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Arizona Republicans Push Forward with Insane 2020 Election "Audit": A Closer Look - YouTube
Channel: Late Night with Seth Meyers
[2]
-Republicans in Arizona are
pushing forward with an insane
[4]
so-called audit of
that state's election results,
[6]
with plans to pursue
similar audits
[9]
in other states
that Joe Biden won.
[10]
For more on this,
it's time for "A Closer Look."
[17]
Nearly seven months after
the 2020 election,
[19]
Republicans are still
relitigating the results
[21]
in a pathetic
and dangerous attempt to prove
[23]
that it was somehow stolen
from Donald Trump.
[25]
It feels like this con is never
gonna end.
[28]
40 years from now, I'm still
gonna be at this desk
[30]
with the long, gray hair
and a scraggly beard,
[33]
talking about the GOP's latest
attempts to overturn
[35]
the 2020 results in Arizona.
[37]
And if I'm still here,
you better believe
[39]
Wally's gonna be here, too.
[40]
He'll be old enough
at that point
[42]
that he won't be able to hold
more than one card at a time.
[44]
So he'll have to write
super-duper small.
[48]
But then because
it's super small,
[49]
I won't be able to read it.
[51]
So I'll need those
giant old-man glasses
[53]
with a chain around my neck.
[55]
But then the light reflecting
off my glasses will blind Wally,
[58]
so he'll have to wear
those square black glasses
[61]
that people with cataracts wear.
[62]
Point is, it's a vicious circle
and it needs to stop.
[66]
Earlier this week,
for example, Mike Lindell,
[67]
the guy who thinks China
and a voting machine company
[70]
teamed up to steal the election
and who sells pillows
[73]
I assume filled with gravel
and nightmares,
[75]
got thrown out of a meeting
of the Republican Governors
[77]
Association after promising
to confront governors
[80]
about nonexistent fraud.
[82]
-According to Politico,
[83]
MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell
was banned
[85]
from a Republican governor's
conference in Tennessee.
[88]
It comes after Lindell went
on Steve Bannon's radio show
[91]
promising to confront
Republican governors Brian Kemp
[94]
and Doug Ducey about unfounded
election fraud claims
[97]
in Georgia and Arizona.
[99]
-I'm sure it's not
the first venue
[101]
Lindell has been thrown out of.
[102]
He's got
resting thrown-out face.
[105]
As a baby, his first words were,
"But my friends are in there!"
[108]
[ Laughter ]
[111]
Bars, libraries,
[113]
children's birthday parties --
[114]
I mean, really, anyplace where
you have to keep your voice down
[117]
is a no-go for him.
Can you imagine Lindell
[119]
as a golf announcer?
[120]
[Softly] Koepka with
the approach here at 17.
[123]
He's got to avoid
that front bunker.
[125]
[As Lindell, loudly]
Yeah, gotta stay outta dat
[127]
or a birdie's gonna be
impossible!
[129]
Okay, now he's steppin' away
from the ball
[131]
and he's looking over here
for some reason!
[133]
Oh, he looks real mad!
[135]
And, oh, God, here he comes!
[137]
Run, everybody!
[140]
[ Normal voice ]
The problem for Republicans
[141]
is they keep running up
against reality.
[143]
They lost somewhere
around 60 court cases,
[146]
including in front of
Trump-appointed judges
[148]
who quite literally said
they had zero evidence
[151]
to support their claims,
and that's not exaggeration.
[154]
A judge appointed by Trump
[155]
actually wrote
in one of his rulings...
[164]
That sounds like a note
your high school
[166]
English teacher
would write on a paper
[167]
while you argue that
Hercule Poirot
[169]
was the real killer
on the Orient Express.
[172]
And of course, there were
multiple recounts and audits
[175]
that kept confirming
the same results over and over.
[177]
In Georgia, they counted
the votes three times
[180]
and declared Biden
the winner three times,
[182]
which gave Biden an opportunity
to try out a new laugh line
[184]
at a rally in Atlanta.
[186]
-Thank you for standing strong
[188]
to make sure
your voices were heard.
[190]
Your votes were counted
[192]
and counted
[193]
and counted again.
[196]
I'm starting to feel like I won
Georgia three times!
[199]
[ Cheers, horns honking ]
[202]
-One thing I'll kind of miss
about COVID-era politics
[204]
is all the drive-in rallies.
[206]
It sounds like Biden
was giving a pep talk
[208]
to Lightning McQueen
and the gang.
[210]
And yet,
Republicans cannot let go.
[212]
They're trying to launch
baseless audits
[214]
and investigations
around the country.
[216]
And as we speak,
they're continuing
[218]
their insane audit in Arizona,
where they've hired a firm
[220]
that has zero background
or expertise in elections.
