The Young Turks - The Young Turks - November 13, 2020

Episode Date: November 14, 2020

Loser Donald threatens New York and Andrew Cuomo. Ana Kasparian and Benjamin Dixon discuss on The Young Turks. 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. What is up, everyone. Welcome to TYT. I'm Anna Casparian. Joining us on this beautiful Friday is Benjamin Dixon. What's up, Ben? Hey, Anna, how are you? Always a pleasure to be here. It's always a pleasure to have you. And it's always, you know, it's always a good day when You have positive stories in the rundown. And there are some positive stories.

Of course, we have some insanity, lunacy coming from Donald Trump. He held his first press conference today, and we're going to give you the details on what he had to say. Did he address the outcome of the election? You want to stick around to find out, right? But it's Friday, and I'm super excited about it. Like, I'm excited that it's going to be the weekend, and I have to work a little bit on Saturday. but after that, I'm going to do nothing, just lay around, be a slob. Living for the weekend.

Be lazy. Yeah, I'm exhausted. I mean, it's crazy because I think, I don't know if you had this same, I guess, prediction. And it was an inaccurate prediction on my part, at least. Like, as soon as the election is called, like, you can just kind of like relax a little bit. The workload might lessen, but no, that didn't happen. Things have gotten crazier.

No, it has gotten more intense. And I'm wondering how far this can go. There has to be a limit to this at some point. I know, I know. Well, we'll see. Maybe the best is yet to come. All right. So let's actually get started with the breaking news. And it has to do with Donald Trump's press conference. So Donald Trump held his first press conference after losing to Joe Biden in the general election. Now, did he use it as an opportunity to finally concede? Of course not. But he did use it as an opportunity to go after his political enemies, whine about Pfizer and their news regarding a vaccine.

It was absolute nonsense. But one thing that was very clear is that Donald Trump certainly hates Cuomo from New York, the governor of New York, of course, and likes to in any way he can retaliate against his political opponents. So in this next clip, you're going to hear what he has to say about Pfizer's upcoming coronavirus vaccine and how Trump plans to distribute it. Watch. As soon as April, the vaccine will be available to the entire general population, with the exception of places like New York State where, for political reasons, the governor decided to say, and I don't think it's good politically. I think it's very bad from a health

standpoint, but he wants to take his time on the vaccine. He doesn't trust where the vaccine's coming from. These are coming from the greatest companies anywhere in the world, greatest labs in the world. So he went on to basically threaten New York by refusing to distribute the vaccine to that state. Now, of course, the important word there was April, which means he won't be president. And it doesn't really matter. It doesn't matter what he has to say on that stage. But Ben, I wanted to get your thoughts. You know, if you could, maybe you can help me.

Is he saying that New York isn't getting it because they're refusing it or they're not getting it because he doesn't like them politically? Because I wasn't sure on that point. So I think what he was trying to do there was basically accuse Governor Cuomo of spreading fear and disinformation about the vaccine. and as a result, the federal government will not distribute the vaccine to that state. Now, the fact of the matter is, Donald Trump politicized every single component of this pandemic. And people, I think, understandably, were suspicious about the development of a vaccine because, as we know,

Trump was trying to speed it up, speed it up, get it through, get it through. Warp speed. And warp speed, exactly. And regardless of whether someone's a Democrat or Republican, Obviously, when it comes to vaccinations, you want to make sure it goes through the proper, you know, protocol, the proper testing, the proper trials before you take it yourself. And so it's really Trump's fault that, you know, his own rhetoric led to widespread distrust toward vaccines or other methods of keeping people safe.

And as you can see, it's like I really just had a pause and ask if I'm hearing this correctly because what seems like common sense to him is anathema to us. Like, this can't be really what the president of the United States is saying that because of pettiness, political pettiness, he's willing to risk or at least threaten, right? He won't be here in April, like you said. So really, he won't have any impact on that at all. But he's the president of the United States making this type of threat to alienate an entire state that he's supposed to be the president of.

And also, he said places like New York, right? So I think it's very clear that he's trying to make a statement there regarding states that haven't been friendly to him. I wonder if Arizona and Georgia, two states that flipped from red to blue, make it on that list. But anyway, he wasn't the only one who decided to go after Governor Cuomo during this press conference. So let's take a listen to what Alex Azar had to say. Thank you, Mr. President, for providing the leadership that's gotten us where we are today. The success that Operation Warp Speed has realized so far has been made possible only because of the bold vision you announced not even six months ago, right here in the Rose Garden.

