All language subtitles for Ep 3. Eve of Destruction

Yes.
I just received a big postcard

from the Lincoln Project,
and I am just appalled

at the lies that you guys
are putting out.

Why would you want
socialist government

to take over this nation?

It makes me want to work
harder for President Trump.

The Lincoln Project.
Who are you?

Yeah.
I just wanted to let you know

that there's a special place
in hell

waiting for you,
you Communist bastards.

This message is for Goldie.

No matter what you do,
we are still voting for Trump.

We love Trump.

Hi.
This message is for Goldie.

All of my friends
are not voting for Biden.

Goodbye.

This is for
Michael Steele, Rick Wilson.

Youse all suck cock,

you fucking lowlife
nigger motherfuckers.

And Rick Wilson, you're
a fucking punk, motherfucker.

I'd like to smack you
in your fucking face,

you ugly cocksucker.

Trump supporters decided

that Donald Trump
is the avatar of their rage,

and their anger,
and their hatred.

There's a part of me, maybe
in the beginning of this,

that would have said,

"Wow. I've gotta really look
at it from their perspective."

But you know,
after the tenth time your kids

get a death threat from these
fucking people, you're done.

I fucking brought my passport
to Utah.

You don't do that,
unless there's something

in the back
of your head thinking,

"We may have to get the fuck
out of here quick."

You're a wolf
in sheep's clothing.

You're a Democrat.

You're working against
the Republican Party?

Okay. You're a piece
of worthless, torrid crap.

Your whole Lincoln Project.
You're shit!

dramatic music

So Russians talk about
lozhnaya informatsiya,

which is, in essence, false
information with a purpose,

and that's really
what's been going on here.

They've started this
"election fraud's a problem."

That's been a narrative
since the beginning, right?

They've been laying
this groundwork forever.

This was just the other day.
It's from--

He literally lays it all out
right here.

And we are going
to win four more years.

Four more years!
Four more years!

- Four more years!
- And then after that,

we'll go for another
four years,

because you know what?
They spied on my campaign.

We should get a redo
of four years.

Because the only way
we're gonna lose this election

is if the election is rigged.
Remember that.

Why do democracies fail?

What I have seen,
in places like Venezuela,

Russia, Belarus,

where you've had
democratically-elected

people become autocratic leaders,

there's a tipping point
where they cross it

and where giving up power
is more of a threat

than peacefully transitioning.

And it sounds like
high-minded conversation,

but in reality, it's something
that we may end up facing here.

So beyond that,
create an existential threat.

They say that they're gonna
threaten riots if they lose.

We'll put 'em down very
quickly, if they do that.

How are you gonna do that?

We have the right to do that.

We have the power
to do that, if we want.

Look, it's called insurrection.

We just send in,
and we do it very easy.

It's all about division.

Chaos. That's what they want.

It's the ecosystem.

I mean, it is incredibly
efficient and effective.

This is Trump saying
he's never gonna concede.

Can you give a direct answer?
You will accept the election?

I have to see. No,
I'm not gonna just say yes.

I'm not gonna say no,
and I didn't last time, either.

And when the peaceful
transition of power fails,

then all of the normal rules

under which we operate
may go off.

Like, what percentage
right now,

of Republicans,
no matter what happens,

they're gonna say
that Donald Trump was cheated?

It's high. They're gonna have
the party behind 'em.

They'll all rally to him.

This is our experience
from '15, and '16,

and '17, and '18, and '19.

Every time someone gambles

that somebody's
standing up to this guy...

It doesn't happen.

They have violence

and the threat of violence
on their side.

When it's given
the right prompting

by the right
kind of authoritarians,

all the veneer of civilization
goes, like that.

soft music

Hey, honey.

Hi, Mommy.

You asked me to wake you

and tell you what happened
in the election.

Who won?

Trump. Trump won.

But I thought you could only be
president two times.

Not anymore.

Four more years!
Four more years!

Four more years,
four more years!

The Lincoln Project
is responsible

for the content
of this advertising.

What they're
asking you to do

is take their temperature
before you get to school,

so that they--'cause
a temperature check--

Yeah.
Last time it didn't work.

Well, it did work.
It was just different.

Yeah, so Friday is
the school party, and then...

I have twin boys,
Abel and Eli.

I don't know about, like,
what you want to do

about trick-or-treating
on Saturday.

When I had my embryos implanted,

my parents were not happy.

They're very pro-life, and I
thought that was something

that they would celebrate,
because it's life.

They were like, "We're praying
about it, Sarah."

It was one of those moments
in my life

that I was really--
I-I didn't understand.

I don't know that
I'll ever understand.

All right. You good?

I'm gonna go down
and give you a kiss goodbye.

I'm going
to the airport,

- and you're going to Denver.
- Oh!

Now, my parents,
they feel very differently.

They tell me that Abel
and Eli, they're the...

greatest gift
that they've ever had.

I love you. I'll see you.
I'll call you tonight.

I like your car.

Yeah. He loves cars.
Have fun!

Actually, I'm sad that
they're leaving this week,

but there's more to do
than I expected.

