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--:-- Host: Georgia Howe: The NFL is back, and FanDuel's got everything you need to play your game. From same-game parlays to live betting. Right now, new customers bet $5 and get $300 in bonus bets if you win. 21-plus in president select states. 18-plus in Kentucky and Wyoming. Must be first online real money waging. $5 deposit required. Bonus issued is non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire seven days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See full terms at FanDuel.com slash sportsbook. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.
--:-- Host: Georgia Howe: Pete Hegseth refuses to back down in his bid for defense secretary, despite legacy media attacks on his personal history. All anonymous, all rumor, nothing sourced, no verification, and they're just going to keep doing it. Does he have the necessary support and is Trump considering a replacement nominee? I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Thursday, December 5th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- Host: John Bickley: The Supreme Court appears to side with Tennessee in a landmark case weighing whether or not states can ban transgender procedures for minors. Much of the latter part of the opening statement seemed to suggest that there's an outright ban on this treatment. But that's not the case. It's really for minors. And DEI may be flaming out as fast as it arrived. We discuss the latest corporate walkback and why we could soon see many more.
--:-- Host: Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
--:-- Host: Reagan: Hey guys, producer Reagan here. With Trump in, we can finally exhale. But the fact of the matter is, our nation is broke, and that debt is a house of cards that can't quickly be dismantled. The strategy remains the same. Diversify your savings with Birch Gold. They'll help you convert an IRA or 401k into an IRA in physical gold. Now through Black Friday, get a free one-ounce Silver Eagle for every $5,000 purchased. Text WIRE to 989898 to get your free comprehensive info kit on gold investing. Trust Birch Gold, as I do, to protect your savings and secure your financial future. Again, text WIRE to 989898 today.
--:-- Host: Georgia Howe: President Trump's nominee for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says he has no plans to withdraw despite attacks from legacy media and new reports that Trump may be considering a replacement nominee. Here with the details is Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Host: Cabot Phillips: So Cabot, Hegseth has become the cabinet pick, arguably drawing the most attention now from Democrats and the legacy media. What's the latest in this saga?
--:-- Host: Cabot Phillips: Yeah, there have really been two parts to the anti-Hegseth campaign. First, it started with his credentials. Now, historically, defense secretaries have almost always been a general or other high-ranking Pentagon official. Hegseth is not. Almost immediately, critics of the pick began referring to him simply as a Fox News host, trying to paint him as wholly unqualified for the job. And while Hegseth was indeed a host on Fox, supporters pointed out that he also graduated from Princeton, served 20-plus years in the military, deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, where he was awarded numerous medals, and then ran a large nonprofit advocating for veterans.
--:-- Host: Cabot Phillips: Now, once folks became more aware of those credentials, the attacks shifted to focus more on his personal life. Right, so tell us about some of these accusations.
--:-- Host: Cabot Phillips: Well, most notably, a woman claimed that Hegseth sexually assaulted her back in 2017 at a Republican conference. Hegseth says the incident was consensual, and a police investigation resulted in no charges being filed. More recently though legacy media outlets have published a number of stories citing anonymous former co-workers who accused him of sexual misconduct. Others accused him of coming to work drunk. Though it's worth noting a dozen or so co-workers of Hegseth, including a few of his co-hosts at Fox, refuted those anonymous allegations on the record, calling them totally fabricated.
--:-- Host: Cabot Phillips: Lisa Booth, for example, who co-hosted with Hegseth on Fox, said, quote, Not once did this happen. Not once have I heard this from others. This is such a disgusting and false smear.
--:-- Host: Cabot Phillips: So we have anonymous accusations, but on the record, refutations. But now Hegseth's own mother has been dragged into this saga. What is she saying?
--:-- Host: Cabot Phillips: Right. The focus on his personal life really came to a fever pitch last week when the New York Times published a private email Hegseth's mother had sent him back in 2018 amidst a messy divorce with his then-wife. She accused him of, quote, dishonesty, sleeping around, betrayal, debasing, and belittling, among other things. However, in an interview with Fox yesterday morning, she expressed regret for that email, saying she sent a follow-up a few hours later apologizing and assuring the country that her son is the man for the job.
--:-- Host: Cabot Phillips: I want people to look at Pete and judge people or understand him for who he is today and to disregard the media. That was seven years ago. And most of it is misinformation. Pete is a new person, he's redeemed, forgiven, changed. I think we all are after seven years. I believe he's the man for the job.