As I worked with the president to assemble this team and organize this effort, his support was indispensable at each step of the way. We went out and found the very best people on the planet to do the job. This process has been driven solely by science and data. So it's a shame that some, one example being the governor of New York, have actually injected politics into the process and suggested the possibility of intentionally delaying access to an FDA authorized vaccine, which is simply unconscionable. Thank you, Mr. President, for making that very bright future possible for the American people. If you look at polling regarding Americans' trust in a vaccine,

you'll see over and over again that people are skeptical, they're worried, and it's not because of what Governor Cuomo had to say about it. It's because of Donald Trump's own rhetoric. And again, like, I don't really get why this press conference was utilized as an avenue to attack Governor Cuomo. The people who politicizes pandemic from the start are members of the Trump administration and Trump himself. Yeah.

You notice he has nothing to say unless he's attacking someone. That's why he had a center of Cuomo and this. And a thing that really you should have just focused on the science. If the science stands up by itself, then you wouldn't have to create a villain. So that makes me even more nervous. It's like, have these people not seen any zombie movies where it wasn't because of some supernatural thing? It was like a virus, a pathogen that went wrong and we try to treat it. I'm just, that's why most of us don't trust it.

We've seen this too many times in horror movies. Right. I mean, Trump's lack of leadership incompetence, the fact that he discouraged people from wearing masks, he told the Wall Street Journal that he thinks people wear masks to make him look bad, which means that he would prefer people to not wear masks to make him look good, even though it puts their own health at risk by doing that. And also, I mean, if we had done nothing in response to coronavirus, the numbers would be similar to what we're experiencing today. And to be clear, Trump had completely abandoned any type of action toward this pandemic

months ago. But after he lost the election, he was pretty much MIA until he held this press conference today, I want to tell you how serious this pandemic has gotten, how serious the numbers have gotten because of Donald Trump's lack of leadership and incompetence. Over the past week, the United States coronavirus outbreak has worsened, with the nation reporting more than 150,000 new infections Thursday yesterday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, the seven-day average of daily new cases stands at 131,4 That's 32% higher than a week ago. So the country is in a lot of trouble as a result of how this administration has handled

the pandemic. And anyone who's critical about their handling of the pandemic is right. And the fact that he's used this press conference to go after Governor Cuomo for criticizing Trump, I think it's just absolutely ridiculous. It shows you the kind of person he is. But the good news is Donald Trump will not be in charge. in April. The federal government has purchased the, you know, many doses of the vaccine. They're going to be in charge of distributing it. And so it's important to know that the first in line

to take the vaccine, of course, there are going to be people who are the most vulnerable to the virus. So elderly people, individuals who have other preexisting health conditions that, you know, put them at greater risk if they can track the virus. Children of our last, in line. So it's going to really be put out in by a needs basis and I think that's the right way to do it. Yeah. And actually that works out for me because my kids, if they're going to go last then we have to sit back and watch how everyone else reacts to it. So if we have an I am legend moment with Will Smith, at least me and my kids and you know all of us who are not in those those politicians are going to get it first. I hate to think of vulnerable

communities getting it first. I want to see these politicians get just in case it goes South. Oh, that's interesting. Well, okay, here's some more good news about the Pfizer vaccine. The pharmaceutical company was not part of Operation Warp Speed. And that honestly puts my mind at ease. Yeah. And so it is actually going through the necessary clinical trials. And so that's good news. Don't, you know, don't let Donald Trump's political messaging, you know, sway you in the wrong direction, obviously read up on the vaccine. We'll do more reporting on it as we learn more. But so far from what I'm seeing, they are going through the appropriate testing to ensure that it's approved and safe for widespread use. So, all right, with that said, let's get back to the

outcome of the election because more ballots have been counted and it looks like Trump has lost two more states. So, President-elect Joe Biden has won the state of Georgia and also flipped Arizona. Now, Georgia and Arizona have been red states for decades. However, they decided to vote for Biden in this general election. He's the first Democrat to flip the states from red to blue in decades. CNBC reports that Biden's victory, the first for a Democratic presidential contender in Georgia since 1992, further secures a big lead in the electoral college over President Donald Trump. Biden's victory would give him 16 more electoral college votes and further, solidify an already large lead over Donald Trump in both the electoral college and popular vote

tallies. So what's the number? Well, Biden has secured 306 electoral college votes compared with 232 such votes for Trump under current projections. And I'm just going to go to the very last graphic in this segment just to make a point about the hypocritical messaging from Trump loyalists. Kelly Ann Conway back in 2016 had a reaction to 306 electoral votes that Donald Trump secured. She said 306, landslide, blowout, historic. I've yet to see a similar tweet regarding Joe Biden and this election. They have a wonderful way of only caring about something when it benefits them and completely disregarding when it doesn't benefit them. So, of course, that's the programming of Republicans.

