in his slow-moving coup over the weekend

when he went to Michigan for a rally,

in part, to support fringe state-level candidates

who support the big lie that the 2020 election was stolen

and would wield power over future elections in the state.

For more on this, it's time for "A Closer Look."

[ Cheers and applause ]

The quasi-religious mythology

Trump's followers have built around him

have now gotten so detached from reality,

they're erasing the things he has done

while giving him credit for things he hasn't done.

For example, former Vice President Mike Pence --

you know, the guy Trump supporters threatened to hang

while Trump stood by silently --

said this over the weekend on Fox News.

-President Biden has done more damage to America

than any president in modern history.

-Wow. How strict is your definition of "modern history"?

[ As Pence ] Modern history is everything since the slap.

[ Laughter ]

Then from 900 A.D. to the slap, that's the Middle Ages.

[ Normal voice ] But seriously, man, what's your deal?

You're still trying to win over Trump voters?

They stormed the Capitol and they chanted, "Hang Mike Pence."

That's you.

You're like a guy who gets a fake number

from a woman at a bar and keeps calling it,

hoping to get a date.

"Hello. Is Alice there?

Well, this is the number she wrote on the bar napkin."

[ Laughter ]

"Well, you don't have to be rude.

And can I just add, I don't think kids

are old enough to have their own cars."

Or maybe Pence thinks Biden is worse than Trump

because he was asleep during the entirety

of the Trump presidency, which is possible,

given that in every meeting he had his eyes closed

like he was desperately hoping no one would notice him.

He's got his eyes closed like he's trying not to throw up

on a state fair Tilt-A-Whirl.

These Trump toadies are all such obsequious little worms,

but Pence's faux gravitas makes him that much more insufferable,

the head shaking, the solemn tone,

the put-on folksy demeanor.

He looks and moves like a Chuck E. Cheese robot

who tells the band to keep it down.

[ As Pence ] Fellas, it's loud enough in here

with all the dang kids screaming.

[ Normal voice ] But Trump sycophants

aren't just trying to erase his many failures,

they're also trying to give him credit

for things he had nothing to do with.

For example, on Saturday,

sitting member of Congress Representative Lisa McClain

said at a Trump rally in Michigan

that it was Trump who had found Osama bin Laden.

-While President Trump was in office,

we didn't have a war,

and I think he made three peace treaties,

caught Osama bin Laden and Soleimani, al-Baghdadi.

And this president is weak.

And I'll tell you, weakness breeds aggression.

We need strength.

-Yeah, we need strength -- the kind of strength it takes

to find and kill an elusive terrorist

while simultaneously hosting a game show

with your wet, asymmetrical sons.

Was finding bin Laden one of the tasks on "The Apprentice"?

[ As Trump ] Jose Canseco, you need to create

a 60-second commercial for the new OnStar mirror.

And, Lisa Rinna, you're off to Abbottabad, Pakistan...

[ Laughter ]

...to look for clues. You can do it, Lisa.

[ Normal voice ] Seriously, these people should have to take

the same kind of tests to stay in Congress

that you give a boxer to make sure they can stay in the fight.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" "16."

"What year is it?" "3069."

"Who killed Osama bin Laden?" "Donald Trump."

"Okay, we're calling it."

Would you seriously not remember

that famous photo where Barack Obama,

Hillary Clinton, and Joe Biden were in the situation room

watching the raid as it happened?

Is there some Photoshop version

floating around on the QAnon forums

where Trump is sitting in the middle of the picture

in that stance he always has, like he's trying to crowd out

the people next to him on the subway?

"Excuse me. Can you move?

I need at least an entire row to myself.

I can't close my legs.

I have to have my back-back on the ground.

It's also especially galling to give Trump credit

for catching bin Laden, given that Trump himself

dismissed it as a non-accomplishment

when the admiral in charge of the raid, William McRaven,

publicly criticized Trump during his presidency.

-Bill McRaven, retired admiral, Navy SEAL, 37 years,

former head of U.S. Special Operations...

-Hillary Clinton fan.

-...Special Operations... -Excuse me.

Hillary Clinton fan.

-...who led the operations, commanded the operations

that took down Saddam Hussein and that killed Osama bin Laden,

says that your sentiment is the greatest threat to democracy

in his lifetime. -Okay.

He's a Hillary Clinton backer and an Obama backer,

and, frankly... -He was a Navy SEAL.

-...wouldn't it have been nice if we got Osama bin Laden

a lot sooner than that?

Wouldn't it have been nice? You know, living --

Think of this -- living in Pakistan,

beautifully in Pakistan

in what I guess they considered a nice mansion.

I don't know. I've seen nicer.

-Alright, couple of things.

First of all, stop shouting "Hillary Clinton fan"

like a guy on "Wheel of Fortune" who insists his answer is right.

[ As Trump ] Pat, I'd like to solve the puzzle.

Hillary Clinton fan.

