Lawrence: Republicans have abandoned the rule of law to embrace the rule of Trump

The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell

Lawrence O'Donnell, MS NOW

Politics, Washington, Congress, News, Ms Now, President, Versant Media, Policy, Versant, Government, Senate

4.5 • 6.4K Ratings

🗓️ 23 January 2026

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Tonight on The Last Word: Former special counsel Jack Smith publicly defends Trump prosecutions. And Donald Trump fixates on Greenland amid cost of living and Jeffrey Epstein woes. Professor Laurence Tribe, Andrew Weissmann, and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse join Lawrence O’Donnell.

Transcript

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0:00.0	There is exactly one politician in history who sued a newspaper for publishing a poll.
0:10.4	There's only one politician in American history who is so constitutionally illiterate
0:17.1	that he actually thinks you can sue a newspaper for commissioning and publishing a political
0:22.3	poll. And now he's threatening to do it again because the New York Times published a poll
0:27.7	showing only 32% of Americans think they are better off with Donald Trump as president
0:34.5	than they were with Joe Biden as president.
0:38.4	49% say they are worse off and 19% say it's about the same.
0:44.3	The New York Times poll published today that has provoked Donald Trump's newest absurd and
0:49.3	empty threat to sue over a poll shows that 56% disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president.
1:00.2	The poll shows that Donald Trump has lost the voters that gave him the electoral college.
1:05.7	The swing voters who swung from Joe Biden in 2020 to Donald Trump in 2024 have swung back away from Donald Trump.
1:14.4	Donald Trump has lost them on the most important issues in the poll.
1:19.9	And so you are not alone tonight in America.
1:23.1	If you disapprove of the way Donald Trump is managing the federal government. You are part of the
1:29.3	56% majority who thinks that. You're not alone tonight. If you disapprove of the way Donald
1:37.3	Trump is handling Venezuela, you are joined by 53% of the country. You are not alone tonight. If you disapprove of the way Donald
1:46.6	Trump is handling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, you are part of the 54% who feel that way.
1:54.5	You're not alone tonight if you disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling immigration
1:58.8	and the economy and relationships with other countries.
2:03.2	A powerful 58% majority disapproves tonight of how Donald Trump is handling those three issues.
2:10.8	Immigration, the economy, and relationships with other countries.
2:16.6	That is the same amount of disapproval Donald Trump faces now in how he's handling the war
	...

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