Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 465 | Vaccine Passports Turn NYC to Clown Town

Episode Date: August 4, 2021

Today we're discussing the absolute fiasco that is the leadership of New York City & state. Mayor Bill de Blasio just announced that NYC will be implementing a kind of vaccine passport, with the city requiring certain businesses to check their patrons' vaccination status. This will probably end up saving 0 lives but do a great job of restricting people's freedom. And what does it say about the people who embrace this with open arms, gladly cutting any unvaccinated person out of their lives? Then, we discuss the breaking news centered on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is facing calls for impeachment from his own party due to allegations of sexual harassment. It's great that the Left has finally had enough of this monster, but it would have been nice if they cared as much about all the elderly people who died on his watch as they did about these allegations. Lastly, we end on a happier note, with some phenomenal Olympic athletes who aren't afraid to proudly represent the USA. ***Editor's Note: Allie referred to an amount of taxpayer money that went missing in connection with Bill de Blasio's wife. The amount was actually $800 million, not $800,000. --- Today's Sponsors: Good Ranchers safely delivers American craft beef & better-than-organic chicken, right to your door! You can place a one-time order or, better yet, subscribe & save 20% with each purchase. Go to GoodRanchers.com/ALLIE to get $20 off & free express shipping. Alliance Defending Freedom fights for what's right, standing up for religious liberty, the sanctity of life, freedom of speech, marriage, & parental rights in America's highest courts. Learn more at ADFLegal.org/ALLIE & join the growing number of Americans standing in solidarity to defend freedom & liberty! --- Past Episode Mentioned: Ep 462: Flat Earth & Missing Socks: Conspiracy Theory Thursday https://apple.co/2VfMvDf --- Buy Allie's book, You're Not Enough (& That's Okay): Escaping the Toxic Culture of Self-Love: https://alliebethstuckey.com/book Relatable merchandise: https://shop.blazemedia.com/collections/allie-stuckey

Hey, this is Steve Day. If you're listening to Allie, you already understand that the biggest issues facing our country aren't just political. They're moral, spiritual, and rooted in what we believe is true about God, humanity, and reality itself. On the Steve Day show, we take the news of the day and tested against first principles, faith, truth, and objective reality. We don't just chase narratives and we don't offer false comfort. We ask the hard questions and follow the answers wherever they leave, even when it's unpopular. This is a show for people who want honesty over hype and clarity over chaos. If you're looking for commentary grounded in conviction and unwilling to lie to you about where we are or where we're headed, you can watch this D-Day show right here on Blaze TV or listen wherever you get podcasts. I hope you'll join us. Hey, guys, welcome to relatable. Happy Wednesday. Hope everyone is having a wonderful week. Today, we are talking about a couple things that you guys have asked me in the last 24 hours to cover. One of them is the vaccine passport in New York City that was recently announced. And then we're going to,

stay in New York and talk about Governor Cuomo and some of the sexual harassment allegations that he is now facing. But we're also going to talk about some happy things at the end of this. I'm going to play three clips from the Olympics that I think just represent great moments. Two of them are very patriotic moments and also moments in which these athletes are giving thanks to God and I just love it. And another one is a funny moment. So we're going to end on a positive, happy note, but we've got to talk about some, I guess, more negative things that you guys would like to hear me cover. So first, let's talk about this New York City vaccine passport. So this is according to WABC TV, coronavirus update NYC to require proof of vaccine

for indoor dining, gyms, and entertainment. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a new proof of vaccination requirement for most indoor events in New York City, believed to be the first such mandate by an American city. It is, yes, I believe that that is true. Dining at restaurants working out at a gym, attending a movie or play will all require proof of vaccination starting August 16th. Enforcement will begin on September 13th to coincide with the return of children to schools. So this is what Bill de Blasio said. Today I announce a new approach, which we are calling the key to NYC pass. The key to NYC when you hear those words, I want you to imagine the notion that because

someone is vaccinated, they can do all the amazing things available in New York City. This is a miraculous place, he says, literally full of wonders. If you are vaccinated, all that is going, all of that is going to be open to you. You have the key. You can open the door. If you are unvaccinated, unfortunately, says Bill de Blasio, you will not be able to participate in many things. That's the point that we are trying to get across. So Bill de Blasio, you'll remember, is a weirdo. Like, he is a very weird, strange guy. He was recently, like,

eating a hamburger and fries on TV to make some point that I honestly don't remember because I was so grossed out. I just a little fact about me, I hate the sound of people eating and drinking, especially, like, watching it on television. I don't know. Maybe that makes me a weirdo too, but I don't even remember what point he was trying to make a couple months ago. But just in general, like this guy has proven himself to kind of be an unpopular weirdo when it comes to him being the mayor of New York City. And so this description doesn't surprise me. It's very Bill de Blasio.

