The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell - Sept. 9 | Audio Only

well they are finally trying here here they are trying here's here's the latest attempt at trying the elements of the news media that have been accused of sashing Donald Trump know that they are guilty of exactly that and now some of them like the New York Times They really really are trying to do something about it but this is their first try so it's not perfect the New York Times first try was published tonight under the headline as debate looms Trump is now the one facing questions about age and capacity with a subheadline reading his rambling sometimes incoherent public statements have stirred concern among voters the Times article does not use the term sashing which describes the way some in the news media edit Donald Trump's crazy statements down to a shape that allows them to then try to make sense of them but the article does offer the New York Times own confession about doing exactly that here is the New York Times confession in writing tonight in this article often his mangle statements are summarized in news accounts in ways that do not give the full picture of how baffling they can be the New York Times has done that every single day the New York Times has been covering Donald Trump the politician including in this article tonight they couldn't get through the whole article without doing it in this article the New York Times is trying to cure itself of its habit of sashing Donald Trump and in the very next passage after the one that I just read the New York Times tries to sandwash what Donald Trump said last week to these stupid rich people at the New York economic Club who clapped enthusiastically for Donald Trump's incoherent response to a question about child care a response that was not an answer it was a widely criticized incoherent jumble that did not answer the question about child care in any way and in the article tonight the New York Times thought they could cure their sashing habit by quoting a larger portion of what Donald Trump said about Child Care instead of the short sashed bits that they used in the coverage of that event last week here is the New York Times attempt at a cure for its own habit of San washing in which in the end it sashes Donald Trump again tonight's article says that because quoting Donald Trump at length quote can provide additional context here is a more extended account of his reply on a affordable child care it's a very important issue but I think when you talk about the kind of numbers that I'm talking about that because Child Care is child care it's couldn't you know there's something you have to have it in this country you have to have it but when you talk about those numbers compared to the kind of numbers that I'm talking about by taxing foreign Nations at levels that they're not used to but they'll get used to it very quickly and it's not going to stop them from doing business with us but they'll have a very substantial tax when they send product into our country those numbers are so much bigger than any numbers that we're talking about including child care that it's going to take care and after running that extended incoherent response by Donald Trump the New York Times Ben in the very next paragraph sandwashed it with this interpretation what he seemed to be saying was that he would raise so much money by imposing tariffs on imported goods that the country could use the proceeds to pay for child care in itself that would be a disputable policy assumption a disputable policy assumption that is the single most disturbing thing I have read in the New York Times about the New York Times let me just read the New York Times San washing once again what he seemed to be saying was that he would raise so much money by imp imposing tariffs on imported goods that the country could use the proceeds to pay for child care in itself that would be a disputable policy assumption there was a time not long ago when everyone at the New York Times and I mean everyone including the printers and the delivery truck drivers knew what a tariff is now it appears no one at the New York Times knows what a tariff is including their top reporters covering the presidential campaign this New York Times article allows Donald Trump to say that his tariffs would be taxing foreign Nations the New York Times allows that to stand as a fact in its campaign reporting and that means that the New York Times campaign coverage and the New York Times economic coverage is hopelessly lost in this campaign how slowly do I have to say it for the New York Times campaign reporters to understand it for the very first time I've said it many times before I understand the New York Times campaign reporters are too busy to be watching this program I don't expect them to learn any of this from me I expected them to learn this by the end of the first year of high school a tariff is imposed by the United States of America and paid for by the people of the United States of America and no one else ever the entire point of a tariff is to raise the price of the foreign product to the American Consumer so that the American Consumer does not want to buy it anymore because it's too expensive all economists understand that American tariffs function as sales taxes paid by American consumers economists consider tariffs sales taxes yes tariffs raise money yes tariffs were the only way the federal government raised money before the imposition of income taxes and the only way the American government can raise money is from the American people the American government cannot tax anyone other than the American people and the night before the debate the New York Times is telling its readers that Donald Trump's tariffs are taxing foreign Nations yes Donald Trump tells a lot of lies