They will never call what Donald Trump just suffered a blowout. But in every way measurable that they consider, it was a blowout. Yeah, I mean, it is kind of incredible to see these states flip from red to blue. I mean, I don't think that that's indicative of how these states are going to vote in the future. So we shouldn't just pretend as though things are completely different in those states. They still have a pretty giant right-wing electorate there. Now, in Georgia, to kind of to make my point, Biden won by a very slim margin, about 14,000 votes.

So as a result, the Secretary of State in Georgia has committed to do a recount. The recount will be done by hand, and we'll see what the results of that recount will be. But my guess is it will not change the results of the election in the state of Georgia. So Trump's efforts were dealt a serious blow when his campaign dropped a challenge of ballots in Arizona, some good news, saw a judge refuse to delay the certification of ballots in Detroit and learn that Pennsylvania will not order a recount of ballots. And so Trump's in a lot of trouble if he thinks that he can try to flip the results of this

election. His lawyers have abandoned him, he's dropping this lawsuit in Arizona. and even during his press conference today, he almost, almost conceded. He did so in the context of the pandemic and whether or not the country is going to undergo more lockdowns. Let's watch. Ideally, we won't go to a lockdown. I will not go. This administration will not be going to a lockdown.

Hopefully, whatever happens in the future, who knows which administration will be? I guess time will tell. but I can tell you this administration will not go to a lockdown. There won't be necessity. Lockdowns cost lives, and they cost a lot of problems. He knows. We heard it. We heard it.

You know, it's moments like that that makes me really pause and say, like, okay, Donald Trump is not the complete moron that we think he is. He knew how to pivot fast enough to not make that confession to the entire international. international community that he knows that this is over. So he's really smart at being shrewd and really smart at distorting and really in telling lies. That's his master. That's what he masters in. Yeah, I mean, look, I think that he sees challenging the outcome of the election as an opportunity to raise money at this point. And what's really pathetic is that this grift essentially he's a swindler. He's swindling his own supporters through all of these emails asking for

money to challenge the results of the election in various states. And people are donating money thinking that he's actually going to use it for these court battles. When in reality, if you read the fine print, the majority of that money actually goes toward legal settlements he might have to deal with, campaign debt, his own political action committee, which he could use for future, you know, political aspirations. You know, there's a lot, a lot of talk of him running again in 2024. But it's just, it's amazing how much he takes advantage of people who support him, how much he likes to bamboozle them, and how they go for it every single time. And that last part, Anna, is the thing. Like, how do they, like, how do they not see what

is so obvious to us? It's actually written in the fine print there, if they actually paid attention to it. But it's so much more important for them to feel the sensation that they are fighting back to own the libs. And Donald Trump has monetized that. Absolutely, exactly. So I do see this as a grift, and I do think that it does have actual consequences. I don't think he's actually going to attempt to stage a coup. But at this point, what he is doing is fueling potential violence and civil unrest in the country. And I should also note that all of these like phony legal battles that he's engaging in, we pay for that. I mean, taxpayer money goes to, our resources go toward these ridiculous, frivolous lawsuits. And so

there is a price to pay. There is a cost to that. But, you know, I think that he's pretty clear on what the outcome of the election is. I think he's already accepted it in his head. He's kind of given up on himself. He stopped dying his hair. He's very depressed. I assume. That video, man, he's hanging in there, I guess. You know, people were really thinking that he didn't age the normal amount that presidents age, right? Those first four years always adds at least 12 years in president years. And he was dyeing his hair and he was tanning his face with whatever spray tan he uses. And everyone thought, oh, he didn't really age. But here we are. There he is

with his crystal clear white hair for America to see. Yeah, it's quite a sight to see. All right. Well, why don't we take our first break? And when we come back, we have more news on the coronavirus and more. Stick around. You don't want to miss it. We'll see you in just a...

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and get ready to get informed, angered, and entertained all at the same time. Hey everyone, welcome back to TYT, Anna and Ben with you. I'm going to read a few TYT lives. So Zappa Fan had a really good point and I apologize. One clarification I need to make. So the first people who have access to the vaccine, of course, are going to be first responders and health care workers. I apologize for that mistake. I said vulnerable people like elderly and people who have preexisting conditions would get it first. They would get it second. But healthcare workers, understandably, would get it first since they're on the front lines. And Steve Matrice says the Pfizer vaccine is nowhere near FDA approval.

