Lyndon B Johnson is very similar to Joe Biden.
How are they the same?
They're both Democrat socialist.
Lyndon B Johnson was the majority leader in the Senate.
Does that sound familiar?
He was vice president to Kennedy.
Joe was vice president to Obama.
He was appointed as the president after JFK was assassinated, then he was elected.
>> Wow, two points of clarification neither Joe Biden nor
LBJ were Democratic socialists ever.
And it should also be noted that Biden was never Senate Majority Leader.
But nonetheless, you just heard from Congresswoman Marjorie Greene,
a Republican, of course, attempting to dunk on Biden by comparing him to one of
the most popular former presidents in US history, Lyndon B Johnson.
The man who not only managed to secure Medicare but
also passed the Civil Rights Act.
I've got a lot more to get to, but, Cenk, is itching to comment?
>> I just wanted another clarification real quick.
Obama also not assassinated, in case you didn't know.
>> [LAUGH] >> Okay, not by Jewish space lasers or
anything else.
Okay, continue.
>> Let's hear more from the brilliant mind of Marjorie Greene.
>> His big socialist programs were the Great Society.
The Great Society were big government programs to address education,
medical care, urban problems, rural poverty,
transportation, Medicare, medicaid, food stamps and welfare,
the office of economic opportunity, and big labor and labor unions.
Now, LBJ had the Great Society, but
Joe Biden had built back better, and he still is working on it.
The largest public investment in social infrastructure and
environmental programs that is actually finishing what FDR started,
that LBJ expanded on and Joe Biden is attempting to complete socialism.
Meanwhile, we are now $32 trillion in debt with record
high homelessness, 40 year record inflation.
We're losing the US dollar as the number one world currency.
We're losing our freedoms.
Our government is one big fat bloated machine, and
it's killing the American Dream.
>> But what is you doing?
Why are you out there campaigning on behalf of President Joe Biden?
You're a Republican.
Joe Biden, he wants to help you with your financial instability.
Now, look, my critiques of Joe Biden have to do with the fact that he actually
hasn't accomplished anywhere near what Johnson
had accomplished during his tenure as president.
We'll get to that in just a moment, but
I don't think that's the own you think it is, Marje [LAUGH]?
>> Yeah, no, are you kidding me?
Marjorie Taylor Greene's version of Joe Biden is so
much better than the real Joe Biden- >> I know.
>> I would be enthusiastic to vote for that guy.
He's like Lyndon Baines Johnson passing the Civil Rights Act and
the Voting Rights Act.
He couldn't pass a tiny little Voting Rights Act.
He couldn't pass 5% of what LBJ got passed.
>> Correct. >> But she's giving him all that credit.
She's like he's like LBJ.
And then he's like, FDR.
[LAUGH] Biden's got to be thinking, how did I get this lucky?
I'm nowhere near FDR.
Remember when he first came in everyone, including progressives,
were FDR 2.0 and he's gonna do all these things.
Later they're, he's not FDR.
Okay, fine.
He's not LBJ.
It's still fine. He's not Homer Simpson, but
still we got some things passed, okay?
Historic.
Now, they were flailing on all that until Marjorie Taylor Greene comes in and
helps them.
>> Which is why the Biden campaign is elated to hear that
Marjorie Greene is out there campaigning on Biden's behalf.
We'll get to that in just a moment, but just to do a quick refresher.
So, President Johnson is, of course, known for, among other things,
a series of programs and legislation known as The Great Society.
Marjorie Greene referenced that in her campaign speech on behalf of Biden,
I guess.
Which included the 1964 and 1965 Civil Rights Acts, along with several programs
like Medicare and Medicaid to deal with growing social problems in dire poverty.
It should be noted that so far,
Biden has failed to pass any permanent universal social programs.
So if anything, comparing Biden to LBJ is an insult to LBJ and his legacy.
And I want to be clear, LBJ wasn't perfect, but he managed to accomplish
some incredibly important legislation during his time in office.
And I wanna show you one other thing that differentiates LBJ from
President Joe Biden.
The same Joe Biden who loves to be incredibly complimentary toward Democratic
senators who absolutely destroyed his build back better agenda.
People like Senator Joe Manchin, Senator Kyrsten Sinema,
he can't stop saying complimentary things about them.
But when it came to LBJ,
if there were senators standing in the way of his agenda, how did he treat them?
I give you this incredible photo.
So when Johnson was attempting to get the Civil Rights Act passed,
there were some pretty racist Southern Democrats standing in the way.
The image that you're watching or the image that you're looking at is a historic
image featuring some of the bullying tactics that LBJ engaged in,
especially when it came to some of those Southern Democrats.
That's Senator Russell, who led the charge on the Senate filibuster in
an attempt to defeat the Civil Rights Act.
So he knew how to use carrots and
sticks in order to accomplish what was deemed the impossible.
And I'm gonna give you more details on that in just a moment, but
I wanted to give you a chance to jump in, Cenk.
>> Yeah, so LBJ is super complicated.
He did plenty of things wrong, including Vietnam-
>> All right.
>> And Gulf of Tonkin was a disaster.
The fact that he lied about that, etc.
So when you look back at these historical figures, it's not a black and white issue.
But on the issue of getting legislation passed,
I'm not sure there's ever been a better president.
He browbeat those Dixiecrats.
Children in the establishment are like, did you know he had Democratic majorities?
He had large democratic majorities.
Did you know that tons of them were Dixiecrats
who didn't wanna pass the Civil Rights Act or
Voting Rights Act under penalty of law, and he somehow broke them?