yes it's impossible to keep up with every one of those lies but the Tariff lie the New York Times in an article designed to take on Donald Trump's lies and incoherent ranting prints Donald Trump's tariff lie and lets it stand its only question about it is whether the tariffs would raise enough money to pay for child care sane washing Donald Trump's insane response about child care care last week the New York Times tries to tell you that Donald Trump seems to be saying that his tariffs would raise so much money that that money then then could be used to pay for child care but then maybe Donald Trump wouldn't use it for that Donald Trump did not say one word about paying for child care or using tariff Revenue to pay for child care there's not a single thing in Donald Trump's response that any sane person can convert to Donald Trump's suggesting that the federal government should in any way do anything to pay for anyone's child care and the New York Times hallucinated that explanation into existence and after hallucinating that explanation of Donald Trump's Madness into print the New York Times then says it's a disputable policy assumption no it's not it's completely impossible what this article does does do is prove to you how deep the actual intellectual rot is at the New York Times at the reporting and at the editorial level going all the way up to the top this is a big and important article for the New York Times tonight had to be examined by multiple editors to make its way into print and every one of them was completely cool with Donald Trump's Insanity about tarff the New York Times was perfectly happy to put in print that Donald Trump's tariffs are quote taxing foreign Nations that lie that lie the New York Times let's stand unchallenged everyone working in the business section of the New York Times is embarrassed by this everyone in the business section editors and reporters all know the truth about tariffs but they are not the reporters and editors who cover the Trump campaign and so they have no input into an article about tariffs in the campaign coverage none the New York Times and the rest of the news media has been enabling Donald Trump's lies about tariffs for 10 full years now and I used to think that they were doing that because Donald Trump was telling bigger lies than his lies about tariffs more destructive lies lies about elections lies that have gotten people killed and so for years I have been occasionally and only occasionally but repeatedly pointing out Donald Trump's lies about tariffs multiple times a year it has been a very only Pursuit but now I know it is much much worse than I thought now I know that there are people working at the New York Times who believe Donald Trump when he says tariffs are taxing foreign Nations there are people at the New York Times who will allow that to go into print uncontested they have forgotten whatever it was they were supposed to learn in high school about tariffs and they let Donald Trump's tariff lies simply see seep into the political system seep into the very soil of American politics without ever examining or disputing Donald Trump's lies about tariffs lies that give people false hope about what's possible and that means that we should be sitting here tonight with absolutely no confidence that there is anyone anywhere working at ABC News who knows what a tariff is I didn't think that yesterday but I now think that is possible because of what the New York Times Obviously does not know about tariffs and I thought the New York Times was the best on this stuff the one person working at ABC News who I know knows what a tariff is is George Stephanopoulos who worked on that issue as a staffer in the House of Representatives and then worked on that issue and many others in the white house with President Clinton but George Stephanopoulos has no role in tomorrow night's debate hosted by ABC News so when Donald Trump lies about tariffs it will be vice president Harris's job alone with no help from the moderators to try to undo 10 years of lying to America about what a tariff is and who pays a tariff and that that is how unbalanced this debate is going to be before it even starts KL Harris won't just have to fend off new Trump lies tomorrow night she will have to fend off 10 years of the accumulated weight of trump lying including on subjects that the news media has never made an attempt of any kind to challenge Donald Trump what's the toughest question you've ever heard of reporter asked Donald Trump about tariffs the answer is none there has never been a trough a tough question put to Donald Trump about tariffs 24 hours from now you will be hearing many commentators San washing much of what Donald Trump has to say tomorrow night in that sense con Harris won't just be debating Donald Trump tomorrow night she will also be debating the news media reviewers of the debate many of whom do not comprehend the fundamental facts of government like a tariff is not taxing foreign Nations we're going to be a tariff Nation it's not going to be a cost to you it's going to be a course to another country so I'm a tariff president I'm not a tax increase president because we're going to lower your taxes when I'm back in the White House tariffs are taxes on you the reason no previous president ever wanted to be called a tariff president is that all of those presidents knew that Americans pay American tariffs and all of their voters knew that too joining us now as Quenton folks principal Deputy campaign manager for the Harris Walts campaign thank you very much for joining us on this debate Eve uh in thinking about just the Tariff issue alone uh you can see what vice president Harris is up against tonight in that debate it's not just the LIE Donald Trump tells tomorrow night it's the lie that he's been building