So first of all, we're dropping
four spots today

and debuting one tonight,

so we already dropped Fairytale.

A man
comes down from his tower

and is crowned the most
powerful man on Earth.

He gives from the rich
and takes from the poor.

We dropped a Joe Biden aspirational.

This is Joe Biden's moment.

Also, tomorrow,
we're gonna drop the 545.

It's called Cruel.

It's about the 545 children
that are still in cages.

Trump's plan was
to crush immigrant children.

So starting this Tuesday
through November 3rd

has to be done and approved
by Facebook by Saturday night.

We need to get all these
South Carolina ones done.

Reed disagrees. Reed thinks
that those can go.

Those can go on Facebook.

They just will go
without money.

What do you mean it can go
on Facebook without money?

What does that mean?

There will be no digital
campaign behind it,

so we won't be shoving it
into a specific state.

I want to--where is Reed?

Reed is not gonna be
on this call.

Is Rick on?

No.

Guys have limited time.

We have a day and a half
for them to do this.

I have no higher priority
than getting squared away

in these senate races,

so, like, we don't need to do
a Biden positive spot

at the expense of doing what we
need to do in South Carolina.

Like, I literally don't want
to have to find a roof

to jump off of,
because, you know,

Lindsey Graham won
by 900 votes in South Carolina.

Yeah.
- I wanna do everything we can

as an organization, right,

to get Lindsey Graham
out of there.

Okay. All right.

And I'll say this.

This is like a story
that's never been told, right,

in connection
with the Donald Trump thing.

When I took over
the McCain campaign,

I was put in charge
of everything

except the VP vetting.

And so the idea was, like,
we'd pick Lieberman.

McCain picked a great Democrat,

and we're gonna solve this
country's biggest problems,

but it was dependent
on secrecy,

and Lindsey Graham
went out and leaked it.

So that was off, right?

And so I say we should
take a look at Palin.

And I said, "I don't know
anything about her,

other than she has
the highest approval level

of any governor."

Biggest fucking mistake
of my entire life

and that I will regret,
until the day I die,

is what happened
the next morning.

Sarah Palin comes rolling down
into McCain's compound,

in Sedona, Arizona,

and McCain
goes to me and Mark Salter,

he goes, "Come on, boys."

He goes,
"Let's go talk to her."

And I go, "It's totally
inappropriate for us

to be in the meeting."

After they met for two hours,

we went for a walk
by the river.

I go, "Listen, is she ready?"

He goes, "She'll be ready."

And Cindy McCain said,
"It's a gamble."

And he said,

"Well, you shouldn't
have said that to me, Cindy,

'cause you know
how much I like craps."

I never told the story.

John McCain pretended to
fucking roll dice in his hand,

and he blew out his hand,
he went--and he threw the dice,

and he said,
"Fuck it. Let's do it."

Thank you.

Three days after
we got to the convention,

I had my first,
like, discussion

of any substance with her.

Ten minutes later,
I was showing her on a map,

you know, this is Iraq,
this is Afghanistan.

Jesus Christ.

People in the caves
here attacked us.

We attacked this country.

Saddam Hussein is here.
Osama bin Laden is here.

And later that day,
I had to tell her

that no, it wasn't
the Queen of England.

It was the
British Prime Minister

that the President dealt with.

So that was like
when I knew.

Don't you think we
made the right choice

for the next vice president
of the United States?

Fifty states in this country.

She is the most popular governor,

of any governor, of any state.

She is the future
of the Republican party.

She's going to be
an outstanding vice president.

Steve is in a very
small group of people

that have been what
we call the number one--

the person in charge
of the presidential, the race.

There's maybe a dozen people
alive that have done that.

You are going to make decisions

that are going to change
the course of history,

whether you win or lose.

That decision created
a cascading effect

for the Republican Party
and for the country now.

So what they're gonna try to do
is make you scared of me.

Our opponent sees
America as imperfect enough

to pal around with terrorists

who targeted their own country.

Boo!

Barack Obama is a socialist.

He believes
in redistributing wealth.

He scares me.

He scares me, because I believe
that he's a Marxist.

"You know, he doesn't look like
all those other presidents

on those dollar bills.
You know?"

He's related to a, uh,
known terrorist.

Tell me he's American.
No, he is not.

People are trying to figure out

why isn't he giving
his birth certificate?

I appreciate that The Donald
wants to spend his resources

in getting to the bottom of
something that so interests him

and many Americans.

Barack Obama
is the first illegal

that needs to be removed from
the United States of America!

That Muslim,
no-good-for-nothing,

- Communist piece of shit!
- Yeah!

- It's bullshit!
- Bullshit!

And guess what, Obama?
You're fired!

Tonight, Sarah Palin is back.

Are you ready to make
America great again?

Shaking up the Republican race

with just 13 days to go
before the Iowa caucuses.

Build that wall!
Build that wall!

Build that wall!

You want to be in America?

A, you better
be here illegally,

or you're outta here.

B, when you're here,
let's speak American.

