-Democrats in Congress passed
the final version of a $1.9 trillion
Covid relief bill, as well as a bill
that would strengthen unions, both of which would
deliver huge benefits to the poor
and working class. But the GOP and Fox News
have been much more focused on "Looney Tunes"
and the royal family. For more on this,
it's time for "A Closer Look." Millions of Americans
are currently in crisis thanks to the pandemic
and economic crash with poverty and food scarcity
on the rise and millions losing
their health insurance, and yet nearly the entirety
of the right wing media apparatus has been laser
focused on Dr. Seuss, The Muppets, the Looney Tunes
and Joe Biden's dog. -Even today, we heard about
Biden's dog biting someone. Can you imagine
if President Trump had a dog at the White House
and it bit someone, the press would go crazy. They say this dog
is working with Russia and we got to have
an investigation. -Forget that. I can't imagine
Trump having a dog, period. Like, if I close my eyes,
my brain won't do it. Trump's the guy
that every dog barks at because they can't see
anything behind his eyes and they must think this is
some kind of reanimated corpse or a mannequin or something, so they try to warn
their owners. Now, if Trump had a dog
that bit someone, do I think the Lincoln Project
would have made a crappy meme that your aunt sent around?
I do. But let's remember,
while Donald Trump didn't have a real dog, he had plenty
of metaphorical ones, including his lapdog,
Lindsey Graham, his junkyard dog, Steve Bannon. And if you don't think
Don Junior is a group of friends in college
other than Dog Pound, well, I don't know
what to tell you, pal. His lawyer, Rudy Giuliani,
is such an attack dog, he had to pass the bar exam
and bark exam. [ Barking ]
Whoa, whoa. Whoa. I think it was that bad, fellas. And if somehow Trump
did have a dog that was a Russian spy, Trump still would have been
too dumb to notice. This is my dog Petroff,
gift from Vladimir. Hates tennis balls,
loves secret files. Makes the cutest
clicking sounds. [ Camera shutter clicks ] [ Laughter ] Again, not a -- not a Photoshop.
But, yeah, it's true. Joe Biden's dogs were sent back
to Delaware after one of the major Biden
engaged in aggressive behavior. And I don't know the specifics
of what happened, but since he's a Biden dog, I'm betting he was at a dive bar
late at night in Scranton, knocking back a few cold ones
after a tough day at the plant when a local drunk started
hassling a lady at the bar. So Major decided to intervene.
"Hey, leave that lady alone." And the drunk guy was like,
"Screw off, old man, dog." And Major was like,
"See this scar? I got this in 'Nam.
You don't want a piece of me." And then the drunk guy
was like, "[Bleep] you." And Major bit him. Anyway, the point is,
this is the kind of thing the right
is focused on right now, but don't worry, it's not just
Dr. Seuss and Joe Biden's dog. They're also obsessing over
children's toys and cartoons. -Well, first it was
Mr. Potato Head and Mrs. Potato Head. Now it's Dr. Seuss. They want to cancel the Muppets. They want to cancel
Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head. -You see last week they tried
to cancel Kermit the Frog and Mr. Potato Head?
You see that? -Look out, Mr. Potato Head.
You're next. -This week alone,
they canceled Mr. Potato Head. You know, this week alone,
they canceled the Muppets. You know, they're canceling
Dr. Seuss. First they outlaw Dr. Seuss, and now they
want to tell us what to say. -Cancel culture takes
on cartoons. Yes. Pepé Le Pew
will not be featured in the upcoming
"Space Jam 2" movie. Bugs Bunny better watch out.
They're coming for him. -Who gets to decide
these things for us? You know?
You got Pepé Le Pew now. -Pepé Le Pew now
has a bad reputation and therefore has to be cut out. -Personally, I can't believe
Fox News is defending someone
who's French. If this was 2003,
they'd be referring to him as a freedom skunk. For those of you
too young to remember, that was a joke
referencing a period of time when [whispering] conservatives
canceled French fries. [ Normal voice ] In fairness,
this outrage might just be because Fox News has lost
so many advertisers that their last major sponsor
is the Acme Corporation. That's why Hannity tied himself
to that rocket last night. I guess my anvil boycott
is back on. You know what Fox News?
If you really want to defend
a Looney Tunes character, how about the sadistic
psychopath known as the Road Runner? That guy's Jigsaw and Hannibal Lecter,
rolled into one. You know how many times he tried
to kill a coyote just for fun? This [bleep] is so barbaric, he tricked someone
into walking off a cliff and falling into a ravine
not just once, but hundreds of times. If they made a Road Runner
movie, it would have to be played by Michael Shannon. Beep-beep, [bleep] Why do you sweep yourself
into a dust pan while I go have sex
with your wife? Pretty bad Michael Shannon. [ Laughter ] Seriously, imagine being
an actual adult and spending any amount of time
at all complaining about a decades old
cartoon character being left out of a movie. You think I haven't been
cut out of movies? Oh, I've been cut
out of movies, friend. I had a part in "Training Day." Remember when Denzel
gives that big speech where he screams King Kong
ain't got nothing on me? Well, after the speech,
it was supposed to cut to me saying this, "King Kong." And then I go to the premiere,
bring my whole family. That scene comes on, nothing.