[224]
-The privatized
Republican recount
[225]
of the 2020
presidential election results
[227]
in Arizona's most populous
county, Maricopa County,
[230]
is now entering its second week.
[232]
Here's what it looks like
from inside the lovely
[235]
Veterans Memorial Coliseum
in Phoenix,
[237]
where this sort of dangerous
and farcical enterprise
[240]
is being undertaken
by the Republican-controlled
[242]
Arizona State Senate,
[244]
who used their power to subpoena
more than two million ballots --
[247]
just from this county,
just from a Democratic county.
[249]
And then they handed them over
to a private security firm
[252]
called Cyber Ninjas that has
no experience in elections
[255]
and whose CEO,
through his now-deleted
[258]
Twitter account,
extensively retweeted
[259]
lies about Joe Biden
stealing the election.
[262]
-That's their name,
the Cyber Ninjas?
[264]
That sounds like the name
of a bowling team
[266]
at a child's birthday party.
[268]
If you just told me the name
without any context,
[270]
I'd guess Cyber Ninjas
was some sort of hot new toy
[272]
you have to feed
so he can grow strong
[274]
and conquer the cyber dojo.
[276]
And then I'd be bummed
because my wife would tell me
[278]
to go out and get one for
the boys, so I'd go to Kmart
[280]
and there'd be one Cyber Ninja
left on the shelf
[282]
and I'd have to wrestle it away
from some old lady's hands
[285]
that are weirdly strong
from knitting, I guess.
[287]
So then I have to push her down
and run away with it.
[290]
But she catches up to me
because somehow
[291]
her power-walking is faster
than my full-on sprinting.
[294]
And then someone
would snap a photo
[296]
and there'd be a headline on TMZ
that says...
[301]
The point is, this
so-called election audit
[303]
is obviously a scam.
[304]
We already told you about
how they were using 5K cameras
[307]
to search for traces of bamboo
on ballots to find out
[309]
if they were
smuggled in from Asia.
[311]
They were also using ultraviolet
lights to find ballots
[314]
they claim had been
watermarked by Trump.
[316]
-They've engaged in
[317]
some rather suspect
auditing methods, like using
[320]
UV lights
to scan ballots for fraud
[323]
because there is an utterly
insane conspiracy theory
[326]
that Donald Trump watermarked
the real ballots.
[329]
Not only is that not true,
there are no watermarks,
[331]
but experts say the UV lights
[333]
could actually
damage the ballots.
[335]
-That's right. They think Trump
watermarked the real ballots.
[338]
Ah, yes.
Donald Trump, master forger.
[340]
I don't think he's capable
of that level of subtlety.
[343]
His golf pencil
is probably a Sharpie.
[345]
I guarantee you, Trump has
no idea how to watermark.
[348]
Now, I'm confident he knows
how to Diet Coke mark a desk.
[352]
When Biden got into
the Oval Office,
[354]
I bet they had to scrub it down
with
[355]
industrial-strength linseed.
And on top of that,
[357]
the UV light could actually
damage the ballots --
[360]
you know, in the name
of election integrity.
[362]
What other genius ideas
do they have?
[364]
"Only the real ballots
will float,
[366]
so let's throw them
in the river --
[367]
if they sink, it's fraud"?
I mean, what's next?
[369]
They feed the real ballots
to a bunch of chickens
[372]
and then incinerate
the chickens?
[373]
Oh? Oh, that is next?
[375]
Wow. I'm getting good at this.
[376]
Because for real,
there are allegations,
[378]
which I honestly
don't fully understand,
[380]
that some of the ballots were,
I guess, eaten by chickens
[384]
and then incinerated.
I don't know, guys,
[385]
let's just watch the clip
and find out together.
[388]
-A grift disguised as an audit.
[391]
That is the state
[392]
of the absurdist theater
in Arizona this morning.
[395]
Accusations of ballots
flown in from South Korea.
[398]
Allegations that chickens
ate some of the ballots
[402]
and then the chickens
were incinerated.
[404]
And you listed
some of the things,
[406]
whether it be
checking for bamboo
[408]
using the ultraviolet light.
[409]
But there are other things
on this list,
[411]
accusations that ballots
flown in from South Korea,
[414]
allegations literally that
chickens ate some of the ballots
[419]
and then the chickens
were incinerated, I guess.
[421]
What are some of
the other crazy things
[423]
that are being thrown out?
[426]
-I mean, that chickens one
[428]
is probably pretty
top of the charts.
[431]
-Jesus, hearing news
about this audit
[433]
is like listening
to Werner Herzog
[435]
tell you about a dream he had.
[436]
[As Herzog] The chickens ate
the ballots,
[438]
and then the chickens
were incinerated,
[441]
reduced to dust
like so much refuse.
[444]
Nature taking its toll,
[447]
the chickens gasping
in their dying moments.
[451]
Cock a doodle doo...
