-There's just a little over one day left
in the presidency of Donald Trump.
And as we survey the damage he'll leave behind
and the impeachment trial he faces ahead,
we're learning more about the insurrection he incited,
his premeditated plan to steal the election,
and the complicity of virtually the entire Republican Party.
Oh, and also Trump met with the My Pillow guy.
For more on this, it's time for "A Closer Look."
[ Theme music plays ]
On Friday, as an incoming Democratic administration
was preparing for the second time in 12 years
to take the reins from a deeply unpopular
outgoing Republican president who left the nation in ruins,
we got a revealing split screen
of what our politics are like right now
with the Trump White House being boxed up
and the Biden administration preparing to take over.
We were presented with a very stark choice
for where we want to go as a country.
On the one hand, President-Elect Biden
unveiled a five-point plan
to overhaul the botched vaccine rollout
and stem the tide of the deadly coronavirus pandemic
that's been willfully neglected by the Trump White House.
-President-Elect Joe Biden is pushing ahead
with plans to activate the Defense Production Act
and ramp up the national supply
of the coronavirus vaccine.
-The incoming administration pledging to get
100 million doses
in the first 100 days after Joe Biden takes office.
The plan including mass vaccination centers
and training an Army of vaccinators,
among other steps.
-And to staff up these centers, we will mobilize
thousands of clinical and nonclinical professionals.
This will be one of the most challenging operational efforts
ever undertaken by our country.
But you have my word:
we will manage the hell out of this operation.
-Whenever he's giving a pep talk,
Biden's got the vibe
of a retired high school football coach
taking his grandkids to Chuck E. Cheese.
"Alright, let's draw it up on the chalkboard.
Taylor, you're gonna run the slant route to Super Slide.
Katie, you're gonna post up at the arcade.
And, Tim, you're gonna go deep in the ball pit,
but remember you must come back in 30 minutes
so we can manage the hell out of some pizza!"
But I got to say, the whole "President a plan" thing
is a genuine relief after four years of Dr. Head Injury
over here swinging wildly
between "Everything is fine" and "We're all gonna die."
"This coronavirus, it's just gonna go away, folks.
It's gonna go away. And as soon as it does,
the Antifa caravans are gonna arrive,
and it's not gonna be pretty.
You'll be praying for coronavirus
when the caravans show up."
So, that's what the incoming President was doing on Friday.
What about the outgoing president?
Who was he meeting with?
Can I assume it was also an expert of some kind?
Perhaps a doctor, a scientist, or maybe it was someone
who specializes in public health infrastructure
and mass vaccination planning?
Ooh, wouldn't that be great? You know what?
Let me just set up the old chin cradle and find out.
-One of the president's visitors today, Mike Lindell,
the founder of My Pillow, was seen over here
at the White House, outside the West Wing.
The White House official did tell me, Wolf,
that it is believed that the president and Lindell met.
-A "Washington Post" photographer got a close-up
of the notes that he was carrying with him.
And, Jake, when you zoom in on them,
you can see that he is talking about the election.
Things like martial law are mentioned.
The words "taken immediately to save the Constitution."
-The guy from My Pillow is carrying documents
and talking to President Trump --
presumably about declaring martial law.
-You know what? I think this chin cradle
is bad luck. I'm gonna stop using it.
But that's just great. The My Pillow guy,
AKA The Notorious MPG, who, it should be noted,
is not even good at pillows, is walking into the White House
with an insane suggestion for the president.
What's next? The ShamWow Guy strolling in
with a notepad that says "Become an X-Man?"
Also, not to be judgmental, but if I was going to a meeting
to tell the president he should declare martial law,
I might not need to write it down.
Was there a risk you were gonna forget that part?
"Good meeting, Mike. Anything else?"
"Uh, let's see, I told you
Hugo Chávez hacked the elections.
Filled you in on our new three-ply mattress topper.
You know, I'm sorry, Mr. President.
Let me, uh, check my notes. Oh, duh-dur!
I forgot you should declare martial law.
This is why I write things down!"
Also, just a random thought here,
but this is one of those moments where I'm reminded
that there were voters -- not many, but some --
who were torn between Trump and Biden.
