Maddow on Democratic ticket switch: 'The old era is over, and the new era is here.'

COVERAGE FOR ALL SORTS OF STUFF. THIS IS NOT ALL SORTS OF STUFF, YOU WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER WHERE YOU WERE WHEN YOU HEARD THE NEWS TODAY. WHAT A DAY IN HISTORY. PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN MAKING AMERICAN HISTORY WITH AN ACT OF PROFOUND POLITICAL AND PERSONAL SACRIFICE. 3 1/2 YEARS INTO HIS PRESIDENCY, PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN STEPPING DOWN FROM HIS RE- ELECTION BID IN FAVOR OF HIS VICE PRESIDENT, KAMALA HARRIS. I HAVE BEEN PROCESSING THIS FOR FIVE HOURS ALREADY AND IT STILL GIVES ME CHILLS TO SAY IT. IN THE INSTANT HE ANNOUNCED IT AT 1:46 P.M. THIS AFTERNOON, EVERYTHING CHANGED. EVERYTHING CHANGED. THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY INSTANTLY ENDS. IT'S INTERNAL WAR. THIS EMOTIONAL, INTENSE, HARROWING FIGHT THAT HAS TORN THE PARTY APART FOR THE PAST 3 1/2 WEEKS, THAT IS OVER IN AN INSTANT. THE EXPECTATION AMONG DEMOCRATS, WHICH WAS BEING VOICED MORE AND MORE OPENLY IN RECENT DAYS, THE EXPECTATION THAT THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY WAS IN FOR A HISTORIC WIPEOUT IN NOVEMBER WITH NOT JUST THE WHITE HOUSE IN DANGER, BUT THE HOUSE AND SENATE IN DANGER AS WELL, THAT EXPECTATION EVAPORATES ALSO, IN AN INSTANT. WITH PRESIDENT BIDEN VOICING A STRONG AND UNEQUIVOCAL ENDORSEMENT OF HIS VICE PRESIDENT, KAMALA HARRIS, WITH VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS CONFIRMING IMMEDIATELY THAT SHE IS RUNNING, SAYING WE HAVE 107 DAYS UNTIL ELECTION DAY, TOGETHER WE WILL FIGHT AND TOGETHER WE WILL WIN, WITH NO RESULTING AMBIGUITY ABOUT WHO WILL BE THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY'S NOMINEE. AND WHAT IS THE TASK AT HAND? FOR THAT NOMINEE AND FOR THE PARTY? THE LITTLE SCRATCHY SOUND YOU'RE HEARING IN THE DISTANCE? THAT IS EVERY DEMOCRATIC DONOR IN THE COUNTRY WRITING THE BIGGEST CHECK THEY HAVE EVER RIDDEN IN AMERICAN POLITICS. IN AN INSTANT. THE OLD ERA IS OVER AND THE NEW ERA IS HERE. IT IS GO TIME. JOE BIDEN DEFEATED DONALD TRUMP IN 2020 AND AN ELECTION IN WHICH TRUMP REFUSED TO ACCEPT THE RESULT AND TRIED TO STAY IN POWER BY THE USE OF VIOLENT FORCE. TRUMP HAS SINCE BEEN CONVICTED OF 24 FELONIES AND IS AWAITING SENTENCING ON THOSE CHARGES, HE IS FACING UP TO FOUR YEARS IN PRISON. HE HAS BEEN FOUND LIABLE FOR COMMITTING SEXUAL ASSAULT, HE OWES HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN CIVIL PENALTIES FOR MASSIVE FRAUD AT HIS BUSINESS, HIS BUSINESS HAS BEEN FOUND CRIMINALLY GUILTY OF BUSINESS FRAUD, AND HE OWES HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN A CIVIL FRAUD CASE. HE IS THE SUBJECT OF A FELONY INDICTMENT IN THE STATE OF GEORGIA, HE IS ALSO FACING FEDERAL CRIMINAL CHARGES, HE IS NOW 78 YEARS OLD AND GIVES SPEECHES OF SUCH RAMBLING INCOHERENCE THAT EVEN HIS MOST ARDENT SUPER FANS START WANDERING OFF OR CHECKING THEIR PHONES BY THE TIME HE STARTS TALKING ABOUT SHARKS AND SHOWERHEADS AND HOW BEAUTIFUL YOU WOULD THINK HE LOOKS IF HE WERE TO TAKE HIS CLOTHES OFF. HE JUST PICKED A 39-YEAR-OLD RUNNING MATE, WHO MOST AMERICANS DO NOT KNOW, AND WHO HAS BASICALLY NO RECORD IN PUBLIC SERVICE. AS PEOPLE ARE GOOGLING