RUSH: It is debate day minus one. Joe Biden put a lid on his campaign again today at 9:32 this morning, meaning that’s the end of the day for Plugs Biden. His wife Jill has said some things over the weekend that may give us an indication how Plugs is gonna play it tomorrow in the debate, if it happens. And I will share with you what I think Plugs’ wife indicated in mere moments.
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RUSH: Now, very quickly, I’m gonna elaborate on this, but I think if Biden shows up for the debate tomorrow night… I’m still… I’m not gonna backtrack here. I’m still gonna tell you: I don’t think there’s gonna be a debate. I’m totally willing to be wrong about this, but I’m not gonna backtrack from my original prediction. I think I know — if Biden shows up — what they’re gonna do, based on some giveaways his wife has kind of telegraphed here.
I think that you should look for Biden to be totally nonresponsive in his debate answers. Chris Wallace is gonna be asking these questions. “Uh, Vice President Biden, what are your thoughts on, uh, the president’s attempts here to deal with Obamacare?” No. Let me give you a better quote. “What are your thoughts here on climate change and the effect it’s having…?”
“Donald Trump sucks! You understand me? Come on, man! Donald Trump has no business being president. Why is the guy even president? He didn’t even win the election. The Russians got him over the finish line in 2016.” I think this is what we’re gonna get from the guy. I don’t think we’re gonna get one substantive answer, unless it’s so simple that he can’t blow it.
I think every answer from Biden is going to be an attack on Trump. On Trump’s illegitimacy, on Trump being a liar, on Trump being a fake, on Trump being a phony, on Trump being Mr. Orange Man. I think that’s what they are training Biden to do. I think that they are loading Biden up with 90-minutes worth of insults and attack phrases on Donald Trump, and they’re coaching him.
“Don’t answer any of these substantive questions on policy. Just go straight into how you can’t even believe you have to be on the same stage. You know, go ahead and steal Pelosi’s line: ‘Trump is such a liar that you can’t believe you even have to give him legitimacy by showing up here.'” I think that’s what we’re gonna get. His wife has pretty much telegraphed that.
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RUSH: Now, I mentioned I got an email earlier. I get an email from a friend, a very protective friend, friend who says, “Rush, I think you’re forgetting something very, very important on this whole debate business, and that’s the way it’s gonna get covered.” Now, let me repeat — and this is based on Jill Biden, Jill Biden was on CNN with Jake Tapper. And Tapper asked her yesterday about all of her husband’s gaffes. And she cut Tapper off.
She refused to entertain or answer any further questions about Biden’s gaffes, saying (paraphrasing), “You can’t go there. You can’t even go there. It’s over. After Donald Trump, you can’t even say the word gaffe.” Meaning, you can’t accuse my husband of gaffes after this guy Trump. Trump lies every time he opens his mouth and you say my husband’s got gaffe after — you can’t even go there.
So that tells me how they’re going to deal with this tomorrow. This is what they’re prepping Biden to do. Whatever question Chris Wallace asks, the answer is an attack on Trump. Do not answer a single substantive policy question. Not what you’re gonna do about climate change, don’t answer, whatever the question is, you attack Trump. That’s all it is. That’s all you do. His wife has said that that’s what they’re gonna do.
Q: “Your husband has been known to make the occasional gaffe”
Jill Biden: “You can’t even go there. After Donald Trump, you cannot even say the word gaffe.”
Q: “I can’t even say the word gaffe?”
JB: “Nope. Done. It’s gone.”
Q: “The gaffe issue is over?”
JB: “Over. So over.” pic.twitter.com/NV8bAs7TP9
— The Hill (@thehill) September 27, 2020
You know what? I tell you, it’s an extension of Pelosi. Pelosi is saying that she doesn’t think Biden should even grace the debate stage because Trump doesn’t deserve it. Trump has no fidelity to the truth. There is no logical reason to debate Donald Trump. Donald Trump is so off the beaten path, Donald Trump is such a liar, he’s such a stinker, he’s such a rotten guy that we shouldn’t even validate his legitimacy by showing up.
