>>> THERE HAVE BEEN A SLEW OF >>> THERE HAVE BEEN A SLEW OF DEVELOPMENTS WITH REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN MATT GAETZ, THIS PRESSURE HE’S FACE ANYTHING THIS FEDERAL PROBE TO SEX TRAFFICKING. ONE PLACE WHERE YOU WOULDN’T HEAR ABOUT IT AT ALL WOULD ACTUALLY BE ON FOX NEWS. GAETZ HAS NOT BEEN ON THE NETWORK SINCE THE WIDELY PANNED INTERVIEW HE DID WITH TUCKER CARLSON THAT FOX CALLED SO WEIRD. BY ONE COUNT, THE GAETZ INVESTIGATION HAS BEEN MENTIONED ON FOX JUST SEVEN TIMES. HERE IS WHY THAT’S PARTICULARLY STRIKING. GAETZ IS WELL KNOWN TO THEIR AUDIENCE. IT IS NEWSWORTHY TO HEAR ABOUT SOMEONE WHO IS WELL KNOWN IN THE NEWS. GAETZ EVEN ROSE TO PROM NANCE PRIMARILY BECAUSE OF THOSE MANY, MANY APPEARANCES YOU SEE ON THE SCREEN ON FOX NEWS. SINCE AUGUST 2017, HE’S APPEARED A WHOPPING 313 TIMES. AND OUT OF THOSE 121 WERE ON HANNITY. I MEAN, THAT MEANS HE’S ON THERE ALL THE TIME. AND HANNITY WENT FURTHER. THIS IS SOMETHING THAT ALMOST NO ONE DOES IN MEDIA, INCLUDING EVEN IN FAIRNESS MOST PEOPLE WHO WORK FOR FOX NEWS. HANNITY WENT OUT AND ACTIVELY CAMPAIGNED FOR GAETZ. THIS WAS AT A 2018 RALLY IN FLORIDA WHERE THE TWO MEN PRAISED EACH OTHER PROFUSELY. >> NOW, I GOT TO THANK JOHN HANNITY. HE GIVES ME A PLATFORM ALMOST EVERY NIGHT TO GET OUT THERE AND TELL IT LIKE IT IS. AND I THANK HIM FOR THAT. >> IT’S THIS YOUNG MICKEY MANTLE OVER HERE, AND IT’S YOUR NEXT GOVERNOR OVER THERE. THEY ARE THE ONES FIGHTING THE HARDEST FOR THE PRESIDENT. AND I’M VERY THANKFUL TO BOTH OF YOU FOR WHAT YOU DO EVERY DAY, WHICH IS WHY IT’S AN HONOR TO SHARE THE STAGE WITH BOTH OF YOU. >> YOU ALMOST CAN’T TELL WHO’S BENEFITTING WHO. AND IT WAS WITHIN A YEAR OR SO THAT HANNITY WAS PRIVATELY GIVING GAETZ ADVICE ON MANAGING A DIFFERENT CRISIS. THAT PROBE FOCUSSED ON WHETHER GAETZ WAS TWEETING OVERLY THREATENING MESSAGES AT TRUMP FIXER MICHAEL COHEN, WHETHER IT CONSTITUTED WITNESS INTIMIDATION. BUT HANNITY WAS QUICK TO CAMPAIGN FOR HIM, TO HAVE HIM ON HIS SHOW ALMOST EVERY NIGHT. HANNITY HASN’T MENTIONED GAETZ ONCE SINCE ALL THIS BECAME PUBLIC. AS FOR THE UNDERLYING CHARGES, GAETZ DENIES ANY WRONGDOING. WE’RE JOINED BY OUR FRIEND JASON JOHNSON. JASON, IT IS QUITE A TURN-AROUND. >> YEAH. MATT GAETZ HAS LOST A LOT OF FRIENDS. I THINK, ARI, LIKE THIS IS A GOOD SETUP BECAUSE WE HAVE TO CON TEXTURALIZE THIS. IT STARTED WITH MATT GAETZ LOSING ALL OF HIS FRIENDS IN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, WHICH MAKES HIM LESS POPULAR ON FOX. THE