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--:-- John Bickley: Good morning, I'm John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Friday, January 7th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with us. We've got a packed show for you today.
--:-- John Bickley: President Biden addressed the nation Thursday in a highly scrutinized speech that compared the events on January 6th to Pearl Harbor. We'll break down the messaging from the White House and hear how Republicans are responding.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's right. And the Supreme Court hears oral arguments today on a federal vaccine mandate that impacts some 85 million Americans. We have a preview of the case, when to expect a ruling, and what's at stake in the high court's decision.
--:-- John Bickley: And the U.S. census results are in. The U.S. population barely increased in 2021, the lowest increase since our nation's founding. But it's where Americans are choosing to live that may surprise you. We have details on which states people are flocking to and which states they're fleeing.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for tuning in. We'll be right back after this break.
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--:-- John Bickley: Welcome back to Morning Wire. Yesterday on the one-year anniversary of the Capitol riot, President Biden delivered a scathing address railing against former President Trump calling on Democrats to pass election reform.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Here with more on the speech and how Republicans reacted is Daily Wire's Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Thanks for having me on.
--:-- John Bickley: So Cabot, tell us about this address.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The speech was part of a larger ceremony honoring Capitol Police officers and looking back on the riot. President Biden started by calling the event an attack on democracy, comparing the rioters to Confederate soldiers during the Civil War. He also compared the day to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, saying in the same way America banded together against fascism after that attack, we must do the same now.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's interesting. But I also know that our darkest days can lead to light and hope from the death and destruction, as the vice president referenced in Pearl Harbor, came to triumph over the forces of fascism.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Next, he shifted gears. And after praising the Republicans who still, quote, want to be the party of Lincoln, Eisenhower, Reagan, and the Bushes, went after, unsurprisingly, President Trump, accusing him of lying about the results of the election to fuel outrage and saying he didn't do enough to prevent the riot as it was unfolding.
--:-- John Bickley: He's not just a former president. He's a defeated former president. defeated by a margin of over 7 million of your votes in a full and free and fair election.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: There are simply zero proof the election results are inaccurate. Now, one interesting part on that note was that he didn't actually call out President Trump by name. He told reporters afterwards that that was intentional because he wanted to, quote, avoid a political battle, which, given the overall theme of the speech, was deemed hypocritical by a lot of people.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yeah, I can imagine. Now, the vice president also weighed in. What did we hear there?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, Vice President Harris spoke just before President Biden, and she had a largely similar message comparing the riot to Pearl Harbor and going a step further and comparing it even to 9-11. Dates that occupy not only a place on our calendars but a place in our collective memory December 7th 1941 September 11th 2001 And January 6th, 2021.
--:-- John Bickley: And while President Biden alluded to the need to pass the Democrats' election reform bill without actually saying it in name, Vice President Harris was much more direct, closing her speech with this call to action.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Here in this very building, a decision will be made about whether we uphold the right to vote and ensure free and fair elections. Let's be clear, we must pass voting rights bills that are now before the Senate.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That message was generally echoed by Democrat leaders across the country. Throughout the day, they painted the riot as an unprecedented attack on democracy and said the response should be the passage of their election bill, which right now is going to be a tall order, politically speaking.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, as a quick refresher, what's in that bill?
--:-- Georgia Howe: So at the moment, each state decides their own voting laws, which means rules on mail-in ballots and early voting can vary quite a bit from state to state. This legislation would essentially override state election laws and federalize the entire process.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Among other things, the bill would allow for same-day voter registration. It would require states to offer at least two weeks of early voting. It would allow anyone to vote by mail for any reason and also restore the rights of felons to vote. And maybe most controversially, it would loosen voter ID requirements and allow people to vote without an ID.
--:-- Georgia Howe: In its current form, the bill does seem unlikely to pass as Republicans have universally opposed it in the House and Senate. They call the measure unconstitutional and federal overreach.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: But this does seem to be the next big battle that Democrats are ready to wage, and they're kind of using January 6th as a starting point.