I was devastated. Marched up to Denzel
at the after party and say, "Hey, what gives?" He tells me it took people
out of the scene. And I said, "Well, you just
took me out of the theaters because no one's going to pay
to see that turd." Anyway, movie's a smash hit,
he wins an Oscar, and that's probably why
he's never been on the show. Point is, guys,
there's a pandemic raging, millions suffering or
out of work and you're spending your time
defending the Looney Tunes. The whole thing is just, well,
I want to say looney tunes, but that seems redundant. The whole thing's Mickey Mouse. The Republican Party
conservative movement have turned entirely
to nonsense cultural BS because they have
nothing else to talk about. They don't have a convincing
criticism of the Democrats massive Covid relief bill
because it's overwhelmingly popular,
even with their own voters. 75 percent of Americans, and 59 percent
of Republicans said in a new poll
that they support the bill. So remember that when people
complain it's a partisan bill, they're only referring
to elected Republican officials not voting for it. It's popular among voters
from both parties. It's a historic achievement
that will, among other things, fund vaccinations,
send thousands of dollars directly to the vast majority
of American families and cut child poverty in half. The GOP and Fox News
can't criticize it, so they'd rather not tell
their voters about it at all, which is why
a new poll out today found that Republican voters
were more likely to hear a lot about Dr. Seuss than
any other story in the news, including the Covid bill. Great, so one of our major
political coalitions is concerned mostly
with the deadly disease rampaging the country
and the ensuing economic crash, and the other
political coalition cares mostly about a minor Dr. Seuss
book called "McElligot's Pool," which,along with
the cats quizzer, haven't sold in years anyway according to
The New York Times. And I have to say,
as someone who has read many Dr. Seuss books
to my kids myself, I don't know who
this McElligot is, and I don't care much
about his pool. Let me guess, it's got a bunch of weird animals in it
with made up names that just happen to rhyme.
Pretty [bleep] handy. Fox News and the GOP
can turn literally anything
into a culture war. For example, the same channel that proudly championed
right wing rallies where so-called
Tea Party Patriots wore tricorn hats and waved
"Don't tread on me" flags is now taking the side
of the British royal family and anyone who defends them. -Is America's cancer culture
crossing the pond? Are we to blame? Are we responsible
for the wokeness that's now overseas? -I'm afraid this seems to be
an element of that, and now we see the example
of Piers Morgan simply saying something
that a lot of people in Britain think, like a lot of
people around the world, which is that Megan Markle was
at the very least exaggerating, most likely just lying
in a range of things she said in her
Oprah Winfrey interview. And for that now,
Piers Morgan has lost his job. I never thought I'd have
to defend Piers Morgan, but here we are. He's one of the hills
we have to die on, it seems. -No, you don't. First of all,
he didn't lose his job. He quit.
He canceled himself. He literally walked off the set
on live TV in front of everyone like a real housewife of
New York during a reunion show. Normally when you see
someone storm off seat, it's because there are a few
cocktails in and Andy Cohen just ask them a question
about a fight they had with Ramona
in season three. He walked out
and quit his TV job, all because one of his co-hosts
criticized him. That's insane. You know what any normal person would give to have a job
as easy is that? In fact, if they're
looking for a replacement, it doesn't even need
to be a person. I hear there's a certain
presidential dog who suddenly got a lot
of free time on his hand. In that same Fox segment, they continue to insist
that Americans should act like Morgan
and the British royal family and stand up to
so-called cancel culture. -He stood up for himself.
Is that what's got to happen? -That's exactly
what has to happen. You know, what is happening
is a set of bullies with a very nasty ideology
are pushing their way into everything in American life
and now in British life. They've now got the monarchy
having to defend itself against totally unproved
charges of racism, and basically the royal family
have got to do what everyone has to do,
in America and elsewhere. We've got to stand up to this. -Thank God we didn't have
American patriots like Brian Kilmeade
during the Revolutionary War. As soon as the first red coat
showed up, it would have been like,
"Oh, I'm glad you're here. These guys want to start
their own country. Can you believe that?
But I'm with you. Tea is delicious, and I do not
blame you for taxing it." That's Fox's message to the poor
and working class Americans. They pretend to stand up for
or be more like the British royal family. Lose your job at a restaurant
because of the pandemic, or get laid off from a factory
Trump promised to save but didn't, do exactly
what the Queen would do. Stand up for yourself
by quietly nibbling a crumpet while staring out the window
of your throne room and say, oh, dear. Seriously, Fox,
you guys pretend to be champions
of the working class, and you've decided
to join forces with a cartoon French skunk, a well-paid TV pundit
who quit his job because he
doesn't like criticism and the British royal family. Who else are you going to defend
against cancel culture? Mr. Monopoly and Smaug? What no one ever says about
Smaug, love him or hate him, he earned that gold. When Fox hosts
was willing to move on from the British royal family. -We'll be honest.
