On Tuesday’s Mark Levin Show, the media have always wanted conservative talk radio to fail. They said Rush Limbaugh would fail year after year and he didn’t. Millions of people get their information from talk radio, but now Axios says that ‘Republican radio’ isn’t influential anymore. They don’t understand that talk radio is the #1 format for conservative voices and listeners. Ignore the left-wing sites that will try and diminish talk radio. When you look at cable news networks, CNN and MSNBC, their ratings are cratering, and CNN is about to fire their highest-paid on-air talent. Also, we keep hearing the media mantra that the cost of mass deportations will be enormous. What’s the cost of not doing mass deportation – the cost to schools, healthcare, and law enforcement? What’s the cost of chain migration? What’s the cost to a country? Later, Arthur Fergenson calls in to discuss the implications of state versus federal authority. Fergenson explains the potential paths for President-Elect Donald Trump’s legal relief, including the rare use of common law writs by the Supreme Court. Afterward, Trump’s criminal lawyer Todd Blanche explains the latest happenings in Trump’s NY criminal case. He discusses the recent developments and the eventual dismissal of the case. Finally, Kevin Roberts calls in to discuss his new book, Dawn’s Early Light: Taking Back Washington to Save America.
Pew Research
Where Americans turn for election news
Axios
MAGA media map
Right Scoop
CNN to unleash SWEEPING layoffs after Trump election
Washington Free Beacon
Kamala Harris Campaign Gave $500k to Al Sharpton’s Nonprofit Weeks Before Glowing Interview With Anti-Semitic MSNBC Host
The Telegraph
Trump to go after ‘woke generals’ with ‘warrior board’ executive order
Photo by Michael Kovac
The podcast for this show can be streamed or downloaded from the Audio Rewind page.
Rough transcription of Hour 1
Segment 1
Hello America. Mark Levin here. Our number 877-381-3811. 877-381-3811. Yeah, I’ve been doing this a little bit, a little while Radio Even before I had my own radio show, I worked very closely with Rush Limbaugh, called me a flea. Levin Since about 1998, I would provide him with constitutional information. And we talk every day, every night. One of my closest best friends. And he would tell me that the media always wanted him to fail and the media always wanted conservative talk radio to fail. So there were endless articles. About how conservative talk radio was dying. Now, the truth is, conservative talk radio is the reason why and am Ban still exists and in part an FM band that is terrestrial radio altogether. The truth is there are certain program managers or general managers or regional managers or even owners who don’t know what the hell they’re doing. The vast majority do. And they kill their stations. But that’s that’s the exception. That’s beside the point. We’re very pleased to be with our affiliates here. But we’re on every platform that’s imaginable. But I bring this up to you for a reason, as I explain in a minute. Here’s May 23, 2011, from The Business Insider. Rush Limbaugh’s ratings have fallen 30% in the last six months. Salon, July 29, 2013. Rush Limbaugh is Finished. Politico, May 24, 2016. Is Rush Limbaugh in trouble? This is what he and I would discuss. You are. You are web. Rush Limbaugh Suffers Ratings Decline on Talk Radio. June 19, 2015. And it goes on and on and on. We would get these from one after another. Huffington Post 2012. A Challenge to Rush Prove Your ratings. Daily Beast 2011. Rush Limbaugh and right wing talk radio flameout. Political Politicus USA 2015 Rush Limbaugh in Freefall as a Show Gets Demoted. Adweek. Ratings drop for Limbaugh. Media Matters 2014. Rush Limbaugh. California Ratings Debacle. New York Daily News 2015. Rush Limbaugh Might Get Smaller Deal Amid Struggling Ratings. John, I’m saying. Salon. A marxist operation. Rush Limbaugh is cooked in the stunning fall of the right’s ratings. And it goes on. 2021 Can conservative talk radio survive without Rush? Now, first of all, they said Rush couldn’t survive. Goes on and on and on. Arkansas Business 2014 Talk Radio on hold against Low ratings. New York Daily News 2015. Rush Limbaugh’s ratings appear to be sagging. He was always under attack. Talk radio has always been under attack, and it’s under attack again today. And they try and cause one platform or one industry to go after another. But it’s not going to work. There are literally thousands of podcasters. All you need basically is a box and you’re podcasting. There are, of course, podcasters who are massive podcasters who are a blip. But there are also radio