Countdown with Keith Olderman is a production of iHeartRadio. Here are the Monday Countdown headlines. Trump is now threatening to imprison everybody who is opposing him in this election, from voters to donors, to vote counters who produce results he does not like. He is now threatening to kill any immigrants he cannot expel and promising quote getting them out will be a bloody story. And he is now trying
to get Kamala Harris impeached as vice president. And none of that made the front page of the New York Times, and all of it was prioritized below Trump's merchandise sales numbers by the Washington Post. Our nation is dying of an utter consuming, fatal lack of courage. When no one will tell the truth, the guy who lies loudest wins. For eight years, I have been talking and writing about Trump's desire not just to purge America of immigrants, documented
or otherwise. Also he gets to decide who is an immigrant, and if you try to defend one of his targets, you become his new target. Not only to do that, but also to purge them with violence, concentration camps, swat team raids, informants, military weaponry, bloodshed. And now even he is saying it that bluntly, he is promising it out loud at his rallies, that it will be a bloody story. He is blaming them and will kill them in Colorado.
They're so brazen, They're taking over sections of the state, and you know getting them out will be a bloody story. Should have never been allowed to come into our country to be easy, but we'll do it.
And here on CNN to discuss the pros and cons of the mass murder of immigrants by the United States government. This is madness. To accept the debate is to validate the debate. To ignore Trump's words is to sanitize him ordering people murdered. The response, the only response, is to debate whether Trump has lost the ability to conceal his insanity and his desire to kill people, or whether he has decided that this is a strategy he needs to
employ right now. Those are the only two options. If you are an American and you are asking any question about this besides is he an insane mass murderer or a strategic mass murderer, you are now a Trump enabler. He has just promised not threatened but promised mass bloodshed. Congressman Roe Kanna actually said yesterday that he has upset that his fellow Democrats have been calling the Republicans weird. We should lead with respect and make our case through
persuasion of having a better vision for the nation. Fine, congressoon because that's worked real well since twenty fifteen. And when we do it again and Trump regains power as a result and he decides that all immigrants are illegal immigrants and anybody whose parents were not born in this country are immigrants, I'll do what I can for you when Trump sends the National Guard to imprison you because
your parents were not born here. But by then I'll already be in prison because of the other thing Trump did over the weekend that nobody is taking seriously. Even though after Judge Merschaan gutted the rule of law Friday here in New York, Trump has decided he can also
get away with this quote cease and desist. I, together with many attorneys and legal scholars, am watching the sanctity of the twenty twenty four presidential election very closely, because I know better than most the rampant cheating and skullduggery that has taken place by the Democrats in the twenty
twenty presidential election. It was a disgrace to our nation. Therefore, the twenty twenty four election, where votes have just started being cast, will be under the closest professional scrutiny, And when I win, those people that cheated will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, which will include long term prison sentences, so that this depravity of justice does not happen again. We cannot let our country further
devolve into a third world nation, and we won't. Please beware that this legal exposure extends to lawyers, political operatives, donors, illegal voters, and corrupt election officials. Those involved in unscrupulous behavior will be sought out, caught, and prosecuted at levels unfortunately never seen before in our country. Trump put that out at seven oh one pm Saturday night, just in case you missed it, and the New York Times missed it. He put it out again Sunday afternoon. So this one
does not overtly promise there will be blood. Is Trump pivoting? It just warns America not to get in his way. Don't vote against him, don't donate to campaigns, against him, don't act politically against him, don't take legal action against him, And not to mistake this as some kind of bluster, because he started it with the words cease and desist, and those in the throes of narcissistic delusion love to wrap their threats in legal terms. And that one is
the favorite of the fascists and businessmen, and he's both. Oh, and as I said, he has also targeted the vice president for immediate impeachment. This one won't happen. It does, however, give away part of his debate strategy for tomorrow night.
