Transcription
I'LL SEE YOU TOMORROW. YOU BET. BET.
OKAY, SO WE'RE GOING TO GET TO GOVERNOR WHITMER IN A MOMENT. I'M REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO TALKING TO HER, HEARING WHAT SHE'S HEARING.
SHE'S VISITING RED DISTRICTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY. BUT FIRST, I WANT TO TAKE YOU BACK TO THE 2011 WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS DINNER.
YES. THAT ONE.
YOU KNOW, THE CORRESPONDENTS DINNER. IT'S THE ANNUAL WASHINGTON TRADITION, KIND OF A WEIRD ONE WHERE THE PRESIDENT AND MEMBERS OF THE PRESS GET TOGETHER, MAYBE HAVE A FEW DRINKS. THEY TELL A FEW JOKES AT EACH OTHER'S EXPENSE. BUT IN 2011, THE DINNER WAS ESPECIALLY NOTABLE BECAUSE THAT WAS THE YEAR THAT BARACK OBAMA GOT UP AND ABSOLUTELY ROASTED DONALD TRUMP.
AND THERE WAS ONE JOKE FROM THAT NIGHT THAT I THINK HAS A CERTAIN RESONANCE TODAY.
SAY WHAT YOU WILL ABOUT MR. TRUMP. HE CERTAINLY WOULD BRING SOME CHANGE TO THE WHITE HOUSE. LET'S SEE WHAT WE'VE GOT UP THERE.
HE DOES NOT LOOK THRILLED.
BUT THAT WAS THEN PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA, IMAGINING WHAT FELT AT THE TIME LIKE A COMPLETELY CRAZY, BANANAS UNIVERSE, AN ALTERNATE ONE WHERE TRUMP BECOMES PRESIDENT AND RENOVATES THE WHITE HOUSE TO LOOK LIKE ONE OF HIS TACKY HOTELS AND CASINOS. NOW, THIS WAS, OF COURSE, BEFORE AI, SO SOMEONE AT THE WHITE HOUSE HAD TO ACTUALLY DRAW UP THAT RIDICULOUS IMAGE YOU SEE. BUT NOW, OF COURSE, WE ARE LIVING IN THAT CRAZY, WACKY ALTERNATE UNIVERSE THAT OBAMA CONJURED UP THAT NIGHT A LONG TIME AGO.
BY NOW, YOU'VE SEEN THE IMAGES OF DONALD TRUMP'S CONSTRUCTION CREWS TEARING DOWN THE ENTIRE EAST WING OF THE WHITE HOUSE TO MAKE ROOM FOR A GAUDY NEW BALLROOM TRUMP PLANS TO BUILD IN ITS PLACE. AS OF TODAY, THE HISTORIC EAST WING OF THE WHITE HOUSE THAT STOOD FOR A CENTURY, THAT HAS SO MUCH HISTORY IS COMPLETELY GONE, AND IT CAN BE FRUSTRATING. WAY MORE THAN THAT. ABSOLUTELY INFURIATING TO WATCH TRUMP DESTROY A BUILDING THAT BELONGS TO ALL OF US WITHOUT APPROVAL FROM CONGRESS, FROM REALLY ANYONE, JUST BECAUSE HE FEELS LIKE IT.
BUT IN DOING SO, TRUMP IS LITERALLY MAKING HIMSELF THE PUNCHLINE OF A 14-YEAR-OLD JOKE. A JOKE ABOUT WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN IF A NARCISSISTIC REAL ESTATE DEVELOPER WITH HORRIBLE TASTE BECAME THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. HE'S PROVING ONCE AGAIN THAT HE REMAINS KIND OF A CAPTIVE OF THE VERY STEREOTYPE THAT'S MADE HIM A TARGET OF RIDICULE LIKE THAT FOR SO MANY YEARS. HE JUST CAN'T SEEM TO HELP HIMSELF. AND IN THAT WAY, DONALD TRUMP HIMSELF IS A JOKE, A WALKING, TALKING PARODY OF HIMSELF. JUST LOOK AT THE OVAL OFFICE THERE.
THAT'S NOT TO SAY HIS ACTIONS IN OFFICE AREN'T DANGEROUS. THEY ABSOLUTELY ARE. BUT HERE'S THE THING: AUTHORITARIAN LEADERS CAN BECOME SO CAUGHT UP IN PROJECTING THEIR OWN POWER THAT THEIR LEVELS OF BLATANT PUBLIC CORRUPTION JUST GET MORE LAUGHABLE AS THEY GO. I MEAN, LET ME GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE.
TODAY, DONALD TRUMP PARDONED THE HEAD OF A CRYPTOCURRENCY EXCHANGE WHO WAS CONVICTED AFTER HE ALLOWED CRIMINALS TO USE HIS PLATFORM TO FINANCE EVERYTHING FROM CHILD SEX ABUSE TO DRUG TRAFFICKING TO TERRORISM. IS A HORRIBLE GUY. IT'S AN OUTRAGEOUS MOVE, MADE ALL THE MORE OUTRAGEOUS BY THE FACT THAT THE COMPANY HE FOUNDED HAS MAJOR BUSINESS TIES TO THE TRUMP FAMILY'S OWN CRYPTO VENTURE. AND WHEN TRUMP WAS ASKED ABOUT IT TODAY, HE LASHED OUT IN HIS OWN TYPICAL TRUMPY WAY.