See, part of the reason they don't want you to know about LBJ's success in passing
legislation is because he played hardball, and he was not at all civil.
He was the meanest son of a bitch you've ever seen.
And FDR, too, when he was passing legislation.
FDR talked about the Republican's lust for greed and
how he was gonna master them and dominate them, and he welcomed their hatred.
The Democrats who got things done in the past are nothing like today's Democrats.
Nothing.
>> Mm-hm. >> They were badass ass kickers.
They destroyed their opponents, but
the corporate media doesn't want you to know that.
Corporate Democrats don't want you to know that.
So they go, no, they were teddy bears.
That's why Joe Biden, being a fluffy teddy bear and
getting 5% of his agenda pass is amazing and historic.
No, it isn't.
And here comes Marjorie Taylor Greene to the rescue, being like, yeah, did you
know that LBJ's secretary was named Biden, and Biden's secretary was named LBJ?
So that's why they're the same.
No, you're ironically helping corporate media run this scam on the American
people.
>> So, Lyndon Johnson's persuasive tactics, described by Mary McRory,
were as an incredible, potent mixture of persuasion, badgering,
flattery, threats, reminders of past favors, and future advantages.
So I'm going to read you a few excerpts from a piece written in Forbes about him.
Knowing the influence of the United Steelworkers, he,
meaning President Johnson, persuaded Dave McDonald, their president,
to have his team lobby for the act, the Civil Rights Act, even having Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Join this call with him in 1963.
Realizing he needed Republicans,
he partnered closely with Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirkson, appealing
to him to honor the heritage of his home state of Illinois as the land of Lincoln.
And he worked closely with Dr King and other civil rights leaders.
Johnson knew that persuasion takes the work of multiple constituencies and
always thought carefully of whose influence to employ.
Perhaps the most defining element of President Johnson's persuasion
was the Johnson treatment itself.
He was willing to push people.
For better or worse, he would harangue, threaten, flatter, and bully.
This was evident in Johnson's dealings with his mentor,
longtime Georgia Senator Dick Russell,
that was the man in the photo that we showed you earlier.
In establishing the Warren Commission, I love this.
Which was responsible for investigating the Kennedy assassination.
Johnson knew Russell didn't want to serve, but announced Russell's involvement
before even asking him, then bullied him in a phone call, which, by the way,
is available on YouTube if you want to listen to it.
Incredible stuff.
>> Yeah, no, Johnson was a killer when it came to passing legislation.
>> One more.
>> And if you crossed him, he was gonna eliminate you and
he was gonna end your career.
Don't ever listen to the liars in mainstream media and
the establishment Democrats telling you civility is the best way to go.
That means you're never gonna pass anything.
>> All right, and finally, he then pushed past Russell,
a dedicated segregationist, to get the Civil Rights Act passed,
telling him, Dick, I love you and I owe you, but
I'm going to run you over if you challenge me on this Civil Rights Bill.
He did just that,
leading to Russell boycotting the Democratic Convention in 1964.
>> Atter boy, who does that sound like?
Not Biden [LAUGH].
>> Yeah, definitely not Biden.
Imagine if he told Joe Manchin, I'm gonna run over you, boy, and
I'm gonna end you if you mess with me.
No, he go Joe Biden.
Joey, pops, how you doing?
[SOUND] At a press conference, he was almost blowing kisses at
Joe Manchin- >> All right.
>> And calling him cutesy nicknames.
Wanted to cuddle with him, all right?
Who does LBJ sound like that in those quotes?
Like us, the progressives who want actually a fight so we can win, not for
emotional reasons, because it works.
And by the way, not just-.
>> It's strategic. It's important to
note- >> Yeah.
>> A strategic fight.
>> Yes. >> All right.
>> That's exactly where I was going, Anna.
It's important to note it's not just like cajoling and bullying.
It's also favors, too.
>> Mm-hm. >> It's carrots and sticks.
So that's why when Democrats say, no, only carrots, only hugs for Republicans and
corporate Democrats, no, you got to do sticks, but you also have to do carrots.
And you have to know when, if you're a decent politician,
which the Democratic Party doesn't.
Look my honest analysis,
there's not a single Democrat in the country who's anywhere near LBJ.
They don't know how to play politics at all.
>> So, as you can imagine,
Marjorie Greene's statements were music to the Biden administration's ears.
Here is a tweet from the White House in response to that portion of the speech
that we showed you.
They write, caught us.
President Biden is working to make life easier for hardworking families.
And look,
that was a smart move by the White House- >> Definately.
>> To exploit the stupidity of Marjorie Greene's statement to their and
she was also roasted for her huge mistake of failing to realize
her criticism was actually praised of the Biden administration.
Let's take a look at that.
>> I think if I were the Democratic Party leadership or the Biden people,
I would take that clip and run it all over the country.
Because the things she's saying that Biden stands for and LBJ and FDR stood for
are the things most Americans want and many are living on right now.
You're gonna attack Medicare?
I mean, I see now why they put out of the Freedom Caucus,
because now she's in a caucus of her own.
And it's not a very wise caucus.
>> Maybe a double agent.
>> Well, look, the one final thing that I'll say is I think it's telling that
Republican lawmakers like Marjorie Greene look at social spending programs that help
the most vulnerable among us, and she happens to think these are terrible.
Who would be in support of these kinds of programs?
It shows you what her priorities are, let's just put it that way.
>> But look, fair show in America.
That was a nice win by the Biden team retweeting that and going, thank you,
we appreciate it.
>> All right. >> So that's smart.
We'll take the on that one.