-We'd like to begin tonight by saying a few words about the horrific mass
shootings in Dayton and El Paso. This was a heartbreaking weekend
of unspeakable tragedy and, yet, one that disturbingly
feels all too familiar. Of course, as we all know
by now, there's an epidemic of gun violence and mass
shootings in this country and, no matter how difficult,
we cannot become numb to it, but it's also not just
about guns. The shooting in El Paso was an act of white supremacist
domestic terrorism specifically targeting
Hispanics. It's a threat that is
growing and real. These are facts we must look
squarely in the eye, no matter how monstrous. The spread of violent white
supremacy has been fueled by racist vitriol; warning of invasions
by immigrants, language that is
frequently echoed by right-wing media outlets
and, of course, the president; and, on top of that,
there is, of course, too much easy access to weapons
of war that should be outlawed. This is a moment that demands
moral clarity and urgency from our
political leaders and so, now that we're seeing
the political world react, we thought we might
at least try to offer a few thoughts
on what's happening. For more on this, it's time for
"A Closer Look." [ Suspenseful theme plays ]
[ Cheer and applause ] [ Applause continues ] As of Sunday, we've had 251
mass shootings in this country, in just 216 days. And, first, let's just make
clear, right off the bat, that we know there is
a clear correlation between the number of guns
we have in this country and the number of gun-related
deaths we have in this country. For one thing, America has 4.4%
of the world's population, but almost half
of its civilian-owned guns. I mean, just look at this chart
from the website Vox, comparing gun ownership
to gun-related deaths. Here are a bunch of other
developed countries and here's where we are. We're farther away
from the UK on this chart than we are in real life. [ Laughter ]
There are proven, straightforward,
widely popular ways that we can at least begin
to address this epidemic of gun violence
and then, of course, there's the issue
of the president's racist, anti-immigrant rhetoric and the growing threat
of white supremacy. Our political leaders
should have to answer for where they stand on these
issues, and, yet, at first, some senior Republicans
refused to even go on TV and answer questions about it, as CNN's Jake Tapper noted on his show on Sunday morning. -We're gonna talk
with at least four presidential candidates today
about what they would do to stop this epidemic
of mass shootings and shootings. We should note that we invited
the Republican governor, lieutenant governor, and both
Republican U.S. senators representing Texas
to join us this morning. They all declined. The Republican governor
of Ohio also declined. We also asked the White House
to provide someone to discuss these shootings. That request, too, was declined. -So, basically, we tried to get
the Republican governor and lieutenant governor,
senior senator, junior senator, the Republican dogcatcher,
the Republican [ Laughter ]
sanitation commissioner. We even tried to get
the Republican elephant, but it literally ran away. [ Laughter fading ]
[ Zap! ] Let me just say,
as a general rule, when you're spending all
of your time dodging questions from journalists and reporters, that usually means you're
on the wrong side of history. It's like when the president
tweeted his racist attacks on four Democratic
congresswomen of color, Republicans literally ran into
elevators to avoid reporters. -He said that these
progressive congresswomen should go back
to their countries. I'm wondering what your
reaction is to that. -I'm working hard as I can
on reducing healthcare costs.
[ Elevator chimes ] I'm not giving
a daily commentary on the president's tweets.