REPUBLICANS THAT CAME FORWARD AND DEFENDED JIM JORDAN AFTER HIS SEX SCANDAL, NONE OF THOSE PEOPLE CAME FORWARD FOR HIM. KATIE HILL HAS NOT COME FORWARD FOR HIM. WE HEARD EARLIER TODAY THAT JOEL GREENBERG, HIS POTENTIALLY PARTNER IN CRIME IS NOW WORKING WITH THE FEDS. IF GAETZ ISN’T CAREFUL, HE WILL WIND UP BURIED NEXT TO SOMEONE ELSE, RIGHT, BECAUSE HE’S GOING TO GET IN TROUBLE FOR THIS BECAUSE TOO MANY PEOPLE DON’T LIKE HIM AND HE NO LONGER HAS A MEGAPHONE TO COVER IT UP ANYMORE. >> YEAH. AND YOU MENTIONED WHETHER OR NOT GREENBERG WILL COOPERATE, YOU KNOW, I HAVE MIXED FEELING ABOUT THE SECOND DRAKE QUOTE IN ONE PROGRAM BUT THE OTHER WAS BY A GUEST. SO SEEING WHAT YOU DO FOR FAME, WHAT WOULD YOU DO FOR FREEDOM? AND THAT’S ONE THING FACING THE GREENBERG SITUATION WITHOUT REPORTING YET ON WHETHER OR NOT HE COOPERATES. WITH REGARD TO THE STRANGE RELATIONSHIP FOR HANNITY, I WANT TO PUT UP A THING OR VIEWERS WITH HOW TIGHTLY THEY SEE THEMSELVES AS ON A TEAM, AT LEAST UNTIL THE PROBE BECAME PUBLIC. HANNITY GIVING GAETZ THIS PRIVATE ADVICE OVER TEXT, PULL IT DOWN AND SAY WHAT YOU SAID. IT WILL PASS ABOUT THIS TWEET ABOUT COHEN THAT WAS POTENTIALLY WITNESS INTIMIDATION. AND THEN GAETZ ASKING STRAIGHT UP, HOW LONG SHOULD I LAY LOW? JUST A WHILE. MAYBE SEND A NOTE TO MICHAEL PRIVATELY. THIS IS QUITE DETAIL OF TWO PEOPLE THAT ADMIT TO BEING TEAMMATES. WHAT GAETZ LEARNED THE HARD WAY IS THAT HANNITY, LIKE TRUMP, IS GONE THE MOMENT THE HEAT ARRIVES. >> OH, YES. THESE ARE VERY TRANSACTIONAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AND FOX. AND THAT’S WHY IT WAS ALSO VERY TELLING. REMEMBER, GAETZ WAS LIKE, I GOT JOBS LINED UP AND FOX IS LIKE, WE DON’T KNOW YOU. WE HAVEN’T HAD ANY FORMAL CONVERSATION. THERE ARE TWO MANY POLITICIANS RIGHT NOW WHO THINK THAT, WELL, IF I’M NOT ACTUALLY DOING MY JOB, IF I GET IN TROUBLE IN A SCANDAL, I CAN JUST HAVE FOX COVER FOR ME. IT DOESN’T WORK THAT WAY ANY MORE. MAYBE YOU COULD GET AWAY WITH BEING A LARRY MOORE OR A COREY CRAIG THREE TO FIVE YEARS AGO, BUT YOU CAN’T DO THAT ANYMORE. AND GAETZ WHO ALIENATED BY SO MANY PEOPLE BY ACCUSED OF BEING A SNITCH, BY NOT BEING CAREFUL WITH HIS WORDS, BY TRYING TO THROW TUCKER CARLSON UNDER THE BUS, THESE ARE ALL THINGS THAT MAKE HIM RADIOACTIVE, EVEN FOR FOX NEWS WHO SEEMS TO WANT TO DEFEND ANYBODY UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. >> YEAH. YOU MAKE SOME REALLY PRECISE POINTS THERE, WHICH ARE IMPORTANT, JASON, THAT FOX BASICALLY TURNED ON GAETZ AND