So Biden shows up, and the way he carries out Pelosi’s dictum is to simply essentially say with every answer, “I can’t believe I have to give this guy any credibility at all, Mr. Wallace. I can’t believe I have to be on the same stage with this guy. This guy doesn’t deserve me being here. He doesn’t deserve any decent American being up here. This guy can’t tell the truth, he hasn’t told the truth. He is a stranger to the truth. And I refuse to sit here and validate anything that he says.”
I think that’s what they are briefing and preparing Biden to do. To essentially every answer point out how the answer is not relevant. The answer doesn’t matter because I shouldn’t even be here. I shouldn’t be here validating Donald Trump. He’s a despicable human being. And then, you know, go into how many people have died from COVID-19, how much Trump didn’t care about it, blah, blah, whatever lies they want to tell.
But I think that is the way that they are coaching. And I figured this out with Jill Biden’s answer to Jake Tapper yesterday and then putting that together with Pelosi. (paraphrasing) “Well, I don’t think Joe should go to the debate. Trump has no fidelity to the truth.” So I think it’s pretty clear what’s gonna happen.
Biden’s gonna avoid any substantive answers, so therefore no gaffes. He’s just gonna say as often as he can that he doesn’t think this debate should even be happening, that this guy just needs to be gotten away with. He shouldn’t even be president. We can fix this in about six weeks. But I shouldn’t be here even validating this guy’s existence.”
That’s what I think they’re gonna do. That’s easy for Plugs to remember. I mean, that’s a much better thing to coach him with than to get specific on every policy possibility that might come up. Plus, if he pulls something like that off, the base would absolutely love it.
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RUSH: Here’s Julie in Andover, Kansas. Great to have you. You are number two today on the phones. Great to have you here.
CALLER: Hi, Rush. Oh, my gosh. I can’t believe I’m talking to you. I’m a huge fan.
RUSH: Thank you.
CALLER: My question is about the debate tomorrow night. I’m concerned that if Trump is too hard on Biden — or just goes after him in too strong of a way — that maybe people are gonna start feeling sorry for Biden and maybe might tend to feel like, “Hey, we’re not gonna vote for Trump. We’re gonna vote for Biden,” if Trump kind of comes across as a bully.
RUSH: Yeah, I’ve heard that.
CALLER: I love President Trump. I love President Trump. I just want to make that clear. But that’s my concern is that people, you know, that psychological aspect, they might start to be more empathetic or sympathetic towards Biden because —
RUSH? Because you think Biden’s not capable, and it will be obvious that he’s not capable, and if Trump goes in for the kill, it will appear to be inhumane?
CALLER: Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah.
RUSH: What are you gonna say if I’m right, though, and what if Biden comes out of the box basically saying he doesn’t even think he ought to be there, that Trump ought not be on this stage? “Trump is such an embarrassment. Trump is such… He’s a despicable human being. He can’t tell the truth. Look at all the people that have died because of COVID because he doesn’t care about it!
“I shouldn’t even have to be up here. I shouldn’t have to validate this guy. this guy should be sent packing before any of us knows what’s gonna happen.” What if his whole modus operandi is to not say anything substantive so he doesn’t come off as unprepared and incompetent? What if he does nothing but attacks Trump left, right, top, down?
CALLER: Well, you know, I think it’s really important for Trump to take the emotion out of it and stay focused on his accomplishments and the issues. You know, my dad gave me some advice a long time ago. He said, “You know, if you have to confront somebody on something, don’t personally attack them. Just go with the facts, take the emotion out of it, and just stick to the issues.”
I think people are gonna admire President Trump for that. And if I could, I want to personally thank President Trump for saying that our security is his number one priority. He won me completely. I was already a fan of his, but he said that after his inauguration, and so thank you President Trump for that. That is hugely important. But stay unemotional. Don’t let Biden get to you. Just focus on the facts, stay calm, and focus on your accomplishments.
RUSH: Are you worried that Trump is gonna blow this?
CALLER: No, I’m not. I’m not worried, because he always… He’s just incredible. I think he understands people. I think he understands so many aspects —
RUSH: Yet you think he could run the risk of looking like a bully debating Plugs?
CALLER: Well, I think he has to be careful. I think he has to walk a fine line because —
RUSH: It’s always up to us to make sure we don’t misbehave, while they lie through their teeth about us day in and day out.