He will tomorrow night try to build a conspiracy theory in real time that Kamala Harris is only there at the debate because of this vast plot against him, quoting I will support modifying the twenty fifth Amendment to make clear that if a vice president lies or engages in a conspiracy to cover up the incapacity of the President of the United States, if you do that with a cover up of the President of the United States, its
grounds for impeachment immediately and removal from office. Because that's
what they did. I hope to God the vice president is ready for all this, and that she's ready to call Trump insane and to say that he is a man lusting for the blood of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of American immigrants, and that he's ready to say that this is a man promising to put anybody who stands in his way in prison, because everybody else in a position to call Trump that is too terrified, or too inert, or just too morally
bankrupt to take the chance of doing it. I mean, yesterday, after promising to kill you or imprison you, he put this out and nobody even blinked. An interview by Tucker Carlson of an election expert indicates that twenty percent of the mail in ballots in Pennsylvania are fraudulent. Here we go again. Where is the US Attorney General and FBI to investigate? Where is the Pennsylvania Republican Party. We will win Pennsylvania by a lot unless the Dems are allowed
to cheat. The RNC must activate now activate news team assemble. Kamala Harris comes into the race, gets an explosion of support, and the major media coverage of her since has been unanimously degrading and insulting clickbait. She hasn't done enough press conferences, not like Trump. He did a press conference last week. He did a press conference and a town hall in the same week, and he didn't take a single question in either one of them. So what he held them?
And where are her policies? He's out there with policy promising to kill immigrants and jail reporters and donors. Where are her policy proposals? Does she want to counter Trump? And perhaps oh, jail immigrants but kill reporters. Where is her policy press conference? She hasn't mentioned accounnibal once Kamala Harris is hit for one month by condescending angry reporting by reporters who are actually thinking only one thing in this marketplace. My job may not exist next year. My
news outlet may not exist next year. I have to surprise people. Trump isn't a surprise anymore. Let's attack this new Harris instead. That's a surprise. Then after they succeed in driving down her poll numbers, they have a new story or poll numbers are down. The honeymoon is over. Midwestern voters seem to like this tariffs and mass murder combo. Trump is pitching to that vital demographic, white males with
kids who are likely to become school shooters. By the way, twenty eight percent of respondents to the Times Shock poll yesterday that has Trump in front by a point. By the way, the margin of error there is three points. They say they feel like they still don't know enough about Vice President Harris to decide about her. This includes more than half of all voters under the age of thirty, and the Times national poll contradicts all of its own swing state polls. But yeah, Trump ahead, so that's the
only story, not his. You know, promise to kill you or arrest you, depending on which demographic group you belonged to. By the way, Emerson polling for the Hill out yesterday has her within three of him, counting leaners in Florida and in Texas, and the Hill average of one hundred and sixty six different polls has her ahead nationally by three and a half, and the five point thirty eight
average has her ahead by three. But go on about the New York Times, which long ago revealed that its understanding of the election is you may vote, but we decide Ohen Trump called Elon Musk Leon forty eight hours ago, and at the age of seventy eight, he is complaining that voting in Georgia, or maybe it was the prosecution in Georgia. It wasn't clear, but it was corrupt in Georgia because of who signed relevant documents. He said, quote, you have people that are in their eighties, would you
sign here? He's seventy eight. And he continues to talk every day for hours on end, like a drug addict minutes away from an overdose. And he's quoting Tucker Carlson now and now promising bloodshed. But let's just see how all this plays out in the next time siena poll. And as this vital week begins, if you had to say it is or it is not, you would have to say this nation is dying from a lack of courage.
