Transcription
half miles of expansion.
>> But it peeled off. Why? Why did that happen? Do you know?
>> It didn't. It didn't peel off. There was there was there was vandalism. There was box cutters. There have been seven arrests. Uh, there was people literally trying to uh destroy part of a monument. The reflecting pool is not just a pool on the mall. It is part of the Lincoln Memorial. And if anybody says that they're going to go and vandalize that, it's no, it's no different than if someone was throwing paint.
>> And you're 100% sure that what happened with the liner was vandalism. You can prove it.
>> Oh, yeah. Absolutely can. And we, and as we drain it, and we've got all the photographs, we can see. I mean, there's no possible way.
>> Photographs of a person or people cutting a 300 or 350 foot gash in the bottom of the reflecting pool.
>> Dana, I'm not sure why you and others in the media think that you want to keep trying to question whether or not this is an industrial liner. Every farmer and rancher in America that's had their pickup liner lined by this sprayed-on liner knows that you literally, literally it would never just like peel off or fall off. This is like a strong material and it's the size of eight football fields. And the only way you can end up with actual slices in one spot and not the other is that someone cut it. And so the, but the pool itself, it's not leaking. It was leaking 45,000 gallons a day. It's finally been fixed by President Trump. Uh, and the, the American flag blue is working perfectly. And, and again, it's beyond me why. I mean, the real scandal is about the fact that the state of our capital was in such total disrepair that some people, no one was reporting about was reporting about the pro-Hamas graffiti on the the.
>> Mr. Secretary, you and I talked about this last month as a res. Well, because it's, it was July 4th and the reflecting pool was closed.
>> It was closed because it's surrounded by fireworks. It's closed every year on the 4th of July.
>> But it was closed prior to that in order to fix the the reflecting pool. But.
>> It's closed because the fire, the largest fireworks display in the country, we're talking about, was set up and it lines either side of the reflecting pool. You can't have people around fireworks when they're being set up. Now that the fireworks come down, the fence will come down. The fence was there because of the fireworks.
Copy that. That was Trump's Interior Secretary Doug Bergam showing that there is no limit to how much Trump officials are willing to debase themselves on behalf of the God King. This is now the nth time where some Republican has trotted out onto national TV to claim with zero evidence that some elusive vandal has cut a 350 ft gash in the reflecting pool. And look, so as not to bury the lead here, there was no vandal. If there was, do you really think that we wouldn't see a single photo or a single video of the crime by now? What are they holding on to it? Is this an administration known for its discretion? So at this point, the sole feat that these people are accomplishing by repeating this lie is showing that they will stop at nothing to embarrass themselves on behalf of dear leader.
Just a quick note here to say that if you appreciate my work, which is and always will be 100% free. A small ask is if you could please pre-order my new book, The Day After, which explores how Democrats must finally wield power if they're fortunate enough to get it back. I'll also be on tour in DC, New York, and LA mid-July. You can grab tickets to the tour and you can pre-order the book at the same link, which I'll put on the screen and in the post description of this video. You can also find them at brianttylercoen.com/book. Again, I'll never paywall a single piece of content, but this is the one time that I'll ask for some support for a book that I really think meets this moment. Thanks so much.
In fact, the only modicum of so-called proof that's been released is a tweet from the Interior Department from just a few weeks back. The tweet says, quote, "Bulletin: The United States Park Police is seeking assistance in identifying the individual depicted here in connection with a destruction of government property investigation. The incident occurred on June 19th, 2026 at 3:36 p.m. at the Reflecting Pool on the grounds of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C." And this is the video that was attached. Now you can see very clearly how this vandal travels hundreds of feet, the length of a football field to be precise. I'm surprised that there was any water left in the reflecting pool at all in the aftermath of this vicious attack. And I, for one, will do whatever I can to find this enemy of the state and bring them to justice because such blatant and egregious vandalism must not be tolerated. Otherwise, who knows what's next. They might lean on a wall. They might rub up against a window or even step on the grass. And that kind of behavior must not be allowed to continue. Are we a country of laws or not?
In fact, TMZ even got a video of the purported gash at the center of this controversy. Take a look. Look, I don't know whether or not that sediment or algae or whatever it is, I don't know why it's gathering like that, but it does look like, you know, maybe that's where the a cut has been made or there's something going on like around here where some sizable. I don't know why the sediment would gather there like that. Maybe I'm not an expert, but maybe that's where some gash was gashed, if you feel what I mean.
>> Ah, yes. That is a box cutter slit, if I've ever seen one. The clean straight line could only come from a knife at the hands of vandals. No other explanation. You see, I am very smart and it is definitely not my first day on Earth.
