-The GOP is facing blowback
for heckling President Biden
during his state of the union address last night
after he accurately pointed out that several Republicans
had proposed cutting Social Security and Medicare.
Meanwhile, Marjorie Taylor Greene
stood up and shouted in a fur coat,
like a Real Housewife
who wasn't allowed into a reunion show.
[ Laughter ] But, other than that,
Republicans had a pretty great night.
For more on this, it's time for "A Closer Look."
♪♪ [ Cheering and applause ]
You might remember that, after Donald Trump's
rogues' gallery of dip[bleep] and doofuses
[ Laughter ] got creamed in the midterm elections,
the big takeaway for Republicans was just be normal.
[ Laughter ] That was basically
their "Clear eyes, full heart, can't lose."
[ Laughter ] Trump and his MAGA allies in the GOP
handpicked a bunch of ostentatious weirdos,
like vampire enthusiast Herschel Walker;
[ Laughter ] Pixar villain Kari Lake;
and Area 51 escapee Dr. Oz,
[ Laughter ] who campaigned --
campaigned for Senate in Pennsylvania
by wandering down the produce aisle,
complaining about the price of crudité
at a grocery store he called Wegners,
which does not exist. [ Laughter ]
Of course, the weirdest part of that video
was always the fact that he grabbed salsa for a crudité.
Who puts salsa in their crudité?
[ Laughter ] He's like a college sophomore
putting out hors d'oeuvres for a date.
[ Baritone ] Would you like some Funyuns with your crudité?
[ Laughter ]
Perhaps some Franzia.
I have a January Chardonnay.
That's a very good month.
[ Laughter ]
So, after those candidates lost,
Republicans spent the next few days
lamenting how weird their party had gotten
and pleading for Republicans to just be normal again.
-The Republican Party needs to do
a really deep introspection look in the mirror right now,
because this is -- this is an absolute disaster
for the Republican Party.
[ Laughter ] -We've attracted these more cartoon characters
and, if somebody speaking at a rally
with a president or a presidential candidate
is best known as a pillow salesman,
[ Laughter ] run to high heaven.
-Okay, but if that pillow salesman is Mike Lindell,
it doesn't matter how far you run --
you will never be out of range for his voice.
[ Laughter ] True story -- they say, if you listen closely,
you can even hear Mike Lindell screaming about voting machines
when you hold a seashell up to your ear.
[ Laughter ] Watch. [Indistinct]
-Get one machine, open it up, and look in there.
[ Laughter ]
[ Clap ]
-[ Stage whisper ] You did -- You did great!
[ Laughter ]
Arguably, the first big test of whether Republicans
could prove they were a normal governing party was
in the speakership vote in January,
a test they failed miserably, after it took 15 rounds
to elect Kevin McCarthy as their new speaker
and one of their members tried to physically assault
another one on the House floor,
leaving this infamous photo of a Republican congressman
being restrained by his face,
so that he couldn't punch out a colleague.
He looked like he just got to a house party
and found out there was salsa in the crudité.
[ Laughter and applause ]
"That's an affront to God, you son of a bitch!"
[ Laughter ]
So, Republicans failed that test,
but they had a second chance to make things right
during President Biden's state of the union address.
All they had to do was sit there and listen and not be insane.
Just be normal!
[ Laughter ] Unfortunately, it seems like some of them
skipped their electroshock therapy
[ Laughter ] because they spent the night heckling
and yelling incoherently from the back rows,
like Marjorie Taylor Greene, who was seen screaming
and pointing fingers in a white fur coat,
like a Long Island dance mom about to get her final warning.
[ Laughter and applause ]
"Ma'am, how many times do we have to tell you to sit down?"
[ New York accent ] How many times do I have to tell my Kaylie
to get your goshdarn steps right?!
[ Laughter ]
Why is she wearing a white fur coat
to the state of the union address?
She looks like an old rapper's first wife.
[ Laughter and oohs ]
With that said, it probably should not have shocked us
that Greene decided to act
like an obnoxious weirdo at the state of the union,
given that, just a few hours before the speech,
she posted a video of herself walking the halls of Congress
while holding a single white balloon,
in what I'm guessing was supposed to be
some sort of statement about Joe Biden's handling
of the suspected Chinese spy balloon.
[ Laughter ] I mean, look at her.
She looks like she threw herself
a Sweet 16 party and no one showed up.
[ Laughter ] [ As Greene ] Maybe everybody went
to the other Shakey's.
[ Laughter ]
Now, Biden did give them plenty
of opportunities to be normal.
