The Young Turks - MSNBC Hosts Defend Nancy Pelosi And Trump's Off The Rails Interview With Chris Wallace

Episode Date: November 20, 2018

Hosts of MSNBC's "Morning Joe" defended Nancy Pelosi for her bid to become Speaker of the House. Fox News' Chris Wallace interviewed Trump and it was a doozy. Get exclusive access to our best content. http://tyt.com/GETACCESS Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to The Young Turks, the online news show. Make sure to follow and rate our show with not one, not two, not three, not four, but five stars. You're awesome. Thank you. All right, welcome to the Young Turks. It's a whole new week. Well, not a whole week, really, because it's Thanksgiving week. But, all right, take it easy.

I'll be doing videos throughout the week. Of course you will. But the first half that we're going to cover for you guys live is gangbusters, including today. So I know we've got a lot of different platforms and outlets that cover us now. And I love our new friends on television in the four markets on the East Coast. And you can now get us on Roku. So all these wonderful places to check us out.

But for the folks who watch live 6 to 8 p.m., today is going to be 6 to 9 p.m. online. So you can get that on t.com slash live, when we're on live, and you could also go to easyways, YouTube.com slash tyt as well. They're both equally great, okay? Anyway, I tell you that today, because after the show, we normally have rebel headquarters. That's also live if you're watching, again, on YouTube, Facebook, and tyot.com. And today, for the first time since he's a presidential candidate, Richard Ojetta will come on. And the conversation will be about, is he sufficient?

progressively. Ooh, that's interesting. Oh, I like this conversation. That's interesting, okay? So there's another great guest on Rebel Headquarters, and then normally we go to post game just for members, but today everybody will be able to watch the post game. So if you've never watched it, it's a good moment to do that. We hope you stick around and watch that as well.

But only members can ask questions and they'll be able to ask those questions through video, which will be pretty neat. So, tyt.com slash join, obviously, to become a member or slash jank to become a member. And that way you can ask us questions live today as well. And then tomorrow, a bonanza, 6 to 8 p.m. Eastern as always, regular show. And then 8 to 11 p.m. Eastern, t.t.com slash live. We got an amazing three hour show for you guys. We're going to launch a new program that I think is electrifying.

Okay, it's a big surprise. I think you're gonna love that surprise, I think it's super interesting. That's for tomorrow. Okay, now we got a ton of things to beat up Donald Trump on, so let's get started. All right, we're actually gonna start off with going after establishment Democrats. So let's do that, and then the rest of the show does touch on Trump quite a bit. Touch on Trump is a weird phrase, okay. Yeah, unfortunate.

Okay, moving on. Morning Joe hosted a panel today in defense of Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House. Now there is an ongoing movement within the Democratic Party to replace Nancy Pelosi with someone more progressive, someone who's more of a fighter, someone who is unwilling to immediately concede to bipartisanship as soon as Democrats win the House. And during this interview, during this panel, someone brought up the young Turk. But were they referring to us? Take a look.

It's become clear that Pelosi can take a punch. And if you need, you know, if you're going to have somebody go into a boxing ring with the likes of Donald Trump, Pelosi has made it clear that, you know, she can, she can take a few swings. In the meantime, no Democratic challenger has stepped forward to run against Pelosi, begging the question, do they have what it takes? Hi, Steve Ratner, New York. So as it happens, I've seen her a couple times since the election. at various events and things. And I think the effort that she is putting in her energy, her strength, her willingness to talk to every member and try to corral all these people is really quite

extraordinary, especially for someone who's 78 years old. It's been amazingly impressive to me to watch her. That said, as you know, there's this group of, I'll call them the Young Turks for lack of a better word. I think there's about 20 of them who've committed to vote against her. I think Seth Moulton is one of the leaders, Tim Ryan. And as you say, they don't have a candidate. But the question is, how does this all play out?

She does really have to get virtually all of her caucus. She can only afford to lose a small number to get through this process. How do you see this finally playing out? Yeah, Steve, I think right now she can only afford to lose about 14 votes or something. And it is said that, as you say, they're around 18 or so dissidents of the young and the restless or however you want to term them. So it appears that they were not referring to us at the Young Turks. Meaning this new show, but Young Turks meaning rebels within the Democratic Party who want to challenge Pelosi.

Yeah, so there's lots of twists and turns here. Robert Draper might have known about us. That's why he's like, well, I don't know if I'd call him Young Turks, because those guys that Steve Ratner was referring to Tim Ryan, although maybe the most common TYT guests we've ever had throughout our history, meaning he was probably the one congressman who came on the most. But unfortunately, he has taken a centrist turn, Seth Moulton centrist. And by centrist, of course, we mean corporate and establishment.

And so it's an absolute shame. Tim Ryan came in, a young, aggressive, excellent congressman, but now thinks going more towards the Republicans is a better idea. So those are not us. So the young Turks that Ratner was referring to are younger members of Congress who are actually more corporate friendly. That might have been why Draper was like, well, I don't know what I'd go on the young durks. So now, there are three different camps here to get to the substance of this story, and

it's, and it's, that's part of the conversation as to what's going to happen with Pelosi. The other part of the conversation is the media conversation and why we brought this tape up in particular. We've always told you guys, Morning Joe is the epicenter. of establishment thinking. And so the establishment loves people like Hillary Clinton, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Nancy Pelosi. So when Nancy Pelosi's mentioned, everyone on air has an unbelievable agreement fest. Oh, Pelosi, quite extraordinary, I do declare her.

She can take a punch and she's tough as she fights. They never, ever, ever give specifics. Never. But sometimes they'll mention the only accomplishment she has, which is that with a supermajority, she was able to pass, able to pass Romney care, which is, by the way, yes, it is Obamacare, but it is the same thing as Romney care. It was borrowed from Mitt Romney in the first place, congratulations to Barack Obama on that. But by the way, congratulations of Mitt Romney because that is better than what we had, okay?

