The Young Turks - Part 2: Day 1 of 2020 DNC

Episode Date: October 8, 2020

Part 2: Cenk Uygur and John Iadarola breakdown day 1 of the 2020 DNC. Speakers: Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, Governor Andrew Cuomo, Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Representative Jim Clyburn, Convention Chairman Representative Bennie Thompson, Representative Gwen Moore, Former Governor John Kasich, Senator Doug Jones, Senator Amy Klobuchar, and Former First Lady Michelle Obama 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. Stop. Do you know how fast you were going? I'm going to have to write you a ticket to my new movie, The Naked Gun. Liam Nissan. Buy your tickets now.

I get a free Tilly Dog. Chilly Dog, not included. The Naked God. Tickets on sale now. August 1st. All right, let's go to this. an actual politician. Oh, it's Christian Whitmer. Or as Donald Trump calls me, that woman from Michigan.

Tonight I'm here at UAW Local 652 in Lansing, Michigan. Auto workers in this union and across our state could have lost their jobs, if not for Barack Obama and Joe Biden. In 2009, the Obama-Biden administration inherited the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. The auto industry and the brink of collapse, a million jobs at stake. But President Obama and Vice President Biden didn't waste time blaming anyone else or shirking their responsibility. They got to work. They brought together union members, companies, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

And they saved the auto industry. And wouldn't you know, just a few months ago, as our nation began battling companies. COVID-19, auto workers across Michigan spring into action. They started making protective equipment for doctors and nurses on the front lines. Let me break it down. President Obama and Vice President Biden saved these auto workers' livelihoods. Then these workers did their part to save American lives. That's the story of this great nation. Action begets action. Progress begets progress. And when we work together, we can accomplish anything. After all, democracy is a team sport, especially now. It's crucial that we rally together to fight this virus and build our economy

back better. From the jump, we took this pandemic seriously in Michigan. We listened to medical experts. We planned. And with a lot of work from the auto workers and too little help from the White House. We executed our plan. We saved thousands of lives. Just imagine if we had a national strategy. So everyone who needs a test gets one for free. So everyone has access to a safe vaccine. So our kids and educators have the resources they need to safely get back to school. With Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the White House, we will. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will lead by example. It'll be science, not politics or ego, that will drive their decisions. They know the health of our people goes hand in hand with the strength of our economy.

They know action begets action. Over the past few months, we've learned what's essential, rising to the challenge, not denying it. We've learned who is essential to. Not just the wealthiest among us. not a president who fights as fellow Americans rather than fight the virus that's killing us and our economy. It's the people who put their own health at risk to care for the rest of us. They are the MVPs.

The nurses and the doctors, the utility workers, truck drivers, and grocery clerks, the child care workers, the parents, the teachers, the mail carriers, and the auto workers. So many of these essential workers have, have lost their lives of COVID, nearly 1,000 health care workers, more than 170,000 people across America, including a five-year-old girl named Skylar from Detroit, whose mom is a police officer and dad is a firefighter. Generation after generation, our nation has been defined by what we do or what we fail to do. So, for Skylar,

For her parents and in the memory of all those we've lost, let us act. Let us heal as one nation. Let us find strength to do the work. Okay, well, we found the breakout speech that you were alluding to earlier. Wow, yeah, that was, okay. Okay, so let's take this off. These are good, wonderful, great folks, and it's heartbreaking to see them. All these folks who are lost to coronavirus. God, it's just actually, keep it on, it's appropriately heartbreaking.

You know, I wish somebody had done this before, I wish we'd done this before. I wish we had more resources to do something like this. When you see them, like right now, 52% of Republican men believe that coronavirus is not a real threat. We cover that on the show today. When you see the real people who died, it becomes harder to deny that it's real. It just, even Herman Kane dying, I think made it more real for people. If you, and you know Republicans, if it doesn't happen to them, very, very, very directly, they just don't believe it, or they don't care. They're like, it didn't have it to mean, what do I care?

You know, yeah, go ahead. So I just randomly, I was thinking about my hometown at Bridgeport, Connecticut earlier today. And I remember being like it's got a downtown, it's fairly large, you know, for Connecticut. And I looked up its population and it's like 140,000 people. Like more than the entire population of my hometown, a small city, have died. I looked up Hiroshima, Nagasaki. It's more than either of those nuclear weapons detonating overpopulated areas have died.

And it's not enough to convince them. And so I have to assume that nothing, like I don't think they're waiting for 200,000 to take it seriously or 250,000. It just, it doesn't matter. If 500,000, if a million Americans die, there's still gonna be 50 million Americans who don't think that it's a big deal and I just can't understand it. And I don't wanna live in a reality where that's true. All right, John, I have so much more to say, but let's go to this.

That was Christine Whitman, the former governor in New Jersey, is Meg Whiteman from California. These are Republicans. For me, the choice is simple. I'm with Joe. Hi, I'm Susan Molynary. I'm a former Republican member of Congress from New York City. And I've known Donald Trump for most of my political career. So disappointing and lately so disturbing. Now I've also gotten to know and work with Joe Biden on issues related to women.

that are so important to all of us, women in business, violence against women. That's why I'm so proud to call him, my friend, an honor to join in supporting his candidacy for president. He's a really good man, and he's exactly what this nation needs at this time. Now I'm delighted and honored to introduce a former colleague of mine, the former congressman from Ohio and the former governor of Ohio, John Kasich. America is at a crossroads. Sometimes elections represent a real choice, a choice we make as individuals and as a nation, about which path we want to take when we've come to challenging times. America is at that crossroads today. The stakes in this election are greater than any in modern times. Many of us have been deeply concerned about the current path we've been following for the past four years. It's a path that's led to division, dysfunction, irrespect of the and growing vitriol between our citizens. Continuing to follow that path will have terrible consequences for America's soul

because we're being taken down the wrong road by a president who has pitted one against the other. He's unlike all of our best leaders before him who work to unite us to bridge our differences and lead us to a united America. I'm a lifelong Republican, but that attachment holds second place to my responsibility to my country. That's why I've chosen to appear at this convention. In normal times, something like this would probably never happen. But these are not normal times. I'm proud of my Republican heritage. It's the party of Lincoln who reflected its founding

principles of unity and a higher purpose. But what I have witnessed these past four years belies those principles. Many of us can't imagine four more years going down this. this path. And that's why I'm asking you to join with me in choosing a better way forward. I believe the best of America lies ahead, but only when we rediscovered our shared belief in the United States of America for our children's future, which can be bright, hopeful, and inspired if we choose to make it so. I've known Joe Biden for 30 years. I know his story of profound grief that has so deeply affected his character. I know Joe is a good man, a man of faith, a unifier,

someone who understands the hopes and dreams of the common man and the common woman, a man who can help us to see the humanity in each other. He knows that the path to a restored and rejuvenated America lies in respect and unity and a common purpose for everyone. Yes, there are areas where Joe and I absolutely disagree. But that's okay, because that's America, because whatever our differences, we respect one another as human beings, each of us searching for justice and for purpose. We can all see what's going on in our country today and all the questions that are facing

us. And no one person or party has all the answers. But what we do know is that we can do better than what we've been seeing today for sure. And I know that Joe Biden with his experience and his wisdom and his decency can bring us together to help us find that better way. I'm sure there are Republicans and independents who couldn't imagine crossing over to support a Democrat. They fear Joe may turn sharp left and leave them behind. I don't believe that because I know the measure of the man. It's reasonable, faithful, respectful. And you know, no one pushes Joe around. Joe Biden is a man for our times. Times, call for all of us to take off our partisan hats and put our nation first for ourselves

and, of course, for our children. When America chooses the right path and pulls together, like we've done so many times before, we can dream big dreams. And we can see the top of the mountain as a United States of America with a soul that is a beacon of freedom to the entire world. Hello, my name is Terry Williams, and I've been a Republican for all of my adult line. A lifelong Republican. I've been a long-standing Republican, and I'm telling you, I'm going to vote for Joe Biden. I have voted for a campaign for Republicans since the Reagan years, but I won't be voting for Donald Trump in November. I'm supporting Joe Biden for president.

