-With a few exceptions, Republicans have made clear
that they're willing to excuse the behavior
of both former president Donald Trump
and Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.
For more on this, it's time for "A Closer Look."
Until now, it's been very clear to me that Donald Trump
should face every legal consequence imaginable
for trying to overthrow the United States government.
He should be impeached, convicted,
and barred from ever holding office again.
His properties should be seized.
His golf courses should be turned
into publicly protected wetlands,
and his namesake son should be banished to the woods
to live among the only creatures who truly understand him,
the stumps.
King of the stumps!
But then Republican Senator Lindsey Graham made a threat
so chilling, so harrowing, I had to reconsider my position.
If Democrats choose to move forward and call witnesses,
Graham said he'd have no choice but to do something unthinkable,
investigate what happened.
-To my Democratic colleagues, if you vote to call one witness --
none were called in the House -- get ready for a long trial.
If you open up that can of worms,
we'll want the FBI to come in and tell us about
how people actually preplanned these attacks
and what happened with the security footprint
at the Capitol.
You open up Pandora's box if you call one witness.
-Yeah, because, famously, when Pandora opened her box,
that's what came out -- useful information.
You hear him, Democrats?
Lindsey Graham is threatening to make your life hell
by finding out exactly what happened
and then making those things public.
Ooh, you're not gonna like that, Democrats.
Public accountability
for Donald Trump and his accomplices?
I mean, what's next, witnesses, evidence, consequences?
[ As Lindsey Graham ] You better be careful, Democrats,
or I'll have no choice but to get to the bottom
of what Donald Trump did and, if necessary, convict him.
Is that what you want?
Donald Trump shuffling off to prison in leg irons
never to be seen again?
Oh, you'll rue the day, Democrats.
What's that, Meemaw?
I'm making a fool of myself?
The only fool here is you, Meemaw!
I heard you got caught shoplifting at the A&P again.
Meemaw!
Why don't you close that dang music box
and quit smearing your lipstick with your thumb?
[ Normal voice ] It's so mind-boggling and bewildering
that Graham thinks proving the attack was preplanned
somehow gets Trump off the hook.
It's like getting caught standing over a dead body
holding a knife, saying, "Officer, you don't understand.
I've had this knife for years."
It would actually be very useful to have an in-depth trial
where every aspect of the insurrection is investigated
in full view of the public,
because every day we learn more
about the events leading up to it,
including details of Trump's concerted months-long effort
to get the results of the election overturned.
This week, Axios reported stunning new details
about what they call
"the craziest meeting of the Trump presidency,"
which is saying a lot given he's also met with Ted Nugent,
Sarah Palin, Kanye West, and a can of uncooked beans.
[ As Donald Trump ] Do you know anything about voter fraud, beans?
[ High-pitched voice ] Sí.
[ As Donald Trump ] You do? [ High-pitched voice ] Sí.
[ Donald Trump ] What about you, adobo seasonings?
[ Deep voice ] Alright.
[ Normal voice ] Trump met with a group of unhinged conspiracy theorists,
including Michael Flynn, who has called for Trump
to use the military to seize voting machines
and rerun the election,
effectively installing himself as a military dictator,
and Sidney Powell, the lawyer who faces
$1.3 billion defamation suit for claiming the election was rigged
as part of an international Communist plot,
including the late Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez,
and who always looks like she just got done
taking a sledgehammer to James Caan's legs.
At one point during this meeting, Powell...
A White House aide replied...
Powell replied...
[ Scoffs ] You know you're far gone
when even Rudy hasn't caught up to your insanity yet.
It's like being too abstract for Picasso.
"Dalí, I'm all for having fun, but clocks don't melt, my man."
Although the idea that Rudy doesn't know
what the case is about would not surprise me.
I'm sure walking Rudy through a case
is like watching "Inception" with your grandpa.
"A dream within a dream? Okay, fancy pants.