Hmm, the guy with a five-point plan
to build the infrastructure for mass vaccination
during a deadly pandemic, or a guy whose best friend
is obviously a psychotic pillow salesman.
It's a coin flip!"
Although I think my favorite detail from the Lindell meeting
involves White House counsel Pat Cipollone,
who met with Lindell after a series of White House officials
basically kept trying to pass Lindell off to someone else.
First, Trump met with Lindell, but it was a brief meeting.
Trump sent him upstairs to the White House counsel's office.
Lindell was then escorted
by the national security adviser, Robert O'Brien.
O'Brien, seeking to end the conversation,
said if there was evidence of what he was saying,
it should go to White House counsel,
and he steered Lindell upstairs to the counsel's office.
Then, once Lindell got to the counsel's office,
Lindell spoke sharply to one of Cipollone's assistants
after he was brought upstairs.
Cipollone told him he wouldn't speak to him
until Lindell apologized to her.
So everyone just kept trying to get rid of him
by passing him off to someone else.
In fact, Lindell is still in the White House, as we speak,
getting shunted from office to office.
The White House chef just got done telling him
what kind of flour they use,
and now he's pitching his plan to the lawnmower kid.
"Do you know how to declare martial law?!"
You know, you could also just not let him into the building.
Why is it easier to get into the White House
than a restaurant in Chelsea during brunch?
Also I'm glad Cipollone stood up for his assistant.
But that's the line you're drawing?
"I'm sorry, but I simply will not allow you
to spread your deranged theories about Hugo Chávez
coming back from the dead to hack the election
unless you learn some manners!"
"I'm sorry.
Will you declare martial law... please?"
This whole situation is so perfectly indicative
of the entire Trump era.
Instead of just saying, "No! Get out!"
they all go to absurd lengths to debase themselves
to accommodate Trump and his circle of crazy old men
with mysteriously brown hair.
That's why he had to invent his own pillow.
All the other ones look like a saddle
after three nights. And indulging Trump,
as we've learned, has real-world consequences.
Thanks to Trump and his allies in the GOP and right-wing media
repeating their deranged lies about the election,
a new CNN poll found that 75% of Republicans
believe Biden isn't the legitimate president.
Virtually the entirety of the Republican Party,
with only a few exceptions,
like the 10 Republicans who voted for the impeachment,
has taken a hard turn against democracy
and towards authoritarianism.
And instead of standing up and saying clearly
that we need to tell the truth about the election
and ostracize anyone who doesn't accept it,
senior Republicans are insisting that we all need to capitulate
to Trump in order to appease his lunatic base.
Lindsey Graham, for example, pleaded with his party
not to hold Trump accountable for inciting
the violent insurrection at the Capitol.
-Mr. President, your policies will stand the test of time.
You're the most important figure in the Republican Party.
You can shape the direction of the party,
keep your movement alive.
If we embrace an unconstitutional impeachment
of Donald Trump after he's out of office,
it will destroy the party.
The Republican Party wants to move forward.
President Trump's going to be the most important voice
in the Republican Party for a long time to come.
He's going to accept responsibility
for his part on January the 6th,
but impeaching him after he leaves office
is not only unconstitutional,
from a Republican point of view, it would destroy our party.
-You know what? If holding Trump accountable
for inciting violent insurrection
destroys the Republican Party, then so be it.
You want to build it back up again into something decent,
be my guest. But now Lindsey Graham
is like an admiral in the Galactic Empire,
saying, "Guys, don't leave the exhaust port open,
or it will destroy the Death Star."
Also, what do you mean Donald Trump's going to accept
responsibility for his part on January 6th?
Are you nuts? Just because you sound like
a character in a Tennessee Williams play
doesn't mean you have to act like one, too.
"Oh, what's Lindsey doin' on the front porch?"
"Oh, he's still out there waiting for Donald Trump
to accept responsibility for January 6th.
Oh, Lindsey! When will you ever learn?"
"He's comin', Mama.
He knows he was wrong, and he's comin'.
Isn't that right, Glass Unicorn?"
