♪ ("LAST WEEK TONIGHT"
THEME PLAYS) ♪
Hi there,
welcome to the show.
Still taking place
in this blank void.
Think of it like the moon,
in that it's frigid,
colorless, and occasionally
occupied by one
very lonely, malnourished man,
who's definitely urinated
in his suit.
And we're actually gonna dive
straight in
with our main story this week,
which, unusually for us,
concerns the week
that we've just had.
It's one of the rare times
we're actually living up
to our show's title,
and why it should probably
be called... (READS PROMPT)
And the reason we're doing that,
is that this has been
one hell of a week.
So tonight we're gonna talk
about two things in particular:
the Republican
National Convention,
and the horrific events
in Kenosha, Wisconsin,
where Jacob Blake
was repeatedly shot
in the back by police,
and a vigilante killed
two people.
And we'll talk more about
Kenosha in a bit,
but let's start
with the RNC.
And event to celebrate
the stewardship of Donald Trump,
a tough sell
at the best of times,
but something that felt
particularly out of step
this week, considering
we have a pandemic
on the rampage,
an economic catastrophe
unfolding, and wildfires
and hurricanes
battering the country.
All of which made it
a little jarring,
that the Republican's
opening argument
seemed to essentially be this.
Ladies and gentlemen,
leaders and fighters
for freedom and liberty
and the American dream,
the best is yet to come!
Okay, then.
That's Kimberly Gilfoyle
bringing an energy to the RNC
that can really
only be described as,
"Sorry, I thought doves
were gonna shoot out
of my hands."
And that very much set the tone
for the week.
The main theme of the convention
seemed to be telling lies
in front of flags.
'Cause it was four days
of a full-throated denial
of objective reality.
For one thing, there was
the misleading portrait
painted of Trump's opponents.
If Biden wins, he'll be
controlled
by the environmental
extremists.
We'd be one step closer
to government-run healthcare.
Biden has pledged
to defund the police.
And he's even talking about
taking the wall down,
how about that?
Honestly, that sounds great.
Unfortunately, though,
Biden has promised
to do exactly none
of those things.
Biden is a radical
environmentalist,
police-defunding socialist,
in the same way that I
am history's greatest
Zazu.
You can say I am all
you want to,
and honestly, I wish I were,
but the fact is
it's not even close
to being true.
And the lies told about Biden
were just the beginning here.
Convention speakers
also claimed
that Trump never called
white supremacists,
"very fine people,"
which he did.
That he passed
the veteran's choice act,
which he didn't.
And that he's trying
to protect patients
with pre-existing conditions,
which he very much is not.
I'm honestly surprised
a speaker didn't, at one point,
claim that Trump
invented parakeets,
or that he stopped
the murder hornets
by sucking them
straight out of the air.
And yet even in the midst
of a blizzard of lies,
some still managed to stand out.
Like White House
Economic Advisor, Larry Kudlow,
referring to the Coronavirus
with an off choice
of verb tense.
Then came a once
in 100-year pandemic,
it was awful,
health and economic impacts
were tragic.
Hardship and heartbreak
were everywhere.
But presidential leadership
came swiftly and effectively,
with an extraordinary rescue
for health and safety
to successfully fight
the COVID virus.
What are you doing?
You can't talk about
the Coronavirus
in the past tense,
when it is, in a very real
sense, still raging.
If you're a character
in a Saw movie,
you don't say, "Phew,
that was a close one,"
while the bear trap
is still on your head.
But maybe the biggest gap
between the RNC
and objective reality
concerns race.
'Cause again and again,
RNC speakers
were at pains to reinsure
viewers
that racism in America
is mostly a relic of the past,
and whatever remains
can be easily overcome.
Take Nikki Haley's speech,
in which she flatly insisted...
(READS PROMPT)
And then told
the inspirational story
of how the confederate flag
in her state's capital
was taken down in 2015,
after the massacre
at Mother Emanuel church.
After that horrific tragedy,
we didn't turn against
each other, we came together,
Black and white,
democrat and republican,
together we made
the hard choices needed
to heal.
And removed a divisive symbol
peacefully, and respectfully.
Oh, that's what happened,
is it?
That sounds nice.
Just a few things there.
It's a peaceful story
of unity and hope
as long as you start that story
immediately after
a white supremacist
killed nine people
in a historic Black church.
Also, Haley's version
of that story
ignores the fact
that the eventual removal
of the confederate flag
was jumpstarted by artist
and activist,
Bree Newsome Bass,
climbing the flagpole
in front of the state house,
like she was on
an anti-racist version
of American Ninja Warrior.
And that she was then arrested,
and that the flag was then
re-raised 45 minutes later.
