“NOT A JOKE”: Comer Warns of the Dangers of Socialist Policies

At this year's socialism conference, activists are discussing issues like, quote, health fascism, black left feminism, and defeating ICE. Hasan Piker spoke at one of the panels where he received a special gift from an audience member. We have a lot of people waiting, so if it's possible, if we can, thank you so much. And also, once you guys asked it, oh yeah, this is for me. Wow, right after I said that, that's crazy. That's crazy. Satan's school of gay communism, that's what this hat says. Well, thank you, thank you so much. Yeah, looks about right. Piker also spoke to Fox News at the conference where he laid out his vision for the future of the Democrat Party. I think many Democratic politicians, quite frankly, are terrible for the country. As far as the Democratic Party goes, yes, I don't think that they're going to be pro-Israel. I think they understand that they can't represent a pro-Israel slant any longer. I'm excited for someone who is going to fight for that, someone who is going to finally offer socialized medicine. Meanwhile, Democrats in Congress are doing little to distance themselves from socialism. Just eight House members joined Republicans in voting for a resolution condemning that dangerous ideology. Joining us now is Kentucky Congressman and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer. Chairman, thanks for joining us on Labor Day weekend. I'm guessing that you didn't go to the conference there in Chicago and rub elbows with the best and brightest. Good for you. But I will say, the Democrats are giving us a gift right now because they're kind of refusing to distance themselves from Hassan Piker and those folks. I wonder though, will that be enough for Republicans to run on in the midterms, just other side crazy? Do you think that'll be enough or do you think there has to be a little bit more meat on that bone? Well, I think we have to talk about the accomplishments we've had over the past two years, including securing the border, including passing the big, beautiful bill, which kept taxes low, which has led to what you're going to talk about in the next segment, a great new jobs growth number. And we've focused on eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse that was implemented during the Biden year. So I think we've accomplished a lot, but you have to compare the Republicans to the Democrats. And the socialists aren't just a fringe fraction of the Democrat Party anymore. This is just about the majority of the Democrat Party. And these are the ones that are winning elections. If you look at the primaries in all 50 states, the socialists are the ones that are emerging from the primaries. And you saw there what they believe in. And they want to talk about socialized medicine. I wish they could sit in my district office in Tompkinsville, Kentucky for one day and listen to the calls that my caseworkers get on the Veterans Administration. That's government-run healthcare. If they think that's a successful way to go with healthcare in the future, and with anything, anything that the government operates, I would have little confidence in. That's what the socialists want. They want to redistribute wealth. They want the government to be two or three times larger than it is now. And I don't think that's what the average working, taxpaying American wants. So there's a big difference between the Republicans and the Democrats. And I hope that we as Republicans in the House and the Republicans in the Senate can drive that message home over the next 60 days. Chairman Comer, it's Joe Concha. It seems that many elections just come down to very easy binary questions for the American public to understand. So we remember, of course, Ronald Reagan in 1980. Are you better off than you were four years ago? Boy, that really resonated. And now I think Republicans have a real opportunity with Hasan Piker, who we just played a soundbite from a moment ago. I mean, this is a man who said that America deserved 9-11, called Jews, quote, inbred, said that the worst day of the 20th century is when the Soviet Union fell. He has a large poster behind him during his podcast that millions watch of a plane hitting the World Trade Center. Obviously, he was happy about that day. He says that he supports Hamas 100,000 times more than Israel. He said that rapes that happened on October 7th were inconsequential. And he's called for the assassination of Senator Rick Scott. So since he is now the mascot for the Democrat Party, and not just some fringe Twitch streamer, but somebody that people have actually campaigned with, like Al Sayed, like Zoran Mamdani, AOC and Bernie have sat down for his podcast, is a strategy to basically make this about communism versus common sense, we want that binary choice, with Hasan Piker being in every ad possible because Democrats are attached to this guy whether they like it or not. I think that's a great strategy for the Republicans. Again, I can't stress how dangerous this socialist movement is. And it's not just some minority wing of the Democrat Party. This is the Democrat Party. This is today's Democrat Party. Just look at the polling for the 2028 Democrat nomination. Ocasio-Cortez is in first place. That's not a joke. Every poll has her in first place because the energy in the Democrat Party is behind the socialist movement. And they've completely taken over the Democrat Party, even in Kentucky, even in Louisville, Kentucky and Lexington, Kentucky, were basically the only two parts of the state