Skip to main content

tv   The Rachel Maddow Show  MSNBC  July 15, 2024 9:00pm-10:00pm PDT

9:00 pm
biggest order ever. with the first ever comcast business 5-year price lock guarantee, these business owners get five years of value on gig speed internet and advanced security, all from the company with 99.9% network reliability. so now they can focus on doing what they do best for the next five years. that's a lot of bread. you got this. the comcast business 5-year price lock guarantee. switch today for a limited tim.
9:01 pm
thank you for watching and on that note i wish you a very good night, from all of our colleagues and the networks of nbc news, thank you for staying up late, we will see you at the end of tomorrow. we are coming up on 9 pm local time. in milwaukee which will mark the start of the final hour of the first night of the republican national convention you see the crowd going mild here a lot of images of donald trump on screen over the course of the day today this is donald trump actually at the arena the first view we have had of him with the bandage on his ear. after the assassination attempt on saturday which injured him. it's good to see that he is well and able to be participating in things unaided we did see a shot of him coming down the stairs from his
9:02 pm
airplane. when he left pennsylvania and went back to new jersey after the shooting this is the first time we have seen him since and the first time we have seen the bandage on his ear. i don't think that we are expecting to hear anything necessarily from donald trump tonight but he is at the venue and you are hearing the crowd in milwaukee react to that fact. the final hour of the night and the convention is typically where we see typically where we see the largest speakers of the night. tonight, one of them i am telling you i am expecting is somebody who i should describe as a model and and only fans entrepreneur, she is the ex- girlfriend of anti-semitic wrapper, kanye west and was once anti-trump but made a reversal on that in recent months and she will be speaking tonight in this final hour it is an unusual choice. i'm just listening here to see what they are hearing on the
9:03 pm
floor. as this awkward shot of trump standing in a hallway is being broadcast on the screen and looking from side to side. oh, it's kind of an inspirational voice over here. i should mention it's always also possible that there will be a surprise of some sort before the night is through. donald trump is well known for his love of dramatic moments especially on television so i would not rule out something unexpected in the next hour, something unexpected beyond him just standing here in a hallway, not speaking. yeah, i don't really understand what's happening here in terms of programming. but this screen that we are looking at the people in the hall can see this as well? okay. >> ladies and gentlemen, please
9:04 pm
welcome the next president of the united states, donald j trump. >> this is donald trump in the hall and he is going up to kind of the box seats. this is his son don junior and actually emotional at this moment, it has to be scary particularly for the trump family what was narrowly avoided on saturday night in
9:05 pm
pennsylvania. >> greeting tucker carlson. and members of his family. and soon his running mate, jd vance.
9:06 pm
>> the man with the sort of high-pitched voice that you hear off-camera is lee greenwood who is there live singing and doing commentary with it. >> ladies and gentlemen the 45th president of the united states and soon to be the 47th president of the united states, please welcome donald j trump.
9:07 pm
>> joy read. it's the stuff the theme tonight of the rnc is make america wealthy again. they are doing this and it's make america blank again, every night and it's the theme this week. are you able to see president biden's, it seems like the campaign is back on, i don't know whether that means president biden's campaign will re-up its ads that they have taken done over the last couple of days since the shooting and have canceled a bunch of campaign events. but as president biden does appear to be pivoting back to normal campaign tactics and normal campaign messaging. around his opponent.
9:08 pm
do you think that the democrats have been sharpening at all their economic message here, that's what the republicans are using the convention four. >> they need to because what they need to do is fact check republicans and literally say show me the money. right? so this first day the rnc is the economy day and their messages we are going to wipe out inflation and clean it up and get crisis and prices down and fiscal spending under control. and what democrats need to say to republicans is where. because donald trump's platform so far he is saying i want to put 10% tariffs on everything. that will balloon inflation. donald trump wants to extend corporate tax cuts possibly permanently. how is he going to do that? have you heard a single republican articulate how that's going to happen? republicans like to say that democrats are the ones that do all the spending but when you stop collecting taxes and the things are empty, that's the
9:09 pm
problem. these corporate taxes they want to extend they will be huge problems because it will expand our deficit. >> so the issue for democrats they've got a good economic message, inflation is a problem. but they have a lot of positive economic messages and they need to call donald trump out say what are you going to actually do? >> we should point out to first- time convention watchers and it's very unusual for the nominee to be there on monday night of a convention but this is donald trump coming back from that saturday assassination attempt. to make it clear how strong he is physically at this point as a candidate. >> they were just yelling fight, fight, fight, fight. >> for those that are not turf familiar, the way that that open was done will be very familiar to people who are familiar with evangelical church. you have greenwood doing god bless the usa and it is what donald trump does use at his rallies but it was done in a
9:10 pm
style, this is a very focused message. to evangelical voters because that whole open was in that style and then in lifting donald trump up essentially as god blessed that god saved him that he was like basically touched by god in order to be saved over the weekend that was a very specific and focused message to evangelicals. >> i was just going to say conventions deal in images, this is a rather remarkable image of bandaged a nominee appearing for the first time with his new running mate. there is jd vance you see him right there, you see the bandage and the speaker of the house went over from him tucker carlson up there and it's a deliberate choice not only to receive the return of this candidate and thank goodness he is safe and wasn't hit worse in the assassination attempt. but also very deliberate bit of casting to lawrence's point. to show him seen but not heard.
