Trump's Incompetence and Corruption on Display as Hurricane Nears: A Closer Look - YouTube

Channel: Late Night with Seth Meyers

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-A dangerous hurricane is heading toward the U.S.
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and the president has been saying
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some very dumb stuff about it.
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For more on this, it's time for "A Closer Look."
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[ Cheers and applause ]
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鈾櫔
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Donald Trump's first and only goal
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has always been enriching and protecting himself.
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In fact, you might remember
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that during his Congressional testimony,
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Trump's ex-fixer Michael Cohen recounted
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that Trump's presidential bid
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began solely as a way to advertise his personal brand
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and make money, calling it
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the greatest infomercial in political history.
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And one of the very specific promises Trump made
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in his year-and-a-half-long infomercial
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was that he was the only candidate
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who could protect Americans,
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like the time he aired an ad that ended with the slogan,
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"Donald Trump will protect you. He is the only one who can."
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Which is not only wrong, but incredibly creepy.
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It sounds like something that would be scribbled on a note
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slipped under the door by a stalker in a Lifetime movie.
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You expect to hear that after your estranged husband
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appears on the balcony in a thunderstorm.
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"Donald! You startled me."
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[ As Trump ] I'll protect you, Cynthia.
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I'm the only one who can.
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[ Thunder crashes ]
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[ Cheers and applause ]
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[ Normal voice ] So, if you saw the Trump infomercial
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and you bought the product,
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that's what he claimed you were getting --
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A president who would protect you from danger,
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and if you order now, two free travel-sized containers.
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[ Audience groans, laughter ]
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But now it's clear as it's ever been
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that much like any other product you buy from an infomercial,
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it was a lot [bleep] than it looked on TV.
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For example, Trump was asked this weekend about
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a rebel faction in the country of Colombia
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known by its Spanish acronym, FARC, whose former leader
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has called for a return to violence after a peace deal.
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This is obviously a major foreign policy issue
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that any president should have
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at least a basic knowledge about.
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And yet, when Trump was asked about it,
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he barely seemed to even know
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what the reporter was talking about.
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-About Colombia, how do you feel about former FARC leaders
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calling for a return to war?
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-Colombia, you said?
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-Yeah, Colombia. Former leaders of FARC.
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-You're talking about the country of Colombia?
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Yeah. No, we have a great relationship,
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and they're not doing badly.
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They have a problem because of Venezuela.
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A lot of people are pouring in, but Colombia,
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we've had a great relationship with Colombia.
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-Good Lord. It's like when the dumbest kid in your class
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is giving an oral report and stalling for the bell,
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but he's so dumb, he forgot class just started.
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[ Laughter ]
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[ As Trump ] Colombia, you say? Yeah, sure, here we go.
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Buckle up, everybody, because here comes an oral report
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about Colombia.
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Which is a country... that is our friend.
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Come on, ring, bell, ring!
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[ Normal voice ] "Donald, it's 9:01."
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Also, what do you mean,
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"You're talking about the country of Colombia"?
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What else could he be talking about?
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Did you think he was talking about Columbia Pictures?
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[ As Trump ] We have a great relationship with Columbia.
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In fact, we're right now in the process of obtaining
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a VHS copy of "The Shawshank Redemption."
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[ Normal voice ] Of course, Trump probably thinks FARC
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is just how they say "fork" in Boston.
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[ Boston accent ] Honey, we don't need new silverware.
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I'll just go to Dunkies and steal some plastic farcs."
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[ Laughter ]
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So Trump maybe doesn't know
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there's a country called Colombia,
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and then there's Trump's ignorance
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when it comes to Hurricane Dorian,
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a category 2 hurricane currently approaching the U.S.
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Trump apparently knows just as much about hurricanes
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as he does about Colombia because when it was
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first classified as a category 5 hurricane,
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Trump went out of his way to say he had no idea what that was.
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-Dorian is the fourth category 5 hurricane to threaten the U.S.