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RUSH: Now to the email that I got. “Mr. Limbaugh, you know as well as I do, sir, that it doesn’t matter who says what in the debate tomorrow night.” Now, I’m gonna disagree with that premise because I do think that I’m right. I’m combining Pelosi’s hints to Biden’s handlers and what Biden’s wife said over the weekend, I do think, just to reiterate, that Biden is been coached all of these days where they put a lid on his campaign at 9:30 in the morning, I think Biden’s been coached that no matter what he’s asked, his answer is to destroy Trump. Just constantly rip Trump. Just go after Trump as a despicable human being.
Go after Trump as somebody who doesn’t deserve to be on the stage, even though he’s president, he doesn’t deserve to be debating Joe Biden. Joe Biden is so eminently more qualified and valid. Donald Trump has impugned and embarrassed the country. He’s embarrassed the office of the presidency. He’s a lying — you know, whatever attacks on Trump that they can put into his head, I think this is where Biden is being coached. Don’t answer a single substantive policy question with substance. Take every question and just go after Trump.
And the premise being that Trump is such a despicable human being, he’s such a liar, he’s such a this and a that, that you, Joe Biden, you don’t even think you should be validating his presidency by showing up on stage. And you’re only doing it out of a sense of duty and tradition. And the theory is the Democrat Party base will love it.
Now, my buddy says here that, “Rush, no matter what happens, you have to understand the stories and the headlines are already written. It does not matter what happens in this debate Tuesday night. You don’t have to watch it, Rush. I can tell you what the headlines and the stories are gonna be. Ready?
“Joe Biden blew it out of the water. Joe Biden defied all expectations. Joe Biden took it to Donald Trump and never let up. Joe Biden stood toe-to-toe with Donald Trump, mano-a-mano and never wavered. Joe Biden was funny, he was glib, and he was on message for the entire debate. Joe Biden outlined his policies superbly. Joe Biden was very cogent. He made no mistakes. Fact-checkers still can’t find any gaffes made by Biden. The biggest applause line of the night goes to Biden,” except there will not be any applause because there will not be any audience.
Did you know that? They’re not letting an audience in there because of COVID-19. Which is also to Biden’s benefit. You know, Trump feeds off of that stuff. And if Trump were getting a lot of really favorable applause, Biden would be intimidated by it. Trump would also be in for his share of mistreatment, boo’s and that kind of thing. But, no, no, no, no, I think I heard there’s no audience in there.
Another headline. “Biden shocks world with first debate performance. Election takes a turn with Biden’s perfect debate performance. Vice president says, ‘Bring on the next one.’ Vice president so stoked with debate performance Tuesday night, has asked Trump for two more debates. Vice president could not believe how easy it was to deal with the problematic president of the United States Donald Trump.”
I can see these headlines, these stories already written. These are also already written, by the way. These headlines and the accompanying stories. “Donald Trump was perplexed for most of the night. Donald Trump surprisingly stumbled out of the gate, never did quite put it all together. Donald Trump came out and was obviously too confident, too arrogant, and never realized how he was not connecting the whole night. Debate moderator Chris Wallace says he was stunned at how dissected Trump seemed the entire night. Fact-checkers during the debate say that Trump was wrong 532 times and still counting.”
Another headline will be: “Donald Trump failed miserably to explain his taxes. Donald Trump, under pressure, was unable to refute the notion that he meddled with the Russians in the 2016 election and that the same kind of meddling is planned for 2020’s election. Donald Trump unable to dispute the allegation that he will cheat in the 2020 election by continuing to meddle with the Russians. Donald Trump did not look like an incumbent at the debate tonight. Donald Trump it looked like the pretender. Donald Trump looked like he knew he had no business being on that stage. Donald Trump did not answer any questions.”
Now, this is what Biden’s gonna do, not answer anything. But they’re gonna accuse Trump. “Donald Trump did not answer any questions. Donald Trump had nothing to say about what happened with COVID-19 and why so many Americans have died on his watch. Trump came across as incoherent. Trump even appeared to be mentally out of it for some period of time during the debate. Many psychologists are wondering if Donald Trump experienced some kind of miniature stroke during the course of the debate. Donald Trump appeared to exude symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease during the debate when he was unable to recall even the most basic elements of the questions put to him by Joe Biden and Chris Wallace.”
