Trump Praises Jan. 6 Criminals as SCOTUS Overrules Colorado Ballot Ban: A Closer Look

Late Night with Seth Meyers
4 Mar 202411:05

Summary

TLDRSeth Meyers dissects the Supreme Court's ruling that allows Donald Trump to remain on the presidential ballot, despite his role in the January 6th insurrection. Meyers criticizes Trump's unrepentant attitude, glorification of the insurrectionists, and his misleading claims about the 2020 election being 'rigged.' He also highlights the concerning implications of the court's conservative majority ruling that only Congress can disqualify candidates for insurrection, paving the way for future insurrectionists to hold office. With biting humor, Meyers underscores the importance of voter vigilance in the 2024 election to safeguard democracy.

Takeaways

  • đŸ˜Č The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Donald Trump can remain on the 2024 presidential ballot, overriding a Colorado court decision that declared him ineligible due to his role in the January 6th insurrection.
  • 😡 Trump remains unrepentant about the January 6th insurrection and has turned it into a rallying cry, even playing a song by convicted insurrectionists at his rallies.
  • 😬 There were reports that the Trump White House was rife with drug use, with staffers being given amphetamines and Xanax like candy.
  • đŸ€Ș Trump has a new slogan 'Too Big to Rig' referring to his desire for a landslide victory that would be impossible to rig, despite his previous claims of rigged elections.
  • đŸ€„ Trump glorified the convicted January 6th insurrectionists, calling them 'hostages' and celebrating their song which briefly topped a niche music chart.
  • 😠 The Supreme Court's conservative majority ruled that only Congress can disqualify candidates under the 14th Amendment's insurrection clause, essentially giving future insurrectionists a green light.
  • đŸ˜€ The liberal justices were furious at this ruling, saying it attempts to insulate all alleged insurrectionists from being barred from office.
  • đŸ€” The ruling didn't directly address whether Trump engaged in insurrection, avoiding that controversial question.
  • 😹 Republicans in Congress are unlikely to disqualify Republican candidates involved in insurrection, so it is up to voters to stop them.
  • ✊ The 2024 election is being framed as a sequel to 2020, a rematch against Trump's efforts to undermine democracy.

Q & A

  • What was the Supreme Court's ruling regarding Donald Trump and the 2024 presidential ballot?

    -The Supreme Court ruled that Donald Trump can remain on the 2024 presidential ballot in Colorado, overriding a decision by the Colorado state Supreme Court that had declared him ineligible due to the Constitution's ban on insurrectionists holding office.

  • How did Trump respond to the January 6th insurrection and the 2020 election results?

    -Trump has remained completely unrepentant about the January 6th insurrection and his attempt to overturn the 2020 election results. In fact, he has a new slogan at his rallies, repeating the deranged lie that the 2020 election was rigged, saying 'We want a landslide that is too big to rig.'

  • What is the significance of the 'J6 Prison Choir' and how did Trump feature them?

    -The 'J6 Prison Choir' is a group of convicted insurrectionists detained on charges related to the January 6th insurrection. Trump played their recording of the national anthem at his campaign rallies, glorifying the insurrectionists and calling them 'hostages' and 'heroes.'

  • How did the Supreme Court's conservative majority rule on the disqualification of candidates under the 14th Amendment's insurrection ban?

    -The Supreme Court's conservative majority ruled that only Congress can disqualify a candidate under the 14th Amendment's insurrection ban, essentially insulating all alleged insurrectionists from future challenges to their holding federal office.

  • What was the reaction of the Supreme Court's liberal justices to the conservative majority's ruling?

    -The liberal justices were furious at the ruling, writing that the conservative majority attempts to insulate all alleged insurrectionists from future challenges to their holding federal office.

  • How did the host respond to Trump's claim that the 'J6 Prison Choir' song became the 'number one song'?

    -The host fact-checked Trump's claim, explaining that while the song reached number one on the Digital Song Sales chart, it was misleading to call it the 'number one song' given its relatively low streams and radio audience compared to other popular songs at the time.

  • What concerns did the host express regarding the headlines and public perception of the Supreme Court's ruling?

