-On the eve of the midterm elections,
the Republican Party has made their agenda crystal clear.
If they regain power, they will once again
thrust our government into chaos
while subverting future elections
to cement permanent Republican rule.
And they've also made clear that Donald Trump is still
and will remain the leader of their party
and that they will march in lockstep behind him
if they win on Tuesday.
For more on this, it's time for "A Closer Look."
[ Theme music plays ]
[ Cheers and applause ]
If you watch Republican midterm ads
or listen to Republicans talk,
they pretend that they're focused on issues like crime
or gas prices or inflation.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, the GOP candidate for Senate in Pennsylvania,
tried to highlight gas prices
by posting this incredibly bizarre picture of himself
standing under a sign showing gas prices
at a Sheetz convenience store
on the side of the road in Altoona,
just hanging out under a gas station sign,
you know, like ordinary Americans do.
So stoic, too.
He looks like a car dealership tube man after he quit caffeine.
There are actually a few more things
I want to zoom in on, in this picture,
as part of our new segment, "An Even Closer Look."
[ Theme music plays ]
Alright, first of all, why are his arms crossed
like he's doing a pose in the opening credits of "Shark Tank"?
"So, you want to sell pills that don't do anything?
I'm intrigued." [ Laughter ]
Also, I love his serious face.
Look at him. He's a gas station bouncer.
"Sir, you're not on the list. Get your beef jerky elsewhere.
Ladies, right this way."
And I'm sorry, there's only one Pennsylvania Senate candidate
who can pull off the nightclub bouncer look.
I mean, that's a guy who will not be fooled
by your out-of-state I.D.
Plus, Fetterman is so tall that when he takes the same picture,
gas looks like it's only $0.99.
[ Laughter ]
And finally, let's zoom in Oz' feet.
Why is he standing on a tiny rock?
Does he think he's stranded at sea?
Is he playing "the floor is lava"?
Or more likely, is he wearing super expensive shoes?
"I stand for all Pennsylvanians on a tiny rock
so I don't get dirt on my Brunello Cucinellis."
This has been "An Even Closer Look."
[ Theme music plays ] [ Cheers and applause ]
So, Republicans claim they're focused on issues.
"Oh, but Seth," you might say, "didn't you just spend 2 minutes
making fun of a picture of Dr. Oz?"
Yes, but I never claim to be focused on the issues.
Republicans did.
And when you press them for specifics
on what they would actually do if they win,
they don't really have any.
That's what happened when Florida Senator Rick Scott,
who's in charge of taking back the Senate
for Republicans this year, went on "Meet the Press"
and was asked if he could name a bill Republicans would pass
that President Biden might actually sign into law.
And instead, he just repeated
a bunch of lazy Republican slogans.
-Alright, let's assume you've got the majority.
I'm gonna take you at your word.
You're gonna get the House. You're gonna get the Senate.
What's the first bill a Republican Congress
sends to the president's desk
that you actually think he would sign?
[ Light laughter ]
-I think the issues --
we've got to deal with inflation.
So we've got to figure out how to spend our money wisely
so we don't continue this inflation.
I think we've got to do whatever we can
to get this crime rate down.
So I think we have to look at that.
We've got to secure the border.
So I think those are the things that we have to focus on.
-Yeah, but none of those are bills.
We can all name issues.
You know, we're asking for solutions.
When you go to the doctor, he doesn't just point out
a bunch of [Bleep] that's wrong with you and leave.
"Well, we've got to do something about the gallbladder,
and that heart's no good.
Plus, a bunch of your bones are out of place,
and you need a new kidney.
Anyway, good luck with all of that.
I'm gonna go hang out under the sign at the gas station
with the other 'doctors.'"
So, once again, Republicans are making promises
they obviously have no intention of keeping.
How many times do we have to go through this dance with the GOP
before we learn that they're lying?
Remember when they did the same thing with Obamacare?
For almost an entire decade,
they said Obamacare had to be repealed,
that it was their number-one priority,
and that they had a solution that would be so much better
and cost so much less and give everyone great healthcare?
Remember when Trump said all this?
-We are coming up with something
that I believe will be very good.
A bill that's going to be a phenomenal bill.
We're going to have something that's going to be
much more understood and much more popular
than people can even imagine.
This will be a plan where you can choose your doctor.
This will be a plan where you can choose your plan.
And you know what the plan is? This is the plan.
This is a great bill. There's a great plan.
And this will be great healthcare.
You're going to have such great healthcare
at a tiny fraction of the cost,
and it's gonna be so easy.
-As usual, with Trump, he couldn't stop overpromising.
It's one thing to lie and say you have a plan when you don't.
It's another to say that nonexistent plan you don't have
is the greatest plan to ever exist
in the history of civilization.