We need a positive leader. someone who can work sides, both sides, Republicans and the Democrats. Hey guys, all right, I'm back, both visually and with audio. So John Casey just said one of the most relevant things at the convention. He said, don't worry, Joe Biden's not going to turn sharp left. Oh boy. So that has two connotations. One is, that's him saying, remember Joe, Republicans supported you, us half a percent of Republicans supported you. So you better not do what a majority of your party wants, right?

And what a majority of the country wants, I can show you the polling on Medicare for all, Green New Deal, getting rid of corruption, et cetera. But a second thing that Kasich is doing is saying basically, he's setting it up so that if he wants to run against Joe Biden, he could then use that and go. Well, I didn't know Biden was going to turn sharp left. That's my bad for not knowing that, but given what he's done and turning sharp left, it leaves me no choice with the run against him. So that's certainly possible.

So I continue to be shocked at how short these speeches are. We miss Meg Whitman because it was apparently about 15 seconds long. All right, here's Doug Jones, Democratic Center from Alabama. We'll fill you in more after we listen to this. dedicated to their memory. Alabama has shown me that even our deepest divisions can be overcome, because each of us want the same thing to be treated fairly and given the same opportunities and the freedom to live with dignity and respect.

Now, some politicians try to pit us against each other, but I believe that Americans have more in common than what divides us. And in November, we have a chance to elect a president who believes that too. I've known Joe for more than 40 years. I met him as a wide-eyed law student, and he's been my friend and champion ever since. The Joe I know is exactly the leader our country needs right now. He can bring people together to find common ground while standing up for what he believes is right. After years of bitter partisanship, he can unite our country and get things done for working families

and everyone looking for a better future. Because it's not about what side of the aisle we're on. It's about whether or not we're on the side of the people. The great John Lewis would often quote the old African proverb, when you pray, move your feet, and then challenge us to do just that. As a nation, he said, if we care for the beloved community, we must move our feet, our hands, our resources to build and not tear down, to reconcile and not to divide, to love and not to hate.

to heal and not to kill. In the final analysis, we are one people, one family, one house, the American house, the American family. Vice President Biden understands that. And he is who we need as our next president. Here we are on a Monday night in 2020. And we need to talk about the post office. So there's a lot of nothing burger going on. Yeah, so let me give you the words that folks are coming back to. Trust, decency, unity, cares about the common man, cares, sanity, science. So those are not bad qualities, but honestly, and they're desperately needed in these times. So it might be the right answer for the right question.

But it's still not aspiring. Don't worry, he won't screw this up. It's the main message that's being delivered tonight. And God, I mean, that would be amazing, wouldn't it? Don't get me wrong. The bar is so low that he won't mess this up sounds awesome right now. And I believe that's largely true. Who is this? For a second, it looked like, who's the crazy lady from Minnesota, Michelle Bachman?

And I was like, oh, no, up for top rope. But I'm probably terribly insulting. Oh, Catherine Cortez-Mastro. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Democratic Senator, let's listen in for a second. Quested an absentee ballot twice this year. This fall, some Americans will choose to vote in a voting booth with a mask on, while many of us will choose to vote by mail. My home state took the advice of scientists and medical experts and listened to the people of Nevada to put in place a vote-by-mail system, so voters have a lot of options this fall. But Donald Trump is trying to divide us by undermining that right.

He has threatened to withhold federal funding to Nevada because of our vote-by-mail system. That's funding our schools and seniors rely on. He has challenged us in court with a meritless lawsuit, one that our Republican Secretary of State has asked the judge to dismiss. And now he is putting the lives of Nevada's seniors at risk by trying to defund the post office. Here's what that means. Seniors won't be able to get their prescriptions because he wants to win an election. Well, Mr. President, Nevada is not intimidated by you.

America is not intimidated by you. are united by shared values, shared history, and shared rights, including our fundamental right to vote. And this fall, we will send Joe Biden to the White House and will flip the U.S. Senate. With Mitch McConnell out of power and a Democratic majority in the Senate, we will expand voting access and protect voting rights. To do this, America, we need you on our side. So go to Joe Biden.com right now to chip in. And then head over to flip the senate.com to help us take back the Senate. Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell know how to divide. But we know how to stand together and turn this country around. This year we had an historic field of presidential candidates.

An historic number of women, including our vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris, more candidates of color than any primary ever. And the first openly gay seconds they gave to AOC because I think that might end up being the longest speech at the convention. This is not at all what I was expecting. It is, it's so constrained. They're not giving normal, not just normal convention speeches. These aren't normal bits of stump speeches. These are very tightly pruned campaign ads kind of. Yeah, no, I thought that the Whitmans would get about like five minutes a piece and then case it would speak for 15 minutes. And you're right, then I'm more offended that AOC only got 60 seconds. But in this case, the Whitman's got like

20 seconds a piece. So maybe he got a long speech. All right, it's Klobuchar. Let's listen to her post office. But he's still going to have to send them a change of address card come January. Donald Trump just happens to be in my state today, trying to divide people instead of responding the pandemic and the significant needs of our economy. But Democrats, independents, and yes, many Republicans have had enough of his divisiveness. Tonight, my friends, in contrast, we've heard a lot about how we can unite as Americans, about our shared values, our shared dreams, how we've come together in the face of crisis. But I want to be clear, unity isn't about settling. It's about striving for something more.

It isn't the end. It's the means. It's how we get stuff done. Unity is about reaching up toward a higher purpose, a better future for all of us. E. Pluribus Unum. Out of many, one. It is more than a motto. It is the North Star for our democracy.

Now more than ever, we need a president who will unite this country. We need a president who, in George Floyd's memory, Instead of using the Bible as a prop, we'll heed its words to act justly. We need a president for the workers who've lost their jobs because this administration is selling American workers out when we need to buy American. For the farmers and manufacturers and the people of rural America who are sick and tired of reaping what he's sown. We need a president who will look out for the seniors like my dad, whose families now visit, them through glass windows, never knowing if it will be the last time they see them. We need a president for all of America. I come from the middle of this country where we believe

in people joining together to solve problems. We seek common ground to reach higher ground. That's been Joe Biden's life's work. He's a man of scrappy working class roots, a man whose own hardships have only been him more determined to lift up those who have been left out. He understands redemption and he knows resilience. Joe Biden's a man of deep experience. Barack Obama, better known tonight as Michelle's husband, he leaned on Joe for his strength and decency, and you can too. You know, most candidates, when they end their campaign, that day is a hard one. For me, it was a moment filled with great joy because the day I ended my presidential campaign was also the day I endorsed Joe Biden.