9:11 pm
we don't usually see donald trump in this mode or any nominee at their convention listening and on stage and proof of life he is okay and now i guess as you were commenting earlier, they are showing him waiting to come out and walk out and sit down and watch him watch. it's unusual. >> i feel at previous conventions you had moments where you had the nominee up here so people can applaud and it's a tightly scripted thing and an appearance and you get excited and they are gone again, this was an extended thing and showing him in the holding room was a little bit of an unusual decision but credit to them for mixing it up a little bit for making us wonder what was going on. that's part of the way that you make people watch. manet hilliard is in the room and covering their in milwaukee this evening we have been catching shots of von heer as the camera pans around the room every now and again. can you tell us your vantage point from what you have seen and what the atmosphere is like
9:12 pm
now that trump is there in person? >> if i could rachel it was eight years ago that we were standing in the arena in cleveland, ohio with republican national convention when the first time that donald trump was seen inside of the convention hall was in the middle of ted cruz and his speech and that's when ted cruz said vote your conscience to which the arena booed loudly, donald trump in the middle of that moment came walking down the stairs eight years later, he came walking down the stairs with the united republican party that was hailing him how most as a folk hero type status, at this point donald trump has been impeached twice, donald trump has been indicted four times. donald trump was found in a civil fraud trial and fined $350 million and yet, these are not the folks that you would necessarily our driving hours to a trump rally like we saw in pennsylvania. these are the folks that are
9:13 pm
the activists of the party and they are the elected leaders and the folks who are the delegates from the republican national convention that when donald trump came in, with lee greenwood singing that which he always at every single rally has god bless usa be the intro song that he walks out too. it's a defining moment of where this republican party here finds itself and a chant that you heard we heard for the first time earlier right when the convention began and it was fight, fight, fight and i had the check for a moment that that was what i heard. in fact that is what when donald trump was lifted up on that stage after being shot he lifted his fist in the air and said fight, fight, fight and with donald trump standing there in silence this convention hall chanting fight, fight, fight. this is 113 days out where american politics here finds itself and donald trump is the leader of not just a party but of a movement that is only been emboldened and grown over the years and one that is fervent and passionate at this moment
9:14 pm
in time, a great many folks believe that the election was stolen here four years ago. and they are out for the revenge and to go and take back the white house that they feel and believe it was owed to them and this is a moment here for donald trump and his allies to take the stage and deliver a message that this was a republican party that is going to take not just the white house but senate and the house because a lot of those folks, the mike pence, the folks here the delegates are not needed in the republican party anymore and are not here in milwaukee, this is his republican party in 2024. >> i know you spent a lot of time at a lot of trump events, one of the hallmarks of the trump takeover and the republican party has been the media has been targeted almost as much of the political opposition that reporters particularly reporters of mainstream news organizations like ours get singled out and get targeted sometimes are put in unsafe situations and sometimes made the subject of
9:15 pm
political commentary. by people when you're standing out there in the middle of the crowd, has not been any different at all since you have been in milwaukee, i'm just thinking of the aftermath of horrible events of saturday night but also wondering just generally what the temperature is like there in terms of how people are feeling about reporters. >> is a good question it's not like it was eight years ago where we are, if i may, i think as we stand here in this convention hall i think that there is an acknowledgment that there is a disagreement over what realities often times are. the one thing that i can say is that there is a united front in the agreement that political violence is not a means to the end of the country and that there is a belief among the delegates i have talked to that what happened on saturday could easily have been them. they could've been at the rally here and there is an acknowledgment that in this country, that political candidates and supporters should be able to go and hear
9:16 pm
from those candidates and that is one thing the press of course we are targeted, donald trump has made us a fixture here in a way that his has propelled other new outlets, to be popular and to have growing mass reaches were frankly they do not necessarily turn into nbc news anymore. and a way that they did just eight years ago. but i still believe and i know from conversations there is a baseline belief among most that violence is not the answer at the same time rachel. i know that we have all had conversations where those others have told us the exact opposite and they have foreshadowed a civil war that it could be on the brink understanding that this country is at a very anxious and angry point. and that there is a reckoning that this country is currently going through. because not only do they feel that their political candidate has been targeted in attempt to be put in jail but also that their election has been stolen