But it's nowhere near progressive priorities. And so they're like, huh, can you believe? And you believe she somehow marshalled an overwhelming majority to vote for the predominant priority of the current president who had a supermajority in the Senate as well, had every branch of government and barely got Romneycare through with none of the progressive priorities like public option, let alone Medicare for all. Well, I didn't know she was that good. But everybody on TV, this is why the older generation, look, there's plenty of older folks

who watch us too, and now it's a lot more dispersed because everybody's going online. But the older generation that largely grew up on TV and still believes in things like Morning Joe, they have no idea that Nancy Pelosi is actually a corporate person. They think she's a tough fighter and it's gotten a lot of things accomplished. Why? Why do they think that? Because everyone on TV tells them, Nancy Pelosi, unbelievable what she's gotten accomplished. What is it?

Name it. God damn it. Nothing. Well, they also happen to be the same people who have. have gotten very comfortable with how politics works these days, which is the person who raises the most money, the person who's effective in fundraising is the most powerful, influential person in Congress. But that's just not what progressives want.

And so whenever people cite the fact that she raised all this money for the Democratic Party, that argument doesn't resonate with real progressives. And I don't even want to just exclude older individuals who identify as progressives. Because they're sick of a corrupt political system as well. Hell yeah. So don't mention the fact that she raised a ton of money as a reason for why all Democrats should support her. That is the very, I mean, it's the heart of what progressives want to change, money in politics.

So that does not resonate with people. They don't actually want someone just because they can raise money. Okay, so now finally the substance of is she going to be superior of the house, who's in which camps? As I alluded to earlier, there are three camps. So the overwhelming majority are on the normal establishment Democrat camp. And so those are the guys you're used to, Steny Hoyer, Nancy Pelosi, Clyburn, just down the middle of corporate Democratic America.

So a smaller group is the one that Ratner was referring to, the Moulton and the Ryans, et cetera, that are even more corporate friendly. And they're like, no, Nancy Pelosi's too liberal. I know, it's literally. It's amazing. It's a literal LOL moment. I mean, you can't help but laugh out loud. But on TV, this conversation would shake them to their core on cable news.

They'd be like, somebody thinks Nancy Pelosi is not liberal enough? You know why? Because we're the real young Turks. Go and tell that. Anyway, so they're coming out of from the right. And in Washington, since Washington is so incredibly conservative, they think that's the only real challenge to her. They're like a progressive challenge.

What do you mean a progressive challenge? Nancy Pelosi is the most liberal person on the planet, right? So, okay, is there a progressive group? Of course there is. Now, as I love that Laura Ingram referred to the four just Democrats that won this election cycle, other than the incumbents as the four horsewomen of the apocalypse, they are for Fox News. That's true in the right wing and the establishment.

Anyway, those are all real progressives. There's three just Democrats already in the House, and there are a real group of progressives. But to be fair, like for example, we think Barbara Lee should be the Speaker of the House, but Barbara Lee has not stepped up for that position, right? So she, like, we're in favor of her despite the fact that she's not campaigning for that position. So that's a fair point that they made there. I want to jump in in regard to Barbara Lee and why it is that progressives are pushing

for her, in case you haven't heard much about Barbara Lee. Barbara Lee was the only member of Congress who voted against the war in Iraq. And Afghanistan. And Afghanistan. She was one of the few members of Congress who supported protections for the LGBT community when it was not popular to support protections with the LGBT community. She is a real fighter, she's a real progressive, and she has the track record to prove it. So that's the reason why her name is floating around, even though she has not, you know,

named herself as a potential candidate. So the two things that progressives look for is how progressive are you? Barbara Lee, you know, it's a super easy win for her in that category. And number two is how much of a fighter are you? Well, if you were willing to be the lone vote against the Afghanistan war, there were a couple on Iraq, but the lone one on Afghanistan in the House, well, that shows real strength and a fighting ability. And when Obama and Clinton, Hillary Clinton, finally got around the recognizing same-sex marriage,

it was a million years later, and the country had already flipped on it, and the overwhelming majorities were already in favor of it, that's no courage at all. Sorry, it just isn't. That's a fact. Any politician could be for something after 60% of the country agrees to it, although a lot of Democrats still aren't, even on progressive priorities. But Barbara Lee did it way earlier than that, when it was not the cool thing. to do.

So she has shown strength over and over again. And of course the simple-minded conventional wisdom pundits on cable news go, oh, so you're against Pelosi because of her age and because of her gender. What? Who said that? We just told you Barbara Lee, and you're like, oh, okay, so you're against her because of her gender. What are you talking about?

Because they could only see things in really simpleton ways. I think it actually goes beyond that. And maybe I'm being too paranoid, I don't know. But my take on the accusations of sexism and ageism is that it's an intimidation tactic for anyone who's speaking out. Because no one wants to be labeled those things. And so if you challenge Pelosi and you get called a sexist or an agist, well then you're less likely to be as vocal or outspoken about it.

But don't allow them to intimidate you. We're the same people who supported Bernie Sanders. who again is not, you know, the youngest guy in the Senate. So it has nothing to do with age, it has nothing to do with gender, it has everything to do with substance and the ability to fight. Yeah, and last couple of things here. First of all, there's rumors out there now that the corporate establishment Democrat trolls and bots are back.

And then they're supporting Nancy Pelosi online and a media campaign that if you criticize her for any policy reason, substantive reason, they go on Twitter. and Facebook, et cetera, and go, stages, sexist, right? So the paid bots are back. So that's part of what's happening here. It's a lot of not real people, okay? And it's not just the Russians who have them. The corporate Democrats definitely have them and brag about using them.

They have in other contexts, and now the rumors are that they are in this context. Why does Steve Ratner like Nancy Pelosi so much? Well, he's an incredibly wealthy businessman who worked in the financial industry. He's a huge Democratic donor. Well, if you're a Democratic donor who wants to keep your tax cuts and all the goodies that the Republicans gave you, Nancy Pelosi's perfect for you. She's not going to challenge any status quo. She's not going to, you know, upend your boat.

