The Daily Signal - TOP NEWS | Fox News Transgender Policy Exposed, Sen. Tim Scott Running for President, Debt Limit Debates | May 22

Starting point is 00:00:01 I'm Virginia Allen, and this is the Daily Signal Top News for Monday, May 22nd. Here are today's headlines. President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are meeting today to talk about raising the debt ceiling. Their meeting comes one day after Treasury Secretary Janet Yelland joined NBC's Meet the Press and warned that the deadline to raise the debt ceiling is quickly approaching. We expect to be unable to pay. all of our bills in early June and possibly as soon as June 1st. And I will continue to update Congress, but I certainly haven't changed my assessment. So I think that that's a hard deadline.

Starting point is 00:01:00 House Republicans have passed a bill that would raise the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion, or through March 2024, whichever comes first. The GOP bill also cuts government's spending, reducing spending back to 2022 levels, but Biden has not agreed to the bill. Republican Representative Patrick McHenry is heavily involved, and he told press today that it's a critical time for these negotiations. He said this is a very sensitive point here, and the goal is to get something that can be legislated into law. He added that he thinks people have goodwill and that he does not think there's any interest in us delaying these tough conversations. The hope is that the White House can reach an agreement with Republicans this week to cut spending and raise the debt ceiling.

Starting point is 00:01:53 The transgender policies of Fox News have been leaked. Fox News requires its employees to use preferred pronouns, allows them to use their bathroom of choice, and allows employees to dress in alignment with their preferred gender. The Daily Signal Senior Reporter Mary Margaret O'Ollahan obtained a leaked copy of Fox News's employee handbook and broke the news today. She joins us now. Mary Margaret, thank you so much for being here. Fox News, they have a category in their employee handbook titled Gender Transition. What does this category say?

Starting point is 00:02:31 Well, it's great to be here, Virginia. So this category is on gender transition. Like you said, it's in Fox's company handbook, which, you know, they'll access if they go on workday or, you know, if they want to check out their company policies. This handbook includes references to how employees are allowed to use the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity rather than their biological sex. They're also permitted to address an alignment with their preferred gender, and their colleagues must address them by their preferred name and pronouns in the workplace.

Starting point is 00:03:07 and perhaps most interestingly to me, they also offer to help employees come up with a workplace transition plan to ease their gender transition at work. And that workplace transition plan includes helping them figure out when they're going to start using the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity, when they will start wanting to go by different names, by a different name, whether they'll need time off for surgery or for medical treatment and as you know Virginia that might mean that they need time off to go through treatment for getting testosterone which they will inject into their body in an attempt to become a biological man if you are a biological woman or that might mean getting surgery on one's janetalia

Starting point is 00:03:54 in order to remove parts or to create parts that aren't already there these things are in the Fox employee handbook and they come amidst conservative anxieties over Fox's use of pronouns in stories and Fox's segment that it did last summer on a child's gender transition. Well, and of course, Mary Margaret, this is an issue that you cover extensively here at the Daily Signal and that is a great concern to so many Americans as we're watching what's happening with this transgender issue and how it is affecting workplaces across the country. Now, of course, Fox News headquarters is based in New York City, and the New York City Human Rights Law requires employees to use the name, pronoun, and title, which that person identifies as regardless of their biological

Starting point is 00:04:51 sex. So one could argue, you know, Fox News, they're just abiding by the laws of the city that they have to abide by? What do you think? Are they just abiding by these liberal policies, by these leftist policies, because they don't have another choice? That's a good question. And I asked, I've asked Fox many times since Thursday to explain what's going on here. We wanted to know why does Fox have these policies in their handbook? Has Fox ever pushed back against the state laws in New York? Also, they are subject to laws in California and D.C., I believe, where they have employees located as well. So these are questions we asked them. We did not get any answers. And a lot of people are, you know, rightfully interested and concerned about why Fox would have these policies in their handbook when Fox is also slamming woke policies on air and in their digital website, including the, rush to allow biological males to be in women's spaces. Fox frequently covers this, particularly in the

Starting point is 00:06:05 context of schools, or, for example, Riley Gaines, who swam in the NCAA women's swimming and diving championships. Riley raced Leah Thomas or Will Thomas, biologically male transgender swimmer. Fox covers this extensively. And these are issues that Fox viewers are very interested in. So we thought that they also might be interested in the fact that Fox's employee handbook allows biological men and women's bathrooms. But Mary Margaret, you have reached out to Fox and heard nothing in return. Is that right? Yeah, no, I haven't gotten any responses. We would really be interested in hearing Fox's side of the story on this. And we'll keep asking. We'd love to hear. Great. Well, Mary Margaret, thank you for your reporting on this. For anyone who wants to read Mary Margaret's full report, check out our show notes today.