Now, a lot of people are understandably very upset about this, especially since he has been fumbling the leadership of New York City for a long time, not just when it comes to the budget and corruption. For example, there was this program called Thurgeon. I believe that's what it was called. We talked about it like a year ago when we were talking about the corruption of Cuomo and Bill de Blasio back I think in April of 2020 and how badly they were handling things and had been handling both the city and the state for a very long time. We talked about, I think, this Thrive, NYC is what it's called program, that Bill de Blasio's wife headed up

and that there was $800,000, I believe. It might have even been more than that. $800,000 that she just could not account for. And the program was supposed to help poor students in New York City. And there was no report of any positive outcomes whatsoever. So people have no idea. People have no idea where this money went, what she did with it, what the program was supposed to accomplish and if it actually ever accomplished anything. So that's just one example of the corruption and the mishandling of leadership under Bill de Blasio. And the, other one has been the rise in crime. There was a whole defund the police movement that we've talked about many times that happened in New York over the past year in the wake of George Floyd and talks about

police racism and police brutality. And so they took some funding away from the NYPD. And there were some restrictions on the NYPD that made it more difficult for them to police certain neighborhoods. And we saw violent crime and homicides skyrocket in the city over the past year. So apparently, that doesn't warrant attention. But the minimal at this point, thankfully, deaths by COVID in New York do warrant this kind of what I would call authoritarian policy. We've talked about many times the rate of death for coronavirus. It is real. It does kill people. It does send people to the hospital. Apparently, data is showing that the Delta variant is slightly more contagious and slightly more deadly than the original, than the original coronavirus. But you've still got,

according to CDC numbers anyway, and that's really what we've got as far as data goes, you've still got if you are under the age of 60, a 99.6% chance of surviving. If you are under the age of 20, you've got like a 99.999% chance of surviving. So that doesn't mean that no one dies. It doesn't mean that no one goes to the hospital. Unfortunately, those things do happen even in kids, but it is very rare. It also should be noted, as we've talked about before, that RSV, that bronchitis, that croup, that hand, foot, and mouth are going around right now in very serious and severe strains among kids. So a lot of kids are in the hospital with RSV. There kids being put on ventilators with RSV, but no one wants to report that, no one wants to talk about

that, no one's creating vaccine passports or policy based on that because no one cares, at least in the media or apparently in the government, if a kid gets sick and dies from something that is not the coronavirus. So as I say, this is a lot of virtue signaling when people say that you have to do X, Y, Z mitigating tactic when it comes to COVID to protect the children. Children in general, in general, are not at risk here. They are at risk for a lot of other things that people don't care about, that people don't talk about, that people don't take any mitigating measures to prevent. So Bill de Blasio goes on to say, as he is defending this vaccine mandate, not everyone

is going to agree with this. I understand that. But for some people, this is going to be the life-saving act. We are put into mandate in place. It will guarantee a much higher level of vaccination in this city. That is the key to protecting people and the key to our recovery. That's why it's the key to NYC. The key to NYC pass opens a lot of doors and we need it.

So my guess is that most people in New York City, being the liberal city that it is, has gotten the vaccine. And everyone who wants the vaccine has already gotten it. Now, I understand that this kind of coercive tactic might just, you know, push some people who are trying to decide whether or not to get it over the edge to actually get it. But I would say that everyone who wants to get it at this point probably already has. And I would say that that probably accounts for the vast majority of people in New York City. So it's really, in my opinion, more of a punitive measure just to make it very burdensome, very cumbersome, very difficult to live as an unyorkman. unvaccinated person. I think some things, there's something that people don't understand. It seems to be a

really big misunderstanding is that unvaccinated means that you are infected with something. So if you don't have a vaccine against measles or something, that that means that you are carrying measles and that you are contagious and that you're going to infect other people with measles. Well, that's not true. No matter what you are or are not inoculated against, it doesn't mean that you are caring or are not carrying it necessarily. And so an unvaccinated person walking about and going into a New York City bar, it doesn't mean that that person is going to pass coronavirus. Now, I understand the argument that you can be asymptomatic and maybe, maybe, maybe you're more likely to be asymptomatic and have it if you don't have the vaccine and you could pass it that way. But if everyone else is

vaccinated and you're saying that the vaccines work, then I just don't really understand. that logic. The people who are most vulnerable to this are people who are above the age of 60. You've got about a 95% chance of survival, so still a very high chance of survival. A 5% chance of death when it comes to a virus is a really big chance. Like, I don't want to minimize that. Now, of course, that also includes people who are above the age of 80 years old in that category. It also includes people with a lot of underlying conditions that make. it more likely for them to die. So people over the age of 60 that are generally healthy, especially

ages like 60 to 70, probably have a much higher risk of survival than, say, someone who is diabetes who is over the age of 75. And yet, when the CDC kind of breaks down these categories, it's mostly 60 plus and your rate of survival drops dramatically from like 99% under the age of 60 to 95% over the age of 60, but most of those people have already gotten the vaccine. The CDC has reported that 80 to 90% of people over the age of 60 that at-risk group are already vaccinated. And everyone else has a 99% plus chance of surviving. And so, again, I just don't really see the logic behind this. It doesn't mean that people aren't dying. It doesn't mean that we shouldn't be smart. I definitely don't think that you should go out if you're sick.