upon the many lies he's been building upon and adding weight to over the years uh so that so many people uh take those things uh without even questioning them like the Tariff issue yeah I mean look Lawrence he's been lying to the American public for the past 10 years and he's been lying to the American public his entire life um look this is very clear there's only one candidate in this election uh that is looking out for the middle class Donald Trump is for the ultra wealthy and every time he opens his mouth he's lying about it uh but he is for the ultra wealthy he is for giving corporations in the wealthy major tax breaks at the expense of the middle class the vice president is fighting for the middle class which is why you hear her introducing proposals uh to cap the cost uh and stop price gouging on food uh to make sure that people can afford down payments on homes to continue to give Americans child tax credits and then on the flip side you hear Donald Trump doubling down on tariffs which in fact would be a $4,000 increase on the average middle class family in this country that is what Donald Trump is for and he's lying about it uh the polls uh are tightening um in one sense they're not most of the swing state poles almost all of them were have been within the margin of error and now they're in a tighter version of within the margin of eror what do you see in the movement in the in the polls recently look I see that we have to continue to communicate with voters uh we all we have always known that this was going to be a razor thin margin uh race no matter how it turns out uh but we have to continue to put in the work vice president Harris and Governor walls are running as the clear underdogs in this election we have been since the moment that we got in partially uh because of what you have laid out for the uh unconsented of Donald Trump the lack thereof uh and the lies that he's telling across this country but we're going to continue to put in the work build the apparat is across the Battleground States continue to have the vice president and Governor walls out across this country speaking directly to voters which we're going to do immediately uh after this debate with our new Way Forward tour and that is how we're going to win this election but we are very confident that as voters here vice president Harris take on Donald Trump tomorrow and be ready to share her vision for a new way forward for this country uh the choice is going to be crystal clear but our campaign is going to continue to put in the work when you look at uh tomorrow night's debate how how will the Harris campaign be scoring a win what would how what would Define winning this debate look I think that at the end of the day it's not what our campaign thinks uh it's about what the voters think uh and to me that is a victory coming into it because at the end of the day uh we know that this race is about the future this race is about voters but voters are going to get to hear Donald Trump's lies about ripping away freedoms from people in this country mainly reproductive freedom from women of reproductive age in this country a third live under uh a ban because of Donald Trump a direct result of Donald Trump uh he's going to continue to lie about the economy he's going to continue to lie and try to distance himself from Project 2025 and his involvement in it which at the end of the day it is a plan designed by Trump loyalists to destroy the Department of Justice to give Trump unchecked political power uh so that he can do whatever he wants and take revenge on his political enemies and so the vice president has come prepared to share her vision uh but at the end of the day this is about voter and the vice president is going to be speaking directly to American voters tomorrow Quenton folks thank you very much for starting off our discussion on this night before the debate really appreciate it thank you Lawrence it's always a pleasure thank you coming up JD Vance who never met Arizona Republican Senator John McCain thinks he knows John McCain's mind better than John McCain's son does Democratic senator Mark Kelly who now occupies John McCain's old senate seat in the United States Senate will join us next [Music] last week in Arizona two days after the son of the late Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona endorsed kamla Harris for president Republican vice presidential candidate James DAV Advance said quote I do not believe for a second that if John McCain were alive today and he sees what's going on at the American southern border that he would support kamla Harris and all the destruction that she's wrought I really don't believe JD Vance went on to say who cares what somebody's family thinks well John McCain's family knew John McCain a lot better than jdance who never met John McCain John McCain's Republican Widow endorsed Joe Biden and KLA Harris for president and vice president against Donald Trump saying that Donald Trump doesn't share any of her values meaning John McCain's values and last week John McCain's son Jimmy McCain said this the one thing about John McCain is that he cared about his country and he lived his life that way as much as I stayed as an independent I decided that you know it was time to move on and and do what I believe in you know the point of the fact of the matter that he said it constantly is country first you have to think about your country first however that is care about your country care about how making it better I feel that KLA Harris and Tim Waltz embody a group of people that will help make this country better that will take us forward and that's really what matters at at the at the end of the day John McCain was elected and reelected to the United States Senate by the people of Arizona six times Democratic senator Mark