Joe ran for the same reasons I did when I announced my campaign in the middle of that blizzard on the banks of the Mississippi River, to cross the river of our divides, to bring this nation together to be a president for all of America. As I said the day I endorsed him, if you feel stuck in the middle of the extremes in our politics, if you are tired of the noise and the nonsense, you have a home with me and you have a home with Joe Biden. That's why I was so proud to stand with him then and across this great country. That's why we are all now standing united behind Joe and my friend.

Kamala, our nation's motto is out of many one. And as you're about to see, it's also the story of the Democratic primary. Thank you, America. These are universally pretty terrible. That was better. Primary video. Let's watch the primary video and then we'll trust me where I've analysis for all this coming up. stop him. You had the most destructive, hateful, racist president in the history of this country, who is literally tearing apart the fabric of the United States of America. Donald Trump is a failed

business person and desperately failed us as a president. We will run. I ran for president because I think it's urgent that we heal the divisions in this nation. We are still in control of our own future. And we need to provide millions of Americans a real path forward. A green jobs program. the minimum wage, passing a national paid leave bill, student loan debt, mental health, starting with our veterans, reproductive justice, economic justice, racial justice. And there is so much a new president can do to bring us together. It's time to get up. Starting a presidential campaign is daunting. I mean, you have to reach hundreds of millions of people. You have these incredibly long days, often capped off by these evening events. go on for hours and hours. Your challenge as a candidate is, is to be true to yourself and true to

why you ran in the first place. That is something, by the way, that I really admire about Joe Biden. He really is his own man. He knows who he is. Joe Biden is somebody who deeply cares about people, people who are marginalized, who are being left behind, or being ignored. I'm a DACA recipient, and I owe you everything. Thank you so much. And you're staying, man. You know, he's had some hard times in his life. He's had some losses in his life. And I think that is something that people relate to. You're doing okay? Yep, close to 15 years cancer free. God love you. Well, I was at a service for for fall in Afghanistan soldiers. I saw those families who were so comforted by Joe Biden when they walked out, they knew someone cared for them, someone could relate to their own pain

they were having. We need that in the White House. I still remember standing side by side with him on the debate stage. And we were having a goal of it. But what was remarkable to me was in the commercial break, he puts his arm around me and starts telling me how good my ideas are. And next thing you know, I feel like he's giving me a pep talk and literally telling me how important it is, how really important it is that I'm on that stage. Joe called me the night I suspended and was extraordinarily gracious and comforting. And he told me I should be proud of myself, said that I did myself and my family a real service and the country of service. And that meant a lot coming from Joe. Look, it's not easy to unite the Democratic Party.

We're a rambunctious group. Joe Biden has pulled it off. He wants to get the best ideas on the table so we can move forward in the best way possible. He's included my family bill of rights. He has unified our group around a clean energy strategy. The domestic workers bill of rights are very excited that that's in there. He's the kind of leader that brings other leaders in. This is a guy that's going to walk into the Oval Office and not have to find his way around, but it will actually walk in and have already sort of honed the instincts you need to lead the most powerful nation on earth through a crisis.

On the other side, Donald Trump does not understand who we are as Americans. He really doesn't. This is a guy that blames everyone for everything. You know, he blames the city of Baltimore. He blames the country of Denmark. He blames the Prime Minister of Canada for cutting him out of the Canadian version of Home Alone, too. Who does that? There are no sidelines.

There's no sitting this one out. There's no hoping that someone else is going to come in and save the day. There is no cavalry. We are the cavalry. The moment has found the person. That person is. Joe Biden. Joe has my vote because he will bring decency and dignity back to the White House. We've got one shot to make Donald Trump a one-term president. And that shot is right now.

It's Joe's time. It's Joe's time. It's president right here. We understand that things are tough right now economically, but if we're going to beat Donald Trump in November, we need your help. Okay, so let's break that one down. Okay. Number one, you're probably wondering, who the hell is Seth Moulton? Who's a square headed dude? Yes, he's actually a representative, and he actually ran for president. He made none of the debates. It was probably the worst showing in these primaries. I think Richard Ojetta lasted longer, and I think he was in the race for like three weeks. Okay, so Moulton was a total disaster, but he got in there.

And my favorite part of this, oh, damn it, we gotta go to Cedricchman, but my favorite part of that video was he united all of us establishment Democrats. There wasn't a single progressive in there. Yeah, it's super easy to unite you guys. You all agree. Anyway, let's go to Representative Richmond, and then we'll come back. But they're also just plain important. Without them, the places we call home just wouldn't be the same.

That's the thing Joe Biden understands that Donald Trump never has and never will. When we talk about the economy, it's not just about the stock market. It's about whether you can find work that really means something to you instead of feeling like you're supposed to be grateful just to get a paycheck. It's about whether people who didn't inherit millions from their parents can build a business from the ground up and have a real chance to compete. And it's about whether in the richest country on earth, Everyone, including women and people of color, feel included and empowered. Economists will also tell you that Joe Biden's plan to rebuild our economy will create millions of jobs. But Joe will tell you that his plan is about more than that, because he's seen the world from a different perspective than most politicians.

He knows what it's like to live in a real neighborhood, not just penthouse apartments. He knows what it's like to take the train to work, not just a chauffeur limousine. That's why he looks at our economic challenges the same way working people do. And he'll solve them in a way that puts working people first. Joe Biden respects America's works because he truly understands the dignity of work. You know, it was mostly small talk when we first met. When I would collect his ticket and time went on, I learned more and more about him as our friendship crew. I think he's most comfortable around everyday working class people.

It just always makes you feel, feel like you belong. For more than 30 years, Joe Biden took the train to work. As a single dad... So this is the most defining thing about Joe Biden. It's the thing that Michael sure loves the most. So he's from Delaware. Delaware is close enough to D.C. that Biden would commute into work in D.C. And he lived in Delaware and he'd take the Amtrak train in. And God, this is the stuff of political folklore. I mean, I don't know any politician or media person that doesn't love that story.

They're like, oh my God, he took the train to work. He took the trade to work. I mean, it's fine. It's fine. God bless. I'm not even preferable. It's preferable, but yeah. But yes, but what's his policy? On trains or? Lanes, automobiles, anything, right? So look, but it does go to one of the themes of the Biden campaign, which I think is relatively true. He is a very empathetic guy.