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since President Trump took office.
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But the president said at a FEMA briefing yesterday,
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he's never heard of such a thing.
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-I'm not sure that I've ever even heard of a category 5.
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I knew it existed, and I've seen some category 4s.
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You don't even see them that much.
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But a category 5 is something that I don't know
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that I've ever even heard the term
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other than I know it's there.
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[ Laughter ]
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-What do you mean you've never heard of a category 5 hurricane?
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You've already had three of them as president.
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You've definitely heard of them, you just forgot.
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Is that why you're wearing a hat that says "USA"
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to remind you of which country you're in?
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[ As Trump ] God bless the...
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"Ooosa."
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[ Laughter ]
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[ Normal voice ] Also, that's not...
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[ Applause ]
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That's not what anyone wants to hear from the president
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when a hurricane is bearing down on them.
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It's like if you called 911 and the operator said
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[Bleep]
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"104-degree fever? I didn't know they went that high!
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[ Laughter ]
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Gary! Gary!
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Did you know it went to 104?!
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Gary knew."
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But the weirdest thing about this is it's not even
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the first time Trump has used this line.
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In fact, he has repeatedly claimed
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throughout his presidency that he's never heard
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of a category 5 hurricane before.
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-They've never seen a category like this come in
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'cause it came in really at a 5.
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It was a category 5.
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I never even knew a category 5 existed.
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This has been a category 5
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which few people have ever even heard of.
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A category 5.
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Nobody's ever heard of a 5 hitting land.
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Category 5 hurricane. Category 5.
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Never heard about category 5s before.
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Got hit as a 5, category 5 storm
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which just literally never happens.
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So we've never seen it actually touch down as a category 5.
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People have never seen anything like that.
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-The best part of that montage are that the faces of the people
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around him are definitely saying
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they have heard of a category 5 before.
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Look at that. That is the face of a guy thinking,
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"Yeah, I can count to 5."
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Trump is incapable of and uninterested in
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delivering on the basic duties of his office.
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In fact, he often makes the situation worse
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like when he tweeted on Sunday in addition to Florida,
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South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama,
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were most likely be hit (much) harder than anticipated,
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looking like one of the largest hurricanes ever.
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"Already category 5. Be careful. God bless everyone."
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Okay. First of all, why is the word "much" in parentheses
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like it's a secret?
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[ As Trump ] They'll be hit harder -- "Much" harder.
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[ Laughter ]
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[ Normal voice ] Second, and most importantly,
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Trump was wrong, because 20 minutes later,
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the National Weather Service had to issue a clarification saying,
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and this is real, "Alabama will not see any impacts from Dorian.
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We repeat, no impacts from Hurricane Dorian
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will be felt across Alabama.
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The system will remain too far east."
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The President of the United States
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said an entire state was in danger from a hurricane
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when it wasn't and the government had to correct him.
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I hope we never see another wildfire ever again,
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but if you do, can you imagine the Trump tweet?
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"Wildfires spreading quickly from California
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to New Jersey to Spain.
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Everyone in Barcelona, be careful,
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and God (Dios) bless you."
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[ Laughter ]
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Seriously, what?
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[ Cheers and applause ]
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What other corrections is the government going to
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have to put out as Trump's brain continues to deteriorate?
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We're like a week away from the Justice Department tweeting,
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"Contrary to the president's tweet,
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the Joker is not a threat.
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He's a character in a movie played by Joaquin Phoenix.
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There is no evacuation of Gotham under way,
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nor is Gotham a real place."
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[ Laughter ]
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Trump inaccurately spreading disinformation
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about a dangerous hurricane headed toward the U.S.,
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despite the fact that he made a big show
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of staying in Washington to monitor the storm
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and even skipped a trip abroad,
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sending Vice President Mike Pence instead.
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-President Trump announcing today that he is canceling
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his trip to Poland this weekend because of Hurricane Dorian.
