Last week, the House Committee on the January 6th insurrection
began holding public hearings on national television.
And while what we learned has been shocking and disturbing,
it is nice to know the people actually give a shit this time.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: 20 million viewers,
this is in the ballpark with big television events
like Sunday Night Football.
MIKA BRZEZINKSI: Oh, my god.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: The original "Apprentice," its final season.
MIKA BRZEZINKSI: That's a big finale.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: The finale only had 4.6 million.
MIKA BRZEZINKSI: Wow, so these hearings--
JOE SCARBOROUGH: --so I'm not-- I'm not--
MIKA BRZEZINKSI: --trumped that.
Oh, my god, Mika, please don't be funny.
You already have it all, kid.
Brains, looks, Joe Scarborough, leave
one thing for the rest of us.
After almost a year of investigating,
the committee, led by Chairman Representative Bennie Thompson
and Vice Chair, Representative Liz Cheney,
have started to show evidence and testimonies
that prove January 6th was the culmination
of an attempted coup.
And even if we already knew that,
the footage is still shocking.
Also, I know it's weird that a staunch Republican like Liz
Cheney is there, but try to think of it as an X2 X-Men
United situation, where we're teaming up with villains
to stop even worse villains.
Basically, Liz Cheney is Magneto.
Bennie Thompson is Professor X.
And I have to take my writer's word for it.
In read through, I pronounced Professor X as Professor 10.
While the first televised hearing
caught America's attention in prime time,
the committee decided to keep that momentum going
by scheduling most upcoming hearings for the exact hours
you hide in the office kitchen to avoid work.
Which is a shame, because what's already been revealed
is extraordinarily important and super juicy.
This is the president's daughter commenting
on Bill Barr's statement that the Department
found no fraud sufficient to overturn the election.
How did that affect your perspective
about the election, when Attorney General
Barr made that statement?
IVANKA TRUMP: It affected my perspective.
I respect Attorney General Barr, so I
accepted what he was saying.
Where in the hell did she get that ring light?
Is it the moon?
Because I need it.
I'm sorry, I distracted myself, which
is why I'm grateful that Representative Thompson used
his opening remarks to give us a firm
reminder of why these hearings really do matter.
I was born, raised, and still live in Bolton, Mississippi,
a part of the country where people
justify the actions of slavery, the Ku Klux Klan, and lynching.
I'm reminded of that dark history
as I hear voices today try and justify the actions
of the insurrectionists.
We must confront the truth in this moment
when the dangers of our Constitution and our democracy
loom large.
Nothing could be more important.
I'm not sure that nothing is more important.
I mean, did you not see what Kim did to Marilyn's dress?
She wore it.
And now some crystals are missing.
It's basically 9/11.
If Thompson's opening remarks somehow weren't clear enough,
Liz Cheney then grabbed the conch shell
and explicitly placed the turd of the flies
at the center of a plot to destroy democracy.
President Donald Trump's intention
was to remain president of the United States,
despite the lawful outcome of the 2020 election.
Over multiple months, Donald Trump
oversaw and coordinated a sophisticated seven-part plan
to overturn the presidential election
and prevent the transfer of presidential power.
And let's just ponder for a moment
how evil you need to be to shock someone who grew up
with Dick Cheney for a father.
The plan to overturn the election,
including things we already know,
like spreading the big lie and corruptly pressuring officials
to change their state election results,
but even if those didn't work, Trump could at least
encourage a bunch of angry racists
to become a bunch of violent racists.
DONALD TRUMP: Because you'll never take
back our country with weakness.
You have to show strength and you have to be strong.
[CHEERING]
CROWD: (CHANTING) USA, USA.
CROWD: (CHANTING) Whose streets?
Our Streets.
Whose streets?
Our streets.
CROWD: (CHANTING) Hang Mike Pence.
Hang Mike Pence.
[YELLING]
OFFICER:
We can't hold this.
We're going to go to many [BLEEP] people here.
Look at this [BLEEP] vantage point.
Man, we're [BLEEP].
OFFICER: Officer down.
Get him up.
CROWD: (CHANTING) USA, USA.
DONALD TRUMP: They were peaceful people.
These were great people.
The crowd was unbelievable and I mentioned the word love.
The love in the air.
Sure, they were just filled with love.
They didn't want to hang Mike Pence,
they just wanted to hug him real hard, like, with a rope.
But according to Capitol officers, it was less like love
and more like [BLEEP] blood lust.
What I saw was just a war scene.
I saw friends with blood all over their faces.
I was slipping in people's blood.
And I was pushed backwards.
My chin hit the handrail.
And you were knocked unconscious.
Yes ma'am.
But then when you regained consciousness, even
with the injuries, you returned to duty.
Is that right?
Yes ma'am.
That officer is a goddamn hero, and a living
Chumbawamba lesson.
She got knocked down and she got up again.
They were never going to keep her down.
The hearings have also confirmed that once the insurrection
began, Trump resisted pleas from his staff to call off
the attack, including Capitol Hill
leaders like Kevin McCarthy, who was, quote, "scared."
And that's unusual for Kevin McCarthy
because what he typically feels is, quote, "stupid."
But when I say Trump resisted calls to stop the riots
and did nothing to help, I mean, he
did literally nothing to help.
He did not call his Secretary of Defense on January 6th.
He did not talk to his Attorney General.
He did not talk to the Department
of Homeland Security.
President Trump gave no order to deploy the National Guard.
He made no effort to work with the Department of Justice
to coordinate and deploy law enforcement assets.
That guy is [BLEEP] welded to his phone.
So not making those calls might be the only act of willpower
he's ever experienced.
Look, anyone with a pulse knows that Donald Trump spurred
on the insurrection, but it matters
that we're seeing hardcore evidence
in the form of both footage and also the testimony
of his most trusted advisors.
I know the January 6th insurrection was 17 months ago.
And with a continuous flow of horrifying news,
it's easy to forget just how bad that day was.
And more importantly, it's easy to forget how the person who
encouraged it, the person who wants to announce his 2024
bid outside of Ron DeSantis's house still
needs to be held responsible.
It is a travesty.
Although it is kind of funny that he
might announce outside Ron DeSantis's house
just to [BLEEP] with him.
I don't know.
We'll be right back.