What they're tapping into

is this peculiar
form of isolationism,

and rejecting expertise,

and claiming it as a virtue.

It began in that moment.
It had always been there,

but that's where it was given
the imprimatur of the party,

at the highest levels.

And the party's
never turned back.

edgy music

With eight days
left until the election,

early voting has already
soared to record highs.

More than 60 million people
have cast ballots.

Trump continues
to cast doubt

on the integrity
of the election,

making outlandish predictions
of widespread fraud,

as he did today,

while speaking
to voters in Pennsylvania.

We're watching you, Governor,
very closely, in Philadelphia.

We're watching you.

This morning,
Texas Governor Greg Abbott

restricting the number
of ballot drop boxes

in each of the state's
counties to just one.

Harris County,

which includes
the city of Houston,

is nearly 1,800 square miles.
Larger than Rhode Island.

The bus ain't gonna
bring you here.

You can't walk across
this parking lot.

They're not gonna let you,

so you have to have
some type of vehicle

to get you into this location.

It's just impossible
to imagine

what Governor Abbott
is doing here

other than restricting
voting access.

We are fundraising.
10 million for Texas,

so we're doing a big media
push on it,

to try to help with
that fundraising effort.

- Okey-dokey.
- So I need...

So 10 for Texas is an idea

that Rick and John
have come up with,

the founders, about raising
10 million for Texas.

John lives in Austin, Texas.

John, do we know when we're
looking at taking that live?

He's still recovering from his
heart condition that he had,

but he knows Texas
better than any of us

are gonna know Texas.

And I do think Joe Biden

has a chance in Texas,
and I'll tell you why, Cheryl.

We just got off a call
with Weaver and Rick,

on the 10 for Texas thing
that we're working on.

Fran, I don't know if--

What is the 10
for--is that $10 million?

Yes. We're trying
to do a push in Texas.

Just to
push back a little bit,

and I just want to make sure
that we feel

that is the most efficient
place for our resources.

There's nothing in the numbers
that backs up

that this is worth
this level of investment.

I totally could not
agree with you more.

I will flag this for Rick
and let Rick or Reed

call you back on it.

Suddenly, near the end
of the campaign,

John Weaver's now attempting
to get back in,

and we're like,
"Well, you're sick.

This is not a good idea,"

'cause I guess he probably
saw the campaign

maybe was gonna pass him by,

and he wouldn't get
what he saw

as his due share
of the credit.

But the truth is we were
never gonna spend

$10 million in Texas
in October.

Like, we're just never
going to do that.

This is what it
looked like, in 2016.

Remember,
this is how Trump won.

John Weaver would
call me, and call me,

and call me constantly.

And I decided to be
the lightning rod,

because I didn't want them
to have to deal with it.

I'm like, "Guys, I will
manage the John situation.

I will yes John to death,
on this."

He could get Arizona.

He could pick up Georgia.
He'd be over 270.

There are a number
of other options

that present themselves
for Joe Biden.

So Mom, hi.
This is Jennifer Horn.

She's one of the founders
of the Lincoln Project.

Hi, Mrs. Lenti. How are you?

- Please call me Carol.
- Thank you.

So Jennifer was the head
of the Republican Party

for New Hampshire.
Dyed-in-the-wool Republican.

I am not just a lifelong Republican.

I'm a lifelong Catholic,
as well. I was raised--

In these last couple days,

I want my mom to hear that
there are pro-life women,

like Jennifer, who are
conservatives first,

who are part of this team.

Maybe Jennifer's perspective--
she'd be open to it,

because it was from
another woman of faith.

And because I'm kind of
more conservative,

I've always been Republican.
I've always voted Republican.

But Donald Trump changed
all of that for me.

Well, first of all, Joe Biden
and Donald Trump--

neither of them are choir boys,

and I wouldn't want
my daughter

to date either of 'em,
to be perfectly honest.

However, Sarah--however,

I am an issue voter,

and I really believe
that we are created

in the image of God

and that when it was made
legal it was easier to think,

"Well, if it does happen,
I can end it."

When before, it wasn't
that easy to do.

You know what, Carol,
I don't disagree with you

on a lot of what
you're talking about,

but Donald Trump, to me,
he is instilling a culture

that is truly anti
the value of life.

So I don't feel like I am,
in any way,

betraying my faith
or my religious upbringing

when I vote
against Donald Trump.

I'm not crazy about him either,

but no one
is beyond redemption,

so let's understand that,
you know, he can change too.

But Trump is the
antithesis of everything

that a Godly man should be.

I don't want my sons
to ever model that behavior,

and that behavior
starts at the top.

And having that kid
go to Kenosha and shoot--

There have been a lot
of Biden followers

that have shot people,
and looted,

and rioted also, so--

We're talking about life.
Looting is one thing.

Shooting two people.

Killing people
is another thing, to me.

Like, that's enough.

You are so angry,
and you hate him so much.

That is what you're running on,
instead of running on issues.

I feel like I have
a better chance,

in the pro-life arena,

with Donald Trump
as president

and a conservative
White House.