I definitely think that you should cover your cough. I definitely think that you should wash your hands. Asymptomatic cases spreading, the data is really mixed on that as to whether or not they are effectively spreading this virus at the same level as someone who is symptomatic is. Like I just think that common sense would really carry us a long way, but it seems like we threw that out the window a long time ago. Another problem with the logic, I think, of this vaccine pass.

to get into anywhere in New York City is that it doesn't include people who have already gotten infected. Whereas if you look at other countries, you can show either that you were vaccinated or that you've been previously infected to be able to access a certain store or bar or indoor area. And I'm not saying that I necessarily agree with that, but that makes a little bit more sense. because if you've already had it, then you have the antibodies. I mean, vaccination works or it's supposed to. This vaccine is a little bit different, but it's supposed to work in the same way as getting antibodies from an infection does.

You are protected from at least serious strains of the virus for the most part. If you got the vaccine, that's what we're being told. or if you actually got infected with COVID, and yet people who have gotten infected and have those antibodies aren't allowed into these spaces, the antibodies probably have higher protection for you than the protection that you're getting from the vaccine. I know that's scandalous to say. I understand. I do understand why it is smart for some people to get the vaccine, absolutely,

because you don't want to risk actually getting COVID and going to the hospital, especially if you're older or have an underlying condition. But for people who have already had it and have the antibodies, doesn't make sense to exclude them. And then also Bill de Blasio said that right now, kids are not going to be excluded. Right now, kids are not going to be excluded from these spaces under the age of 12 because they haven't been vaccinated. So he's saying that if someone is a 12-year-old, a 12-year-old who has not, been vaccinated, they are going to be excluded from these spaces. Like, how is that going to work? How evil? How cruel is that a 12-year-old? I mean, if the parent thinks it's best and, you know,

there are a lot of different factors maybe that comes into play, but a 12-year-old doesn't need, they don't need to be vaccinated. They have a 99.999% chance of surviving. That is comparable to their chances with the flu. And we've never had a vaccine passport for the flu vaccine when it comes to kids. I mean, like I said, kids are dying. They die from the flu. They die from RSV. They die from pneumonia. I don't want a kid to get COVID. I don't want them to go to the hospital or die from COVID. I absolutely don't. But from what we see from the science, it is rare for them to get it in a serious way. It's also actually rare for them to transmit it. There were studies that were performed in schools over the past year that show that teachers are no more likely.

teachers who are in the classroom were no more likely to get COVID than the general public. And so it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense, I think, to burden kids in this way. And it also tells me that when the vaccine is allowed for kids who are under the age of 12, that apparently they're going to be excluded from places as well. I just can't imagine that. Like if you're a parent and you got the vaccine yourself and you decide, you know what, It just doesn't make a whole lot of sense for my kid, for my toddler to get this. I just don't know a whole lot about it yet.

I kind of want to see some long-term studies of this when we have the time to be able to do that. I'm just not willing to get my kid vaccinated. They have a really, really good chance of not getting it and not getting a serious symptoms from this. So you're not going to be able to bring your kids places? I mean, think about all the places that people want to bring their kids in New York City. Like, okay, so you're telling me the American Girl Doll store in New York City, what, it's going to be filled with a bunch of vaccinated adults, or you're only going to allow the little seven-year-old girl who has been dreaming of this day for her entire short life. You're going to say that that little girl has to get vaccinated before going to the American Girl Doll store? I mean, come on.

This just doesn't make any sense. Again, if everyone in the most at-risk group, almost everyone in the most at-risk group is already vaccinated and if the vaccine works and if everyone 12 and older has already had the opportunity to get vaccinated. So that means everyone who is scared of the virus is probably vaccinated, that it doesn't make sense to mandate vaccines for kids or even mandate masks for kids. Because everyone who wants to get vaccinated, especially the most at risk people have already been vaccinated. Everyone who is under the age of 20 has a 99.999% chance of survival. So it just doesn't make any sense.

It doesn't make any sense. Bill de Blasio said that we have to figure out how to do things in a safe manner. Children younger than 12 will not be excluded from venues right now. Like I said, which also, again, just the logic of this, it just goes to show that this is not really about safety because you keep hearing from this crowd that kids actually are transmitting it, that they are actually vectors for the virus, that they're just as at risk as, you know, the 85-year-old. And so they have to wear masks and they have to get vaccinated when the vaccine is available.

And yet, okay, so right now, though, you're allowing them into these venues. So you're obviously not scared of them. Like, are you scared of them? Are you not scared of them? If they really are vectors of the virus, as a lot of people in the last say that they are unscientifically, I might add, then why are you allowing them into these venues? So that kind of supports the argument that this really is a punitive measure for people who are not vaccinated. Now, I've said before and I stand beside, like, I don't mind voluntary incentives from the government to get the vaccine.