Kelly who now occupies John McCain's Arizona senate seat said this while JD Vance was in Arizona last week if Donald Trump was serious about the Border he wouldn't have told Republicans to torpedo the most comprehensive border security bill in decades he did it because he doesn't want Solutions he wants an issue he can campaign on and while JD Vance is in Arizona today let me remind you that he voted against strengthening border security earlier this year because Donald Trump told him to joining us now is Democratic senator Mark Kelly of Arizona he's the author of a new children's book out tomorrow muts saves the world based on a partially true story uh and I've got that book right here on the desk uh we're going to get to this in the last minute I I want to start with what we uh what we just uh heard JD Vance presuming that he knows John McCain's mind better than John McCain's family does yeah Lawrence I uh I'm in John McCain Senate seed and I would not for one second presume that I could speak for Senator McCain uh he's a guy I looked up to I admired he was a hero of mine uh JD van should not be speaking for Senator McCain um but what I what I will tell you about John McCain is he was somebody that stood up for democracy he fought for uh democracy in Ukraine he stood up to autocrats and dictators uh let me tell you who else is doing that and that's kamla Harris and kamla Harris stands with the Ukrainian people she stands up against Vladimir Putin and who doesn't who does the opposite it's Donald Trump and and JD Vance uh you know who are not supporting our allies in Europe against this illegal Invasion and St in my opinion say one disturbing thing after another when it comes to the amount of support we want to provide to Ukraine so that's who John McCain was and I know that his position and kamla Harris and what she will do as a leader of this country is is is very similar that's not what we're seeing from JD Vance or Donald Trump I you know I was working in the Senate when Senator McCain was there and if there were if there was any major bipartisan deal uh John McCain was right in the middle of it and if there had been a major bipartisan deal on immigration the kind that was negotiated uh this year John McCain would have not just been in the middle of it he would have been an important leader of it as a border state senator and people would have been looking to him for guidance and he would have known exactly how to reach a bipartisan deal Edie would not have let anybody especially somebody like Donald Trump tell him he couldn't vote for it I mean I mean that is not the John McCain that I knew and the John McCain that this country knows Donald Trump told Senate Republicans that they could not vote for that border security deal and most of them listened to him and and did what he wanted them to do because uh he made it very clear he needed that for the election KLA Harris has made it very clear uh she'll bring that bipartisan border security Bill back if we can get it get it through the the Senate she will sign it into law Republicans don't want to solve this problem JD Vance doesn't want to solve this problem what JD Vance and Donald Trump like to do is they like to make trips to my state to the State of Arizona John McCain State they like to go there and take a picture at the southern border they're not really into solving problems and it's not just this problem I mean it's problems like trying to bring down the cost of Health Care and prescription drugs for seniors Donald Trump's project 2025 makes it very clear that if he's in office uh he's going to undo the legislation that reduce the cost of seniors prescription drug prices and so many other things that are not in the best interest of our country Senator before you go I have to ask you about the book I flipped through it this afternoon uh mut Saves the World children's book but it is as you say uh a quote a partially true story what's the true story well the true part is was on my first space shuttle mission I had 18 mice on board 17 of them really were freaked out did not enjoy the experience there was one little guy that would float over and get his food and Float back and get his water seemed to get it we labeled him a masternaut and from there came three bucks including this one oh boy that that's uh I I I love that story that the the the mysteries of space that I didn't know anything about Senator Mark Kelly thank you very much for joining us tonight thank you Lawrence thank you well in a debate with a pathological liar the deck is always stacked in favor of the pathological liar Michael Eric Dyson joins us next to paraphrase Pat Shy's 1977 Oscar winning screenplay Network our friend Mike Barnacle is mad as hell and he's not going to take it anymore we have a damaged delusional old man who again might get real eled to the presidency of the United States He is that close to it again how did this happen how does it happen that a man who speaks the way he speaks deranged sometimes delusional Sometimes some of the things he posts on Truth social his website you cannot repeat on American television you wouldn't repeat the words in front of your children that's who he is how did we get here how did the Republican Party get here and I have to tell you and I hesitate to say this and I don't know whether Jonathan or Willie or Donnie would agree with me but there but there's a false equivalency going on in the coverage of this race in that Donald Trump can say whatever crazy things he wants to say about submarines and sharks and electric batteries whatever he wants to say and it's not really covered in the sense that it's covered describing who said it why he said it and who the man is Trump out of his mind mind and always in that story in the equivalency the false equivalency by too many