And so they keep talking about how he can relate to the working man. man. Well, there's a lot of truth to that. He's definitely empathetic, and it would be such an unbelievable relief to go from a sociopath who has no empathy for anyone at all. Joe Biden, you know what Trump said? I think it was yesterday. His brother died, Roger Trump, who was younger than him, okay? And when I asked about it, he said, oh, what I loved about Roger is he would always say good things about me. He always stuck with me. He said he thought I was a great president, and it would say it made him really happy that I was president. Oh my God, you're unbelievable. You didn't care about your brother at all. That's just,

that's stunning. It's unbelievable. So a guy with literally no empathy, none. I don't know if it's a genetic flaw. He just doesn't have it, right? To Biden, who has a considerable about an amount of empathy. And that story that Cory Booker told about pulling him aside in the debate, that's essential Joe Biden, okay? By the way, for better and for worse, the better part is he really does relate to people. He does a root for them, even though they're in a competition there with Cory Booker, obviously the most important of his life. Joe Biden's being genuine. He's not being a cheesy politician. I'll tell you the downside after Bernie. Go. moment. We're facing the worst public health crisis in 100 years and the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression.

We are confronting systemic racism and the enormous threat to our planet of climate change. And in the midst of all of this, we have a president who is not only incapable of addressing these crises, but is leading us down the path of authoritarianism. This election is the most important in the modern history of this country. In response to the unprecedented crises we face, we need an unprecedented response, a movement like never before of people who are prepared to stand up and fight for democracy and decency and against greed, oligarchy, and bigotry. And we need Joe Biden as our next president. Let me take this opportunity to say a word to the millions of people who supported my campaign this year and in 2016.

My friends, thank you for your trust, your support, and the love you show Jane, me, and our family. Together, we have moved this country in a bold new direction, showing that all of us, black and white, Latino, Native American, Asian American, gay and straight, native born and immigrant, yearn for a nation based on the principles of justice, love, and compassion. Our campaign ended several months ago, but our movement continues and is getting stronger every day. Many of the ideas we fought for that just a few years ago were considered radical are now mainstream. But let us be clear, if Donald Trump is reelected, all the progress we have made will be in jeopardy. At its most basic, this election is about preserving our democracy. During this president's term, the unthinkable has become normal. He has tried to prevent people from voting, undermine the U.S. Postal Service, deployed the military and federal agents against peaceful protesters,

threatened to delay the election, and suggested that he will not leave office if he loses. This is not normal, and we must never treat it like it is. Under this administration, authoritarianism has taken root in our country. I and my family, and many of yours, know the insidious way authoritarianism destroys democracy, decency, and humanity. As long as I am here, I will work. with progressives, with moderates, and yes, with conservatives, to preserve this nation from a threat that so many of our heroes fought and died to defeat. This president is not just the threat to our democracy, but by rejecting science, he has put

our lives and health in jeopardy. Trump has attacked doctors and scientists trying to protect us from the pandemic while refusing to take strong action to produce the masks, gowns, and gloves our health care workers desperately need. Neuro fiddled while Rome burned. Trump gulfs. His actions fanned this pandemic resulting in over 170,000 deaths and a nation still unprepared to protect its people. Furthermore, Trump's negligence has exacerbated the economic crisis we are now experiencing. Since this pandemic began, over 30 million people have lost their jobs, and many have lost their health insurance.

Millions of working families are wondering how they will feed their kids, and they're worried that they will be evicted from their homes. And how has Trump responded? Instead of maintaining the $600 a week unemployment supplement that workers were receiving and the $1,200 emergency checks that many of you received, instead of helping small businesses, Trump concocted fraudulent executive orders that do virtually nothing to address the crisis while threatening the very future of Social Security and Medicare. But the truth is that even before Trump's negligent response to this pandemic,

too many hardworking families have been caught on an economic treadmill with no hope of ever getting ahead. Together, we must build a nation that is more equitable, more compassionate, and more inclusive. I know that Joe Biden will begin that fight on day one. Let me offer you just a few examples of how Joe will move us forward. Joe supports raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. This will give 40 million workers a pay raise and push the wage scale up for everyone else. Joe will also make it easier for workers to join unions, create 12 weeks of paid family leave, fund universal pre-K for three and four-year-olds and make childcare affordable for millions of families.

Joe will rebuild our crumbling infrastructure and fight the threat of climate change by transitioning us to 100% clean electricity over the next 15 years. These initiatives will create millions of good-paying jobs all across our country. As you know, we are the only industrialized nation not to guarantee health care for all people. While Joe and I disagree on the best path to get universal coverage, he has a plan that will greatly expand health care and cut the cost of prescription drugs. Further, he will lower the eligibility age of Medicare from 65 down to 60. To help reform our broken criminal justice system, Joe will end private prisons and detention centers, cash bail, and the school to prison pipeline. And to heal the soul of our nation, Joe Biden will end the hate and division Trump has created. He will stop the demonization of immigrants, the coddling of white nationalists, the racist dog whistling, the religious bigotry, and the ugly attacks on women.

My friends, I say to you, to everyone who supported other candidates in the primary and to those who may have voted for Donald Trump in the last election, the future of our democracy is at stake, the future of our economy is at stake. The future of our planet is at stake. We must come together defeat Donald Trump and elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as our next president and vice president. My friends, the price of failure is just too great to imagine. Thank you. Okay, so guys, we're going to do a lot more analysis of all these speeches, including Bernie Sanders after the 8 o'clock hours. So after the speeches are over, stay right here because I've got way too much to say to

be able to squeeze it in between these speeches. But Professor Ging, who is a member of our website, said Bernie outlining the reasons why my mind not to sit out this election. I totally agree. By the way, t.t.com slash join to become a member. If you're watching on YouTube, you just hit the join button below. And then you can get all this coverage anytime you want, depending on the layer you get. For your YouTube channel membership, two bucks, and we see you got the TYT badge. And we know you support us and that matters a lot. At $5, you get the post game, which we're also going to do today. Actually, it'll be our second post came today, one for the live coverage, one for the main show. And then at 999, you get all

of the coverage, including tonight's and every night's coverage of the DNC. So before the next speaker comes up, the one thing I'll say right now is that Bernie clearly had the best speech of the night. I'm not saying that because I'm progressive. I'm saying that because he's the, I think literally the only one who mentioned any policy. So, and honestly, I didn't know that Joe Biden claimed he's gonna claim, end private prisons. I don't really believe it, but I like that he said it, and if he does it, then I'll love it, and I'll be super supportive. So mentioning policy helps, because even I didn't know it, if I don't know it, probably a lot of you didn't know it. So I got more to say on Bernie, but I think Michelle Obama's closing tonight. I

I want to make sure that we don't, yes, there you go. Everyone's feeling it in different ways. And I know a lot of folks are reluctant to tune into a political convention right now or to politics in general. Believe me, I get that. But I am here tonight because I love this country with all my heart. And it pains me to see so many people hurting. I've met so many of you. I've heard your stories.

And through you, I have seen this country's promise. And thanks to so many who came before me, thanks to their toil and sweat and blood, I've been able to live that promise myself. That's the story of America. All those folks who sacrificed and overcame so much in their own times because they wanted something more, something better for their kids. There's a lot of beauty in that story. There's a lot of pain in it too.

