-Republicans are rushing to a place retiring
Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy
while simultaneously working to stop the Russian investigation.
For more on this, it's time for "A Closer Look."
[ Cheers and applause ]
Trump held yet another campaign rally last night
in North Dakota, his third rally in a week.
Now, we've been calling these rallies public therapy sessions,
but it was never more true than it was last night.
Watch as Trump airs his deepest insecurities
about not being seen as smart, rich, or popular.
-I meet these people. They call them the elite.
These people.
I look at them, I say, "That's elite?"
We got more money. We got more brains.
We got better houses, apartments.
We got nicer boats.
We're smarter than they are, and they say the elite.
We're the elite!
And I thought that was so brilliant.
I said, "Oh, I am so smart. I am the smartest person."
My uncle was a great professor at MIT for 40 years.
Can you believe? 40 years.
I said, "But I'm smarter than him.
I'm smarter than anybody."
A thing comes out, a big poll, and a couple of polls,
a number of polls that he's the most powerful,
most popular Republican in the history of the party.
-Oh, my God, dude, get a therapist.
[ Laughter, cheers, applause ]
I know they're cheap, but get a therapist.
Trump is like a guy at a bar who acts as his own wingman.
"My buddy thinks you're cute.
He's smart and handsome and popular, and he's me."
[ Laughter and applause ]
But you know what Trump says -- he's smarter than anybody,
and he had a chance to show off those smarts
while talking about the complex issue of trade during his rally.
Trump was defending his tariffs.
Now, this is Trump's thing. It's his big issue,
the thing he claims to be an expert on,
yet when his aides slipped him a note
during the rally about Canadian wheat practices,
he seemed confused.
-I'll tell you, John and Kevin gave me something --
they just told me --
Canadian wheat markets consistently discriminate
against the United States wheat by grading it as feed.
Do you know what that means?
They know what it means.
I don't know what the hell it means.
I just know it's a bad deal.
What the hell does that mean? Yeah.
-Great, that clears it up.
[ Laughter ]
Also, he yells out "Canadian wheat"
like he's guessing in Pictionary.
"Canadian wheat!"
[ Laughter and applause ]
Only Trump could brag that he's smarter than anybody,
and then, in the same speech,
admit that he has no idea what he's talking about.
He's like a doctor looking down at you before surgery
and says, "Don't worry.
I'm the best surgeon in the world.
Now just tell me, uh, what does a kidney look like?"
[ Laughter ]
And while he was nursing his various obsessions,
Trump decided to return to another one,
perhaps his greatest obsession, Hillary Clinton,
during a rant, comparing the size of his crowds to hers.
-If crooked Hillary would've won this election,
and if she came here, which is about a zero percent chance,
after the election, she'd have 200 people
in a conference room in a small hotel.
And let me tell you, if our opponent,
our wonderful opponent,
when is she gonna get over it?
[ Laughter ]
When does she get over it?
-When is "she" gonna get over it?
[ Laughter and applause ]
If you're still asking that question
20 months after the election you won,
you're the person who's not over it.
Trump's like a guy texting his ex two years
after they broke up, "Why can't you stop thinking about me?"
[ Laughter, cheers, applause ]
While Trump is obsessing over Hillary or his popularity,
he also seems to have found a new hobby horse --
how much -- Bear with me here.
How much rich guys love rockets.
He's mentioned it multiple times just in the last week,
while discussing his plans for NASA,
including twice yesterday.
-I said, listen, you got rich guys,
for whatever reason, they love rockets.
I said, "Lease them the land. Charge them a lot.
But let's do it that way. That's a lot better.
We're like a landlord."
We have all these rich guys, they love rockets.
They're all sending up -- Bezos and Elon Musk
and all of them, they love the rocket business.
Let them -- Just rent it to them
for a lot of money and let them play.
You know, they need our land.
It's good to be in the real-estate business.
They need our land.
You know, we have these rich guys, they love these rockets.
I said, "Lease them the land. Charge them a lot.
They just want to send rockets."
But I look at it with Bezos, with Elon Musk --
they all love rockets.
-He sounds like a stand-up comic trying out a new bit.
[ Laughter ]
"What's the deal with rich guys and rockets?!"
[ Laughter, cheers, applause ]
Seriously, though, why on Earth
would anyone want their own personal rocket?
I mean, sure, things are bad right now,
but it's not like anyone actually wishes
they could blast themselves into outer space, right?
-We're following major breaking news --
President Trump getting another opportunity to put his stamp
on the United States Supreme Court
for decades to come.
