PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE WITH ZERO PERCENT AND HE NEVER RAN FOR
PRESIDENT AND HE CONSIDERED IT
AND DECIDED NOT TO RUN.
TO THE SPEECH, JONATHAN THAT
YOU’RE WRITING ABOUT, BY
DEMOCRATIC FRONT-RUNNER JOE
BIDEN WHO LIT INTO THE PRESIDENT
AT A CAMPAIGN EVENT IN IOWA
YESTERDAY, ACCUSING THE
PRESIDENT OF FANNING THE FLAMES
OF WHITE SUPREMACY AND ALIGNING
WITH THE NATION’S DARKEST
FORCES.
FORCES. >> IT’S BOTH CLEAR LANGUAGE AND
IN CODE, THIS PRESIDENT HAS
FANNED THE FLAMES OF WHITE
SUPREMACY IN THIS NATION.
HIS LOW ENERGY, VACANT EYED
MOUTHING OF THE WORDS WRITTEN
FOR HIM, CONDEMNING WHITE
SUPREMACISTS THIS WEEK I DON’T
BELIEVE FOOLED ANYONE AT HOME OR
ABROAD.
ABROAD. TRUMP READILY, EAGERLY ATTACKS
ISLAMIC TERRORISM BUT CAN BARELY
BRING HIMSELF TO USE THE WORDS
WHITE SUPREMACY.
WHITE SUPREMACY. AND EACHVEN WHEN HE SAYS IT, HE
DOESN’T APPEAR TO BELIEVE.
IT HE SEEMS MORE CONCERNED ABOUT
LOSING THEIR VOTES THAN BEATING
BACK THIS HATEFUL IDEOLOGY.
HE SAYS GUNS ARE NOT THE PROBLEM
IN MASS SHOOTINGS.
THE ISSUE IS MENTAL HEALTH.
IT’S A DODGE.
HATRED ISN’T A MENTAL HEALTH
ISSUE.
ISSUE. TRUMP OFFERS NO MORE LEADERSHIP.
HE SEEMS TO HAVE NO INTEREST IN
UNIFYING THIS NATION.
NO EVIDENCE THAT THE PRESIDENCY
HAS AWAKENED HIS CONSCIENCE IN
THE LEAST.
THE LEAST. INDEED WE HAVE A PRESIDENT WITH
A TOXIC TONGUE, WHO IS PUBLICLY
AND UNAPOLOGETICALLY EMBRACED
THE POLITICAL STRATEGY OF HATE,
RACISM AND DIVISION.
WE ARE LIVING THROUGH A RARE
MOMENT IN THIS NATION’ HISTORY.
WHERE OUR PRESIDENT ISN’T UP TO
THE MOMENT.
THE MOMENT. WHERE OUR PRESIDENT LACKS THE
MORAL AUTHORITY TO LEAD.
WHERE OUR PRESIDENT HAS MORE IN
COMMON WITH GEORGE WALLACE THAN
HE DOES WITH GEORGE WASHINGTON.
WHAT THIS PRESIDENT DOESN’T
UNDERSTAND IS THAT LIKE EVERY
OTHER NATION ON EARTH, WE’RE
UNABLE TO DEFINE WHAT
CONSTITUTES AMERICAN BY
RELIGION, BY ETHNICITY OR BY
TRIBE.
TRIBE. WE CAN’T DO IT.
AMERICA IS AN IDEA.
AN IDEA STRONGER THAN ANY ARMY.
BIGGER THAN ANY OCEAN.
MORE POWERFUL THAN ANY DICTATOR
OR TYRANT.
OR TYRANT. IT GIVES HOPE TO THE MOST
DESPERATE PEOPLE ON EARTH.
PHRASES LIKE FAKE NEWS, ENEMY OF
THE PEOPLE, THEY’RE NO JOKE.
THEY’RE INSIDIOUS.
THEY’RE INSIDIOUS. THEY’RE CORROSIVE.
