Morning Wire XX
[0] Last week, a leaked European Union memo appeared to advise staff to avoid using Christian language around Christmas time, eliciting a rare rebuke from Pope Francis, who compared the memo to Nazi and communist propaganda.
[1] What did the inflammatory memo say, and why are European leaders pointing fingers at American influence?
[2] I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor -in -chief John Bickley.
[3] It's December 11th, and this is your Saturday edition of Morning Wire.
[4] Another high -profile resignation has rocked the vice president's office.
[5] What's behind the string of departures and what is President Biden saying about it?
[6] And governments around the world have gone well beyond mask and vaccine mandates, enacting COVID -19 policies that critics say violate their citizens' most basic rights.
[7] We'll tell you which countries have the most restrictive rules and which are considering even more severe action, all in the name of public health.
[8] Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire.
[9] Stay tuned.
[10] the news you need to know.
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[17] European Union officials recently angered political and church leaders around the world when they instructed members to avoid using language that might offend non -Christians during the Christmas season.
[18] Here to give us the details of the EU's directive and the fallout that resulted is Daily Wire Entertainment reporter Megan Basham.
[19] So, Megan, it seems like every year now an inevitable part of the Christmas news cycle is hearing stories about town councils taking down nativity scenes or public schools limiting choirs to generic winter celebration songs.
[20] I've seen a few stories like that in the past couple of weeks, but this.
[21] EU directive seems to represent something quite a bit bigger.
[22] Yeah, it does.
[23] And I think you could see that by the reaction it received.
[24] So in late October, EU Equality Commissioner Helena Dolly released a 30 -page document that advised staff during the Christmas season.
[25] It's important to remember that, quote, not everyone is a Christian.
[26] So to that end, the guidelines directed members to say things like holiday times instead of Christmas time.
[27] It also said when using a name as an example of something, members should avoid using names like Maria that originate in Christianity and instead should choose something multicultural like Malika.
[28] Well, you know, this news first leaked in Italy, so you can imagine how well an order like avoid using the name Maria at Christmas time went down.
[29] The public there and in other European nations were pretty incensed.
[30] They've been calling it not just an attempt to cancel Christmas but also to erase Europe's Christian heritage.
[31] And I understand the Vatican had something to say about that as well.
[32] Yes, you could definitely say they did.
[33] I don't often use the word blasted in reference to Pope Francis, but in this case, I do actually think it's appropriate.
[34] So during a papal press conference on December 6, he, well, blasted the EU.
[35] He called the document an anachronism of watered down secularism and also a form of ideological colonization.
[36] He also said that this kind of language policing is something, quoting here, many, many dictatorships have tried to do throughout history, and he explicitly linked it to Nazi and communist dictatorships.
[37] So just some really, really tough words coming out of Rome.
[38] And how about other political leaders in Europe?
[39] What have their reactions been?
[40] I would say almost uniformly negative.
[41] Multiple Italian leaders slam the document.
[42] as did France's prime minister, Emmanuel Macron.
[43] Now, he's known overall as a liberal, but his administration has been very critical of what it considers the woke influence of America.
[44] So we saw this last month when a French dictionary introduced this genderless pronoun EL.
[45] That's a combination of the feminine pronoun L and the masculine eel.
[46] Well, in that case, France's education minister said that kind of imported thinking sullies the French language.
[47] And he asked, lawmakers to step in to stop it.
[48] France's first lady, Brigitte Macron, said bluntly, there are only two pronouns in the French language.
[49] So this EU story kind of goes along with that context.
[50] Macron called the idea of not saying Christmas, woke nonsense.
[51] And he said a sense of European identity has withered away in France and that the French people must claim this Europe as still our own.
[52] So not mincing words at all there?
[53] No, no, he's not.
[54] And I think it's important to know that the presidency of the EU rotates, so France will take over in 2022.
[55] And Macron is promising that the organization is not going to focus on what he characterized as imported, racialized ideas once France is in charge.