Like, I actually didn't mind Biden's door-to-door campaign. I don't mind people encouraging people to get the vaccine and, you know, doing risk assessment and calculations for people. I think that's fine. Like I said a million times, it's none of your business is not if I'm vaccinated. It's none of my business. If you're vaccinated, I personally don't care when looking at. the numbers on all of this, a lot of people's, you know, a lot of people's just coeriveness when it comes to this, just it doesn't make sense based on the science that I am looking at.

But I don't care if people really want to encourage other people to get vaccinated, I think that's fine. But when it comes to segregating society along these lines, when it comes to this kind of virus and the risk that it holds for people, it just doesn't make a lot of. of sense. I mean, I think that there will be businesses who do not enforce this. This has been a really hard year for small businesses. And I think it's going to be very difficult for them to turn paying customers away who chose not to get the vaccine. I think that there's going to be probably a lack of enforcement when it comes to this. A lot of people, of course, are asking me, what do I do?

What do I do? I don't know. I mean, if you live in New York City and if you go to New York City, Like you know what you're getting. It's liberal leadership. They are more apt to do something like this. Max Boot tweeted a couple weeks ago. I think we talked about it on this podcast that Saudi Arabia, because they have vaccine passports, are more progressive than the United, Saudi Arabia, where women, like, were just allowed to drive for the first time. It's more, quote, progressive. Like this apparently is an admission from progressives. That progressivism is just a form of authoritarianism, which of course we have known for. a long time. Kevin McCarthy, representative from California, said Republicans have been warning against vaccine passports for months, leave it to New York Democrats to lead such a blatant abuse of power. Vaccine ports are un-American period. Republicans will oppose any attempt to expand such a disastrous policy. I mean, you've already seen in places like Texas and Florida in South Dakota that this is not happening. Just because you think something is good doesn't mean that you have to mandate it. That is something that it seems like progressives don't completely

understand. There are a lot of conservative commentators that have been talking about the hypocrisy of this. And, you know, obviously a lot of people are for it. A lot of people think it's great. A lot of people are very, very scared. And they're only going to go outside if they know that everyone around them is vaccinated. These are also the people that after they're vaccinated are probably still double-masking and are going to socially distance. As we've talked about before, it's become a religion for a lot of people. They're not going to easily let it go. And it's become about power for a lot of politicians. And there's certainly, that's just the nature of power and the nature of people in power. They're certainly not going to let that go easily.

Another thing about the vaccine passports is that it's inevitably going to lead to racial disparities. because according to Bloomberg, there's actually a lot of data on this. Black Americans are the least likely right now to be vaccinated. And so if that's the case, then unfortunately this is going to lead to black people in New York City and in other cities that create vaccine passports being pushed out of places that require them. And again, it's not an access issue at this point. There have been millions and millions of dollars that have been poured into programs to get black people vaccinated. So at this point, if an adult is not vaccinated, it's because they don't want to be vaccinated.

Like I said, and that includes black Americans, very few of which comparatively are vaccinated. So in this time of anti-racism, where Ibramax-Kindy is, is saying that any kind of law or any kind of policy that leads to different outcomes for black or white people is racist, we are going to be making a mandate that we know is going to lead to those kinds of inequalities. Now, I don't agree. I don't agree with Ibermex-Kindy that a law that has disparate outcomes is necessarily racist. But a lot of people on the left do, like they have embraced that kind of idea. And so how are they simultaneously embracing something like this that we know is going to lead to disparate outcomes because so few black Americans

have chosen to get vaccinated. And another point is that we are hearing all the time from Democrats that showing any form of ID in order to vote is racist. And we were told very condescendingly that it's because black people might not necessarily know. They don't know where to go to, you know, get their ID. They might not have an ID. But you're telling me that in order to access certain places in particular cities that you not only, that you not only have to have a smartphone, but you also have to be able to download the app after you've been vaccinated. All of those are barriers that some people are going to have to overcome, that they're not able to overcome because they either don't want to get the vaccine, of course, or they don't

have an iPhone or they don't want to download the app, whatever it is. But if people are sophisticated and smart enough, people of all races, to, uh, to, you know, be able to download this app and use it in the proper way in order to enter certain spaces, then surely they're smart enough to have an ID to be able to vote. I mean, the hypocrisy here, it's really, it's really just amazing. But I don't think that we're going to get much reporting on that from the media. I do want to talk about what a celebrity recently said about unvaccinated people in just one second.