"TODAY, YOU PARDONED THE FOUNDER OF BINANCE. CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHY YOU CHOSE TO PARDON HIM? AND DID IT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH HIS INVOLVEMENT?"
"IN WHICH ONE? WHO IS THAT? ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT THE CRYPTO PERSON?"
"YES."
"A LOT OF PEOPLE SAY THAT HE WASN'T GUILTY OF ANYTHING. HE SERVED FOUR MONTHS IN JAIL, AND THEY SAY THAT HE WAS NOT GUILTY OF ANYTHING, THAT WHAT HE DID."
"WELL, YOU DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT CRYPTO. YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT CRYPTO. YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT NOTHING. YOU'RE FAKE NEWS."
OKAY, SO JUST TO RECAP, THE COMPANY THIS GUY FOUNDED HAS BEEN CAMPAIGNING FOR A PARDON FOR ABOUT A YEAR. IT THEN DELIVERED A MASSIVE INVESTMENT IN THE TRUMP FAMILY CRYPTO BUSINESS. TRUMP THEN GAVE HIM A PARDON, WHICH IS SOMETHING HE WOULD HAVE HAD TO SIGN. AND YET TRUMP STILL BEHAVES LIKE HE HAS NO IDEA WHO HE IS. THEN TRUMP'S CLAIMS THIS GUY WAS NOT GUILTY OF ANYTHING, WHICH IS EQUALLY LUDICROUS BECAUSE HE PLEADED GUILTY TO THE CRIMES.
AND LOOK, RECOGNIZING THE ABSURDITY OF THAT DEFINITELY DOESN'T MINIMIZE THE DANGER OF DONALD TRUMP. IT MINIMIZES TRUMP HIMSELF. IT EXPOSES HIM FOR THE SMALL MAN THAT HE IS, AND IT MAKES IT EASIER TO THINK ABOUT AND FIGURE OUT AND PLAN HOW TO PUSH BACK AGAINST HIS CORRUPTION.
SO NOW A NUMBER OF TRUMP'S OPPONENTS ARE SHOWING THAT IT ISN'T SO HARD TO STAND UP TO AN INSECURE BULLY. I MEAN, EVER SINCE WE'RE TAKING OFFICE, TRUMP AND HIS ALLIES IN CONGRESS HAVE BEEN TARGETING SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH. IT'S BEEN RELENTLESS INVESTIGATING HIM, TRYING TO PAINT HIM AS SOME KIND OF DEVIOUS CRIMINAL. TODAY, JACK SMITH PUNCHED BACK, SENDING A LETTER TO CONGRESS SAYING, "MR. SMITH RESPECTFULLY REQUESTS THE OPPORTUNITY TO TESTIFY IN OPEN HEARINGS BEFORE THE HOUSE AND SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEES." IN OTHER WORDS, JACK SMITH IS SAYING, LET'S HAVE THIS FIGHT AND WE'RE GOING TO DO IT IN PUBLIC. HE'S CALLING THEIR BLUFF BECAUSE HE KNOWS THAT WHAT HE CAN EXPOSE ABOUT TRUMP IS FAR WORSE THAN ANYTHING THEY CAN DO TO HIM.
AND WE'RE SEEING THAT SAME KIND OF FIGHT FROM DEMOCRATIC GOVERNORS WHO ARE MAKING THE BET THAT IT PAYS TO STAND UP TO TRUMP. I MEAN, HERE WAS CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR GAVIN NEWSOM JUST LAST NIGHT TALKING ABOUT TRUMP'S ATTEMPT TO SHAKE DOWN HIS OWN JUSTICE DEPARTMENT.
"THIS GUY IS TRYING TO DIAL UP FOR $230 MILLION OF YOUR MONEY TO PAD HIS POCKETS AFTER USING YOUR MONEY TO THE EXTENT YOU EVER SUPPORTED HIM. HIS CAMPAIGN MONEY TO PAY FOR HIS LEGAL DEFENSE, AND NOW TAKE THE MONEY PERSONALLY BECAUSE SOMEHOW HE'S ENTITLED TO IT, JUST LIKE HE THINKS HE'S ENTITLED TO SEATS IN CONGRESS, LIKE HE'S ENTITLED TO WRECK THE WHITE HOUSE, THE PEOPLE'S HOUSE, TO PUT IN A VULGAR DISPLAY OF WEAKNESS WITH GILDED TONES TO DEAL WITH HIS OWN INSECURITIES, HIS INADEQUACIES. HE IS, AS I SAID OVER AND OVER AGAIN, NOTHING MORE THAN WEAKNESS MASQUERADING AS STRENGTH."