So these are the kinds of headlines I think are already written. These are the stories to accompany that are already written on both the pro-Biden and anti-Trump side. Snerdley, who’s in screening calls so he can’t listen to the program with great attention, obviously caught me in the middle, “What the hell am I missing?”
I’m predicting that these are headlines that we will see tomorrow. They are not headlines written — well, they’re written now. We just won’t see them until tomorrow night and into Wednesday after the debate.
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RUSH: Do you know what? Trump had a rally Saturday night after introducing and naming Amy Coney Barrett, Trump got to the plane and flew to Pennsylvania for a rally? And there were tens of thousands of people there. That’s another similarity, by the way, folks, to 2016. We went through all the similarities in the first hour of the program today. Another similarity is the crowds at Trump rallies. Why, they’re even bigger.
The crowds, if it can be believed, are even larger than they were back in 2016. It just seems really odd for everything to be identical — the polling, the media coverage — everything is identical. The only thing said to be different this time is that Biden’s gonna win in a landslide, which is what they said about Hillary.
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RUSH: This is Joshua. Joshua in Columbus, Ohio. Great to have you. Glad you waited. Hello, sir.
CALLER: Hi there, Rush. I’m so glad to get to talk to you. You are one of my personal heroes. I just gotta say that.
RUSH: Well, thank you very much. I appreciate that.
CALLER: Earlier in your show, you had a caller who said that Trump should not be fighting back in the debates; he should be unemotional and take some sort of moral high ground. Once I heard that, I just wanted to make sure I called in and tell you how I flatly disagree with that.
RUSH: That caller was suggesting that Trump not come off as a bully. I can tell you where that… That caller thinks that Biden is incapacitated, Biden’s not mentally all there, that Biden’s gonna come off as somebody who’s helpless and vulnerable and it would be really, really bad if Mr. Orange Man came out and just pummeled him into the ground.
CALLER: (chuckling) I believe that Trump’s success is when he does fight back. I think Republicans and conservatives like people that will actually stand up for conservative values — like yourself, like Ben Shapiro, Mark Levin, or Candace Owens, or Trump himself. People are craving these voices from the American people that are standing up against this leftist crap.
RUSH: Well, yeah. I appreciate being included in that list of warriors. It took me awhile to figure it out. But you’re exactly right, because most Republican voters, if they’re frustrated with anything, it’s the people they elected don’t fight back and don’t even stand up for themselves, much less fight back — and Trump does.
And despite whatever odds, despite whatever allegation comes his way, no matter how apparently or seemingly insignificant it is, he fights back against it. He will do whatever it takes. Like he could… What would you think of this? What would you think if Trump, in this debate, decided…?
Since I think it’s correct that Biden is gonna be attacking Trump every question. He’s not gonna answer the question. He’s gonna attack Trump. What would you think of Trump saying, “You know what? I’m sick and tired of you people claiming that I said there were good people among the Nazis at Charlottesville”? What would you think about Trump getting specific and refuting some of the lies that Biden has been tell about him?
CALLER: I think it’s absolutely appropriate. I think that pointing out —
RUSH: You don’t think it will come off as too defensive?
CALLER: No, I think that that’s absolutely appropriate. Every attack he uses. I think that when Biden gets nasty, it will turn voters off to him, and when Trump defends himself, it will turn voters on to Trump. And the more they attack Trump, the stronger he gets.
RUSH: Well, I want to ask you a quick question. Do you remember Biden’s debate with Paul Ryan in 2012? He’s Mitt Romney’s running mate.
CALLER: Mmm-hmm. Exactly.
RUSH: Do you remember those debates?
CALLER: I do.
RUSH: What do you remember about it? In 20 seconds, what do you remember?
