We React to Trump’s Baffling Final Speech

[0:00] Hey everyone, it's me, Sam Stein, managing at the Bullock. I'm here with Andrew Egger, and [0:03] I've been doing a lot of videos today. I hadn't been planning on doing another video today, [0:07] but I watched Trump's closing rally for the midterms, and I couldn't help but talk by with [0:14] Andrew. He was at the reflecting pool, which is not a swing state. No one's on the ballot from [0:22] the reflecting pool. It was really a dynamo rally. Andrew, he spent a lot of time going over [0:29] the intricacies of the pool and algae, which was, you know, in a way I actually thought it was [0:35] appropriate, to be honest with you. I felt like it was the right note for him to signal at the end [0:40] of the rally because this is what he really cares about. That's right. That's right. We have known [0:43] all year that these are the stories that really, really motivate Donald Trump. They're what get him [0:49] out of bed in the morning. They're what he thinks of as he's falling asleep at night, his different [0:53] renovations around DC, and how mean the press has been to him about all of them. Look, it's been a [0:59] decade of this guy, right? Donald Trump lives rent-free in all of our minds. We have spent so [1:03] many hours contemplating everything he has to say. I found it kind of fun watching these clips to try [1:09] to let all of that go, and just imagine that I had woken up, and it's the day before the midterms, [1:14] and here's the President of the United States who I don't know giving his closing rally in this tone [1:19] of voice with this level of energy, and just let that kind of wash over me in that way. I don't know. [1:24] You guys out there might enjoy a different approach, but I found that to be useful as I was [1:31] watching some of the clips that we're going to go over here. There's this tension between, [1:35] all right, focus your time on the reflecting pool and the golf courses. As long as you're not [1:40] sticking masked agents on minority populations, that's great, because he's doing both. [1:46] The other thing is, when we were all sort of taken in the 2024 results, and we were contemplating what [1:53] life would be like under Trump, I did not have on my bingo card that this would be such a [1:58] preoccupation. There was no way I could have thought or looked into the future to be like, [2:03] you know what? He's going to be doing the night before the midterms, or the day before the midterms, [2:07] he's going to be talking about algae levels and crime in Washington, D.C. I didn't anticipate that. [2:13] Yeah. Even a year ago, when some of this stuff had already started, he'd already knocked down [2:18] the East Wing. All of that felt like part of his just dramatic reshaping of Washington and America [2:27] and the world and the way that it was just impossible to stop him or slow him down [2:31] across all these different fronts. It feels very different today. It really does feel like a guy [2:36] whose domestic agenda has stalled out, and all he's left with is these little passion projects and [2:42] these tinkerings and all of this stuff. It really does feel very small. It's easier to laugh at [2:49] this stuff. Also, the reflecting pool just matters less than him knocking down the East Wing of the [2:54] White House. He can tinker with that, and it's not like anybody's really harmed. I just think it seems [2:59] like it signifies such a different thing about where he is, where his project is, where his presidency [3:03] is than it did last year. Let's play the first clip so people can get this. Again, I just want to [3:07] reiterate, this is the day before the midterms. The president got into a motorcade to go a couple [3:13] blocks to the reflecting pool. We're going to show you the audience in a little bit, but let's play [3:18] the clip of what our president was preoccupied with the day before the midterms. The pool is now better [3:24] and more beautiful than it's ever been before, and we're very proud of it. We went through a lot [3:30] with vandalism. The vandalism was unprecedented. People don't like talking about it. But built [3:36] more than a century ago in 1922, this is the largest reflecting pool in the world. It's almost [3:42] as tall as two Empire State Buildings laid on its side, and it's really amazing. It's a fixture of our [3:51] National Mall, and it's a crown jewel of the capital city. We've done it with many other monuments and [3:58] statues. Unfortunately, from the time of its construction, the reflecting pool struggled [4:03] with leaks and algae and very severe problems having to do with weather and heat and cold. [4:10] Presidents Obama and other presidents long before him worked on it. All right, so we have to note that [4:16] there was no vandalism whatsoever at all. There's been studies into this, investigations into this, [4:22] reporting on this. Brendan Hartnett completely vindicated. [4:25] It was a faulty installation by the guys he tasked with putting in the sealant. They did a bang-up job. [4:34] They screwed it up. They did erroneously try to prosecute an ex-Olympian over this. That got [4:39] thrown out. Jeanine Pirro literally