A lot of struggle and injustice and work left to do. And who we choose as our president in this election will determine whether or not we honor that struggle and chip away at that injustice and keep alive the very possibility of finishing that work I am one of a handful of people living today who have seen firsthand the immense weight and awesome power of the presidency. And let me once again tell you this. The job is hard. It requires clearheaded judgment, a mastery of complex and competing issues, a devotion to facts and history, a moral compass and a an ability to listen and an abiding belief that each of the 330 million lives in this country has meaning and worth.

President's words have the power to move markets. They can start wars or broker peace. They can summon our better angels or awaken our worst instincts. You simply cannot fake your way through this job. As I've said before, being president doesn't change who you are. It reveals who you are. Well, a presidential election can reveal who we are too. And four years ago, too many people chose to believe that their votes didn't matter. Maybe they were fed up. Maybe they thought the outcome wouldn't be close.

maybe the barriers felt too steep, whatever the reason. In the end, those choices sent someone to the Oval Office who lost the national popular vote by nearly three million votes. In one of the states that determined the outcome, the winning margin averaged out to just two votes per precinct. two votes. And we've all been living with the consequences. When my husband left office with Joe Biden at his side, we had a record-breaking stretch of job creation. We'd secured the right to health care for 20 million people. We were respected around the world, rallying our allies to confront climate change. And our leaders had worked hand in hand with science. to help prevent an Ebola outbreak from becoming a global pandemic.

Four years later, the state of this nation is very different. More than 150,000 people have died, and our economy is in shambles because of a virus that this president downplayed for too long. It has left millions of people jobless. Too many have lost. their health care. Too many are struggling to take care of basic necessities like food and rent. Too many communities have been left in the lurch to grapple with weather and how to open our school safely. Internationally, we've turned our back, not just on agreements forged by my husband, but on alliances champion by presidents like Reagan and Eisenhower. And here at home, as George Floyd, Brianna Taylor, and a never-ending list of innocent people

of color continue to be murdered, stating the simple fact that a black life matters is still met with derision from the nation's highest office. Because whenever we look to this White House for some leadership or consolation or any semblance of steadiness, what we get instead is chaos, division, and a total and utter lack of empathy. Empathy, that's something I've been thinking a lot about lately, the ability to walk in someone else's shoes, the recognition that someone else's experience has value to. Most of us practice this without a second thought. If we see someone suffering or struggling, we don't stand in judgment.

We reach out because there, but for the grace of God, go I. It is not a hard concept to grasp. It's what we teach our children. Unlike so many of you, Barack and I have tried our best to instill in our girls a strong moral foundation, to carry forward the values that our parents and grandparents poured into us. But right now, kids in this country are seeing what happens when we stop requiring empathy of one another. They're looking around wondering if we've been lying to them this whole time

about who we are and what we truly value. They see people shouting in grocery stores, unwilling to wear a mask to keep us all safe. They see people calling the police on folks' minding their own business just because of the color of their skin. They see an entitlement that says only certain people belong here. That greed is good and winning is everything. Because as long as you come out on top,

it doesn't matter what happens to everyone else. And they see what happens when that lack of, of empathy is ginned up into outright disdain. They see our leaders labeling fellow citizens, enemies of the state, while emboldening torch-bearing white supremacists. They watch in horror as children are torn from their families and thrown into cages and pepper spray and rubber bullets are used on peaceful protesters for photo op. Sadly, this is the America. that is on display for the next generation. A nation that's underperforming not simply on matters of policy,

but on matters of character. And that's not just disappointing. It's downright infuriating. Because I know the goodness and the grace that is out there in households and neighborhoods all across this nation. And I know that regardless of our race, age, religion, or politics, when we close out the noise and the fear and truly open our hearts, we know that what's going on in this country is just not right. This is not who we want to be. So what do we do now?

What's our strategy? Over the past four years, a lot of people have asked me, when others are going so low, does going high still really work? My answer, going high is the only thing that works. Because when we go low, when we use those same tactics of degrading and dehumanizing others, we just become part of the ugly noise that's drowning out everything else. We degrade ourselves. We degrade the very causes for which we fight.

But let's be clear. Going high does not mean putting on a smile and saying nice things when confronted by viciousness and cruelty. Going high means taking the harder path. It means scraping and claw on our way to that mountain top. Going high means standing fierce against hatred while we're, remembering that we are one nation under God. And if we want to survive, we've got to find a way to live together and work together across our differences. And going high means unlocking the shackles of lies and mistrusts with the only thing that can truly set us free.

The cold hard truth. So let me be as honest and clear as I possibly can. Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country. He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head. He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. It is what it is.

Now, I understand that my message. won't be heard by some people. We live in a nation that is deeply divided, and I am a black woman speaking at the Democratic Convention, but enough of you know me by now. You know that I tell you exactly what I'm feeling. You know I hate politics, but you also know that I care about this nation. You know how much I care about all of our children. So if you take one thing from my words tonight, it is this.

If you think things cannot possibly get worse, trust me, they can and they will if we don't make a change in this election. If we have any hope of ending this chaos, we have got to vote for Joe Biden like our lives depend on it. I know Joe, he is a profoundly decent man guided by faith. He was a terrific vice president. He knows what it takes to rescue an economy, beat back a pandemic, and lead our country. And he listens. He will tell the truth and trust science. He will make smart plans and manage a good team.

and he will govern as someone who's lived a life that the rest of us can recognize. When he was a kid, Joe's father lost his job. When he was a young senator, Joe lost his wife and his baby daughter. And when he was vice president, he lost his beloved son. So Joe knows the anguish of sitting at a table with an empty chair, which is why he gives his time so freely to grieving. parents. Joe knows what it's like to struggle, which is why he gives his personal phone number to kids overcoming a stutter of their own. His life is a testament to getting back up. And he is

going to channel that same grit and passion to pick us all up, to help us heal and guide us forward. Now, Joe is not perfect, and he'd be the first to tell you that. But, there is no perfect candidate, no perfect president, and his ability to learn and grow, we find in that the kind of humility and maturity that so many of us yearn for right now. Because Joe Biden has served this nation, his entire life without ever losing sight of who he is. But more than that, he has never lost. sight of who we are, all of us. Joe Biden wants all of our kids to go to a good school, see a doctor when they're sick, live on a healthy planet. And he's got plans to make all

of that happen. Joe Biden wants all of our kids, no matter what they look like to be able to walk out the door without worrying about being harassed or arrested or killed. He wants all of our kids to able to go to a movie or a math class without being afraid of getting shot. He wants all our kids to grow up with leaders who won't just serve themselves and their wealthy peers, but will provide a safety net for people facing hard times. And if we want a chance to pursue any of these goals, any of these most basic requirements for a functioning society, we have have to vote for Joe Biden in numbers that cannot be ignored. Because right now, folks who know they cannot win fair and square at the ballot box are doing everything they can to stop us from

voting. They're closing down polling places in minority neighborhoods. They're purging voter rolls. They're sending people out to intimidate voters and they're lying about the security of our ballots. These tactics are not new. But this is not the time to withhold our votes in protest or play games with candidates who have no chance of winning.

