Samantha Bee says no to the 2016 recounts — all of them
Samantha Bee began Monday's Full Frontal with a recap of President-elect Donald Trump's transition. "In the past three weeks, PEOTUS has made America great again by skipping security briefings, imperiling U.S. relations with China and India, threatening a private manufacturer, draining the swamp directly into his Cabinet, declaring open war on the press, and celebrating Take Your Daughter to Work Day with foreign leaders," she said, noting that the daughter in question, Ivanka Trump, will soon run her father's business empire. "Oh, you thought there were rules?" Bee asked. "Psych!"
"Turns out our institutions are only as strong as the unspoken norms we all agree to live by," she said. But the Trump transition was just an introduction to the larger topic of undermining democracy. President Obama will peacefully hand power to Trump on Jan. 20, Bee noted, but "if you want to see what it looks like when a defeated party clings to power, we have to go on a long journey to a hot land haunted by memories of civil war and sustained by farming a deadly, addictive drug: North Carolina."
On Election Night, Gov. Pat McCrory (R) lost to his Democratic challenger, Roy Cooper, and McCrory "took his defeat like a man — by which I mean he refused to have his status lowered." On Monday, 27 days later, McCrory finally gave up his push for recounts in more than 50 counties and conceded the election, less than gracefully. "Pat couldn't even concede without undermining faith in the process," Bee said. "I can't think of anything classier than crying conspiracy when you lose — oh, yes I can: Crying conspiracy when you win!" That would be a reference to Trump's baseless claims of rampant illegal voting.
"So, how do we restore public confidence in our elections? Not like this," Bee said, playing a clip of Green nominee Jill Stein explaining why she's pushing for a recount in three states. "Look, liberals, I know you only gave her money because you thought she'd take off with it and never come back — and we all want that — but instead of using your energy to undermine democracy, why not participate in it and help Foster Campbell win his run-off" in Louisiana's Senate race this weekend. "Remember, state elections come down to a handful of votes," she said: Just ask Pat McCrory. Watch below — but be warned, there is some NSFW language.