Trump's going to Atlanta,
and they're spending.

Zack, how much are they
spending on Atlanta?

They're spending, like,
$50 million.

Or no, sorry.
It's 2:1 in Georgia.

I think it's like eight
to four, I want to say.

Let me double check
those numbers and make sure.

Yeah. I mean, they're spending
400 or 500 grand a week,

in Atlanta, which is nuts,

because the polling
that came out today

shows it's a dead heat.

If you have high
African-American turnout

or something,
a model similar to 2018,

I think I'm a little bit
more bullish

on Georgia than most folks.

I mean they've spent, like,
a no bullshit amount of money.

They're seeing
the same numbers we're seeing.

They're seeing
what we're seeing.

Yeah.

- So Georgia?
- Georgia.

Georgia?
Yeah.

energetic music

In some parts of Georgia,

it already looks
like election day.

How long have you guys
been out here, so far?

Four hours.

It could have rained.
It could have snowed.

I would not care.

- You're not going anywhere?
- I'm not going anywhere.

It's time to stand up

and take back our democracy.

We win Georgia,
we win everything.

Give me one second.

Politically speaking,

I've done more work
on the Republican side,

but I've always
been Independent.

And so I worked
with Republican candidates

who I thought could move
more into that middle space,

so John Kasich,
in 2015, for instance.

I think the betterment
of America was found

in that middle space,

so I'm very electorally
pragmatic, I would say.

And I say it all the
time, I say it like this.

With the possible exception
of Abraham Lincoln,

a lot of people like me to
leave the word "possible" out,

there is no president
that has done more

for the Black community
than Donald Trump.

It's true.

Unbelievable.

Welcome back, Nate Nesbitt.
Nate is back with us.

The Lincoln Project's
national press secretary.

Unlike any president
I've ever seen,

Donald Trump has looked to both
suppress and subtract the vote,

and he's keyed in
on a particular demographic

within the Black community,

and that's Black young men,

and it's important that we
turn them out and that we...

I think most of white America
understands white America.

You run into it
with conservatives.

You run into it with liberals.

It's still not a full extension
of freedom and liberty,

and irrespective of which way
you swung it politically,

I'd still be having this
fight in different ways.

Yes indeed. Yes
indeed. What's happening?

Welcome to Vote or Die,

the roundtable with
the Black man's perspective.

My name is Big Tigger.

We are in front of a live
audience. I want you to be--

I wish I had
a longer runway on this,

but my desire,
as we near election day,

is to be able to push
for the vote, for our people.

I think those things need
to take place a lot more often.

My name is Antonio,
but how are we supposed to vote

when we getting killed out here
by the police every day?

If you didn't get killed today...

you can vote tomorrow,
all right?

If you live long enough,

you do that in honor
of everyone else

who didn't make it
to see that day.

Just people that
show up to vote,

every single election,

and they care about
what they voting for.

They not your people.
They don't represent you.

They making decisions
about your life,

so who gonna stand up
and make a decision for you?

I like to do things people
say I can't do.

Me personally.
If you tell me I can't do this,

I'ma make a way,
if I can, to do it.

And so for me,
voting just made me feel like

I was a part of something,

like, that somebody told me
I couldn't be a part of.

Right.
Don't be dying to fit in

when you were born to stand up.

I want to
thank you for joining us.

Shout out to Lincoln Project.
Grass roots law project.

This has been Vote or Die,
the Black male perspective.

I cannot say
I'm at peace

with where I think
this country is going.

You know, this town hall makes
the argument plain and clear

of why we must turn out
to vote, in this moment.

So get this. I just finished
an hour, uh, Zoom

with all of
Demi Lovato's people.

She did a song, and the Lincoln
Project is gonna premiere it.

Oh, my God. I love it.

A song and a video called
"Commander in Chief."

And it's tremendous, so we're
working out all the details.

We're gonna release it, like,
the next 24-48 hours.

Oh, my God. I love
that. That's amazing.

Okay. What am I doing?

Close your eyes,
and listen to the song.

What do you see?

Were you ever taught
when you were young

If you mess
with things selfishly

They're bound
to come undone

I'm not the only one

It's a big project,
and you're feeling overwhelmed,

but you've got this.

Washington Square Park. Riots.
Cops. George Floyd.

- Breonna Taylor.
- Breonna Taylor.

"Commander in Chief."

How does it feel
to still be able to breathe?

That is all violence.

When we get to "Won't give up.
Stand our ground,"

that's when you start
showing the positive stuff.

And then, Rick,

you've also got
Demi Lovato, right?

Is this a strategic thing?

One hundred million followers.
1% of them join us, it's--

This could be a
really good fundraising push.

Like really good.

I hate pulling these clips of,

like, George Floyd's brother,
like, on the ground, in tears.

I know.
I know you do.

- It feels so exploitative.
- But you know what?

You are reaching emotional
resonance with people.

It's not exploitative.
This is what people need,

in this moment,
to catalyze around.

All the stress
on the country right now.

moody music

We're all taking a
break, and going to have food

downtown,
in beautiful Park City.