-But these are, you know, racist tweets. Do you have any concerns
about it? -The president said that
these minority congresswomen should go back
to their countries. Do you have a response? -I hadn't read that,
but I'll go check it out. [ Laughter ]
Man, at this point, if reporters want an answer,
they're going to have to start dressing up
as elevator operators. [ Laughter ] And then, when Republicans
finally did speak up, they acted as if the reasons
for these attacks were somehow mysterious,
even though we know the facts about the epidemic of gun deaths and mass shootings
in this country and we know that the threat of white supremacist terrorism
is growing and real. For example, Texas senator
John Cornyn tweeted: "For every complex problem, there's an answer that is
clear, simple and wrong. Sadly, there are some issues, like homelessness
and these shootings, where we simply don't have
all the answers." Hey, man, don't throw in
a second problem, like homelessness, you're also
not doing anything about, [ Laughter ]
as a smokescreen for the first problem. That's like telling your wife, "There are a lot of reasons our marriage is failing,
like my multiple affairs or the fact that you're always
mad about my multiple affairs." [ Laughter and applause ] You're not gonna get
all the answers if you refuse to ask any
of the questions, but these guys have to pretend
this is some sort of unsolvable problem
because they're beholden to powerful lobbies, like
gun manufacturers and the NRA. It's the same reason why,
once Republicans did start going on TV to talk
about the shootings, they didn't blame
virulent white supremacy or wide availability of
military-style assault weapons. Instead, they,
once again, focused on a favorite scapegoat
of theirs: video games. -How long are we gonna let,
for example, and ignore, at the federal
level, particularly, where they can do something
about the video game industry? I see a video game industry that
teaches young people to kill. -The idea of these video games,
to dehumanize individuals, to have a game of shooting
individuals and others, I've always felt that is
a problem for, um, future generations and others. -You're blamin' video games? You do know that other countries
have video games, too, right? Japan has a huge gaming culture
and very few gun deaths. If video games
were so influential, they should make one
about Congress called [Bleep] Do Something. [ Laughter and applause ] [ Whistling ] And, as we all know, [ Whistling and applause ]
as we all know, there are commonsense gun safety
measures that are supported by a vast majority of Americans, that we could easily pass
right now, that would at least begin
to help in reducing the frequency and intensity
of these horrific attacks. In fact, the House just passed
gun safety legislation a few months ago,
but it's been blocked in the Senate by Mitch McConnell
and, on Sunday, Ohio congressman Tim Ryan
called McConnell out on MSNBC. -There is a bottleneck
in the United States Senate with Mitch McConnell. We passed, in the
House of Representatives, a few weeks back,
background checks, a basic step that 90% of the
American people support, and the Republicans need to,
quite frankly, get their [bleep] together
and stop pandering to the NRA. -Damn, members of Congress
are cursing on cable now! [ Laughter ]
Good! If there were ever a time for cursing, this is it. This is an emergency! Next time Tim Ryan gives
a speech on the House floor, C-SPAN's gonna have
to bleep most of it. -President Trump, [bleep] my [prolonged bleep]
[ Laughter and applause ] And, of course,
it's not just McConnell blocking gun safety measures. It's also the gun lobby and,
particularly, the NRA. Even Trump,
at a meeting with lawmakers after the Parkland shooting, blurted out
that they were afraid of tightening gun restrictions
because of the power of the NRA. -It doesn't make sense
that I have to wait 'til I'm 21 to get a handgun, but I can
get this weapon at 18. I don't know.
So I was just curious as to what you did in your bill. -We did not address it. -We didn't address it,
Mr. President. -You know why? 'Cause you're
afraid of the NRA, right? -I think you underestimate
the power of the gun lobby. -No, no. I tell you what. They do have great power.
I agree with it. They have great power
over you people. -There are a few times
I'm glad he's a moron [ Laughter and applause ]
because he just accidentally tells the truth.