Hey, this is Steve Dase. If you're listening to Allie, you already understand that the biggest issues facing our country aren't just political. They're moral, spiritual, and rooted in what we believe is true about God, humanity, and reality itself. On the Steve Day show, we take the news of the day and tested against first principles, faith, truth, and objective reality. We don't just chase narratives and we don't offer false comfort. We ask the hard questions and follow the answers wherever they leave, even when it's unpopular. This is a show for people who want honesty over hype and clarity over chaos. If you're looking for commentary grounded in conviction and

unwilling to lie to you about where we are or where we're headed, you can watch this D-Day show right here on Blaze TV or listen wherever you get podcasts. I hope you'll join us. All right. I want to talk about just very quickly this interview with Jennifer Aniston. She apparently cut ties with friends who are unvaccinated, not people who are anti-vaccine in general, but unvaccinated and not just unvaccinated people, but people in her life apparently who just didn't feel comfortable disclosing whether or not they were vaccinated. So this is according to CNN, quote, In a new interview with InStyle, the actress admitted she's been strict about keeping vaccinated

company in her circle, noted in the process that there's a large group of people who just don't listen to the facts. It's a real shame. I've just lost a few people in my weekly routine who have refused or did not disclose whether or not they have been vaccinated. And it was unfortunate. She said, I feel it's your moral and professional obligation to inform, since we're not all potted up and being tested every.

single day. That's a bad friend. That's a bad friend. That is, again, someone who believes that if you are not vaccinated, or I guess if you just don't want to say whether or not you're vaccinated, then you are infected. Like, has she ever done this with any other virus or any other disease that people are inoculated against? Like, has she ever asked people, hey, if you don't have your flu shot, I'm going to fire you or I'm not going to be your friend anymore. If you don't have, you know, your detap shot, like, you can't be around here. Probably not. And I understand the coronavirus is more, well, it's actually not more infectious, but it's more infectious and or more deadly than some of those things. But again, this just seems to be a misunderstanding

of the science and an ignorance of a lot of the data surrounding this. I mean, it's just amazing. the mindset that people have adopted. And it's honestly, it's depressing. It's depressing. Like I was talking about this to my team. I think it was yesterday or the other day how even if where you live is fairly normal, it's sad that there are other parts of the country that aren't normal. Even if where you live doesn't have vaccine passports, it's sad to think that there are a part to the United States that do, that are basically segregating people along these lines based on their choice. It's sad that when you look at an event or you look at like a show or a video from 2019 that you get sad because we had no idea what was coming to us and that that was a time that

even though it was tumultuous in a lot of ways was very normal and we just didn't realize it and the question of whether or not we're ever going to go back to normal or whether this grand, great reset is really going to take place. I mean, that's scary and that's burdensome for a lot of people. And I have to remind myself, because of course in 2019, I didn't think that we were in the good old days. I have to remind myself to enjoy what we have right now, the freedom that we have right now, the good times that we are able to have right now, because who knows? I mean, it's sad to think about, but maybe in two years we're going to look back at 2020 and 2021 and be like, whoa, those were some good days. Those were some better days. So we don't want to just, you know,

waste away this time being anxious about everything that's happening. Now, I do think that as we reject anxiety, especially as Christians, knowing that God is completely and totally 100% sovereign and nothing can thwart his will, as Job 42 says, we also can't be complacent about this kind of stuff. Like if you're worried about these kind of mandates coming into your city, like, you have to hold your elected officials accountable. And certainly when it comes to different policies at your kids' school, I was just talking to someone before recording whose kids go to a private school. And because they mandated masks last year, they actually lost 15% of their kids. So the kids, their enrollment went down by 15% because a lot of parents just didn't want

their little kids sitting in a cloth mask all day. That does affect communication. It does affect your ability to socialize with people. It affects how they see other kids and their ability to trust other people. It also affects their ability to be able to learn communication from their teacher. And so understandably, a lot of parents just didn't want that. Enrollment went down by 15% last year. And so this year, because of that, they are reversing their policy. They're saying, okay, we're not doing masks this year. Like, we can't afford to lose that many people. That's the difference. That's one of the differences in going to a private school versus. a public school is that the dollar speaks when you're going to a private school.

Like they don't want to lose enrollment. They can't afford to lose money. Whereas a public school is going to get your tax dollars no matter what. I do encourage you to pull your kids out of public school. You still have a right and responsibility to speak up at school board meetings because they're still your tax dollars. You still live in that community. But I don't think that we should be putting our kids on the front lines, not just for

COVID restriction reasons, but for biblical worldview reasons. as well. But your dollar and your voice actually does matter and can absolutely make a difference. Working collectively, finding like-minded people, whether it's at your university, whether it's at your job, whether it's in your neighborhood, public school, whatever it is, private school, find a few like-minded people, strategize, decide how you are going to raise, as we say on this podcast, a respectful ruckus about the things that you believe in, whether it's curriculum, you don't like or particular policies and restrictions that you don't like when it comes to the virus. Your voice can absolutely make a difference. And I've heard from enough of you to know that that is true.

And so I know it might be a lost cause in some places like New York City, but in other places, it's not going to be. You can look at New York City. You can look at places like California. And you can see how the rest of the country will go, especially under federal democratic leadership. And so make your voice heard in a way that's respectful in a way that's data driven. All of this information is available. It's available online. A lot of you guys ask me for links. And unfortunately, I just can't get to everyone's message all the time.

