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Election Subversion: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) — Transcript

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0:04we're actually going to dive straight
0:06into our main story tonight which
0:07concerns voting a practice that was once
0:09sold to youth with the slogan Vote or
0:11Die and given the state of politics
0:13right now for the first time I'm
0:14requesting more information on the
0:16second option specifically with the
0:19midterms now just two days away we
0:21wanted to focus on a dangerous Trend
0:22among Republican candidates denying the
0:24legitimacy of the last election the fake
0:27news big Tech and blue state Lial stole
0:31the election from president Trump the
0:332020 election was a totally rigged
0:35election in fact quite frankly every
0:38election since I think George Washington
0:40there's been some kind of a defect in
0:42the system you could say Biden won the
0:44presidency kind of like OJ is innocent
0:47the I'll say this those people are
0:49ridiculous but they're having a really
0:51good time just check out this guy I have
0:54never been as happy as he is hearing an
0:56OJ Simpson joke in 2021 and I two
1:00children and the thing is those people
1:02are not alone a majority of republican
1:05nominees for house senate or key
1:07Statewide offices this year deny or
1:09question the 2020 election results and
1:12some like this guy deny it while trying
1:14to add a bit of spectacle hey Mike
1:17Collins here you prot Trump America
1:18First trucker running for congress here
1:20in Georgia 10 well I understand oh Joe
1:23Biden was in town yesterday to talk
1:24about our elections it seems that he and
1:27Cala Harris called anyone who disagreed
1:30with the federal hijacking of this
1:32election are racist well Joe I got some
1:35news for you let me tell you what
1:37Georgian really believe you see
1:39Georgians are sick and tired of weak
1:41need spineless politicians who won't
1:44fight for Trump get to the bottom of
1:462020 and fix our elections well if they
1:49won't do it Mike Collins
1:57will send me to Washington
2:01okay too many things to get into there
2:03your brain wants to focus on prot Trump
2:05America First trucker but then wonders
2:07why is he dressed like the world's
2:08angriest Target employee before noticing
2:11wait is that a garbage can labeled
2:13voting machine then also labeled cast
2:16ballot as if they knew that the first
2:17label wasn't convincing anyone but
2:19thought that the second one might then
2:20it takes a minute to focus on the subtle
2:22but unmistakable edit point before the
2:25explosion breaking the illusion that
2:26that was shot in a single take then
2:28finally a brain says hey he opened with
2:30Joe Biden and CA Harris think I'm a
2:32racist did he ever close that Loop Or
2:34Nah and brain nah anyway that man is
2:39completely ridiculous and given the
2:40district where he's running he's almost
2:42certainly going to win on Tuesday but it
2:44is worth dwelling on the promise that he
2:47and those other candidates are making
2:48that they are going to fix our elections
2:51because that speaks to a real problem
2:52here which is that a troubling number of
2:54election deniers are running for jobs
2:56that can play key roles in administering
2:58elections in their States in fact over
3:01half the country has an election denier
3:04running to oversee their elections and
3:07many of them are expected to win and
3:09look we've talked before about voter
3:11suppression on this show whether that's
3:13through voter ID laws felony
3:15disenfranchisement gerrymandering or
3:17restrictions on mailin voting but those
3:19tactics take place before you cast your
3:22ballot tonight we're going to focus on
3:24Election subversion which typically
3:26happens after the votes are in it's a
3:28strategy to negate legit election
3:30results by simply refusing to accept
3:32them Trump famously tried to subvert the
3:36last election and some current
3:37candidates are promising that if elected
3:39they'll be able to guarantee a certain
3:41result in the future take Jim Marshon he
3:44leads the America first Secretary of
3:46State Coalition and if they win he's
3:48been pretty clear about what that would
3:50mean when my Coalition of Secretary of
3:52State candidates around the country get
3:54elected we're going to fix the whole