We have got to vote like we did in 2008 and 2012. We've got to show up with the same level of passion and hope for Joe Biden. We've got to vote early in person, If we can, we've got to request our mail and ballots right now tonight and send them back

immediately, and follow up to make sure they're received, and then make sure our friends and families do the same. We have got to grab our comfortable shoes, put on our mask, pack a brown bag, dinner, and maybe breakfast too, because we've got to be willing to stand in line all night if we have to. Look, we have already sacrificed so much this year. So many of you are already going that extra mile. Even when you're exhausted, you're mustering up unimaginable courage to put on those scrubs and give our loved ones a fighting chance. Even when you're anxious, you're delivering those packages, stocking those shelves and doing all that essential work so that all of us can keep

moving forward. Even when it all feels so overwhelming, working parents are somehow piecing it all together without child care. Teachers are getting creative so that our kids can still learn and grow. Our young people are desperately fighting to pursue their dreams. And when the horrors of systemic racism shook our country and our consciences, millions of Americans of every age, every background rose up to march for each other, crying out for justice and progress. This is who we still are. Compassionate, resilient, decent people whose fortunes are bound up with one another. And it is well past time for our leaders to once again reflect our truth.

So it is up to us to add our voices and our votes to the course of history, echoing heroes like John Lewis who said, when you see something that is not right, you must say something. You must do something. That is the truest form of empathy, not just feeling, but doing, not just for ourselves or our kids, but for everyone, for all our kids. And if we want to keep the possibility of progress alive in our time, if we want to be able to look our children in the eye after this election, we have got to reassert our place in American history. And we have got to do everything we can to elect my friend Joe Biden as the next president of the United States. Thank you all. God bless.

All right. That was the last speech of the night. We've got a lot of analysis for you now. And don't, if you're just tuning in, this applause from randos might seem awkward and weird. But to be fair to Michelle Obama, they've been doing it throughout the 9-8-D. He did it for Bernie Sanders as well. So let's see her, this is Eva Longoria. Let's have her wrap up. And then, man, I have so many things I want to share with you guys, including your comments.

Thanks to all of y'all who have been tuning in. And it's a convention about you and for you, the American people. This is our chance to hear from those who will be leading, leading at us out of our nation out of the current crises on the economy, the pandemic, racial injustice, to listen and to learn. Yeah, okay, I just wanted to make sure she was wrapping up. Changes we all need. Yeah, all right.

So I can't wait to get to your comments because you guys have so many great comments. Okay, but first let's do a wrap up of the whole night and then we'll go get into a little bit more of the details for some of the speeches that you might have seen and some of the speeches that you might have missed. And then at 830 Pacific 1130 Eastern, we're going to go to post game and give you even more. That's for the member of CYT.com slash join to become a member. If you're on YouTube, hit the join button below the video to become a member. And if you want to support us so that we can do special programming for like this for you guys, t-y-t.com slash go. It makes all the difference. Okay, now. So tonight, a number of speakers were at the

first line of the DNC, Michelle Obama, Bernie Sanders, Amy Klobuchar, Andrew Cuomo, and others, John Kasich, very importantly, Republican governor of Ohio. And so first thing is, I want to just tell you who I thought were the best speakers and why and the upsides and the outsides of those speeches. The most, I thought the most effective speaker was a woman named Kristen. She's not a politician. She lost her dad to coronavirus, and her dad thought that Trump was telling the truth, that he didn't have anything to worry about. He went out without a mask, went to karaoke, got coronavirus, and then died. And it was a heart wrenching story, and it was harsh, but it was real, and it was followed by an in-memorium to a great number of people, obviously

that were lost. Obviously, it couldn't begin to show you even a small fraction of it, because over 173,000 Americans are dead now. So I thought that was the best speech. I thought Bernie's speech was the second best, mainly because he talked about policy. So he mentioned things like ending private prisons and cash bail, which if you're progressive, that's actual real progress and something to vote for in terms of the change. that we might get. He was honest about their differences. But to me, he made the most compelling case, partly because I think this is the number one case. I thought it beforehand. And it's not because I'm a progressive and Bernie's a progressive. I just think it's the most rational

case for voting for Joe Biden, which is that our democracy is in peril. It's not a joke, it's not hyperbole, it's absolutely real. I mean, you could see even with the shenanigans that Trump's trying to pull on mail-in ballots and the post office and defunding and in shutting everything down. If he can cheat to win, he will definitely cheat. If he could stay in office despite losing, he will definitely stay in office despite losing. And my God, if he wins, God help us all. I absolutely positively believe he'll end democracy. I thought that Bernie had by far the clearest clarion call on that. Maybe this one is because he's progressive. So he doesn't have to pull his punches, whereas I think the establishment is still, you know, feels like, oh, well, saying

that might sound a little conspiratorial and God, is that going to do damage to my career? Who cares about your career? The guy's not going to end democracy, but your hair should be on fire. So then Michelle Obama. So we'll get into more of these details in our live coverage, and John's going to come in with his thoughts in a second. But Michelle Obama was great, she was so fantastic that. I can see now why people want her to get into politics. To me, it bothers me a lot when we assume

that every successful politician then has to have a dynasty, and every family member is part of the royalty, and all of them have to run. It grades on every nerve I have. But she was so smart and gave such a better speech than the actual politicians tonight. that you can see why people are clamory for it. She says she hates politics, she repeated that in the speech tonight. Generally speaking, I hope that's true because I don't want her to get mired in that muck. But at the same time, it's my job to be honest with you guys. I know they can't do it, but I wish none of them would go on prompter.

And if they don't go on prompter, their speeches will be a lot rougher and there will be a lot more stammering like we do from time to time because we're not on prompter. But they'll be more real. So as I saw her giving that speech, it was better suited for an audience. And without the audience and her being able to react to their emotion, the emotion she was giving out and the way that she was acting the speech seemed too much like acting too political. And the reality is other than motivating people to vote, which was her main job, to be fair to her, and other than being wonderfully, you know, like I said, smart and elegant, I guess is the world I was looking for, and a good role model. And for so many people out there, just seeing her being, you know, wonderful as she is, was probably enough.

But it's too, like I give me something to root for instead of just panic and Joe's a good guy. The constant theme of Joe's a good guy, yes, but what are we striving towards? So at the end of the day, it just felt a little inauthentic to me. John. Yeah, I think, I think like you said, I get, I get why people want her to get in politics. Like for the sort of person who, like, it's like an approach to politics where you want a certain sort of person, a certain sort of person who seems competent and can communicate well, but your demands are not grounded in a deep and constant focus

on the problems facing the country tied to the specific solutions that you think need to happen. If you want that sort of politician, you're gonna go for someone like Bernie or A or C or something like that. But if you don't think about it specifically in terms of problems and their solutions, and you just want someone who seems decent and compassionate and intelligent, and together, then she's about as good as that comes. Like she can project all of that. I agree that a little bit of the way she was expressing herself didn't really fit the format to some extent, but it was still far more effective than all of the other non-Burney speakers

in terms of convincing me that it's something like what she really believes. Most of those politicians, they've, they've figured out exactly what their hand motions are supposed to be and how they're supposed to bite their lip and how they're supposed to gesture and all that. It's so artificial. Hers, it's more emotion than she's really feeling. That's the extent to which it is artificial. She really does care about those things, but she's putting more into it, which is far better than listening to, you know, Klobuchar's jokes or, you know, God help us, Ted Cruz is trying to pretend that he has human emotions. It's far more effective than that. It was still, for the most part, aside from a few references, like the rest of the

