🔍
Trump Supporters Ludicrously Claim He Would've Been Tougher on Putin: A Closer Look - YouTube
Channel: Late Night with Seth Meyers
[1]
-Republicans
and right-wing pundits
[2]
have created a mythology that is
totally unmoored from reality,
[5]
in which Donald Trump
was the one
[7]
who was tough on Vladimir Putin
[8]
and would've somehow stopped
Putin from invading Ukraine.
[10]
For more on this,
it's time for "A Closer Look."
[12]
♪♪
[ Cheering and applause ]
[17]
I feel like it's worth
taking a step back
[20]
and remembering the whole reason
[22]
Trump got impeached
the first time.
[23]
I know it's hard to remember
[24]
because Trump melted all
of our brains
[26]
by overloading us
with nonstop chaos and insanity.
[29]
History Channel's going to have
to launch its own version
[32]
of ESPN2,
called History Channel...
[36]
[ Laughter ]
[37]
[ Transatlantic accent ]
The year was 2019.
[38]
"Old Town Road" was
at the top of the charts
[40]
and everyone was buzzing
[41]
about the impeachment
of one Donald J. Trump.
[43]
Give 'em hell, Donald J.
[44]
[ Laughter ]
[46]
Trump got impeached specifically
[48]
because he tried
to extort Ukraine
[50]
to help him cheat
in the 2020 election
[52]
by holding up military aid
[54]
in a phone call with Ukraine's
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy,
[57]
the same Zelenskyy
who is now, once again,
[59]
asking the U.S.
for more military assistance.
[61]
If you'll recall, Zelenskyy
specifically asked Trump
[65]
to provide more
of an anti-tank missile system
[67]
known as a Javelin,
and that's when Trump tried
[70]
to dangle the military aid
over his head.
[72]
Zelenskyy told Trump...
[83]
To which Trump responded...
[87]
Remember that?
[ Laughter ]
[88]
It's not your fault
if you don't.
[89]
To find that transcript,
we had to send our researchers
[92]
down into the bowels of 30 Rock
[93]
with flashlights
and magnifying glasses
[95]
to sift through rolls
of microfiche,
[97]
like they were Nic Cage looking
for a secret code hidden
[99]
[ Laughter ]
on the back of the Constitution.
[100]
When they found it,
after weeks of searching,
[102]
they ran up to my office
[104]
with a little piece
of parchment in their hands,
[106]
and they said, "Mr. Meyers,
[107]
we found the transcript."
[ Laughter ]
[110]
And then I had to blow dust
just to read the words.
[114]
[ Laughter and applause ]
[118]
And then I said, "Dear God!
[120]
Do you know how old this is?
[124]
This happened all the way
back in
[126]
2019."
[127]
[ Suspenseful music climbs ]
[ Laughter ]
[132]
[ Lightning strikes,
thunder crashes ]
[133]
[ Laughter and applause ]
[141]
So Trump used the aid
Ukraine desperately wanted
[143]
as a bargaining chip
to empower himself politically
[146]
and, yet, yesterday,
after Zelenskyy's
[148]
virtual address to Congress
pleading for more aid,
[151]
House Minority Leader
Kevin McCarthy had the gall
[153]
to claim it was Joe Biden
who didn't give Ukraine
[156]
the military assistance
they were asking for.
[158]
-I've had conversations
with the president
[159]
long before this moment came.
[163]
My advice to him was provide
them the armament earlier
[166]
to deter Putin from ever making
these decisions.
[169]
The entire time,
President Biden always said
[171]
it would be the sanctions
afterwards.
[174]
And then,
when the sanctions came,
[175]
he said it'd take months
to work.
[178]
Well, Ukrainian people
cannot wait months.
[180]
-Are you for real?
[182]
Does your cable package not have
[184]
History Channel...?
[186]
[ Laughter ]
[187]
You're saying Biden is the one
[188]
who should've given Ukraine
the aid sooner?
[190]
The guy you supported tried
to extort Ukraine
[192]
like a mob boss counting singles
[194]
in the back room
of a strip club.
[196]
'Please, Mr. Trump, you can't
tell my wife I was here."
[199]
[ As Trump ]
That's no problem.
[200]
[ Laughter ]
That's no problem at all.
[201]
I would like you
to do us a favor, though.
[203]
I need you to help us plant
some dirt on the mayor.
[206]
You're going to tell people
he married his cousin.
[208]
[ As Giuliani ]
It's true. I did.
It was an accident.
[210]
[ Laughter and applause ]
It was an accident.
[212]
And it was only for 14 years.
[213]
[ Laughter ]
I think these guys
genuinely believe
[216]
we don't remember
the Trump administration at all.
[218]
Maybe they thought that thing
Trump does with his hands
[221]
was a Jedi mind trick.
[ Laughter ]
[224]
Of course, Trump could never
pull off a Jedi mind trick
[226]
because he doesn't
have any focus.