It's getting EUA emergency use authorization like hydroxychloroquine before we learned that it was increasing mortality. True, but in terms of being widely available to the general public, it is going through the necessary test, which is why we're not likely to have access to it until April. But if that changes, I'll let you know. And if you have more information that you want me to know about, please let me know. Okay, with that said, let me mention that you have the opportunity to plant trees. And it's super easy to do it. All you need to do to find out more about this is go to t-y-t.com slash trees. Plant your trees or plant your change will automatically round up every purchase you make on any card you have to the nearest dollar and plant a tree with your spare change. Also, some of the some happy news today. Kelly from Texas, who's a huge supporter of the show and has really helped with our fundraising efforts, is celebrating her birthday today. So thank you, Kelly, for all of your support. We absolutely love and appreciate you and couldn't imagine being able to do what we do without you. So happy birthday to Kelly. Kelly from Texas. All right, and then a few other messages. So from our members comment, LM15 says Anna Ben and positive stories in the

rundown. We haven't really gotten to them yet, but there are some. Great way to end the week. Mando Libre says Trump is so done and he knows it. Reeking of desperation, I pity the fool. Rainbow Bright says, I'm not taking this vaccine until all of Congress takes it and even then I'll be skeptical. Understood. And I get it. I totally get it. So we'll see. We'll see. We'll see. We'll see how it all plays out, but hopefully, hopefully it's a good vaccine because this country clearly has no interest in shutting things down to keep people safe. Trump obviously doesn't want to do it. And Biden has pretty much made clear that he would like to avoid it.

So we'll see how it all plays out. Well, speaking of coronavirus, there are many members of the Secret Service who are now dealing with it. More than 130 Secret Service officers have been infected with coronavirus or have to quarantine in the wake of Donald Trump's campaign travel. So this report is pretty devastating because that accounts for a pretty significant portion of the Secret Service officers. The spread of the coronavirus, which has sidelined roughly 10% of the agency's core security

team, is believed to be partly linked to a series of campaign rallies that Trump held in the weeks before the November 3rd election. And as we know, he insisted on holding in-person campaign events. And in the last few days, the last two days of his campaigning, he made five different stops. He made one stop in North Carolina, one stop in Pennsylvania, two stops in Michigan and one stop in Wisconsin. So, you know, we've seen videos of the events where people are in close proximity to one another. They're not wearing masks. And so at this point, it's pretty unsurprising that those events have led to the spread of the virus among Secret Service officers. Now, one thing that actually has been getting my attention, Ben, is how Jake Tapper has been covering

coronavirus. He's gotten saltier and saltier toward Donald Trump. And it's really fascinating to see it. Why don't we watch the next video? How is it not a dereliction of duty? The president, I mean, this is going on right now. It's getting worse. It was all predicted. Everybody's been sounding the alarm. President Trump has not announced any sort of revamping of testing, revamping of steps needed to be taken, contact tracing.

What should he be doing right now? Well, I mean, there is, you know, I'll be honest. If it were me, and I'm probably glad that nobody thinks it should be me, But I would hand this over to the coronavirus task force and the CDC and say, get to work, do daily briefings, let the American people know what's happening, creating national strategy. You know, nobody likes to hear the term lockdown, but there are some places that are spiraling out of control right now. So that's just a little taste of how Jake Tapper has been covering coronavirus lately. And I mean, I definitely understand his frustration. I've been feeling it. But usually CNN tries to be a little milk toast in the way they cover things.

I love watching him, like realize just how incompetent Trump really is. Yeah, you know, CNN has gotten to the place where they're like, you know, we're going to call Donald Trump what he is in those segments. You know, listening to them saying about how we may be forced into a lockdown because some places are spiraling. That's like the entirety of the United States is spiraling out of control. It's because we made literally no effort to do anything about it beyond the initial quasi lockdown. But, you know, Donald Trump has this recklessness about him. And if we want to understand how he is being reckless with America, look at how reckless he's being with his own life. By now, he probably has a secret service detail of people who are still nervous because all of his people who would cover him and they have the confidence and the skill set. Those people at the top of the line, they're probably sick with COVID-19. Donald Trump is putting his own life at risk because of his ignorance. So if he's going to destroy himself, what do you think he'll do to this country? Right, I mean, he failed to keep himself safe from the virus. He failed to keep his family safe from the virus.

He failed to keep members of his administration safe from the virus. In fact, more than a dozen White House aides have tested positive for the virus just in the past week, including a range of low level assistance and secretaries officials said. Offices that have been affected include political affairs, legislative affairs and communications. Let's name some specific names here. Among those who are infected are White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and outside political advisors, Corey Lewandowski and David Bossy. So I mean, he just doesn't take it seriously.

And I really want to emphasize that clearly Donald Trump and the people who work for him have access to health care that ordinary Americans do not have. One of the reasons why it was so important to flatten the curve in the early days of the pandemic was that our healthcare system is easily overwhelmed by an influx of patients. And so you don't want to find yourself in a situation where you're not going to be able to get the care that you need to survive if you can track the virus. But unfortunately, many parts of the country are experiencing that right now. And it's just absolutely devastating.