said there was no vandalism. She blamed the Department of Interior. [4:44] Trump can't get over it. He's like, no one's talking about it. The reason no one's talking about [4:48] it is because it didn't exist. The only one who's talking about it is him. So I just want to level set [4:53] with that. We really are playing the hits from this summary. Every single one of those phrases I [4:57] remember sort of like luxuriating in and contemplating like when he's like, you know, [5:01] it's as long as two Empire State buildings are tall. You know, like we've definitely laughed about [5:07] that exact stat on a bulwark video before. So we really are playing the hits here. [5:11] So fall is my favorite time of year. The temperatures get cooler. The leaves change colors. [5:16] You got football back, Halloween, all that candy, Thanksgiving, all that turkey, Christmas, [5:22] not quite fall, but you're creeping up there. You got to do a lot of shopping and then you get [5:26] into the new year and it all comes really, really quickly. So there's so much to look forward to. [5:31] And the last thing that I want to do is spend a week stuck in bed when I could be out picking [5:35] apples, you know, got to make those apple pies, hanging out in the pumpkin patch, got to take those [5:40] Instagram photos or just, you know, taking in the autumn air. I don't want to miss any of it, [5:44] which means my health has to come first. But when life gets busy, it's hard to stay on top of [5:49] everything. That's why I use ZocDoc, who is sponsoring this episode. ZocDoc makes it easy [5:54] to search for in-network doctors nearby to see actual appointment openings. And it has more than [6:00] 150,000 providers with over 200 specialties across the country. You can see real reviews from real [6:07] patients to help you pick the right care that works for you. And the best of all, well, you know, [6:12] it's free. Your health matters and taking care of yourself shouldn't be complicated. [6:16] So are you ready to be seen? Head to ZocDoc.com slash bulwarktakes to get started and check that [6:22] appointment off your to-do list. That's Z-O-C-D-O-C dot com slash bulwarktakes. [6:31] You know, Bill Pulte put some together some poster board with the Empire State Buildings. And look at [6:37] this, Mr. Trump, how big this pool is. Does he think that like this is, you know, something people [6:43] are impressed by? I don't know. I just, I like, it hasn't been in the news. It's so strange. It's [6:50] so strange. Like, I guess it's, he. Yeah, what went into his head being like, you know what I need [6:54] to do today? Is go on. I need to talk about this. On a gray November day, I'm going to venture down [7:00] to the reflecting pool. We're just like depressing lighting, me in a USA baseball cap, and I'm going [7:06] to mumble my way through to an audience of like six park rangers. And this is, yeah, this is him [7:12] putting his best foot, last best foot forward ahead of the midterms. I mean, I do not begrudge [7:16] him that he does not want to spend yet another day on these insane rallies he has been doing. [7:20] He has looked so bad out there. He is like, he's just plainly hanging on for dear life. [7:25] Like he's getting hoarser and hoarser and lower energy and lower energy as he's done what, like [7:29] 30 of these rallies over the last few weeks, all over the red map. And he's like, forget it. [7:34] I'm going to go home. I'm going to pop in, you know, a lozenge and I'm gonna, I'm going to go [7:38] down to the reflecting pool and find my piece, you know, but, uh, but still not a very great [7:43] visual. I don't think for the president here. Well, since you talked about the visual, let's [7:46] put up the picture of the actual crowd here so we can take a peek. This is from above literally [7:51] dozen more reporters probably than, uh, actual attendees. I think the attendees were all [7:57] department of interior folk who were there. You can tell from the closeup pictures, they [8:01] all have the like signature hats, the, the, the park police park service hats. Yeah. It's really [8:07] good stuff. I mean, this is just, this is kind of sad in a way, but this is, this is where he was [8:13] today and we got to cover it. Um, he's obsessed with the beautification DC. I think he views DC as a [8:20] kind of a template he can talk about, uh, to tell the other folks around the country that, you know, [8:25] your life can be beautified just like I've done in DC because it wasn't just the reflecting pool he was [8:29] talking about. We're not going to play this clip, but he had a little riff that they're going to now [8:33] go ahead with the triumphal arc, uh, arch and, and that it's going to be bigger than the arc de [8:37] triumph in, in France. He talked about the promenade that he's going to build between the Lincoln [8:43] Memorial and the Potomac, noting that there's roads there, but he's going to build a promenade. [8:47] It's going to be beautiful. And then let's play, uh, the clip where he talks about the statues he's [8:53] going to build. You could go from 250 to 500 statues. It'll be incredible. It's on about [8:59] 45 acres, Freddie, right on the Potomac. And right