So the Steve Ratnors of the world are like, extraordinary, right? That's why they love Nancy Pelosi and she will do whatever those funders want. So, you know, you should know that about Radner. And finally, so how do the votes work? because they mentioned the votes. And look, there's first a Democratic caucus vote and then a general vote that include the Republicans. Pelosi, if she wins a Democratic vote, could lose the Speaker of the House if some of the people voting against her in the caucus, then turn and vote with the Republicans.

But that's not going to happen for any progressive. So the fight is within the caucus for progressives. Alexandria and Casio-Cortez, et cetera, I would be sure. shocked out of my mind. There's no way in the world that they're gonna turn around and go, oh yeah, then I'll vote with Kevin McCarthy of the Republicans. No way. If a bunch of, I'm trying to spare the adjectives here, but I got plenty coming.

If a bunch of right wing Democrats decide they wanna make the Republicans the Speaker of the House, well I guess that's on them, but there would be hell to pay. So that is not the conversation. The conversation is what's happening inside the caucus. And do I think that the progressives are gonna win this round? But look, Pelosi's got a tremendous amount of power within the House. So if Barbara Lee doesn't say she's gonna challenge her, then she's gonna win, yes. But it's important to at least set the standards for what's acceptable and not acceptable.

And so once you lay out those markers and Nancy Pelosi does not advance any of the very progressive bills or decently progressive bills, well, then next time around they will definitely be a challenger from the left and not from the right. Or if there is one from the right, it'll be irrelevant because the left will be far stronger. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we are going to jump right into Trump-related news, including his interview with Chris Wallace over the weekend. All right, back out of Young Turks. Jank and Anna with you guys. You know, we've been doing this contest for the membership tribe. I am thrilled to report that I am pulling away from John Irola. Up next, Anna Kasparian. Oh.

Okay, you know what my secret weapon is? Did a bunch of videos on YouTube over the weekend, plugging members shoot. Oh, you're the worst. Hey, listen, if you work harder, that's fine. This guy. No problem. This guy. I'm not saying anything.

I'm just saying. We need to talk about a relatively new show called Un-Fing the Republic or UNFTR. As a young Turks fan, you already know that the government, the media, and corporations are constantly peddling lies that serve the interests of the rich in power. But now there's a podcast dedicated to unraveling those lies, debunking the conventional wisdom. In each episode of Un-B-The-Republic, or UNFTR, the host delves into a different historical episode or topic that's generally misunderstood or purposely obfuscated by the so-called powers that be, featuring in-depth research, razor-sharp commentary, and just the right

amount of vulgarity, the UNFTR podcast takes a sledgehammer to what you thought you knew about some of the nation's most sacred historical cows. But don't just take my word for it. The New York Times described UNFTR as consistently compelling and educational, aiming to challenge conventional wisdom and upend the historical narratives that were taught in school. For as the great philosopher Yoda once put it, you must have learned what you have learned. And that's true whether you're in Jedi training or you're uprooting and exposing all the propaganda and disinformation you've been fed over the course of your lifetime. So search for you and FDR in your podcast app today and get ready to get informed, angered, and entertained all at the same time. And I mean, who's working on the weekends?

I'm working on the weekends. I'm writing no filter. Okay. This guy, so now I realize what this is all about. This is your roundabout way of getting me to do live videos over the weekend. I know it. No, it's not. Yes, it is.

We're just having a fun competition. All right, anyway, so that's to sign up for membership. I mean, for Christ's sake, it's $4.99. It's a cup of coffee. You get a progressive Netflix. All the shows you can handle. So obviously, t.t.com slash Jen. Anna.

Hey, it's so, look, I, some people will say, oh, well, you know, you know, you know, you know, you Netflix is 10 bucks a month, but you guys don't get it. Like you get a ton of shows and I think it's worth it for old school alone. Thank you. Yeah, it's really, really good. And by the way, you can sign up for 10 bucks too. There's more perks with $10 and it builds home with progressives. And in that category, closing on Casper even more.

I'm not saying anything, I'm just saying. Okay, so be an activist if you can. Look, I'll talk more about it later, but you guys are some of the heroes that built the new progressive wing of the Democratic Party. So anyway, bless your hearts. Oh, let me see the thermometer real quick. We're trying to get to $56,500 at the end of Friday. And so over the weekend we got there.

So 36,529, can I see 36,600? And I also need you to panic about Black Friday, most Americans already are. This is day six of our 10 Days of Black Friday at shopty.com. Today the new offer is free poster if you buy something, a sweatshirt. What do I got here? Oh, free poster with sweatshirt or hoodie purchase. Yeah, any hoodie or sweatshirt purchase gets you a free poster as well. Ten days of Black Friday and this is day six, shopty.

Dot.t.com where you will also find the new Bernie One Canopy shirt that you guys voted on? Nice. Okay, so thank you for designing it, thank you for voting on it, and now you'll be able to buy it at shopty.com. Okay, real quick couple of comments here, Rebel Dragon says the fact that Trump seems to be pushing for Pelosi is reason enough to put someone else into the speaker position. Totally.

Okay, people are like, oh, he's actually being nice to her. No, he wants her in that position because he thinks she's weak. I mean, come on, really, really, he's being nice to her? Who would be naive enough to say that? What a ridiculous thing. Almost all the mainstream press, unfortunately, is framing it that way. Greg says, wow, the young Turks has now become a verb in the 2019 English lexicon, pretty impressive.

Thank you, Greg, but honestly, it was a verb before us. We kind of named ourselves after the existing young Turks definition, which is young rebels looking to overthrow an established system, I mean, how perfect is that for us? And finally, on Twitter, T.Joy's 1971 has a great point. If you've been at multiple events with Nancy Pelosi, as I believe Ratner said he was, since the election, you are part of the problem. Exactly. Yeah.