THEY’RE CORROSIVE. TRUMP IS TRYING TO WEAKEN OUR
INSTITUTIONS, THE PRESS, THE
COURT, THE CONGRESS, PRECISELY
BECAUSE THEY ARE THE ONLY CHECKS
ON HIS POWER.
THAT’S WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT.
THE ABUSE OF POWER.
THERE’S ONE THING I CAN’T STAND
AND I KNOW YOU CAN’T, IS THE
ABUSE OF POWER.
WHETHER IT’S A BOSS, TAKING
ADVANTAGE OF HIS OR HER WORKERS,
OR A MAN WHO RAISES HIS HAND TO
A WOMAN OR A CHILD, OR A
PRESIDENT WHO IS RUNNING
ROUGHSHOD OVER EVERYTHING THIS
COUNTRY BELIEVES AND STANDS FOR.
ON JANUARY 20, 2017, IN HIS
INAUGURAL ADDRESS, DONALD TRUMP
PAINTED A DARK BLEAK PICTURE OF
OUR COUNTRY IN CRISIS WHEN HE
DECLARED, AND I QUOTE, THIS
AMERICAN CARNAGE STOPS RIGHT
HERE.
HERE. IT STOPS RIGHT NOW.
BUT AS A SITTING PRESIDENT,
TRUMP’S ANGER, HATE AND
DIVISIVENESS, PITTING AMERICANS
AGAINST ONE ANOTHER, TRAIN
HONORED DIVISION, AND DOING
NOTHING, NOTHING ABOUT THE
INDEXIC AND THE EPIDEMIC OF
GUNS, IS FUELLING A LITERAL
CARNAGE IN AMERICA.
WE CAN’T, AND I WILL NOT, LET
THIS MAN BE RE-ELECTED PRESIDENT
OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
THIS INCOMPETENCE, THIS
IMMORALITY, THIS CARNAGE STOPS
WITH US, RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW,
STARTING IN THE MIDWEST.
LIMITS OF FOUR YEARS, I BELIEVE,
AND I REALLY DO BELIEVE THIS,
THAT HISTORY WILL LOOK BACK ON
THIS PRESIDENCY AS AN ABERRANT
MOMENT IN AMERICAN HISTORY.
BUT IF DONALD TRUMP IS
RE-ELECTED, I BELIEVE HE WILL
FOREVER AND FUNDAMENTALLY ALTER
THE CHARACTER OF THIS NATION.
>> THAT’S JOE BIDEN IN IOWA
YESTERDAY.
YESTERDAY. PRESIDENT TRUMP WAS WATCHING
BIDEN’S SPEECH AS HE WAS
TRAVELING FROM DAYTON, TO EL
PASO, TO COMFORT THAT COMMUNITY.
THE PRESIDENT RESPONDED TO BIDEN
IN A TWEET WRITING WATCHING
SLEEPY JOE BIDEN MAKING A
SPEECH.
SPEECH. SO BORING.
SO BORING. THE LAMESTREAM MEDIA WILL DIE IN
THE RATINGS AND CLICKS WITH THIS
GUY.
GUY. IT WILL BE OVER FOR THEM, NOT TO
MENTION THE FACT THAT OUR
COUNTRY WILL BE DO POORLY WITH
HILL.
HILL. IT WILL BE ONE BIG CRASH, BUT AT
LEAST CHINA WILL BE HAPPY,
WRITES THE PRESIDENT.
THE FORMER VICE PRESIDENT’S SPNS
TO THAT WAS SUCCINCT.
>> YOU WANT TO RESPOND TO THE
PRESIDENT RESPONDING TO YOU?
>> HE SHOULD GET A LIFE.
>> SHE GET A LIFE, SAYS JOE
BIDEN.
BIDEN. BIDEN’S COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR
RESPONDED TO THE TWEET, SAYING
QUOTE, GLAD YOU’RE WATCHING.
HE’S TALKING TO YOU.
JONATHAN, YOUR LATEST PIECE IN
THE "WASHINGTON POST," TITLED
JOE BIDEN REMINDED US WHAT A
PRESIDENTIAL PRESIDENT WOULD
SOUND LIKE.