[56] And how is the EU responded to all this criticism?
[57] Well, for now, they're actually backing down.
[58] So Brussels, where the EU is headquartered, put out a statement saying, hey, the document, that was only a draft.
[59] And now they're rethinking it.
[60] Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see if they stick with it.
[61] Megan, thanks for reporting.
[62] Absolutely.
[63] Anytime.
[64] That's Daily Wire Entertainment reporter, Megan Basham.
[65] Coming up, more resignations from the vice president's office.
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[69] New headaches for Vice President Kamala Harris, as a wave of staffers have resigned following reports that working in her office is chaotic, in quote, soul -destroying.
[70] At least two major aides have left in the past few weeks, with two more reportedly looking to vacate their positions.
[71] Here to discuss the ongoing turmoil in the VP's office is Daily Wire senior editor Ash Short.
[72] So Ash, people leave politicians' offices all the time.
[73] What makes these resignations so important?
[74] Well, the timing, for one, for months, reports have surfaced about the terrible working conditions in Harris's office.
[75] Back in July, for example, dozens of staffers said they suffered trauma while working for the VP and were afraid she would someday be elected president.
[76] One person said staffers were, quote, thrown under the bus, calling the office an abusive environment.
[77] More recently, staffers have called her a bully who isn't, quote, willing to do the prep and the work of a VP.
[78] So who has left so far?
[79] In mid -November, Harris's communications director submitted her resignation, which went into effect at the end of that month.
[80] A couple weeks later, at the beginning of December, the VP's chief spokeswoman Simone Sanders announced she was leaving.
[81] Harris's office claimed Sanders was always meant to leave at the end of the year and that her resignation was not a surprise.
[82] That same week, it was reported that two more staffers were eyeing the exit, her director of press operations and her deputy director of the office of public engagement and intergovernmental affairs.
[83] Was there something that sparked the reports of hostilities in the VP's office?
[84] Not exactly.
[85] Reports of a toxic environment in Harris's office date back to June, so there wasn't one moment people can point to, but the reports seem to coincide with President Biden's falling poll numbers.
[86] And those reports have definitely damaged the way people view Harris.
[87] Her approval rating dropped to 28 % at one point.
[88] Part of the reason for the low opinion of the VP seems to be her disastrous trip to South America and the southern border earlier this year.
[89] At first, she claimed we had been to the border when asked if she was planning to go.
[90] And when she got called out for that, she responded bizarrely that she also hadn't been to Europe.
[91] It wasn't until former President Donald Trump announced he was going to the border that Harris finally announced she would visit.
[92] And did anything actually come from that trip?
[93] No. The border crisis is still out of control, and even though the Biden administration tasked Harris with handling it, an impossible task some seemed to think was designed to set her up for failure, the situation has only gotten worse.
[94] Deportations dropped by 90 % between January 21 and July 9th over the same period in 2019 before the pandemic.
[95] And migrants from 106 countries have attempted to cross the same.
[96] southern border, so they're not just coming from Central and South America.
[97] And what has been the White House response to these stories about Harris?
[98] There hasn't been much.
[99] White House press secretary Jen Sacky put out a tweet on the Sunday night in November that was widely mocked for being disingenuous.
[100] She had claimed Harris was a vital partner to Biden and a, quote, bold leader who has taken on key important challenges facing the country.
[101] More recently, Harris's deputy director for operations tweeted a photo of himself working while insisting he absolutely loves his job.
[102] And this, too, was taken as unsurious and a poor attempt to redirect attention from negative news involving Harris.
[103] And what about President Biden himself?
[104] He hasn't said much and even appeared to ignore Harris when they were working together at a soup kitchen for Thanksgiving.
[105] It just seems like the White House has hung Harris out to dry at this point.
[106] Ash, thanks for reporting.
[107] Anytime.
[108] That's Daily Wire senior editor.
[109] short.
