-Well, last night, we all watched
a petulant psycho debase himself
and the nation on live TV and, now,
his deranged sycophants are making all kind of excuses
for his performance. For more on this,
it's time for "A Closer Look." [ Suspenseful theme plays ] So, where to begin
with that debate last night? Actually, debate
is not the right word. It was more like a collective
brain hemorrhage. It was like watching
democracy get a lobotomy or, as CNN put it... -This was the most chaotic presidential debate
I've ever seen and I suspect most of you, if not all of you,
have ever seen. -That was a hot mess inside a Dumpster fire, inside a train wreck. That was the worst debate
I have ever seen. In fact,
it wasn't even a debate. It was a disgrace. -That was a [bleep]show. And, you know, we're on cable.
We can say that. Apologies for being,
maybe, a little bit crude. -You guys are being
way too charitable. Watching that debate was like
hotboxing a Porta Potti with crystal meth in Phoenix, in July. It was like being hit
on the head with a lead pipe in a room filled
with nitrous oxide. It was like watching
a two-person performance of "12 Angry Men"
where one actor played one part and one was mad enough
for the other 11. Also, Dana, I don't think you
have to worry about being crude. Nothing you can say or do
could top that debate. Wolf Blitzer coulda shown up
in full BDSM gear, screaming the lyrics to "WAP,"
and it still wouldn't have been the crudest thing
that happened last night. Woulda been the most fun thing. You know, we got a couple
more debates left, Wolf. It was, to state the obvious, one of the most embarrassing
debacles in American history. And I'm including
Kevin Federline performance at the 2016 Choice Awards. Okay, Fed,
we owe you an apology. We thought "PopoZao" was
the lowest point in American history,
but that was before the president took
a PopoZao on the debate stage. And the debate somehow
managed to top the embarrassing run-up
in the days prior, during which
the right-wing fever swamp belched up a bunch
of insane conspiracy theories about Joe Biden,
all of which found airtime on Fox News,
from their morning shows to their supposed
straight-news anchors. Fox spent the entirety
of yesterday airing one deranged claim about Biden's cognitive state
after another. -The Trump team asked to inspect
the ears of each debater for electronic devices
or transmitters. The Biden team has not
consented to that. -As far as the listening devices and the Biden campaign's
response to that, I think that's interesting and we're going to have
to follow that through the day. -It's a risk to run a candidate
who may be senile. The Trump campaign is convinced
that Biden's staff will try to feed him lines
through an earpiece. -Elderly people
experiencing memory loss and other problems
associated with age. You can have, you know, know,
go for periods of hours at a time
and be just fine. I don't think there's
any doubt Biden's senile, but it doesn't mean it's going
to show up tonight. -Look, the man has dementia. There's no doubt about it.
[ Laughs ] I've talked to doctors. I've had them look
at 100 different tapes of his five years ago and today. -The Biden people say he's fine. -Oh!
[ Mumbling ] He can't recite the Pledge
of Allegiance and he's fine? He actually displays symptoms
that two gerontologists told me are classic symptoms
of middle-level dementia. I think the president
is quite right to say maybe he's taken Adderall or some kind of attention
deficit disorder thing. It's not just my opinion. It's the opinion
of a number of doctors I've actually,
you know, interviewed. -Were they interviews
or were they exams? Like during these
interviews, Rudy, were you wearing a gown
that tied in the back? [ As Giuliani ]
These interviews were so secret, they didn't want me
to take notes, so they tied my hands together. But, sure, Fox & Friends,
take medical advice from a guy who always looks like
he has electrodes attached to his testicles
and makes this noise -- Wha-wha-wha-uh! Also, Fox & Friends,
what are you guys doing? A lunatic rants and raves
about God knows what and you just sit there
like tourists watching a guy take a dump
on the F train. "Maybe this is performance art? Honey, just give me a dollar.