next to that, we're doing a renovation of the [9:06] golf course, which is in a horrible condition, very dangerous and horrible condition. The walls [9:11] are caving in the whole thing is a mess. And we're doing a renovation of the golf course and we're [9:17] going to make it a world championship course for the U S open for the PGA championship for the [9:23] Ryder cup, president's cup. It'll be, uh, in shape to play that on one day's notice. It's going to be [9:30] built to the highest stands, standards of golf, and it'll be unbelievable. And, you know, you have [9:36] views of the different monuments and it's going to be open to the public. And we're going to give a [9:41] discount to people that live in Washington, DC substantial discount so they can play it, but [9:47] it's in very bad shape right now. It's it's, as they say, it's had it, it's a mess. And we will be [9:54] building a, a world class, uh, golf course open to the public. Think about how long he just talked [10:01] about that. One fact, that one fact, there's this rundown municipal golf course and we're going to punch [10:06] it up and make it like a pro course. And, uh, it'll be open to the public. He like, he spent like, what, [10:11] like 90 seconds, two minutes, just, uh, and it's another thing. He does seem really tired. He seems [10:17] so tired. He needs a nap. He should take a nap. He's done. Like there's, there's no more votes [10:21] to be squeezed out of this population from him talking, but he can't not talk. Like he doesn't [10:26] know, like he, he genuinely thinks like the more he talks, the more people show up at the polls. [10:31] And, you know, again, we've, we've just had weeks and weeks of his stress testing, that very theory. [10:37] Uh, I don't know. I don't know. It's just like, what, where, what else is on his schedule for today? [10:43] Do you know, I have not been paying attention to the president's movements today, even though it's kind of my job. [10:47] I don't know. I know that his son was out in Ohio doing a rally. Uh, but I think Trump, [10:54] as far as I mean, obviously in DC, he's not out on the trail, might be doing some tele rallies or [10:59] whatever. He did go back out. He was not going to go out this weekend and they ended up doing some [11:03] events in Iowa and Kansas. Yeah. Thank God. Thank God. Imagine, imagine if he hadn't done that. [11:09] Imagine if he hadn't actually gotten out there and, and gotten to comment on how, how good Ashley [11:13] Henson looks now that she's lost a few pounds and you know, all that stuff. Like, you know, [11:17] thank, thank God he really came through for Iowa Republicans in that way. By the way, did you see [11:21] that clip of, uh, of Don Jr. in Ohio? It's a total cheap shop where he's like, you know, the Democrats, [11:26] the radical Democrats, they're going to get in there. They're going to make Ohio a state. I was like, [11:29] no, that sounds terrible. You know? Yeah. He was thinking of DC and his dad's in DC talking about how [11:35] great DC is. They should be on the same page. Uh, producer Matt says he's got seven teller rallies [11:39] today. Woo. So he's got, he's got to pace himself. He's bringing that energy. He's bringing that fast [11:46] ball to these teller rallies. Uh, I just can't like the golf course in DC. It's, I guess it's [11:52] because it matters to me because I play golf, but it's just like his, his, his riffs on East Potomac [11:58] are so detached. Like, oh, people are going to die because of the, because the poor net on the, [12:04] on the driving range at East Potomac, DC, as if this is like the prime issue for the medium voters, [12:10] like, oh my God, a White House staffer was hit by an errant golf ball. No one cares. [12:16] Do you think that's true? Do you think that's, I mean, to me, like it really is like, not to, [12:21] not to like start psychoanalyzing the guy just for no reason, but like he, he's incapable of like [12:26] talking about any topic without just lying. I mean, like there's, there's nothing to be gained. [12:32] There's no rhetorical edge that he gets that he would have lost if he hadn't made up a lie [12:37] about somebody teeing off on the driving range and it's sailing through a hole in the netting [12:42] and hitting a White House staffer in the chest. But he still tells that story. He says, that's [12:47] what happened out, out on these campaign rallies. It really is all over the place. Like, and there's [12:52] little add ons that he has. So like when he was talking about the arc, uh, he, he was like, [12:56] it'll have the best drone capabilities anywhere in the world. It's like, you need to say that so [13:00] you could get your, you know, national security clearance for the construction of this, but who [13:05] the hell wants drones flying around right near Reagan? You think the, you think the arc de triomphe [13:09] has these sick ass spoilers and these, you know, these, these, uh, off-road tires. I don't think so. [13:15] Only our, she's going to have that baby. It's like a transformer that it's like suddenly has [13:20] missiles coming out of its side. And then the other one that no one noticed, but he was talking about, [13:24] um, the, the