shows that are massive and radio shows that are a blip. This is one of the biggest in the world. This program, this platform is on terrestrial Radio, AM and FM, as well as podcasting and so forth and so on. And we will continue to be on all of our platforms without limitation. Without exception. This is a syndicated program. And that’s what we will do in our audience expects that you expect it no matter how you listen to it. And I will not allow anybody to get into the way of that. Through demands of any kind whatsoever. It’s not going to happen. Period. But I bring this up for a reason. In October of this year, Pew Research. Put out a very thorough and extensive survey of listeners. Have every single platform available Network TV, cable TV, radio, podcasting. Streaming newspapers, magazines, websites. And they wrote about a third of Americans name NPR, which of course, is government subsidized and on a thousand stations. 30.34% is at least a minor source of election news, while 27% it’s almost 30% of all the people in the United States who gather information from any source. 27% use conservative talk radio, such as Sean HANNITY and Mark Levin. They share who say talk radio. As at least a minor source of election news as identical to 2020. When the question named Rush Limbaugh as an example, before his death in 2021, Rush Limbaugh’s ratings, his audience share was always massive, despite all the attacks. And conservative talk radio today remains massive. Massive. Just because they don’t listen to it at Politico, just because they don’t listen to it at Axios, including their media expert. There is out of touch. As they were before the election. They have no idea how you get information. You get information from TV. Obviously, you get information from podcasts, many of you particularly younger people, but millions and millions and millions of you get your communication and your information from radio AM and from radio or a show like mine that simulcasts. On other formats. I don’t know why this is so hard to understand. It isn’t this constant war against conservative talk radio over the decades. It’s intended to undermine it, to usurp it, because the left has nothing. Nothing similar to it. Zero. They have podcasters. They’re big podcasters. Joe Rogan isn’t really a conservative. He endorsed Trump, but he also endorsed Bernie Sanders. But he’s a great podcaster. And a lot of people listen to him. But that’s not my point. My point is that this format. Talk radio. Is the number one format. For conservative voices and listeners anywhere on the planet. It’s bigger than any cable channel. It’s bigger than any podcast. It’s bigger than any collection of podcasters. And look, I’m a podcaster, too, and I love it. And we’re going to do more of it. But I’m just speaking to you about the facts. The facts? These are the facts. So over at Axios, which is a very left wing website which doesn’t know me, which doesn’t know this format, which doesn’t know anything they’re going through, and they’re telling you who the new influencers are. Robert F Kennedy Jr. Number one, they have who’s in number one? Number two, the organic media gurus. And we know what that means. Number three, independent streamers. Independent streamers have barely any audience. Just so you know. But it’s okay. I’m for all the competition in the world. I’m for taking down massive corporate media. Which gives up to the likes of Joy Reid. So I’m all for it. Free speech techies like Elon Musk. But you’ve got to talk about the platforms and the formats. Conservative entertainers, all good. The New York Post and Fox News. I happen to love both of them. Who’s out. Fringe websites. Breitbart. Breitbart’s night out. Breitbart’s. Massive and they throw them in with Infowars. Breitbart tonight, Infowars. Newsmax. Newsmax is doing very, very well. Here you go. Number two, Rick, Republican Radio. There is no Republican radio. What does that mean? It’s called conservative talk radio. So the person who wrote this is an imbecile. Republican radio, a slew of conservative radio host such as Dana Loesch, Erick Erickson and Mark Levin, who’ve tried to fill the void left by the late Rush Limbaugh, don’t have the same access and viral prowess as the New Age MAGA podcaster. So I just read you what they were doing to rush before his death, demeaning him, trying to minimize him, tell you that his days are over as a radio host, that he didn’t have an audience, which was a lie. I can’t speak for the other two, but I have never tried to replace Rush Limbaugh. My hero, my friend. An iconic, historic figure. I do my own thing. And I’ve been doing my own