Haley also conveniently
leaves out the part
where the candidate
she's endorsing
has defended those
who proudly fly the flag
by saying,
"It represents the south."
So Haley turning what happened
in South Carolina
into a smooth, hopeful story
of racial reconciliation
is a bit like if someone
asked her
what the film,
 Do the Right Thing is about,
and she said, "A Brooklyn
neighborhood comes together
to help redecorate
a pizza place."
I mean sure Nikki, I guess
that's technically true,
but it feels like
you're leaving out
some pretty fucking important
parts there.
And a lot of the RNC's
messaging on race
seemed intended,
not so much to win
over Black voters,
as to re-ensure white people
that they can vote Republican
without being racist.
The audience they were
talking to was pretty clear,
even in small moments
like this.
The American people know,
we don't have to choose
between supporting
law enforcement
and standing with
our African American neighbors.
Well, hold on there, Mike,
who is the "we,"
in that sentence?
'Cause it seems like
you're making a distinction
between "we" the American people
and our African American
neighbors,
who I guess by extension
are somehow
a different group entirely.
But I guess that sentiment
shouldn't really be surprising
coming from Mike Pence,
a man who permanently looks
like he should be living
in Ken's White Flight
Dream House.
And all of this overt talk
of racial harmony
was very much in conflict
with the steady diet
of barely disguised
racial panic,
that viewers were also
being fed.
Perhaps the most flagrant
example of this
came on Monday night,
when the RNC chose
to feature the St. Louis
couple who were charged
with threatening Black Lives
Matter protestors
at gunpoint last month.
And the message
that they were there to send
was pretty clear.
It seems as if
the democrats no longer view
the government's job
as protecting honest citizens
from criminals.
But rather protecting criminals
from honest citizens.
They're not satisfied
with spreading the chaos
and violence
into our communities,
they want to abolish
the suburbs altogether.
By ending single family
home zoning,
this forced rezoning
would bring crime,
lawlessness and low-quality
apartments
into now-thriving
suburban neighborhoods.
So make no mistake,
no matter where you live,
your family will not be safe
in a radical democrat's America.
Wow.
Okay, first, CSPAN,
you really didn't need
to put up the banner
that says
they're personal injury
attorneys,
I very much got that
from the everything.
But much more importantly,
think about how incendiary
that message is.
"Violence and criminals
are coming to your community
in the form
of low-quality apartments,
and you must defend yourself,
take it from us,
the couple that pointed guns
at Black Lives Matter
protestors.
And rhetoric like that,
and the world view
it encompasses,
has consequences.
Which actually bring us
to the second part
of our story this week.
What happened
in Kenosha, Wisconsin,
where, to reiterate,
Jacob Blake was shot seven times
in the back by police,
with three of his children
in the car.
And then, in the protest
that followed,
Kyle Rittenhouse,
a 17-year-old who traveled there
from out of state,
and was illegally carrying
a weapon, killed two people.
And look, I don't know
if he saw the McCloskey's speak
the night before he chose
to drive to a city
he didn't live in,
to defend property
he didn't own.
What I do know
is that he was an avid
Trump supporter,
even sitting front row
at a rally back in January.
And Trump and his media
ecosystem
have been delivering essentially
the same message
as the McCloskey's for years
now.
Just look at how quickly
Tucker Carlson moved
to try to explain away
Rittenhouse's actions,
as a natural response.
Showing (?) really surprised
that looting and arson
accelerated to murder.
How shocked are we
that 17-year-olds
with rifles decided
they had to maintain order,
when no one else would.
Well, you don't seem
to be shocked.
And that alone,
should actually be
pretty fucking shocking.
'Cause let's be clear,
a 17-year-old vigilante
with a rifle
cannot maintain order,
because a 17-year-old vigilante
with a rifle trying
to maintain order
is himself the definition
of disorder.
Except of course,
if you're a regular viewer
of Tucker Carlson,
a show that exists
to teach its viewers
precisely three things:
Property damage is violence,
homicide is order,
and pillows are for sale.
And the events in Kenosha
really hammer home
the flagrant double standard
baked into American society.
Just look at the difference
in how the police
in Kenosha responded
to Blake,
and how they responded
to Rittenhouse.
REPORTER: Alleged gunman,
 Kyle Rittenhouse,
 walking away, gun in tow,
 as people screamed
 that he just shot protesters.
 One law enforcement officer
 seeming to ask Rittenhouse
 if anyone was hurt.
OFFICER: Someone injured
 straight ahead?
REPORTER: Two incidents,
 two videos.
 With some asking why
 two different responses.
Why two different responses?
I think the answer to that
is pretty obvious.