9:17 pm
i can tell you this is not the same conversations that i have with voters that i did eight years ago and with each passing year it has only gotten more intense and difficult. >> in milwaukee tonight, thank you we will be back with you. >> what's happening right now the final hour of republican of all convention knights tends to be the biggest speakers of the night and one of the big events of the night is the site of trump the fact that he is there himself the big news of the day obviously was the choice of his running mate because, we are in the world that we are in, the other big news of the day was one of the federal criminal cases against their nominee being dismissed by the judge he appointed in florida. that will be appealed but it's incredible that that alone is happening on the day that his vice presidential running mate has been announced. we are expecting to hear a speech tonight from a woman
9:18 pm
named amber rose who has not been a traditional fixture in conservative politics that is sort of remarkable that she's got such a high-profile speaking slot tonight. she is a model and and only fans entrepreneur and a reality tv person known for being the ex-girlfriend of the anti- somatic wrapper, kanye west. when trump ran the first time in 2016 she was a vocal critic of trump. now she supports him. >> most importantly i am a mother. my whole world revolves around providing for my children. keeping them safe and giving them an opportunity for a better life. that some people in that something that unite parents. conservatives or liberals we all want a better country for our children. but i'm here tonight to tell you no matter your political background that the best chance
9:19 pm
we have to give our babies a better life is to elect a donald trump president of the united states. now you may be wondering why i am up here telling you this. i am no politician and i don't want to be. but i do care about the truth. and the truth is that the media has lied to us about donald trump. >> i know this because for a long time i believe those lies. i'm here to set the record straight. the first person i knew who supported donald trump was my father. i was shocked. my entire family is racially diverse. and i believe the left wing propaganda that donald trump was a racist. my father said no, he is not
9:20 pm
amber what are you talking about? and when i insisted, he said prove it. so to prove my father wrong, i did my research and looked into all things donald trump. people have to do their research. i watched all the rallies. and i started meeting so many of you. his red hat wearing supporters. >> the reason this is awkward is because charlie kirk just spoke just before this and was one of the other big speakers for like the first night and that think about what's going on in the movement right now and the younger side of the maga movement , is that they are really embracing the whole idea of biological determinism. the whole idea race science
9:21 pm
when they talk about being red pill that's become a term i think we think of in a more anodyne way that it deserves. what charlie kirk for example this past year has been arguing is that the civil rights act of 1964 like not like the current civil rights and civil rights act of 1964 was in his words a big mistake, martin luther king jr. was a terrible person. he is the one who expressed that when he gets on a plane it's the pilot, if he is black he worries and assumes that the pilot, the plane will not be, the plane will not be flown safely. and that when there is any sort of aviation disaster you should look to see if there are black people who have been involved. so ms. rose, i'm sure she has done her research. but it is awkward to have the i checked and i'm sure nothing going on here is racist happen right after they do the charlie
9:22 pm
kirk speech about how mlk is terrible and civil rights is a bad idea and black people should be allowed to fly planes because they are not biologically capable. >> it was less than two weeks ago donald trump was talking about black jobs. black jobs. >> let's not forget that he did also say that the mayor of baltimore or republicans all said that the mayor of baltimore just being black caused that ship to crash into the bridge and i to have done my research on donald trump. >> among the things i found in my research amber rose has every right to do her research i love her haircut. it's white similar to mine so i respect her aesthetic choices. but in my research about donald trump, what i found is that he was sued by the nixon administration for refusing to rent to black people, putting four c and he wanted to have
9:23 pm
executed the 14 and 15-year- olds who are accused of being the central park five for what they were later found innocent using dna. he is somebody who was called countries that are run by black people, he has said look at how they live when it comes to the way black communities roll out of that is from michael cohen who is his longtime attorney and donald trump has essentially also leaned into biological determinism essentially said that president obama should not have been president because he could not possibly have been an american because his father is kenyan and said that he essentially was lying about his identity and was not even american also denounced muslims by trying to say president obama was a muslim even though there is nothing wrong with being a muslim but he said it was an muslim should not be an out to come into the country and said there should be fight club that