[454]
cock...a doodle doo.
[458]
So, just to recap,
in case you're watching, this
[460]
and your brain is normal
[461]
and you're therefore
having trouble following --
[463]
They think there's bamboo
in the paper
[465]
because it was smuggled
in from Asia.
[466]
They think Trump watermarked
the real ballots.
[469]
They think Hugo Chavez,
who died in 2013,
[471]
rigged the election, and they
think the ballots were eaten
[474]
by chickens
who were then incinerated.
[476]
This audit is crazier than one
of those viral cooking videos
[479]
where someone grinds up
a hamburger
[481]
and turns it into a milkshake.
[482]
And it will not surprise you
to learn that the people
[484]
who commissioned this audit are,
of course, lunatics.
[487]
And I'm not just talking about
fringe weirdos like Lindell.
[490]
I mean the president
of the Arizona State Senate,
[493]
who was tracked down
by CNN this week
[494]
and gave an absolutely
bonkers interview
[496]
where she defended the audit.
[498]
-Aren't you raising more
questions by giving rise
[500]
to these conspiracy theories?
-No, I'm answering questions.
[504]
So, let me ask you a question.
-Mm-hmm.
[506]
-Are you 100% confident
[509]
that every vote that came in
in Arizona or any other state,
[513]
or can you say
emphatically, 100%
[516]
that no dead people voted,
[519]
that ballots weren't filled out
by other people,
[522]
that the chain of custody
[524]
from the minute
people voted their ballots,
[527]
that the chain of custody
was accurate
[530]
and on target the entire time?
[532]
Can you tell me that?
From day one,
[534]
the entire process
has been live streaming.
[537]
So anybody --
-On OAN.
[539]
With cameras controlled by OAN.
[541]
-Are you saying that OAN is not
a credible news source?
[546]
Are you saying that?
-Yes.
[548]
-Okay, I'll remember that.
CNN is saying that OAN
[550]
is not a credible one, okay.
-Yes.
[552]
-Lady, OAN doesn't even think
[554]
OAN is a credible news source.
[556]
Their slogan is,
"Okay, hear me out..."
[559]
A couple things here.
[560]
One, anyone can just throw out
[562]
a bunch of insane
conspiracy theories
[564]
and demand proof
that they didn't happen.
[567]
That's not a gotcha.
When you make an allegation,
[569]
you're supposed
to provide the proof.
[571]
Like if someone comes up to you
on the subway and says,
[573]
"Can you say
emphatically, 100%
[576]
that the CIA is not using
psychotropic drugs
[578]
to teach rats how to steal pizza
from humans?"
[581]
You wouldn't be like, "Well,
[bleep], you got me, dude.
[583]
I guess we better investigate.
Honey, I'm gonna be late.
[585]
I'm starting a subway detective
agency with a man I just met.
[588]
Also, I did not get
the Cyber Ninja."
[592]
Also, are you just
finding out now
[593]
that OAN is not
a credible news outlet?
[596]
This is a network that recently
ran the chyron
[598]
"Biden hiding in basement
[599]
as millions of people freeze
in Texas."
[601]
And look, criticize Biden
all you want,
[602]
but he's not hiding
in a basement.
[604]
If anything,
he exerts himself too much.
[606]
He jogs, rides a bike,
lifts weights.
[608]
The other day he floored it
in an electric F-150
[611]
like a grandpa who just found
out there's a sale at Lowe's.
[614]
"Hot [bleep]! We're getting
some flagstones today, baby!"
[618]
But that interview
is a good reminder
[619]
that in addition
to being craven and delusional,
[621]
many of the elected Republican
lawmakers in Congress
[623]
and in state legislatures
who make up
[625]
the core of the Trump cult
[626]
are also just super dumb.
[628]
Like, take Texas congressman
Louie Gohmert.
[630]
Side note here -- I almost feel
bad just saying his name
[633]
because it does sound
like an anti-Texan slur.
[636]
"Look at this freakin' Gohmert
in his American flag Crocs."
[639]
Gohmert -- and again, sorry --
[641]
who has been one of
the most vocal
[642]
advocates of the big lie
that the election was stolen,
[645]
has also lied about
the January 6th insurrection.
[647]
Last year, he called
for a, quote,
[649]
"revolution" to overturn
the election.
[651]
And then earlier this month,
he lied and said that
[653]
the actual violent insurrection
that occurred at the Capitol
[656]
was actually not
an armed insurrection.
[658]
-There's no evidence, as has
been said on January 7th,
[663]
that this was
an armed insurrection.
[666]
There have been things
[668]
worse than people
without any firearms
[672]
coming into a building.
[674]
-Alright, first,
that's not true.
[675]
Weapons were used
during the riot
[676]
and recovered by authorities.