Perfect. That's a perfect comment. Thank you for writing in at hashtag TYT Live. And Christina Elcheri, last one from Twitter, says I'm a little worried about you guys, being so quick to jump on the Ojeda for President Banwagging. be great for Virginia, but the whole country, you voted for Trump, that scares me. West Virginia, and we're not jumping on any bandwagon. You get to judge for yourself, okay?

Look, I did two other presidential candidate interviews already with, you know, people that don't have a huge, you know, name recognition. So I'm giving you all the choices like we did in 2016, we talked to Jill Stein number times. At the end of the day, I said I voted for Hillary Clinton, not for Jill Stein. So it's not for me to decide for you. You have to decide. So come check out OJETA, see if you like them. Are there other people in the race that I like?

Yes, okay. So, and is it a good thing that there are three, four people that we like in the race? Wonderful. Back in the day, if you had one person you liked in the race, you'd be like, oh my God, how are we this lucky? Right. Right. Yeah.

And I want to be clear just for myself, I'm not throwing my support behind anyone just yet. I want to see what the proposals are, I want the most progressive candidate to win, period. I love his fighting spirit, but that's different from what he's gonna propose. Well, come and see, so that's in a couple hours, so make sure you stay right here to watch that. All right, what's next? All right. Over the weekend, Fox News aired Chris Wallace's interview with Donald Trump.

And of course, as you can expect, Trump said a number of crazy things, including additional criticisms toward the very admiral who oversaw the takedown of Osama bin Laden. Now let's hear what he had to say. Bill McRaven, retired admiral, Navy SEAL, 37 years, former head of U.S. Special operations. Special operations. Excuse me, Hillary Clinton Fan. Who led the operations, commanded the operations that took down Saddam Hussein and

that killed Osama bin Laden, says that your sentiment is the greatest threat to democracy in his lifetime. Hillary Clinton backer and an Obama backer. And frankly, it was a Navy SEAL. Wouldn't it have been nice if we got Osama Bin Laden a lot sooner than that? Wouldn't it have been nice? Amazing. So Trump has had, he's caught some feelings after Admiral McRaven had criticized him last

year. And the context of this discussion has to do with the way Trump has treated the press, how he refers to them as the enemy of the people, and Admiral McRaven feels passionately about protecting freedom of the press and freedom of speech because he believes in our constitutional protections. Trump doesn't like that, and he actually doubled down on these statements today, saying, quote, of course we should have captured Osama bin Laden long before we did, essentially blaming Admiral McRaven for not capturing Osama bin Laden earlier. Yeah, here's who you don't want to be on the wrong side of, Navy SEAL Team 6.

Yeah. So now a lot of the guys who worked under McRaven and did the actual rate itself are coming at, who are deeply conservative, by the way, some of those guys, not all of them, are coming out going, yeah, no, Trump lost me on this one. Yeah, easy for you to say sitting in your nice couch at home, we should have caught Bin Laden earlier, but you're welcome, okay? So that's happening now, and that's a terrible political mistake for Donald Trump, who pretends to support the troops when in reality he never.

ever, ever does. So now, let's talk about the substance for a second. Well, no, I can't help but comment on the style first, okay. Hillary Clinton fan. He's now become a self-parody where I feel like he's doing an imitation of Alec Baldwin doing Donald Trump, right? No, a big Hillary backer, a big Obama backer, okay. Is this an intelligent conversation we're having about McRaven and the criticism he had of

you in regards to the press? Or are you just a child? We know the answer. Yeah. But in case you're wondering, McRaven actually responded and said, I'm not a Hillary Clinton fan or any other politician, I've never claimed to be. Yeah, let me give you his statement. Because McRaven not only clarified what his political views are, he also doubled down

on his critiques toward Trump. He said, I did not back Hillary Clinton or anyone else, I am a fan of President Obama and President George W. Bush, both of whom I worked for, I admire all presidents, regardless of their political party, who uphold the dignity of the office and who used that office to bring the nation together in challenging times. He also wrote, when you undermine the people's right to a free press and freedom of speech and expression, then you threaten the Constitution and all for which it stands. So again, his big issue with Trump is the way he's treated the media.

And I think that that's an admirable position to take, no pun intended there. Because he does actually believe in our Constitution. For all the talk that you hear from people on the right regarding we need to respect our troops in the military because they fight for our freedoms, I mean, Admiral McRaven actually believes it because he's actually been part of that fight. And to see someone like Trump essentially go against or violate our First Amendment rights is insulting to him, and I like the fact that he's speaking out. So it reminded me, actually, one of the first Republicans ever to vote for the Wolfpack

resolution. It was in Vermont, and she said that she lost her son in the Iraq war, and she said he didn't go to fight for freedom over there so that we can give it away over here. And she said, no, I'm gonna vote to get money out of politics, and so that the people control our democracy. It was a great, great speech, and it was from a Republican. So McRaven basically saying something very similar. We didn't go fight all those wars over there to give away our freedoms over here, which

is exactly what Donald Trump wants you to do. Oh, the world's a scary place, there's caravans, there's infestation covering. You don't need the press. The press is the enemy of the people, right? Because they challenge me, so that's it. Let's just get rid of them and throw them out of the White House, et cetera. So now I don't want people mistaken what we're saying. On the substance of the issue, there's a couple of different nuanced positions, so Donald Trump,

You can leave now. So one is just because it's an admiral and one that caught bin Laden doesn't mean that I cede my opinions to him. There are many admirals I agree with actually and many that I don't agree with. That's perfectly normal and that's the freedom that McRaven is trying to protect. And so on the other hand, if Commander Bonespurs is going to question McRaven on the job that he did, I mean, that's preposterous on two fronts. front is, listen, man, the admiral doesn't decide when to go.