where there's any Democrat activity now. The socialist wing is winning. They call themselves the Democrat Socialists of America. So I think people need to study history and look at every country that was ever a socialist country and see how they turned out. I went to Cuba a few years ago, and Cuba looks like they just unplugged the clocks right at the time that socialism took over. Nothing happened. The government cannot run every aspect of our lives. There's a role for government, but it should be a limited role. And one thing that I want to note, under the past Trump administration, the past two years, the size of the government has actually shrunk. There are 350,000 less federal employees today than there were when Donald Trump took over from Joe Biden. That's a significant decrease in the size of the federal government. And I don't think the Republicans talk about that enough because I know every taxpayer in America wants a more efficient federal government. We've got to reduce wasteful spending. The Republicans on my committee, the House Oversight Committee, we've been focused on waste, fraud, and abuse, especially in the Democrat-run states that have taken the welfare programs and just lost so much of that money to fraud. The Democrats don't care about fraud. So the American people need to pay very close attention to what's important for both parties right now. Riley. Chairman Comer, I've got my Kentucky blue on. Thanks for representing the people of Kentucky well. With less than two months out from the midterms, the Cook Political Report argues that the most likely scenario is a, quote, really bad election for Republicans in which they lose 26 to 35 seats in the House. This comes as House Democrats preview their plans if they retake power. They just blocked an amendment that would have locked the Supreme Court at nine justices. And now the White House is reportedly bracing for investigations into President Trump if Democrats retake Congress. Having nine justices isn't constitutionally mandated. The Constitution simply establishes a Supreme Court. It's ultimately up to Congress to determine how many justices are on it. If asked by a voter, are Democrats, if they gain control here, are they actually going to pack the court if they win? What would your honest answer be to that question? Yes, that's what they're campaigning on, Riley. You watch Jamie Raskin gave a press conference. He said 13 sounded good. Clyburn said 13 sounded good. They want to add four new Supreme Court justices and they want to make Washington, D.C. a state. Someone said they want to make Washington and Puerto Rico. They don't want to make Puerto Rico because Puerto Rico usually sends a Republican delegate to Congress. So they don't have any interest in Puerto Rico. Washington, D.C.'s 91% Democrat fixing to elect a socialist mayor in Washington, D.C. So the Democrats are campaigning on that exact thing. They want to stack the court and make a 51st state to give themselves two new Democrat U.S. senators. This is a very dangerous precedent. They're not being bashful about it. This is what they're doing and this is motivating their socialist base. The average Democrat voter 10 years ago was a working class person. I don't think they would have bought this, but this socialist movement are young people, they're angry, they don't like America, they're anti-Semitic and they're good with fundamentally changing our democratic style of government. And this is the platform of the Democrat Socialist Party. I hope the American people are paying attention and I hope my colleagues in Congress can drive that message home over the next 60 days. Mr. Chairman, I want to get your take on another topic. A few days ago, you mentioned that you have been in contact with Senator Mitch McConnell's staff and expect the lawmaker to return to Capitol Hill later this month on September 14th after the recess. My question to you, when is the last time you spoke to the Senator yourself? It's probably been two months since I've spoken to Senator McConnell. I certainly haven't spoken to him since he had his accident, but I have spoken to staff. I actually spoke to his staff again today in anticipation of this question because I was asked this question at a press conference last week and I said it and it got a lot of press all over the United States. So I wanted to make sure what I said was right. And what I'm going to say now is that they fully expect him to be back in the Senate in September that he's undergoing physical therapy. So I have not spoken to Senator McConnell, but I do speak to his staff, many of whom are from my congressional district. So I certainly hope to see him in the Senate in the next couple of weeks when they come back. And hopefully if he's not, there'll be a reason why and the Senator will be able to explain that to the American people, but hopefully he'll be back in two weeks. You said, if not, is there some concern he will not be coming back to Washington later this month? I've been told by the staff, they expect him to be back in the Senate in September. So I sure hope that's an accurate statement. That's what the staff told me. I've worked very closely with them over the past nine and a half years and they've never once lied to me. So I have confidence with that. And I'm hopeful to see him because he's been a big presence in Kentucky for a long time that he's wrapping it up. He's not going to have many more days left in Congress. So hopefully he'll be back in a few weeks. Chairman James Comer, thank you for joining us tonight.