“Five alarm fire!” Trump caught with BOMBSHELL confession

Would you send the National Guard or ICE. to voting locations in November? Would. you do that? >> Would you know what? I'd do anything. necessary to make sure we have honest. elections. We have to have honest. elections. This is Democracy Watch, Mark. That was. a clip of Donald Trump being asked if he. was going to send National Guard or ICE. agents to the polls in November. This is. a theme that we've been touching on. quite a bit lately, and yet again, he. refused to rule it out saying that he. would do anything to ensure that we have. honest elections. And so, when he says,

quote, that we will have honest. elections, what does he mean by that? He means they'll be rigged in favor of. Republicans. And when he says he'll do. anything, he means he will do anything. You know, this is an alarm that I. sounded in 2020 before the election, and people told me to pipe down, that I. was being alarmist, that I was, you. know, raising people's concern for. nothing. And after I and my legal team. beat Donald Trump more than 60 times in. court in the post-election, I said he's not going to concede, and. people were like, he just needs more. time. You know, just give him space.

It's hard to run a presidential campaign. and then accept defeat. And the next. thing we saw was what happened on. January 6th with the violent. insurrection that he instigated in the. nation's capital, where his supporters. used violence, attacked police officers. in order to try to prevent the. certification of elections and the. peaceful transfer of power. So, when. Donald Trump says, and when asked about ICE, that he will. do anything, okay, anything. Like, think about that. What is any What does do anything mean. to a man.

who has already abused the process? What. does do anything. >> already incited an insurrection? Yeah, what does do anything mean to a man. who's already incited an insurrection? And what does do anything to a man who. then pardoned the insurrectionists? Like, pardoned them, and is now. reportedly, is what I read in the. newspaper, perhaps working out a. sweetheart deal with the IRS to pay them. Yeah. for for for this. So, we all need. to take this very very seriously. This. is a five-alarm fire. This is an alarm.

in the middle of the night that is. warning us that that that the arsonists. are on the loose. They are pouring. gasoline on the foundations and they are. lighting matches. And those of us who. live in the houses, we need to. understand that we need to protect. protect ourselves and our families. And for those of us who have the ability. to be firefighters, we need to grab a. hose and put out that fire. And that's. what I try to do every day as a lawyer. It's what I try to do in having founded. Democracy Docket. And it is what Brian.

and I do. with every one of these videos that we. do. We have chosen this series, this. Democracy Watch series, intentionally to. keep you informed. about the fires being lit by Donald. Trump and the Republicans. About the. fact that he will do anything to try to. undermine undermine free and fair. elections. And I was not silenced in. 2020, despite the fact that people said. I was being alarmist. I was not silenced. in 2024 and 2023, when everybody said, "Oh, we've got norms. We've got We're. about you know, Merrick Garland has. restored everything to normal and we.

don't need Marc Elias out there, you. know, saying that that that that Donald. Trump is going to come back and attack. free and fair elections." And Brian, you. and I did some of the earliest com-. content, some of the earliest videos. after Donald Trump won in 2024, warning. people that the large institutions were. not going to protect us and that we all. needed to be aware and prepared for what. we were going to see in 2025. And I'm. saying now the same about the election. of 2026. Right. And and by the way, I. would just add in terms of the large.

institutions not protecting us, you. know, that's in in large part why you. decided to start Democracy Docket. It's. what I use on a daily basis to get all. of my news coverage, especially as it. relates to attacks on democracy and. voting rights. And so, I would just ask. everybody who's watching right now who's. not yet subscribed to Democracy Docket. I'm going to put a link right here and. then the post description of this video. Please make sure to sign up. Support the. work that Mark is doing, elevate his. voice in this ecosystem because if. there's one person who we need to have a. bigger megaphone right now, it's him. Mark, to that end, you know, from from.

the perspective of an attorney who has. been litigating more cases, I think than. anybody else in this space, my concern. is that when Trump says he'll do. anything to make sure that we have, quote and quote, honest elections, which. of course is just his way of saying. elections where Republicans win and. Democrats lose, my concern is that, okay, we know what's. coming, but we have to wait until after. he. like after he engages in this nefarious.