CALLER: Well, there was a sit-down debate, and it was all very kind of, you know, informal and, you know —
RUSH: No, no, no. I’m sorry to interrupt you but it’s only because of time. Biden was exactly who you claim he is. Paul Ryan was Mr. Policy Wonk, and he was attempting to very politely and calmly explain policy wonkism to voters. Biden in the meantime, was insulting. He attacked. He went after Ryan as a neophyte nobody who didn’t know anything about anybody or anything. It was exactly the Biden you described here. But it did not hurt him. It made Ryan look ineffective.
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RUSH: Robert in Houston. Hello, sir. You’re on the EIB Network. Hi.
CALLER: Hello. Thanks for taking my call. I’m a longtime listener and one who is praying for your complete recovery.
RUSH: Well, I appreciate that very much, sir. Thank you very much.
CALLER: We miss you a bunch. My question is that Trump should use the debate as an opportunity to attack the mainstream media and to challenge the mainstream media to demand that Biden give some direct answers to questions that every American would like answered by Joe Biden, such as Hunter Biden’s business dealings in China and the Ukraine, why he won’t release a partial list of people he would consider nominating to the Supreme Court.
Why didn’t the Obama-Biden administration do more to stop violence in Chicago and other Democratic controlled cities. Why didn’t Biden do more to help the black community. What would Biden have done different in February and March to stop coronavirus. And there’s many more questions that could be brought up.
RUSH: You gotta be careful here. See, this is exactly my point. And please don’t misunderstand. You are asking the questions that you think Biden should be forced to answer because he’s getting away with not answering them. I’m gonna tell you what’s gonna happen. “What would you have done differently about COVID?” Biden will hit that out of the park. All he has to do, “Well, I wouldn’t have done what the president did. There wouldn’t be 200,000 Americans dead.” Bingo. That’s all he’s gotta say.
You gotta be real careful how you formulate these questions. That’s what Chris Wallace is there to do. You gotta be on the lookout for how Biden is set up to go out and attack Trump or how Biden is gonna be set up to have to defend himself. But that question, what would you have done differently? That’s a defensive question just awaiting a grand slam, hit-it-out-of-the-park answer from Biden.
I know it’s frustrating Biden’s not answering these questions. I know it’s frustrating Biden’s getting away with it. I know it’s frustrating the media’s not forcing him to answer. Frustrating as all hell. But any question of Joe Biden has to contain in it an allegation itself of incompetence or having done something wrong, or not knowing what he was doing or what have you. An open-ended, “What would you have done differently?”
“Well, the first thing is, there wouldn’t be 200,000 Americans dead. And the next thing, we wouldn’t be talking about a vaccine when everybody knows we’re not anywhere near a vaccine.” You can’t go this open-ended route business.
Look. The same thing holds for Trump. He’s gotta be very careful. In fact, I think asking Biden any kind of question that is rooted in, “Well, what would you have done that Trump hasn’t” — or “how you would have done it better” is a mistake to be asked. The questions that Biden needs to be asked, needs to be asked about his specific policy — I like, for example, your question, “Why won’t you reveal the names on your Supreme Court list? Why won’t you reveal what your plans are with taxes or this or that. Or what are your plans with taxes?”
But I just want to prepare all of you that if this debate happens, every Biden answer is going to start with, “Well, whatever my plan is, it sure isn’t gonna be as bad as what we’ve had the past three and a half years.” Every answer is going to be a flat-out, straight on attack on Donald Trump, professionally, personally, policy-wise. It’s gonna be that first, second, and third. Biden will never get around to answering any substantive policy questions. He won’t do it. His policies, but what they’re gonna be, unless he’s given, you know, a hanging curveball question about it. Robert, thank you.
This is Kelly in Redding, California. Great to have you on the EIB Network. Hello.
CALLER: Thank you, Rush. Good to be here. Rush, I just have to say, after listening to a couple of your callers telling Trump who he has to be, that he has to (loss of caller audio) pro-life, Catholic woman, married 41 years, I want to say let Trump be Trump. Be Trump. Be the Trump we saw in 2016. Be the Trump we see in Pennsylvania or on the stump in Ohio, the truth-teller, the bombastic truth-teller, that’s who I want to see tomorrow night. I want him to be Trump.
RUSH: You want to see the bombastic truth-teller?
CALLER: That’s who I want to see, Rush.
RUSH: You don’t want to see any adjustments made by virtue of having been president for four years?