thing. How? How long now? Rich 24 years, I guess. About 24 years. So why would I try to replace Rush Limbaugh? But the point is conservative talk radio. Has this big of an audience, which is about 30% of the American people who are seeking information and news and so forth and commentary. As it did four years ago. Four years ago. In 2020. So the idea that we’re out, I can tell you right now we’ve had more requests. We did during the Trump campaign for their surrogates for the president and others to come on this show than I can even count. And same with the Senate candidates and congressional candidates. I couldn’t take them all. I just couldn’t. We tried very hard in the last two weeks to bring on as many as we could, including the president, including the vice president elect. Because here’s the little dirty secret. In virtually every single vehicle in this country. There’s a radio. It doesn’t mean all of you use a radio, but there it is. In some of the biggest podcasters in the country. They all want to be on radio. Why? Because it’s a massive built in audience. That exists in every car, on every radio. That doesn’t mean that massive build an audience is necessarily going to listen to a particular radio host or not. That’s not my point. My point is to ignore that, like Axios does and some of these other lefties who wrote all these things about Rush and so forth is to show a level of ignorance that’s just unbelievable. President Trump as a candidate was all over conservative talk radio. He understood it. President Trump, as a private citizen, is a New Yorker. And he would listen to this show and he’d listen to Rush show and he’d listen to HANNITY Show. Who would listen to these shows? Matter of fact, on ABC, that was called Murderers Row. It was Rush. HANNITY. Levin in that order. Murderer’s row. Which obviously Russia’s passed away and Sean’s with a different network than I am. It just it is what it is. But I want to point this out because the effort is to diminish you, the radio listener. That’s what it is. That’s. What it is. And when you look again, as I explain, I have to explain this because I want you folks to understand you’re part of a massive movement and you always happen. There’s nothing like conservative talk radio. Nothing. Zero. It is huge. It is massive in the aggregate. We reach hundreds of millions of people every single day. Every single day. And on a weekly basis, this show reaches almost 15 million people. Could be more. We just don’t know. Plus we’re on all these other platforms, so it’s impossible to really know. But what I do know, it’s very interesting, Mr. Producer. I think I’ve told you maybe not. I don’t think I’ve told the audience when I’m in the line as an example. To get a ticket for an airplane or to get something to eat or something like that. And I open my mouth and people hear this voice, which is obviously a distinct voice. They go? Are you Mark Levin? I say, yes, I am. Is that good or is that bad? Your friend or foe? 98% of the time. Friend. So ignore these left wing sites that are going to try and diminish this format, like Axios, like all the others have done in the past. This guy Avalon, who ran as a Democrat for Congress and lost in New York, he was one of the ones, the no label party. But then he found a label. He became a Democrat. He was a Republican. He worked for Giuliani. The guy’s been all over the place. He used to write these pieces talking about Rush can’t survive. Rush’s numbers are down and on and on and on. I just want to assure you we’re strong as ever, period. I’ll be right back.
Segment 2
Obviously, there’s a lot to talk about this evening. One other thing we only have a minute left in this segment. I’m working on another book. I’m not going to get into it. I think you’re going to love it by the time I’m done. It’s not about President Trump per say or that sort of thing per se, but it sort of envelops everything. And this is the other thing. Axios and the others don’t understand this audience at particular you. My audience is the smartest audience of all audiences, period. Left or right. You’re interested in these books, you read these books. We’ve had number one bestsellers. The last. I don’t even know. Eight books that I’ve written, number one on The New York Times best seller list. And you know, The New York Times hates my guts. We’ve had seminal books, Liberty and Tyranny, American Marxism and so forth. There’s a whole genre of thinking, the motivation of values, of love of country that cannot be sort of relayed or discussed at length over a period of years, one after another. But on this format right here, I’ll be right back.
