MUST-SEE RESPONSE to Trump's address

[0:00] I'm going to show you some pertinent moments from Donald Trump's presidential address tonight to [0:03] the nation, but with the caveat that you should stay for the analysis that I give afterwards, [0:08] because you cannot listen to one without the other. So here's that clip. And again, [0:13] stick around for the analysis right after. [0:15] Our purpose in disclosing this information is not to weaken confidence in election, [0:21] but to earn that confidence by confronting vulnerabilities and correcting them very, [0:27] very quickly. And that's what we're doing. The documents cover five major areas of concern. [0:34] First, they show that over a period of years, starting during the 2020 election cycle, [0:41] the People's Republic of China carried out what is believed to be the largest compromise of election [0:47] data in history, resulting in China's illicit acquisition of 220 million U.S. voter files. [0:57] That information includes names, addresses, phone numbers, political party preferences, and other [1:03] sensitive data that would be needed to register to vote and engage in other nefarious activities, [1:11] which is exactly what was happening. Tonight, I'm announcing the immediate declassification and [1:17] release of critical intelligence, revealing shocking vulnerabilities in our election infrastructure. [1:25] This evidence shows that the election system we have dangerously exposes and really exposes like [1:33] levels never thought possible to hacking, exploitation, and foreign interference. Just as disturbingly, [1:43] this vital information has for many years been covered up and hidden from you. The American people are [1:49] beautiful, our great American people. China and other countries have been trying to meddle in our [1:55] elections. Evidence of fraud has been buried. Hundreds of thousands of non-citizens and dead people [2:02] are listed and active on the voter rolls, and yet we still have elections with no voter ID, [2:10] no proof of citizenship, and tens of millions of ballots floating aimlessly through the mail. [2:16] Congress must pass the Save America Act. Now, this was Donald Trump's shocking claim, [2:22] as Caroline Levitt previewed earlier today, that he's got newly discovered evidence of foreign election [2:27] interference. As she said, it will shock you. Here's a little hint. It should not shock you because [2:34] it was fake. Donald Trump and Republicans have been trying to make this claim happen for the better [2:38] part of a decade. It is not any less fake today than it was then. So why is this shocking speech [2:45] even necessary? Here's why. For months now, Trump has been building the infrastructure to seize [2:50] control of the elections and how they're run in this country. DOJ is suing 31 states for their [2:55] unredacted voter rolls. The Department of Homeland Security is demanding access to run those rolls [2:59] through citizenship verification systems that keep wrongly flagging eligible voters. You've got the [3:04] Save America Act sitting in Congress that could disenfranchise millions of Americans and would [3:09] basically amount to a federal takeover of state-run races. And you've got a continued refusal by [3:14] Republicans to rule out sending ICE, that murderous agency, to the polls. A lot of steps they've tried, [3:21] but the bad news for them is that none of those steps have worked. They haven't advanced. They've been [3:26] stymied by the courts and judges and the filibuster, you name it. So now they need a new route. [3:32] According to the Washington Post, Trump's allies have drafted a 17-page executive order [3:36] that would let him declare a national emergency over supposed election interference by a foreign [3:41] country, an emergency that would, in their own words, unlock extraordinary presidential power over [3:47] voting. Now just a quick note to say that my new book, The Day After, is now available. If you'd [3:51] like to support my work and send a message to Donald Trump, who put me on his enemies list this year, [3:56] that his efforts to silence us and independent media only make our voices louder, then please do me a favor, [4:02] support my work, and order a copy. You can click the link right here on the screen, [4:05] in the post description or the comments, or go to the link in my bio, or to briantylercohen.com. [4:11] Here's the thing about a national emergency that would unlock extraordinary presidential powers, [4:15] though. You kinda need a pretext. You can't just wake up one day and announce that you're seizing [4:19] control of elections because you feel like it. Even this administration knows that. You need a story. [4:24] You need some kind of proof, however manufactured or debunked, that the system is broken and only the [4:30] president can fix it. Like, say, a new claim that some foreign country, I don't know, China, [4:36] Venezuela, had interfered in our election and that Donald Trump now has the proof. [4:40] Is it real? Again, no. Not at all. But it doesn't need to be. It doesn't need to hold up in court. [4:47] It doesn't need to be real evidence. After all, remember this? [4:50] On December the 27th, there was a phone call between President Trump and the acting attorney [4:56] general and his deputy. According to notes taken by that deputy, they told Mr. Trump, [5:01] understand that the DOJ can't and won't snap its fingers and change the outcome of the