He's like the racist uncle at the family gathering
who's constantly saying offensive stuff,
but, once in a while, because he has no filter,
he'll just blurt out something everyone's thinkin',
like, "That Susan really likes
her wine, doesn't she?" [ Laughter ] "What is that, like,
her fifth glass?" [ Laughter ] Moments like this, you, at least theoretically, want a political leader to console and provide
moral leadership, but we know Trump's
incapable of that because of the racist
vitriol he's spewed since the day
he launched his campaign. He's demonized
undocumented immigrants as rapists and criminals, called migrants seeking asylum
an invasion, and so, it wasn't
very believable when he offered
this brief statement after leaving his New Jersey
golf resort on Sunday. -Hate has no place
in our country and we're gonna take care of it. We have to get it stopped. This has been going on
for years. For years and years
in our country and we have to get it stopped. And a lotta things are in the
works and a lot of good things and we have done much more
than most administrations and it's really not talked
about very much, but we've done, actually, a lot so, a lot of things
are happening. A lot of things are
happening right now. -Oh, my God,
our president sounds like a guy who took
too many mushrooms [ Laughter ]
at a carnival. [as Trump] A lotta things
are happening right now. [ Smattering of applause ]
A lotta. [ Laughter, clapping ] This morning, Trump spoke
from the White House and condemned
hatred and violence and white supremacy,
specifically, but, of course,
it's hard to take anything he reads
off a teleprompter seriously after all his previous comments. Beto O'Rourke summed it up
when he offered this response to a question from a reporter
about whether Trump could do anything
to make things better. Is there anything in your mind
that the president can do now to make this any better? -What do you think? You know the [bleep]
he's been saying. He's been calling
Mexican immigrants rapists and criminals. I don't know.
Like, members of the press, what the [bleep]? [ Laughter and applause ]
Hold on a second. You know, I-I--
It's these questions that you know the answers to. I mean, connect the dots about what he's been doing
in this country. He's not tolerating racism. He's promoting racism. He's not tolerating violence. He's inciting racism
and violence in this country. So, you know, I just -- I don't know what kinda
question that is. -Yeah, he's right, and, again, if there was a time
for swearing, this is it. In fact, with all the swearing,
at the next debate, they're gonna have to put Beto
and Tim Ryan on a new program called "C-SPAN after Dark." [ Laughter and applause ]
And, sure enough, when Trump did read
off the teleprompter today, he ticked through the usual
scapegoats he has in the past, mental illness, video games,
and did it flatly. -We must reform our
mental health laws to better identify
mentally disturbed individuals who may commit act of violence and make sure those people
not only get treatment, but, when necessary,
involuntary confinement. Mental illness and hatred
pulls the trigger, not the gun. -First of all, he's wrong. Second, he sounds
like a fourth grader auditioning for the role of the
scarecrow in "Wizard of Oz." [ Laughter ]
[as Trump] I would like, uh -- Line. [ Laughter ] Brian. [ Laughter ]
This was a horrific weekend of tragedy and heartbreak that no one should ever
have to bear. All decent people, everywhere, should set themselves
to the task of stopping this and expressing solidarity with
and support for the oppressed,
marginalized communities targeted by this hatred
and violence. And, as for our
political leaders, the ones who are supposed
to be protecting us, all we say is they need to -- -Get their [bleep] together. [ Laughter ]
This has been "A Closer Look." [ Cheering and applause ]
♪♪
This video responds to Trump and other republicans who have blamed video games and the removal of school prayer for mass shootings.
https://www.vox.com/2019/8/5/20754769/trump-video-games-mass-shooting-el-paso-toledo
https://www.theverge.com/2019/8/5/20754793/trump-gun-control-video-games-violence-republicans-no-evidence-dayton-el-paso-texas-ohio
https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/gaming-stocks-tank-donald-trump-blames-video-games-shootings-2019-8-1028418488
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/08/video-game-violence-became-partisan-issue/595456/
https://www.thedailybeast.com/dan-patrick-and-kevin-mccarthy-go-on-fox-news-to-blame-video-games-for-latest-mass-shootings
Seth ain’t Jon Stewart, but he’s the best late night host we got right now imo
Do they not even try to hide that they're reading off a teleprompter anymore? I thought this was a caricature skit at first, his darting eyes are just ridiculous and unsettling.
Man Seth just sounds so hollow and fake. Those jokes were not landing at all and it's really not the place for jokes either. The obvious teleprompter reading isn't helping either. I seriously couldn't finish this, it's just too awkward and wrong feeling. It doesn't even seem like Seth is interested, when he said "we cannot become numb to this" while sounding as numb to this event as humanly possible it was... yuck.
Shiit as a Latino from Texas should I be strapped at all damn time’s?
I don't necessarily disagree with his point but oh my god is this guy boring and unfunny