"This plan is so amazing. You're gonna get everything --
perfect healthcare, completely free.
And if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor.
You can keep him in your basement,
chained to a wall."
And they'll be there 24/7 to serve your medical needs.
The doctors don't like it, but you're gonna love it.
You're gonna love it."
Also, remember when he said it would be so easy?
Like he was a dude trying to impress a date at a carnival.
"Hey, babe, you want that giant bear?
No problem. Gonna be so easy.
I can hit that clown's mouth in one shot.
[Bleep] [ Laughter ]
Not even close! Damn it!
The clown moved! I swear, the clown moved, babe!
No! No!
I won't let it go!
You don't understand!
I'm gonna go to the Sheetz and hang out under the sign!"
[ Laughter ]
Now, that's two.
That's two callbacks to the Sheetz sign.
So, if you know anything about comedy,
there's probably -- probably one more coming.
[ Laughter ]
You're not out of the woods yet, "Dr. Oz."
[ Laughter ]
Anyway, Trump was, of course, lying,
just like the rest of the Republican Party,
when it came time to actually pass a bill
to replace Obamacare after nearly a decade.
I'm realizing now it was a gun, and I threw a ball.
Right? [ Laughter ]
Mm-hmm. It just dawned on me.
I'm mime-throwing,
and it's gonna be a tricky edit.
[ Laughter ]
When it came time to actually pass a bill to replace Obamacare
after nearly a decade of empty promises,
they freaked out like a hung-over college freshman
waking up in his dorm room at 6:00 a.m.
with a blank piece of paper stuck to his face.
"Oh, [Bleep]! Oh, this is due in an hour!
Oh, let's see. What do I have so far?
'This will be a thesis where you can choose your thesis.
and you know what the thesis is, this is the thesis.'
Ohh, aw!" [ Cheers and applause ]
The same thing is playing out all over again.
Except this time, all the lies and empty promises
are concealing something much more nefarious.
And that is the real reason Republicans want power,
so they can rig future elections
and install permanent one-party rule.
And that's not just me saying that.
Republicans are saying that. They are saying it in public,
out in the open, for everyone to hear.
The GOP candidate for governor in Wisconsin,
Tim Michels, who is in a dead heat
with the Democratic incumbent, Tony Evers,
said at a campaign stop last week,
"Republicans will never lose another election in Wisconsin
after I'm elected governor."
That wasn't even a secret confession
caught on hidden camera at a private event.
He said that at a public campaign stop.
It used to be that when you caught politicians
confessing to something scandalous,
it would be on grainy black-and-white footage
from a motel security camera.
Now they just yell it into a microphone
like Michael Buffer before a boxing match.
"Let's get ready for fascism!"
[ Up-tempo music plays ]
By the way, not the real song.
It's a fake sound, like we couldn't afford the real one,
thanks to inflation.
[ Laughter ] Anyway, the point is,
the thing that really motivates Republicans
is not the cost of living or gas prices
or any of that stuff. It's election denialism.
Trump's big lie about the 2020 election
is now the beating heart of conservative ideology.
It's their single obsessive focus
and the thing that galvanizes them,
as you can see from a rally Trump held in Miami last night
for Florida Senator Marco Rubio,
where the crowd actually chanted with Trump
when he claimed the 2020 election was stolen.
And by the way, just for the record,
what you're about to hear from Trump,
as if you even needed to hear me say this,
is complete and utter nonsense.
Just this week, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled, in effect,
that I was 100% right,
and the 2020 presidential election in Pennsylvania
was riddled with ballots
that should never have been counted.
Far more than necessary to win.
They stated that big things that took place
in 2020 presidential election
in Pennsylvania were not allowed.
They weren't allowed to do it.
Now, they did it anyway. But they weren't allowed.
But they refused the court to invalidate the election.
Instead, in the future, they say.
[ Chuckles ]
That's true. That's true.
By a lot.
-You know... [ Laughter ]
You know how when you read Supreme Court opinions,
they always use language
like, "Big things took place that were not allowed."
[ Laughter ] You can read all about it
in Trump v. Bad Guys, Nasty Guys.
But that's what really gets Republicans going, not --
You can notice, they're not chanting,
"Solve inflation or balance the budget."
Also in general, whenever an angry mob is chanting something,
you want a politician who will try to calm them down,
not respond by saying, "That's true."
When the townsfolk showed up with torches
and pitchforks to kill Frankenstein,
Trump probably would have been there saying,
"You know what? You guys are right.
We have to kill that giant green monster.
We got to kill him with the bolts in his neck.
Personally, I've always been more of a Dracula fan.
We love Dracula, don't we? We love Dracula.
I met him during a presidential visit to Transylvania.