[110] While many Americans have grown weary of federal restrictions in the name of COVID -19, some foreign governments have enacted even more restrictive lockdowns and mandates.
[111] Civil libertarians argue that these government policies violate citizens' fundamental rights.
[112] Here to outline the most extreme steps that have been taken and those under consideration in the near future is Daily Wire reporter Ben Johnson.
[113] Good morning, John.
[114] So, Ben, the Biden administration has issued federal mandates requiring entire segments of the population to receive the COVID -19 vaccination or lose their job.
[115] And as we've highlighted in the past, the Daily Wire has actually filed a lawsuit against that OSHA mandate.
[116] Now, in your article, viral tyranny, you've shown that COVID policies in other countries are even more extreme.
[117] How severe are we talking about?
[118] Certainly, many Americans would say that mask and vaccine mandates are strict enough, but some of the foreign COVID policies that I outline in the article are positively draconian.
[119] Nations all over the world have enacted mandatory vaccinations, find senior citizens, and even threatened teenagers with imprisonment.
[120] What's the most extreme COVID -19 policy you've encountered?
[121] That would be Australia.
[122] They've enacted the world's most repressive COVID -19 policy hands down.
[123] The military literally rounds up people who've tested positive for COVID -19 and their close contacts and places them in a compound in the city of Howard Springs in Australia's northern territory.
[124] A 26 -year -old named Haley Hodgson spent, two weeks inside what she calls an internment camp, which is ringed with Barb Wire, even though she tested negative for the virus.
[125] She said authorities refused to let her isolated home and threatened to find her $5 ,000 if she didn't wear a mask when speaking to others in the camp, even though they had all tested negative.
[126] You feel like you're in prison.
[127] You feel like you've done something wrong.
[128] It's inhumane what they're doing.
[129] You are so small.
[130] They just overpower you and you're literally nothing.
[131] Tuesday, the chief minister of the Northern Territory, Michael Gunner, who's a member of the Labor Party, responded to the video saying, quote, rules are rules and there are consequences.
[132] Certainly some steep consequences.
[133] Is that an outlier?
[134] Thankfully, yes.
[135] Well, that's at least good to hear.
[136] What other COVID restrictions are in place globally?
[137] Well, Italy requires citizens to have a health pass in order to work or use public transportation, and the Greek government actually passed a bill to punish any senior citizen age 60 or over, does not get vaccinated by next January 16th.
[138] Those who resist will be fined approximately $115 a month until they relent.
[139] That's a steep fine since the average retirees pension is just a little over $700 a month.
[140] Are other nations considering imposing similar mandates?
[141] Yes, Austria has announced that it's considering imposing a vaccine mandate on everyone in the nation from age 14 and up by next February.
[142] The government would find those who refuse more than $4 ,000 for the first offense, according to a draft version.
[143] of the bill that was leaked to the German newspaper, the Frankfurter -Augaminer.
[144] The fine would then doubled, and it could result in jail time.
[145] Some figures have said they would like to see a vaccine mandate for all 27 nations at the European Union from Portugal to Poland.
[146] Last week, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, encouraged member states to begin planning an EU -level vaccine mandate.
[147] I think it is understandable and appropriate to lead this discussion now, how we can encourage and potentially think about mandatory vaccination within the European Union.
[148] This needs discussion.
[149] Is the European Union facing enough danger to warrant that kind of public health dictate?
[150] Well, as of Monday, there were 212 cases of the Omicron variant in the 27 nations of the EU.
[151] All of them were mild or asymptomatic.
[152] Just 212 cases.
[153] That's not a lot.
[154] Thanks for bringing us the details, Ben.
[155] Thanks for having me. That's DailyWire reporter Ben Johnson.
[156] If you like this episode and are interested in hearing more, subscribe to MorningWire on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening, and give us a five -star review.
[157] That's all the time we've got this morning.
[158] Thanks for waking up with us.
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