I don't know
the meaning of the word break.

Too bad.
You're gonna take a break.

I'm the mom here, remember?

These are my surrogate parents.

We are gonna close in,
by the end of this week,

on around 200 ads produced
in the last nine months.

Our daytime show
is doing huge numbers.

Our daytime show streamed
more people than MSNBC had on,

at one point, last week.
Thank you.

Which is kind of
a remarkable experience.

Hopefully, we're gonna launch
a Demi Lovato video

that they gave us permission
to use today

that we're making
a video for her.

So I don't think
we have a TikTok now,

but we're about to.

We're in the democracy
business now.

Our product is rebellion
and democracy.

The skill set
we've brought into it

and the audience we built
for it is fungible.

Hey, Siri. Call Ra Kumar.

Did you get that spreadsheet
I sent you?

So yesterday, a friend
of mine in the Valley.

He's a venture guy.

He's not a media guy,
and he says, "Dude,

our social media footprint
of ad views is insane."

Just on YouTube, over 200
million views for our ads.

Just on YouTube.

Some of those numbers
are like CNN numbers.

He goes, "If people knew
these numbers,

they'd be beating
your door down."

We're talking about

a $25-55 million a round.

I mean fuck me.

So you have my full proxy,
as always.

All right.
Thanks, brother. See you.

How are we feeling, Kate?

We're feeling good.

Are we feeling good?
Can I see what we got?

Won't give up,
stand our ground

We'll be in the streets,
for your commander-in-chief

Honestly

You fucking nailed it.

It's so good, Kate.

Fucking nailed it.

- Isn't it amazing?
- Whoo!

Wow.

We're about to wreck
the internet with this, okay?

One day a week, I will
just drive out this way,

because I just need to,
like, get away from screens

and everything
and just chill out.

If we don't get the outcome
we want from the election,

this is, like, the last normal
weeks for a long time.

The world is ugly, if...

the United States

is in democratic crisis, right?

Or if American democracy
is in trouble.

The world's in trouble.

If that happens,
I mean it's a protracted,

decade-long bad situation,

and it's just sort of
like--this might be

the last normal couple weeks
we all get for a while.

So enjoy it.

Win or lose,
just no offense, everybody,

I would rather be
in my own house with my husband

and, um, you know,

there's a lot at stake, so.

You can say that twice.

I think we did the best with
a very difficult situation.

With people from different
political backgrounds,

and political parties
and views,

which doesn't usually happen,
on a campaign.

And all of us
have different reasons

for supporting Joe Biden.

I think the reason why I might
be here is very different

than the reason
why someone else is,

and so that adds a different
dynamic than you usually get,

in most campaigns...

And can add some conflict.

It seems, on the basis
of what we've been reading

in Axios this morning

and other places that you guys
have a longer-term ambition

now that goes beyond,
in terms of advocacy.

It goes beyond
just beating Donald Trump.

It goes to some larger--

The Axios article
came out on a morning

when Reed and I
were doing interview

on Morning Joe together.

I was sitting there miked up,
ready to be interviewed.

Had never heard of it before,
but they asked Reed about it.

Like, what's life after Trump
like, for the Lincoln Project?

Sure. Well, first and foremost,
I think, like the rest of us

who are dedicated
to beating him,

we've got seven more days
to go until--

And he kind of blew off
the question,

and thank God
they didn't ask me,

because I knew nothing.

I was shocked.
Got off the air, texted Sarah,

and said,
"What is this all about?"

Steve, do you want
to address the Axios?

Because I know a lot
of people have questions.

You all, I just
want to say something.

I'm pissed about it.

Yeah.
No one gets more

pissed about it than I am.

The story is not correct.

Questions?

Yeah. Do we know
how it happened?

Didn't they--weren't they over

there interviewing you
and Rick?

No, no. Yes.

We had fully intended
to do a story with Axios.

My question is why did
Rick's agent tell them that?

Ron?
Ron, call me real quick.

Yeah.

Hey.

I understand that,
but here is my request.

I would appreciate
a lot more communication

about whatever it is that
may or may not be happening,

because I feel like
I haven't been in the loop.

And I don't want
to read headlines

and have that be the first
I hear of something.

Okay. Okay bye.

Story is not correct.

We have no representation
in Hollywood.

We've had no discussions
with each other,

other than
political discussions.

Like, we're all doing
the same thing every day.

We have talked to
the EPA guys,

and we've talked
to other people

who all have thoughts about
opportunities in the future.

We've signed no papers.
There are no deals.

The story is being
corrected by Axios.

The Axios article came out,

and it was very odd.
It was very peculiar.

It never occurred to me
to go out

and start a media company,
all right?

That's not what I do.

It's not what anybody
in the organization does.

That's not necessarily bad,
but at a minimum,

there needs to be
some discussion about it.

Well, I have a question.

Why are we doing
any type of victory lap,

seven days before the election
with that type of story?

That's a good question, Keith,

and we shouldn't.

In a political organization
that moves fast,

that's decentralized,
stuff happens.

