-The president lied about his reaction
to a vile racist chant at his rally last night.
For more on this, it's time for "A Closer Look."
[ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪
There's a tendency among some in the media and in D.C.
to interpret every unhinged Trump outburst
as some sort of calculated political chess move
designed to corner Democrats in a politically difficult spot,
which doesn't make much sense.
I mean, last night, he tried to talk about
an upcoming special election
in North Carolina's 9th Congressional District
and his brain melted down
just trying to get those words out of his mouth.
-There is another crucial election
in North Carolina's "Nith Conde--"
Right? You know what we're talking about?
-No.
No, we don't. Trump always sounds like
he went to grab some water
and accidentally drank an entire bottle of Novocaine.
Trump isn't some genius political chess master.
He's a racist whose brain is mostly oatmeal
and his mouth is attached to Fox News
like some kind of human centipede.
He is a wannabe authoritarian
who craves the adoration of crowds,
and that's why he opened his rally
in North Carolina last night by telling the crowd
he would be there all night
because he had nothing else to do.
-We have all night. We can have a lot of fun tonight.
I have nothing to do. Nothing! Nothing!
[ Cheers and applause ]
-Cool. We all have to work tomorrow.
[ Laughter ]
Seriously, you have nothing to do?
You're the president!
And, look, on some level,
it's comforting to know that Trump
isn't actually doing anything.
In fact, I'd prefer it if he spent all his time
crawling around.
That's what we want, right?
-On all fours like some sort of bloated possum.
I mean, look at him.
Looks like he just saw a chicken nugget in the wild
and he's trying to sneak up on it.
[ As Trump ] Easy.
Don't startle the nest.
[ Laughter ]
Get 'em quick before the mama comes back.
[ Laughter ]
[ Normal voice ] So Trump is obviously
no political mastermind.
In fact, last night he tried
to mention Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
and clearly could not remember her name.
-But Cortez -- Somebody said that's not her name.
It's..."
[ Laughter ]
They said, "That's not her name, sir."
I said, "No, no. I don't have time
go with three different names.
We'll call her Cortez."
Too much time. Takes too much time.
-I wonder if he uses that excuse with his kids.
[ As Trump ] I can't remember three different names.
I'm just gonna call you Ivanka and the losers.
[ Laughter ]
[ Normal voice ] Also, I love how he can't even hide the fact
that he just couldn't remember her name.
His brain short circuited so badly,
all he could do was make a hissing noise.
-Somebody said that's not her name, it'ssssssssss...
[ Laughter ]
-Sounds like he's letting the air out of a balloon.
[ As Trump ] Uh-oh! Uh-oh! There go my words!
Ssssssssssssssss!
[ Normal voice ] This is when Trump is in his element.
He gives his base the performance they want.
And that's what he did again last night when he whipped them
into a racist frenzy by slandering
Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar,
a Somalian refugee and naturalized citizen.
Trump has been attacking her all week with racist lies,
and the crowd responded with a truly horrific chant
while Trump just stood by.
-She looks down with contempt on the hardworking American,
saying that ignorance is pervasive
in many parts of this country.
[ Crowd booing ]
-Send her back!
And obviously and importantly,
Omar has a history
of launching vicious anti-Semitic screams.
[ Crowd chanting "Send her back!" ]
-This is one of the most vile spectacles
in modern political history, a defining moment for our country.
Any Republican who doesn't immediately condemn it
should imagine how it will look
in a history textbook years from now
because there will absolutely be a section on this
and it will absolutely name everyone complicit in it
and they will absolutely use the worst photo of you
they can possibly find.
[ Laughter ]
That's how it works. Historians get to pick the photos.
Yet, despite the fact that Trump spent the rally
and the preceding three days spreading racist lies
and telling the Omar and three other Congresswomen
to go back to their countries,
he actually tried to claim in the oval office today
that he didn't like the chant and tried to stop it,
which is, again, an obvious lie.
-When your supporters last night were chanting, "Send her back,"
why didn't you stop them?
Why didn't you ask them to stop saying that?
-Well, number one, I think I did.
I started speaking very quickly.
It really was a loud -- I disagree with it, by the way.
But it was quite a chant.
And I felt a little bit badly about it,
but I will say this, I did --
And I started speaking very quickly.
-No, no, no, you didn't.
When they started chanting, you just let 'em go.
You said nothing.
[ Crowd chanting "Send her back!" ]
-That's not how you stop a chant.
[ Laughter ]
That's how you wait in line at the deli for them
to call your number.
[ Laughter ]
[ Cheers and applause ]
[ Laughter ]
Also, you didn't start speaking very quickly.
We've seen you speak very quickly.
Sometimes you speak so quickly your words slur
and face turns red and you start gasping for air
like a whale coming up out of the water.
-[ Gasping ]
-But this is con at the heart of Trump's politics --
He whips his base into a racist frenzy
And claims Omar is the one who looks down
on hardworking Americans, when in reality,
he's the one plundering the government,
doling out trillions in tax cuts to his rich buddies,
and partying it up all night
because he doesn't have to work on Thursdays.
In fact, he lied to his audience again last night
about his administration's repeated attempts
to strip healthcare away from millions
and told a bizarre story about a run-in with a fellow rich guy
who loves what Trump is doing,
even though he dislikes Trump personally.
-A man I know who I don't like, a businessman,
very, very, very successful, one of the most successful men.
I don't like him. Never liked him.
He never liked me, either, by the way.
In fact, I would go a step further -- he cannot stand me.
I saw him about two months ago.
And he came up to me. I said, "How you doing?"
Very warm. "Hey, how you doing?
Oh, let's get out of here."
And he said, "I'm doing good. You doing good?"
I said, "Yeah." I said, "You know,
you don't like me and I don't like you,
I never have liked you and you never have liked me.
But you're gonna support me because you're a rich guy,
and if you don't support me,
you're gonna be so goddamn poor, you're not gonna believe it.
It's true.
-There are a million reasons
that story is obviously a lie he made up.
One of which is, you're the president of the United States.
Where are you just running into people?!
[ As Trump ] And so I was like, "Hey," and he was like, "Hey."
And I'm like, "Are you getting Jamba Juice?"
And he's like, "Yeah, what about you?"
And I'm like, "Yeah. I already ordered,
but they haven't said my name yet.
Just waiting for them to call my name."
[ Laughter ]
[ Normal voice ] But that's who Donald Trump works for --
the corporations and wealthy
and he thinks he can lie about it to voters
While keeping his base in line with racist incitement.
For example, after the House voted on a resolution
to condemn Trump's racist attacks this week
and Republicans almost entirely sided with Trump,
Trump tweeted this --
-So great to see how unified
the Republican Party was on today's vote concerning
statements I made about four Democratic Congresswoman.
If you really want to see statements,
look at the horrible things they've said about our country,
Israel, and much more.
They are now the top most visible members
of the House Democrats who are now wedded
to this bitterness and hate.
The Republican vote was 187-4. Wow!
-I like when Trump tries to use a flowery phrase
like "wedded to this bitterness and hate,"
and then immediately follows it up with something dumb,
like "Wow!"
It's like if Charles Dickens
had started "The Tale of Two Cities" with,
"It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.
Cool!
Let's not forget one important point --
Trump ran on a similar style of racist incitement
in 2018, and Republicans lost by a historic margin
in the midterms, including in key swing states in the Midwest.
So let's just remember that.
Who knows what will happen in 2020?
But based on 2018, there's a good chance he'll lose
yet again in places like Ohio and Wisconsin and...
-North Carolina's "Nith Conde--" Right?
[ Laughter ] -This has been "A Closer Look."
[ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