9:24 pm
brown people should be forced to fight in and that they should be put into camps around it up simply because they are migrants from countries that are brown so i don't really know what research tools amber rose uses to determine who is racist and who has racial negative attitudes but i am thinking it might not be the google. the google is helpful in these >> can i say you mentioned the muslim band, that was so went donald trump in december 2015 said we are going to have a complete and total ban on muslims entering the country, that was a shocking moment in american politics at the time because he had said a lot of terrible things and talked about mexican immigrants being rapists but as a matter of policy covering it at a time being shocked that it was not just something he pulled from the ether, he read it off a piece of paper so somebody who knows how to operate a printer had assisted him in writing down these words about banning people on the basis of the muslim faith on the basis of their religion from the united
9:25 pm
states and he proposed this policy but then he got into office and was sworn in january 2017 and tried to implement it. and now as he is running again in 2024, you know they tore apart the republican party platform, there was one in 2016 and it was weirdly pro-russian and nobody ever explained that, they abolished it in 2020 and brought back a very brief all capital letters version of it this time and one of the things they're pledging to do again is been people from the united states if they are muslims. the idea that you would make an antiracist or he is not a bigot argument for a candidate who is pledging to ban from this country on the basis of their religion who just chose as his running mate somebody who doesn't or has not passed any legislation at all the only constructive legislation that vance has been involved in as a senator what the bipartisan rail safety lesson.
9:26 pm
>> when he is posting anti- diversity initiatives should be banned in all federal programs. >> i'm glad you mentioned that because project 2025 the policies being laid out for him want to implement the project 1976 project. which was their answer to the 1619 project essentially banning any school that receives federal funds from teaching black history from any other point of view other than the old tiny point of view that says that the founders were saints essentially wanting to take away federal funding and also ban title i essentially gender equality in schools would be gone, they want to punish parents who have children who are trans and try to get the medical treatment and want to punish them and treat them as criminals.
9:27 pm
everything about his platform is either anti-black, anti- brown, anti-lgbt q and hateful and this is the program he would implement if he was president of the united states, that's project 2025 and the people around him after this terrible incident happened over the weekend and a member of congress who is a republican came out immediately and blamed the incident on di. and said that the fact that there were women and black people in the secret service is the reason who went out on the tv and said to the world that di was the cause of an assassination attempt. this is where the republican party is, so it's ironic that they were able to recruit this young woman who and she is racially ambiguous, i don't want to say this black woman, she says she is not black. but they brought somebody whose whole career is based in black culture, she used to be on a
9:28 pm
show on bt, bet. she dated one of the most prominent african-american rappers in the business in the history of hip-hop. so her whole culture came from black culture even though she says she's not a black person herself and the fact that she is now the person they are using the try to recruit young people of color and to say that this is the person who is the endorser of donald trump you should trust. when she won't even claim the culture that brought her to the table. i'm dubious that this will work. i don't know anyone who takes political cues from amber rose but just in case you do you might want to duplicate doing your own research because she might not have done it thoroughly. >> when we look at civil rights, he was a president before so we actually know his record. and we just discussed and reminded people some of it who had an anti-civil rights record and judges who are anti-civil rights and anti-voting rights so we know where donald trump is and we have covered 2025
9:29 pm
which builds on that. on the politics i think there is something interesting to observe. this is an instagram play at the convention but it's a truth a social candidate that you will get. and so with instagram you have the polished photos and amber rose by comparison joe biden has about 17 million instagram followers and is the current president amber rose has 25 million instagram followers. she has a following and whatever you want to call it is. >> would you describe her job as an influencer or free- floating celebrity? >> i think she, it's a great question. as always rachel, she predates the influencer era. as mentioned she was romantically linked to now kanye west who is a trump political hateful figure in terms of what he does and politics and was also married to wiz khalifa and on bet and has a large following and uses only fans as a model and entrepreneur so she has all of this thing but 25 million people is a lot of reach.