--:-- Host: Cabot Phillips: Hegseth's mother went on to say that she's been personally calling senators, telling her side of the story and encouraging them to support her son's nomination for defense secretary. Now, amid all of this media whirlwind, though, there are reports that President Trump is considering a replacement. What do we know about that?
--:-- Host: Cabot Phillips: Yeah, as the pressure on Hegseth has ramped up, a number of Republican senators have reportedly begun to waver on whether they'll vote to confirm him. In light of that possibility, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that President Trump has begun discussing potential options to replace him, most notably Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who was initially on the original SECDEF shortlist last month.
--:-- Host: Cabot Phillips: But there is still a good chance Hegseth survives the firestorm and still wins confirmation. He was at the Capitol yesterday meeting with senators and told reporters, quote, Why would I back down? I've always been a fighter. This is personal and passionate for me.
--:-- Host: Cabot Phillips: Later on, he told Megyn Kelly that President Trump has his back and wants him to continue on. He reiterated the same thing this morning. Hey, Pete, I got your back. It's a fight. They're coming after you. Get after it.
--:-- Host: Cabot Phillips: He went on to elaborate on why President Trump nominated him for the position in the first place. You're the man for this moment. I chose you because you're the guy that's going to put the warfighters first. We haven't had that. We need a guy that's kicked down doors and understands the consequences of war and why us deterring war, fighting it and winning it is important. He gets it.
--:-- Host: Cabot Phillips: So Hegseth pushing forward in his fight to be the next SECDEF. Now we'll wait to see how Republican senators and President Trump respond.
--:-- Host: Georgia Howe: Yep. Sounds like it could go either way at this point. Cabot, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Host: Cabot Phillips: Anytime.
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--:-- Host: Georgia Howe: The Supreme Court heard two and a half hours of oral arguments on Wednesday in the U.S. versus Scrimetti dealing with Tennessee law banning transgender procedures for children. Joining us now is Daily Wire senior reporter Mary Margaret Olihan who was at the court all of Wednesday morning as the oral arguments took place.
--:-- Host: Mary Margaret Olihan: Hey, John. It was absolutely frigid on Wednesday in Washington, but that didn't keep the crowds away. The ACLU and the Human Rights Campaign bust in large groups of pro-transgender protesters, but they had competition from the Do No Harm group, which held its own rally for protecting children.
--:-- Host: Mary Margaret Olihan: I spoke with a number of pro-trans protesters. One mother told me that she began helping her 12-year-old daughter transition to be a boy when that girl was still very young. So would you agree that you're primarily responsible for the procedures that your child is going through?
--:-- Host: Mary Margaret Olihan: Her father and I are, I guess, because we're his parents. If he regrets them someday, it's on you too. Yeah, I trust that it's going to be okay. I think I know my child better than anybody else at this point.
--:-- Host: Mary Margaret Olihan: The Daily Wire's Matt Walsh, who's been at the forefront of this issue, spoke outside the court yesterday morning. Children have the constitutional right, the human right, the God-given right to live and grow and learn about themselves and the world without being indoctrinated and exploited by people who reject the fundamental realities of existence. Children have a right to go through phases, to have moments of confusion and discomfort in their own bodies, just like every generation of children before them.
--:-- Host: Mary Margaret Olihan: OK, so passion on both sides outside the high court. Let's get to the heart of the arguments. Did the justices offer any clues as to how they were leaning based on their questions?
--:-- Host: Mary Margaret Olihan: They did. Justice Kavanaugh repeatedly brought up concerns about how that decision would impact males and girls sports. Justice Alito seemed to dismantle the Biden administration's case in this exchange. Are there individuals who are born male, assigned male at birth, who at one point identify as female, but then later come to identify as male? And likewise for individuals who are assigned female at birth, are there not such people?
--:-- Host: Mary Margaret Olihan: And likewise for individuals who are assigned female at birth, are there not such people? There are such people. I agree with that, Jessica. So it's not an immutable characteristic, is it?
--:-- Host: Mary Margaret Olihan: On the liberal side, Katanji Brown Jackson compared the laws protecting kids from trans procedures to bans on interracial marriage. The question of can you marry this other person depended upon what your race was. You could marry the other person if it was the same, consistent with your race. You couldn't if you couldn't.
--:-- Host: Mary Margaret Olihan: I take your law to be doing basically the same thing. You can get these blockers if doing so is consistent with your sex, but not if it's inconsistent. So how are they different?
--:-- Host: Mary Margaret Olihan: And in another notable moment, Justice Sotomayor compared the risk of medical transition to other treatments like aspirin. And the question of how many minors have to have their bodies irreparably harmed for unproven benefits is one that is best left. I'm sorry, counselor. Every medical treatment has a risk, even taking aspirin.