You know, Trump might have access to all of these different experimental drugs, round the clock care, average Americans don't get that. So it is a dangerous situation for them. Wow, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but I'm just registering everything that you're saying, how many people have put themselves at risk of dying because they believe that they were equal to Donald Trump. But at the end of the day, no, you're not. You're going to catch COVID-19, and it may not work out as well for you, but you trusted it because how good it worked out for Donald Trump, but he has had everything at our human disposal ready for his care. Not you. Wow. Yeah, that's exactly. And then, you know, one other thing I want to mention is, look, part of the

problem with how the country has handled the pandemic is that in order to really control the virus and prevent it from spreading so rapidly, you do need shutdowns, at least until you have a virus. And this country's not willing to do that. I'm sorry, what did I say? You said virus. Oh, my bad, vaccine. Yeah, the only thing you need, you need a vaccine, and until you have a vaccine, either you need to really encourage people to practice social distancing and wearing a mask.

In this country, I feel like it's nearly impossible because people somehow think that's stopping on their liberties. But the reason why the government doesn't want to do it is because what's the best way to encourage people to stay home. Pay them to stay home. Yes. Right? I get the economic frustration that people have been feeling as a result of this pandemic. And we can't even get a third round of stimulus for people. It's insane. So we're gonna just, I guess, keep dealing with it the way that we're dealing with it. Biden has said that he's going to consider a federal mandate on masks, but you already have governors from red states who say that they disagree with that, you know,

with that mandate. So, why are they so, why are they so perfectly designed to destroy us? Like the, what they think is like liberty and freedom is literally what could destroy us. And COVID-19 is just one example of it. They, the greatest expression of oppression in their minds is having to wear a mask. But you know, you could save some lives if you did. Yeah. No, absolutely. But they just don't see it that way. The simple act of the government telling them please wear a mask to stop the spread of this virus is just offensive to them. But again, like one of the best things you can do as as a leader in this country is ensure that people have the means to stay home without, you know, finding themselves in complete economic turmoil.

But and other countries have done that. European countries were willing to pay up to 70% of people's wages if they stayed home. And we're just unwilling, unable to do that. And I think there's a price to pay. We're seeing it right now. The number of people in hospitals, the number of confirmed cases on a daily basis, and the number of people have already died as a result of this pandemic. Nearly 250,000 Americans. It's just absolutely shameful and pathetic. All right, well, let's move on to some other news. Donald Trump's trade advisor, Peter Navarro, was on Fox business, and he had some thoughts to share about how the Trump administration is planning for the transition. Let's watch.

My own view, looking at this election, we have what appears in some sense to be an immaculate deception. But if you look statistically at what happened, clearly the president won this election. It was leading on election day. And then after election day, somehow in these key battleground states, they got just enough votes to catch up to the president. That's kind of what is being investigated. So I think what's important, here is that this is a country of laws and rules. We have a very clear set of election laws. And what we need to do is go through the process as we did with Gore, Bush v. Gore, and see where we get. So until until we do that, our assumption is the second Trump term.

We think he won that election. Our assumption is a second Trump term. Just today was announced that Joe Biden won both Arizona and and Georgia, meaning that he now has a total of 306 electoral votes. So things aren't working out the way that the Trump administration was hoping or was assuming it would work out. But yeah, I mean, Ben, thoughts on Peter Navarro's statements there. So here's the thing. Like, you know, there's some of us think that a Trump coup is very possible and others feel like, maybe not. But what troubles me isn't the ability for us to just have a peaceful transition and everything goes fine. That's what I'm hoping for. But they can't

keep talking like this and expecting all of their supporters to just back down when they've collected these checks and they've gone off into the sunset of Mar-a-Lago. Their supporters are still going to be angry. So whether they plan on instituting a coup or not, they are preparing their followers. And if you've paid attention to their followers, some of these folks will carry out that violence. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we're going to talk about it a little bit later. in the show. But, you know, MAGA is planning a big rally in Washington, D.C. And of course, it's being encouraged by Donald Trump and his goons. And, you know, members of the proud boys are already threatening to use violence. Unfortunately, there are counter-protests planned.

And I say, unfortunately, because I don't think it's a good idea. Donald Trump lost the election. Nothing's going to change that. So let the MAGA guys go out there and have their little rally. their fun, you know, embarrass themselves, and move on with your lives. Like don't, don't engage with them. It's just not worth it. And I saw a video featuring General Mark Millie that actually put my mind at ease. I never thought I would use that statement. But I think it's important to show you guys what I'm talking about. So let's take a look at what he had to say this week. We are unique among militaries. We do not take an oath to a king or queen, a tyrant, or a dictator, we do not take an oath to an individual.