9:30 pm
whether any of those people will choose their candidate or who they vote for based on her or this speech is of course an open question. but i say instagram versus social because they are looking for a more polished and more sort of certain pitch that may not relate to the actual plans in the past or the future that donald trump has on the issues that matter to people in this community but i don't think it's a random play. the other only point is monday night is the least important speakers but because of the horrific events, donald trump is on the floor and it feels larger. i don't know if anyone originally planned to have donald trump present on camera while amber rose made this page. >> he seemed to enjoy it quite a lot though. >> he's not just making an instagram play, one of the most significant plays is elon musk, elon muscat tonight announced that he will be giving $45 million a month to a newly formed super pack and that is just cash. but think about you have the
9:31 pm
man who controls formerly twitter, now x, going out there saying i am openly supporting in a massive way donald trump and it was moments after the assassination attempt you sought elon musk who controls twitter hitting up that photo of donald trump you know on the platform and one of the reasons it's noteworthy, elon musk is very close to jd vance as is peter teal. just last week i spoke to a major ceo in the ai space. who said elon musk is laser beam focused on donald trump, why? because the next president irrelevant of who it is is going to control the fate of ai which will change every bit of how we live so to me yes, we are talking about instagram play and amber rose, when you have someone like elon musk today making a public he is giving this kind of money over the next 113 days. that is major, could you have a shadow type president in elon musk hitting what he wants from
9:32 pm
a donald trump? that's something we should be thinking about. >> if he will put up 150 or $200 million that we know a plus whatever he has already put in. and then you have peter teal who spoke at the last republican national convention. peter teal, an incredibly radical and incredibly controversial figure in american politics. to the point where women shouldn't vote. we should form a new countries it based on floating shipping containers. that we are not constrained by the terrible tyranny of an american constitution. i mean like peter teal is as out there as you get, i gave him a speaking spot. at the last convention. >> and peter teal, almost single-handedly created jd vance as a political figure and is the one that funded him becoming a senator and try to do for blake and could not get there with blake masters it did not help that blake masters said he thought the most underappreciated thinker in
9:33 pm
american life was the unibody. that didn't help but jd vance was disciplined enough to not talk about his unit bomber beliefs. if he has them. but peter teal is his guy and created him in a lab. >> so to have peter teal on the vice president and have elon musk on the president, at a time when donald trump has personal financial liabilities in the hundreds of millions of dollars. that are not going to go away because he is president. we are looking at a situation. >> think about the amount of government contracts. elon musk has through star link not just with the u.s. government, governments around the world are you he is so tangled and now he could be in a position where he is sitting behind the scenes and getting exactly what he wants from a sitting president. >> if you think about the way that these billionaires are purchasing supreme court justices and purchasing policies that they want, purchasing the american government and you know elon musk as a person to go back to
9:34 pm
the amber rose, he is somebody who was sued by his own employees because they created such a racist environment inside of tesla that people couldn't even stand to work there. there were parts of the factory that were called the slave quarters under him. he is somebody that said to don lemon on when he briefly had the show, that the way to get rid of racism is to stop talking about it and if you would just shut up it would go away. his own views, he is opened twitter up to and some of the most extreme views to the point where a lot of regional people have gotten off of it because it's so toxic and ugly and of course he would love to own a president. of course peter teal would love to own the vice president. what we are seeing is the purchasing of the american experiment, the purchasing of the american government, multiple branches of it. and it's happening right in front of our eyes. >> unless the voters choose otherwise. >> that's still to be seen. we have much more of our special coverage next, with more on vice presidential pick
9:35 pm
jd vance, lots more to still get to, stay with us. us. type 2 diabetes? discover the ozempic® tri-zone. ♪ ♪ i got the power of 3. i lowered my a1c, cv risk, and lost some weight. in studies, the majority of people reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. i'm under 7. ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as stroke, heart attack, or death in adults also with known heart disease. i'm lowering my risk. adults lost up to 14 pounds. i lost some weight. ozempic® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't share needles or pens, or reuse needles. don't take ozempic® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop ozempic® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or an allergic reaction. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. gallbladder problems may occur. tell your provider about vision problems or changes. taking ozempic® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may increase low blood sugar risk.
