

If a hot war does indeed begin, all of these Americans will be in danger of being killed. So the question is, will our troops leave before the shooting starts? This show asked the DoD Spokesman John Kirby that question today.

Quote: "As of this moment," Kirby replied, "They are still there." So when will they get out? We asked. Kirby wouldn't say.

Whatever happens between Russia and Ukraine, the United States will be at the center of it and that is worrisome. It's not hard to imagine how the next few days could go very wrong, very fast. Russian troops kill American troops inadvertently or not, and suddenly, we're at war with Russia, a nuclear armed nation whose military is stronger than all the armies we fought over the past 50 years combined.

Fighting Russia is not the same as droning Muammar Gaddafi, it can quickly become a war we couldn't control. Our side of that war would be overseen by the same Generals who failed to beat the Taliban, guerrilla fighters in sandals who don't use toilet paper.

To be clear, the United States military is superb, but the people who run it are not. That's not some outlier opinion. It is demonstrably true.

Given that fact, you've got to wonder if the Biden administration's current wild posturing -- and it is wild. Is it worth the risk? We're open minded on that question. If it is worth fighting Russia, tell us how it's worth it.

Explain how joining a conflict in progress in Eastern Europe would benefit the United States, not just benefit Joe Biden who is obviously desperate for distraction from his domestic disasters. But how would war with Russia make us stronger and more prosperous? That's a fair question. It's the central question.

And while you're at it, tell us why if the Russians are such a grave threat to Europe, the Europeans seem a lot less concerned than we are. Biden keep suggesting that Vladimir Putin wants to swallow Western Europe. If you don't act now, they'll be speaking Russian in Dusseldorf.

But if that's true, why aren't the Western Europeans scrambling to defend themselves? They could certainly afford to. Germany is one of the richest countries in the world. In many ways, Germans have a higher standard of living than we do. Yet after 80 years, we are still paying for their defense.

Is there a good reason for that? Could it be that defending Western Europe from Russia is a pretext for other goals? Goals that remain largely hidden from the American public?

Again, it is worth asking those questions and then demanding clear and logical answers to them. In fact, it is essential to do that. A lot hangs in the balance.

In the current environment, however, it's not easy. Skepticism is immediately denounced as disloyalty. Ask why we ought to fight Putin and the hyenas on CNN will accuse you of working for Putin. Take it from us.

We're going to keep asking anyway.

For a rational conversation on this subject, we're honored tonight to be joined by a rational person, the former Democratic Congresswoman from Hawaii, Tulsi Gabbard. Congresswoman, thanks so much for coming on today.

TULSI GABBARD, FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: Thank you.

CARLSON: So let's just -- and it is hard to know what to believe always and especially now, but let's just stipulate, agree to agree that it seems likely we could see some conflict between Russia and Ukraine soon. How should we view that?

GABBARD: Well, first of all, President Biden could end this crisis and prevent a war with Russia by doing something very simple, guaranteeing that Ukraine will not become a member of NATO. Because if Ukraine became a member of NATO, that would put us and NATO troops directly on the doorstep of Russia, which, as Putin has laid out, would undermine their national security interests.

The reality is that it is highly, highly unlikely that Ukraine will ever become a member of NATO anyway. So the question is, why doesn't President Biden and NATO leaders actually just say that and guarantee it, which begs the question of why are we in this position then if the answer to this and preventing this war from happening is very clear as day and really, it just points to one conclusion that I can see, which is they actually want Russia to invade Ukraine?

Why would they? Because number one, it gives the Biden administration a clear excuse to go and levy draconian sanctions, which are a modern day siege against Russia and the Russian people. And number two, it cements this Cold War in place.

You know, the military industrial complex is the one that benefits from this. They clearly control the Biden administration, warmongers on both sides in Washington have been drumming up these tensions. If they get Russia to invade Ukraine, then again, it locks in this new Cold War. The military industrial complex starts to make a ton of more money than they have been in fighting al-Qaeda or making weapons for al-Qaeda.

And who pays the price? The American people pay the price, the Ukrainian people pay the price. The Russian people pay the price. It undermines our own national security, but the military industrial complex that controls so many of our politicians wince and they run to the bank.

CARLSON: You've seen this from both sides as a lawmaker and a member of our Armed Forces. So I think you've got a credible view on this.

I just have to ask, they've been telling us with increasing hysteria, Wendy Sherman and Jake Sullivan and the President himself that the threat here is to Western Europe that Vladimir Putin has aims on our allies in Western Europe.