3:56country and president Trump is going to
3:59be president again in
4:012024 look no wonder Trump likes that
4:03message also it probably doesn't hurt
4:05that it's coming from a guy who looks
4:07like a smaller paler version of him just
4:10look at that man he looks like the
4:12Pokemon that Trump evolves
4:14from so if the plan is this overt and
4:17with potential consequences this die for
4:19this election the next election and Way
4:21Beyond tonight let's talk about election
4:23subversion and to understand what we're
4:25facing let's revisit briefly some of the
4:27chaos following the last election as as
4:29you undoubtedly remember after Trump's
4:32loss he tried a lot of tactics to swing
4:34things back into his favor including
4:36calling Brad raffensberger the secretary
4:38of state of Georgia to ask him for just
4:40a small favor so look all I want to do
4:44is this I just want to
4:46find uh
4:5111,780 votes which is one more that we
4:54have because we won the state it's still
4:58incredible to listen to that and a cold
5:00chill ran down my urethra merely hearing
5:03his voice again seemly forgetting at one
5:05point both how many votes he needs and
5:07the word votes it's genuinely amazing to
5:10listen to someone attempt to coup with
5:13the same focused energy of a dad
5:14struggling to remember his family's
5:16McDonald's order yeah uh can I get a
5:18spicy Crispy Crunchy chicken and uh two
5:22do you have something called son of a
5:23Baconator here are you the Whopper place
5:25or are you the other one yeah yeah I'm
5:27in the wrong place aren't I okay got it
5:29me
5:31now thankfully raffensberger declined
5:34Trump's request which left him to fight
5:35his battles in the courts where he lost
5:37over 60 lawsuits challenging the
5:40election results he then famously tried
5:42at the last minute to bully Mike Pence
5:44into refusing to certify Biden's win
5:46including a phone call where Trump
5:47called him a wimp and the p word which I
5:51know is supposed to be but to be
5:52honest the PW sounds like the phrase
5:54jepetto's therapist uses to talk about
5:57Pinocchio and what I'm sure that you
5:59remember remember all of that there were
6:01also smaller much lesser known incidents
6:03where people further down the chain also
6:05tried thumbing the scale like in Wayne
6:07County Michigan where Trump supporters
6:09raised claims about voting
6:10irregularities in Detroit and a
6:12republican member of the County Board of
6:14canvases there proposed this simple
6:16solution I would be open to a motion to
6:20to
6:22certify communities other than the city
6:25of Detroit that move outraged the
6:28Democrats on the board in speaker after
6:30speaker on the board's public Zoom
6:31meeting you have extracted a black City
6:34out of a county and said the only ones
6:36that are at fault at an issue is the
6:39city of Detroit where 80% of the people
6:41who reside here are
6:43African-Americans right I understand why
6:45is upset there generally when a white
6:47person says I have a compromise and
6:49starts doing electoral fractions that
6:50count black people less those haven't
6:53been great moments for democracy now
6:55that woman later claimed that she merely
6:57wanted more investigation of those
6:59Detroit votes before she'd agreed to
7:01certify them and while after push back
7:02from Michigan's governor and Secretary
7:04of State she ultimately voted to certify
7:06Biden's win after Trump called her and a
7:09fellow Republican board member they both
7:11tried albeit unsuccessfully to resend
7:14their votes meanwhile a few days later
7:16at Michigan State canvasing Board there
7:18was a similar stalemate its four members
7:21were evenly split between Democrats and
7:23Republicans one of whom refused to
7:25certify Biden's win which meant it was
7:27all on this guy to do the right thing
7:30which thankfully he did with this little
7:32speech as John Adams once said we are
7:35government of laws not men and this
7:39Board needs to adhere to that principle
7:42here
7:44today this board must do its part to
7:47uphold the rule law and comply with our
7:50legal duty to certify this
7:53election I will be supporting the motion
7:56and that was it a boring guy with
7:58glasses quoting John Adams upheld
8:01democracy I'm just saying get Bradley
8:03Whitford in there and add some stirring
8:04music and you've got the kind of scene