9:36 pm
side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. living with type 2 diabetes? ask about the power of 3 with ozempic®. ♪ limu emu... ♪ and doug. (bell ringing) limu, someone needs to customize and save hundreds on car insurance with liberty mutual. let's fly! (inaudible sounds) chief! doug. (inaudible sounds) ooooo ah. (elevator doors opening) (inaudible sounds) i thought you were right behind me. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, ♪ ♪ liberty. ♪ (♪♪) (♪♪) voltaren... for long lasting arthritis pain relief. (♪♪)
9:37 pm
dangerous ladders. gutter muck. yuck. no wonder you hate cleaning your gutters. good thing there's leaffilter. our patented filter technology keeps leaves and debris out of your gutters forever. guaranteed. call 833- leaffilter to get started. and get the permanent gutter solution that ends clogs for good. they took the time to answer all of our questions. they really put us at ease. end clogged gutters for good. call 833.leaf.filter, or visit leaffilter.com today. ♪ i'm gonna hold you forever... ♪
9:38 pm
♪ i'll be there... ♪ ♪ you don't... ♪ ♪ you don't have to worry... ♪ the moment i met him i knew he was my soulmate. ♪ you don't... ♪ "soulmates." soulmate! [giggles] why do you need me? [laughs sarcastically] but then we switched to t-mobile 5g home internet. and now his attention is spent elsewhere. but i'm thinking of her the whole time. that's so much worse. why is that thing in bed with you? this is where it gets the best signal from the cell tower! i've tried everywhere else in the house! there's always a new excuse. well if we got xfinity you wouldn't have to mess around with the connection. therapy's tough, huh? -mmm. it's like a lot about me. [laughs] a home router should never be a home wrecker. oo this is a good book title.
9:39 pm
>> today the teachers are here
9:40 pm
to say we are not beholden to anyone or any party. >> sean o'brien from the teamsters giving keynote speech tonight. basically trying to say the thing that republicans are trying to get organized labor to say which is we don't support democrats just because they are democrats we are available to you too. he is not endorsing trump there tonight but is there basically to say the teamsters are available to the republican party that of course in stark contrast to the uaw the most hope rifle, high profile, very strongly endorsed joe biden after joe biden made history as i think an argument he the most prounion president in history he made history when as a sitting president went out and stood on the picket line and joined strikers on the picket line. in michigan that of course a
9:41 pm
successful strike that resulted in record contracts. for the uaw. >> i think this one stings a bit i don't think it matters hugely but i think it stings a bit. if you are the democrats and the biden team there perhaps has not been a more prolabor president aside from joe biden in modern history. although sean o'brien has been telegraphing this for a long time it is not a surprise. >> there is a difference being available to republicans and speaking at the convention, i don't think it changes the support that joe biden has among labor unions across the country but you know it certainly, democrats never love it when a labor leader speaks at a convention. >> the republican party is uniformly antiunion. right? so the whole right to work state think the idea that, they are in wisconsin, right? the hallmark of the wisconsin republican party is stripping
9:42 pm
union rights, stripping the rights of unions and union members in that state that is how the republican party got a hold of republican state government in wisconsin so for major labor leader, to say yes the republicans have a lot to offer our members and we are open to their endorsement given the history recent history of the republican party. it is yes. >> teamsters endorsed reagan. so that's the one big union that has always been looking over there. and there is an awful lot of muddy stuff especially around the nixon period of the teamsters, it was the most corrupt union possibly in the country's history at that time. >> i have never heard that before. >> you might have heard of that guy, not every union had their presidents get murdered so, they were so deep in with the
9:43 pm
mob, all those guys. and nixon at the same time. >> while we were watching this, this first night the sort of closing portion of the first night of the republican national convention in milwaukee we are still getting reaction to the news that jd vance has been chosen as donald trump's vice presidential running mate and i believe that we've got a guest standing by from jd vance and his home state of ohio. >> i want to bring into the conversation liz waters who is chair of the democratic party in ohio. thank you for joining us this evening i know there is a lot going on and a lot of big news coming out of your state. so let's start with the big news from tonight. you know jd vance and have followed his record and know about his record. what should people know who are just tuning in to who this guy is? >> yes, in a short time that jd vance has been here in the political space in ohio, i think that ohioans have learned
9:44 pm
something that the rest of the country will learn this year in the selection, the country will see that ohioans know and they will know that jd vance is an out of touch millionaire and the political shape shifter who has been rung for ohio and wrong for our country. and will lie about his record and his past and will lie about the things he believes in and i am interested to see how the next few days unfold. >> let me ask you about one specific piece of his record because he has in the past and in the present, been for an abortion ban and recently said it's up to the states and we know that means a lot of women out there will not have access to abortion care, tell me and talk to us about his record on women's rights. and abortion and the history on that issue. >> listen, what we learned during the senate campaign in 2022 is that jd has dangerous stances about women's health and women's safety. either it was telling women that they should stay in a violent marriage for the sake of their children or how he referenced our victory for abortion rights in ohio in