It's the same reason why
ahead of the shooting,
there was video of the police
trying to enforce a curfew
against protestors,
even as they offered water
to Rittenhouse and the militia,
saying, and I quote,
"We appreciate you guys,
we really do."
And if you're looking
for a better visual illustration
of the differences
between being Black and white
in America,
I don't think you're gonna
find one except maybe
foreseeing exactly
who sits down and who stands up
when "Cotton Eye Joe"
comes on at a wedding.
And that disparity in treatment
continued even after
the shooting.
Just watch how the next day,
the Kenosha police chief
couldn't help but spread blame
to the protesters
who were shot at and killed.
Everybody involved was out
after the curfew.
I'm not gonna make a great deal
of that,
but the point is the curfew's
in place to protect.
Had person's not been out,
involved in violation of that
perhaps the situation
that unfolded
would not have happened.
Okay. First of all,
thanks so much for not making
a great deal out of that.
The people who got murdered
were out way past
their government-imposed bedtime
and you were nice enough
to not mention it
except to imply that maybe
it was a reason
they kind of had it coming.
And that is
the kind of restraint
that we've all now
come to expect
from the Kenosha
Police Department.
And you might think,
"Well hold on.
That's just one guy.
Surely not all law enforcement
thinks that way."
Although I will point out
to you
the guy standing next to him
is the Kenosha Sheriff
who just two years ago
gave a pretty striking
press conference.
A group of five
young Black people
had allegedly stolen
some clothing
from an outlet mall,
and it led police on a chase
that ended in
a minor car accident,
and in that press conference
he expressed some views
that are pretty explicit.
Let's put them in jail.
Let's stop them from, truly,
at least some of these males
going out and getting
10 other women pregnant
and having small children.
Let's put them away.
At some point, we have to stop
being politically correct.
Sorry. Can I quickly interrupt
you there because calling for
American citizens to be stopped
from having small children
isn't politically incorrect
so much as
politically 1940s Germany?
And he wasn't just idly
saying that.
He really thought through
a whole plan.
And I know it is
deeply unpleasant,
but honestly it is worth
listening to how detailed
his solution was.
If there's a threshold that
they cross,
these people have to be
warehoused.
No recreational time
in the jails.
We put them away.
And maybe what we gotta do is
build warehouses
that after this generation
is gone,
they've perished
in these buildings,
we can turn them
into something else.
Maybe it'd be malls,
maybe-- maybe, uh... um...
Amazon will buy them
as warehouses later.
But at some point,
we have to get rid of
this group of people.
We have to lock them up.
I don't think I'm saying
anything different than
most people in society
aren't thinking,
but they're afraid to say it.
And I'm just to the point that
I'm saying it.
Okay.
If that is what most people
in society are thinking,
then we are, and this is true,
a terrible society.
And I honestly cannot believe
that that was an idea from
a still employed sheriff
and not a pitch from...
(READS PROMPT)
Good question there,
Mark Cuban.
The answer is these
concentration camps can easily
be converted into
Amazon warehouses.
(GIGGLES) Looks like I've got
a bidding war on my hands.
And look, the offense in Kenosha
would be infuriating
at any time, but it's somehow
especially infuriating
that they took place
in the same week where
the RNC was desperate
to reassure the country
that America isn't racist
while simultaneously
fearmongering about
violent crimes,
threatening
law-abiding citizens.
It was a disconnect that was
pretty well summed up
by NBA coach Doc Rivers
in an emotional post game
press conference on Tuesday.
What stands out to me is, um,
just watching
the Republican Convention
and they're spewing this fear,
right? Like, all you hear
Donald Trump and all of 'em
talking about fear.
We're the ones getting killed.
We're the ones getting shot.
We're the ones that were denied
to live in certain communities.
Um. We've been hung.
We've been shot.
And...
(VOICE BREAKS) All you do
is keep caring about fear.
It's...
It's amazing to me...
why we keep loving this country
and this country
does not love us back.
Yeah. Exactly.
It's all
exhaustively depressing.
Although in a week
of incredible darkness,
there was actually
a bright spot.
Because shortly after Doc Rivers
spoke there,
something genuinely
extraordinary started to happen
in his sport.
The Milwaukee Bucks had
a playoff game
but didn't take the court
with rumors
starting to fly around
that they were about to refuse
to play,
then WNBA players,
who incidentally have lead
from the start on
the Black Lives Matter movement,
also refused to play
 after arriving
 at a scheduled game
 with shirts
 with seven bullet holes drawn
 on their backs.