8:06that would make Aaron sorin come until
8:08he passed
8:10out and the thing is those are clearly
8:13just two very local examples but in
8:16state after State we were very lucky
8:18that a small group of individuals in key
8:21positions stood firm Arizona's
8:23Republican Governor Doug Ducey was
8:24literally in the middle of certifying
8:26his State's win for Biden when he got a
8:28phone call from from Trump but he put
8:30his phone aside and continued signing
8:33the paperwork and I have to say watching
8:35someone screen your call is one of the
8:37most devastating things a human being
8:40can possibly experience and I am so glad
8:42that it happened to Donald Trump so to
8:45recap the guard rails to protect our
8:47democracy were heavily tested in 2020
8:50while some major weaknesses were exposed
8:52they thankfully held but since then
8:56there has been a concerted effort to
8:57attack the people and institutions that
8:59got into Trump's way Shifting the
9:01landscape in ways that could make future
9:04subversion attempts even more dangerous
9:06now for one thing the further around
9:08election fraud has been stubbornly
9:10persistent with a recent poll showing
9:1261% of Republicans believe Joe Biden
9:15only won due to voter fraud which is
9:18just ridiculous given it again there is
9:21no evidence of that multiple States had
9:24exhaustive recounts this has been
9:27litigated this just isn't one of those
9:29unknowable things that will never get
9:31resolved like which one of the tetes
9:33when cooked properly would taste best
9:36that we'll never know will we and I know
9:38what you're thinking because it's what
9:39I'm thinking too should we just all say
9:41it at once Poe exactly of course it's po
9:45every one of us is pretty sure that on a
9:47rainy day in January absolutely nothing
9:49would taste better than some brazed Poe
9:52over rice with some ginger with some
9:54wine of course everyone's pretty sure
9:57that a Poe that simmers for an hour and
9:59half after getting properly blanched and
10:01caramelized would melt in your mouth on
10:03that January Sunday Yum Yum yummyy Yum
10:06but pretty sure isn't sure is it we will
10:09never definitively know because you
10:11can't eat Teletubbies there are laws
10:13apparently so all we are left with is
10:16gut instinct unlike election results
10:18which are actually verified sleep with
10:21one eye open you tasty plump clown or
10:24I'll have your thick salted thighs for
10:26my Christmas feast
10:29but the thing
10:30is if you're not a regular consumer of
10:34conservative media you may not realize
10:36the extent to which Biden stole the
10:38election has taken hold and on the basis
10:41of incredibly flimsy evidence perhaps
10:43best exemplified by 2000 mules a
10:46documentary from conservative
10:48artist denes duza which is just wall
10:51toall nonsense the 2020 elections were
10:54one of the most corrupt in history see
10:56the proof for yourself we tracked 2,000
10:59mules making multiple ballot drops 2,000
11:02mules the shocking new movie from dases
11:04D Souza Philadelphia alone we've
11:07identified more than 1,00 mules what is
11:11a mule person picking up ballots and
11:14running them to the drop boxes this is
11:17not Grandma walking her dog bad
11:19backgrounds bad reputations oo so
11:22intense mysterious handoffs in dark
11:25alleys people with bad reputations it's
11:27nice that we finally have an answer to
11:28the question what if the wire was
11:30created by virgins the the central idea
11:35of this movie is the claim that there
11:36were vote mules who repeatedly visited
11:39ballot boxes and deposited suspect
11:41ballots and that denes and his friends
11:43have identified them using cell phone
11:45data and it would take the rest of this
11:47show to debunk the movie's claims Point
11:50by point but very quickly there is no
11:52way by just using cell phone data to
11:55know whether someone visited a Dropbox
11:57or was just in the vicinity of one
11:59particularly since those boxes were
12:00installed in high traffic areas
12:02meanwhile the only map that seems to
12:05show someone driving around dumping
12:06ballots is fake and another map
12:08supposedly showing a Dropbox site is
12:10actually a stock photo of Moscow with a
12:13third one just the same Moscow map again
12:15but rotated
12:1790° and finally the whole Theory rests