That's up to the politicians. So if you say that we took too long to get bin Laden, I actually agree with that. But that wasn't McRaven's fault, that was a Navy SEAL Team 6th fault. That was George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Rumsfeld, who sat on it for seven to eight years, did nothing about it. In fact, literally, the New York Times reported that Rumsfeld had bin Laden cornered in Torobora, and an American general asked for permission to pursue, and Rumsfeld said no, that's a fact.

Look that up. So if you want to blame anyone for how long it took to get bin Laden, the person most directly responsible is Don Rumsfeld, who is Secretary of Defense for George W. Bush. Once Obama took over, they actually did get him in relatively short order because he actually bothered to try. He told Admiral McRaven, hey, you know what? Why don't we try to get bin Laden, okay? And then it turns out when you try, it makes a big, big difference.

And then secondly, it's galling that Trump of all people would criticize anybody because he's such a coward. He not only got five deferments out of Vietnam, including one fake one about bones spurs he doesn't have, but he wouldn't even go to honor veterans because it was raining outside. And not only that, I mean, he refuses to visit combat zones when, you know, past presidents have done it, and it's because he's a coward. At the end of the day, it's incredibly insulting to have one of the most cowardly presidents go toward the guy who oversaw the takedown of Osama bin Laden and criticize him for anything.

Yeah, I mean, he's saying, oh, nice job on getting, he's not even saying that on getting bin Laden, but why'd you take so long? What authority would Donald Bonespurs Trump have to make that judgment call? And remember, of course, what he famously said about John McCain, I prefer people who weren't captured. Well, it's easy to not get captured if you never go to Vietnam in the first place. So if you're not gonna go to combat zones, even though every other president has, you didn't go to Vietnam, at least have the decency to shut up about it and not criticize the guys who actually did go and actually got bin Laden.

You know, this interview with Chris Wallace was on Fox News, obviously. And Fox News is the source that Trump supporters trust the most. And even with Trump's interview where he specifically insults the very admirable who, admiral who oversaw the takedown of Osama bin Laden, they still support him and they still argue that Trump is a patriotic president, that he cares for the troops, that the NFL players who decided to kneel in protest, to raise awareness about police brutality. They're the traitors to the country, they're the ones who don't respect the troops. No, you're very president.

The person that you guys support has on various occasions insulted various members of our military. And it just doesn't resonate with them, they don't get it. That's why I think it's actually a terrible mistake for him to attack Navy SEAL Team six. Because now a couple of those guys are on TV and everybody knows how conservative those particular guys are that are on TV. And they're going around here saying Trump shouldn't have said that, that's the kind of thing

that could potentially shake some Republicans out of their complacency and go, wait a minute, he didn't go to Nam, did he? And here's the captain of, I mean, the lead officer in the Navy SEAL Team 6th team telling me, this isn't right. So it could be in the first wave of cognitive dissonance at least. Yeah, we'll see how this goes. It's really interesting. All right, well, there's other parts of this interview with Chris Wallace that I want to get to.

During his one-on-one interview with Donald Trump, Chris Wallace appeared to call the president out. Take a look. But sir, leaders in authoritarian countries like Russia, China, Venezuela, now repress the media using your words. I can't talk for other people, I can only talk for me. I will tell you. But you're seen around the world as a beacon for repression, not for... I'm not talking about you, but you sometimes, maybe, but I'm not talking about you.

The news about me is largely phony. It's false. Even sometimes they'll say, sources say there is no source in many cases. In many cases there is. I understand you don't like your coverage. It's amazing how he says two things at once to kind of cover his bases, right? There are no sources, maybe in some cases there are. Like he'll say two things in the same sentence to kind of give himself cover for the future.

It's amazing. Yeah, and as we've told you before, this is projection because a lot of conservative websites and the ones that Trump relies on do make up things and they say the source says when there is no source. Now for anyone in the real press, that's sacrilege and immediate firing offense and totally intolerable. But in conservative media, oftentimes it's a matter of course. And in fact, Donald Trump himself has been his own source and made up source. He's been John Barron speaking on behalf of Donald Trump as a spokesperson.

When it wasn't John Barron, it was Donald Trump, which is so embarrassing. And he did that earlier in his career, and he would talk about how he's, John Barron would call and say, Donald Trump is dating Madonna, and he's dating her very strong, okay? And she loves it, okay, it's going along bigly. Tremendously. Yeah. One quick note on that, if you were wealthy, wouldn't you just hire a publicist to do that for you?

That's right. Yeah. But unless you were a guy who went bankrupt six times with daddy's money and you're a total loser and then you got to do it on your own. Makes sense. Now, I like the fact that Wallace, you know, asked him follow up questions, it was not a softball interview. And he really did hound Trump on his treatment toward the press. There's more to the interview on this very subject. Take a look. I'm totally in favor of the media. I'm totally in

favor of free press. We've got to be fair press. When it's fake. The president get to decide what's fair and what's not. I can tell what's fair and not. And so can my people and so can a lot of other people. I understand that. But when you do something very good and they write it badly, and this is consistently, when you, as an example, rarely do they talk about. Barack Obama wind a about Fox News all the time, but he never said we were the enemy of the people. Well, no, he didn't talk about the news. He didn't talk about anything. I'm only saying it very differently than anyone's ever said it before. I'm saying fake news, false reporting, dishonest reporting, of which there is a lot, and I know it.

See, I know it because I'm a subject of it. A lot of people don't know it, but when I explain it to him, they understand it. And because you know that better. You don't have to sit here and act like a perfect little, wonderful, Wonderful, innocent angel, I know you too well, I knew your father too well. That's not your gene. What? I know your father well, it's not your gene. Chris Wallace, I am your father.

Okay, so let me explain a couple of things there because that appeared to be inexplicable. Well, you know, Obama didn't talk about the news. Not true. the only one talking about it in this way. Well, that is partly true. In other words, he had no answer for what Chris Wallace said about Obama. Obama did criticize Fox News, but didn't go and say outlandish things like they are the enemy of the people.