We had people calling us like,

"We want you to form
a media company," after this.

You know, we had taken
some very, very early,

preliminary steps,
because we realized

Trumpism isn't simply
a political problem.

It's a cultural problem,

and my idea of the media
company, on the outside,

was to use that platform
and that credibility

we had to start influencing
the cultural space,

to dismantle the perverse
incentives that make people go,

"Hey, authoritarianism
is cool."

There is an honest point here.

The Lincoln Project
was a content machine

dedicated to defeating
Donald Trump.

It was the content
that mattered.

It was the messengers
who could carry that content

out into the national media

and go to war with Donald
Trump's people every day.

And that was me,
and that was Steve,

and that was Reed,
and that was Stuart.

I would like
to make a suggestion.

I think that the founders need
to have a meeting with just us,

to have kind of
a long-term discussion

about a lot of things.

We've never had that meeting.
I think it's time.

Yeah.
I think that's a good idea.

I'm in agreement.
I think it would be smart.

No objection here.
None whatsoever.

So as you know, we're
not fans of Rick Wilson here.

Do you think these are
principled people,

or you think they're grifters
who are taking money?

These spiteful losers
are looking for a way

to enrich themselves while
empowering the very people

who want to tear down
the traditions

that they claim
to hold so dear.

They just have, like, a new
business opportunity,

is all that it is.

After bilking
Republicans for years,

they're now
sucking up millions

from duped Democrat voters.

The Lincoln Project
is not your friend.

Do not support
the Lincoln Project!

What an incredible grift.

What a great country
where you can make money

doing stuff like this.

It truly is incredible.

I don't know. Why do they
need to believe this?

Why is there this need?

We have become the named
adversary of Trump.

We've become, you know,
the nemesis of Trump,

and therefore,
we must be attacked

at all times by the right.

The accusation that it's
a grift is projection,

because they see what
the Trump campaign is.

A billion-dollar grift.

I mean,
we're a rounding error,

compared to the Trump campaign.

- Sure.
- Well, I think we should

also remember just on the like
who doesn't really dig us--

it's also like
the professional left.

Let's be clear.

They still see us
as Republicans, right,

and anything that gives
any sort of credit

would mean that it took the
Republicans to beat this guy,

'cause the Democrats couldn't.

There's a part of me that says
"You know what?

Like, I don't really
fucking care

what any of these people say."

One of the topics
of conversation

in the D.C. circles is,

"How are they getting
all this amazing press?"

Maybe because we're good
at getting press?

Which is exactly why
they are pissed off.

We had a founders-only
meeting at Steve's house...

and Steve said to everybody,

"We want to keep the Lincoln
Project going and expand it,

and there may be an opportunity

for everyone around this table

to join a media company,
and if we do it right,

it can be something that we do
great things in the culture

and that could generate
generational wealth

for all of us if we sell it
at the right time

in the future."

- Hey.
- Hey, how are you?

I'm good.
How was the meeting?

It was good. It was good.

Was there a lot of
airing of grievances?

- Almost none.
- Oh, good. Wow.

In fact, I would say none.

Okay. Unbelievable.
After all that?

Well, I mean
I talked to Mike.

- Yeah.
- And I told him that,

if that was how
it was gonna be,

it was gonna go downhill,
in a hurry.

- Okay.
- Steve ran it,

so he basically like,

"If you guys wanna be involved
you can be involved,"

and you know, we'll get to
the hard things when it's like

yes, when we say
you're an equity partner

that means you get 1%
of the company. You know.

- Uh-huh, uh-huh.
- We didn't do any of that,

so I think letting Steve
take the lead, too,

helps because they might
push back on me.

They're not gonna
push back on him, right?

No they won't. No. Yep. Good.

So but that we also said

there's no discussion
on that front,

until and unless we solve
our black box problem, so--

- Got it.
- As we called it.

- Got it. Yeah.
- All right. Perfect.

Hey, there's Rick.
Let me call you back.

Okay. Bye.

moody music

- Good way to put it.
- Yeah.

Yes.

Yeah. Fair enough. Well put.

Yeah. I can't--

Hello.

Didn't realize
they were right there,

but I'm good with
where we are, so--

- Yeah.
- All right.

- I thought it was good.
- Yeah.

I had a good chat with Ron
about it, too, and--

Good, good, good.

Yeah. I think the main thing

is we're building something
for a new chapter.

Right, right.

And some of those old wounds
are gonna be there,

but they need to be resolved,

and I heard that
they're aware of that.

Yeah, and I just want to know,
going forward,

that we are all in agreement
about our purpose

and our positions
in the organization, so...

I think as long as we keep
pressing the case, it'll...

Yeah, yep.

Keep being the case,
as you said.

- Mm-hmm. I'm in.
- Yeah?

I'm in. I like it.
I like where we're headed.

I'm glad.

I really like
where we're headed.

I really like the vision.
I think it's--

It's exciting.

It's exciting, and it's good.

Rick, Steve,
Kate reminded me last night

that she put together
those South Carolina videos

for you guys,
and they haven't gone out.