SOUND LIKE. YOU WRITE THIS, HIS WORDS WERE
STIRRING, YOU SAY OF JOE BIDEN,
HIS DELIVERY WAS PASSIONATE AND
THEY WERE BEE FITTING A PLAN WHO
KICKED OFF HIS CAMPAIGN WITH A
VIDEO DECRYING TRUMP’S SHAFL AM
SHAMEFUL RESPONSE TO
CHARLOTTESVILLE.
CHARLOTTESVILLE. ALL OF THE CANDIDATES HAVE A
MORAL CORE AND DESE TY AND SANT
TY THAT TRUMP NEVER POSSESSED.
UNLIKE TELEPROMPTER TRUMP’S
HOLLOW REMARKS ABOUT THE CARNAGE
IN EL PASO AND DAYTON, OHIO,
BIDE-AN AUTHORITY HARD TO MATCH
AND HIS VOICE PROVIDING COMFORT
FOR THOSE OF US WHO LONG FOR THE
DAYS WHEN A GROWNUP WAS
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
AND ACTED ACCORDINGLY AND
WIELDED THE BULLY PULPIT OF THE
OVAL OFFICE WITH MORAL
AUTHORITY.
AUTHORITY. AND INSTEAD IN TRUMP WE HAVE A
BULLY WITH A PULPIT AND NO MORAL
COMPASS.
COMPASS. JONATHAN, JOE BIDEN HAS ALWAYS
EXCELLED IN THESE MOMENTS OF
GRIEVING WHETHER IT IS PERSONAL
GRIEVING OR NATIONAL GRIEVING
AND HE DID IT AGAIN YESTERDAY.
>> YES, THIS SPEECH IN ITS
TOTALITY, AND I’M GLAD THAT YOU
SHOWED EXTENSIVE CLIPS FROM THAT
SPEECH, BUT YOU CAN SLICE THE
SPEECH IN HALF, THE FIRST HALF
BEING HARD REMARKS AGAINST
PRESIDENT TRUMP, ABOUT WHAT HE
IS, WHO HE IS, HOW HE SULLIED
THE OFFICE, HOW HE HAS NO MORAL
COMPASS, AND CEDED THE MORAL
AUTHORITY OF THE OVAL OFFICE.
THE OTHER HALF OF THE SPEECH IS
ABOUT WHO WE ARE AS A NATION.
WHO WE ARE AS A PEOPLE.
YOU PLAYED ONE PART OF THAT
WHICH I THOUGHT WAS THE MOST
POWERFUL PART, WHERE HE TALKS
ABOUT HOW AMERICA IS AN IDEA,
AND HOW NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE,
NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE, WHERE YOU
CAME FROM, WHETHER YOU WERE
NATIVE TO THIS LAND, BROUGHT TO
THIS LAND IN CHAINS, OR
IMMIGRATED TO THIS COUNTRY LIKE
HIS FAMILY DID, FROM IRELAND, NO
OTHER COUNTRY IN THE WORLD CAN
YOU COME TO AND BE AMERICAN, BE
A PART OF THIS GRAND EXPERIMENT.
AND SO WHILE HE WAS LACING IN TO
PRESIDENT TRUMP, HE WAS ALSO
REMINDING US OF WHO WE ARE AS A
NATION, AND THAT’S WHAT
PRESIDENTS DO.
PRESIDENTS DO. YOU KNOW, PRESIDENTS ARE A,
USUALLY A REFLECTION OF OUR
BETTERSELVES, WHO WE ASPIRE TO
BE, THAT’S WHY WE HOLD THEM TO
HIGHER STANDARDS, WE WANT TO BE
LIKE THEM, AT LEAST WE USED TO
BE WANT TO BE LIKE THEM BECAUSE
THEY ARE A REFLECTION OF OUR
BETTERSELVES.
BETTERSELVES. BUT INSTEAD WHAT WE HAVE IN THIS
PRESIDENT IS SOMEONE WHO REFUSES
TO NOT TAKE THE BAIT.