    -The host was concerned that the headlines would be misleading, making it sound like even the liberal justices said no candidate can ever be disqualified for engaging in insurrection, when in fact the conservative majority's ruling went much further in protecting alleged insurrectionists.

  • How did the host characterize the potential consequences of the Supreme Court's conservative majority ruling?

    -The host suggested that the conservative majority's ruling essentially gave all future insurrectionists the green light to run for and hold public office, leaving it up to voters to stop them, just as they did in 2020.

  • What analogy did the host use to describe the upcoming 2024 election in light of the Supreme Court's ruling?

    -The host likened the 2024 election to a sequel, calling it 'Too big to rig,' a play on Trump's slogan and the potential for insurrectionists to run for office.

  • What other notable revelation about the Trump White House did the host mention but did not have time to fully discuss?

    -The host mentioned a report that the Trump White House was a 'pill mill,' handing out drugs like speed and Xanax 'like candy,' but said there was too much going on to discuss it in detail.

Outlines

00:00

đŸ€„ Trump's Unrepentant Stance on Jan 6 Insurrection and His New Rallying Cry

The paragraph discusses Trump's continued denial and lack of remorse regarding the January 6th insurrection and his attempt to overturn the 2020 election results. It highlights his new slogan at rallies, "Too big to rig," which perpetuates the lie about the 2020 election being rigged. The paragraph also mentions reports of drug use in the Trump White House and Trump's peculiar way of pronouncing words slowly. Additionally, it touches on Trump's claim that even if God were the vote checker, he would have won California, and his accusations of cheating against God.

05:02

đŸŽ¶ Trump's Glorification of Insurrectionists and the J6 Prison Choir

The paragraph focuses on Trump's glorification of the January 6th insurrectionists by featuring a song by the so-called "J6 Prison Choir" at his rallies. It discusses how Trump played the choir's rendition of the national anthem, recorded from behind bars, with footage of the January 6th violence in the background. The paragraph highlights the absurdity of Trump celebrating and praising these convicted insurrectionists as "hostages" and "heroes." It also critiques the misleading claim that the choir's song became the "number one song" based on specific chart metrics.

10:04

⚖ Supreme Court Ruling on Trump's Eligibility and the Conservative Majority's Stance

The paragraph discusses the Supreme Court's ruling that Trump can remain on the 2024 presidential ballot in Colorado, overriding a state court decision that had disqualified him due to the constitutional ban on insurrectionists holding office. It highlights the court's unanimous decision but emphasizes the divided ruling from the conservative majority, which stated that only Congress can disqualify candidates based on the 14th Amendment's insurrection clause. The paragraph criticizes this stance as giving future insurrectionists a green light to run for office and places the responsibility on voters to stop them, likening the 2024 election to a sequel.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Insurrection

An insurrection refers to an act or instance of revolting against civil authority or an established government. In the context of this video, it specifically refers to the violent riots at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, 2021, where supporters of former President Donald Trump attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. The script repeatedly mentions Trump's lack of remorse for the insurrection and his glorification of those involved, even referring to them as 'hostages' and playing a song by the 'J6 Prison Choir' at his rallies.

💡Supreme Court

The Supreme Court is the highest court in the United States, responsible for interpreting the Constitution and serving as the final arbiter of federal constitutional issues. The video discusses a recent Supreme Court ruling that allowed Donald Trump to remain on the presidential ballot in Colorado, overriding a previous state court decision that had deemed him ineligible due to the Constitution's ban on insurrectionists holding office. The video criticizes the conservative majority's interpretation, which essentially insulates alleged insurrectionists from being barred from federal office.

💡Unrepentant

To be unrepentant means to show no remorse or regret for one's actions. The script repeatedly emphasizes that Trump remains "completely unrepentant" about the events of January 6th and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. Instead of acknowledging the severity of the insurrection, Trump is depicted as actively glorifying and celebrating it, even using a song by convicted insurrectionists as a rallying cry at his campaign events.

💡Rigged

In this context, 'rigged' refers to Trump's persistent and unfounded claims that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent or manipulated to produce an illegitimate result. The script highlights Trump's new slogan at rallies, 'Too big to rig,' which implies that he needs an overwhelming victory in 2024 to prevent the election from being 'rigged' against him. The video mocks Trump's paranoia and repeated use of the word 'rig,' comparing it to reading a children's book aloud.