Now, this all came about because Trump hired an incompetent company with a no-bid contract to take care of his pals and they did a job and the pool liner started coming up in chunks. But Trump couldn't take responsibility for that because that would betray the corruption of his deal. So instead, he started dumping excuses around like this.
>> Are the contractors who did the initial work with the reflecting pool, are they to blame for the current condition or is it.
>> Vandalism. Vandals. You know, we have a hundred, we have a, I think 290, 300 foot slit right through it. Probably a box cutter or a knife of some kind or we had people lifting up the basic, uh, some of the. It's not a lot of damage, but it's, we'll probably have to let the water out and refix it. They went in there with with a knife. Uh, I was just told by the, uh, by the people over at parks, they have five people are arrested and five people are under investigation right now and it's a sad thing.
>> And this. They've all been fixed. We also fixed the uh reflecting pool. In fact, if you go over there right now, it looks very good. It's, uh, up. They put somebody said fertilizer in the water. If you put fertilizer in the water, you get algae. But somebody said they might have put fertilizer. They did something to create the algae. But that doesn't matter because, uh, that's been, uh, purified. It's dead, laying at the bottom. They're taking it out. They vacuum it out. They vacuum it very carefully out. And it'll be back to health pretty soon. We're going to have to let the water out to fix the one little. There's two little areas where they were cut. And we'll fix that. But it's not leaking or anything. It's got a base underneath. And this.
>> Thugs. I, they just told me a little while ago, six have been arrested and like six or seven are under investigation. They have pictures and everything else. They went to the bottom and it's not a paint job. It's very expensive. It's not rubber, but it's like rubber and they went down with probably a box cutter or a very sharp razor of some kind or knife and they cut and then they started ripping it up. You know why? Because they're sick people. And then the side of the pool, right at water level, they took razors and they started cutting this, you know, very expensive stuff. It's incredible stuff. It's beautiful. And it was so, and it's still beautiful. But we have one area where they cut it. It's still holding. It's not leaking, but they hurt it. So in about probably maybe after July 4th or maybe before, I don't know. We'll, we'll let a little water out because it's at the edge. They'll cut it. They'll replace it and it'll be as good as new. But these people should go to jail for a long time.
>> And this.
>> Part of, part of what's curious about this situation is we stood here with you in April when you first revealed the plans.
>> I said what?
>> In April, you showed us pictures of what you were going to do at the pool. One, you said you had a guy who was going to do it in a week for about a million dollars.
>> Well,
>> It's been two months. $16.5 million.
>> Okay. Ready? Barack Hussein Obama. Have you ever heard of him?
>> Yeah.
>> He spent two years and over $100 million on trying to fix it. You know what happened to it? Never even opened.
Yes. Elusive vandals, partisan algae, and even Barack Hussein Obama. Everybody's fault but his own. And look, is this important? No. Still not. But it is the perfect microcosm for the wastefulness of this government. Trump decided to give a no-bid contract to an unqualified vendor who he's friends with. They screwed up the job. And now we're left paying 10 times the amount to fix his problem. And this is what they're wasting time on. Not healthcare, not rent, not housing, not food, not jobs, not inflation. And I get that Trump thinks Americans are stupid. Stupid enough to believe his. But take a look at this and tell me if you think they're allowing the wool to be pulled over their eyes. The pool is perfectly fine. We wasted all this money to, I guess, make it better, but it's not better.
It's a crazy scene. What a waste. I've been riding by this reflecting pool for decades. I just can't believe that we are spending our money this way when there's there are so many higher priorities. Healthcare, child care, um, closing the budget deficit. I mean, there's there's a million places we could spend this money.
We have, uh, tremendous amount of need in the country currently. Um, whether you call it affordability or just, uh, the ability to pay your bills.
And yet nothing will change because this government is not in place to deliver for regular Americans. It is in place to assuage Trump's ego and because Trump doesn't want to be embarrassed over his botched reflecting pool renovation. These are the theatrics that we're forced to endure on a daily basis. But the reflecting pool does not put food on the table. Doesn't make medicine affordable. Doesn't raise wages or reduce inflation or lower utility bills. But Trump doesn't care because that stuff all impacts everybody else. And his focus is where it always is, on himself.
Before you go, I'm very excited to announce that I've written a new book titled The Day After: How to Wield Power in a Post-Trump World. The book explores what is, in my opinion, the single most important theme that we're dealing with in politics today and moving forward. Power. Specifically, how Republicans abuse it and how Democrats refuse to wield it. This book explains how we got here and more importantly, how we should finally wield power if we're fortunate enough to get it back. It is the blueprint for progressives who want to do far more than just restore the status quo. Please pre-order today by visiting the link in the episode description or go to brianttylercoen.com/book. You can grab yours from any of the major retailers like Amazon or Barnes & Noble or find an independent bookstore closest to you that's also listed on that website. Thanks so much for supporting Independent Media.