But I would encourage you to research this stuff on your own and for you to present the data in a compelling and a persuasive way to those who are in power in your local community to make sure that you're living in a community that you want to live in. I read this quote by Samuel Adams this morning, and I just thought it was, so it's super, it's harsh, but I thought that it was applicable in some ways to what we're talking about. So he says, if you love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude, better than the animating cost of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chain set lightly upon you.

and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen. A lot of people love the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom. That has absolutely been proven to be true. Now, I do think that there is always a balance between risk and freedom, and it's up to our policymakers to help make those decisions. Unfortunately, I think that they've completely failed

in making those balanced decisions for the most part over the past year. But there should be, hopefully there are. And maybe this majority is too quiet, but enough people in America that don't want to crouch down and lick the hands, which feed them, who are willing to take particular risks when it comes to securing freedom. I think that we are at a turning point. We're at a turning point in American history. And it's unclear which way that we're going to go. And actually, I heard Nicole Hannah-Jones on a podcast recently say the same thing. Now, Shirley, she means the opposite. We both mean the same thing, but she wants the country to go in a direction that I don't.

But it's going to require people standing up in a respectful and a persuasive and a bold way, standing up for your constitutional rights and your freedom to live in a country where people are able to make choices that are best for themselves and their families without the coercion and the burden of the government. But in order to think that way, Like you have to believe in something that's bigger than yourself and even, you know, bigger than temporary guarantees of safety. There is a risk inherent to freedom. The question is always how much risk are you willing to take?

If you are willing to take no risks at all, then I encourage you to stay home and just get out of the way of people who value their liberty. All right. We're going to get into this. Cuomo story. If you haven't heard about this, he has been accused of sexual harassments by current and former state employees and violation of federal and state laws. There's been an investigation into this by New York Attorney General Letitia James. And apparently he has been found guilty of that. Here's what the New York Times says. Governor Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women,

including current and former government workers, breaking state and federal laws and engaged in a pattern of unwanted touching and inappropriate comments, according to a much anticipated report from the New York State Attorney General Letitia James. The 165-page report said that Mr. Cuomo, a third-term Democrat and his aides cultivated a toxic work culture in his office that was rife with fear and intimidation and helped enable harassment to occur and created a hostile work environment. Megan Kelly tweeted, tweeted out some of the report from the New York Attorney General, who said that Governor Cuomo grabbed his assistant's breast under her blouse, felt up the stomach in back of a state trooper, and asked for her help finding a girlfriend who, quote, can handle pain, told a young aide he was lonely and wanted to be touched, kissed employees against their will on the lips. And so there unfortunately have been a lot of reports like this,

and pressuring young staffers to be a part of his, you know, basically his posse and then feeling pressured not to be able to say no. He has released a statement that we are going to play. We're going to play part of it, basically defending himself. If you're watching on YouTube, you'll be able to see me kind of react in real time to his, what I think is a very strange defense against action. of sexual harassment. Here it is. The New York Times published a front page picture of me touching a woman's face at a wedding and then kissing her on the cheek.

That is not front page news. I've been making the same gesture in public all my life. I actually learned it from my mother and from my father. It is meant to convey warmth, nothing more. Indeed, there are hundreds, if not thousands of photos, of me using the exact same gesture. I do it with everyone, black and white, young, and old, and old, straight and LGBTQ, powerful people, friends, strangers, people who I meet on the street. After the event, the woman told the press that she took offense at the gesture. And for that, I apologize.

Another woman stated that I kissed her on the forehead at our Christmas party, and that I said, chow Bella. Now, I don't remember doing it, but I'm sure that I did. Ciao Bella. I do kiss people on the forehead. I do kiss people on the cheek. I do kiss people on the hand. I do embrace people.

I do hug people, men and women. I do on occasion say, chow Bella. On occasion, I do slip and say sweetheart or darling or honey. Okay, that's good. All right. So basically his defense is that, look, he does this all the time. So what's the big deal? I mean, he kisses black people and gay people.

So who are we? Who are we to accuse him of inappropriate behavior? Now, let me be fair. I understand in some, I understand in some way what he's talking to. about here. Like, he is just a touchy guy. Apparently, you know, this hasn't been national news. And so why is it national news now? And Democrats are patting themselves on the back. The liberal media is patting themselves on the back for this. That, oh, we hold our leaders to accounts. We did the same thing without Franken. Look, we're so, we have so much integrity. We have so much, we have so much