the speeches that we had almost entirely absent policy considerations. There really wasn't much of that. And that's that's disconcerting because it's not like things aren't going to be done under a Biden presidency. And if things are gonna happen, why aren't you talking about them? Why are you talking about your goals a little bit more? There's been a little bit of it, but not nearly enough. I would say that I think she was probably the most effective speaker tonight for what Biden and his group want to come of this. sort of thing. And I think looking back, she'll probably be one of the best from the convention. Obviously I preferred Bernie, but I think for the sort of thing they want, this is way more

effective than a Klobuchar, a Whitmer, or a Kasich, or God knows who else, a Buttigieg, a Bloomberg. This is what they want. It's no coincidence that they had her as the big speaker to cap off the first night. Yeah, so look, I want to get into the specifics of the lines that Michelle Obama had, Bernie Sanders had, and so many others. And And if you want to catch all that, if you're a member at tyt.com slash join, you can get all this coverage anytime you want. If you're on YouTube, you can hit the join button below the video as an easy way to sign up for membership. And always tyt.com slash go to keep us healthy and sustainable so we can do this coverage for you guys. But I want to finish the summary

with a couple of thoughts here. Number one, John, I'll ask this in the form of a question. You remember a single thing that Amy Klobuchar or Gretchen Wemmer said? I know that Amy Klobuchar made a couple of jokes about Obama being Michelle's husband. I remember that joke. And there was some other joke about how Trump was going to have to, well, he are still going to have to submit your change of address form after November 3rd. Like there were a couple of those sort of jokes that she told, you know, at all of the debates. Other than that, no. I don't think so. No, of course not. And so by the way, I told them they should go off a prompt or be like real people. And then I have a massive sneeze in the

middle of John's point, just to buttress my point. Anyways, okay, and that's my point. Clobuchar made a couple of, I guess what are now, well I don't know if I'm inventing this or this is super old, but mom jokes. So she made a couple of mom jokes, like I make dad jokes. They're awful. I hope my dad jokes are better than her mom jokes. And yeah, we'll see, we'll see, anyway. And Gretchen Whitmer had went back to the well on, you know, Joe Biden saved the auto industry. She's the governor of Michigan, of course, she's going to say that Biden has had that famous line when they were up for reelection in 2012.

Obama saved GM and killed bin Laden, and they're going back to that well. But really just a giant nothing burger from the other politicians, which then leads to probably the most relevant, not the best speech, but the most relevant line of the night, which is from John Kasich. So he's the Republican governor of Ohio that spoke. He obviously was in the presidential primaries last time around against Trump. He nearly won. He was in the top three with Trump, which was a little bit unexpected. So he did really well. So for him to switch over and support the Democratic nominee is kind

of a big deal in politics. But the line I'm referring to is when he said, I know Joe and he won't turn sharp left. Oh boy. So that's the Republicans basically saying, look, remember, half a percent of us are supporting you. So you owe us everything. And you better not do do anything that's actually left wing or progressive. Otherwise, you'll be betraying us and we made you president. That's point one and point two is if he later wants to run against Joe Biden and he could say, well, I mean, I didn't know who's going to turn sharp left, but he turns out he dirt sharp left. And so to me, that's the most disturbing night of the line of the night and one that I fear will echo the loudest. Because both establishment,

Republicans and establishment Democrats are incentivized to keep repeating that and having it ring in Joe Biden's ears. So I don't want it to be the most relevant line of the night, but I'm afraid it's going to be. Yeah, can I briefly say about KSik? One of the things that bothered me the most is that I know that the Democrats are, they're just desperately hoping to find someone who seems like the old school relevant. relatively moderate, generally from the Northeast sort of Republican, which was never really that common. And they were really not that nice to begin with. But they think that he's that sort of person. But the thing is like when he gives a line like he did where he's like,

you know, me and Joe, we disagree on things, but that's okay, that's America. We're not talking about, you know, whether the corporate tax rate should be 26% or 26.5%. Kasek doesn't believe that women should have reproductive freedom. These are fundamental disagreements that have massive effects on people's lives. They're not small things. And the Democratic Party has routinely attacked Kasek and other Republicans for holding those positions. Those are not acceptable disagreements for us to have. Those are not around the margins of people's lives. Those cut to the core of people's lives and their ability to exercise their own choices over what form their life comes in. But because he's not Trump and because he doesn't like Trump, we'll just

pretend that it's a small distinction. We'll pretend that we can all just get along. No, if more people like Kasich were in power, that would be a terrible thing for America. It might in some philosophical sense be better than more Trumps, but it's still horrendous. And I don't like those massive differences being whitewashed away because, hey, he doesn't like Trump and he's he's gonna make an ad for Biden. So John, that is exactly right. And it actually goes to the very core of the theme of those first night. Almost every speaker talked about unity versus division.

And that is both Biden's greatest strength and his greatest weakness. Because they of course talked about in the context of strength. Biden is going to unite us. Look, we got Republicans, we got like Kasich, we got progressives like Bernie Sanders. We got establishment people like everyone else at the convention. And so he's gonna be a uniter, and Donald Trump divided us with his racism and bigotry and attacks against women, et cetera. That is true, and that is a huge advantage for Joe Biden.

It's a massive disadvantage for electing a racist like Donald Trump, right? So on that alone, that ends the conversation for me. But we give you the full context here. So the reality is, why is it also Biden's biggest weakness? Because the only way to paper over are real, significant disagreements. John makes the easiest, the most clear and correct point, although there's a thousand of these disagreements that are really, really important. But no, I don't agree with John Kasich.

I believe women should control their own bodies. And you can't unify my position and Kasich's position. You just can't. You have to choose. And Biden doesn't want to choose is again, a great strength of his empathy. And boy, could we use that at a time where we have this monster in office, that doesn't seem to have any empathy at all for anyone else. But what the only way to unify us and Kasich and everyone in between is to do nothing, is to just keep the status quo going. And so then he washes his hands of it and goes, hey, I united everybody. I'm not a monster. And we, I brought competence back. A couple people mentioned Joe believes

in science. One, that's the lowest bar I've ever heard. Two, oh, thank God, it's actually super important to clear that bar. And this guy in office doesn't clear it. And that's the the dark times that we live in. So I know what I'm getting with Joe Biden. And that is return to sanity. That is true. But I also know what I'm getting with Joe Biden, which is a return to the status quo. And tonight reinforced both of those things, both for better and for worse. Yeah. Yeah, I know, I don't know if you've been able to, while this has been going on, track a lot of like social media, but from what I've seen on Twitter, generally all of the conversation about the convention was largely negative up until for Michelle Obama,

