We just had breaking news.
Donald Trump has been voted to be indicted by a grand jury,
the first president to be indicted,
former first president be indicted.
What are your thoughts?
Well, Donald Trump announced on Truth Social
that he's been "indicated" rather than "indicted" but--
JOHN: [laughs] Of course.
No spell check for the president.
He probably should have Chachi PT help him put
together tweets, but I don't--
you know, Donald Trump--
[laughs]
JOHN: I know.
You know, Donald Trump has been
a pathological liar and lawbreaker his whole life
and has gotten away with it.
Oh, yeah.
Like, he's a master of getting away with it.
And finally, he's facing the accountability he deserves.
But--
[loud cheers]
JOHN: I know.
I want to see that perp walk.
I'm dying for that.
That's the only thing I want to see.
But I will confess, of all the crimes that he's committed
in his life, I never thought in my wildest dreams
that he would be taken down by hush payments to a porn star.
I mean, that's-- JOHN: Right.
True that. True that.
So he's like-- he's like the Al
Capone of American politics. - Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah, for real.
Well put, well put.
Now, you're the first openly gay Afro-Latino congressman.
CONGRESSMAN TORRES: You're outing me publicly.
Come on.
Oh, no, no, no.
I would never do that.
And you're part of the Hispanic Caucus, the Black
Caucus, the Equity Caucus.
Don't you think all these caucuses
should caucus together and create a ginormous caucus?
How powerful would that caucus be?
Look, for us, diversity is not a source of division.
It's a source of unity.
JOHN: It should be.
I mean, the House Democratic Caucus
is the most diverse legislative caucus in American history.
70% of the caucus consists of members
of the LGBTQ community, woman, people of color.
Like, the House Democratic Caucus
has more diversity and intersectionality
than George Santos, so--
[laughter]
Speaking of George Santos--
And by the way, George Santos and I
were the only gay Latinos in the New
York congressional delegation, so we're very close.
Well, does he pretend that he's somebody else
when you try to talk to him?
You know, I avoid him.
JOHN: Oh, you're the one that avoids him.
That's what I thought.
But, you know, I have trouble keeping track of his lies.
But, you know, he's pretended to be
a gay, biracial, Ukrainian, Belgian, Brazilian, Jewish,
volleyball champion, Wall Street banker, whose mother
died twice, including on 9/11, whose ancestors survived
the Holocaust, whose employees died
in the Pulse mass shooting.
I mean, his life story is the greatest
fiction in the history of congressional politics.
Oh, my god, that's so true.
That's why-- that's why you introduced
"Stopping Another Non-Truthful Office Seeker Act."
- The SANTOS Act? - Yes.
Yes.
How long did it take you to come up with that acronym?
Come on.
I was born with that acronym in mind.
[laughter]
Oh, shit.
[laughter]
What can I say to that?
I feel like my life is like a drama.
I mean, January 6 was my third day on the job.
JOHN: Wow, just your third day.
Third day on the job.
And so if someone had said to a younger version of myself,
Ritchie, you're going to become a member of Congress
during a global pandemic, and witness an insurrection
against the US Capitol, and then vote
to impeach the host of The Celebrity Apprentice,
and all of that would happen within the first two weeks,
I would have said, that sounds like a movie
written by George Santos.
[laughter]
So true.
So true, man.
Well, well put, my brother.
Now-- now, you know, we had this terrible shooting
this week.
I wanted to ask you about gun reform.
I mean, Republicans, they don't want to support
background checks-- they--
or mental fund programs.
I mean, what do we do about this?
How do we deal with them?
Look, whenever there's a mass shooting,
Republicans are quick to bring up mental illness.
JOHN: Right.
Every society on Earth has mental illness.
We are the only wealthy country that has an epidemic of gun
violence in mass shootings.
JOHN: True that.
That is not--
like, let's be clear, it's not an inevitability.
It's a public policy choice.
Like, we, as a society, have chosen to put our own children
at risk of gun violence.
And there are Republicans who claim
we're powerless because there's evil in the world.
And my view is if you're too powerless to protect children
from mass murder, then you have no business being in Congress.
JOHN: Yes!
Like, what do you--
That's why I voted for you!
Thank you.
Well, if you voted for me without being in my district,
that's voter fraud. So I want to--
No, that's why I campaigned for you.
I appreciate that. I appreciate that.
- I didn't vote twice. - I appreciate that.
I tried, but I couldn't.
Although your endorsement is an illegal contribution.
And we just had a former president indicted, so I--
No, I didn't contribute.
I stomped for you.
I appreciate it.
Yeah, yeah.
That's why you're on my new NBC show, the docuseries
that I'm doing, Leguizamo Does America.
You're in my third episode. - Thank you.
Thank you, Ritchie. That was a blast, man.
Thank you for coming on. - Appreciate it.