He ticked through a series of what should've been
bipartisan applause lines,
but the new Republican speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy,
sitting behind Biden for the first time,
made a show of refusing to stand or applaud.
In fact, McCarthy couldn't even bring himself to applaud
when Biden simply condemned the January 6th insurrection
and said nice things about democracy.
-Two years ago, democracy faced its greatest threat
since the Civil War and today, though bruised,
our democracy remains unbowed and unbroken.
[ Cheering, whistling, and applause ]
[ Laughter ] -That's the face of a guy
who knows that, every time he claps for Joe Biden,
his phone call from Donald Trump gets 11 minutes longer.
[ Laughter ]
And, somehow, the ring gets louder when he calls, too?
[ Nokia ringtone ]
Oh! [Bleep]
[ Laughter ] [ As McCarthy] Hello, Mr. Trump.
How does he change my ringtone?
[ Laughter ]
You know what? Let me switch back to my other phone.
-Get one machine, open it up, and look in there.
[ Laughter ]
-[ Stage whisper ] I knew calling you back was a mistake,
but I couldn't change the script.
[ Laughter ]
It was too -- I thought, the first time,
you'd do better and we'd call it back, but then --
[ Laughter ]
I couldn't signal them to --
So, anyway, it was fine. You did great both times.
[ Laughter ]
No, we won't be --
[ Laughter ]
[ Laughter fades ] We won't be needing you tomorrow.
[ Laughter and applause ]
[ Cheering ]
[ Thudding ] [ Laughter and ohhs ]
Now, Biden definitely took --
There's no one in there.
[ Laughter ]
[ Mouthing "There was" ]
[ Laughter ]
Now, Biden definitely took some digs at Republicans, to be sure,
like when he touted his bipartisan infrastructure bill
and said he'd even fund projects
in districts where Republican members of Congress voted
against the bill.
-I want to thank my Republican friends
who voted for the law
and my Republican friends who voted against it as well.
But I'm still -- I still get asked to fund the projects
in those districts as well, but don't worry.
[ Laughter ] I promised I'd be a president
for all Americans. -Whoo!
[ Applause ] -We'll fund these projects
and I'll see you at the groundbreaking!
[ Laughter ] -That's a very, very Biden line.
"I'll see you at the groundbreaking."
[ As Biden ] I'll shake your hand, kiss your baby,
I'll give your wife a ride in my Stingray.
[ Laughter ]
Gonna have a lot of fun.
[ Laughter ] In fact, Biden really leaned
into economic populism in his speech,
tackling things the vast majority of Americans hate,
like absurdly high prices for insulin,
surprise medical bills,
high concert prices jacked up by Ticketmaster,
[ Laughter ] and junk fees at banks and airlines.
At one point, he even said he wanted to eliminate
surprise fees at hotels.
-I know how unfair it feels
when a company overcharges you and gets away with it.
Not anymore.
We've written a bill to stop it all.
It's called the Junk Fee Prevention Act.
We're going to ban surprise resort fees
that hotels charge on your bill.
Those fees can cost up to $90 a night
at hotels that aren't even resorts.
[ Laughter and applause ]
I mean, you know
Joe Biden has stayed at a Motel 6,
[ Laughter and applause ] expecting better accommodation.
[ As Biden ] These aren't even resorts, folks.
[ Laughter ]
No water slide, no golf course,
and you got to pay for the continental breakfast.
[ Laughter ] Plus, those metal chairs
by the pool give me waffle thighs.
[ Laughter ]
And that focus on economic populism is what led
to the big moment of the night,
when Biden called out Republicans
for proposing cuts to Social Security and Medicare
and threatening to hold the country hostage
over the debt ceiling, unless Democrats acquiesce.
It led to a lot of Republican heckling,
including that moment we showed you earlier
with Marjorie Taylor Greene.
-Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share,
some Republicans --
some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset.
I'm not saying it's a majority.
[ Booing ]
Let me give you --
Anybody who doubts it,
contact my office.
I'll give you a copy.
I'll give you a copy
of the proposal. -You're a liar!
That means Congress doesn't vote --
[ Shouting ]
-Liar! -I'm glad to see.
I'm not saying it's a majority of you.
I don't even think it's even
a significant -- -Don't speak anymore.
[ Shouting ]
-But it's being proposed by individuals.
I'm politely not naming them,
but it's being proposed by some of you.
-Okay, first of all,
in a split screen with these two,
I'm definitely less inclined
to believe the lady who's dressed
like she's leaving her entire fortune to her cat.