12:20on these mules repeatedly going to
12:22multiple drop boxes but while they show
12:25lots of footage of dropboxes within the
12:27movie none of them show the same person
12:29more than once instead the filmmakers
12:32breathlessly scrutinize footage for
12:34clues that they claim with zero proof
12:36are evidence of crime including voters
12:39wearing gloves you know during a
12:41pandemic or taking photos as they
12:43deposit their ballots I'm going to show
12:44you a full minute from the movie where
12:47they work themselves up over absolutely
12:50nothing okay the next one yeah so let me
12:52show you dog guy so dog guy middle of
12:56the day this is actually at a polling
12:58place so the people in line are waiting
13:01to go in and vote early they're doing it
13:04the right way okay now now you've got
13:06some other people going to walk
13:08up this lady doesn't care but this guy
13:11this next guy cares he's watching the
13:13whole thing the guy looks up talks to
13:16him got the ballots under his arm
13:18already now he's got the rest that he
13:19pulled out of the bag and he's going to
13:22get his camera ready to take the
13:24pictures as he puts them in there if you
13:26consider the brazenness of this right
13:28this is is the middle of the day there's
13:30people sitting there watching you
13:33cheat people that are doing it the right
13:36way but it's difficult for them to know
13:38what to do except observe and maybe say
13:41what's going on here what did I just see
13:43they wonder what does this all even mean
13:45if this is happening in broad daylight
13:46and nobody's doing anything to stop
13:50it but that's not damning evidence that
13:53is fully not anything it's just someone
13:56voting and we need to be absolutely
13:59clear on something here the guy in line
14:00that they're talking about who's
14:01supposedly shocked about the voter fraud
14:03that he's witnessing he's looking at the
14:05dog as anybody would the only reason I
14:09can focus on what's going on there right
14:10now is because thankfully they blurred
14:12that dog otherwise I like him would be
14:15gawking at it and asking who's a good
14:17boy until the poll's closed this movie
14:20is astonishingly dumb but it has a real
14:23following at least 50 candidates have
14:25promoted or cited it and it and
14:28conspiracy theories like have
14:29contributed to what's been called a sea
14:31of pervasive distrust with deniers now
14:34channeling that distrust to burrow into
14:36every level of the election process take
14:39the very lowest one precincts they're
14:41small neighborhood level units centered
14:44around polling places political parties
14:46organize in precincts and local
14:48governments hire and recruit pole
14:50workers there Trump's allies have been
14:52working extremely hard to make sure that
14:54they are well represented at that level
14:56particularly Steve Bannon pictured here
14:59drowned who has made his Precinct
15:02strategy a constant refrain what we need
15:06right now the way the Republican party
15:07is structured is that you can go to a
15:09Precinct become a Precinct committee man
15:11and then you've got real then you've got
15:13real standing we're building an army of
15:15the awakened and we are taking over uh
15:18Precinct strategies we're taking over
15:20election boards canvasing boards we're
15:22flooding The Zone with poll workers pole
15:25Watchers election judges people in the
15:27room it's going to be in the room
15:29counting the votes cuz only Maga can
15:32count Fair okay okay set aside only Maga
15:36can count fair and just spare a moment
15:38for his room decco which features an
15:40actual sign reading there are no
15:42conspiracies but there are no
15:43coincidences a quote attributed to
15:46Stephen K Bannon and well you might
15:48think there is nothing doucher than
15:50quoting yourself it turns out you're
15:51wrong about that it's doing that while
15:53also slightly trying to give your name a
15:55fancy makeover cuz Stephen K Bannon oh
15:59please Steve no one is buying that
16:01because we looked and the K is for Kevin
16:04you're just making your name even sadder
16:07but Bannon strategy seems to have paid
16:09off pru found last year that in 41 key
16:12Battleground counties there were at
16:13least 8,500 new Republican Precinct
16:16officers or equivalent officials with no
16:18similar Surge from the Democrats Bannon