Maybe you should target them, right? And so even when he lightly criticized them, the rest of the press went nuts in defending Fox News. And so when you talk about that distinction, there's no good answer for Donald Trump. So that's why he stumbles around going, Obama didn't talk about the news. I'm talking about it a new new way that no one else has, right? Okay, so that's that part. And then he's thought about his father, Mike Wallace, who was on 60 Minutes, and he's basically

saying to Chris Wallace, I actually know you're a conservative. So don't, you're sitting here, you know, trying to be a little angel in trying to do a fair interview with me, but I actually know you're a conservative, so snap out of it. Well, I think that it's possible, I know it's rare these days, but it's possible to be a conservative who disagrees with Trump on various issues, including his treatment of the media. You know, when Jim Acosta and CNN were going after the White House, following, you know, the White House revoking Acosta's press credential, Fox News actually said that they were in support of CNN

in that lawsuit. And it's because there is luckily a united front when it comes to the press, because we all understand the importance of protecting freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Yeah, and look, it's also possible to be conservative and be a good journalist. It just doesn't happen very often these days. And most of the conservative websites are total trash and propaganda. But Chris Wallace, it does appear to be a conservative and often does fair interviews. And so he might agree with President Trump on some of the policies, but that doesn't

mean that he's not going to ask him questions about, hey, doesn't it encourage repressive governments throughout the world when you attack the media and they feel like they've got free rein to attack the media as well. So that's a super fair question, even if you agree with Trump or the Republican Party. And that's what Wallace was doing. And that's why Trump said, I know you're trying to be a little angel here, okay, but I know what you really think and your father. I don't know why Mike Wallace is a conservative.

Maybe he was, I have no idea, but he got thrown under a bus. Right, exactly. Yeah, it was a strange, combative interview. And the way that I read into it was that Trump didn't expect follow-up questions. He didn't expect Wallace to ask him anything difficult. He thought it was going to be a Laura Ingram, let's play Patty Cakes type of interview. And so he was kind of caught off guard and it was pretty awesome to watch it. Yeah.

Look, if it was a president that I really liked and then he started calling people enemy of the people, I'd be all over him, even if I agree with policy positions. In fact, we already did that. We supported Obama in his two elections, and then when he started using the espionage act against the press, we said that was horrible, abhorrent. He shouldn't have done that, and it opened the door, first of all, it opened the door to something terrible, which was using the espionage against journalists. So in and of itself, it was a terrible policy position.

And then it also allowed want to be dictators like Donald Trump to say, hey, Obama did it, so why can't I crush the press? And so Obama could claim, hey, I only did it in a limited couple of cases. Now, you open the door. So we're honest about that, and apparently Chris Wallace is honest in his reporting there. And I tell you, in the Trump era, a couple of people have distinguished themselves as conservative, but really honest actors. And they, some of them surprise me.

I'm not talking about Shep Smith. Shep Smith has always been fair, even though he's on Fox News through Obama, Bush, and Trump. No, I'm talking about Judge Napolitano on Fox News and Chris Wallace. There's a couple others, but those two in particular have been extraordinarily honest, even if it did not suit their political purposes. Exactly. We have to take one more break in this hour, but when we come back, some drums on Matthew Whitaker, what does Lindsey Graham think about him?

That and more when we return. We hope you're enjoying this free clip from the Young Turks. If you want to get the whole show and more exclusive content while supporting independent media, become a member at t-y-t.com slash join today. In the meantime, enjoy this free say. All right, back on the Young Turks, lots of great comments as usual. Let's go to Eduardo in the member section saying, how can people listen and follow someone that never makes any sense on everything he says?

How? At TYT, we frequently talk about all the ways that big tech companies are taking control of our online lives, constantly monitoring us and storing and selling our data. But that doesn't mean we have to let them. It's possible to stay anonymous online and hide your data from the prying eyes of big tech. And one of the best ways is with ExpressVPN. ExpressVPN hides your IP address, making your active ID more difficult to trace and sell the advertisers. ExpressVPN also encrypts 100% of your network data to protect you from eavesdroppers and cyber criminals. And it's also easy to install. A single mouse click protects all your devices. But listen, guys, this is important. ExpressVPN is rated number one by CNET and Wired magazine. So take back control of your life online and secure your data with a top VPN solution available, ExpressVPN.

And if you go to ExpressVPN.com slash TYT, you can get three extra months for free with this exclusive link just for TYT fans. That's EXPRE S-S-VPN.com slash T-YT. See it out today. And well, one of you guys explained it on Twitter actually. Art Murray once said, I think Trump has developed a new way of speaking that allows people to take whatever meaning they like from his statements. I call it a word cloud.

The example Anna gave of Trump saying two things in one statement is what I'm talking about. That's right. By the way, Obama would do this, but in a far more sophisticated way, we would say, hey, we really love the spirit of the protesters in Egypt. And they're fighting for democracy, and it's wonderful, and we cherish our allies like Mubarak. And at the end, you had to go, wait, those people are against each other, but you just praise them both, right? But you kind of forgot, as he so eloquently phrased both, it made you seem like they were both

on the side of democracy, right? Trump does something similar, but the exact opposite in style. No grace, no subtlety, no nothing. He just says both things at once. That's why the troops who are too late in getting bin Laden are the worst. That's why I love the troops and they're the best. Yeah, totally. What?

It's kind of amazing, though, how you don't have to be a savvy communicator to be a genius in marketing. Because he's horrible at communicating, but he's very effective at marketing. Just pound the message home. Yeah. That's it. Anyway, Lord Mahakala writes in the member section, the conspiracy nut in me thinks that Trump is laying the groundwork for a fake military coup attempt like Erdogan and Turkey.

so he can start jailing his enemies. Probably a bit too much, yeah. Would he, if he thought he could get away with it and he had amassed enough power? I think he would do it in his second, wouldn't even blink. He'd be like, wait, is it to my advantage or not to my advantage? Oh, I get to stay president forever instead of going to prison for all my crooked business dealings, he'd do that like this. But he's nowhere near that right now, because that would definitely be a bridge too far,

even for Republicans, way too far. And the last one is from Twitter. Amy John wrote in, I bet those Navy SEALs took so long to catch Bin Laden because of bones spurs. Excellent one, Amy John. We appreciate it. By the way, Bernie's doing a town hall. It just announced that on December 3rd. One of the media partners that will cover it is, of course, us.