gave her address. And then a lot of people, some the sort you'd expect liked it, but others even, you know, like people I consider very good, solid progressives were, they definitely liked her message. I would say it's objectively good and also made better by the fact that the vast majority of what we heard was just got awful. Yeah, no, I haven't been trying it at all. But look, here's another thing I'm going to keep it real on. It's a touchy subject to criticize Michelle Obama. Now, she doesn't leave a lot of room for criticism anyway. I mean, she's pretty good at what she does. But I guarantee you that any progressive who criticizes her, that establishment will lose their minds, right? So even the light critique that I did,

and you kind of joined in a little bit, John, so you might be in trouble. I liked it. I liked it. Back off, everybody. But for critique of Michelle Obama will not be tolerated. So that's my general sense of it. But it doesn't matter, she gave a pretty good speech with the exception of we talked about. Okay, okay, continue. No, no, I want to do the specifics of the speeches and I want to read your comments, but go ahead, John. I mean, I was just going to throw a total random oddball question out of there. Considering the state of the state of the election, the state of the primary, what Biden is bringing to this thing, you probably remember that not too long ago, a year and a half,

two years ago, there was talk about like drafting Michelle Obama. If you could at this late date replace Biden with Michelle Obama based on the address you just saw, would you go in that direction? Well, I love that question, but it has so many nuances. Number one, I believe in democracy, At my core, so even when people say the American people are stupid, it bothers me when progressives say that. So are some of the American people stupid? Yes, we just did a poll today explaining 52% of Republican men think that coronavirus is not a real threat, okay?

But I believe in democracy, I believe in it, believe in it. So I know it's a hypothetical and I'm taking it too literally, but I would never replace the person who actually won. So now, if I'm getting past that, look, yeah, I would take Michelle Obama on the off chance and some evidence that she's more progressive than Joe Biden. I would also take her because she's more eloquent and composed and gives people a sense of calm and decency and all those good things. If she's younger and more dynamic, the number one thing I'd be scared about is she's

royalty. And it's tough to challenge royalty. And if it turns out she's as conservative as Biden is, oh boy, right? It's in a sense, it's easier to fight Biden. It would be extraordinarily difficult to do political campaigns against Michelle Obama if she turned out not to be a progressive. Oh my God, the fervor and the fever with which cable news anchors would yell at you. If Michelle Obama says, the people shall not have Medicare for all, the people shall not have it, right? So now I don't know that she thinks that. And I think she's, from what little I know about her opinions, appears to be more progressive than Biden and Barack Obama. So long answer to your question, I'd gamble and I take Michelle Obama overbying.

Yeah, that's an interesting one. I definitely think in terms of, you know, from your point of view, the difficulty in criticizing her for that being perceived as acceptable, you know, just in case maybe get ready before the next four years or I'll come up with strategy, because you never know. Yeah, well, no, here's my strategy. I don't give a damn. That's true. And I'm going to criticize anyway, I mean, welcome to the party, you're late, very late. So, but not a lot of people can do what we do. Anyways, so now, breaking down Michelle Obama's speech a little bit more. She went and explained going high again, it was word salad, that was probably the worst part of the speech.

Oh, we should go high because we're better and we said that we could have more, more. blah, blah, but then, you know, let's make sure that we fight hard anyway. I don't really mean anything. Beckdu, 71 is a member of ours on our site. He said, go hi, Michelle, but hire me and others to do the dirty work for you. I'm happy to go low and fight these maggots on their low level. So I happen to agree with Becktu 71 more than I agree with Michelle Obama. On the other hand, she had two really powerful images and that were helpful of Biden.

She talked about his grief after having lost family members, and that's always compelling. And she said he knows how to deal with an empty chair. And it kind of set a contrast for me between that weird stick Clint Eastwood did four years ago with the empty chair versus the powerful imagery of a family member lost in their empty chair. So I thought that was really powerful. And then she said that Biden's career is a testament to getting back up. And I think that's true, I think that's powerful, and is a good, at least testament to Biden's character in that sense. And I could relate to that. that and a lot of people can relate to getting back up after getting knocked down. So

those two parts are great in our speech. Yeah, and I think like pointing out, they did a good job of occasionally going back to, you know, how devastating the death toll has been from COVID. There was that great sort of video that was playing. And I expect that we'll see more of that. But like when you take that and then you combine it with the fact that they can rightly say that that Joe Biden has always been very compassionate towards people, especially those who have lost people, he's at devastating losses of his own. You combine it with that. If you could also then combine it with, and he has the best possible plan for making sure that as few people deal with needless loss, you know, through being uninsured, underinsured, medical bankruptcies,

all of that. He's going to totally remake our healthcare industry to be what it needs to be to address the current crises and those that are coming. That would be such a winning pitch in the middle of the worst pandemic we've had in a century. But it's just not there. It's the situation is there. He's got the background of empathy in this area. And what does he want to do? He wants to tweak the current system a little bit, strengthen the ACA a little bit. And that's really it. That's not the dynamic pitch that it could be to really like bring this election home. And it just, when she was talking about it, it just seems like such a missed opportunity that he doesn't have the policy to go along with the other components of this.

Yeah, it's just not who Biden is. It's not who the Democratic Party is at this point. I wish it were, but we lost the primary. And so the establishment is won and they are still ruled by the donor class. That's just a fact. And nothing that's said at this convention will change that fact. And so at the same time when Michelle Obama talks about how presidential elections will tell us who we are, that's definitely true. And we elected a super ugly guy, I mean his character last time around. And I hope to God that's not who we are as Americans. And so, you know, you could say, hey, Biden's just got to clear the lowest bar in American political history. That's true. And can he do that? Yes, is that enough? No, but will we take it? Of course,

of course we'll take it. We've got to get rid of the man child who has no empathy and who shows the ugliest side of America. And finally, when Michelle Obama said, you know, I've been there and being president's really hard and it is complicated and nuanced and very complex. She paused for a second and I thought she might, and I know she wasn't going to say it, but I was rooting for her to say, and a guy this dumb can't handle it. Oh, I would have loved it. It would have been like soothing to my soul. I feel like that message came across. Yeah, I know. And later she said he's in above his head. And I know when he goes low, she goes high, I get it, right? Yeah. But the reason why it would have been cathartic is after four, four, five years now of Donald Trump

calling every woman dumb and nasty and calling every African American and every minority dumb and lazy. I can't stand it anymore. And if a wonderful, intelligent, charismatic African American woman called him dumb to his face, oh, it would have been great. It would have been great, Michelle, you still have time. Okay, so. Well, Jake, that would undercut the staying high thing. You're dumb and you're nasty, and I hate you. You owe it to our catharsis as a nation to say it once. Maybe after the election.

All right, so everybody stay right here. We've got actually so much more, including breaking down Bernie's speech, line by not every line, but the important lines. The funniest parts of the convention so far, and so much more for our members. So t-y-t.com slash join and get all of our post games, including the one John and I are going to do about the topics I just mentioned. Also, if you're watching on YouTube, really easy to join, you hit the join button, not complicated, right underneath the video, and at the 499 level, you get all the post games, 999, get all of our videos, all of our special coverage,

anytime you want it all right guys for all the members we'll see you in a minute thanks for listening to the full episode of the young turks support our work listen to ad free access members only bonus content and more by subscribing to apple podcasts at apple dot co slash t yt i'm your host jank huger and i'll see you soon