THE QUESTION THAT HE GOT THERE,
IN EL PASO, ABOUT HIS REACTION
TO CRITICISMS AND THINGS,
PRESIDENTS BEFORE HIM WOULD LET
THAT ROLL RIGHT OFF THEIR BACKS.
WOULD JUST SAY, YOU KNOW, WHAT,
THIS IS NOT THE TIME.
I’M HERE TO GRIEVE WITH THIS
COMMUNITY, I AM HERE TO BE, TO
HEAL, OR ACTUALLY NOT TAKE THE
QUESTIONS, NOT TAKE THE QUESTION
AT ALL.
AT ALL. AND WHAT WE HAVE IN PRESIDENT
TRUMP IS SOMEONE WHO REFUSES TO
DO THAT.
DO THAT. AND THE IDEA THAT HE WOULD SPEND
HIS TIME ON AIR FORCE ONE, WITH
ALL THE PROBLEMS IN THE COUNTRY,
AND THE WORLD, THAT HE COULD BE
FOCUSING ON, TO SPEND HIS TIME
WATCHING TELEVISION, AND
TWEETING BACK AT OPPONENTS AND
ADVERSARIES, IS, IT’S QUITE
BEYOND ASTOUNDING.
BEYOND ASTOUNDING. AND ONE LAST POINT.
YOU KNOW, EVERY TIME I HEAR
SOMEONE FROM THE TRUMP
ADMINISTRATION PUSHING BACK
AGAINST THE MEDIA, PUSHING
AGAINST CRITICS, IN THE OLD
DAYS, ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS
PUTTING OUT STATEMENTS WERE
USUALLY TALK TOGETHER AMERICAN
PEOPLE, BUT IN THOSE TWEETS AND
COMMENTS THAT WE HEARD FROM
SCAVINO AND GRISHAM, EVEN IN
THOSE COMMENTS I CAN’T HELP BUT
THINK THEY’RE NOT TALKING TO US,
THEY’RE NOT TALKING TO THE
AMERICAN PEOPLE, THEY ARE
TALKING TO PRESIDENT TRUMP,
THOSE WORDS THAT ARE COMING OUT
OF THEIR MOUTHS AND TWEETS, AND
IN STATEMENTS TO THE PRESS, ARE
WORDS THAT SOUND TO ME LIKE
TRIGGER WORDS FOR THE PRESIDENT,
SO WHEN HE SEES THEM, HE CAN SAY
THEY’RE STANDING UP AND
DEFENDING ME.
DEFENDING ME. THAT’S WHY I THINK VICE
PRESIDENT BIDEN’S SPEECH
YESTERDAY WAS SO POWERFUL.
BECAUSE HE ROSE ABOVE ALL THIS,
TO BRING BACK, OR AT LEAST TRY
TO BRING BACK SOME DIGNITY TO
THE AMERICAN IDEA, THE AMERICAN
EXPERIMENT, THE IDEA OF THE
PRESIDENCY, AND YOU KNOW, I ALSO
WANT TO POINT OUT, VICE
PRESIDENT BIDEN IS NOT THE ONLY
ONE DOING THIS, WE TALKED ABOUT
SENATOR CORY BOOKER AND HIS
SPEECH AT MOTHER EMANUEL AND
CHARLESTON AND BETO O’ROURKE,
ANY DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE WHO
STANDS FAR TALLER THAN THE
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
IN THIS MOMENT.
>> THEY WERE BOTH POWERFUL
YESTERDAY.
YESTERDAY. WE WILL HEAR FROM BOTH OF THEM
IN JUST A MOMENT.
JOHN MEACHUM, IT DOES STRIKE ME
IN THIS PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN
THAT WE FIND OURSELVES IN THE
MIDDLE OF RIGHT NOW, THERE IS
SORT OF THE INTELLECTUAL POLICY
SIDE WHICH IS HEALTH CARE AND
IMMIGRATION AND FOREIGN POLICY
AND THEN THE GUT OF THIS, WHICH
I THINK WHAT JOE BIDEN WAS
GETTING TO YESTERDAY, WHICH IS
AMERICA, YOU ARE ALL WATCHING
THIS, YOU WANT FOUR MORE YEARS
OF THIS?