So on December 3rd, make sure that you catch Bernie Sanders Town Hall on climate change. So get the regular show here, and then Bernie Sanders Town Hall back to back. T.R.T.com slash live, and you'll definitely catch that. All right, Anna, what's next? Senate Democrats have been abundantly clear in their disapproval of naming Matthew Whitaker as the acting attorney general. Now, the argument is that he should have been confirmed by the Senate. And interestingly enough, there are some Republicans who seem to agree. take a look. He said some things that would probably be problematic to be confirmed. But having said

that, I was very impressed with his attitude, his professionalism, and he's got a very solid resume. So I would encourage the president to pick somebody fairly soon so we can have a permanent attorney general going into the first part of next year. Does that mean not Mr. Whitaker when you say you'd like him to nominate someone very soon? No, I mean that's up to the president. You asked me about Mr. Whitaker. I have nothing against him. So Lindsey Graham says that, hey, Whitaker has said some things in the past that are problematic for a Senate confirmation. Of course, he didn't specify what he meant by that statement, but we all know what he meant.

He's said things about the special counsel's investigation into Russian meddling and how he thinks that it's a witch hunt, essentially regurgitating what Trump says. And Whitaker was also involved in an incredibly shady business that had to, that underwent a civil suit and lost, and now the FBI is investigating that company for possible criminal charges. So Whitaker, again, was part of that company. So there are problematic components to, you know, him being the acting attorney general. And I'm glad that, you know, Lindsay Graham at least mentioned that in this interview. Yeah, Ty-YT Investigates did a great story on that company that Whitaker was an advisory board

member too. So look, I don't know if there's, the Republicans are ever actually going to challenge Donald Trump. Nope. So if Trump said, oh, yeah, that's it, I'm nominating Whitaker right now. What are you going to do about it, Lindsey Graham? My guess is he would bow his head and say, oh, yes, sir, of course, sir, Whitaker, sir. And I mean, look, they put in Cavanaugh with worse charges, so Whitaker probably fly through.

But for the moment being, this is their subtle way of trying to nudge him towards a more acceptable candidate. Does it look like Donald Trump responds well to subtlety? So that ain't gonna work. I don't think it's about nudging. I think it's about playing both sides. I think it's about supporting Trump while simultaneously protecting themselves and their futures should Trump fall out of grace with his supporters.

Yeah, that's what it's really. Yeah. Like if it turns out Mueller got him, Lizzie Graham could go back and say, hey, look, I said I had concerns about Whitaker and Whitaker shouldn't have fired him if Mueller, for example, if Whitaker fires Mueller and Mueller then releases damning evidence on Trump, Graham can point back to this interview. But if push comes to shove, will he vote for Whitaker? Of course he will, because he'll do whatever Donald Trump tells him to do.

Now, it appears that everyone has acknowledged the fact that Matthew Whitaker has said negative things toward the Russia investigation. He has called it a witch hunt. And during Trump's interview with Chris Wallace over the weekend, Trump claimed that he had no idea. He has a long record of speaking out against the special counsel and his pro. I can see a scenario where Jeff Sessions is replaced with a recess appointment. And that attorney general doesn't fire Bob Mueller, but he just reduces the budget so low that his investigation grinds to it absolutely almost the truth is there was no collusion with the Russians

and the Trump campaign. Did you know before you appointed him that he had that record in is so critical of Robert Mueller. I did not know that. I did not know he took views on the Mueller investigation as such. And when you found that out? I don't think it had any effect. If you look at those statements, those statements that can, they really can be viewed either way. But I don't think it would have any effect.

Well, he says there's no collusion. Chris, I'll tell you what. He says you can starve the investigation. What do you do when a person's right? There is no collusion. He happened to be right. I mean, he said it. So if he said there is collusion, I'm supposed to be taken somebody that says there is

because then I wouldn't take him for two reasons. But the number one reason is the fact that he would have been wrong. If he said that there's no collusion, he's right. Okay, if he said it, I didn't know that. Oh, come on. I mean, if you're a mager guy, I guess your only defense is, oh, we know he's lying, but he's trolling you liberals to try to trigger you. That is definitely something that I've seen a lot of on social media.

Yeah, because they have no defense left. It's such an obvious lie. Oh, Donald Trump didn't happen to know that Whitaker had been saying all over television, that he's against Mueller. And if there happened to be a recess appointment of someone to be attorney general, they should make sure to end the Mueller investigation. And golly gee, turns out that he's the one after Sessions is dumped, just like he said on television, is the guy picked to be the interim attorney general who would start the investigation

and ended. Of course Donald Trump knew, you think he didn't look into that? You think that he went into his chief of staff or whatever? He's like, no, look, guys, I just want you to pick someone who's in the person. Make sure this thing's on the up and up. Don't worry about what they think about the Mueller message. There's not even a single MAGA guy who thinks that. You're brain dead if you think that.

So I have evidence. Remember, Donald Trump and Jeff Sessions did not have a good relationship because Jeff Sessions recused himself. Matthew Whitaker was the chief of staff for Jeff Sessions when he was attorney general. And Donald Trump refused to speak directly to Jeff Sessions because he's a baby and would only speak to Whitaker. So he's had multiple conversations with Whitaker and knows what Whitaker's stance is on the Russia investigation.