16:20and other Republicans have also been
16:21encouraging people to take on jobs in
16:23polling stations while issuing some
16:25troubling advice at one training session
16:27four poll workers and watch in Michigan
16:30run by a republican activist group
16:32participants were told to call 911 and
16:34contact sheriffs to involve law
16:36enforcement in any election related
16:38complaints which isn't great is it you
16:40should clearly only call 911 with an
16:43actual emergency like you know a car
16:45accident or a break-in or or when
16:47someone takes off their shoes and socks
16:49on a plane oh yeah I know we're in the
16:51sky but I'm asking you to get a police
16:53helicopter and shoot us down and if
16:57you're thinking that election
16:58supervisors won't stand for shenanigans
17:00like that you should know many have been
17:02driven away one investigation found that
17:04in five highly contested Battleground
17:06States roughly one in three top election
17:09administrators left the job after the
17:112020 election and when you consider the
17:14kind of personal messages that some
17:16received last time you do understand why
17:18they may not want to do it again this
17:20election is effing rigged you all know
17:23it and you are complicit as if you lied
17:28you're a traitor
17:30perhaps cuts and bullets will soon
17:33arrive gave my address heick 234 years
17:37ago the founding Caucasian fathers of
17:39America gave us a second amendment
17:41time's running out Richard we're coming
17:44after you and every
17:46that stole this election
17:49with our Second Amendment subpoenas be
17:52damned you're going to be served LED you
17:55enal enemy communist
18:00holy those messages are horrifying
18:03and by the way founding Caucasian
18:05fathers is just one hell of a phrase
18:08because it either comes from the mouth
18:09of a racist or someone with strong
18:12opinions on the casting decisions in
18:13Hamilton because they are a racist
18:17Reuters actually identified more than
18:19900 threats made against election
18:21administrators since the last election
18:23so it is no wonder so many qualified
18:25people are leaving and their
18:27Replacements are sometimes trouble take
18:29NY County Nevada where their top County
18:31election official was replaced by this
18:34guy Mark K who not only said that he
18:36believes Trump won the 2020 election
18:38he's also promoted 2,000 mules and has
18:42Amplified some of the baseless hysteria
18:44around Dominion voting machines and look
18:46we have addressed voting machines before
18:48on this show they do have some
18:50vulnerabilities but importantly those
18:52vulnerabilities can be counteracted by
18:55having a physical paper trail and doing
18:57risk limiting audits after the fact also
18:59there is no proof that any machines have
19:02ever been compromised in a US election
19:05but K defends election deniers strongly
19:08and he will not budge on it when pressed
19:11if you don't believe the system was
19:13legitimate in 2020 and created an error
19:15where 30,000 plus votes were not counted
19:18in the state correctly isn't that
19:20problematic I don't see it as being
19:22problematic at all because I'm trying to
19:24increase voter confidence in the
19:27election and the election space the
19:30machines that count go through multiple
19:32layers of security they are not
19:34connected to the internet and this is
19:36regulated throughout the country that's
19:39that's a perspective there are a lot of
19:41people again the voters in this County
19:44don't believe that and whether it's true
19:46or not their perception is their
19:50reality wow whether it's true or not
19:53their perception is their reality I've
19:55got to say that is a risky stance for a
19:58guy who's name is almost minec again
20:01it's literally not but I've seen his
20:04name written down hundreds of times
20:05while working on this piece and every
20:07single time my brain autocorrects it to
20:10mine C and eventually my perception will
20:13become reality I'm just saying if my
20:16last name were C I definitely wouldn't
20:18give my baby a four-letter name that
20:20starts with an m it'll be it' be like
20:22meeting someone named Earl Harbor or
20:24Holly caust it feels like their parents
20:26just went out of their way to with
20:28them and all of us confa suggested that
20:32all ballots should now be hand counted