--:-- John Bickley: And more broadly, how did Republicans react to the president and the vice president's speeches?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So the most common message we heard from Republican leaders was that the Capitol riot was undeniably wrong and should be condemned, but that Democrats in the media had exaggerated its impact.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Many pointed out how comparing the riot to something like Pearl Harbor, which killed thousands of people, would not actually do anything to bring people together.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: They also pointed out that while Democrats routinely implied the riot was deadly, President Biden mentioned that during his speech, the only person killed was a rioter trying to enter a barricaded door in the Capitol.
--:-- John Bickley: Governor Ron DeSantis, for example, said January 6th was like a Christmas day for Democrats in the media who wanted to push their narrative further.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: He also took aim at those comparing the attacks to 9-11 and Pearl Harbor. If you're rioting, hold accountable. But let's just be clear here, when they try to act like this is something akin to the September 11th attacks, that is an insult to the people who were going into those buildings.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And it's an insult to people when you say it's an insurrection. And then a year later, nobody has been charged with that.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So the main message from Republicans was basically this was bad, but it wasn't Pearl Harbor. And they also said the Democrats are just trying to push this and exaggerate things for their own political agenda.
--:-- John Bickley: Got it. Cabot, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Anytime.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's Daily Wire's Cabot Phillips. Coming up, the Supreme Court hears arguments on the federal vaccine mandates.
--:-- John Bickley: Inflation is destroying the dollar. Birch Gold Group can help protect your IRA or 401k with a precious metals IRA. Text WIRE to 989898 to claim a free info kit on physical gold and silver. There's zero obligation.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments today over two federal vaccine mandates the mandate for healthcare workers and the OSHA mandate for private employers which would impact some 85 million Americans.
--:-- John Bickley: The Daily Wire is among those suing the Biden administration over the OSHA mandate.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Here to explain how that case got to the Supreme Court and what to expect is Daily Wire General Counsel Josh Herr.
--:-- Josh Herr: Thanks for having me on.
--:-- John Bickley: So first, if you would, catch us up on this OSHA case. How did we get here and what's at stake?
--:-- Josh Herr: Yeah, today's the big day. As a reminder, OSHA's mandate would require businesses with over 100 employees to require those employees to show proof of vaccination or otherwise be tested weekly and wear masks in the workplace.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The Daily Wire was the first in the country to oppose this mandate in court. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals stayed the mandate, and the Sixth Circuit lifted that stay. Now it's before the Supreme Court with dozens of private parties and most of the 50 states asking the court to reinstate a stay.
--:-- Josh Herr: And there have been some unexpected turns in how this has been handled, right?
--:-- Georgia Howe: There have. The court, in an unusual move, set an expedited schedule with oral argument taking place today. Although there were dozens of parties, the court limited the argument's time to one hour and chose two representative petitioners to argue.
--:-- Josh Herr: Those were, on the one hand, a coalition of 28 states, including, for example, Ohio, Florida, Texas, and Tennessee. And on the other hand, a coalition of businesses called the National Federation of Independent Business.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So there are two different parties making oral arguments, and each one of them will have 15 minutes today to make their case to the court.
--:-- Josh Herr: Not a lot of time there. So what should we expect? Any sense of how this might go?
--:-- John Bickley: It's impossible to know for sure what the court will do or when, but the mandate is scheduled to go into effect on January 10. That's next Monday. OSHA will start enforcing it in earnest on February 9.
--:-- Georgia Howe: It's fair to assume that the court set oral argument for today so that it could make a ruling before Monday. So if there's going to be another stay, we can expect that to probably happen today or over the weekend.
--:-- Josh Herr: Is there reason to believe the court will put another hold on the mandate?
--:-- Georgia Howe: As far as the merits are concerned, there is a host of constitutional and statutory reasons that the court could grant a stay.
--:-- Josh Herr: The petitioners will argue that this mandate is not, quote, necessary to protect workers from a, quote, grave danger. There will probably be some back and forth on the meaning of the word necessary and whether unvaccinated co-workers are really the kind of grave danger from which Congress was trying to protect workers when it passed the OSHA Act.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Another avenue the court could take is the major questions doctrine, which requires agencies making decisions of, quote, vast economic and political significance to have specific and clear direction from Congress itself before implementing such a policy.