Justice Anthony Kennedy
announcing his retirement a few hours ago.
-Hey, honey, it's me.
Uh, meet me at the launch pad in T-minus 20 minutes.
No, don't bring the dog!
[ Laughter, cheers, applause ]
So Donald "Little Rocket Man" Trump
will now have the chance to nominate
a second Supreme Court Justice
who will shape the future of everything from gay rights
to voting rights to Roe v. Wade.
Trump, of course, is elated
that he gets to pick a second Supreme Court Justice
who could help cement his legacy.
And he made that clear yesterday
when he was meeting with the president of Portugal.
But right off the bat, he had to go and make it weird.
-If you don't mind, I'll just make a quick statement.
A man I also have great respect for,
Justice Anthony --
You know who I'm talking about --
Justice Kennedy will be retiring.
-He definitely forgot Kennedy's last name for a second.
[ Laughter and applause ]
"Justice Anthony -- you know who I'm talking about.
Old guy, glasses.
You know him, black robe."
How do you forget the name Kennedy?
It's one of the most famous names in American history.
Is that why Trump puts his names on all his buildings,
so he won't forget it?
My name is Donald -- Donald...Tower.
[ Laughter, cheers, applause ]
-Now, if you remember, Republicans stole
a Supreme Court seat from President Obama
by staging an unprecedented blockade of Obama's choice
to fill the seat, Merrick Garland.
They claimed back then that the American people
should get to weigh in during the presidential election,
which was, at the time, nine months away.
-The American people should be afforded the opportunity
to weigh in.
-We think that the American people
need a chance to weigh in on this issue.
-It ought to be put off, out of this toxic arena right now
and put off until after the election.
-This should be a decision for the people, George.
Let the election decide it.
-Let's let the American people decide.
-There you go -- McConnell said, "Let the people decide."
So now that we're four months away from an election,
I'm sure McConnell, a man of his word,
will follow the rule he made up and hold off the vote
until after the election. And I'm just kidding.
McConnell is totally full of [bleep]
-We will vote to confirm
Justice Kennedy's successor this fall.
It's imperative that the president's nominee
be considered fairly.
-Considered fairly?
You refused to even meet with Merrick Garland.
Look at that sweet man.
That's like refusing to pet a Golden Retriever.
"No, thank you. I prefer a rattlesnake."
[ Laughter ]
"I'd like to pet a good ol' rattlesnake."
[ Laughter ]
"Come here now. N-Nice snake."
[ Laughter ]
[ Laughter, cheers, applause ]
Here's the lesson.
The GOP isn't operating on arguments or principles.
They don't care about being called hypocrites or liars.
Hypocrisy isn't their weakness, it's their platform.
We saw that yet again during a Congressional hearing
on the Russia investigation today.
Remember, Republicans spent millions of dollars
over four years investigating Benghazis
and came up with nothing.
And yet today, they basically yelled
at Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein
to end the Russia investigation.
Here's retiring GOP Congressman Trey Gowdy freaking out
at Rosenstein today.
-We're two years into this investigation,
we're a year and a half into the presidency,
we're over a year into Special Counsel.
There is a presumption of guilt.
There's a desire by Democrat Senators
to fundraise off of your investigation.
More than 60 Democrats have already voted to proceed
with impeachment before Bob Mueller
has found a single, solitary damn thing!
More than 60 have voted to move forward with impeachment!
And he hasn't presented his first finding!
If you have evidence of wrongdoing
by any member of the Trump campaign,
present it to the damn grand jury.
Whatever you got, finish it the hell up.
-What's up with Trey Gowdy?
I mean, look at him -- loose tie, messy hair.
He looks like he's about to be cut off by the bartender.
"They're trying to impeach him!"
[ Laughter ]
Of course Gowdy's the same guy who dragged Hillary Clinton
in front of a committee to testify about Benghazi
during the presidential campaign.
And even he admitted after that hearing
that he didn't learn anything new.
-Well, when you say knew today, we knew some of that already.
We knew about the e-mails.
In terms of her testimony, I don't know that she testified
that much differently today than she has previous times
she's testified, so...
I'd have to go back and look at the transcript.
-Go back and look at the transcript?
Even the transcript would be fed up.
[ Laughter ]
Establishment Democrats need to learn that Republicans
don't care about being hypocrites.
It's just raw politics.
Trump doesn't care for your respect for rules or norms.
In fact, there's only one thing
Trump does seem to deeply care about.
-Rich guys, they love rockets.
-This has been "A Closer Look."
[ Cheers and applause ]