Transcription
The phrase "we all love our country" stuck in my throat. Because our country isn't so lovable right now. I hate to say it, but loving our country is starting to sound like an abused spouse saying they love their abuser.
>> [applause] >>
I can't love a country that starts stupid and inhumane wars.
>> Robert De Niro did what Robert De Niro has been doing for years. He looked at Donald Trump's efforts to turn the presidency into a spectacle and called it what it is, a joke.
>> Killing thousands of innocents and indirectly causing the deaths and suffering of millions more.
>> [applause and cheering] >>
I can't love a country that takes health care away from millions of people and uses
>> [applause and cheering] >>
that money to enrich their pals in the Trump Epstein class. I can't love a country that sends out masked militias to shoot citizens in the streets, torture our neighbors, and separate families.
>> [applause] >>
I can't love a country that's led by a racist, misogynistic, and a phobic tyrant.
>> [applause] >>
And let me let me just say it. I can't love the country that's led by Donald Trump.
>> At a New York event defending the First Amendment, which the president has attacked at almost every turn, De Niro mocked the president while taking aim at his UFC birthday cage fight last week. De Niro spoke at a protest event hosted by the revived Committee for the First Amendment in New York City, and he spoke at length on the current state of affairs, comparing America's relationship to the current president like that of an abusive spouse, but never wavering in our attempts to stand against said abuser.
>> I'm devoted to our Constitution's First Amendment. All parts of it, not just the free speech part. That said, I'm pretty close to being a free speech absolutist. Even speech I don't like and there's plenty of of that around. So, when I hear something I don't like, I use my own free speech to respond.
>> [applause] >>
Let me give you an an example. When I hear Trump say, as he did a few days ago, "I don't think about Americans' financial situation. Not even a little bit." I say, "SHUT THE [ __ ] UP."
>> [cheering] [screaming] >>
ON WEDNESDAY, Trump said, "I love the inflation." Now, say it with me, "Shut the [ __ ] up." Trump said he won the 2020 election. Ready? Shut the [ __ ] up. Try this at home. Your young kids will especially enjoy it.
>> And the funny thing is, while MAGA immediately dismissed the Oscar winner's concerns as that of a out-of-touch elite, while bending the knee to a former reality TV star billionaire after retweeting opinions from Jon Voight and Kid Rock, etc., De Niro's critique actually connects to the broader political reality that we're seeing in the country, right? Trump's not riding high, far from it. He's not being carried by overwhelming national support.
>> With four months away from the midterms, voters are not happy with how things are going. Even the ones who who all in on Donald Trump. Our Alex Tabet has been traveling the country talking to people and they keep telling him the same thing. They've had enough. They want what was promised. That roaring economy, the cheaper prices, the focus on America, the focus on them. Instead what they're getting is an aging president obsessed with himself, frankly. Just listen to the to three-time Trump voter Chris Tackett who we just played at the top or this trucker from North Canton, Ohio who had this to say when Alex asked him if Donald Trump cared about what he was going through.
>> I don't think they care. I don't think they understand. I think it was all smoke and mirrors during the second election. I think I think Trump is more concerned with his with getting even with his opponents this time around than he was looking out for the average Joe that supported him and yeah, I'm just disappointed.
>> Okay, so that's Chris Tackett again. Not hard to find Chris Tacketts even though we did two of them right there. They are everywhere. Donald Trump's overall approval ratings are at a second are at his second term lows with nearly 60% of Americans disapproving of what he's doing. And what's worse for him is that his base is leaving as well. Just look at these numbers. When Donald Trump started his second term, nearly 60% of white working class voters approved of the job that he was doing overall and the job that he was doing on the economy. Today a majority of those same voters, 51% disapprove of the job that Donald Trump is doing as president and even more of those voters, 57% disapprove of the way he's handling the economy.
>> If you look at the recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, it has his approval at just 36%. I mean, go look at Fox News's polls if you think that's too liberal for anyone. That's very weak for a president trying to project dominance and on the issue that Americans feel most directly, the cost of living which Trump thinks is just made up, Trump's in even worse shape.
>> you that we have a very resilient economy. We have the strongest economy we've ever had. Now, the word affordability is a fake word for but made up by the Democrats. Here's where it's fake. Because they made it up. Because I inherited these prices.
>> That same poll found that 69% of Americans disapprove of his handling of cost of living. And the thing is that's the real America outside the spectacle. Bills, groceries, rent, gas prices, medical costs. People are not asking for a UFC event on the South Lawn. They're asking why life still feels unaffordable for the man that claimed that he was going to bring prices down on day one. And Trump keeps answering with the very thing that he's been criticized for. More show.