reporters and too many American newspapers is also by the way kamla Harris changed their mind on fracking they always throw in something like that coverage of the story it's ridiculous we don't cover the man for how dangerous he is Jing our discussion now is Mike laric Dyson distinguished professor of African-American studies and ethics at Vanderbilt University he is the the co-author of the new book represent the unfinished fight for the vote uh Michael two Mike barnicle's question yeah how did we get here uh one of the places we're at is this world of the double standard there's going to be a standard for Donald Trump tomorrow night and there's going to be a standard for KLA Harris tomorrow night that's true we know kamla Harris standard is going to have to be Perfection yes we know Donald Trump's standard is something else that's right we've had double standards in this country for a long time haven't we yeah we have and that's a brilliant way you set it up because it's deeply entrenched there's nothing new to KLA Harris you know as an African-American boy growing up born under the wing of Jim Crow in Detroit Michigan it was battered into my brain that you have to be twice as good I know that's an old shival to some and it's an old saw to others but it is true that a certain generation of black people felt we got to outperform just to get half the consideration so KLA Harris knows already that we're grading uh Trump on a curve and we're grading him you know with a great dispensation of grace and mercy and oh that's just Donald being Donald whereas she has to be held to a higher standard she won't complain she won't belly ache she'll perform and that's the best way to beat these folk who engage in that kind of unspoken privilege you you've been in various debate form formats uh and different kinds of academic challenges over the years that are much more sophisticated than this kind of thing but how how is just as a student of rhetoric how is one and a master of it how does one confront rhetorically pathological lying yeah that's a great Point uh the thing is she gave a a bit of a hint when uh on an interview on another station when she was asked about uh Mr Trump and she said uh same old tired Playbook next question now I think at this point she can also illustrate to the nation um how invidious how hateful his rhetoric is so she's got to engage a little bit to say this is the worst aspect of our American Soul this is not what Lincoln would call the better angels of our nature so first she shows that she's a master of rhetoric in a way that Donald Trump could never dreamed to be and then she uses it to dispose of his argument which are faulty and then thirdly she reminds people there is a huge difference between this man with his crickety logic that is dultery jumping from subject to subject and me I'm going to stay steady and do what I do I think at that level the pathological lying will continue but it won't affect her in the same way please stay right there we're going to squeeze in a quick break with Michael when we come back I I want to ask uh what you tell black voters we know they're out there who are thinking about voting for Donald Trump right we're gonna be right back President Biden has already said he will veto the spending bill that Republican house Speaker Mike Johnson is trying to pass so you're going to have the votes to pass this bill to will what's the cons what's your fallback position though if there is no fallback position this is a righteous fight this is what the American people command to deserve uh when you take the polls you look at a poll on this about 87% of American citizens believe you ought to be able to acquire proof of citizenship you should have to before you register to vote so it's unconscionable to me that anybody in this building would vote against that or suggest that it's politics Democrats will vote against it and President Biden would veto it if it ever got to him which it won't because the United States Senate won't send it to him if there is a government shut down in 21 days that will be because no spending bill has been signed into law president Biden announced his opposition to many of the Republican spending choices in that bill and he's also opposed to the voter ID provision in the bill which is completely unrelated to federal government spending since the federal government has no role in elections President Biden said the bill quote will make it much harder for all eligible Americans to register to vote and increase the risk that eligible voters are purged from voter roles this legislation is unnecessary it is already illegal for non-citizens to vote in federal elections it is a federal crime punishable by prison and fines this behavior is wrong and the law clearly prohibits it in addition making a false claim of citizenship or unlawfully voting in an election is punishable by removal from the United States and a permanent bar to admission States already have effective safeguards in place to verify voters eligibility and maintain the accuracy of voter roles in his new book represent the unfinished fight for the vote Michael Eric Dyson writes over 20 million Americans nearly 10% of of the voting age population do not have official identification cards such as a driver's license or passport the majority of these people are poor many or elderly born at a time or in a place when getting a birth certificate was not as common as it is today a large percentage of them are African-American and even larger percentage are Native American getting the documents to qualify for a driver's license and then securing a license itself can be expensive for financial reasons as well voter ID laws function the way po taxes did under Jim Crow making it hard or even impossible for some people to vote because they