honor, unlike you Republicans who elected and accused sexual assault or sexual harasser. Wait, wait, wait. First of all, people have been saying this about Andrew Cuomo for a long time. Why it's just now becoming national news. Why there's just now an investigation into it. I don't know. Personally, I think that there are some nefarious reasons behind this. I think there are probably some selfish motivations here behind why now Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden are both saying that Andrew Cuomo could resign. This is just out. This is not within. the character of the Democratic Party to do things like this. I mean, you also elected someone who has been accused of sexual assault. I know that some people like to pretend, like that's not true. Like Joe Biden was not accused of sexual assault, an accusation that was substantiated by other people at the time, or at least that she told the same story to other people at the time. I know that people like to pretend like that didn't happen, but it did happen. I mean, Nancy Pelosi, Maxine Waters, other people who have been Democrats in Congress for a long time,

are some of the most obviously, ostensibly corrupt people in the United States. Please don't tell me that you hold people accountable. Again, I don't know the motivations behind the liberal press and behind the Democratic Party for trying to hold Andrew Cuomo accountable when it comes to this. But I just have a hard to call me a cynic. Call me partisan. have a hard time believing that it's just because of honor and integrity and because they care about the voices of these alleged victims. Now, I think his behavior was inappropriate. I think he probably

is a little bit of a sketchy guy. More than just like the kissing on the on the forehead and the head and the chow Bella, like more than that, it's some of the stuff that people have said that he said and how he kind of pressured women into being around him and saying things that made him uncomfortable. you do have to think about the power deferential there. Like it's different for him to kiss Bill Clinton on the cheek. That's different than him going up to a 22-year-old intern and putting his hands on her, his hands around her face and kissing her on the forehead and saying, chow, Bella.

Like, that is going to be a lot more uncomfortable because that 22-year-old girl doesn't feel like she can say no. She doesn't feel like she can say, hey, I'm uncomfortable with that. And she might feel intimidated. She might be worried about what he is going to say to her, make her do, how he makes her feel, all that kind of stuff. That is not true when he's talking about interacting with someone like Bill Clinton in the same way. So I do think his behavior is inappropriate.

But you know what I think is a lot more inappropriate than him, you know, kissing a girl on a forehead, on her forehead is stuffing COVID-positive elderly New York. back into nursing homes purposely. I mean, this is something that we talked about at the time, again, last April. This is something that should be totally scandalous. Like, this should be why Democrats and why everyone is calling on him to resign because of his mandate back in March of 2020 that COVID positive patients should be placed back into their nursing homes while they are still positive.

That spread coronavirus in a way that it did. did not have to be spread, that it should not have been spread among elderly, a nursing home residents and that consequently killed thousands of them. That was avoidable. But because of his failure in leadership, because of his corruption in leadership, he unfortunately made a fatal mistake that has scarred the lives of families forever. We've had Janisteen on this podcast talking about this before that unfortunately this affected her family members who died because of this order. And it had to do with the budget. It had to do with Medicaid.

It had to do with previous decisions that Cuomo had made about hospitals in New York that he was trying to cover up and have quicker turnover by placing these positive coronavirus patients back into nursing homes. And so it was an absolute failure. it ended in the ending of lives of thousands of elderly New Yorkers and most people don't care. There are a lot of people who have been trying to sound the alarms about this. Janice Dean, I think being on the forefront of that. But unfortunately, a lot of Democrats don't care about that.

And the reason why they don't want to talk about that and they don't want to draw attention to that is because that is going to then open up, open them up to criticism about how Democrats across the country have handled coronavirus in general. I mean, Governor Whitmer had had the same issue. She did basically the same thing. Pennsylvania basically did the same thing. And so Democrats just aren't willing to open themselves up to that kind of criticism. I think that's part of the reason why, why Governor Cuomo is being, you know, raked over the coals for this, but not for his handling of COVID. I mean, the press just thawned over him. The New York Times, NBC, CNN all talked about how wonderful Governor Cuomo was, how great of a leader he was, like he was seen as the hero against the evil Trump

administration. I guarantee you, by the way, that Andrew Cuomo really misses the Trump administration because that allowed him to be placed on a pedestal as kind of like the anti-Trump. Chelsea Handler talked about how, you know, attracted she was to go. Governor Cuomo was a really weird time. Like, they raised him to this place of God. And now he is a credibly accused sexual harasser who also, you know, his decisions led to the death of thousands of people. So it's embarrassing for them.

I really doubt that they are going to apologize for how they elevated and glorified him. But that's where we are. And don't allow anyone on the left. to say this shows honor and integrity of Democrats in the liberal press because this is one exception to the rule that in general, the liberal media allows Democrats to get to to escape responsibility from many, from many of the things that they do. All right. We are going to now talk about some fun things. We are going to show you some clips from the Olympics, people who are not Gwenberry, who are showing a lot of patriotism

and are showing their love of country and their love of God. And then that one funny clip that I will play for you guys. All right, I want to first play you a clip from gold medalist wrestler from the United States to Myra Minta Stock. I mean, she is the exact opposite in her attitude from Gwen Barry, you will remember Gwen Barry was the one who, I guess it was an Olympic qualifier and she stood on the podium. She got third place. She stood on the podium and she crossed her arms and she looked straight at the camera when the national anthem played and she said the national anthem doesn't represent her, that

you know, America is the systemically racist place. And so she's not proud to represent the United States. And of course, she caused a lot of waves for doing that, which is, probably her intention exactly. Well, Tamira Mitzis Stock shows a lot of patriotism in this clip, and you can't listen to it or watch it without smiling. Here it is. That American flag around your shoulders looks pretty good. How does that feel to represent your country like this? It feels amazing. I love representing the U.S. I freaking love living there. I love it, and I'm so happy I get to represent USA! Ah, I love it. You love to see it. Good for her. Congratulations.