>> What What What are your thoughts on on the UFC White House just just in general? Like, do you Obviously, you said that you didn't really want to be on the on the card anymore, but it's such a spectacle, right?
>> I don't I don't remember ever saying that.
>> Okay.
>> I do want to be on the card.
>> You do You do want to be on the card?
>> And this is what I got to say. First off, I ain't jealous of any of those fighters. I'm so happy for those fighters. I don't think you could have got a better main event. Um I'm happy for every single last fighter on that card. Um if they need me to fill in, if I'm healthy, hey, I'll do it. Um for the UFC, I think it's great. It's It's beyond great. It's literally the perfect scenario. But as far as the I'm going to I'm going to economics major. I love studying politics on the political side of things, not the UFC's business. That is Of course they're going to say yes to it, but what I think personally is that our government is desecrating uh its role in society by entertaining sports. Um our government is to protect and serve the people, and uh really should be as minimal as possible. And when you're when you're doing all of this stuff hosting sporting events, um it's really outside of what the goal of the government was intended to be because our tax dollars and resources are funding this operation. And like I said, I'm not criticizing the UFC. I love Dana. I love Hunter. I love Shawn, Mick. I love all of them and it's a It's an amazing thing. It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing. But the government should never be hosting sporting events because there's more room for corruption and we already have a corrupted government. And so that's my thoughts on it is that the government is supposed to protect us, not entertain us.
>> And so it's funny when this man deemed as the out-of-touch Hollywood elite, Robert De Niro, actually reflects a broader public exhaustion. People are tired of Trump turning everything into spectacle. The White House becomes a UFC venue. Everything's coated in gold. The World Cup becomes a Trump photo op. The Knicks game, yeah, something that is supposed to be about the basketball team that hasn't won in years becomes a security disruption and a spectacle. A humiliation on the jumbotron as Trump had to attend. America's 250th birthday becomes a Trump rally. The National Mall becomes a Trump rally. The presidency becomes less an office and more a production company with subpoena powers. And Trump's support is not just low overall. It's showing weakness in places that he can't afford to lose support with independents and even on networks like Fox News.
>> Kevin Warsh he speaks a little bit differently. It's not two fatties. Uh and but you can read through the the what he's saying there about what's coming next.
>> You can. And I and I think the market read the fact that he they think that the Fed's going to be raising interest rates, you know, at least once this year and maybe once in the first quarter next year. But like you said, he didn't really come out and say that. The market's leaning that way. And the biggest wild card in this inflation thing right now is oil. And there's a debate, should you when you have an oil crisis, perhaps the wrong thing to do is to raise interest rates cuz you can slow the economy and make things worse for people are struggling, right? But if the if we're past that point, then you you you could potentially raise rates to lower overall inflation. But even though inflation's been coming in hot, Brett, I'm seeing signs when you exclude food and energy, it could be leveling out. You know, we saw inflation expectations fall from the University of Michigan. You know, we've seen the core rate start to cool off a bit. We may have seen peak inflation. And if we get this oil deal, you know, we could be talking about disinflation hopefully next year.
>> You sound kind of bullish.
>> I am kind of bullish. I'm bullish on America. I mean, this is the perfect world. Get rid of the terror threat. You know, if Iran joins the world community, starts doing business, you know, we could be in an economic boom. And and I You got to credit the US energy industry. They rose to the occasion. Record exports, record production. They stepped up when needed.
>> Fuels on that network are actually saying also prices are still too high. The Iran war created even more blowback. And the Iran deal that Trump is celebrating here is being attacked as surrender by his own political party.
>> Right now we will move toward negotiations with regard to Iran on the nuclear deal. And based on our understanding, if the deal sticks the way it is, they'll go for a period of 60 days. What do they get from that? We don't know.
>> Mhm.
>> We know what the Iranians have done for years. They delay and delay and delay. And is it is it 60 days or does 60 go to 90 and 90 to 120?
>> a way that's why if the doc you sign a blockchain idea of signing the document the other day, um the MOU worked, I'd postpone a photo op until after the 60 days. Because if it's a wait-and-see period to see how that goes, I I wait and say you don't get rewarded with a photograph until that's in place.
>> So it's not merely the opinion of a Hollywood elite or someone with Trump derangement syndrome, but that of the majority of the country who are tired of a man using the office to put on shows for his own entertainment while enriching himself to the tune of billions while people can barely afford gas.
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