The GOP vs. Constituents: The Daily Show

Last week, Congress went on break.
And so as is the tradition, they all went back
to visit their districts to host town hall meetings,
you know, where they can connect with the people
-they've been screwing over. -(laughter)
And normally these meetings are emptier
than Floyd Mayweather's bookshelves,
but when you tell people
that a president with ties to Russia is planning
to take their healthcare away,
you may as well put your feet on their couch.
I could tell you three members of my family,
including me, that would be dead,
dead and homeless,
if it was not for ACA.
(woman speaking underneath loud chanting)
-What are you talking about? -(loud, overlapping shouting)
-You're insane! -You lied!
2020, you're gone!
-Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame! -(booing)
Shame!
AUDIENCE AND NOAH: Shame! Shame!
-AUDIENCE: Shame! -Yo, yo.
Do you know how bad you have to be
to turn all of your constituents
into the Shame Nun from Game of Thrones?
(laughter)
You are really not doing your job well.
You know what would have been even funnier is if it turned out
that that senator is a huge fan of Game of Thrones.
You know, if he was like,
"Oh, well, I guess I have to get naked now! Oh!"
If I was him, I would have been... I would have said like,
"So you can't afford healthcare, but you can afford HBO?
Huh? Huh?"
And the crowd is like, "We share a password!"
"Well, I didn't know think of that."
I've got to say, though, it's really inspiring
to see the people out there engaging in democracy
in such an active way.
Although, although,
some protests seem less effective than others.
Another Republican lawmaker
faced another angry town hall crowd.
This time it was Congressman Leonard Lance
in Branchburg, New Jersey.
At least 300 other people who couldn't get into the town hall
demonstrated outside.
Someone even brought a pair of llamas,
carrying their own political message.
-Okay, okay, no. No. -(laughter)
No, the llamas were not carrying their own political message.
They're carrying the political message
of someone who owns llamas.
Llamas can't go to Staples and buy poster board.
That's not what they do.
It's not like they're out there with their own signs
that say, like, "Don't shave me, bro!"
That's not what they're doing.
And if you think llamas showing up
to a town hall is insane,
Trump's America is the only place you'll see
a seven-year-old showing up with talking points.
NEWSWOMAN: Arkansas senator, Tom Cotton,
getting an earful Wednesday night,
at one point even confronted by a seven-year-old boy.
Donald Trump makes Mexicans n... not important
to people who are...
-(scattered groans, jeers) -in Arkansas who like Mexicans,
like me, my grandma...
-(applause) -And he's deleting all the parks and PBS Kids
-just to make a wall. -(cheering)
-(audience aw'ing) -Aw...
You know you (bleep) up
when even the little kids are coming hard at you.
I bet you Senator Cotton probably thought
he was getting a softball-- "Okay, tough room, tough room.
"Let's see what that kid over there wants to say.
"Hey, what do you want to know about, little boy?
My favorite candy?" And the kid was like,
"Let's talk about the Emoluments Clause."
"(bleep)!"
-(laughter) -Now, some people might say,
"Why the hell is a kid participating?
He's not even old enough to vote."
Let me tell you something, when you have a president
who thinks global warming is a hoax,
he doesn't know if he'll ever get a chance
to vote in the future, so that kid is like,
"I'm gonna do my (bleep) now. I'm getting in now.
I'm getting involved now."
Now, some congressmen have noticed
the uncomfortable positions that their colleagues
are getting into, and so instead of facing the heat,
they've decided to get out of the kitchen.
NEWSMAN: Some lawmakers defending their absence
citing concerns for their safety.
Congressman Louie Gohmert telling his constituents
in a letter...
Okay. Well, you know what? I mean, in his defense,
this Texas congressman is afraid of someone getting shot
at his town hall.
And I understand, you know?
I mean, it's not like politicians can create laws
to restrict where people can carry guns.
-I mean, that's... -(laughter)
that's impossible, you know?
Uh, a-and to be fair to him, you know,
former Arizona congresswoman, Gabby Giffords, she was shot
when she was meeting with her constituents.
So if anyone would understand Congressman Gohmert's position,
it would be her.
NEWSMAN: Giffords responded today, saying...
-(applause, cheering) -Goddamn!
Shots fired!
Wow!
Gohmert tried to use Giffords as an excuse,
and she clapped back hard.
In fact, in fact, if you listen carefully...
you can hear the wind whispering,
(quietly): "You little bitch."
(laughter)
Now, if you were a Republican in power,
you would have to see all of this passion
about losing health care,
and other issues deeply important to your constituents,
and you'd have to think: "Man, I better respond
to this constructively."
Or you could just say the whole thing was fake.
Republican congressman, Jason Chaffetz,
accused the protestors of being paid
and shipped in from out of state.
Most of these protests, as we've checked into it,
are very well organized and financed.
These protestors are actually being bussed in
from out of state.
They've turned protesting
into what seems like a full-time profession.
There is a bit of-of professional protester
manufactured base in there.
Damn.
I never thought of that.
Yeah, it all makes sense.
The Democrats paid tons of people
to go disrupt town halls across the country.
I wish I could have been in the meeting
when they were planning it.
All right, guys, here's the plan:
We're gonna pay thousands of people
to come out and support us.
Is that for the election?
No, no, that would be too easy.
First, we're gonna lose,
then we're gonna complain.
Yeah.
(cheering and applause)

The GOP vs. Constituents: The Daily Show

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