election. [5:07] Doesn't work that way. And Mr. Trump responded, just say that the election was corrupt [5:13] and leave the rest to me and the Our Councilman. [5:18] See? He's done it before. This is a clear pattern. And again, it doesn't have to be real. [5:24] It just has to exist loudly enough, for long enough, in the zeitgeist, perpetuated by the [5:29] person with the biggest megaphone in America, that Donald Trump can wield it as a justification [5:34] to do what he's wanted to do all along, which is take control of the election, gain access to the [5:39] voter rolls, and decide who can and can't cast ballots. It would effectively amount to the [5:44] end of free and fair elections as we know it in this country. As Trump himself admitted, [5:49] We can only lose the midterms if we allow ourselves to lose the midterms if we are foolish, stupid, [5:57] and unwise. But if we terminate the filibuster as we should do, and immediately vote for the [6:05] Save America Act, then we will not lose an election for a hundred years. We do that, [6:14] we're not going to lose an election for a hundred years. [6:17] For posterity, no one who genuinely believes in free and fair elections tells you that the [6:22] payoff to their plan is a hundred years of uninterrupted control. When the architect of [6:28] a massive voter suppression bill tells you that the point of his bill is that his side stops losing for [6:33] a century kinda tells you something. And that really is the whole story here. [6:38] Donald Trump is not gearing up to win the midterms on the merits because he can't. He can't run on a [6:44] broken economy and surging prices and rising inflation and expensive gas and a new war that [6:48] he swore wouldn't happen and a failure to release the Epstein files. He can't run on his only actual [6:54] priority being his relentless focus on vanity projects and outright admitting that he doesn't give a [6:59] shit about stuff like housing. His approval numbers are a testament to that. So instead of making a [7:04] case to voters, he's just trying to rig the rules of the game before a single vote is even cast. [7:10] He wants to gut the election assistance commission, eliminate the filibuster, [7:14] nationalize election administration, restrict the very ballots that tend to favor the Democrats, [7:19] and do it all under the guise of election integrity and making these big announcements like [7:23] he's done tonight. And clearly, he will stop at nothing to do it. Even if that means propping up the [7:29] corpse of his supposed friend Lindsey Graham to get there. [7:32] I got a call last night sometime in, you know, the early evening, maybe in the sevens, [7:39] and he called and he said, we're all set for the Save America Act. He was pushing the Save [7:44] America Act like crazy. He got back, said he just landed from Ukraine. I said, that's a long trip to [7:51] make. He said, he sounded a little tired, but perfect, but a little bit tired. I had a right to be. [7:56] I mean, he was a worker. He was really a worker, but, but he sounded great, actually. But he was, [8:02] he was, he actually said he was tired, but he wanted to pass the Save America Act. And I said, [8:09] well, we're going to get it done, Lindsey. We're going to get it done. I'll see you like soon. We [8:12] thought maybe we might even meet today. Yes. I'm sure that Lindsey Graham's final words were [8:17] definitely totally Donald, please pass the Save America Act. Got it. So look, Trump will lie because he [8:25] always lies. But his gaslighting is not grounded in fact. It is just one more effort for him to do [8:30] what he always does, which is seek to rig the rules to consolidate power for himself. [8:35] You cannot claim that the election in 2020, when you were president, was rigged, but that the election [8:41] in 2024, when Biden controlled the entire federal government, was somehow not, and expect people [8:46] to ever take you seriously. But because he is a shameless hack, that's exactly what he's doing. [8:52] But remember, you don't do this if you're operating from a place of strength. You do this when you have [8:57] no other recourse. And Trump has no other recourse. He is plummeting in the polls, and the rest of his [9:02] party, with their wagons hitched to his, are going down with him. And if they don't want to fall any [9:08] lower, they would be well served to avoid glomming on to yet another conspiracy theory where he lies [9:14] straight to the American people's faces. [9:16] Before you go, I'm very excited to announce that I've written a new book titled The Day After, [9:24] How to Wield Power in a Post-Trump World. The book explores what is, in my opinion, [9:28] the single most important theme that we're dealing with in politics today and moving forward. [9:33] Power. Specifically, how Republicans abuse it and how Democrats refuse to wield it. [9:38] This book explains how we got here and, more importantly, how we should finally wield power [9:42] if we're fortunate enough to get it back. It is the blueprint for progressives who want to do [9:46] far more than just restore the status quo. Please pre-order today by visiting the link [9:51] in the episode description or go to briantylercohen.com slash book. You can grab yours from any of the [9:56] major retailers like Amazon or Barnes and Noble or find an independent bookstore closest to you [10:01] that's also listed on that website. Thanks so much for supporting independent media.