for getting the gold medal in wrestling. I can't even imagine what that feeling is to work for something that long, your whole life, and to represent the country that has helped afford you that opportunity, the country that you love. This kind of attitude, like, if this was the attitude that all of our athletes, all of our, you know, pop culture stars represented, I guarantee you we would be so much more unified as a country.

And then there was this awesome clip of two, runners from the United States. One got the gold medal, one got the silver medal, and I just loved their camaraderie and their attitude and how they both think the Lord for their success. And then make sure you listen to the end of this little clip, too, because I thought that was really cool. Just trusting the process, giving the glory to God. It's all this season, hard work dedication, and I was really grateful to be able to represent my country in this had this opportunity. And Delilah, for you, you overcame COVID, so many injuries to get back to this Olympic final. Just describe this journey back to this moment for yourself.

It definitely was a journey. Just filled up and up and down. So it's just thankful to God for getting me to this point. I'm not sure, 515 was the time. Just so thankful, so thankful to end on with a silver medal for the USA. Well, Sydney, on the other side of the world as you were running, Union Catholic High School was going crazy. You have to see this the moment as they watched you circle the track.

You and the little of both, you know, pushing each other. Yeah, it's amazing. Oh my gosh, I can see my high school coach, my principal. It's just an awesome opportunity being able to represent them all back home. Excellent. So is this the example of iron sharpening iron? 100%. Ladies, congratulations.

Thanks. Thank you. So way to go in BC, iron sharpens iron, even on their Instagram, like the caption of these two runners was, iron sharpens iron. I don't maybe, I don't know if they know that's a proverb. But I thought that that was really cool. And again, if like we saw this kind of thing more often, just people like thanking the Lord, thanking their country, coming together, I mean, we would be way better off as a country.

Is it this not, is this not more just joy inducing and just more God glorifying than someone, you know, sticking their bottom lip out at the country that has allowed them to achieve so much and that sense of just anger and resentment and and entitlement that unfortunately we see from a lot of people who are representing the United States. I love to see this, and I wish we would see more of it. And I hope that we do. They're setting a great example. Now, I want to play you a little part of a longer clip that I watched. These are three weightlifters. One of them is from the United States. And she has asked about Laurel Hubbard, the transgender person, the man who competed against them in weightlifting. And listening closely, here's her response.

It was a historic night here with Laurel Hubbard competing as the first openly transgender in an individual event. I was wondering, you know, what you felt about that and what you felt that took place in your sport. No, thank you. Good answer. Good answer. That's probably the safest answer that you could give if you are someone who thinks it's unfair, which I'm sure she does. Now, unfortunately, the activists are probably still going to cancel her. That wasn't satisfactory to them because you have to celebrate and embrace all of their absurdity in order to be approved of by them.

But I hope this athlete doesn't care. I hope that she stands strong in her. No, thank you. I just really appreciated that. Honestly, that like took a little bit of boldness not to answer that question. She could have come up with some, you know, can't answer about inclusion and celebration and all of that, but she didn't say anything because female athletes, a lot of female athletes, understandably are frustrated and upset by men entering their spaces that they have worked

so hard to protect for so long. So there are a lot of, I know, annoying instances, political instances from the Olympics. the people have been rolling their eyes about over the past couple of weeks. Of course, there was the Simone Biles drama that I gave my thoughts on last week. But these were three instances that I hope that we can come together on and celebrate and also laugh at. All right, that is all I have for today. We will be back here tomorrow. Tomorrow, we are finally going to do that episode, unless something crazy happens overnight that we have to talk about. We're finally going to do the theology of motherhood. I'm going to talk about motherhood tomorrow. A lot of you've been asking me

to do that. So we will take a break from the news and politics and discuss that tomorrow on Thursday. I'll see you guys then. Hey, this is Steve Day. If you're listening to Allie, you already understand that the biggest issues facing our country aren't just political. They're moral, spiritual, and rooted in what we believe is true about God, humanity, and reality itself. On the Steve Day show, we take the news of the day and tested against first principles, faith, truth, and objective reality. We don't just chase narratives and we don't offer false comfort. We ask the hard questions and follow the answers wherever they leave, even when it's unpopular. This is a show for people who want honesty over hype and clarity over chaos.

If you're looking for commentary grounded in conviction and unwilling to lie to you about where we are or where we're headed, you can watch this T-Day Show right here on Blaze TV or listen wherever you get podcasts. I hope you'll join us.