Individual personal I'm looking at you, courage. Let's go in ascending order, from the least surprising of the various timidities, so I will get to the astonishing, criminally negligent cowardice of Judge Wan Mershan, last, the least surprising, the most predictable. Even Dick Cheney has now endorsed Kamala Harris. Yes, George Bush, his office tells NBC News President Bush retired from presidential politics years ago. Shocking, asshole. This isn't presidential politics, it's
American citizenship. Have you retired from American citizenship? If so, say so and get the f out of here. George W. Bush has always been shit. He's shit right now. And our media knows what to do when it needs to take a stand, even if it's just a stand of you know, self defense against those who would literally kill everybody in it. This is what to do in a
time of crisis. Nothing. The hacked Trump emails are still being hidden by the Times, by the Post, by Politico, even as they still quote the Hillary Clinton emails from twenty sixteen. And I will again read you the great flaming Ball of cowardice from the publisher of the New York Times, Ag Sulzburg, printed by The Washington Post last Thursday. Sealzburger quite clearly sees our crisis of courage and bravely says, well, yeah,
but that's not my job. Quote. As someone who strongly believes in the foundational importance of journalistic independence, I have no interest in waiting into politics. I disagree with those who have suggested that the risk Trump poses to the free press is so high that news organizations such as mine should cast aside neutrality and directly oppose his reelection. It is beyond shortsighted to give up journalistic independence out
of fear that it might later be taken away. At the Times, we are committed to following the facts and presenting a full, fair and accurate picture of November's election and the candidates and issues shaping it. Our democratic model asks different institutions to play different roles. This is, we can have him put out the Concentration Camp newspaper when
we all wind up there. The way this reads, mister Selzberger might be trying to sell The New York Times to, unfortunately the youngest women voters, who are also showing an utter lack of courage. This is from Rachel Janfaza writing in the latest issue of Glamor magazine. Don't laugh, Glamor Magazine, it may be the most important political data you hear this election. Which group do you think would be most brutalized by another Trump presidency or a Trump dictatorship, or
a realization of the Handmaid's Tale? It would be women aged eighteen to twenty nine. However, miss Janfaza writes, quote the results a political untethering that could reverberate for generations. According to the Glamour you gov poll, just fifty six percent of eighteen twenty nine year olds are registered and
intend to vote. This is the lowest percentage of any age group by a wide margin, and at the time of the poll, twenty five percent of that group said they still didn't know who they would vote for if the election was held that day, which brings us all to the biggest coward of them all. Let us not mince words with Judgwan Mershan. He has been bullied, he has succumbed. He has failed the law. He has, to paraphrase Thurber, bent so far backwards that he might as
well have fallen flat on his face. Mere Shawn has interfered with the election. He has interfered with the jury verdict. He has prostituted himself and his court. The law requires the imposition of sentence following a guilty verdict without on
reasons delay. He writes, the public's confidence in the integrity of our judicial system demands a sentencing hearing that is entirely focused on the verdict of the jury and the weighing of aggravating and mitigating factors free from distraction or distortion. The members of this jury serve diligently on this case, and their verdict must be respected and addressed in a manner that is not diluted by the enormity of the
upcoming presidential election. Likewise, if one is necessary, the defendant has the right to a sentencing hearing that respects and protects his constitutional rights. So Judge Merschaan insists that the law must be enforced, the court and the jury respected, despite all other factors, and then he promptly says he
won't do a damn thing about that. Either imposition of sentence will be adjourned to avoid any appearance, however unwarranted, that the proceeding has been a affected by, or seeks to effect, the approaching presidential election in which the defendant is a candidate. The Court is a fair, impartial, and a political institution. It was till you wrote this idiot.