[ Laughter ]
At this point, it's difficult to ignore the reality
that the Republican Party is, from the top down,
a threat to our democracy. Trump is leaving the nation
in ruins, with the lowest approval rating
of any President in modern history;
400,000 Americans have died in the coronavirus pandemic;
there are 3 million fewer jobs than when Trump took office;
the vaccine rollout is a disaster;
a violent insurrection
fueled by a deranged authoritarian movement
killed multiple people, ransacked the Capitol,
and nearly toppled American democracy;
there are 20,000 troops guarding D.C.;
and instead of banishing Trump from politics to jail
or to his golf course, where he'd be glimpsed only rarely,
through blurry photos, like some sort of fairway Bigfoot,
Lindsey Graham wants him to remain a leader
in the Republican Party for years to come.
You know what that makes you, Lindsey? A coconspirator.
It's like if a guy on your bowling team
turned out to be a cannibal, and you said,
"Don't turn him in. The championship's next week.
So what if he ate Carl? Carl was dead weight anyway."
Seriously, is there anyone slimier than Lindsey Graham?
He called Trump a crazy bigot who was unfit for office;
warned accurately that if the GOP nominated Trump,
they'd get destroyed and deserve it;
then did an about-face and became
Trump's loyal foot soldier, golf buddy, and Mini-Me;
then, after the insurrection,
said, "Count me out. Enough is enough";
then flew with Trump on Air Force One;
and now he's saying we shouldn't impeach him.
He's like a hostage negotiator who says,
"You want a helicopter and $1 million?
I'll give you something better -- me."
These people had four years rationalizing and excusing
Trump's behavior because they were all in on it.
Long ago, they decided to disgrace themselves
and service this monstrous and irredeemable man,
and this dismantling of our democracy
is just the culmination of all that.
And even the ones
who didn't technically object to the electoral votes
the way Josh Hawley or Ted Cruz did are complicit.
It's a moral rot that runs through virtually the entirety
of the Republican Party and conservative movement.
You might remember that when it first became clear
Trump had lost the election, more than a few Republicans said
there was no harm in indulging him.
Remember, we knew in advance
it would take days to count the votes,
and it was clear soon after the election
that Joe Biden hadn't just won, he won handily,
with 7 million more votes across the country
and a total of 306 electoral votes,
including states Republicans had held for decades,
like Georgia and Arizona.
And yet Republicans insisted on going to absurd lengths
to pretend that the result was still up in the air.
They were like Browns fans holding out hope for a comeback
on Monday morning. "You're telling me
a 35-year-old backup quarterback runs for 13 yards
with a minute left to ice the game?
I call fraud." And I'm sorry, Browns fans.
I was nice last week, but you beat my Steelers,
and now you get a Gentle Payback Burn.
Even aside from propagating the malicious lie
that the election was stolen, they kept repeating
the ridiculous talking point that Trump had every right
to pursue his legal objections, which is a little bit
like Browns fans saying they have a right to protest
the results of the game after the Super Bowl.
Okay, okay, the second burn was unnecessary,
and I apologize because that's piling on,
kind of like how the Chiefs defense
piled on your quarterback last night.
Okay, no, I'm sorry! I'm sad about the Steelers!
It's not about you!
It's about me! My problem! I can't let go!
[ Laughter ]
I don't like being like this!
[ Laughter ]
Anyway, the point is, Republicans did
what they've been doing for five years now --
indulging Trump, hoping they'll be able
to appease him and his voters while getting
everything they want with no damage to the system --
a strategy that's worked out great so far.
In fact, they went to absurd lengths
to humiliate themselves in service of a man
they knew to be craven and sadistic and deranged.
You might remember one of the most infamous examples
from North Dakota Senator Kevin Cramer,
who was asked if he considered Joe Biden the president-elect
after the Electoral College certified Joe Biden's win.
And this was Cramer's full answer.
at this point, so we'll see how the e-mails turn out."
Oh, my God, that was like if Gary Busey
body-swapped into an 8th grader who was just about to do
his oral report on the Electoral College.
"Ugh! What now?!"