Why don't the Europeans seem as afraid as our leaders are, if that's true?

GABBARD: I think that is a legitimate question that no one in the Biden administration or the NATO leadership has responded to in any way. It seems they've forgotten that they are supposed to be accountable to the American people, that they answer to the American people, and yet they have failed to answer this very, very simple question in justifying why we are continuing to send more troops to Europe, why they are continuing to escalate tensions, why they are continuing to push for something and making Ukraine a member of NATO that, again, is highly unlikely to ever happen.

And if it did happen, it would undermine our own National Security and our own country's interests.

CARLSON: There doesn't seem an upside. I mean, no one has been able to explain why Americans should want Ukraine to join NATO. Is there something that we're missing here? Is there some benefit to the United States from having that happen?

GABBARD: I've looked at this carefully, Tucker, and I have yet to find any benefit that a political leader has used or could use to justify this to the American people. All you hear is like, well, we have to defend democracy. We have to defend this democratic country of Ukraine.

But as you know, very well, this current President shuts down -- arrests, political opposition, throws them in jail, shuts down TV stations that are critical to him. I have a hard time seeing how President Biden or anyone can say with an honest face, we are defending democracy.

And the reason is because our own government has publicly supported these authoritarian actions by the Ukrainian President in shutting down their own political opposition. And it begs the question, this sounds familiar to some of the things that unfortunately, we're seeing play out right here at home.

CARLSON: I was just about to say, it sounds like they're kind of democracy.

Tulsi Gabbard, that's about the smartest analysis I've heard, and I really appreciate you laying it out for us. Thank you.

GABBARD: Thanks.

CARLSON: So the standoff on the -- speaking of borders -- American and Canadian border continues. You're hearing a lot about how the truckers are racist. Why are they telling us that? Why are they hysterical about truck drivers? Because they feel deeply threatened by the disobedience. Very revealing. We'll tell you how, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CARLSON: So we've been covering this truck strike in Canada all week and at the end of the week, there are a couple of different images that kind of float around your head, picture the cops stealing the fuel from the freezing truckers, you picture the smiling truckers talking about love and waving Canadian flags, totally nonthreatening.

But above all, you remember the hysteria of the people in charge as they look out on the sea of working class people who are really sick of being pushed around, told what to inject into their bodies.

The people in charge are extremely upset about this, hysterical and it is hilarious. You can just picture our Transportation Secretary, little Pete Buttigieg jumping up and down, shaking his little hands, screaming at the truck drivers, "Get off my bridge, you guys. Get off right now."

It's not just Mayor Pete. You remember those angry tweets of that CNN contributor lady who suggested we should slash their tires, siphon their diesel fuel, throw them in prison. They're all Torquemada now.

They're talking like they're scary, but keep in mind, these are not displays of power. This is not how confident people talk. These are squeaks of impotence.

Our leaders are furious at the truckers because they know there's not a lot they can do about the truckers. They don't know anything about trucks for one thing. How do you get a truck off a bridge, especially when it has no fuel or tires? They have no idea. You just order someone to do it. It's kind of like Uber Eats. Some guy trots out and removes the truck.

The problem is, the people who drive the trucks don't feel like following orders anymore. They're ignoring Pete Buttigieg. If you actually want to move a big rig, you need tow truck operators, and those tow truck operators know truckers. They know truckers aren't racist. They're not Nazis, no matter how many times Joe Biden and Justin Trudeau claim they are.

So some of them aren't inclined to help. David Allen, for example, is the President of Gary's Towing in Thunder Bay, Ontario. He told Canadian media quote: "We have all the capabilities on our tow trucks to do it, but I don't think anyone would want to."

Another tow truck operator called Randy Juan said that even if tow truck operators want to help, carry out Pete Buttigieg's orders, it will be very hard, quote, "In the end the truckers are going to say whether you're taking that truck away or not."

Now, there are technical reasons for this, which apparently they don't teach at McKinsey. It turns out that trucks are heavy. They have air brakes and steel belted tires. So, the truckers remove their tires completely. So what now? Now is when you start to panic, and they definitely are.

This afternoon, the Prime Minister of Canada who clearly is Fidel Castro's illegitimate son, came out from hiding to threaten the protesters directly. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: If you join the protests, because you're tired of COVID, you now need to understand you are breaking laws. The consequences are becoming more and more severe.

You don't end up losing your license, end up with a criminal record, which will impact your job, your livelihood, even your ability to travel internationally, including to the U.S.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: You could be breaking laws, that was the funniest part. These are people who literally don't care about the law at all. They believe they make the law.