Segment 3
Have you been hearing the mantra the cost of mass deportation will be enormous? That’s the new media mantra picked up by the Democrat Party. Talking points. The cost of mass deportation. I have a different question. What’s the cost of not doing mass deportation? To our schools. To our health care system. To law enforcement. What’s the cost? Year after year after year? To our communities? In our neighborhoods? In our states? And on top of that, since I’m the only one mentioning what means in about two weeks, everybody will be mentioning it. It’s this chain migration again. Chain migration? What’s the cost of that? It’s enormous. So the illegal aliens have children. They become American citizens. Then we get this while the parents need to be citizens too, so we don’t split, you know, the families up. So what does that mean? That means that nobody’s deported. But in any event. Even under the best of circumstances, you have chain migration. And chain migration is not immediate family, it’s extended family. It could be third cousins. It could be people you never heard of before. And so one person could bring in, on average, 1923 people. So I want you to multiply 21 million. 21 million illegal aliens. Times ten people. What’s the cost of that? To a country, including its own culture and identity. What’s the cost of that? Well, the country dies, obviously. It’s going to it unravels. It’s just too much for any country to handle any society. That’s why countries that have been so foolish to do it, and not purposely, by the way, just because they haven’t been properly watching their borders and so forth, they’ve collapsed. So what’s the cost of doing Nothing. It is the destruction of the United States of America. I thought I would point that out. Now, we were talking about this business broadcasting. Got a couple articles here that might interest you. Couple of articles that might interest you. Fox No Trump bump. MSNBC is hemorrhaging viewers since Election Day sheds more than half a primetime audience. Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. Over at MBS, LSD. It’s a stale product no one will want to listen to going forward. Ford says. Curtis Houck. MSNBC’s reliably liberal that would be left wing audience has tuned out the anti-Trump network since Election Day with a staggering 54% drop in primetime viewership. MSNBC averaged 1.1 million viewers during the month of October, but plummeted to an average audience of 736,000 Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of last week. Following Trump’s victory, MSNBC’s remarkable 31% drop comes as Fox News Channel’s viewership grew by 61% over the same period. MSNBC also shed 26% of its year to date totals. But things got even worse in primetime during the primetime hours of 8 to 11 p.m. Eastern Time, MSNBC averaged 1.8 million total viewers in October. But viewership of Alex Wagner tonight, the hall, is that all in with Chris Hayes? What the hell is that? In a last word with Lawrence O’Donnell. He’s a mental patient, have averaged only 808,000 total viewers since election night. So the 54% drop represents more than half of the network’s primetime viewers. And MSNBC’s also down 51% from its year to date totals, while Fox is up 58% in primetime compared to 2024 averages. MSNBC is also down 16% among total day viewers and 57% during primetime. Among the critical demographic, adult age, 25 to 54. Alex Wagner tonight. Andrea mitchell reports. Chris JANSING reports. DEADLINE White House When Nicolle Wallace There’s a loser. Jose Diaz-Balart reports. Joy Reid I’m a bigot. I mean, they read the readout, they call it and the last word with Lawrence O’Donnell all had their smallest audiences of the year this past Friday. Now that’s saying something since they’re small to begin with. It’s also the smallest audience for Alex Wagner tonight. What’s with this? Alex Wagner, Do you know? That is. Most of it is. I know she’s one of the host, but I don’t know that since the show launched in 2022, when MSNBC’s Rachel MADDOW rolled back her on air presence only once per week. I need to do that. But I need to do that once per week. They talked me into doing Saturday too. But there we are all in we. Chris Hayes had its lowest rated episode since May ten, 2016, on Thursday. A longtime TV news executive who asked to remain anonymous, noted MSNBC’s audience appeared to love to hate Trump during his first administration. That doesn’t seem to be the case any longer. Quote, As its poor post election night ratings show, MSNBC should not expect a Trump bump this time around. Even liberals are rejecting its condescending tone and the divisive rhetoric of its new standard bearer. Joy Reid. Divisive. She’s a bigot through and through. MSNBC viewer Sharon Waxman, who is the founder and CEO of Hollywood trade publication The