Right now there's a big story at the crossroads of media,
politics, and insurrections.
Just days after being hired by NBC News,
former RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel is back on LinkedIn.
NBC News is now cutting ties with the former RNC chair Ronna
McDaniel days after hiring her as a contributor
because of major backlash from some of its biggest anchors.
I find the decision to put her
on the payroll inexplicable.
REPORTER: They say that it wasn't because McDaniel
is a Republican but because she helped promote Donald Trump's
lies about the 2020 presidential election
and assisted in efforts to overturn the results.
REPORTER: Trump posted on truth social, "Wow!
Ronna McDaniel got fired by fake news NBC.
It leaves her in a very strange place.
It's called Never Neverland, and it's
not a place you want to be."
[LAUGHTER]
Never Neverland?
Where does that come from?
Does Trump think that's an unemployment
office for Peter Pan?
I mean, maybe-- maybe Trump sees a kinship
in Tinker Bell in that if enough people
don't clap for him, he dies.
I don't know.
Although Trump can't be too mad about it.
The only reason she was available in the first place
is that he fired her from the RNC a few weeks ago.
[LAUGHTER]
Yes, Ronna McDaniel lasted just five days
at NBC, which is less screen time than dead bodies
on Law & Order get.
This is sad for Ronna, but also I don't really give a shit.
There's a lot more important things to worry about.
I mean, P. Diddy is on the loose.
He can be anywhere, you know?
But the Ronna McDaniel situation
does point to a larger question in America,
which is, What should happen with the people who
did January 6?
You may remember, back when January 6 happened,
there wasn't much of a question about this at all.
Everyone who was not wearing horns agreed.
The people who did this had to be punished for it.
Even the guy who they were wearing the horns for
agreed that there had to be consequences
for their violent actions.
Like all Americans, I am outraged by the violence,
lawlessness, and mayhem.
America is and must always be a nation of law and order.
The demonstrators who infiltrated the Capitol
have defiled the seat of American democracy.
To those who engaged in the acts
of violence and destruction, you
do not represent our country.
And to those who broke the law, you will pay.
You hear that, people who broke the law?
You're going to pay for that.
So says the person who told you to break the law.
It's a bit like Tim Cook coming out
and being like, Who are these people wearing the Vision Pro?
You look like idiots!
[LAUGHTER]
OK, so basically, everyone agreed, January 6, bad.
And justice needed to play out.
And the good news is justice did play out.
The fake electors were charged.
Trump's lawyers are being disbarred.
Hundreds of rioters were arrested and put in jail.
And it's still continuing today.
Just in the past couple weeks, a man
was charged for firing a gun during the riots.
And a geophysicist who stormed the Capitol
was sentenced to five years in prison.
So if you ever thought you weren't
smarter than a geophysicist--
[LAUGHTER]
--good news.
Good news.
And you know what?
If you don't mind-- if you don't--
I might indulge.
To that geophysicist, good luck using the Siwalik fluvial
sequence to analyze remnant magnetization now,
you locked up bitch.
[LAUGHTER]
[CHEERING]
It's been pent up for a long time.
As the wheels of justice turned and life moved on,
most people moved on to other things, which makes sense.
Other shit happened.
We had the rest of the pandemic.
There was inflation.
Two famous people decided to date each other.
I mean, how could we focus on anything else?
We can be forgiven for moving on.
But Trump and the MAGA movement didn't forget about January 6.
In fact, they've been rewriting.
And I have no problem saying that these January 6 defendants
are being treated like political prisoners of war.
The DOJ is harassing-- harassing peaceful
patriots across the country.
COMMENTATOR: They're not destroying the Capitol.
They obviously revere the Capitol.
They're there because they believe the election
was stolen from them.
They believe in the system.
Convicted January 6 rioter is free this morning,
and now they own an honorary American flag,
a gift from a Texas Republican Congressman.
Dr. Simone Gold was released from prison on Friday.
And Congressman Louie Gohmert was there
to present her with the flag.
I'm no history buff, but she was in the-- she was the loser
in a failed insurrection.
If you were going to present her with a flag,
it probably should have been this flag, I think.
I think.
[CHEERING]
I think.
No one has reversed his position on the Trump mob as
hard as Donald Trump himself.
He went from demanding that these criminals go to prison
to promising that he's going to get these heroes out of prison.
REPORTER: Trump called those now serving prison sentences
hostages and patriots.
You see the spirit from the hostages.
And that's what they are is hostages.
REPORTER: Suggesting he'd pardon them as soon
as he gets back into office.
The first day we get into office,
we are going to work with the people to treat those
unbelievable patriots-- and they were
unbelievable patriots and are.
Release the J6 hostages, Joe.
Release them, Joe.
You can do it real easy, Joe.
You can do it, Joe.
The hostages, Joe.
Come on, Joe.
I wouldn't call convicted criminals hostages.
Although if MAGA wants to treat them as hostages,
we can have a hostage exchange.
I'm happy to release them if they can give us the--
I don't know-- old Kanye back, you know?
Just-- just spitballing here.
But that's how far Trump has gone.
He's turning these January 6 rioters
into victims and patriots and innocent choirboys.
I mean, literally choir boys.
There is a group of January 6 rioters
in prison who have started a choir.
And they released a version of the "Star Spangled Banner"
that Donald Trump features on.
And now Donald Trump's rallies begin like this.
ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen,
please rise for the horribly and unfairly
treated January 6 hostages.
[MUSIC PLAYING] O say can you
see [LAUGHTER]
That's a dramatic way to kick off an event.
At the next Super Bowl, I want to hear,
ladies and gentlemen, please rise
for the horribly and unfairly treated Kelly Rowland.
She's just as talented as Beyoncé.
It's not her fault she wasn't as strategic with her career.
I mean, look, we can't normalize this.
Do you remember when he wasted three months of our lives being
mad at Colin Kaepernick for kneeling
for the national anthem?
Now he's saluting rioters, insurrectionists, and even
worse a cappella singers.
And the [BLEEP] didn't even take off his hat.
But that's where we are now.
And Ronna McDaniel trying to get a job at NBC
is just the latest example of Jan 6ers trying
to get back into mainstream.
Remember the guy with the horns, the shaman?
Guess what he's up to now.
He's been known by many names--
Jacob Chansley, Jake Angeli, and QAnon Shaman, among others.
But now Jacob Angeli Chansley hopes to be known
by a new name, Congressman.
As a Congressman, I will have a platform
to highlight not just these problems but the real solutions
that we have to solve them.
Real solutions?
What solutions could you possibly have?
Social security is in trouble.
Have you tried beating it with a flagpole?
Here's the point.
This is not just a fight for how to remember the past.
The people who did January 6 are
trying to get back in power.
If they lose, they'll do January 6 again.
Hell, if they win, they'll probably
still do January 6 again just for old time's sake.
And the rest of us need to decide,
are we just going to let them?
Or are we going to draw the line at treason
and tell them that in this country,
there is still justice and democracy?
And these are the values we not only stand behind.
We also salute them.
[MUSIC PLAYING] O say can you see
Maybe we can get the original version.