[228]
[ As Trump ]
These are not the droids
you're looking for.
[229]
I got these droids
from my very good friend
[231]
Anakin Skywalker.
[233]
Big guy, strong guy.
[235]
Came up to me,
tears in his eyes.
[236]
He said, "Sir."
[237]
[ Laughter ]
He said, "Sir,
[239]
we love what you're doing
for the star system.
[241]
[ Laughter and applause ]
We love it.
[243]
You know he's Darth Vader now.
[245]
Anakin is Darth Vader.
[247]
Not a lot of people know that.
[248]
[ Laughter ]
Anyway, you were looking
for some droids.
[251]
[ Laughter ]
[253]
They all want us to think Trump
magically would've fixed this
[256]
by being tough on Putin,
[257]
when we all know
the opposite was true.
[259]
Trump slobbered praise
all over Putin any chance he had
[262]
and was desperate to be
Putin's friend
[263]
and, yet, Trump apologists
continue to craft
[265]
this insane mythology where,
somehow,
[267]
Trump would've stopped Putin
from invading Ukraine.
[270]
Some of them have even come up
with elaborate allegories
[273]
to explain Trump's
supposed toughness.
[275]
-They didn't do this
on Trump's watch, Russia,
[278]
because Trump would've
kicked their ass.
[280]
-This never would've
happened under Trump.
[282]
-Why didn't Putin
do this
[284]
when Trump was president?
[286]
And I don't bring up
President Trump that much, okay?
[290]
[ Laughter ]
But I tell you right now
[292]
that he didn't do it
when Trump was president.
[295]
-What we are seeing
in Ukraine,
[297]
courtesy of Russia,
[299]
is merely a preview
of what can happen
[303]
when America signals weakness.
[308]
I've read that, in the jungles,
the mighty do not have to fight.
[312]
They say that,
when the bull elephant lives,
[315]
the herd is peaceful
and prosperous.
[319]
But in his absence,
[320]
confusion, disorder,
and destruction ensues.
[326]
Well, when I get
through speaking,
[327]
the next voice you hear will be,
in a little while,
[331]
will be that of our own
bull elephant, Donald Trump.
[335]
-Are you reading from a rejected
children's book
[338]
about Donald Trump?
[339]
[ Laughter ]
[340]
[ As McMaster ]
You see, the bull elephant lives
in the jungle
[343]
with all the others animals
[344]
and, when he's home,
the herd is peaceful.
[346]
And, because it is peaceful,
he has time to use Twitter.
[350]
But because he only has a trunk
to type with,
[352]
there are often misspellings
[354]
or things accidentally
in all-caps.
[356]
Still, he is an elephant
who tweets,
[358]
and that's pretty cool.
[359]
[ Laughter ]
[362]
Also, can we go back
to this real quick?
[363]
-I don't bring up
President Trump that much.
[366]
-Yeah, me neither.
[368]
[ Laughter and applause ]
Today is such a weird outlier.
[373]
[ Laughter ]
[375]
For what it's worth, I think
it's justified to bring him up.
[377]
He's the leader
of the Republican Party
[379]
and their likely nominee
in 2024.
[381]
But, yes, I do talk
about Trump a lot.
[383]
I even talked about him
when my psychiatrist
[385]
made me take an inkblot test,
[387]
but in my defense,
it did look like this.
[388]
[ Laughter ]
[390]
Bull elephant!
[391]
[ Laughter ]
There was also another part
[394]
of that Jeanine Pirro tirade
I really enjoyed,
[396]
where she went off
on the Biden administration
[398]
for reaching out to social
media influencers on TikTok
[401]
to talk to them
about the war in Ukraine.
[403]
-Biden is responsible
for the decline of the West!
[407]
What we are seeing right now
is a --
[410]
I can't say the word --
is a wuss!
[412]
-[ Laughs ]
-We've got a bully in the yard,
[415]
in the playground yard,
in the schoolyard,
[418]
and everybody's back
at the fence, alright?
[420]
-How do you know --
-All we -- Wait, wait a minute.
[421]
Let me finish.
[423]
[ Laughter ]
All we have to do is
[425]
we have enough oil in Canada,
the United States, and Mexico
[430]
and we could be
our own superpowers,
[432]
but right now,
the Biden administration
[434]
is not only hurting
the Americans and all this
[437]
#BlamePutin TikTok nonsense.
-[ Laughs ]
[441]
[ Laughter ]
-All this is crap!
[442]
-I'm sorry, I have to ask,
who is mixing your drinks?
[445]
[ Laughter and applause ]
Because, you know,
you're supposed
[447]
to put something nonalcoholic
in there too, right?
[450]
[ As Pirro ]
I'll have a vodka soda,
[452]
but replace the soda
with tequila
[454]
and replace the ice
with whiskey
[455]
and hold on.
Let me finish!
[457]
[ Laughter ]
Replaced the vodka
with more vodka!