I'm going to tip him." Also, I love this new argument
Fox has, courtesy of Brit Hume, that Biden is actually
secretly senile. Seems to me that,
if you have it together enough to hide that you're senile,
you might not be senile. Pretty sure, if you were
suffering from dementia, it would show up at the debate. In fact, I'm pretty sure it did. Seriously, everyone who watched
that debate had flashbacks to arguing with a drunk friend
to hand over his car keys. [ As Trump ]
I'm not drunk. Then tell me, how many fingers
I'm holding up. [ As Trump ]
Hunter Biden. Burisma. So they tried arguing that Biden
was in cognitive decline, but then it became
obvious he wasn't, so they had to change tack to suggesting
that maybe he's on drugs. If anyone's on drugs,
it's you guys. If you tune into Fox News
at any given moment, they sound like
they just got done doing blow
in the bathroom at CBGB. They sound like coked up
screenwriters pitching ideas. "Alright,
so like what if he has like, I don't know,
a secret earpiece, right? He gets questions in advance,
but he's senile and you can't tell because he
got a shot of adrenaline in his heart, just like, uh,
'Pulp Fiction.' Whoo!" Even Fox is supposed
straight-news anchors are just casually entertaining
and saying conspiracy theories, like Biden wearing an earpiece
at the debate. You'd know if Biden
was wearing an earpiece because he wouldn't have
the latest model. He'd have the big old clunky one
with the curly wire going down the back
of his shirt and, during that debate,
he woulda called for backup like an undercover cop
at a drug bust gone bad. [ As Biden ]
Oh, man, I didn't realize you, uh, fellows would have
so many guns. You got to get me out of here.
Sassafras! Sassafras! But, sure,
let's entertain the idea that one of the candidates was on Adderall.
I wonder who it was. -They will, under my proposal...
-That's not what you said -...but that is --
-and it's not what your party is saying.
-And so we have to be engaged -- -That's not what they're
talking about, Chris. -We have the highest
trade deficit -China ate your lunch.
-with Mexico. -Alright, gentlemen.
-Down 18%. China ate your lunch, Joe. -He said maybe we should drop
a nuclear weapon on them. They may go away.
-I never said that. -Antifa's an idea, not an organization.
-Oh, you gotta be kidding.
-Not militia. If he'd just stay out of the way. Look here --
-Oh, oh, really? Oh, really? -This guy, if, in fact --
-I want to see an honest ballot. -He's just afraid
of counting the votes because he knows what
the outcome will be.
-You're wrong. You're wrong. I love counting the votes.
-I want to continue with you on this, Vice President Biden. -Chris, he's so wrong when he
makes a statement like that.
-In fact, no. -Oh, man,
did someone switch out his can for Diet Crank -- All the crank,
none of the calories? I've never seen the actual
redness of his face overtake his bronzer like that. Trump had so much crazy
coke energy that the moderator,
Chris Wallace, literally had
to yell "No" at him to beg him to stop interrupting. -You do want me to ban Europe...
-Alright, gentlemen -- No. -...which was heavily --
-Mr. President. -You would've been much later, Joe, much later.
-Mr. President. Sir, you're debating him...
-Chris, that was the worst part of Obama --
-not me. Let me ask my question. -Well, I'll ask Joe.
-I-I-I -- -The individual --
-No. No! Hey, Mr. President. Mr. President.
-Even the people who testified under oath.
-No, no, go ahead. No, no, no! Mr. President. -3.5 million, Joe.
-Mr. President. -3.5 million.
-No, no, no. -He said.
-Stop. Wait a minute. Mr. President. No, Mr. President.
-Go ahead. -No!
-Can I be honest? It's a very important question.
-Try to be honest. That'd be a good thing.
-He stood up. -No. The answer
-He stood up and he threatened --
-to the question is no! -The moderator
of a nationally televised debate had to treat the president like a rabid dog
humping his leg. [ As Wallace ]
No, no, no, no! No, no, no!