OF THIS? HOW DO YOU FEEL THIS WAY?
DO YOU WANT TO CONTINUE TO FEEL
THIS WAY?
THIS WAY? HIS MESSAGE IS WE GOT TO PUT AN
END TO WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THIS
COUNTRY RIGHT NOW.
>> ONE OF THE THINGS WE SAW
YESTERDAY, ISN’T IT, WHICH GOES
TO YOUR POINT, IS BIDEN WAS WHO
WOULD YOU BE AT THE FRONT DOOR,
OR ON THE FRONT PORCH, AND TRUMP
IS WHO YOU ARE IN YOUR DEN WHEN
THE DOOR IS SHUT AND YOU’RE
WATCHING FOX.
WATCHING FOX. RIGHT?
RIGHT? THERE IS A CERTAIN KIND OF
ALMOST RESPECTABILITY ARGUMENT
HERE.
HERE. AND THAT’S NOT TO LIONIZE THE
DEMOCRATS IMMEDIATE NEEDLESSLY
OR POINTLESSLY, BUT THERE IS A
STARK CONTRAST THAT WE WILL SEE
FOR THE NEXT WHATEVER, 16
MONTHS, WHATEVER IT IS, UNTIL
THE ELECTION, AND I DON’T KNOW,
AND YOU DON’T KNOW, WHAT THE
RESULT OF THAT IS ULTIMATELY.
BUT REMEMBER, PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTIONS ARE NOT JUST SIMPLY
REFERENDUM ON SOMEONE.
THEY’RE CHOICES.
THEY’RE CHOICES. THE COUNTRY WASN’T PRESENTED A
CHOICE IN 2016 DO YOU WANT
DONALD TRUMP TO BE PRESIDENT, IT
WAS DO YOU WANT DONALD TRUMP OR
HILLARY CLINTON AND IN THE
BIZARRE NATURE OF THAT MOMENT,
WE HAD THE RESULT WE HAD.
SO THAT’S ONE OF THE REASONS
YESTERDAY WAS SO FASCINATING,
WAS TO SEE WHO WILL BE ON THE
OTHER SIDE OF THAT CHOICE.
AND MY OWN SENSE IS THAT IT WILL
ONLY GET WORSE BEFORE IT GETS
BETTER WITH THE PRESIDENT.
THERE IS, I MEAN MAYBE JONATHAN,
EITHER OF THE JONATHANS MAY HAVE
A BETTER SENSE OF THIS, I DON’T
THINK THERE IS ANY EVIDENCE, AND
I WOULD, I’M HONESTLY ASKING
THIS, IS THERE ANY EVIDENCE OVER
THE LAST FOUR YEARS OR SO, FOUR
YEARS AND A MONTH, SINCE HE
ANNOUNCED, OF HIS NOT ACTING
ONLY IN ACCORDANCE WITH HIS OWN
POLITICAL SELF INTEREST?
I GUESS THERE WAS ONE STATE OF
THE UNION WHERE HE WAS FAIRLY,
SORT OF CONVENTIONAL, BUT
THERE’S NOT GOING TO BE, THERE
IS NO IMPETUS FOR HIM TO TRY TO
REACH OUT.
REACH OUT. THIS IS GOING TO BE A BASE
STRATEGY.
STRATEGY. IT’S GOING TO GET UGLIER AND
UGLIER, AND I THINK THAT’S WHY
THE ETHOS THAT SENATOR BOOKER
AND O’ROURKE AND THE VICE
PRESIDENT YESTERDAY, CREATED
YESTERDAY IS SO IMPORTANT.
>> WE WILL TALK TO BOTH
JONATHANS IN JUST A MOMENT.
WE DO HAVE TO TAKE A COMMERCIAL
BREAK BUT THE TAKE-AWAY FROM THE
WHITE HOUSE YESTERDAY, I WILL
READ IT AGAIN, AS THE PRESIDENT
VISITED THE HOSPITAL OF PEOPLE