--:-- Host: Mary Margaret Olihan: Final question. What was the overarching feeling at the end of the day about which way the court was leaning?
--:-- Host: Mary Margaret Olihan: Well, as the sun set on D.C. last night, all major media outlets were reporting that the court will likely uphold Tennessee's law. But again, a ruling isn't expected until June.
--:-- Host: Georgia Howe: Mary Margaret, thanks so much for reporting.
--:-- Host: Mary Margaret Olihan: Thanks for having me.
--:-- Host: Georgia Howe: The diversity, equity and inclusion agenda that was ascendant for several years in academia, government and corporate America may be on its way out. Here to discuss is Daily Wire investigative reporter Spencer Lindquist.
--:-- Host: Spencer Lindquist: So, Spencer, what is the evidence that DEI is getting phased out?
--:-- Host: Spencer Lindquist: So, there have been several high-profile organizations that have recently backed off of DEI. The latest is Walmart. Just last week that company made a number of different pledges. It said that it was going to stop giving a preference to suppliers on the basis of race and sex. It also said that it would ensure that transgender products were not marketed to children on its website. And they even said they would stop funding the Center for Racial Equity.
--:-- Host: Spencer Lindquist: Walmart made the announcement following a campaign from activist Robbie Starbuck, who has also led successful anti-DEI campaigns against Tractor Supply, Home Depot, and other name brand companies. Starbuck spoke to Morning Wire about his strategy.
--:-- Host: Spencer Lindquist: When I realized there was a serious problem here, I said, what has been the problem with boycotts in America? Why have they not been successful? And how did we get here? And so I had to put together sort of the fact that all of this accelerated after George Floyd. And it was under the noses of a lot of executives who didn't quite realize what they were greenlighting. And now they've had four years to experience it. And many of those people have, you know, buyer's remorse. And so they just need an excuse to get rid of it because this is essentially a house of cards.
--:-- Host: Spencer Lindquist: Now, you also have a new report out in the Daily Wire suggesting that the incoming Trump administration could pressure more organizations to drop DEI. What leverage would Trump have to make that happen?
--:-- Host: Spencer Lindquist: So, some of these programs might actually be against the law. A series of Daily Wire investigations have documented professional development programs, internships, and job postings that discriminate against white and sometimes against Asian applicants in the name of DEI. In some of those cases, legal experts have actually said that these programs are blatantly illegal.
--:-- Host: Spencer Lindquist: And the incoming Trump administration, particularly his attorney general, could take action against these discriminatory DEI programs. I talked with David Pivtrac. He's a lawyer who has active lawsuits against American Express, which allegedly discriminated against white men through its DEI policies.
--:-- Host: Spencer Lindquist: He told me that, quote, the DOJ has a panoply of remedies it can seek to address the discrimination that results from these DEI programs. The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division could launch investigations to obtain, quote, a wide variety of a company's internal data and documents, or file lawsuits to, quote, take depositions of high-level executives and even the CEO or board of directors if they were directly involved in implementing these DEI programs.
--:-- Host: Spencer Lindquist: But there's also even more severe measures that the DOJ could take as well. If the Justice Department issued a consent decree, it would allow the agency to, quote, oversee a company's operations for years to come. And PIV directs says that this type of action from the DOJ could incentivize companies to drop their DEI programs altogether.
--:-- Host: Spencer Lindquist: Now, are there specific companies that are currently under scrutiny or that you anticipate will be?
--:-- Host: Spencer Lindquist: So, these DEI programs are pretty ubiquitous right now, but there are a few high-profile examples. At Oracle, the Daily Wire found that white and Asian students were expressly barred from applying for two different internships, and a similar situation unfolded at IBM.
--:-- Host: Spencer Lindquist: The Daily Wire found that IBM hosted two internships that had discriminatory selection criteria. One was an internship for underrepresented minorities, which barred whites and Asians from applying, and the other, an internship for undergraduate women, barred men from applying, unless those men were transgender and identified as women.
--:-- Host: Spencer Lindquist: There are similar discriminatory DEI programs that have also been found at McKinsey & Company, Morgan Stanley, and the Kraft Group, which owns the New England Patriots, among various other corporations.
--:-- Host: Spencer Lindquist: Well, even just making a few high-profile examples could go a long way.
--:-- Host: Georgia Howe: Spencer, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Host: Spencer Lindquist: Thank you for having me.
--:-- Host: Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back this afternoon with more news you need to know.
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