Wake me up when the Allies start bombing the Nazis.
That's my kind of movie."
So that's how this insane this meeting was --
too insane for Rudy Giuliani.
A third insane person in the meeting was Patrick Byrne,
the former CEO of overstock.com, because why not?
They got MyPillow, Overstock.
All they need now to complete the roster of business all-stars
is the CFO of Hollywood Video
and an actively on-fire Samsung Galaxy.
Now, all you need to know for this next part
is that Byrne got into a heated confrontation
with a White House official named Eric Herschmann.
The White House Counsel, Pat Cipollone,
was also in the room.
The best and the brightest, folks.
These guys want everyone to have voter I.D.
But they don't even know the I.D.
of the person they're talking to.
I can't believe I'm saying this,
but if Rudy had been there for that part of the meeting,
his presence would have actually raised the average IQ level.
Though he would have probably also yelled,
"Do you know who I am?"
and sincerely meant the question.
[ As Rudy Giuliani ] Do you know who I am?
Do you know where I am in the month, please?
I keep my name stitched in my suit,
but this is a loner jacket from Del Frisco's!
Now I know how Scrooge felt -- confused!
I'm not Hugo Boss, am I?
[ Normal voice ] Trump is gone, but that doesn't mean
we can just forget about the crimes he committed,
the calamities he unleashed, and the forces he exposed
because those forces are at the very heart
of the modern Republican Party and will be going forward,
as evidenced by Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Greene has, among other things,
claimed school shootings were staged,
suggested that Nancy Pelosi should be executed for treason,
and said Muslims shouldn't serve in government,
and yet GOP leaders in the House have refused to sanction her,
forcing Democrats to move forward with the resolution
revoking her committee assignments.
Others have brushed the controversy aside.
For example, Lindsey Graham...
Oh, sure, take her word for it.
[ As Lindsey Graham ] Congresswoman Greene assured me
that while the posts were on her Facebook page,
it's only because Bill Gates gave her password
to the ghost of Hugo Chávez, and that's good enough for me.
Meemaw, are you satisfied?
Meemaw, I will help you with your corset,
but I'm telling you, there is no colonel coming over tonight!
Meemaw, that was a movie we watched!
Not that one, Peepaw. That was "Inception."
You two!
[ Normal voice ] But the dumbest excuse
for refusing to condemn Greene
came from newly minted Alabama senator Tommy Tuberville,
who is apparently as dumb as his name.
Sounds like a cartoon jar of mayonnaise
who tries to kidnap the Veggie Tales.
Tuberville told CNN he hadn't seen Greene's posts because,
and this is real, a real excuse, the weather's been bad.
Look, I really don't want to repeat
any negative stereotypes about the South,
but you're not doing Alabama any favors when, as a senator,
you claim you can't watch the news because of the weather.
Do you still are have rabbit ears on your TV?
[ Southern accent ] I haven't looked at what she's done
because the gossipy polecat who tells me the news
has been hibernating.
[ Normal voice ] Also, I love when these dopes
can't even get to the finish line on their own bull[bleep]
and then just give up at the end and say "whatever."
[ Southern accent ] I meant to look at my phone,
but the battery was dead.
Or I dropped it in the toilet.
Or [Stammering] whatever.
[ Normal voice ] But I have to say, the most vile defense of Greene I saw today
came from Republicans on Fox News,
which repeatedly tried to equate her
with Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar,
including this comment from Bill Hemmer.
-What she's doing is of a whole different kettle of fish.
-One might be weird and kooky, Josh.
The other is seen as racist.
-Hmm, let's see, one wants Medicare for all
and the other thinks a Jewish space laser starts wildfires.
Seriously, what's wrong with you?
There's no equivalence,
and any attempt to create one is disgusting and racist.