[ Laughter ]
"Oh, that's right,
you can all laugh at me now.
Oh, laugh it on, Marjorie.
But when I go, you get nothing, nothing, you hear me?
Mr. Poppenscotch, on the other hand,
will live like a king!
[ Laughter ]
Let's go, Mr. Poppenscotch.
Why are you clawing at me, you turncoat?
Do you want to stay with them?
Fine! I'll just bury myself with it!"
[ Laughter ]
[ Laughter and applause ]
[ Cheering ]
[ Laughing ]
Also, it's generally not an effective tactic
to debate the one guy in the room
with a podium and a microphone,
[ Laughter ] especially when you have to scream
from the back row without a microphone.
That was like watching a rap battle
between Eminem and Shy Ronnie.
[ Laughter ] "SNL" classic.
[ Vuvuzela blasts ]
-♪ Speak up ♪
-When you scream from the back,
you look like a crazy person yelling at the bus driver
because he refused to drop you off at the racetrack.
[ Laughter ]
And Greene isn't the only one
who made a big show of disagreeing with Biden.
There was also Utah Senator Mike Lee,
who pretended to be utterly confused
as to what Biden could possibly be referring to when Biden said
he would not allow the country to default on its debt,
if Republicans demanded cuts to safety net programs.
-We're not going to be moved into being threatened
to default on the debt, if we don't respond.
[ Cheering and applause ] Folks.
[ Laughter ] -I'm sorry, are you really confused,
or are you just acting like
you're in an episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm"?
[ Laughter ] "You said you would cut Medicare, Larry!"
[ As Larry ] Ah...
[ Laughter ]
I don't think I did.
"Yes, you did, Larry!"
Not true, Rosie.
"Yes, it is, you bald [bleep]!"
And...
[ Laughter ]
...in Mike Lee's case,
it would be true because he campaigned
on eliminating Medicare and Social Security
when he first ran for Senate back in 2010.
-Nice!
-Hear, hear.
[ Applause ]
-Um... [ Tableware clunks, clinks ]
-Sorry.
-I mean, that's an insane thing to admit on camera
in American politics.
Have you ever been to a polling place?
Half the people in there are on their way
to cash a Social Security check.
[ Laughter ] [ Oldster voice ] I have two errands.
I guess it's going to be a nap day.
[ Laughter ] It's almost as bad as complaining
about the price of salsa for your crudité.
[ Laughter ] Here's my reaction to finding out
that Mike Lee called, on camera, for eliminating Social Security.
[ Laughter ]
And he's not the only one.
Senators Rick Scott and Ron Johnson
both floated plans that would sunset
Social Security and Medicare by putting them
up for periodic votes that would subject them to cuts
and Georgia Republican Congressman Rick Allen
said he would raise the retirement age
because, he claims, people come up to him
and say they want to work longer.
-Mm-hmm? -Yeah.
-No, that's wrong. If people want to work longer,
you don't need to give them an incentive
because they already want to do it.
[ Laughter ] You need incentives for things people don't want to do,
like [bleep] working longer
[ Laughter ] because you made that story up.
As far as I can tell, the only person
who actually wants to work longer is Joe Biden.
[ Laughter ] Everyone thought that dude would hang it up
after he was vice president at the age of 74,
but he watched Obama do it and said,
"Hey, I'd like to have the world's hardest job
and do it into my 80s.
Plus, I hear they bring you free balloons."
[ Laughter ] And, honestly,
who can blame Biden for wanting to stick around,
when these are his opponents?
Biden thrives when compared
to the current era of Republicans.
Remember, Biden ran
for president twice, never got close.
Ran against Trump, boom, he's in the Oval Office.
The beginning of his address last night
wasn't anything special,
but then these lunatics started heckling
and you could see him lick his lips
and everyone thought, "Okay, Grandpa came to play."
[ Laughter and applause ]
These guys make Biden look like a Harlem Globetrotter,
even though trotting isn't exactly his strong suit.
[ Laughter, ohhs, and applause ]
If only he had Marjorie Taylor Greene's balloon,
he could've have just floated up the stairs.
[ Laughter, ohhs, and applause ]
Biden could not have asked for a better contrast
than the one he got last night --
a screaming lady in a white fur coat
and a party that straight-up lied about his past support
for cutting or sunsetting programs
that Americans overwhelmingly support.
Biden rattled off applause lines while McCarthy was stone-faced
and Greene stomped her feet so hard, it was...
-Groundbreaking.
[ Laughter ] -This has been "A Closer Look."
♪♪ [ Cheering and applause ]