He's a liar. He comically said after naming him that he didn't know who Matt Whitaker was. He was, Trump was on TV before the appointment saying, I know Matt Whitaker, he's a good guy. Like, it is literally impossible for you to believe that Donald Trump is not lying. So if you do, there's like your brain doesn't work right, I'm serious, you should go see a doctor. Because he lies to you right in front of your face, patently obvious.

So you go, no, that looks right to me. You got issues, dude. Go see a specialist. Hope you have good insurance though. All right, moving on. Democrats have been highly critical of Donald Trump naming Matthew Whitaker as the acting attorney general. One of those Democrats is Adam Schiff, and over the weekend, Trump went after Schiff by intentionally

misspelling his last name, so it would be a synonym for crap. In the tweet, he says, so funny to see little Adam talking about the fact that acting attorney general Matt Whitaker was not approved by the Senate, but not mentioning the fact that Bob Mueller, who is highly conflicted, was not approved by the Senate. So real quick, before we get into the intentional misspelling, I just want to make sure everyone knows and you guys are smart, so I'm sure you already do, that special counsel Mueller did not have to be confirmed by the Senate. And the president should know that, which is why my tweet response to Trump was, why are

you so dumb? That's it. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So this is the second time that the president has said something that you literally are not not allowed to say on television, and that's why we can't say it, we're also on TV. And this is the same guy that a day before that was making the argument that Acosta better

watch himself and CNN and all the reporters in the White House better watch themselves, because we have to have decorum in the White House. And then he turns around and goes, oh yeah, get it, not shift, but the thing with crap. God, you're such a pathetic little kid. You're not a normal little kid. You're a pathetic little kid who has like demons. And I, if you were actually a little kid, I'd want to help you and I'd get you a ton of counseling.

But you're a 72 year old grown-ass man to make poop jokes when you're president. And he didn't do it off the cuff. Like if he did it off the cuff, you go, oh, God, he's, you know, being a populist and he's a knucklehead and et cetera. He wrote it down on Twitter. He wrote it down. That's why when he said a couple of times, you know, I'm like a, I'm really like a smart person. You go, I agree to disagree, even on the phrasing of that.

But once he wrote it on Twitter, he wrote, I'm comma, like, comma, a smart person. Yeah, amazing. Amazing. What? I'm like a smart person, you write that down. So the conversation about decorum is over. Let's just, anyone who entertains that as if it's a real point is just, you're doing false equivalency, you're not doing your job, you should immediately point out what kind of a hypocrity

is. Second of all, this is our president, a runaway child. Yeah, there are, there's a growing number of parents, and I love these parenting boards that I've randomly started reading, a number of parents who are genuinely concerned about raising their kids in this era. Because some of them have heard their kids regurgitating what they've heard Trump say. And so they have to like sit their kids down and say, no, no, honey, please don't say things that the president says.

And a lot of these people are actually conservatives. Anyway, this is all anecdotal evidence, right? It's just forums online. But I just found it fascinating because the president was someone that people would look up to. The president was someone that parents would try to encourage their kids to be like. And now, I mean, decorum, decorum was thrown out the wind. as soon as we heard about Trump grabbing women by the pussy. So there's that.

And so for him to now turn around and say, okay, do the childish thing in the beginning. And then come back around and going, well, how come mother wasn't appointed? And just do one minute of homework. But again, it's not the first time. If it was the first time and then aides pulled him aside and they're like, Mr. President, this is really embarrassing, we hate to break it to you, but special counsel does not have to be confirmed by the Senate, right? But no one ever does that, because he's a man child, and he would fire them.

He'd get angry, his feelings would get hurt, he has really thin skin. So no one dares correct the president. So this is actually now, I think, is about his third time at least that I have seen him make the point about, oh yeah, how come the special counsel wasn't confirmed, but you're complaining about Whitaker, because it's a different position, you idiot. And all you had to do was ask one of the thousands of people who work for you. But you're too stupid to not, to know what you don't know. And so you think, I got him, I caught him.

How come we didn't confirm the janitor? Okay, all right, so what does Adam Schiff have to say about all of this? He talked about a little bit during a recent interview. Take a look. I think the appointment is unconstitutional. He's clearly a principal officer and the fact that he is a temporary principal officer doesn't mean that that is any less subject to Senate confirmation. Constitutionally, it has to be subject to confirmation.

It's a flawed appointment, but the biggest flaw from my point of view is that he was chosen for the purpose of interfering with the Mueller investigation. This is the reason why Trump dislikes him. Yeah, well, he probably couldn't even understand him. He's like, that's complete sentences, I don't understand. Okay, so yes, look, the bottom line is, the attorney general is in the succession line for president. I believe he's six in line if something goes terribly wrong. You can't have someone that not confirmed by the Senate, even as acting attorney general.

It has to be someone confirmed by the Senate. It's clearly unconstitutional. But this is like the 18th time that Donald Trump has done something clearly unconstitutional, because he doesn't care about the Constitution, doesn't care about democracy, all he cares about is Donald Trump. This meathead Whitaker says he's gonna end the Mueller investigation, he's my guy. I don't have anyone else confirmed by the Senate who would end it in exactly the way that I want.

Oh, Whitaker's a hatchet man for Republicans? Perfect. Whitaker it is. But sir, that's unconstitutional. Oh, yeah? I'll tell the people who call it unconstitutional. I'll call them poop. That'll show them.

That's who our president is. Of course it's embarrassing for all parents and all Americans. Anyone that's paying attention. Exactly. We gotta take a break when we come back. More news for you, including a devastating bill out of the state of Ohio, and also whether or not Trump is willing to listen to the audio of Khashoggi's murder. But that's really telling, too.

Okay. By the way, guys, share and like the stream if you like to show. It helps spread the word. It's really easy to do. All right. We'll come right back. Thanks for listening to the full episode of the Young Turks. Support our work.

Listen ad-free. Access members, only bonus content, and more by subscribing to apps. Apple Podcasts at apple.com at apple.com slash t-y-t. I'm your host, Shank Huger, and I'll see you soon.