💡J6 Prison Choir

The 'J6 Prison Choir' refers to a group of individuals who were imprisoned for their involvement in the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. According to the script, Trump played a song recorded by this choir at his campaign rallies, effectively glorifying and celebrating the actions of the convicted insurrectionists. The video criticizes Trump for elevating and praising these individuals, characterizing their actions as domestic terrorism.

💡Landslide

In the context of the video, 'landslide' refers to Trump's desired margin of victory in the 2024 presidential election. Trump states that he needs a victory so overwhelming, or a 'landslide,' that it would be 'too big to rig,' implying that a smaller margin could be subject to fraud or manipulation. The video mocks this notion, pointing out that Trump has already claimed past elections with significant losses were 'rigged' against him.

💡14th Amendment

The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution includes a provision that bars individuals who have engaged in insurrection against the United States from holding federal office. The video discusses the Supreme Court's ruling in relation to this amendment, which originally prompted the Colorado state court to deem Trump ineligible for the presidential ballot due to his alleged role in the January 6th insurrection.

💡Hostages

In the video, Trump refers to the members of the 'J6 Prison Choir' as 'hostages,' implying that they have been unjustly imprisoned for their involvement in the January 6th insurrection. The script criticizes this characterization, pointing out that Trump is essentially glorifying and celebrating individuals convicted of domestic terrorism.

💡Conservative Majority

In the context of the Supreme Court ruling discussed in the video, the 'conservative majority' refers to the five conservative justices who formed the majority opinion. The video criticizes this majority for effectively insulating alleged insurrectionists from being barred from federal office, arguing that their interpretation gives future insurrectionists a 'green light' to run for and hold public office.

💡Voters

Towards the end of the video, the script emphasizes the importance of voters in preventing insurrectionists from holding public office. Since the Supreme Court's conservative majority has made it more difficult to legally disqualify such candidates, the video suggests that it is up to the voters to reject them at the polls, much like they did in the 2020 election. This underscores the role of the electorate in upholding democratic principles and rejecting anti-democratic forces.

Highlights

Trump has remained completely unrepentant about the insurrection on January 6th, and his attempt to overturn the 2020 election results, and end American democracy.

Trump has a new slogan at his rallies, repeating the deranged lie that the 2020 election was rigged: 'We want a landslide that is too big to rig.'

There's a new report out that the Trump White House was awash in drugs, which would explain Trump's slow pronunciation of words.

Trump featured a song by the 'January the 6th Choir', a group of convicted insurrectionists, at his campaign rallies, glorifying domestic terrorists.

Trump called the January 6th insurrectionists 'hostages' and praised them as heroes, comparing them to policemen, firemen, accountants, and lawyers.

The Supreme Court ruled that Trump can remain on the ballot, overriding a decision that declared him ineligible due to the Constitution's ban on insurrectionists holding office.

The Supreme Court's conservative majority ruled that only Congress can disqualify a candidate, essentially giving future insurrectionists the green light to run for and hold public office.

The Supreme Court's liberal justices were furious at the ruling, stating that the conservative majority attempts to insulate all alleged insurrectionists from future challenges to their holding federal office.

Trump claimed that if God came down and was the vote checker, he believes Republicans would win California, implying voter fraud.

Trump's song by the 'January the 6th Choir' debuted at number one on Billboard's Digital Song Sales chart, but was misleading given the low streaming and radio numbers compared to other popular songs.

The commentary highlights the absurdity and hypocrisy of Trump and his supporters glorifying the January 6th insurrection and convicted insurrectionists.

The commentary criticizes the Supreme Court's ruling as dangerous and extreme, giving future insurrectionists a pass to hold public office.

The commentary emphasizes the importance of voters stopping insurrectionists from holding office, likening the 2024 election to a sequel of the 2020 election.

The commentary pokes fun at Trump's speech patterns and mannerisms, comparing them to reading a children's book or someone under the influence of drugs.