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The Poland trip was intended to mark the 80th anniversary
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of the beginning of World War II.
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The Vice President Mike pence will attend
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in the president's place. -Okay, let's be honest.
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I bet Trump didn't want to go on this trip to begin with.
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He was probably happy to stay home.
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He hates going abroad.
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There's no Fox News.
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The McDonald's there have different menus.
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And he has to wear a full suit and tie
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instead of whatever this look is.
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I guess you could call this retiree chic.
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Eventually, though, they're going to have to add
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a message to the top of the hat that said,
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"If found, return to the..."
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[ Laughter ]
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Also you know the other world leaders were probably relieved
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when they heard Trump wasn't showing up.
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Because when he does, he always says something insane
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like at the G7 in France last week
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when he was asked about the climate crisis
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which, of course, is making natural disasters
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like hurricanes far more frequent and intense.
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And he said this insane thing.
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-Mr. President, there was a significant talk at the summit
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about climate change.
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I know in the past you've harbored some skepticism
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of the science of climate change.
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What do you think the world should be doing
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about climate change, and do you still harbor that skepticism?
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-I feel that the United States has tremendous wealth.
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The wealth is under its feet.
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I've made that wealth come alive,
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and I'm not going to lose that wealth.
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I'm not going to lose it on dreams, on windmills,
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which, frankly, aren't working too well.
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I'm not going to lose it.
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-No, you've definitely lost it.
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You're rambling about windmills
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and making wealth come alive under our feet.
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You're like an old prospector.
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You should be wearing a Stetson hat
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with a canteen around your neck.
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[ As Gabby Hayes ] There's riches in these hills,
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boys, right under our feet!
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We just got to make it come alive!
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[ Normal voice ] On top of that, Trump also used the occasion
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as a way to enrich himself by reportedly encouraging Pence
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to stay at Trump's private golf resort in Ireland
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on Pence's way back from Poland
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with taxpayers once again picking up the tab.
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Pence was in Ireland holding meetings in Dublin,
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and yet he chose to stay at Trump's resort,
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which is three-hour drive away
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on the other side of the country.
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That's like if every night when I did this show,
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instead of going back to my apartment,
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I stayed at a Radisson in Baltimore
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because Lorne Michaels owned it.
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[ As Lorne Michaels ] It's a nice Radisson.
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And, you know, if you don't, uh...
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If you don't want us to wash your towels,
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just hang them up.
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[ Laughter ]
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[ Normal voice ] And when he was asked today
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about this obviously corrupt practice,
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Pence clearly did not have a good answer.
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-Vice President Mike Pence took over the boss's duties
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overseas, sparking criticism by going well out of his way
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in Ireland to stay at a Trump resort there.
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-Just to give you a chance to respond,
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Democrats have criticized you today
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for staying at the Trump property in Doonbeg.
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They say you're enriching the president.
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What's your response to that criticism?
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-[ Inhales deeply ]
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It's wonderful to be back in Ireland.
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[ Laughter ]
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-Nothing is better than watching the fake principal,
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holier-than-no-one Pence-bot short circuit.
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Mr. Vice President, as a religious man,
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what are your thoughts on the president paying off
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an adult film star to cover up an affair he had
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while being married?
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[ Laughter ]
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[ As Pence ] It's great to be back in Ireland.
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[ Laughter ]
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[ Normal voice ] He was so flummoxed,
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his brain literally froze.
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In fact, after that, he just stood there on the lawn
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for a few hours while technicians rewired him.
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[ Laughter ]
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The president sold himself as a strongman
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who was uniquely suited to protecting Americans,
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and he has repeatedly made clear he's utterly incapable
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of even that basic task -- Both because he's incompetent
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and because his only interest is enriching himself.
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We've had corrupt, stupid presidents before,
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but Donald Trump is at a level...
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-Which few people have ever even heard of.
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-This has been "A Closer Look."
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[ Cheers and applause ]
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