Second, saying they are
[678]
worse things
than the thing that happened
[680]
doesn't make the thing
that happened a good thing.
[682]
He sounds like a kid explaining
a party that got out of hand
[686]
when his parents
were out of town.
[687]
"Look, some people
came over, unarmed."
[689]
"Someone took a [bleep]
in the hot tub, Tyler!"
[692]
"Worse things
have happened, Mom!"
[694]
Anyway, the point is these guys
are dumb or deluded or both,
[698]
but many of them are also
the core of the Trump cult
[700]
and the leaders
of the next wave of Trumpism
[702]
and the GOP, like Matt Gaetz
[704]
or Marjorie Taylor Greene.
And believe me,
[706]
I don't want to spend
any more time talking about her.
[708]
But she and Matt Gaetz have been
going around the country,
[710]
on a so-called
"America First Tour,"
[712]
proudly championing
Trumpism and the big lie
[714]
that the election
was stolen from him.
[715]
Trump himself has
repeatedly praised her,
[717]
despite the fact that she
has repeatedly defended
[719]
her comparison of mask mandates
to the Holocaust
[722]
and once claimed wildfires
are caused by
[725]
secret Jewish space lasers.
[726]
Normally, when you hear
that kind of talk,
[728]
you're at a local
community board meeting
[730]
where everyone gets five minutes
to raise an issue.
[732]
"Yeah, I just want to say
I think we need
[734]
another MetroCard machine
at the 7th Avenue station.
[736]
And also, I think we should
do something about the secret
[738]
Jewish space laser.
Uh, I'd like to -- excuse me.
[742]
I'd like to yield
the rest of my time
[743]
to the cigarette-smoking
cockroach."
[745]
[ Gruffly ] "Can you believe
this Mets team?
[749]
What's with all the injuries?
[751]
Oh, what? No smoking indoors?
[754]
Since when, 2003?
[756]
Well, if it's been that long,
[758]
someone should tell
the cicadas."
[759]
[ Theatrically ]
"Did someone say my name?
[763]
It's wonderful to be back!
[766]
After 17 years underground,
[767]
I can't wait for 17
great years above ground
[770]
in the best city in the world!"
[772]
[ Gruffly ] "Oh, no.
[774]
Oh, I have some bad news,
cicadas."
[776]
"I hope it's not bad news
about my life expectancy!"
[779]
[ Laughter ]
[783]
Anyway, the new insane thing
from Greene
[787]
that came out this week
is an unearthed clip
[789]
in which she argues,
as a candidate for Congress,
[792]
that she would be against
taking down hypothetical statues
[796]
of Hitler and Satan
[797]
so that we can use those statues
to teach children who they were.
[800]
-We're seeing situations where
Christopher Columbus,
[804]
George Washington,
Abraham Lincoln,
[806]
all kinds of statues
are being attacked.
[808]
And it seems to be just
an effort to take down history.
[814]
And whether I see a statue
[816]
that may be something that
I would fully disagree with --
[819]
like Adolf Hitler,
[821]
maybe a statue
of Satan himself --
[824]
I would not want
to say take it down.
[827]
But again, it's so that
I could tell my children
[830]
and teach others about
who these people are,
[833]
what they did, and what
they may be about.
[836]
Ah, yes. Who can forget
their eighth grade field trip
[838]
where we all piled into the
school bus with our teachers,
[841]
drove down to the town square,
[843]
and gazed upon the statues
of Satan and Hitler,
[845]
only to realize then, after
seeing them in statue form,
[848]
"I think these are bad guys!"
[850]
Also, as far as I'm aware,
[851]
there are no statues
of Satan or Hitler.
[854]
So, does that mean Green
doesn't know who they were
[856]
or why they were bad?
Because according to her logic,
[859]
in order to learn
who someone was,
[860]
you need a statue of them.
[862]
When she watches a movie about
World War II, is she confused?
[866]
"Is this guy with the tiny
mustache the bad guy?
[868]
And why is he so angry?
[869]
I need a statue
to explain this to me!"
[873]
These are the people engaged
in a nutty and dangerous attempt
[875]
to undermine the results
of the 2020 election
[877]
through scam audits
and investigations,
[880]
even though recounts and court
cases have repeatedly proven
[883]
there was no widespread fraud.
[884]
They just want to double down
on Trump's big lie
[886]
so they can steal elections
in the future.
[888]
It's dangerous.
It's insane.
[890]
The only possible upside here
is that a few Republicans
[892]
might become vegetarians
after they hear that --
[894]
-Chickens ate
some of the ballots.
[897]
-This has been "A Closer Look."
[903]
God's Love We Deliver cooks
[904]
and brings over two million
meals a year
[906]
to men, women, and children
living with HIV/AIDS,
[908]
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serious illnesses,
[910]
and they need your help
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[911]
If you're watching this online,
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[913]
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