No, we do not take an oath to a country, a tribe, or a religion. We take an oath to the Constitution. And every soldier that is represented in this museum, every sailor, airmen, marine, ghost guardsmen, each of us will protect and defend that document regardless of personal price. I love that. Yeah.

It was simultaneously intense, but reassuring. Like he spoke with some authority. I was like, okay, I feel you, man. But what's reassuring is that they understand the score, right? He's not going to come out directly and say he understands that there's a looming possibility of an attempted coup, but we didn't pledge our allegiance to Donald Trump. We did. We gave our oath to the Constitution.

Now, the real question is, is when this comes down to theory versus practice, In theory, it's easy to say that we're going to protect the Constitution, not our commander and chief. But when he starts firing people as a result of you not obeying his instructions, the question is, is will you actually carry out that principle when the pressure is on? Yeah, you know, one thing that I haven't really seen detailed reporting on is how this could play out if Trump refuses to leave, right? Like what happens?

I mean, it is unprecedented. What's the protocol? What's the planning for that? Already we're having issues with the transition because Donald Trump refuses to allow Joe Biden to get intel briefings, which is, again, one of the first things that starts to happen as soon as the general election is called. But how long is he going to play this game where he pretends like he doesn't accept the outcome of the election? How long is he going to do it? I think it's, you know, part of his grift. I think he's using this as a way of raising money for his legal fees and debts and all that stuff. But, you know, January 20th is going to be here before we know it. And I'm just curious what kind of planning is taking place to ensure

that he's out of the White House. Like, bye, go away. And here's some more, I guess, good news regarding how people in his circle are handling the reality of this election. The editorial page of conservative mega donor Sheldon Adelson's Las Vegas Review Journal urged Trump to drop his conspiratorial rhetoric and begin cooperating with Biden's transition while the legal challenges play out. And some Republican senators are demanding that the White House extend intelligence briefings to Biden and his team. Now they kind of speak from both sides of their mouths, right? Like they'll say the transition needs to start, allow Biden to get the briefings. But at the same time, they'll justify the legal battles that the Trump

campaign is engaging in. But I don't see those legal battles lasting very long. The Trump campaign did just drop their lawsuit in Arizona. Some of Trump's lawyers representing his case against Pennsylvania have dropped him. So sure, go ahead. with your legal battles if you want. But he hasn't really won any of them. It's just nothing, nothing's really working out for him. And again, I think he knows it. I think people in his administration know it. It's just pathetic to see all these people enabling him. Yeah. Yeah, because if they continue to enable him, the real question is, is like, what happens when you have enabled him to the point where he actually tries this, right? Instead of just condemning it

outright from the beginning and never giving him an inch on this possible, even if it's a remote possibility, but there's a possibility of him destroying this country. You guys can't sit around talking out both sides of your neck. Condem it and tell him to get out of office. Yep, I totally agree. All right, well, we got to take a break. When we come back, we have more news for you, including some information on that rally that's going to take place in D.C. over the weekend. And it could lead to some serious violence. I'm going to discourage you guys from being involved in it. So come back and we'll give you that story.

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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 T-Y-T fans. That's E-X-P-R-E-S-S-V-P-N dot com slash T-YT. Check it out today. What's up, everyone? Welcome back to T-Y-T, Anna Kasparian and Benjamin Dixon with you. I'm going to read a few super chats and move on to the rest of the rundown. So we have Logan Hall who wrote in and says,

I watched Benjamin Dixon's live video this morning when the panel was talking about code switching depending on the audience and now I'm super conscious of it. Ben, what is that? It's just that we speak a different language depending on the audience that we're in front of and it's just code switching like what I would say. I guess I'm wondering if he's conscious of the fact that I might be doing a little code switching here versus what I do. No, don't do any code switching. Be you, that's why we bring you on. We love you. I know, but I'm self-conscious though.

I wonder if he thinks I'm co-switching because I'm really just being myself at all points. They're all authentically us. I think the best example of code switching was how Tucker Carlson presented himself in his debate with Jank at Politicon. Like all of a sudden he's like this friendly, agreeable, nice guy and I'm like, I see right through it. I see right through it. Thomas Johnson gave a generous super chat, and I'm going to go ahead and read your comment.