Wrap, wrote that the media got it wrong and she needs a break from the noise. If you’re like me, she says. You haven’t tuned in on the news since last Tuesday when Donald Trump won the election. Personally, I can’t bear to listen to another minute of wisdom from Joy Read my friend Lawrence O’Donnell, or the admirable Rachel MADDOW. I can’t do it, she wrote. I’m not saying I’ll never watch or listen again, but am I alone here? My entire body recoils from listening to more claptrap, from the same claptrap at her apparatus. That’s one of the reasons we do things differently here. MSNBC personalities have not taken Harris’s loss particularly well as hosts and pundits have repeatedly tried to assign blame for Trump’s landslide victory. Stephanie RUHLE, she’s a complete reprobate, said Americans were gambling with the country’s future by choosing Trump as their next president. Shut up, you idiot! Claire McCaskill. The unsightly former senator from Missouri cried on air after watching Harris’s concession speech. Joy Reid essentially blamed white women, white women, white men, a movie, Blazing Saddles, where two white women. For Harris is North Carolina loss and said black women have resigned from the Save America coalition. And Al Sharpton claimed that misogyny and racism two things he no doubt knows about among voters, may have cost Harris the election. MSNBC host Jonathan Capehart said he was still grappling with how someone was elected. They ran a campaign that was openly hostile. Openly race has seen a vote back, misogynist, transphobic. He didn’t do that. But in between. Capehart zero he did well MSNBC on screen graphic said finding hope in a dark time. Jen Psaki even said the Democrat party over relied on never-Trump Republicans, you know, Disney, Lizzy and her ilk. By the way, I wish Chris Christie today, Mr. Producer. Is he at the all you can eat buffet somewhere? The rhetoric came after MSNBC spent years promoting never-Trump Republicans, targeting hard core Democrats, largely dismissing non-liberal. MSNBC. Yeah, they have like Michael Steele on there. That’s a real ratings getter. MSNBC recently tweeted a raising ratings victory, noting the liberal network tops CNN. Oh, wow. On a presidential election night for the first time in the network’s history, however, NewsBusters managing editor Curtis Houck feels it was simply an anomaly. Well, MSNBC thought they may have struck gold with the election night ratings. They should have realized by now Americans only tuned in so they could see the meltdowns. I have friends that do that. A buddy, Danny, part of the family says, you know, I watched them just to see how they react. During CNN’s Tumblrs and past years, they were falling behind reruns of Golden Girls and Peppa Pig. They’re running up against me on Saturdays. A repeat of Bill Maher. You know how well that’s doing. It’s a disaster. They run everything they can think of against me. The only thing that takes a little chunk out of me is Sunday Night Football. But even there on Sunday night, we had a two share. We had like 2 million viewers, give or take. But I like to win the night. I didn’t win the night because it was a big Monday Night football. So everybody’s salivating. See that? See that we got live in? Oh, no you didn’t baby and kickin and I’m cake and ask that somber excuses blaming everyone from working class women to Hispanic men to conservative media, soon to be serving as only temporary bombs to the scorching results. Chris Hayes and Alex Wagner. Does she get paid every time her name is mentioned? Have a brand to commit to. The only change the left will have. Even go further left. I talked about this even without having this information the other night. I said to you. The media are the greatest poison in this country. They just are the worst of the worst. The Hitler, the fascism. It all started with them. The impeachment of Trump, it all started with them. And it’s not ending. They’re the worst of the worst. I guarantee the view ratings are way down. Who wants to watch these five giants slobbering over each other? Rachel MADDOW. Viewership took a dive when Special counsel Robert Mueller declared there was no collusion between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia. Despite the father she spent her whole damn show on at every single night. You know, and I think I’m just going to do one show a week. That’s one too many. That’s one too many. When we come back. What’s coming over on over there at CNN, Mr. Producer? Wow. Looks like there’s a lot of layoffs coming. I said these corporations need to control these platforms and bring professional journalism back again with professional journalists. Let’s hope that they’re listening. I suspect they’re listening to one year and then the other is probably clogged. I’m just guessing. We’ll be right back.