damage done to the mall where someone did actually, this actually did happen [13:30] where someone put 86, 47 onto the mall. And, and, you know, I don't know how they didn't [13:35] see it happen in real time and they haven't caught whoever did it, but he was like, you [13:38] know, 86, 47, he's like James Comey. And then he goes, that's the first time I had heard that [13:43] term when James Comey posted it, which was directly in contradiction. I looked it up to something he [13:49] said earlier where he's like, I'd seen it in mob movies before. I knew it was a threat. Clearly, [13:55] you know, it's like two very contradictory stories. So he does, you know, that's what he does. He [13:59] embellishes everything. This is only a little bit on topic, but I'm going to bring it up because I [14:03] never miss an opportunity to, to, to bring it up. Do you remember that, that great news story that we [14:07] got a few months ago where, where as soon as Trump started saying that Comey had meant it as a threat [14:13] and it was obviously a threat and everyone knows it was a threat. Immediately a directive goes out from [14:17] the political leadership at the FBI. They're like, we're investigating all 86, 47s from here on out. [14:23] You know, we're going to, if you see one say, if you see something, say something, we're logging [14:26] them and we're looking into them. And like six hours later, they're like, upon further reflection, [14:31] we absolutely do not have the manpower or the resources to do this. This is, this is a terrible [14:36] use of our time. We're going back to the way it was. And, and, you know, take it up, take it up with [14:40] management. I like that. That's my, that's one of my favorite little sort of like micro stories of how [14:45] personnel works under Trump that we've gotten this year. Yeah. Hours and resources spent on looking [14:51] at all the Etsy posts of like little 86, 47 figures must've been a huge waste of time. Well, [14:58] this is where we are president closing the campaign, talking about algae and crime in DC [15:03] and the problem that he wants to build between the Lincoln Memorial and the Potomac river. [15:07] Did you catch, sorry, the one other thing about the algae, did you catch, there was like one moment [15:10] where he was like, and you know, algae, you know, it's, it's, it's kind of hard to do. It's actually [15:15] kind of hard to deal with the algae, which was like some, some real intellectual growth from him, [15:19] the very, very rare moment where he's like, actually, yeah, it turns out, they kept posting [15:23] him like these poster boards with like all these photos of it. And it was just like such a very [15:28] surreal moment where, you know, we've reduced this guy to, I think he was actually psychologically [15:34] scarred this summer when he like had the big unveiling and then it was, you know, bottle green, [15:39] like three days. It probably did mess with his head way more than we appreciate where he would, [15:45] I bet he was just like livid. He's like, how the fuck did this happen? Like I put so much effort [15:49] into this pool. He sent those dudes down there with the, with the gallon jugs of hydrogen peroxide. [15:54] I mean, like we have lived so many lifetimes this year. You said there was no one harmed by the pool [15:59] like these, but those ducks, I think that was a conspiracy theory. I think, I think that was, [16:03] I think that duck died independently. That's my own belief. You never know. Wow. [16:07] What a truther you are. All right. Well, we got actually, so this is breaking. Um, someone from [16:13] the White House did leak us, uh, some designs of the Arc de Trump and, uh, what it will look like [16:18] with the drone. So let's put that up if we can. [16:21] I knew that was a bit, I knew that was a bit going on. Pretty good though. I like that. [16:26] Not bad. [16:26] I've changed my mind about this whole thing. Actually, that's, that's pretty metal. [16:30] Not bad. If we can do that, I'll be okay. [16:32] We got to bring the transformers back around, you know, that was like the big decade, uh, [16:37] about a decade ago. They had a long run, but hopefully he has different people working on [16:41] this than he did on the pool. And, uh, we'll get that going. All right, Edgar, my man, we're one [16:46] day away. Thank you for doing this. For those who are watching, we're getting a little loopy here. [16:51] Sorry if this is a little bit crazy, but we felt like it was, uh, an important historical moment, [16:55] the closing argument before the midterm, we should do a take on it. And so that's what we did. [16:59] Subscribe to the feed. And if you guys think this was loopy, I mean, imagine what we're going to be [17:04] like tomorrow night as the, as the blue tsunami rolls in. So come, come to the live stream, [17:09] come watch the live stream. We're going to, we're going to have a great time. [17:12] Look at Andrew throwing caution to the wind. No superstition whatsoever. All right. 7 PM tomorrow. [17:17] We're starting live. We're going as long as we can. We'll see what happens. Subscribe to the feed. [17:22] See us. See you all then. Take care, buddy.