You say Bernie would, Bernie would not have won any state Biden lost. Biden crushed him in the Florida primary. Okay, with Cubans and Venezuelans. People might get offended at me saying this, but I don't care. Stop trying to appeal to Cubans and Venezuelans in Florida. You're not, as a Democrat, it's not going to happen. They think you're a socialist, no matter how moderate you are. So let's stop trying to appeal to Cubans and Venezuelans. Florida right now, and I know because I have family members who are Cuban, think that the election was stolen from Donald Trump. Like, you're not going to get them, guys. Like, let's move on, okay? Let's wait for the younger generation of Cubans to grow up and be able to vote,

because they're a little more, I guess, open-minded and reasonable with their political views. Yeah, I said it. The comment continues, I can see Bernie doing a lot better with Mexican Americans in Texas, true than Biden, but can't see him holding the margins in Southern suburbia, in southern suburbia, Dems need to win Texas, North Carolina, and Georgia. Yeah, I think that, I think Bernie might have had a better chance with Texas, definitely not North Carolina and maybe not even Georgia. I don't know.

I think it would have just as good in Georgia only because of what gave Joe Biden the competitive edge was an overwhelming group of young people, young progressives, 18 to 29, especially young black progressives 18 to 29. So the group that actually put Joe Biden over the top is a group. that I think would have came out energetically for Bernie Sanders. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it would be interesting to see it. What I do know is that Bernie has a message that resonates across the board, and it's a message of economic justice. And, you know, he actually had a message.

Like, I'm glad Biden won over Trump. But Biden's message was decency. And to be quite honest with you, like, I'm not, most people aren't interested in decency right now. They're interested and being able to provide for their families. But anyway, all right, well, let's talk a little bit about this rally over the weekend. Extremist Trump's supporting groups are planning a march in D.C. over the weekend to protest the reality of the election. Donald Trump lost. Joe Biden won. Joe Biden has 306 electoral votes. It's over. Put a fork in him. Trump's done. But anyway, they're going to go ahead and have their collective temper tantrum in D.C., and let me give you some details about it, the rallies,

which include a Women for Trump event, a Million Maga March, and a Stop the Steel demonstration, which, of course, falsely asserts that voter fraud caused Trump the election, will begin Saturday morning in and around Freedom Plaza. So this rally, it is being promoted by conservatives and Trump himself, and also all sorts of right wing figures who have caused trouble in the past. So the pro-Trump rallies have garnered support from Fox News host, Sean Hannity, as well as more fringe figures, including Enrique Tario, who's the chairman of the proud boys, self-described American nationalist and social media agitator Nicholas Fuentes, conservative provocateur, Jack Posabeeke, who promoted the Pizzagate conspiracy theory, lots of classy people here,

and then a bunch of other weirdos, including Alex Jones. I don't need to read the whole graphic. You guys get the picture. So I have more details on this. But Ben, do you have any worries about this rally over the weekend? Just that there are a bunch of small little men who are going to try to prove that they're not small little men. So that actually gives us a real possibility of violence. Yeah, that's really my concern as well. I mean, their rally isn't going to change anything. The election results are what they are.

And maybe this is like their way of feeling better by getting together and moaning and whining about it. I don't know. But the thing that I am worried about, and if you happen to be one of the people who plan on showing up to counter protest, why? Why? Why don't? I mean, I'm a big fan of, you know, political action. I'm usually a huge supporter of protests, you know, people's right to assemble. So it's not like I have like some sort of ideological issue with it.

But my problem is it will lead to violence. The right absolutely loves and thrives on violence. So why show up? I mean, Biden won the election. It's pretty clear that Trump's not going to be able to steal it, right? And so how about stay home, take a load off, turn the TV on, have a beer, and laugh at them. That's what I'm going to do, enjoy yourselves. Like what?

Anyway, but there are some planned protests. Let me give you some examples. Refuse fascism said it'll hold a rally at Freedom Plaza 30 minutes before the million Maga March and hopes to block the pro-Trump rally from taking place. Don't do that. Just don't do that. Why? I think it's so unnecessary. Lucia Bright says, we're gathering nonviolently. We're not intending to engage them. We want to overwhelm them with our numbers. If they attack us, that is not out of the realm of possibilities of what they do. Okay, then why go? I just don't, I really don't understand

what the point of showing up to counter protest is. I mean, no, I think you're looking at it pretty soberly, I guess maybe they feel like they have a responsibility to stand up to these fascists, wherever they show up, whatever it costs. And just make sure that you actually add up those costs, though. Make sure you think this through. Yeah, think it through. And we had our opportunity to stand up to Trump. And that happened on election day. And the American people have spoken. So I just keep enjoying where we're at at this point, where we know that he'll be out of office in January and we can, you know, start holding Biden accountable, which I'm looking forward to. But yeah, so that's what's happening over the weekend. Anyone who's planning on going,

please stay safe, please do not engage with anyone on the right. It's just not worth it. So Ben, you have a story to share with us. Yeah. So Senate Republicans are outright telling Joe Biden that he better not even think of bringing on Elizabeth Warren, Susan, Bryce or Bernie Sanders. Now, to me, this is the same game that Republicans play all the time. It's the same game that Lucy plays on Charlie Brown, saying that basically if you try this time, Charlie Brown, Joe Biden, we will actually give you bipartisanship. We'll let you kick the football. But as we all know, that never, ever happens. Let me read a few quotes from the hill.com as they cover the story. Senate Republicans are warning that president-elect Joe Biden would spark a fight