20:34but experts will tell you that while
20:36hand counting is an important tool in
20:39recounts and audits as a way of
20:41verifying the machine count tallying
20:43entire elections by hand would cause
20:46chaos and make results less accurate not
20:49more and sure enough early voting in
20:51that county has been a spectacular mess
20:54with the AP observing two groups of five
20:56people spending about three hours each
20:59counting just 50 ballots with mismatch
21:02tallies leading to recounts and
21:04occasionally more recounts and one
21:06volunteer lamenting I can't believe it's
21:08taking two hours to get through 25
21:10ballots and yeah if only there was a
21:12machine that could help you guys
21:15with that and and that is just one
21:17election denier at a low level wreaking
21:20havoc we could be in for a lot worse
21:23just look at Arizona a state that Biden
21:25won by an extremely narrow margin but
21:28thanks to their then Governor doing one
21:30of the most brutal call screenings of
21:32all time things didn't go off the rails
21:35but he is on his way out now and the
21:38Republican nominee to replace him is
21:39running ads like this hi Arizona I'm ker
21:42Lake the Trump endorsed candidate for
21:44governor if you're watching this ad
21:46right now it means you're in the middle
21:48of watching a fake news program you know
21:50how to know it's fake because they won't
21:53even cover the biggest story out there
21:55the rigged election of 2020 okay except
21:59every bit of that is wrong the election
22:01was not rigged and the news did Cover
22:03both the recounts and the lawsuits plus
22:06if you just saw that ad for the first
22:07time on this show you're clearly not
22:09watching it on a fake news program
22:11you're watching it because you left the
22:12TV on after the White Lotus that is what
22:15is happening right
22:17now and that ad which includes footage
22:20from 2,000 mules by the way is actually
22:22tame compared to some of the other
22:23things that L has said because she's
22:25called for the imprisonment of the
22:26current Secretary of State and said that
22:28if she didn't win her primary it'll be
22:30because there's some cheating going on
22:32and then after winning it insisted her
22:34supporters had simply outvoted the fraud
22:37which is basically if I lose it's rigged
22:39if I win it's fine meaning that she's
22:42approaching elections with the same
22:43objectivity and Nuance of a 5-year-old
22:46inventing a game in real time the rules
22:48are simple Whoever has the most tokens
22:50wins unless you have the most tokens
22:52then it's who can hold their breath the
22:53longest unless you can then it's a
22:55jumping
22:57contest but it gets worse for Arizona
22:59because the Republican nominee for
23:01Secretary of State there is Mark finchum
23:03who as you can see wakes up every day to
23:05cosplay as a cowboy accountant and he
23:07seems pretty unlikely to willingly
23:10certify a democratic win in his State
23:12given that he said this would you ever
23:15accept that a Democrat could win Arizona
23:18or or do you just not think that's
23:21possible I have a hard time believing
23:23that's possible everywhere I
23:26go the vast majority of
23:29people uh still show support for
23:32president
23:33Trump but that might just be because you
23:35are going to
23:37places where there are supporters of
23:39Donald Trump is there any chance a
23:41Democratic candidate for president can
23:43win Arizona in
23:452024 no no
23:49no okay I I genuinely don't know what's
23:52more annoying there the fact that he
23:53answered a legitimate question with a
23:54prop or that he apparently tells people
23:56no so often he needed a special fun
23:59button for it although between that his
24:02talking Trump doll and his novelty desk
24:04sign it's slightly heartwarming to know
24:06that a Spencer's Gift in Arizona is
24:08staying afat thanks to the compulsive
24:10purchases of one supremely weird
24:13individual but the thing is quiet her
24:16over there has openly told supporters in
24:18a fundraising email that if he had been
24:21in power in 2020 we would have one plain
24:24and simple and in a debate he even
24:26brainstormed one scenario of how that
24:28could have happened knowing what we know
24:30today there are certain counties that
24:32should have been set aside as
