‘TRIAL BY COMBAT’

Jordan Klepper Confronts Rudy Giuliani’s Son Outside Trump Trial

“While there was more press than there were MAGA supporters, I did run into one January 6 B-list star,” the “Daily Show” correspondent remarked.

Whenever the MAGA faithful gather together, you can rest assured that Jordan Klepper is probably not too far behind. That was certainly the case this week in New York City, where Donald Trump’s biggest fans (but not his wife) gathered to show their support of the former president as jury selection continues in his criminal hush-money trial.

In the latest episode of “Fingers the Pulse,” Klepper met all sorts of MAGA believers outside the courthouse where Trump’s trial is being held. But even he seemed surprised to see a familiar face in the crowd.

“While there was more press than there were MAGA supporters, I did run into one January 6 B-list star,” Klepper said of his encounter.

It was there, outside a courthouse in Lower Manhattan, that the Daily Show correspondent happened to bump into Andrew Giuliani: former special assistant to Trump, failed gubernatorial candidate, and son of Rudy.

Just moments after beginning their conversation, Giuliani proudly told Klepper that he was in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6. “I was with President Trump,” he revealed. “I remember him talking about peacefully protesting…”

That’s when Klepper had to interject and remind Giuliani that “some people were talking about peaceful protest. Some people, also, on January 6 were talking about trial by combat. Do you know anybody who was talking about that?”

The show cut to a clip of Giuliani’s dad, Rudy, riling up a crowd on January 6 by shouting “Let’s have trial by combat!”

Giuliani played dumb, and kept insisting that “peaceful protest” was the way to go.

While Klepper attempted to get Giuliani to comment on his dad’s memorable quote, which he chanted not long before more than 2,000 rioters broke into the Capitol, Andrew wasn’t playing.

“Do you guys even care what’s going on inside the courtroom or not?” a visibly bothered Giuliani asked Klepper and his camera operator.

“Of course I care about what’s going on in the courtroom,” Klepper responded via voiceover. But he was convinced that “the most qualified jurors were outside the courthouse.” Like the woman who refused to believe that Trump ever slept with Stormy Daniels, even though “he probably hasn’t been” a faithful husband otherwise. Or the guy wearing a MAGA scarf who claims there’s no way Trump can get a fair trial in Democrat-heavy New York City.

While he suggested that people in Ohio or the Midwest would be less biased toward the former president, he also reckoned that he would not accept the results of any trial—regardless of location—if it found Trump guilty of anything.

“So the MAGA-sphere is ready for accountability,” concluded Klepper. “Just not anywhere on this planet.”

For more, listen to The Daily Show’s Jordan Klepper on The Last Laugh podcast.

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Jennifer M. Wood

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