CALLER: No, I don’t. Tell us the truth. I don’t care how painful it is. I want the truth, Rush.
RUSH: No, no, no, I’m not suggesting he not tell the truth, but he’s not an outsider anymore. He’s been there. He’s got a record now. He didn’t have a record three years ago or four years ago when he was — he’s got a record that he can proudly defend.
CALLER: Absolutely. And I love his record. I love the way he goes after things. I love it. And when people say to me, “I wish he’d tone things down, tone things down, he’s not a proper politician,” that’s because he isn’t.
RUSH: That’s right. Well, look. I agree with you. I agree with you. And you don’t want Trump to be defensive. That’s what she means, folks, when she says she wants Trump to be Trump. She doesn’t want this defensive stuff. She doesn’t want Trump accepting any advice. Gotta tone it down here and make it nice over here, and he’s gotta dial it back over there. No. Trump doesn’t dial it back. Trump doesn’t make adjustments.
If Joe Biden shows up and is incompetent, then that’s what’s gonna be displayed. If Joe Biden shows up and is incompetent, that’s what Donald Trump is going to highlight. We’re talking about the presidency here. You know, this isn’t the blue haired Bloody Mary gang at the annual PEO meeting. This is for the most powerful position in the world. And if one of the guys seeking the job is not up to it mentally, that needs to be exposed. To hell with feelings here.
I know exactly what you’re saying out there, Kelly. And you’re hearing people that are scared to death of the media, who believe that Trump can, by virtue of his behavior, make the media less critical, make the media less mean-spirited. Yeah. There’s no way. I’m glad you called.
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RUSH: Look, I want to remind you of one thing: The debate between Joe Biden and Paul Ryan in 2012. You know, Mitt Romney was running for president; he chose Ryan. We were all excited about that, and then they had the debate, the one vice-presidential debate, and Ryan showed up as a policy wonk. He had the notebook open, and he had a pencil in his ear, and he was attempting to explain what the Romney-Ryan ticket was about policy-wonk-wise.
I forgot even who the moderator was. The moderator was asking some kind of questions, and Ryan was… I don’t know. He appeared to be uncomfortable, didn’t really quite… I don’t know. I don’t know how to describe it. But he kept saying like, “No, no, no. What we’re saying is that if you take the parts over here for Medicare Part B/2Z and you move it over here to Medicare Part C, then what we’re saying is,” blah, blah, blah.
Biden… People have forgotten. Biden just went in and destroyed Ryan. He attacked him personally. He called him incompetent. He said he was unprepared. “You’re too young. You don’t even know what this town is like. Give me a break!” He kept saying, “Give me a break! You don’t know… You don’t even know what you’re talking about,” and let me tell you something, folks.
The sympathy did not transfer to Ryan. People did not think Biden had been mean to him. People did not think Biden had been over the top. After a while, Biden kind of figured out that he was overplaying it. He was expecting somebody to be… Look, I don’t want to characterize it.
I’m just telling you, Biden realized after a while that he didn’t have to be nearly as hit-piece oriented in order to prevail here. But he was, and I just want… My point is that Trump ought not back off of Biden for whatever reason because it’s not gonna redound to, “Oh, wasn’t it so sweet how nice the president was to the vice president, Biden? Everybody knows Biden’s sick, and Trump was nice.”
It doesn’t work that way in politics, folks.
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RUSH: By the way, the moderator of the Paul Ryan/Joe Biden debate was Martha “Radish.” I’m sorry, Raddatz. I just think of… You know, I think “vegetable” when I look at her. Martha Raddatz of ABC News. And like the headline from the U.K. Guardian: “Joe Biden’s Alpha Male Display Leaves Paul Ryan Overwhelmed.” Nobody felt sorry for Ryan after Biden destroyed him in that debate.
RUSH: Look: “Jill Biden to Visit Traverse City, Michigan, on Tuesday on a Northern Michigan Campaign Swing.” Can you imagine if Melania was traveling to various states? Can you imagine what the media would be saying about that? The fact that Jill Biden is going means that Plugs can’t, and it also means that their internals are showing them things that the Drive-Bys are not reporting.