Bad! Bad president! Meanwhile, Biden was
just standing there, looking over at the camera
like a grandpa on a sitcom. [ As Biden ]
Uh, I can't believe my daughter married this dope. But the deranged petulance
on display from Trump last night,
it's not unique and it's not an aberration
within the GOP or the conservative movement. Unless you let them scream
uninterrupted for 90 minutes straight, they think you're
out to get them, even if you work
for the same network. During the debate, Fox host
Laura Ingraham tweeted... I love how she calls
Chris Wallace "the moderator," like she doesn't know him.
You guys are coworkers, you get the same Fox News
sweatshirts every Christmas, and your paychecks are signed
by the same guy. These people are such
pathetic sycophants. Can you imagine if Ingraham
moderated a debate? [ As Ingraham ]
Mr. President, the first
question is to you. How are you so good at golf?! And is it hard being as strong
and handsome as you are? You have 90 minutes to respond.
And, Mr. Biden, you can go! Not like Wallace didn't have
moments of obsequiousness. Twice, he teed up questions by promising the president
they would make him happy. -Sir, you'll be happy I'm about to pick up
on one of your points to ask the vice president,
which is he points out that you would like to add
a public option to Obamacare. Mr. President, you're going
to be very happy because we're now going to talk
about law and order.
-Excuse me. Please. -First of all, it's not your job
to make him happy. Second of all,
you're wasting your time because he's never going
to be happy. If he was a children's book
character, he would be an ogre who eats the happiness
of children and never gets full, and then a talking butterfly
would tell him, "You'll never taste happiness
until you face your anger," and then,
he'd eat the butterfly. And, third of all,
it's not a moderator's job to be a hostage negotiator, trying to get the president
to calm down during a debate. [ As Wallace ]
I know you're upset
about, uh, protesters, sir. We're going to send in
some sandwiches. Trump's allies just can't help but make excuses
for his grotesque behavior. Even Don Jr. got in
on the Wallace bashing, in an interview
with Sean Hannity, and Hannity said nothing. -We knew that was coming,
anyway, with Chris Wallace. You know, I understand
he's a Fox guy, but he's no, uh,
he's no conservative. He's going to be --
And he's no centrist, either. -I'm sorry. You think
Chris Wallace is a liberal? He works for Fox News.
He's not a liberal. He had the energy of a exhausted
dad at Thanksgiving, trying to get his burnout son
to take off his headphones. [ As Wallace ]
Tyler, what do we say about blasting Metallica
at the dinner table? No, Tyler. Stop giving me
the middle finger. Ohhhh, now it's double
middle fingers. Very creative, Tyler.
You know what? You're about to be very happy because I'm moving
your curfew back to 3:00 am. Yet, the Fox News
postdebate spin was even more pathetic than all the whining
about the moderator. -Trump is an apex predator. He's the lion king. Trump went out there tonight
and did what Trump does. He's the shark in the ocean
and he acted like it. -You're going to get
a gladiator-warrior-fighter in Donald Trump, a guy that is going
to go to battle, like he has
for the last four years. -[ As Hume ]
He's a predator, gladiator, shark in the ocean. He's like a cross
between He-Man, Xena: Warrior Princess, and a bowl of farina
with googly eyes. And I'm sorry.
You watched that debate and saw an apex predator
and a gladiator-warrior-fighter? Because he didn't look
like a predator to me. Most of the time,
he stood there with his head cocked
like an old dog who just heard a twig snap, held onto that podium the way my grandma holds
onto her walker when they're reading
the Powerball numbers. And, when they weren't
slobbering all over him, Fox pundits and GOP allies
were pretending they watched a completely
different debate altogether. -The president
was so solid, when he talked
about the economy, when he talked about his
COVID response. -That's pretty selective. That's like saying this guy
nailed the approach... -Wah! Whoa!