Segment 4
Now we have the constipated news network that’s always been hanging by its fingernails. I’ve never really understood why it exists. I understand why it was created in the first place to be a news network, but it’s certainly not anymore. Our friend Bryan at the right scoop looks like another leftist network is about to get hit in a bad way after Trump’s election. And this time it’s CNN. You just heard about MSNBC. Earlier today, we told you that MSNBC’s ratings have cratered at the Comcast is considering selling the network. Now we learn that CNN’s new CEO is about to unleash sweeping layoffs to try and save the network’s flailing reputation. Here’s more from the Daily Mail. CNN is planning to wield the axe on some of its high paid staff after dismal election ratings that capped off a disastrous period for the cable news network. According to an explosive report from the pack, network executives will unleash sweeping layoffs in a bid to save the network’s flailing reputation. It comes after the departure of stalwart Chris Wallace. He’s no stalwart. He’s a want to be and has been after 50 years. And amid reports, senior stars like Wolf BLITZER and Jake TAPPER both been denied raises. Wolf BLITZER. Isn’t it time to be ready to be swept out of there anyway? Mr. Producer. And Jake TAPPER. Well, Hamas has never had a better friend. There’s no mention of who may be on the chopping block. The highest paid stars include Anderson Cooper Rakes in 20 million a year. Whoa, whoa, whoa. 20 million a year for Anderson Cooper. What am I, chopped liver? Mr. Producer? Erin BURNETT. 6 million. The $6 million Lady Lee and rising star Kaitlan Collins gets three millions. She’s one angry young lady. Actually quite repulsive. In the next few months, I’m told CNN will implement another round of layoffs that will impact hundreds of employees across the organization, says reporter Dylan Byers, who wrote Friday referencing CNN’s recent 100 person layoff seen over the summer. Didn’t they just bring back Brian Stelter? They could save a lot of money right there. Eats all the doughnuts in the green room, Mr. Peterson. I understand he has a fetish. When he’s done, he rubs them on his body. But that’s a whole nother story. The fresh round of firings, the insider said, will be more geared toward the production side of things. As a result, reporters and correspondents will be required to cover their slack. Describing how on air workers will be asked to assume more of the responsibilities once handled by teams of producers and production assistants. You know, it’s funny. Almost every host in America on TV. They don’t write their own monologues or they’re heavily edited. Nobody writes anything for me. Tell them. Mr.. But does anybody write anything for me? Never. My TV production guys don’t say the same thing. When I do my Saturday Sunday show, I get up at six in the morning. And I put together my arguments and so forth. Sometimes. Despite hours of working on it, I can’t think of the right thing to say. So what do I do? In the last 5 minutes before I the camera goes on. I have an in my head and I started discussing bias. Redundant assignments will be next and various divisions will be reduced or even eliminated. Some of the on air talent are also likely to be affected. He went on to reveal sources who spoke to the reporter who worked at CNN for three years before founding Puck. Added how the looming layoffs are part of an overarching plan, one that puts a premium on the station’s digital platforms. He’s an amazing conservative. Talk radio is going to last longer than most of the digital platforms. The man behind it, they said, is none other than new CEO Mark Thompson, the former New York Times boss brought in to overhaul the network under its Warner Brothers Discovery parent. This is amazing because I did this discussion over the weekend on my Fox show and here last week I said, until Warner Brothers gets a hold of CNN, I said, until Disney gets a hold of ABC, until Comcast gets a hold of NBC, MSNBC, until Paramount gets all the CBS, this crap that they keep spewing to the American people, which we’re sick of, which we don’t want anything to do with anymore. If they don’t do anything about it, they’re not going to get ratings and they may not even care about it. But apparently some of them do. Look, I have to be honest with you. I used to watch network nighttime news before I was on radio. It was it was liberal, but it wasn’t. Not. It wasn’t crazy. Crazy ass, you know, like Joy Reid and Harry. I’ll call. The View is just a poisonous. Poisoned a show that’s gotten completely out of control. The old BBC boss filled the position left by then languishing leader Chris Licht this past August, and since then, ratings have fallen more than 20%. I can tell you my ratings are up. My FOX ratings are through the roof. Which is why nobody ever talks about it, but nobody ever reports it. So what areas? But we don’t have to do it. We just do our thing. And I’m grateful to you. Our very big fan. Very big family. God bless each and every one of you. You know what? We got two powerful hours left. I’ll be right back.