I was there. He came up to me.
a big guy, tough guy, tears pouring up his face,
because he was hanging by his feet like a bat.
So the tears were dripping from his eyes,
down his forehead, onto the floor.
It was very special. He said to me, 'Mr. Trump, sir,
I want to suck your blood.'
And I said, 'Dracula, you remind me of my son.'"
Although... [ Laughter ]
...my favorite crowd chant during that rally
came when Trump was ranting about his first impeachment --
the one where he tried to extort Ukraine
to help him cheat in the 2020 election.
And he attacked one of the lead impeachment managers,
Congressman Adam Schiff.
-So, the speech he made
was total you-know-what.
I won't use it, because my wife always says --
she always says, "Darling,
don't use the word 'bull[Bleep].'"
So I'm not gonna use it. I'm telling you -- first lady.
"'[Bleep]' -- Don't use that word."
Wow, you guys are the coolest kids in fifth grade.
[ Laughter ]
"We got a substitute teacher today.
Let's all chant '[Bleep]' and see if he cries."
[ Laughter ]
But Trump remains obsessed with the election
and with his two impeachments, which is why
Republicans have made it clear that one of the first things
they'll do if they get back in power
is use Congress to investigate their political enemies,
impeach various Cabinet officials,
like Merrick Garland, prosecute Dr. Anthony Fauci,
and even impeach Biden himself,
which has led former President Barack Obama
to add a little comedy routine
to his stump speech about how ridiculous that is.
-They're on record.
If they get control of Congress,
they will spend the next two years
investigating President Biden and their political opponents.
That's all they want to do. They see it as payback.
Some of them have said
they're going to impeach President Biden.
Now, they're not sure why. [ Laughter ]
They're not sure what for yet.
But, apparently, that's beside the point.
-You know, we've said it before and we'll say it again.
One of the only good things about campaign season
is the return of stand-up comedy Obama.
"Let's see. What else? What else?
You see that photo of Dr. Oz? What's up with this weird dude?
Standing on the side of the road like a restaurant mascot.
I said to Michelle -- I said, 'I didn't know
they had a Bob's Little Boy.
[ Laughter ]
This ain't New Jersey. You got to pump your own gas.
Dried-up, Spock-looking mother[Bleep]."
[ Laughter ]
And there's it. That's the third.
That's it. [ Laughter ]
Anyway, that's what Republicans are gonna do.
They're gonna use the levers of political -- of power
for political retribution and to plunge our government
and our economy into crisis after crisis after crisis.
Again, this isn't a weird conspiracy theory I made up.
This is all just stuff they've said themselves in public.
They want to impeach Biden and his cabinet,
investigated Fauci, pass a national abortion ban,
hold the debt ceiling hostage
to force cuts to Social Security and Medicare,
which among other things,
could potentially detonate our economy.
That's all stuff they've said on the record.
It will be the Trump era over and over again.
Nonstop crisis, Nonstop chaos, nonstop...
But most important of all, they want to use their positions
in key states across the country to rig future elections
and cement one-party Republican rule.
The GOP candidate for secretary of state in Nevada,
Jim Marchant, who openly said
he and other pro-Trump secretaries of state
around the country will make sure
that Trump wins, no matter what, in 2024.
-We have something in common.
President Trump and I lost an election in 2020
because of a rigged election. [ Crowd cheers ]
And when I'm secretary of state of Nevada,
we're gonna fix it.
And when my coalition of secretary of state candidates
around the country get elected,
we're gonna fix the whole country,
and President Trump is gonna be president again in 2024.
-Once again, they're just admitting their plans
to steal the 2024 election in advance.
Seriously, what else do we have to do
to get people to pay attention to this?
Do I have to stand on a street corner in Times Square,
dressed like Abe Lincoln,
handing out pamphlets like one of those guys
advertising a Presidents' Day sale?
Because I will do it.
Actually, I won't do it, but I will make Wally do it.
-[ Clears throat ]
Four score and seven cue cards -- Oh.
[ Laughter ]
-God.
It's like...
[ Cheers and applause ]
It's like a dead heat with Daniel Day-Lewis.
[ Laughter ]
It's very possible the Democrats will lose seats tomorrow,
since historically that always is what happens
to the party in power. In fact, it would be very normal
and maybe even unremarkable if it weren't for the fact
that Republicans want to subvert the system
to ensure that they never lose power again.
That's their plan. And we know that's their plan
because they've said that's their plan.
It's a plan... -Where you can choose your plan.
And you know what the plan is? This is the plan.
-This has been "A Closer Look."
[ Theme music plays ]
The midterm elections are coming up.
So to make sure that you're good to vote in this election,
visit our good friends at headcount.org
to check your voter-registration status
or to register to vote.