The commentary highlights the conflicting messages from the Supreme Court's unanimous ruling and the conservative majority's more divisive ruling on Congress' role in disqualifying candidates.

Transcripts

00:01

-The Supreme Court ruled today

00:03

that Donald Trump can remain on the ballot,

00:04

overriding a decision by the Colorado state Supreme Court

00:07

that declared Trump ineligible

00:09

due to the Constitution’s ban on insurrectionists holding office.

00:12

For more on this, it’s time for A Closer Look.

00:14

â™Șâ™Ș

00:18

Trump has remained completely unrepentant

00:20

about the insurrection on January 6th

00:22

and his attempt to overturn the 2020 election results

00:25

and end American democracy.

00:26

In fact, he’s got a new slogan at his rallies

00:29

repeating the deranged lie that the 2020 election was rigged.

00:33

-We want a landslide that is too big to rig --

00:39

too big to rig. That’s what we need.

00:43

We want a landslide. We have to win.

00:46

We have to win so that it’s too big to rig.

00:51

Too big to rig.

00:54

-Why is he saying it so slowly?

00:58

It tells you how little he thinks of his crowd,

01:00

that he pronounces one syllable words

01:02

the way I read Hop on Pop to my three year old.

01:05

All, ball. We all play ball.

01:10

Big, rig. Too big to rig.

01:16

There’s a new report out that

01:17

the Trump White House was awash in drugs,

01:20

which would make sense because Trump

01:21

is starting to slowly pronounce words

01:23

like he just took a giant bong rip.

01:26

"You know what’s a funny word? 'Rig.'

01:30

It sounds like 'big.' Too big to rig.

01:34

Whoaaaa.

01:37

Is it just me, or is that windmill spying on us?

01:42

I know you’re killing birds, windmill,

01:45

and one of these days, I’m going to prove it.

01:48

Oh, it just moved. It just moved.

01:51

Did you guys see that?"

01:53

Also, I’m not making up that story about the drugs.

01:56

There was a full inspector general’s report

01:58

that the Trump White House was a pill mill.

02:00

And then a new report yesterday that said the Trump White House

02:03

was just handing out speed and Xanax like candy.

02:05

And that story just came and went

02:07

because there’s too much going on.

02:08

We didn’t have time to talk about it.

02:10

Us! Eight years ago, you told me there’d be a story

02:12

about the White House pharmacy handing out goodie bags

02:15

full of benzos and amphetamines,

02:16

I would have figured that’d be a week of Closer Looks.

02:18

And now my reaction is, we don’t have time

02:20

for that Mickey Mouse bull [bleep].

02:23

Anyway, back to Trump. What would a landslide victory

02:27

that’s too big to rig even look like?

02:28

Because you’ve already claimed that Democrats

02:30

rigged the result in California,

02:32

where you lost by over 5 million votes

02:34

just in one state.

02:35

-I always hear Republicans can’t win California.

02:38

You can’t win. I will tell you,

02:40

if God came down and God was the vote checker,

02:45

I believe we would win.

02:46

-So now you need a landslide that’s too big to rig,

02:49

and you need God to be the vote checker?

02:51

I doubt God wants anything to do --

02:53

If God came down and counted the votes,

02:55

I’m sure you’d accuse him of cheating too.

02:57

"I find -- I find the robe very suspicious.

03:00

The long, the long, flowing robe which he wears.

03:02

Even in the summer. Even in the summer, a robe.

03:05

You see the videos of him walking into the voting center.

03:08

The robe is normal. And then he walks out.

03:09

The robe is bulky.

03:12

Because he’s hiding ballots under the robe,

03:13

but no one will check the robe because we’re all too woke now."

03:18

Trump is unrepentant about January 6th.

03:20

In fact, he’s worse than unrepentant.

03:22

He’s turned January 6th into a rallying cry

03:25

at his campaign events, playing a song by a choir

03:28

of convicted insurrectionists.

03:30

-At a rally in Houston, Texas, Trump entered with a song

03:32

by the so-called January the 6th Choir,

03:35

a group of inmates detained on charges

03:38

related to the insurrection.

03:40

And then he called those individuals "hostages."