WEAKNESS MASQUERADING AS STRENGTH. THAT'S WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT. AND GOVERNOR NEWSOM IS NOT THE ONLY ONE CALLING HIM OUT ON THAT. ILLINOIS GOVERNOR JB PRITZKER JUST ANNOUNCED THAT HE IS CREATING A NEW TASK FORCE TO DOCUMENT AND TRACK ALL OF ICE'S UNLAWFUL ACTIVITIES IN HIS STATE, SO THAT THEY CAN BE CRIMINALLY PROSECUTED IN THE FUTURE. HE SAID CONGRESS HAS ABDICATED ITS OVERSIGHT ROLE, SO HE'S STEPPING IN.
"HIS MAGA ALLIES IN CONGRESS HAVE ENTHUSIASTICALLY IGNORED OR APPROVED OF IT. NO HEARINGS, NO OVERSIGHT. NO CHECKS AND BALANCES. AND WHILE STATES HAVE LIMITED ABILITIES AGAINST FEDERAL IMMUNITY, WE MUST REMIND EVERYONE THAT THIS IS NOT FOREVER. THERE WILL COME A TIME WHERE PEOPLE OF GOOD FAITH ARE EMPOWERED TO UPHOLD THE LAW. WHEN THE TIME COMES, ILLINOIS WILL HAVE THE TESTIMONY AND THE RECORDS NEEDED TO PURSUE JUSTICE TO ITS FULLEST EXTENT."
AGAIN, THESE ARE ALL VERY DIFFERENT BUT VERY EFFECTIVE WAYS OF DEALING WITH THE BULLY. AND HERE'S ANOTHER. JUST TODAY, TRUMP BACKED OFF OF HIS THREATS TO SEND NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS INTO THE CITY OF SAN FRANCISCO AFTER JUST ONE CALL WITH SAN FRANCISCO'S DEMOCRATIC MAYOR. AND WHILE IT STILL REMAINS TO BE SEEN WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN THAT CITY, THE PRESIDENT HAS ALREADY BLINKED. HE'S SHOWN THAT HE WILL BACK DOWN.
DEMOCRATS CAN ALSO CLEARLY SENSE THAT, TOO. AND IN SOME O MANY DIFFERENT WAYS, THEY FEEL EMBOLDENED TO GO ON OFFENSE AS WELL. I MEAN, FOR WEEKS, THE WHITE HOUSE HAS BEEN LOBBYING REPUBLICAN STATES TO REDRAW THEIR CONGRESSIONAL MAPS AND GIVE REPUBLICANS A BIG ADVANTAGE IN THE MIDTERMS. TRUMP'S TACTICS HAVE SUCCEEDED IN A FEW STATES LIKE TEXAS AND RECENTLY THIS WEEK IN NORTH CAROLINA. BUT DEMOCRATS IN CALIFORNIA ARE, OF COURSE, PUSHING BACK WITH PROP 50, GIVING VOTERS A CHANCE TO STAND UP TO TRUMP BY VOTING TO REDRAW THEIR STATE MAPS TO COUNTER WHAT REPUBLICANS DID IN TEXAS.
AND THAT'S NOT THE ONLY PLACE WHERE THIS IS GOING ON. I MEAN, AFTER A RELENTLESS PRESSURE CAMPAIGN FROM TRUMP AND JD VANCE, REPUBLICANS IN INDIANA STILL DON'T HAVE THE VOTES TO REDRAW MAPS THERE AND STEAL MORE SEATS. ACTIVISTS IN MISSOURI ARE WORKING TO MAKE SURE THAT VOTERS HAVE A CHANCE TO OVERRULE ANY NEW MAPS IN THAT STATE AT THE BALLOT BOX, AND CHECK THIS OUT. JUST TODAY, DEMOCRATS IN VIRGINIA SAID THEY ARE LAUNCHING A PLAN TO REDRAW MAPS THERE, TOO, POTENTIALLY NETTING DEMOCRATS THREE NEW SEATS IN CONGRESS. THAT MAKES AN ELECTION IN 11 DAYS ALL THE MORE IMPORTANT. BUT LUCKILY FOR DEMOCRATS, DONALD TRUMP IS HUGELY UNPOPULAR IN THIS STATE. IN FACT, A NEW POLL OUT TODAY FINDS HIM UNDERWATER BY MORE THAN 12 POINTS. IN VIRGINIA, DEMOCRATS ARE EXPECTED TO EXPAND THEIR POWER WHEN ELECTION DAY COMES.
SO YES, AND THIS IS IMPORTANT NOT TO MINIMIZE. HE IS CRUEL AND HE IS VERY CORRUPT. HE'S KNOCKING DOWN THE WHITE HOUSE FOR A BALLROOM, AND HE'S SHAKING DOWN AMERICAN TAXPAYERS AND PARDONING A CRYPTO CEO WHO HAS BEEN A HUGE PROPONENT OF HIS OWN CRYPTO BUSINESS. ALL OF THAT IS TRUE. ALL OF THAT IS INSANE. BUT HE IS WEAK. HE'S NOT STRONG, AND HE IS GROWING MORE AND MORE UNPOPULAR. HE'S BECOME A VERSION OF HIS OWN, A JOKE ABOUT HIMSELF. AND DEMOCRATS KNOW IT. THEY KNOW THAT IT PAYS TO STAND UP TO HIM.
LOOK, THIS IS AN ALL HANDS ON