These guys are such spineless weasels
that if you ask them one simple question
about who won the election,
they turn into malfunctioning droids.
He sounds like an Echo that just got dropped in the toilet.
"Alexa, is Joe Biden the president-elect?"
-Well, it seems to me that being elected
by the Electoral College is a threshold
where a title like that is probably most appropriate --
-Okay, never mind, never mind. Just play Taylor Swift.
-Playing "PopoZao" by Kevin Federline.
-No, no, no, play Taylor Swift.
-Playing "PopoZao" by Kevin Federline.
-I said, "Play Taylor Swift." -Playing Taylor Swift.
-Thank you. -Covering "PopoZao"
by Kevin Federline. -Alexa!
[ Laughter ]
Now Cramer and Graham are the kinds of guys
who don't get as much attention as, say, Hawley and Cruz,
because they just went along for the ride
while Hawley and Cruz led the way.
For example, new footage from "The New Yorker" reveals
that once the insurrectionists got inside the Senate chamber,
they made clear they considered Cruz an ally.
-Look here, look. -Ted Cruz's objections
to Arizona. -His objection.
He was gonna sell us out all along.
-Really? [Bleep]
-Objection to counting electoral votes
on the state of Arizona. -Can I get a photo of that?
[ Indistinct conversation ]
-[Bleep].
-Cool shout-out, Ted. Congrats.
That's like the seditionist version
of getting a song dedicated to you by the morning zoo crew.
"This insurrection goes out to Ted from Calgary.
Thanks for helping us overthrow a democracy, Ted!"
[ Air horn blowing ]
[ Laughter ]
"This Taylor Swift cover of "PopoZao"
is going out to Ted Cruz." [ Laughter ]
Trump telegraphed for months that he was going to do
exactly what he did -- try to steal the election
and refuse to accept the outcome.
And over the weekend, we learned from new reporting
what we basically already knew from Trump's own words
and actions -- that the attempt
to steal the election was premeditated and planned
long in advance. According to Axios...
Oh, really, you were stunned?
That's like watching that Werner Herzog documentary
about the dude who hangs out with grizzly bears
and being stunned when he gets eaten by a grizzly bear.
You think Werner's gonna make a documentary
where the dude and the bear end up as buddies?
"And as I watched man and bear frolic in the stream,
their friendship unbreakable, I realized something
to be clear. This movie was a dud."
[ Laughter ]
It's like, I love when they bring back
characters from season one for the finale.
Now they're gonna have to call Reince Priebus
as a witness in the impeachment trial.
It's gonna be like the "Seinfeld" finale.
Oh, you know who else is gonna be a witness?
Trump's lawyer.
-New this morning, Rudy Giuliani now says
that he will not represent President Trump
during his impeachment trial.
The president's personal attorney says
that he can not be part of the president's legal team,
because he also gave a speech to supporters
moments before the siege on the Capitol.
During his speech, he told crowds
to engage in "trial by combat."
Giuliani says this makes him a witness to the day's events.
-Trump is such a criminal, his lawyers are also criminals.
"Your honor, my client isn't the murderer; I am.
Just ask my client -- he was there, because he helped me.
It's gonna be impossible for Trump to find
a lawyer who isn't also an accomplice.
I mean, no credible lawyer wants to get anywhere near this guy.
Just look what happened to Rudy.
He was already under criminal investigation.
Now he could get charged for inciting a riot.
He might get kicked out of the New York State Bar Association,
and he hasn't been watered in months.
Every soulless Republican today who accommodated
this obviously deranged president for four years,
every spineless factotum who carried out the business
of keeping the institutional Republican Party
aligned with Trump
shares in the destruction they've wrought
and the shame that comes with it.
And we all have to reckon with the fact
that this isn't going away. Trump's not unique.
He's not alone. He's the emblem and embodiment
of the modern Republican Party. If they want to fix that,
the bare minimum they can do is cast him out
and disqualify him from ever holding office again.
But even then the rot Trump exposed
will remain throughout the GOP, from Fox News
to Lindsey Graham to Rudy Giuliani to...
-The guy from My Pillow.
-This has been "A Closer Look."
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