[ Laughter ] -Yeah, I just wanted
to watch it again. [ Laughter ] That's what the
Internet's good for. Instead of everything else. Trump's incapable
of talking about policy because his record is dismal
and he doesn't know anything. There's a raging pandemic, an economic crash,
and the West is on fire, and that's why he's talking
about drugs and Hunter Biden and whatever other bull[bleep] and his gang of Mafia
bobbleheads concocted. That's all they can talk about. They have nothing else. Same reason why Trump refuses to condemn violent
white supremacists and why he's lying about the
safety of mail balloting. His only chance
of remaining in power is to undermine the election and threaten violence,
if he loses. He doesn't want
to win the election. He wants to destroy
the election, just like he
destroyed the debate. Last night,
he was given the opportunity to denounce violent
white supremacist militias and told them to stand by and then later urged his
supporters to go to the polls and physically
intimidate voters. -Are you willing, tonight, to condemn white supremacist and militia groups
-Sure. -and to say that
they need to stand down and not add to the violence
in a number of these cities, as we saw in Kenosha
and as we've seen in Portland? -Sure, I'm willing to do that.
-Are you prepared
to specifically? -Do it.
-Well, go ahead, sir. -I would say
almost everything I see is from the left wing,
not from the right wing. -So what are you saying?
-If you look -- I'm -- I'm willing to do anything. I want to see peace.
-Well, then do it, sir. -Say it. Do it. Say it. -Do you want to call them?
What do you want to call them? Give me a name. Give me a name.
-White supremacist -- -Go ahead. Who would you
like me to condemn? -Proud Boys.
-Proud Boys? Stand back and stand by. -You go first.
-I'm urging my supporters to go into the polls
and watch very carefully because that's what
has to happen. I am urging them to do it. -They literally told him,
"Do it," condemn them,
and he's still wouldn't. The best he could muster
was, "Sure," I'll condemn them before refusing to condemn them. That's the way you respond when you are offered
an hors d'oeuvres at a party. [ As Trump ]
Sure, I'll take a crab puff. Then, you spit it in a napkin
and throw it away. [ As Trump ]
There was [bleep] crab in that. And then, to follow that up
by telling your supporters, which would include those
violent right-wing militias to intimidate people
at the polls is just chilling. Let's remember, we've already
seen armed right-wing militias roaming the streets
of Louisville and Wisconsin and, now, violent far-right
groups, like the Proud Boys, are celebrating Trump's
call-out at the debate. If you were to sum up the state
of our democracy right now, I think you'd have to say
that it's a... -[Bleep]show
And, you know, we're on cable. We can say that.
Apologies for being, maybe, a little bit crude. -Dana! My word! And if you're wondering what
sort of defense Trump allies could possibly mount
of those horrific comments, here's Rick Santorum,
who, for some reason, is still a CNN commentator,
doing his level worst. -He was asking the president
to do something that he knows the president
doesn't like to do. -Which is?
-Which is say something bad about people
who support him, right? -What, declining violence? -We-Well, talking about -- -The white supremacists.
-Supremacy? -Yeah, the white supremacists. -That's your defense?
So, I guess, by that same token, Trump would accept
an endorsement from ISIS, if they praised him. If they were smart,
they'd start waving Trump flags from the back of their trucks. [ As Trump ]
So I guess, you know, long live the caliphate, is kind of
my current position. The president's performance
at last night's debate was truly one of the most embarrassing
debacles in American history. Trump debased himself
and the nation and then, his wormy supporters
slinked to his defense. Trump's behavior last night was perfectly emblematic
of the modern GOP, right-wing media,
and the conservative movement. The Republican mascot
shouldn't be an elephant. It should be a possum being
cornered in a garage by a rake. They're all like this,
deranged, petulant children constantly aggrieved,
making excuses. We got a close-up look
at just how odious and grotesque the president is. His only goals
are chaos and nihilism. He thinks that's
the path to power and, now, it's up to us
to show him he's wrong and restore our democracy, by voting,
in overwhelming numbers, to repudiate him
and everything he stands for because, right now,
our democracy is a... -Hot mess inside a Dumpster fire, inside a train wreck, -This has been
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