Greene has refused to apologize,
despite sharing anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic posts
questioning whether a plane
really crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11,
suggesting that school shootings were fake,
that Nancy Pelosi should be executed,
that Barack Obama is a secret Muslim,
that Muslims shouldn't be allowed
to serve at all in the government,
and, once again, that a Jewish space laser starts wildfires.
That's way beyond weird and kooky.
She's not a member of the Addams Family,
unless Uncle Fester believed
that a Jewish space laser starts wildfires.
It's not your crunchy aunt who's into Reiki and crystals
and sews birds onto all her sweaters.
"Before we sit down for Thanksgiving dinner,
allow me to sage the room and cleanse our auras, namaste."
"Connie, your boob is out.
Aunt Connie, your boob, it's in the casserole."
This is the bad-faith bull[bleep]
that right-wing media is full off
because they have nothing else.
It's a movement that is fully radicalized
against pluralistic, multiracial democracy,
and now the right-wing media's cannibalizing itself
as they compete to appeal to the far-right fringe.
There's no better example of that
than what happened on Newsmax,
which has tried to outflank Fox News on the far right.
They invited on the MyPillow guy,
who, you might remember,
has also claimed the election was hacked by China
and walked into the Oval Office for a meeting with Trump
holding notes that said "martial law" on them.
Newsmax was just trying to get Lindell
to complain about cancel culture,
not repeat his election fraud lies, but then this happened.
-What happened with your Twitter account and the company page?
-Well, first mine was taken down
because we have all the election fraud
with these Dominion machines.
We have 100% proof.
And then when they took it down...
-Mike. Mike.
-And then I put it back up, my personal, I put a --
-Mike, thank you very much.
Mike, Mike, you're talking about machines that --
We at Newsmax have not been able to verify
any of those kinds of allegations.
We wanted to talk to you about canceling culture, if you will.
We don't want to relitigate
the allegations that you're making, Mike.
Could you make an argument that this could be
a temporary banning rather than permanent?
-No, I want it to be a permanent because you know what?
They did this because I'm revealing all the evidence
on Friday of all of the election fraud with these machines.
So I'm sorry if you think it's not, but it's real.
-Can I ask our producers, can we get out of here, please?
I don't want to have to keep going over this.
-We at Newsmax have not been able to verify
any of those allegations that you're --
-Mike, hold on a second. Everybody hold on a second.
Mike, Mike, hold on one second.
Let's talk a little bit --
-Oh...my...pillow.
Usually you see the guests storm off but never the anchor.
Where do you even go after that?
That's like trying to storm out of a meeting in your own office.
"This is bull[bleep] And I hate this job and I quit!
Could you guys maybe take this meeting
down to the conference room?"
Also, I got to ask, does MyPillow actually work?
Because this guy looks like he hasn't slept in a year.
Is MyPillow just a bag full of rats?
You need to sleep, Mike.
"Who can sleep with all that infernal scratching!"
He always looks like he was just chased by Da Bears!
[ Laughter ]
Also, this segment is so revealing,
because instead of focusing on the actual content
of what Lindell is supposedly being canceled for,
they just want him to say the words "cancel culture,"
and he won't go along.
It shows how empty
their cancel-culture talking points are.
They complain that free speech is being suppressed,
and then once he starts saying something they don't like,
they try to suppress his speech.
It's like taking your toddler to an adult dinner party
and saying to him, "Hey, remember, you say thank you,
you say please, and that's it, okay?"
And then the second you walk in the door, he immediately shouts,
"Mommy caught Daddy following the babysitter on Instagram!"
We are facing multiple simultaneous crises
that have created misery and suffering
for millions of Americans with a botched vaccine rollout,
an economic crash, and poverty and child hunger on the rise.
We need a political system that can respond urgently
to those crises.
Instead we have one political party
radicalizing against democracy,
siding with seditionists and bigots.
It's almost as if,
in a desperate bid for power at any cost,
the GOP was willing to...
-Open up Pandora's box.
-This has been "A Closer Look."
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