She just wanted
to remind you guys

that they're still out there.

- The other Lindsey videos?
- Yeah.

They're the ones that you guys
asked her to cut this weekend.

She showed 'em to you
on Sunday, at her house.

Oh, yeah. I don't know
why those aren't out.

Are you telling me
that those videos

are not digitally purchased?

They weren't sent over.

I've literally asked
this question 11 fucking times

about whether we made
the deadline or not,

and until this moment,
I've been told repeatedly

that all of those ads
are maxed out on digital.

Like, why can't I get
an answer to that question?

Are those ads online?

Are they playing
digitally in South Carolina?

The answer's yes or no.

I haven't seen the ads.

Like, how the fuck
is that possible?

- Okay, Ron--
- Are those ads

- up online?
- I don't know what ads

we're talking about.
I have not seen them.

Rick?

Yeah. We can't put them up,
unless we see 'em, I--

I haven't seen them.

They were created
for the deadline.

Part of that--the 1,500--

Wait, wait, wait.
Okay, so--

When I ask a question

about the fucking traffic,

and I got ten people
bobble-heading

back at me like it's done,

I want precise
fucking information

about what's up and where.

We sent you a chart, at 4 p.m.,

of everything that we had.

- Christ's sakes.
- I'm just giving--

You were on all the calls.

I said ten times on this

that this is a game
of small numbers,

and these ads need to be
on the air digitally,

under a deadline
that we knew about on Sunday.

Get this shit
squared away immediately.

- Hey, Mike.
- Hey.

I need to understand

what happened here, okay?
What happened?

Okay.
Late Friday night, Steve said,

"I want 15 Lindsey Graham ads.

I want 'em done tomorrow."

Like 10-15 second things
that we can run on Facebook.

I said, "My understanding is
this stuff has to be approved

by Saturday, at midnight."

And he said,
"Mike, I want it done."

It didn't occur to anyone
to let me know?

It didn't occur to anyone.

Now, that would be
Steve's fault and my fault,

because I don't know
how ads gets done.

I just assumed that Kate
cut these quick spots,

and then they got
these things approved.

- I had no idea.
- They got 'em approved by whom?

By Facebook,

but I don't know
how the process works--

No. They did not get them
approved by Facebook.

Okay. I didn't know.
I--

Everything--the only people
that get things

approved by Facebook
are Conor and Ron.

Conor's never seen them?

No! We never saw them,
until this morning, Mike.

I hear you.

I'm just telling you this is
Steve's fault and my fault.

Rick and Ryan know better.

They should have
known immediately,

and Kate knows that
everything runs through us.

It has to be approved by legal,

and they chose
to not loop us in, period.

I don't know
that this is of value,

to have the conversation
in front of everybody,

on email.

Yes it is, because they need
to be held accountable, Mike.

They're not children.
They're not fucking children.

I'm sorry. Grow up.
Not you. Them.

No.

I know what you're saying,
but is that the right way to--

Yeah it is!

Make them accountable?

You know what?
They don't listen to me.

At all.

If Rick and Ryan are gonna
fucking assign Kate stuff

and not tell us,
I don't know what to do.

Rick said he didn't even know.

Rick admitted on the call
that he saw them on Sunday.

Okay. Like,
let's not get

wrapped around
the axel on this.

I am. I am.

Please don't.
Please don't.

Why?

Because he wasn't
yelling at you.

Okay.

I talked to Steve.
He wasn't--yeah.

He wasn't mad at you.
He was mad

that the things he'd
asked for hadn't gotten done.

You know what, Reed?
Nobody else--

It's nothing.

Okay great. Good for him.

Well he's not--I mean
what do you want me to do?

There is a lack of leadership
on this campaign,

and I've had it.

A lack of leadership?

Yeah.

Well, what do you
want me to do? I mean--

We just--we won't do anything.
It's fine.

Let me--no.
Sarah, don't do that.

What? I'm not doing anything.

I'm asking--

Here. I think when--

If I can do anything--

I think you should just
ask them

to please respond to the email.

They need to be
held accountable.

- Okay fine.
- That's it.

I will do that.
That is easy.

- That's all.
- I'm more than happy

- to do that.
- Thank you.

I got a notification that
my kids' kindergarten class

in Denver
had several cases of COVID

and needed to be quarantined
for 14 days.

How are you? How's he doing?
Hey.

And I'm like,
"Should I go home?"

But if I go home,
I can't come back.

Which I'm fine with, so I think
I'm gonna get a flight.

I think that's
the responsible thing to do.

I'm gonna cry. I am so mad.

I just--like, I'm sick of it,
so I'm like, "It's time to go."

My kid might have COVID,

so I'm done. Fucking done.

- I'm sorry.
- It's fine.

No. I'm mad about a lot
of other things

that still continue to go on,
and I'm tired.

I'm gonna go home.
Just made that decision.

moody music

Here we are now, just hours
from election day 2020.

Donald Trump and Joe Biden
are tonight

surgically trying to pick off the states

that could push them
over the line.

Vote for Trump,
like true Americans!