24:34irredeemably compromised Maricopa County
24:36was one of them Yuma County was one of
24:38them we have so many votes outside of
24:41the
24:42law that it it begs the question what do
24:45we
24:46do with an election where we have votes
24:49that are in the Stream but should not be
24:53counted if you can't find the individual
24:56who is engaged in that behavior avior
24:59perhaps that county has had a defective
25:02election yeah he just laid his plan out
25:05in front of everybody step one identifi
25:08two large counties which if removed from
25:10the count would hand the election to
25:12Trump step two remove them from the
25:15count now is that a conspiracy to steal
25:18the election well as we now know there
25:20are no conspiracies but there are also
25:22no coincidences in the famous words of
25:25one Steven Kevin Bannon and here is the
25:29thing any one of the people that you've
25:31seen so far would be bad in the wake of
25:33an election but in combination things
25:35could get really rough because there are
25:38protections against one Rogue official
25:40refusing to sign off on an election they
25:42could be sued and if they refuse uh they
25:44could be held in contempt of court but
25:47experts warned that the ability of a
25:49governor or Secretary of State to reject
25:51certification are significantly enhanced
25:53if others up and down the chain are of a
25:56similar mind and to understand a
25:58potential worst case scenario here let's
26:00put some of the people that you've seen
26:02tonight into a chain let's start with
26:04partisan pole workers inspired by Steve
26:06Bannon deciding that they've seen
26:08something fishy and calling 911 they
26:10then kick their claims up to a county
26:12clerk like this guy who's maybe willing
26:14to amplify a perception that's not a
26:17reality that raises enough of a stinct
26:19that people at the County Board of
26:21canvases or the State Board refus to
26:24sign off on the results and then the
26:26Secretary of State takes their side
26:28refusing to certify the results or even
26:30arguing that the results from certain
26:31counties are so flawed that the County's
26:34election has failed and therefore cannot
26:36be counted now in that scenario experts
26:39say a Republican state legislature could
26:41point to supposed irregularities in the
26:43conduct of the election and choose their
26:45own slate of electors to deliver a
26:48different result and at this point the
26:50law is a little fuzzy on what could
26:52happen next because under the Electoral
26:53count Act of 1887 if the state sends two
26:57rival slates of electors and the house
26:59and the Senate disagree on which one is
27:01valid the one sent by the state's
27:03Governor gets counted which could be
27:06this person now there would undoubtedly
27:08be lawsuits and maybe the Supreme Court
27:10would step in but also you know seeing
27:13as one of the justices has a wife who
27:15was part of the last attempted coup
27:18maybe not and I know this all sounds
27:20dramatic and I do not want to be too
27:22alarmist I don't mean to sound like
27:25Chicken Little here I mean I don't I
27:26don't mean to look like him either but
27:28some things are just out of our hands
27:30aren't they because the odds of Carri
27:33Lake unilaterally picking our next
27:35president are thankfully slim but the
27:39odds of her and others like her being
27:41able to create a complete mess are
27:43significantly higher because everything
27:45that we've talked about tonight has the
27:47capacity to overwhelm our system making
27:49it harder to certify elections quickly
27:51leading to confusion which sews doubt in
27:53the process and in turn causes absolute
27:56chaos which is very worrying given we've
27:58all seen what confused but motivated
28:00people are capable of doing when they
28:02think the process is broken and we may
28:05not have to wait until 2024 to see that
28:08chaos unfold as the midterms themselves
28:10are turning into a cluster
28:13Vigilantes are already turning up as
28:15unofficial poll Watchers at voting
28:17dropboxes meanwhile some very prominent
28:20voices on the right have been priming
28:22people to contest any result on Tuesday
28:25that is not a republican win the
28:27Democratic Party has such contempt for
28:29voters and for democracy itself and so
28:32much confidence in its ownership of the
28:34media and of big Tech that it no longer
