Lawrence: Because of Trump, America has become a place where 'they can do that to anybody'

The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell

NBC News

Policy, Msnbc, Politics, President, Washington, Congress, Government, Senate, News

4.4 • 5.9K Ratings

🗓️ 11 July 2025

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Tonight on The Last Word: A federal judge blocks Trump’s Birthright Citizenship ban. Plus, the Emil Bove confirmation vote is set for July 17. Also, FEMA’s Texas flood responded was reportedly delayed by Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. And Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson says “the state of our democracy” keeps her up at night. Cody Wofsy and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse join Lawrence O’Donnell.

Transcript

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0:00.0	The last word with Lawrence O'Donnell starts right now. Hey, Laurence.
0:02.4	Hey, Jen, you have just taught me everything I know about Sean Duffy. And in all of the things that we've got to deal with here, I haven't gotten to him. And I know people are familiar with him and I have no idea why, because reality television is, of course, one of the poisons that doesn't come my way.
0:23.0	I watch road rules for you.
0:24.6	I can brief you on it any time.
0:26.4	Well, below deck sailing yacht, okay, that's the only one I've actually spent some time with.
0:32.9	But so, okay, so that's who Sean Duffy is.
0:36.0	Okay, great.
0:36.5	Now I know, and we understand completely, I guess, why Donald Trump chose him. Sure. But obviously, you know, he's eminently qualified. He's done a bang-up job. All the reasons why Trump picks anyone in his cabinet or gives them more jobs.
0:54.1	Jen, we have some breaking Trump illegal unconstitutional. All the reasons why Trump picks anyone in his cabinet or gives them more jobs.
0:59.1	Jen, we have some breaking Trump illegal unconstitutional tariff news.
1:14.7	During your hour, Donald Trump decided that Canada, for no sane reason, should now be hit all goods coming from Canada with an additional 35 percent tariff. And this is one of the many that Donald Trump, according to these letters he's sending around to different countries,
1:19.0	will, as he threatens, start on August 1st. So that gives Donald Trump about 20 days to cave on this
1:26.1	and to become, you know, the Donald Trump,
1:29.5	the Trump always chickens out guy, the taco guy that Wall Street believes he is.
1:34.8	The markets are already reacting very, very badly to this overnight. So Donald Trump may
1:40.2	very well chicken out of this one by noontime tomorrow. But that's his latest Trump tariff madness, an additional 35% on Canada starting August 1st.
1:52.5	And so we will see what happens when CNBC starts reporting on the markets tomorrow morning.
1:59.3	And if we get to noon time with the kind of
2:01.5	crash that that could create, we could expect maybe Donald Trump chickens out sooner rather than
2:08.5	later. That seems to be the plan. I suspect you're going to tell us how he's not going to get
2:14.5	to 20 deals and 20 days or whatever he's going to tell us he's going
2:19.7	to do tomorrow.
	...

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