Adjourning decision on the motion and sentencing, if such is required, should dispel any suggestion that the Court will have issued any decision or imposed sentence either to give an advantage to or to create a disadvantage for, any political party
and or any candidate for any office. Adjournments for sentencing are routinely granted, often several times, in any number of other criminal matters pending in this courthouse, particularly when unopposed, for reasons ranging from personal circumstances to the scheduling needs of the parties involved. Given the unique facts and circumstances of this case, there is no reason why this defendant
should be treated any differently than any other. This is not a decision that the Court makes lightly, but it is the decision which, in this Court's view, best advances the interests of justice. Yeah, the interests of justice, Juan Mershan, It does the exact opposite. Trump will not be sentenced because he is running for president. You want to kill somebody, get away with it, run for president. The law somehow does not apply to him, and it will not be
applied to him. In fact, we are bending over backwards to make sure that what would happen to you or me does not happen to him. And this was the goal of what Trump did in the first place to wind up indicted and convicted. He tried to pay his way out of the political consequences of his an affair with a pornographic actress. During an election. This was the goal also of Trump's threats against this man, Mrshawan and
his family and the others. This is the goal of the entire trumpst movement to put him at his thugs and gangs and militia above the law. Juan Mereshan has just enabled them to do exactly this. Terrorizing a judge works. Jose Pollieri is the political investigations reporter for the Independent News website. Notice he sees through all this to quote him as a reporter who has spent months in court with this judge. I can tell you he is stoic.
He's a traditional guy. He's reserved, he's really composed, and yet he'd shudder when he'd address Trump directly. He'd go pale, his voice would shake. It's hard to convey the power dynamics at play when things got hot in his courtroom. Here is a state judge addressing a former president who's must to seek revenge if he returns to the White House.
The stakes are supremely high. Mershan understands that. Mershan understandably says that sentencing Trump before the election would inevitably force him to consider or make it look like he's considering the fact that Trump is campaigning and could be behind bars in the closing days of the election. But how did we get here, mister Pollieri asks. Trump's incessant delay tactics pushed back the trial by nearly a month. His defense in court went a lot longer than it reasonably
could have. He leaned on holidays and breaks to stretch out the trial, and his federal immunity appeals and Scotis' allies created the decision delay end quote. So now Merchan puts himself in the position of sentencing Trump after the election, having already impacted the election through his own personal cowardice. The judge may now have to sentence the president elect or not sentence him through more personal cowardice. Back to
Jose Pollieri, the reporter. In making his historic decision, Merchan has decided that punishing Trump ahead of the election is worse than punishing him after. In doing so, he deprives American voters of knowing Trump's fate before they decide whether he is fit to be US president. This result, an exercise in damage mitigation, reminds me of a James Baldwin essay I read recently. Quote. It is true that two wrongs don't make a right, as we love to point
out to the people we have wronged. But one wrong doesn't make a right either. And in turn I will again quote Jean renoirre the French filmmaker. He created an extraordinary film, La Regel Trujeu The Rules of the Game. It premiered on July seventh, nineteen thirty nine, three hundred and fifty four, days before France fell to the Nazis.
It was written and directed by Renoir himself, and in it he plays the hero's buddy Octav, and at one point, Octav says something about the corruption and the lack of morals, and the lack of courage and just playing lack of effort to stand up for what is right. He says that everybody has a self interest that's far more important to them than his courage or self sacrifice or bravery.
And it's a quote that has come to symbolize the France that folded like a card table to the hitler onslaught and the vchy France full of more collaborators than the Germans believed possible. The quote is translated, you see, in this world, there is one awful thing octav says, seemingly fighting back, and then he gives up, and he himself shrugs, and that is that everyone has his reasons.
We may yet steer out of this, electing Kamala Harris as the best outcome, but even that does not suddenly fix the New York Times, or get gen Z women registered, or make Wan Merschan realize that everything he thinks he is preventing, he is in fact creating. Even if we destroy Trump again, we may still be the twenty first century version of pre Hitler France, because as this vital Week starts, we all have our reasons to just shrug
some business to mention. I'll be live on YouTube after the debate tomorrow night, and I'll be doing and these compact editions of this podcast every Monday through the election, so there will be something five days a week. They post by twelve to fifteen am Eastern each night. The YouTube version posts by about six am Eastern. You're welcome. So that's countdown for this, the fifty eighth day until the twenty twenty four presidential election and the one three
hundred and thirty six day since convicted felon dementia. J Trump's first attempted coup against the democratically elected government of the United States till the next edition on Keith Olderman. Good Morning, good afternoon, good night, and good Luck. Countdown with Keith Olderman is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.