[ Buzzer ]

Hillary Clinton fan. [ Buzzer ]

[ Normal voice ] Okay, let's turn around the letters,

and we see that the answer is...

[ As Trump ] Uhhhh...

Hillary Clinton fan.

[ Buzzer ]

[ Normal voice ] Also, let's go back to this for a second,

because this is a perfect Trump sentence.

-Living in Pakistan, beautifully in Pakistan

in what I guess they considered a nice mansion.

I don't know. I've seen nicer.

-He wants to shame McRaven for not catching bin Laden sooner

by saying he was living in a beautiful mansion.

But he also can't stop himself from [bleep] on the mansion.

And look, like everyone, I was upset

when I heard bin Laden was living in a mansion,

and then I saw it and thought, "Okay.

That makes me feel a little bit better."

On a smaller scale, it's how I feel

when I see a picture of Trump

at the omelet bar at his golf club.

Sure, he's a free man, but those look like [bleep] eggs,

and that makes me smile a little bit.

Also, it's pretty rich for Trump to insinuate the admiral

who caught the world's most wanted terrorist

should have done it sooner, considering we're still waiting

on the tax returns Trump promised us in 2016.

Maybe Obama had to wait for the raid for the same reason

we're still waiting for that.

"We know where he is, Mr. President,

but our intel tells us he's being audited by the IRS."

[ As Obama ] Well, then we, uh...have to wait.

[ Laughter ]

[ Normal voice ] Anyway, McClain made that comment

in Michigan over the weekend

at yet another one of Trump's unhinged rallies.

And at first, it may have seemed like a typical Trump rally,

not worth paying much attention to,

given that most of it was his usual shtick.

For example, Trump did that thing he always does

where he says something, then predicts that the media

will criticize him for saying it.

-I knew Putin very well.

You know, they say, "Oh, he knows Putin.

He knows Putin. Oh."

That's a good thing, not a bad thing.

I know Kim Jong-un. I know President Xi of China.

-Why are you just listing off people, you know?

You sound like a 5-year-old rattling off

which dinosaur stickers he has.

"I got triceratops. I got brontosaurus.

I got doubles of pterodactyl."

Also, no one is mad that you know dictators.

They're mad because you admire and seek to emulate them.

You've constantly lavished praise on Vladimir Putin

as he criminally interfered in American democracy

and waged a brutal war on an innocent neighboring country.

And in general, you're clearly desperate to mimic autocrats,

like during a previous rally

when Trump said President Xi of China was smart

because he rules his country like a ruthless tyrant.

-You know, every time I say somebody's smart,

they always go, "Oh, Trump said

that President Xi of China is smart."

Well, you know, he runs 1.5 billion people

with an iron fist.

Yeah, I think he's pretty smart.

And they have a chain over there.

You know, if you're a dummy, you get left here.

It's like this. It's like a pyramid.

The smartest one gets to the top.

-I think you're confusing a dictatorship

with a cheerleading squad.

[ As Trump ] They put the smartest cheerleader at the top

because then if the pyramid collapses,

maybe you lose a few idiots.

But Becky still goes to Princeton.

[ Laughter ]

[ Normal voice ] Although I'm guessing there are some similarities.

"Janice, if you don't get your [bleep] together

and nail this basket toss, we are not going to make state."

By the way, you might think because I'm a 48-year-old man

and a father of three, I haven't seen the movie "Bring It On."

But guess what. You're wrong.

Because it came out 22 years ago,

when I was childless and happy.

In fact, I would even -- Look, I love my kids.

I just haven't seen that movie in like a month.

In fact, I would even go so far to say

that Trump wants to turn our democracy into a cheerocracy.

And that's today's unnecessary "Bring It On" reference.

[ Cheers and applause ]

Also, I love Trump's theory that the dummies

get left at the bottom in a dictatorship.

Let's hope Rudy Giuliani never has to find his way to the top

in a Trump dictatorship.

-From the top to the bottom, from the middle to the side.

[ As Giuliani ] Good news -- They told me I'm going to be

all the way up here at the top because I'm smart.

[ Laughter ]

[ Normal voice ] That's such a revealing window into Trump's worldview.

If you're a tyrant who rules with an iron fist,

that makes you smart, well, democracy is for suckers.

In fact, at his Michigan rally,

Trump even joked about what it would have sounded like

if he'd conceded,

mocking it like it was some dumb idea.

-Be a lot easier for me to say, "Oh."

Be a lot easier for me to do like many people have done,

get up and just say congratulations,

whoever it is I'm running against.

I mean, if you're running, I'd say, "Congratulations, Joe."

-Why is his Trump impression so bad?

[ Laughter ]

So every everyone has a Donald Trump

except Donald Trump?

He sounds like Vincent D'Onofrio from "Men in Black."

[ Muttering indistinctly ]

[ Laughter ]

[ As Trump ] I think my Trump's getting pretty good.

[ Laughter ]

[ Normal voice ] Like that, what you're doing right now.

[ As Trump ] What, like I'm doing right now.