DONALD TRUMP'S NEW UNKNOWN RUNNING MATE, THE FIRST THING MOST OF THEM ARE LEARNING ABOUT HIM IS THAT HE IS DEEPLY COMMITTED TO A NATIONWIDE BAN ON ABORTION, NATIONWIDE. HE IS THE PROTIGI OF AN ECCENTRIC RIGHT-WING TECH BILLIONAIRE WHO IS AGAINST WOMEN HAVING THE RIGHT TO VOTE, AND WHO SAYS HE IS AGAINST DEMOCRACY. THE RIGHT-WING GROUPS THAT HAVE CHAMPIONED THIS GUY FOR TRUMP'S RUNNING MATE ARE THE AUTHORS OF THE PROJECT 2025 POLICY BLUEPRINT YOU HAVE HEARD SO MUCH ABOUT. THE POLICY BLUEPRINT FOR WHAT THE REPUBLICANS PLAN TO DO IF THEY DO SUCCEED IN GETTING TRUMP AND NOW VANCE BACK INTO THE WHITE HOUSE. A NATIONAL ABORTION BAN IS JUST THE START, TRY CRACKING DOWN ON BIRTH CONTROL AND FERTILITY TREATMENT. TRY BANNING PORNOGRAPHY. TRY DEFUNDING THE FBI AND THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY. SAY GOODBYE TO THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY AND THE FDA. REALLY? THE FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION? BECAUSE WHO AMONG US DOESN'T WANT TO THINK WE ARE BUYING ASPIRIN BUT IT TURNS OUT TO BE RAT POISON? REPUBLICANS AND TRUMP HIMSELF HAVE BEEN UNCHARACTERISTICALLY DISCIPLINED WHEN IT CAME TO COMMENTING ON THIS VERY DIFFICULT, NOT DOWN, DRAG OUT FIGHT WITHIN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OVER THESE LAST FEW WEEKS. THE CONCERNS ABOUT PRESIDENT BIDEN SHOWING HIS AGE. REPUBLICANS WERE BEING VERY RETICENT, VERY DISCIPLINED ABOUT NOT TALKING ABOUT THAT, BECAUSE THEY WERE CROSSING THEIR FINGERS AND HOPING THAT PRESIDENT BIDEN WOULD STAY IN. EXPECTING THAT PRESIDENT BIDEN WAS GOING TO STAY IN, THEY WERE MEASURING THE DRAPES, LOOKING AT THE POLLS AND BACKING ABOUT THEIR SURE, ABSOLUTELY GUARANTEED VICTORY. BUT TRUMP'S UPHOLSTER LAST WEEK SAID, "BETWEEN 20 AND 25 DIFFERENT PATHS TO VICTORY IN THE ELECTORAL MAP." HE SAID AFTER WE GOT TO ABOUT 25 DIFFERENT PATHS TO VICTORY, WE STOPPED COUNTING. THEY HAVE BEEN SO SURE. PRESIDENT BIDEN PERHAPS CANDIDLY WAITING UNTIL THE SUPREMELY SELF-CONFIDENT REPUBLICAN SIDE LOCKED IN THEIR TICKET. WAITING UNTIL TRUMP PICKED THE MOST RADICAL, THE MOST IDEOLOGICALLY EXTREME AND EVEN ECCENTRIC CHOICE FOR HIS RUNNING MATE. WAITED UNTIL THAT WAS LOCKED IN, THEN TODAY, 1:46 P.M., TODAY DONALD TRUMP'S REMARKABLE RECENT RUN OF POLITICAL GRIDLOCK CAME TO AN END WITH THE CRASH. THE OLD MAN IN THE RACE NOW IS DONALD TRUMP, 78 YEARS OLD AND ONLY OCCASIONALLY COHERENT, WITH A RECORD AS PRESIDENT THAT IS VIEWED BY HISTORIANS AS THE WORST IN THE HISTORY OF THE COUNTRY, A TENURED THAT ENDED IN VIOLENCE. AND HE REFUSES TO PROMISE THAT THERE WON'T BE MORE VIOLENCE TO COME FROM HIS SUPPORTERS. HE IS THE OLD MAN IN THE RACE BY A MILE. DRIVING THAT LEGACY FROM WHAT HAPPENED THE LAST TIME HE WAS IN OFFICE AND NOW, A NATIONAL ABORTION BAN, AND MAYBE HIS OWN PRISON SENTENCE, WITH HIM TO THE POLLS. AND AS OF TODAY, WE KNOW THAT HIS OPPONENT WILL NOT BE A MAN OLDER THAN HIM. AS OF TODAY, WE KNOW THAT HIS OPPONENT WILL BE A 59-YEAR-OLD FORMER PROSECUTOR, ATTORNEY GENERAL, U.S. SENATOR, AND VICE PRESIDENT TO JOE BIDEN, WHO CEMENTED HIS LEGACY TODAY WITH A DECISION THAT WILL GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS ONE OF THE MOST SELFLESS, PATRIOTIC SACRIFICES OF ANY SITTING PRESIDENT EVER.