03:43

-The former president of the United States

03:45

stood on a stage and glorified domestic terrorists.

03:49

He made a song with the so-called J6 Prison Choir.

03:53

Yes, that is a real thing.

03:54

Actual January the 6th insurrectionists

03:57

in prison, singing together.

03:59

-Trump and his campaign

04:00

have elevated the so-called J6 Choir,

04:03

a group of prisoners who recorded a version

04:06

of the national anthem from behind bars.

04:09

Trump played their recording with video images

04:11

of the violence on January 6th,

04:14

running in the background at the very first campaign

04:17

rally of his 2024 campaign.

04:19

-Man, these Trump rallies are [bleep] weird.

04:21

They’re like half megachurch and half Comic-Con,

04:24

but with way worse merch.

04:26

I mean, put aside -- put aside the fact

04:29

that Trump is glorifying a violent insurrection.

04:31

There’s nothing I’d rather listen to less

04:33

than a choir of adult men

04:35

singing a parody version of the national anthem.

04:37

And you know who else would think that sounded [bleep]?

04:39

Any Trump supporter before you told him what it was about.

04:43

Imagine if I walked into a MAGA rally saying,

04:45

"Want to hear my new national anthem parody song?

04:47

I recorded it over prison phone lines."

04:48

They'd kick my ass. Unless I said it’s pro-Trump,

04:51

in which case they beg to know where they could download it.

04:53

I’m really starting to think these people are hypocrites.

04:56

Trump, again, featured a song

04:59

from the so-called J6 Prison Choir over the weekend,

05:01

and praised them for being heroes.

05:03

-You heard the hostages singing -- that was hostages.

05:07

They’re the J6 Hostages,

05:09

I call them, because they are hostages.

05:11

They’re policemen, they’re firemen,

05:12

they’re accountants, they’re lawyers.

05:15

-I feel like Trump only knows jobs

05:17

that were in a Richard Scarry book.

05:20

"They’re policemen, they’re firemen,

05:21

and one of them is a little worm who drives an apple to work.

05:26

But you can’t trust him. He’s a lowly worm."

05:29

But Trump continued.

05:30

-They’re put in jail for extended periods of time.

05:33

For very long periods of time.

05:34

They’re hostages. You heard them singing.

05:36

You heard the spirit that they had.

05:39

The spirit is unbelievable.

05:40

That song became the number one song.

05:43

-This guy is talking about his dumb little novelty song

05:46

like he’s Ed [bleep] Sheeran.

05:47

"The Shape of You" is one of the most streamed songs of all time.

05:50

The shape of Trump is,

05:51

I don’t know, drumstick with googly eyes.

05:55

And that was today’s unnecessary use of googly eyes.

05:59

Give me the [echoing] googz.

06:04

Also, I can’t believe

06:06

I’m about to spend time fact checking this, but here it goes.

06:09

It is true that after it debuted,

06:11

Trump supporters propelled the song

06:12

to number one on Billboard’s Digital

06:14

Song Sales chart, but saying it was the number one song

06:16

is very misleading given that at the time,

06:18

the track drew 442,000 official streams

06:21

and 25,000 in radio audience,

06:23

compared to Morgan Wallen’s "Last Night,"

06:25

which drew 38.9 million streams, and Miley Cyrus' "Flowers,"

06:28

which drew 106.7 million in airplay audience.

06:31

And, by the way, me explaining how music downloads work

06:34

is why we don’t have time to talk about how the Trump

06:35

White House was handing out Ambien like they were Tic Tacs.

06:39

Well played, you sound asleep sons of bitches.

06:43

Also, just because you’re number one

06:45

in a super specific category,

06:47

it doesn’t mean you’re number one overall.

06:48

This show is the number one

06:49

NBC show in the 12:30 a.m. time slot.

06:52

But if I said "Late Night with Seth Meyers"

06:54

is the number one show on TV,

06:56

I think we’d get some angry phone calls

06:58

from the cast of "The Bear,"

06:59

and I don’t want to get in a fight with Jeremy Allen White.

07:01

Have you seen that guy without a shirt?

07:04

Better question. Have you seen him with a shirt?