--:-- Josh Herr: The argument here is that Congress created OSHA to protect workers, but never specifically told OSHA that it could essentially shut people out of the workforce if they don't take a vaccine, much less a vaccine suffering from as many breakthrough cases as we're seeing today.
--:-- John Bickley: There are several other potential objections the court could make, such as a Commerce Clause challenge, and we'll be watching the hearing closely for any indication of what they might be thinking.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, Josh, thanks for walking us through all that, and we be sure to have you back on when the court rules.
--:-- Josh Herr: Happy Friday. Thank God for it.
--:-- John Bickley: Daily Wire General Counsel Josh Herr.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The exodus from blue cities and states may have started in 2020 when the pandemic hit, but it continued through at least July of last year, with more people moving to Republican-governed states like Florida and Texas.
--:-- John Bickley: Recent census data shows that Americans are moving out of cities with spiking crime and moving into states that have lifted many of their COVID restrictions.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Daily Wire investigative reporter Maraid Alordi has the details for us.
--:-- Maraid Alordi: Thanks for having me on.
--:-- John Bickley: So, Maraid, tell us about the numbers.
--:-- Maraid Alordi: So as you mentioned, new U.S. census data released late in December shows a massive trend of people leaving blue states. The states with the biggest losses, California and New York. The biggest gains, Texas and Florida.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Breaking down the numbers, New York saw about 319,000 people say goodbye. That's nearly 2% of the state's total population. And nearly 262,000 people moved out of California, close to 1% of its population.
--:-- Maraid Alordi: Meanwhile, Texas saw a huge gain of more than 310,000 people. Florida saw similar gains welcoming 211,000 new people to the Sunshine State.
--:-- John Bickley: Other states which enjoyed a large number of new residents were Arizona, North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, Utah, Tennessee, and Idaho.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Other states with a large number of fleeing residents were Illinois, home to a crime-ridden Chicago, and Massachusetts.
--:-- Maraid Alordi: Okay, so a significant trend there of solidly liberal states failing to retain residents.
--:-- John Bickley: Do we know why people are opting to migrate out of these blue areas?
--:-- Maraid Alordi: We do know some of the driving factors, yes. Part of it is the ongoing effects of the pandemic. Businesses and workers have struggled with the high cost of living in cities like New York and Los Angeles, especially with many employees working from home.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Many relocated to cities and states for the cheaper living costs and lower taxes, which they found in Texas and Florida.
--:-- Maraid Alordi: Another big factor, crime. Chicago saw its deadliest year in 25 years, topping 800 murders according to the Chicago Police Department.
--:-- John Bickley: Crime has spiked in other major cities around the country, including New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, and Washington, D.C.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And another factor is the extremely stringent COVID restrictions in some of these cities like New York, where the governor just recently re-implemented the indoor mask mandate.
--:-- Maraid Alordi: New York also does not allow the unvaccinated to dine indoors, go to the gym, or attend indoor entertainment venues. Los Angeles has a similar vaccine mandate, and Chicago's new vaccine mandate for restaurants and other indoor venues just went into effect this week.
--:-- John Bickley: So for unvaccinated residents, some are now thinking, why should I pay to live in a city I can't enjoy?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Right. Now, does the census data show any other notable trends?
--:-- Maraid Alordi: Actually, yes. Another interesting fact here is that the U.S. population grew by less than 400,000 people, the lowest rate since the nation's founding.
--:-- John Bickley: This happened because of several things, including less international migration, decreased fertility, and more deaths, partly due to COVID.
--:-- Georgia Howe: For years, people have been sounding the alarm about the declining U.S. birth rate, and it continued to decline during the pandemic.
--:-- Maraid Alordi: A lot of changing demographics here. It looks like citizens are voting with their feet.
--:-- John Bickley: Maraid, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Maraid Alordi: That's Daily Wire investigative reporter, Mairead Elordi.
--:-- Georgia Howe: If you liked this episode and are interested in hearing more, subscribe to Morning Wire on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening, and give us a five-star review.
--:-- John Bickley: That's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back tomorrow with the news you need to know.