cannot afford the cost the people most affected by new voter ID laws are some of the least powerful in the United States people for whom voting May well be the only or the best way for them to make their voices heard and back with us Michael Eric Tyson and Michael my favorite chapter of your great book represent the unfinished fight for the vote is this one what you can do there it is right right there everyone who's out there wondering what they can do in this fight for the vote Yes No it's extremely important thank you for for taking the time to read that my co-author Mark Fabro a splendid writer uh insisted that we include that because we knew that people needed a road map to to what you can do how you can respond the things you can say the actual practices you can adopt in order to protect yourself and we know that it's a bunch of shenanigans when it comes to the voter ID law it's another way to disenfranchise Native people indigenous folk African-Americans and others and when you're out there and you're talking to voters they're asking you not only what they can do but you're in you're in exchange as I know you are with some black voters who are thinking about voting for Donald Trump some voters who have maybe voted for Donald Trump in the past how do those discussions go what do you say to them you know I try to be reasonable I say look that the Donald Trump you dig is the guy before he was a president when he was an icon of Hip Hop because he was rich like you wanted to be he had a bunch of women it appeared to be and it appeared to be he was a great businessman uh at least two lies are there so what's interesting is that I say but he's different as a political figure I hear people young rappers well he gave us a check during uh covid no that was the government that was the state that was the legislature so I try to educate them a bit about that if you want to talk about giving out checks Joe Biden has relieved the financial burden of millions in regard uh to education so I tell them consider his Rec record consider the things he said consider the things he's done he's done extraordinary things for individual African-American people spared them from going to jail but the collective has been the vicious subject of his disregard for African-American people and Mexicans and Latinos and others so I try to suggest to them do your homework think seriously about how he and his father Deni people access to being able to rent their homes how he still does not apologize for wanting to literally send to the death chamber of the exonerated five those people this used to be called the Central Park five so when you look at his rhetoric and and him saying he's the best president for black people uh it's a bunch of malarkey I ask them to take seriously what he says judge it against what he does and then look at what your options are and what is open to you well does the does the discussion expand to the issue of party and how the Republican party is now the party that is trying to suppress in any way it can absolutely when you can get that far because it's so sometimes emotionally and existential but yes there is certainly the argument and then you get the argument among some who are the cogniz well you know the Democrats are the racist look what they did that was about 150 to 200 years ago it's a Janet Jackson approach to politics what have you done for me lately and when you look at that I began to talk to them about a party that is intent on suppressing your vote of destabilizing the ability to have the franchise rooc calls that lied to people about when they can vote vote purging these um these roles of Voters uh Ken Paxton in in Texas doing unconscionable things uh so is the governor of um of Florida so yes I I suggest to them that one party stands behind people not perfectly but as Grace Jones said I may not be perfect but I'm perfect for you and I think the Democratic party has argued itself into a stable position with the African-American people that I feel comfortable appealing to can you is there's the last thing you can ever say to a voter is that you know that that you in any sense owe one side of vote that you it it's I guess the argument would have to be made that that this side has has uh not earned your vote and that side has earned your vote absolutely I mean there there's Truth uh our ancestors fought valiantly sometimes Through Blood to be able to have the ability to pull a lever or to register their opinion and one party has stood tooth and nail with them to defend that right and another one has eroded that so we owe not only a party but we owe ourselves our ancestors and the people here now the ability to stand tall in the fact of Truth in the midst of devastating disinformation that's being spread around most especially by the orange Apparition that has Bel clouded the American Horizon politically Michael Eric Tyson uh the book is represent that's all you have to remember it's got a subtitle but if you just know Michael Eric Dyson and represent you're going to find this book a manual for our democ at the moment when we need that need one including the chapter what you need to do Michael thank you so much thank you for having tonight tonight's last word is next Emmy Grammy Oscar and Tony awardwinning actor James Earl Jones took his final bow today at the age of 93 oh say can you see by the dawn's early night but so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming whose broad strikes and bright stars through the perilous fight all the ramparts we watched were so gallantly [Music] streaming and The Rock red glare the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there oh say 10 that Star Spangled Banner yet way for the land of the free and and the home of the [Applause] brave James Earl Jones gets tonight's last word