Starting point is 00:06:58 the link for the piece is there. But Mary Margaret, we really appreciate your time and you breaking this news. Thanks so much for having me, Virginia. South Carolina Republican Senator Tim Scott has officially announced he is running for president in 2024. Scott made the announcement this morning to a crowd in Charleston, South Carolina. The senator shared his personal story, how he was raised by a single mother. He also talked about the challenges he and his family overcame and the opportunities America has provided him. He also talked about the ways that the political left has affected the nation by introducing woke education into our schools and opening the southern border. And for these reasons,

Starting point is 00:07:39 Scott says that he has decided to run for the highest office in the nation. Joe Biden and the radical left are attacking every single rung of the ladder that helped me climb. And that's why I'm announcing today that I'm running. for president of the United States of America. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is expected to announce his candidacy for president later this week. Of course, former president Donald Trump is already several months into his 2024 presidential campaign. Trump weighed in on Scott's announcement on his social media platform, True Social today, taking some jabs at DeSantis.

Starting point is 00:08:30 Trump wrote, good luck to Senator Tim Samp. Scott in entering the Republican presidential primary race, it is rapidly loading up with lots of people, and Tim is a big step up from Ron to Sanctimonious, who is totally unelectable. Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson and conservative entrepreneur Vivek Ramoswamy are also running for the GOP nomination. And what about the Democrats? So far, just two Democrats have announced that they will compete for the nomination against Biden in 2024. Author and social justice activist Marian Williamson and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nephew of President John F. Kennedy, are running on the Democrat

Starting point is 00:09:15 ticket. And finally today, the NAACP has issued a travel advisory for black Americans visiting Florida. And Florida Republican Representative Byron Donald's is calling it dumb. On Saturday, the NAACP issued a travel advisory saying Florida has become hostile to black Americans. The NAACP is pointing to a policy Florida Governor Ron DeSantis recently signed that prohibits Florida colleges from spending public money on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and trainings. The NWACP says under DeSantis, Florida appears to be on a quest to silence African American voices. But Congressman Donald's told Fox News today that these claims are silly. I don't even know what the NAACP is talking about. This is silly and it's dumb, it's political, it makes no sense.

Starting point is 00:10:11 We should be focused on making sure people actually have the opportunity to achieve, which Florida is actually doing and thriving in way better than other states. Let's say New York or California or Washington state. We're doing a significantly better job helping black Americans succeed. And it's not just about me. about all the millions of black people that live in our state. Donald's laughed when he was asked if he feels hostility towards himself living in Florida and responded that the only hostility he feels in the state is hostility towards his wallet

Starting point is 00:10:41 with inflation being so high across the country. But with that, that's going to do it for today's episode. Thanks so much for joining us here on the Daily Signal's top news. And if you haven't had a chance to check out our morning show, we invite you to do so. you'll find it right here in this same podcast feed where we bring you interviews with lawmakers, experts, and leading conservative voices. Tomorrow morning, Rob Bluey is going to be sitting down with the CEO of Lifewise Academy, Joel Penton, to discuss how religious education can still be taught to public school students.

Starting point is 00:11:18 Also, make sure to take just a moment to subscribe to the daily signal wherever you like to get your podcast, we're across all podcast platforms. And please take a moment to leave us a five-star rating and review. We love hearing your feedback. But thanks for being here with us today. We hope you all have a great evening. And we'll see you're right back here tomorrow morning for our interview edition. The Daily Signal podcast is brought to you by more than half a million members of the Heritage Foundation.

Starting point is 00:11:47 Executive producers are Rob Luey and Kate Trinko. Producers are Virginia Allen and Samantha Asheras. Sound designed by Lauren Evans, Mark Geinney, and John Pop. To learn more, please visit DailySignal.com.

The Daily Signal - TOP NEWS | Fox News Transgender Policy Exposed, Sen. Tim Scott Running for President, Debt Limit Debates | May 22

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