behavior before we can litigate against. him for it. But by then, it's too late. Like if he sends National Guard to the. true to the polls. on on Election Day and it has the. intended impact on Election Day, well, then we can litigate after the fact and. that's all well and good, but it will. have already done its job on Election. Day. And so, is there anything that. could be done hearing him make these. warnings now where litigation could. ensue could ensue beforehand so that. we're not just waiting for him to.

undermine elections before we can. actually do something about it? Yeah, that's Look, that's always our goal, right? Right now, my law firm and I, we. are litigating 85 cases, actually now. more than 85. It's 87, I think, cases in 43 states. So, we are already litigating to try to. prevent bad things from happening and. try to create some good things to. happen, right? And so, we both defend. things and we try to, you know, help. improve voting in places where we can. through the courts. And so, that is a. critical part of the fight is.

anticipating what the challenges will be. and taking action. But part of that, Brian, is having people accept the. reality of where we are. And I want again go back. Part of what. has been frustrating to me has been in. the past how time at times Democrats. don't want to accept that things are as. dire as they are. They want to assume. that the institutions are strong. They. want to assume that the guardrails will. hold. And you and I have been doing this.

long enough to know that the guardrails. are not holding. The institutions are. not that strong and some of them are in. complete collapse because they've. capitulated. So yes, we can litigate in. advance and we do. And you know, believe. me, there is no one who's going to be. more aggressive in that fight than I am. But we need everybody watching this. video. We need all of you to share it. with your friends and your families and. your co-workers and your social media. feeds because if people don't know that. this is happening, it is too easy to.

take a step back and say, "You know. what? It'll probably all be okay." So go. ahead and share this video, subscribe to. this channel, also subscribe to. democracy.net. But But But the fight for. democracy is in part being done in. court, but it is also in part being done. in the court of public opinion and we. all play a role in that. I want to take this opportunity, as. you're talking about the ways in which. the federal government is kind of trying. to insert itself in states across the. country and you're litigating against. the federal government in a raft of the. Well, in most of these states across the.

country. There is some new news on 17. states that the RNC is targeting. Can. you speak on that? Yeah, and I'm really. glad you raised this, Brian, because, you know, this is now a multi-front war. Like, you know, in the in the past, yeah, I would be up against the RNC and. the RNC would try to suppress the vote. We would fight them in court and we'd. usually win. And, you know, then we got the. right-wing outside groups, you know, the. dark money organizations and then they. were in court and we'd fight them and.

we'd probably win. And now we have the Department of. Justice, right? So like, the Department. of Justice is now litigating and we're. litigating 30 cases against the. Department of Justice right now. So, when you then add into that equation. Donald Trump saying I will do anything. And then like I think it was like 24. hours later or shortly after, the RNC. saying, "Yep, he said he'll do. anything." And in addition to let's see, the National Guard, ICE, the Department of Justice, US Attorney's.

offices seizing ballots in Fulton. County, you know, the the Republican. Sheriff in. >> [laughter]. >> in in Riverside County in California. seizing ballots, the FBI apparently. showing up at an election official's. house in Milwaukee. On top of that, we. we can't forget we still have the RNC, right? The RNC is now deploying in 17. states. So, this has now become a very. dynamic battlefield for free and fair. elections, where it's not just coming. from one place or another. It's Donald.

Trump both controlling the formal power. of government, the formal political party and structure. on his part, and then kind of like this. network of organizations and individuals. and election deniers and vote. suppressors that operate sort of that. move in and out of all those spheres. And so, it's a big problem. It's a big. thing to tackle. And so, like I said, I'm tackling it in court and will. continue to do that. I'm trying to. tackle it in the court of public opinion.

by by speaking out and and and you know, this this series on your channel is a. big part of that. But we need everyone. to be a to lift themselves up into this. fight. So, there's no one watching this. who can't do something. You know, I've. said several times, they can subscribe. to this channel to start. They can share. this video with a friend. That's a. really easy thing. Just like there's a. share button. Click the share button, post it on social media, or or email it. to your friends. Like there are lots of. things that everyone could be doing to. raise the alarm. And the the mistake. we're making is that we think, "Okay, well, the RNC's doing this and I'm not.