[460]
[ Laughter and applause ]
So, Trump's sycophants
[462]
have all bought in
to the ludicrous idea
[465]
that Trump, somehow,
would've stopped Putin.
[467]
Trump himself has repeated
that claim on TV recently,
[470]
although he's been
weirdly vague about it.
[472]
-This would not have happened
during my administration.
[475]
In fact,
some people were saying,
[476]
"Why didn't this take place
[479]
over the last four years,
during our administration?"
[482]
And it didn't
for a very good reason,
[484]
and I'll explain that to you,
someday.
[486]
[ Laughter ]
Oh, well,
[488]
by all means,
keep that secret to yourself,
[491]
former U.S. president.
[493]
[ Laughter ]
[494]
That's like if, when COVID hit,
Obama said --
[496]
[ As Obama ]
Now, I got a cure,
[497]
and I'm going to tell you
what it is, uh...
[500]
when I'm good and ready.
[501]
[ Laughter ]
[502]
Trump treats foreign policy
like he's doing an ad
[504]
for women's perfume.
[506]
"What's our secret?
[507]
Maybe I'll tell you about it.
[509]
Some Day."
[510]
-Some Day by Calvin Klein.
[512]
[ Laughter ]
-And then this week,
[514]
Trump's half-finished
claymation sons
[516]
picked up where he left off,
[517]
[ Laughter ]
with Don Jr. suggesting
[520]
that Trump should meet
with NATO next week,
[522]
instead of Biden.
He tweeted...
[531]
Why would NATO want
to see Trump?
[533]
He repeatedly slammed NATO.
[535]
He's like their
WWE wrestling villain.
[537]
[ Laughter ]
Would they know he was there
[539]
when they heard
his entrance music?
[540]
[ German accent ]
So, we need to be careful
[542]
about what steps we take next,
as to not inflame tensions
[545]
-♪ Fun to stay at the ♪
-and, obviously --
[546]
-♪ YMCA ♪
-My God.
[548]
-♪ It's fun to stay at the ♪
-That's Donald Trump music!
[551]
-♪ YMCA ♪
[553]
[ Laughter ]
[556]
And then, Don Jr.'s copy
[558]
of a copy of a fax brother
Eric Trump
[561]
[ Laughter ]
went on TV and made
a similar claim,
[564]
but with even dumber reasons.
[565]
-Listen, my father would,
you know, call up
[567]
and he would've said,
"Vladimir,
[568]
don't even think about it.
[569]
Don't even try us.
[571]
I'm telling you, it's not going
to work out very well for you."
[573]
-You really think that's how
the conversation would go?
[575]
You sound like you're talking
to a dog
[576]
who's about to pee on the rug.
[577]
[ Laughter ]
Of course,
[579]
if Trump talked to a dog
the way he talked to Putin,
[581]
he would immediately give in
every time the dog complained.
[583]
[ As Trump ]
Sparky, don't do it.
Don't even think about it.
[585]
[ Laughter ]
Don't you dare.
Don't you dare pee on the rug,
[587]
or I'll have to shake that jar
full of loose change.
[589]
-[ Growling ]
-Or, or, alternatively,
[591]
pee wherever you want.
[ Laughter ]
[593]
This is your house, too, Sparky.
You're man's best friend
[596]
and that makes you
as much of a human as I am.
[597]
[ Laughter ]
Wizz away,
just not on the good rug.
[599]
-[ Growling ]
[ Laughter ]
[600]
-Or right in the middle
of the good rug.
[602]
[ Laughter ]
I was just saying to Melania,
[604]
I feel like this rug could use
a big, yellow, wet spot.
[606]
Now, we have it.
We worked together
[608]
and now, we have it, Sparky.
[609]
[ Laughter ]
In the last few days,
[611]
there's been
some cautious optimism
[613]
that a diplomatic solution
[614]
to this conflict
might be possible.
[615]
Even Zelenskyy himself
has hinted
[617]
at a possible compromise.
[619]
That's what we need to do --
[620]
help the millions of Ukrainians
who are suffering
[622]
and provide support
for a possible peace deal.
[624]
What we don't need are reckless
threats of escalation
[626]
from people who think Trump,
of all people,
[628]
would've put a stop to this.
[629]
The idea that Donald Trump
would've been tough
[631]
on Vladimir Putin is,
quite frankly...
[633]
-Bull.
-Crap!
[634]
[ Laughter ]
-Ooh.
[637]
[ Laughter ]
[638]
This has been "A Closer Look."
[639]
♪♪
[643]
God's Love We Deliver
cooks and brings
[645]
over two million meals a year
[646]
to men, women, and children
living with HIV/AIDS,
[648]
cancer, and other
serious illnesses
[650]
and they need your help,
now, more than ever.
[651]
If you're watching this online,
you can hit the Donate button.
[653]
Stay safe. Get vaccinated.
We love you.
Most Recent Videos:
You can go back to the homepage right here: Homepage