If he were to nominate Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, or a former national security advisor, Susan Rice, to his cabinet. They went on to say, Republicans are already seeking leverage by saying Biden would be better all picking centrists, such as Senators Chris Coon of Delaware or Doug Jones of Alabama, okay, for his cabinet rather than the progressive stars, Warren and Sanders. And finally, the Hill.com said GOP lawmakers declined to speak publicly. about their expected opposition to Warren and Sanders, who were both their colleagues. But privately, they're warning that tapping a senator with outspoken liberal views to head the Treasury Department or Labor Department would spark a fight. So Anna, my question is, do you think Democrats

actually believe this, this time, that they're going to actually get some bipartisanship? because the threat sounds like they're telling Democrats that if you agree to not hire any of these super scary socialists, like terrifying people like Elizabeth Warren, then we agree that we will work with you on other picks. Do you think Democrats believe it or should they believe it? No, of course they shouldn't believe them. I mean, look, I think that Biden ran on this message of decency and the importance of bipartisanship, because that was really the only message that he could run on. Like, what was he going to do? Run on a message of economic equality? No, I mean, he told his donors that nothing will fundamentally change under his leadership. And when someone

shows you who they are, believe them. I, look, we had a lengthy discussion on this show this week about whether we would prefer Bernie Sanders within Biden's cabinet or if it's better for him to remain in the Senate. And I think that it's honestly better for Bernie to remain in the Senate. I think that, you know, the Senate as part of Congress is supposed to be part of the system of checks and balances. And I just worry that, you know, if he's baked into the Biden administration, he's not going to have as much sway and influence as people think. However, if he's the head of various Senate committees, especially committees that have to do with our economic situation, I think that he has much more sway in that regard.

I think that we need to be realistic about what a Biden presidency is going to look like. A Biden presidency is going to stop the bleeding for a little while. But I don't think that the left is going to accomplish some of the lofty policy goals that we have. I think that we need to be better at organizing and find a way to gather enough power, accumulate enough power to actually have some influence moving forward. Right. And that's the thing for me is like Joe Biden keeps trying to kick this football of bipartisanship. It's like he has this fetish for bipartisanship with Republicans. And Republicans know that. And they know that that's his weakness. And so they're going to keep playing around in bad faith versus over here

on our side, we're legitimately trying to implement policies that are going to let our children live in a habitable, global, you know, the world, the planet. We're trying to save the future for our children. And they look at us as if, like, we're the problem. So I'm wondering if there's ever going to be a time or should we just completely forget about working with these people because they're more interested in working with Republicans. Yeah, I mean, I think that the left just needs to have a multi-pronged approach. So I know that there are some people out there, some, you know, so-called left-wing pundits that have like a vested interest in downplaying the importance of electoral wins involving progressives. No, that's important. And what I mean by

multi-pronged approach is we need organizing, meaning organizing among workers. But if we can win electorally, we should win electorally. That is part of this equation in accumulating power. And when I see people like Ilhan Omar, Rashida Talib, AOC, pretty soon, Cory Bush, Jamal Bowman, I refuse to minimize those wins. Absolutely. You don't get what you want by just snapping your fingers. It doesn't happen that quickly. We're not going to successfully create a third party. It's just not going to happen. And so we need to get crafty and figure out how to, accumulate power under the system that we're functioning under right now, and it can be done. The right wing did it. There's a playbook. They're way more organized, and they understand what

power means. And honestly, there's this young electorate that's hungry for leftist policies. And so it's really the future of the Democratic Party, in my opinion. Absolutely. Yeah. So I love having these discussions. So we'll talk more about this type of stuff in the post game today. We have other awesome stories, including what are Donald Trump's children saying? Apparently there's a bit of a disagreement as to whether or not Trump should concede. Also, Justice Alito has some thoughts on liberties, religious liberties in this country. I can't wait to hear more on that.

And it's going to be fantastic. Don't miss it. Become a member by going to t.t.com slash join. And Ben, for our live audience, where can everyone find your work? They can find me on YouTube at the Benjamin Dixon show. Go over there and like, share, and subscribe. And you can always hear me make some noise on Twitter at Benjamin P. Dixon on Twitter. Love it. All right, everyone. If you're a member, we'll see you in the post game. Thanks for listening to the full episode of the Young Turks. Support our work. Listen ad free. 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