07:08

Did someone steal this man’s shirt?

07:11

Could you give it back?

07:13

Because it’s making some of us feel bad about our beach bodies.

07:17

So Trump is not only unrepentant about January 6th,

07:19

he openly celebrates it at his rallies,

07:22

and today he got a big assist from the Supreme Court

07:24

when they ruled he could stay on the ballot

07:26

despite the 14th Amendment’s ban on insurrectionists.

07:30

-The High Court just said

07:31

moments ago that Mr. Trump

07:33

can stay on this year’s presidential ballot in Colorado,

07:38

after that state barred him from its Republican primary.

07:41

The Colorado Supreme Court had disqualified

07:44

Mr. Trump under a constitutional provision

07:47

that bars people who engage in insurrection

07:50

from holding office.

07:52

-It doesn’t take on and say that Donald Trump

07:55

did not engage in insurrection.

07:58

In other words, the issue of the facts,

08:00

is he an insurrectionist or not, was not before the court,

08:04

and they do not in any way that I’ve seen so far, in a quick,

08:08

quick skimming, take that on.

08:10

-So the court didn’t actually touch the question

08:12

of whether Trump engaged in insurrection.

08:13

Of course they didn’t. Any rational human

08:15

who hasn’t currently a Republican office holder

08:18

or member of an insurrection themed choir,

08:20

can see with their own eyes -- or with a pair of googly eyes --

08:22

that it was obviously an insurrection.

08:25

The court stayed away from that question

08:26

the same way you react when your wife asks

08:28

if you think her sister is hot. "What? You have a sister?

08:30

I don’t even remember what she looks like."

08:33

With all that said, I’m afraid the headlines from this ruling

08:36

are going to be misleading because on the one hand,

08:38

the court ruled unanimously that Trump could stay on the ballot,

08:40

which makes it sound like even the liberal justices

08:43

said no candidate can ever be disqualified

08:46

for engaging in insurrection. But that’s not what they said.

08:48

There was basically a second, much more divided ruling

08:51

from the court’s conservatives that went much further and said

08:53

only Congress can disqualify a candidate.

08:56

-The specific question at hand,

08:57

did the Colorado Supreme Court err

09:00

in ordering President Trump

09:01

excluded from the 2024 presidential ballot?

09:04

Well, that the Supreme Court unanimously agreed as yes.

09:08

But from there, we see some divisions among the justices.

09:11

-Where there was that five-four split was in the particulars.

09:15

Five of the justices here,

09:16

the majority, so that’s what rules,

09:17

said that states can’t unilaterally decide

09:21

to take presidents or any federal officers off the ballot.

09:24

And instead, that’s a decision

09:27

that Congress would have to make in the form of legislation

09:30

to decide which candidates could be disqualified

09:33

by the 14th amendment's so-called insurrection ban.

09:36

-So basically, you have to read the fine print

09:38

on the ruling to find out just how dangerous and extreme

09:40

the ruling from the court’s conservatives was.

09:42

It’s like when you play McDonald’s monopoly

09:44

and you think you won, but then you turn it over

09:46

and there’s an asterisk that says...

10:04

The court’s liberals seem furious at this ruling.

10:06

They wrote that the conservative majority attempts to insulate

10:08

all alleged insurrectionists from future challenges

10:11

to their holding federal office.

10:12

Because we all know Republicans in Congress

10:13

would never vote to disqualify a Republican candidate

10:16

who engaged in insurrection.

10:17

The court’s conservatives essentially

10:19

gave all future insurrectionists the green light

10:22

to run for and hold public office,

10:24

which means it’s up to us, the voters, to stop them,

10:26

just like we did in 2020. 2024 is the sequel.

10:29

It’s like "2 Fast 2 Furious, except it’s called...

10:32

-Too big to rig.

10:35

-This has been A Closer Look.

10:37

â™Șâ™Ș

10:40

Hey, everybody. Thanks for watching A Closer Look.

10:42

And as a reminder, my brother Josh and I

10:44

have started a -- [bleep]

10:45

have an established -- podcast

10:47

called "Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers."

10:50

We hope you listen. We hope you like it.

10:52

We’ll see you soon.