We didn't plan to talk about the British royal family
tonight. We're Americans, and the idea
of bringing you the details of some dispute
within a decayed monarchy, it's a little too much
like European history class. Who cares? So we're going to take
a hard pass on the whole thing. -So let's fast forward, I don't
know, three minutes later and see what he chose
to talk about instead. I bet it's child poverty.
You know what? I bet it's building wireless
infrastructure in rural America. I, for one,
can't wait to find out. -You're definitely not allowed
to mock the oppressed Duchess. Our friend Piers Morgan did just
that on television in the U.K. and had to resign from his job. Rich people
are oppressed, period, and if you claim otherwise, they will use their total
powerlessness to get you fired. -if you claim otherwise,
they'll get you fired. They'll evict you
from your house. They'll take away your car,
your bank accounts, your water, your food. They'll blacklist you from
Applebees and embarrass you when you ask
for a table for one. And you'll say, "Is this because
I criticized Meghan Markle?" And they'll say, "No, it's
because the last time you were here,
you ordered jalapeno poppers and then stuffed them
in your pockets and ran out of the restaurant
until security chased you down and tased you
in the parking lot. And when you called them
popper coppers because you thought it was
a funny joke, they didn't laugh. They arrested you
because of cancel culture. And when word gets out that
you got arrested at Applebees by a bunch of popper coppers, your kids start calling you
a popper pooper and everyone laughs
and your wife leaves you all because you criticize
Meghan Markle." Also, once again,
he didn't get fired. He walked off set and quit, all because he didn't like
what someone else said. That's like me walking off
the set of my show because Wally doesn't laugh
at one of my jokes. Don't tempt me, Wally.
You know what? That's it. I quit...being canceled, just like the British
royal family and Pepé Le Pew. Wow, my wife caught wind
of that immediately. [ Laughter ] She watching the feed. Anyway, the point is
this is what the right has chosen
to focus on. As President Biden
prepared to sign a historic Covid relief bill
into law that sends thousands of dollars
directly to families, funds vaccinations
and cuts child poverty, among many other things,
and on top of that, House Democrats
also passed a bill yesterday called the Pro Act that would
help working class people by strengthening unions. In fact, if they'd wanted to, the self-proclaimed champions
of the working class, the GOP and the right wing media could have focused on this part
of Meghan Markle's interview. -I went to Human Resources, and I said, I just realized
I need help because in my old job
there was a union and they would protect me. And I remember this conversation
like it was yesterday, because they said,
"My heart goes out to you because I see how bad it is, but there's nothing we can do
to protect you because you're not a paid
employee of the institution. -Okay, first of all,
I can't believe the royal family has H.R. Has Prince Andrew at least
gotten like a reprimand? Do you know why
you're here today, Andrew? Is it improper use
of the company car? No, it's the Epstein stuff. Right, right, right, right,
right, right, right, right, right, right. Second, think about that. The royal family,
one of the richest and most powerful
institutions on Earth when protector,
but her union would. That's because unions
give working people the tools to protect themselves
from predatory employers and the ability
to collectively bargain for better wages and benefits, but they have declined
in this country over the last half century,
due in large part to concerted attacks
from hostile corporations and the politicians
those corporations support. When the House passed
the Pro Act yesterday with only a few
Republican votes, Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan gave them a righteous
ass kicking. -Heaven forbid we passed
something that's going to help the damn workers
in the United States of America! Heaven forbid we tilt
the balance that has been going in the wrong
direction for 50 years. We talk about pensions,
you complain! We talk about the minimum wage
increase, you complain. We talk about giving them the right to organize,
you complain. But if we were passing
a tax cut here, you'd be all getting in line
to vote yes for it. Now, stop talking about
Dr. Seuss and start working with us on behalf
of the American workers. -Damn, you know
that's it big deal when a guy whose presidential
campaign merch literally said you don't have
to yell goes off like that. Even Bernie Sanders was like,
whoa, Tim, keep your voice down. This is the place of business! But he's obviously right,
and he should be pissed. One of our two
major political coalitions would rather spend its time whining about Dr. Seuss
and Looney Tunes then help poor and working
Americans who are hurting. They need
and deserve actual relief. Now, if Republicans
had their way, instead of a union and a check, every worker would get
a copy of "The Cat's Quizzer" and a giant catapult
with a boulder in it. This is what the Republican
Party and right wing media have been reduced to. It's a movement of 24/7
cultural outrage and imagined grievances about
children's books and cartoons that don't actually mean
anything to working people. The Covid bill the Democrats
just passed will make a major impact on the lives
of actual Americans. Meanwhile, Fox News
is more interested in defending the British
royal family and... -Pepé Le Pew. -This has been "A Closer Look." God's Love We Deliver cooks and brings over
two million meals a year to men, women and children
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