9:45 pm
november of last year as a gut punch, he has been unabashedly antiabortion and unabashedly anti-women the entire time he has been involved in politics here in ohio and i think ohio voters in particular sent a strong message not only to jd vance but to any politician looking for our boat that we support abortion rights and voted to enshrine in the constitution by 13 points last year. and anywhere this issue is on the ballot anywhere that candidates who oppose this issue are on the ballot voters have something to say to them. >> one of the things we also been talking about this evening is is evolution. he called himself a never trump, many negative things to say about donald trump in the past, what do you attribute his evolution to come is that actually what he believes is it ambition? what led to this point? >> evolution is a tasteful way to say it. i think he is a ruthlessly ambitious politician who will
9:46 pm
say and do whatever he has to to get ahead. it's what we saw all through 2022. and frankly, his record so far as a u.s. senator leaves us very little to go on. for most of the 18 months he's been in office he has been auditioning for this job so i think that as the campaign unfolds we will see a really clear contrast between vice president biden, vice president harris and the record they have to run on and jd vance is 18 months of nothing in the u.s. senate where he has done little to nothing to support the people of ohio who sent him there to be their advocate. >> if you don't mind if i jump in sorry to jump in, it's rachel maddow thank you for being with us i wanted to ask you you said at the outset that he is a shape shifter obviously he hasn't been a united states senator for very long. he hasn't been a public figure for very long other than as a person who wrote a very well- received autobiography. when you describe him as a shape shifter, do you mean that
9:47 pm
ohio voters sort of didn't get what they were expecting when they got him that he campaigned or had a public image that was different than what people realized they were getting once he was in office? >> that's completely right. i think whether it was you know as you noted he is very famous for this book about appalachia and in appalachia, ohio they are still waiting for jd to be their advocate and do any of the things that he promised to make their lives better, he has done far more than silicon valley that he has done for people in ohio or his never trump background or the way he is now conveniently trying to reshape his stance on abortion, he is not honest or sincere. he has continued to try to remake himself to whatever is convenient or politically expedient to serve his ambition. >> you have a big job ahead of you liz walters big senate race, thank you so much for your time, this evening we really appreciate it. >> thanks for having me.
9:48 pm
>> it super interesting hearing the home state perspective on him made ohio, we have all been in this business long enough that we have seen ohio come from a very purple state to a very red state, certainly has been the exception and a very popular home state has a good chance hopefully of holding onto a seat i think the democrats think that they've got a chance that he can hold onto it. but to see jd vance ride to the senate on the strength of that autobiography that he wrote the strength of the book that he wrote and then essentially beat peter teal's pet senator once he got there, to see the state party chair there say he is working for silicon valley ever since he got here. he hasn't done anything for the people that he wrote this moving book for in terms of his background, that's pretty hard to run from and that will stick to him i think. >> here's something that ohio senator now vp candidate wrote in 2016 when he was comparing
9:49 pm
donald trump to hitler. he begins this particular piece saying a few saturdays ago my wife and i spent the morning volunteering at a community garden. in our san francisco neighborhood. and it goes on from there. now, if that was kamala harris in her description on how she spent her san francisco weekends you would go okay, i get it. but it is just stunning and this is the piece in which he compares donald trump not to hitler in this piece but to heroin, the heroin he says his mother was addicted to at the time. and so many people he knew in ohio were addicted to and that they were hoping that he would somehow as we just heard you know, help them and address their lives. and there is jd vance saying donald trump won't do that. then jd vance becomes a senator and we are told he doesn't do it either. >> it's a complete loss of
9:50 pm
empathy i think some people, for people to face addiction and for people who have been dismissed sort of by the elites. here he is doing exactly the opposite sort of what his book proposes in terms of character and in terms of consideration he is someone who is in the pocket of silicon valley and someone who has been on the mean side of the conservative aisle when it comes to that empathy that i think is you know part of that book. he is, it's a real repudiation i think of a lot of the emotional core of what that book explored. >> it's interesting if you read , you see the ron howard movie, it really is up to the sort of empathy piece of it. but there was a core piece of hillbilly elegy that i think did have a sort of background content, a sense that people of appalachia have pathologies that are often ascribed to people of color honestly and that tinge of it i think there
9:51 pm