This is the Prime Minister who ordered the cops to steal people's fuel. There's no law that says you can't have fuel in Ottawa. He just made that up. Now, he is lecturing them about the law. And Joe Biden who is violating Federal law on the grand scale every day by importing two million people illegally without your consent, he is upset about the law.

Justin Trudeau is so upset, he is threatening the truckers' children, quote: "It's time to go home, especially if you have your kids with you." Trudeau said, wouldn't want something to happen to them.

Trudeau also attacked the protesters for closing the border. Only Justin Trudeau is allowed to do that, which he has done for more than a year.

So what are we watching here? It's more than hypocrisy. What we're watching is panic.

Justin Trudeau knows nobody joined the protest because they're quote, "tired of COVID." They're tired of tyranny. They're tired of being told to inject something into their bodies they don't want, whose long term effects cannot be known, sold by companies that are protected, that have immunity from public recourse.

We also know that what they told us to do didn't work. The lockdowns didn't work. Johns Hopkins came out and said it the other day, pretty conclusive. That's what people are mad about. They want their freedom back. They're not tired of the virus. They're tired of the leaders who use the virus to give themselves more power, and they're still doing it.

Here is Ontario's premier Doug Ford. He announced today that instead of lifting his province's useless mandates, he's going to steal the truckers' money, find them, and then send them to jail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUG FORD, ONTARIO'S PREMIER: There will be consequences for these actions, and they will be severe. We've already started by going after the money funding the illegal occupation yesterday and Ontario Court granted our requests to freeze the funds from GiveSendGo for the convoy.

Fines for noncompliance will be severe with a maximum penalty of $100,000.00 and up to a year imprisonment. We will also provide additional authority to consider taking away the personal and commercial licenses of anyone who doesn't comply with these orders.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: When you start making threats like that, you've already lost. What you're showing is that you're impotent and that is why you're unreasonable. That's why you're hysterical. That's why you're waving your arms around and telling people they are going to prison.

When you start stealing things from people, outside the laws, speaking of the law, everybody knows you're weak.

So keep in mind, the truckers raised $10 million on GoFundMe. That's a California company, but Canadian politicians had that effort shut down, then GiveSendGo, which is a Delaware company raised almost the same amount and Canadian politicians went after that money, too.

The Attorney General of Ontario successfully got a Court order to freeze access to the $8.4 million raised on GiveSendGo, those funds are going to an adopted trucker fundraising campaign. It was paying for quote, "... housing, water, food, accommodations and shuttle services for truck drivers in Ottawa." But all of that money has just been stolen by the Canadian government, it has been seized.

All of this is pushing people away from government issued currencies because they're in control of lunatics like the guy you just saw and they are moving toward cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.

Just like 18-wheelers and bridges, blockchain is pretty tough for the authorities to control. Therefore, here is how you know it's a threat. The crypto guys must be White supremacist, and lo and behold, that's exactly what they're now telling us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's an avenue, not just to make a lot of money or lose a lot of money, but it's also an avenue for money laundering and it is also a place where White supremacists, apparently are taking options.

I mean, it's problematic, at best, in so many ways.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: It's problematic at best -- how do people like that get on television? There should be an IQ requirement. But by putting dumb people in the anchor chair, they're perfectly compliant to the people in charge. Crypto is White supremacy. But the hysteria gives them away.

As a trucker called Daniel Searsly (ph) explained in Ottawa last night, these people are terrified. They're afraid of losing control, the blockade at the Windsor Bridge panicked them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID SEARSLY, TRUCKER: They blocked the Ambassador Bridge. Yea, that's the busiest border crossing in between Canada and U.S.A. Most trade goes through that port. So it's ending up good, you know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: So the downside of all of this is, it is turning Canada into a legitimate police state for real. Here's one of Doug's Ford's police officers harassing a woman at her home because something she wrote on Facebook in support of the truckers. It's one of the creepiest clips you're going to see today. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POLICE OFFICER: This is just some information about peaceful protests. That's all it is.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay, so you saw something on my Facebook?

POLICE OFFICER: No, on the Facebook group.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, the Ontario Provincial Police are watching what people are doing on Facebook in different groups, whether or not they're commenting, participating, liking, and you guys are now doing service calls to give people information about peaceful protests.

POLICE OFFICER: It's just a proactive measure to make sure you understand your right to go to a peaceful protests.

See more here:

Tucker: 'Impotent' leaders are threatening the 'Freedom Convoy' because they lost - Fox News