28:36has to try to win your votes they can
28:39even run mentally defective candidates
28:41who can barely speak and not only expect
28:43them to win but expect you to accept the
28:46outcome no matter how transparently
28:48absurd it is look I get that at this
28:50point Tucker Carson is basically Coco
28:52melon for bigots but that is gross even
28:54for him from calling a stroke victim
28:56mentally defective to putting win in
28:59heavy quotation marks and for the record
29:01one of the big clues that these
29:03conspiracy theories are is that
29:05so many of them are predicated on the
29:06belief that the Democratic party is well
29:08organized who on Earth is stupid enough
29:12to buy that so so what can we
29:15do here well there are some obvious
29:17steps that we should take on the federal
29:19level we absolutely have to fix the
29:21Electoral countact the law whose
29:23vagueness allows for a lot of the
29:25that I've just described both
29:27the house and the sen actually have
29:29bills that have bipartisan support and
29:30would among other things close the
29:32failed election loophole that might
29:34allow a partisan Governor or state
29:36legislature to send whatever electors
29:38they choose even Mitch McConnell has
29:41supported the Senate version so it
29:42actually might have a chance to pass
29:45that is the one piece of good news in
29:46this entire piece so I strongly suggest
29:49that you savor it but but that is
29:51clearly not enough long term we still
29:53need comprehensive voting rights reform
29:55which is something we need to prioritize
29:57and fight for for but the first step and
29:59I know this is going to be infuriating
30:01to hear is for you to vote we've talked
30:05a lot about how part of the reason that
30:06Biden's Victory wasn't stolen from him
30:08was thanks to the diligent work of a few
30:10people in key positions but don't forget
30:12that the first part of why that was
30:14possible is that a lot of people
30:16voted and I get how ludicrous it sounds
30:20for someone to say fix these significant
30:22roadblocks keeping your vote from
30:23counting by voting I hear it I promise I
30:27do particularly if you're a member of
30:28one of the many communities like black
30:30voters the disabled the formerly
30:32incarcerated and lowincome communities
30:34who have long been sounding the alarm
30:36about all of this and voting is not
30:38going to be enough on its own at every
30:41level of the process we need people to
30:42show the same level of enthusiasm for
30:44preserving our democracy that others are
30:47demonstrating for dismantling it and I
30:49am not saying it's going to be easy to
30:51match the energy of people fueled by
30:54documentaries Flatout lies and
30:56the occasional exploding trash can but
30:59it is really important to try and to
31:02that end we actually have a message that
31:03we'd like you to
31:05hear hey Nick Offerman here actor author
31:09woodworker and a man who can actually
31:12pull off a short sleeve polo shirt
31:14without looking like my mommy picked it
31:16out for me and this is a trash can I've
31:20labeled it trash can because it is a
31:23trash can I actually labeled it twice so
31:25there won't be any mixups but but
31:28obviously that's unnecessary because
31:30we're all adults who do know the
31:32difference between a trash can and a
31:34godamn voting
31:36machine far-right Republican extremists
31:38have been running their dry mouths
31:41claiming that any election in which they
31:43receive less votes than the opposition
31:46must be rigged well I've got some news
31:48for you actual Patriots are sick and
31:51tired of Shameless opportunistic
31:53charlatans who invent dangerous
31:56conspiracies pedal men acious propaganda
31:59and worse censor good good dogs because
32:04if you're afraid to show a dog's face by
32:07God I'm
32:09not there look at that good
32:13boy you can't stop us from showing dogs
32:16just like you can't stop us from voting
32:19we're going to do it not because it's
32:21fun because it's not really fun but
32:24because it's the right thing to do
32:26America and guess what
32:28we're going to look one of a lot
32:30better than you while we do it one shot
32:33no
32:40Cuts
32:43vote and that's our show thanks for
32:45watching see you next week good night

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