were some reviews of it and there's a part of it that felt, he is saying on the one hand that he comes from these people. that he has empathy for these people but it's kind of similar to the way ben carson kind of back slaps the people of detroit that he grew up with and says they've got pathologies that i was able to rise out of why can't they? there is an aspect of this in hillbilly elegy that i think is detectable when you read it. that makes this a little less surprising i mean this guy went to yale and became a hedge fund guy. and there's a thinker, rick scott has a little bit of that rapport but seems to show contempt for the people he came from so i have to be honest i'm not shocked that this is what he is. he is an ambitious man who decided that the people he grew up around have too many pathologies to figure out what he figured out and he is willing to dispose of them for power. >> i do love the republican ticket is now a real estate
9:52 pm
developer and a venture capitalist. but they are for the people because they think they have a case for the working class. >> i think it's the evolution of the power of donald trump, the rise of the power of donald trump, it may be for being generous for a second because we have watched a lot of videos of him in interviews from seven or eight years ago maybe that is who he was a bit more eight years ago. right? but he could no longer be that person if he wanted to rise in the party and become the vice presidential nominee. so he said you know what i am shedding that person and any connections to appalachia and the working class people i ran for. because i want to be that and i want us to be in the oval office. >> i want to room with the guy that i think might be america's hitler. >> they don't want to be part of it necessarily but this is a man who is married to a woman whose parents immigrated to this country from india. and he now represents a party that wants to end the 14th
9:53 pm
amendments birthright citizenship. there's a lot of irony and the same is donald trump's wife is an immigrant but he is the most anti-immigrant figure that we have seen in politics in a long time. how those contradictions get explained to mrs. vance and her family are they a part of this new right that he is the vanguard of, i don't know. maybe. but we will see. >> jd vance makes history tonight as the running mate on a presidential ticket who has said the worst things about his running mate, there is no one else, the others that have any kind of conflict points there was always policy there was george bush saying reagan's economics were voodoo economics and that he put that away and becomes a running mate. but comparing the running mate to hitler and all these other things that jd vance has said really is unique. and there is donald trump sitting in that row. half of the guys he is sitting with have expressed their hatred of him. he is sitting with four guys two of them tucker carlson and jd vance have expressed their
9:54 pm
hatred of him. and donald trump knows that. >> you hate me. look what i can make you do. >> he likes showing you that he can take these people and control them and force them to bend to his will. >> the downside of that, you do that with people who have like supplicant personalities. but if you do that with people as ambitious as jd vance and frankly tucker carlson. never turn your back on those guys again, we will take a quick break before our coverage continues. age continues. here's to beating these two every thursday. help fuel today with boost high protein, complete nutrition you need... ...without the stuff you don't. so, here's to now. boost. a mystery! jessie loves playing detective. but the real mystery was her irritated skin. so, we switched to tide free & gentle. it cleans better, and doesn't leave behind irritating residues. and it's gentle on her skin. tide free and gentle liquid is epa safer choice certified. it's gotta be tide.
9:55 pm
have you ever thought of getting a walk-in tub tide free and gentle liquid for you or someone you love?. now is a great time to take a look at getting a safe step walk-in tub. with safe step's standard heated seat and new fast fill faucet, you can enjoy a nice warm bath up to 20% faster! and the convenient touch pad control is right at your fingertips. each tub comes standard with a dual hydrotherapy system. the ten water jets can help increase mobility, relieve pain, boost energy, and improve sleep. while the microsoothe advanced air therapy system oxygenates and softens skin. safe step walk-in tubs are built to maximize safety. so you can stay in your home and enjoy the comforts of bathing again. so call now for more information and a free no obligation consultation.
9:56 pm
these underwear are period-proof. and sneeze-proof. and sweat-proof. they're leakproof underwear, from knix. comfy & confident protection that feel just like normal. with so many styles and colors to choose from, switching is easy at knix.com
9:57 pm
9:58 pm
9:59 pm
>> you are asked if you had watched the debate in your answer was i don't think so, no. have you since seen it? >> i have seen pieces of it i have not watched the whole debate. >> the reason i ask is the question is are you all on the same page, are you seeing what they saw? which was moments of frankly it appeared to be you appeared to be confused. >> lester, why don't you guys ever talk about the 28 lies that he told? where are you on this? why doesn't the press ever talk about that? 28 times he confirmed he lied in that debate. i have a bad, bad night. i was not feeling well at all. and i had been, i screwed up. >> i had to ask the question
10:00 pm
because the idea that you may or may not have seen what some of these other folks have seen and you're not on the same. >> i was there. i didn't have to see it, i was there and by the way, seriously you won't answer the question why doesn't the press talk about all the lies that he told? >> we have reported many of the issues. >> no, you haven't. >> god love you. >> god love you. no you haven't. kind of a fight there between president biden and lester holt in the interview, that aired earlier this evening that interview happened today. at the white house we were just talking about the campaign plans. and we don't know how long the campaign pause is going to last. from biden harris they've taken all their ads down in the wake of the shooting on saturday night in pennsylvania but they say vice president harris has one? >> scheduled to speak to the convention