And eventually, wildcat
strikes spread throughout
both leagues in an unprecedented
and genuinely inspiring show
of collective action,
and they did this
without union approval,
so they were putting
a lot on the line here:
their income
and maybe even their careers
which is what makes it
so infuriating
that when Jared Kushner was
asked for his response
to the strike, this is what
fell out of his mouth.
Look, I think that
the NBA players are
very fortunate that they have
the financial position
where they're about to take
a night off from work
without having to have
the consequences to themselves
financially. So, they have
that luxury which is great.
Okay, get fucked, Jared,
you Welcome to Marwen reject.
'Cause for starts they're not
taking a night off from work.
The emotional toll of being
Black in America combined with
the pressure to perform
at an elite level
during a global pandemic is,
I'm guessing, pretty taxing.
So by not playing, they're not
exactly taking a spa day.
And if NBA players are too rich
to take meaningful action,
then who is exactly is
in the right tax bracket
to have their protest approved
by America's
most laminated prince?
Because we've seen
time and time again
that wealth and fame
absolutely do not protect you
as a Black athlete.
It didn't protect Sterling Brown
from getting tased by the police
after being stopped
for a parking violation
in Milwaukee.
And it didn't protect
Thabo Sefolosha
from having his leg broken
by NYPD officers
in an incident that forced him
to miss the 2015 playoffs
and put his whole career
in jeopardy.
And you might wanna strap in,
Jared,
because this probably
isn't the last disruptive action
like this that we're gonna see
going forward nor should it be
'cause people are sick
of waiting.
Just listen to
Jacob Blake's sister,
Letetra Widman,
making that very clear.
I'm not sad. I'm not sorry.
I'm angry, and I'm tired.
I haven't cried one time.
I stopped crying years ago.
I am numb. I have been watching
police murder people
that look like me for years.
I'm not sad.
I don't want your pity.
I want change.
Right.
This can't be about pity.
It can't be about sympathy.
That is why there is no section
in greeting card stores labeled
(READS PROMPT)
This isn't about what
white people feel or say.
This has to be about creating
real change
in a system that has been built
to be non-responsive.
'Cause history has repeatedly
shown us
the system does not respond
until it is forced to.
So, it's easy for RNC speakers
to insist that
the only appropriate action
is peaceful
and unobtrusive,
but the fact is
that's just not how it works.
Thousands of people marched
in the wake
of George Floyd's death
and have continued marching
even as media coverage
has steadily drifted away.
Meanwhile,
the NBA has made a lot
of symbolic gestures of support
for the movement
like painting Black Lives Matter
on the court
and allowing players to wear
a social justice message
on their jerseys
selected by the way
from a list of 29 agreed upon
options.
But to underscore
just how limiting
that pre-approved protest
can be,
SayHerName was on the list,
but Breonna Taylor was not.
And I guess the only
positive thing there is that
if players wanted
to protest
that particular restriction,
the NBA had a jersey
ready-made for them.
The problem with purely symbolic
protests is that it's
far too easy to co-opt,
and there might actually
be no more visceral example
of that than the fact that
that Kenosha sheriff,
and human warehouse innovator,
got positive attention earlier
this year
when he kneeled
for nine minutes
in solidarity with
the Black Lives Matter movement.
So, is it any wonder
the basketball players felt
they had to escalate
their protest
by not just wearing a jersey
but by striking
and in doing so
putting team owners money
at jeopardy because
real discomfort
is the only thing that's gonna
bring about real change here.
And it's worth noting that
already the strike has had
some effects.
Not only did it spread
to other sports
and other athletes,
but the NBA players
now have a promise from owners
to convert
as many of their arenas
as possible into polling places
this November, which is great,
although it also brings us
to the fact that simply voting
this November
is clearly not gonna be
nearly enough.
Because as much as I or the RNC
would like to believe
that Joe Biden will be
an agent of radical change,
there's just no reason
to believe that.
To the extent that real change
is possible
through the ballot books
this year,
it will only be if Biden
is elected
alongside progressive candidates
all the way down the ballot.
From the Senate
to state legislatures
to city councils,
to sheriffs.
And even that will be
very much a beginning
and not an end.
None of this is easy,
but it has to begin and now.
'Cause our current situation
is completely unacceptable.
And the RNC this week
actually ended up being
a pretty good reminder
that where we still
might end up going
is genuinely terrifying.
Because if it showed us
one thing this week,
it's the danger in
continuing to be governed
by an administration
that encourages
the ugliest forces
in American society
that lionizes threats
of violence against
peaceful protests,
that tells us there's
no conflict between
supporting law enforcement
and "our African American
neighbors"
and it insists that
the best is yet to come
which given everything
that we've seen
in the last four years,
is sounding less like a promise
and more like a fucking threat.