Like socialism? Move to Cuba.

Well, this guy Trump
has destroyed everything.

He's a vile,
nasty human being.

Officials in a number of states

bracing for an avalanche
of mail-in ballots.

This universal mail-in
is a very dangerous thing.

It's fraught with fraud

and every other thing
that can happen,

and I want to make sure
the election is not stalling.

It's going to be several days

before we get the result,

and that is going to lead
to fear of civil unrest.

We're done with the chaos,
the tweets,

the anger, the hate.

We are gonna fight
for our country.

We're tired of living
in the darkness,

and we're ready to move
into the light.

Video of armed
security guards

outside of St. Pete

polling place spurred fears
of voter intimidation.

There's really no reason to
have guns at a polling place.

A pro-Trump convoy

surrounded a Biden campaign
bus on a highway.

A Biden-Harris staffer's car

was hit during the incident.

Federal agents are
stepping in to investigate.

We want Trump
for four more years!

Four more years!

We will turn this city red!

Whoo!

We have made America
strong again.

We have made
America proud again.

We have made America
safe again,

and we will make
America great again!

Thank you, Iowa.
Thank you, Wisconsin.

Tomorrow, we have
an opportunity

to put an end to a presidency
that's divided this nation.

Tomorrow, the power to change
the country is in your hands.

Thank you, sir.

Hi, gang.

It's election day.
It's a celebration of America.

Nobody's going into
a general election

better set up
in our lifetime than Biden.

Well, Reagan, but...

no Democrat has.

Yeah. It shouldn't be close.

I mean the ideal circumstance
would be, you know,

Trump gets blown out
by 13 points,

and you could say,

you know, you didn't need
a Lincoln Project.

But I think going out
and hitting Trump

was really important.

mellow music

Gonna be a good night, right?

It's gonna be what
it's gonna be now, right?

I think it's gonna be
a good night though.

It's gonna be a good night.

I think that people
aren't gonna tolerate

any more of this.

It'll be a good night.

How you feeling, guys?

Feeling good.

Hey, guys. Running behind.
What else is new?

Look at you. That is
a stylin' jacket, right?

- I cleaned up.
- Once a year.

It's been
a very busy day here,

and this is a very very evenly
split state, as you know,

where we have about
the same rough amount

of Republicans and Democrats,
and some...

Somebody's going to
win the election.

One side wins,
and the other side loses.

And we, as a nation,

have always tried to build
a world around that.

We're gonna be
facing potentially

some really big questions
of who lives,

who dies, who has power,
who doesn't.

Those are hard questions.
Are they Shakespearean?

Probably. Are they biblical?
Probably, right?

We're talking about questions

that have been
foundational to us,

as people,
from the beginning of time.

- Exciting.
- Yeah. It's exciting.

We're having a day, guys.

Two hundred
and fifty years ago,

a whole group of guys
got together, in Philadelphia,

and came up with
a pretty good solution

how to answer
some of those questions

that the world hadn't been
answering very well.

Right here, folks.

Maybe we've taken
that gift and decided

that we don't want
the responsibility

that comes with that.
I don't know.

Jubilation. Yay!

Just wait till we win.

But we're gonna find out.

Not just on election day.

The next four years
are going to tell us

a lot about who we are,

about where we go.

Okay. We're gonna
show a view of the crowd...

Still looking good?

Wisconsin.

At the White House--

Pennsylvania's not.

I know. They said
they can't do it then.

They said there's gonna be
another Wisconsin update

at 4 a.m., East Coast.

4 a.m. Oh.

Right now, in
the great state of Georgia--

What about Georgia?

and you see a
difference of 100--

Oh, he is just not
out of the woods yet.

Not by a long shot.

Oh, he's got his whole scumbag
family with him. Terrific.

Of the United States,

Donald J. Trump!

I want to thank
the American people

for their tremendous support.

Millions and millions of
people voted for us tonight.

Literally, we were just
all set to get outside

and just celebrate something
that was so beautiful.

So good. Such a vote.
Such a success.

What's he talking about?

The citizens in this
country have come out...

- He's such a freak.
- This is a record.

There's never been
anything like it.

We won states that
we weren't expected to win.

Florida. We didn't win it.
We won it by a lot, and--

Whoo!

The great state of Ohio.

We won Texas. We won Texas.

It's also clear
that we have won Georgia.

Is that true?

He's gonna lose Georgia.

The citizens of this country

have come out
in record numbers.

This is a record. There's
never been anything like it.

We're up 690,000 votes,
in Pennsylvania.

690,000.

Whoo!

We won states,
and all of a sudden, I said,

"What happened to the
election?

It's off," and we have
all these announcers saying,

"What happened?"
And then they said, "Oh."

- Is he riffing right now?
- Yeah.

Frankly, we did
win this election.

Whoo!

This is
a major fraud on our nation.

We want all voting to stop.

We don't want them
to find any ballots

at four o'clock in the morning

and add them to the list.
Okay?

It's a very sad moment.
It's a very sad moment.

To me, this is a very sad moment.

dramatic music