the DNC, so there's nothing I can do. The Department of Justice is doing this. and I'm not a lawyer, so there's nothing. I can do. You know, Mark says the legacy. media is not doing their job, but I but. I'm not I'm not a journalist, there's. nothing I can do. And that's the wrong. attitude. There is you all are voters. You all are a public who can raise. awareness and help people make a plan. and help people know that rules have. changed and help them know what the RNC. is up to. And I can do my part and Brian. can do his part, but we can only succeed. in this if you do your part by sharing.

this content. And I would also ask here, Mark, you know, a lot of people are. going to watch this and they're going to. see kind of the systemic structural. disadvantages that Democrats are. contending with, whether it's the fact. that Democrats are often way more. deferential to the institutions and the. norms than Republicans are. They're. going to point to the fact that Donald. Trump has been able to usurp so much. control in the federal government and. the Democrats are so slow and and and. hesitant to be able to fight back. But. but my question here for you is do we. have the resources necessary to be able.

to fight back? Because I think a lot of. people are going to see this stuff and. say like this is all so much. How do you. contend with this? How do you contend. with an inherently anti-democratic small. d Democratic Party in the GOP and and. think that we're going to be able to to. come out on top here. And so, you know, you're on the front lines of this stuff. What do you say to those folks who I. think may be succumbing to some of the. hopelessness that I think Republicans. are trying to purposefully engineer in. people? Yeah, look, there's no there's no. question that we are in the fight of our.

generation. I mean, the fight fight for. democracy is the fight of our time. We wish it would be something else, but. it is the fight for democracy. And there is no guarantees that it's all. going to work out okay. Like I'm not. here to sell, you know, unfettered hope. You know, I I have never believed that. that the arc of the moral universe. definitely bends towards justice. That's. a place where I disagree with Dr. King. And I don't even think necessarily if we. push on it, it'll necessarily bend in. the direction of justice as many people. say. I do believe though if we don't.

push on it, it definitely won't go it. would definitely won't bend in the right. direction. So, we all need to do the. things we can do. And [snorts] we cannot give up hope in. those things. You know, the the the. citizens of Hungary didn't give up hope. when the system was rigged against them. The the the freedom writers in this. country, the people who marched across. the. uh you know, the the Edmund Pettus. Bridge, they didn't give up hope even. though the odds were stacked against. them. In 2020, when Donald Trump was sitting.

in the White House. and we were fending off his lawsuits. before many times very hostile courts. there was no guarantee we were going to. win. There was no guarantee he was going. to leave leave. There was no guarantee. that January 6th was not going to. succeed. But we we had to do the things we could. do to prevent that from happening. And. we wound up beating him in court and. ultimately democracy held, the. guardrails survived, and and he and he. lost and and Joe Biden became president.

But now he's back and there's no. guarantee it'll be better this time, that it will work out this time. But it. won't if we don't try. Yeah. So, that is. the reason why I keep calling upon the. audience and the people watching this. and listening to this to do their part. because hopelessness is the tool of the. oppressor, not the oppressed. Giving up is what Donald Trump wants you. to do. He does not want you to believe. there is a chance we will win these. court cases. He wants you to think the. courts are rigged against us. He does not want you to think that your. protests will matter. He wants you to. think they'll fall on deaf ears. He does.

not want you to believe that if you. share content from Brian and from other. creators that it will make a difference, that it's just one person sharing one. YouTube video. But they're wrong. Together we can build this movement, this pro-democracy movement, and we can. win. It doesn't mean we will, but we. can, and we have to try. Perfectly put, and I think that right. there, that whole answer underscores the. need to to Mark's voice in this. ecosystem more than anything. So, I'm. going to put the link uh for Democracy. Docket right here on the screen and also.

in the post description of this video. If you're not yet signed up, support. Mark's work, support his litigation, uh. support his fight mentality, and make. sure to sign up. I'm Brian Tyler Cohen. I'm Marc Elias. This is Democracy Watch. >> [music].