Speaker 1: You're listening to Comedy Central. Welcome back gets our guests
Speaker 1: to night is. He had to discuss the inaugural Obama
Speaker 1: Foundation Democracy Forum and how he's training the next generation
Speaker 1: of young leaders in the US and around the world.
Speaker 1: Please welcome the forty four President of the United States,
Speaker 1: Barack Obama. OK. I do than do what you're doing.
Speaker 1: Thank you, thank you, thank you. Bok of Alma. That's love. Um.
Speaker 1: I should have I should I should have brought Michelle here.
Speaker 1: So this is this is how I'd like to be
Speaker 1: greeted when I come home. But I feel like Michelle's
Speaker 1: the star. Mr President. Welcome to the Day to show.
Speaker 1: It is wonderful to see you. Do you miss your name,
Speaker 1: by the way, because everyone calls you Mr President? But
Speaker 1: like I feel like I would like if people call
Speaker 1: me like Mr Daley, I would miss just been called
Speaker 1: Travor do you miss your name? My best friends call
Speaker 1: me Barack? You should probably Mr President. You know, Welcome
Speaker 1: to the show. Um, let's let's start with I mean
Speaker 1: the most pressing us. The mid terms just happened. You know,
Speaker 1: America voted, the House is flipping. Democrats have held onto
Speaker 1: the Senate. Many credit you for coming out and pushing
Speaker 1: out you know, people to vote. I would love to
Speaker 1: know two parts to that. You know, Number one, do
Speaker 1: you do you feel pressure whenever you ast to come up.
Speaker 1: It's like in the movies when you know they need
Speaker 1: that home run and the basis are loading, the teams
Speaker 1: losing and they go, but Rock, we need you to
Speaker 1: hit this out of the park. We might lose everything.
Speaker 1: Do you feel the pressure? Does it get to you?
Speaker 1: And and second of all, what does it say about
Speaker 1: the state of the Democratic Party that they always need
Speaker 1: you to come out and do that before election? Look,
Speaker 1: I think that the reason we did better than expected
Speaker 1: can be attributed to uh, not me or uh, you know,
Speaker 1: anything I did, But it has to do with ay.
Speaker 1: We recruited some excellent candidates. Uh you look like good
Speaker 1: uh Westmore in Maryland, Josh Shapiro and Pennsylvania. You look
Speaker 1: at our Senate candidates, you know, John Fetterman and Mark Kelly, Um.
Speaker 1: They are committed, passionate, down to earth. They connect with people,
Speaker 1: um and so I come in mainly to shine a
Speaker 1: spotlight on them. So that's point number one. And the
Speaker 1: second thing that happened in in this mid term and
Speaker 1: We've seen it now for three elections, so I'm starting
Speaker 1: to feel pretty hopeful that this is a habit. Young
Speaker 1: people are voting and you got higher. Uh. It has
Speaker 1: been many times remarked how I got thumped during mid
Speaker 1: terms during my presidency, and part of it was that
Speaker 1: voting rates were really low. People. In some sense, I
Speaker 1: think a lot of Democrats felt, all right, Obama's there
Speaker 1: will be okay. And you know, if it turns out
Speaker 1: that McConnell and Baynard and others suddenly have power, then
Speaker 1: that greatly restricts what a president can do. And I
Speaker 1: think that lesson was learned. Trump comes in and suddenly
Speaker 1: and now this one, you've seen young people come in
Speaker 1: and they're typically voting at a rate of seventy to thirty,
Speaker 1: sixty to forty Democrat to Republican, right, and that makes
Speaker 1: a huge difference. And so they're but enthusiasm, I think
Speaker 1: is what really drove this election. I agree with that
Speaker 1: in terms of the people who actually voted, but young
Speaker 1: people don't seem to be turning out as much. You know,
Speaker 1: so the ones who did vote votes an overwhelmingly Democrats,
Speaker 1: but then the number of young votes seems to be
Speaker 1: dwindling from election to election, and many young votes are
Speaker 1: saying they feel disillusioned. They feel like America hasn't made
Speaker 1: away for them, they don't see a future for themselves. Well, look,
Speaker 1: what is always true is young people are going to
Speaker 1: vote at slightly lower rates than old people like me
Speaker 1: because maybe I have better things to do. Michelle and
Speaker 1: I are sitting at home, you know, eating dinner, what
Speaker 1: kind of run out of things to say, Well, let's
Speaker 1: go vote young people, Millie and Sasha, they're out in
Speaker 1: our on all kinds of stuff. So, uh so that's
Speaker 1: always going to be the case that that young people
Speaker 1: voting rates are a little bit lower. They are higher
Speaker 1: now than they were in the mid terms when I
Speaker 1: was president, and in such a polarized environment, one to
Speaker 1: three percent, if they're turning out at instead of makes
Speaker 1: a difference, that can make an enormous difference. Right when
Speaker 1: you look at that tiny difference, you still see the
Speaker 1: places where, I mean, people got into power despite the
Speaker 1: fact that they deny elections. I think Republicans got a
Speaker 1: hundred and seventy election deniers into Congress. People who don't
Speaker 1: believe in the way America's running its elections. People who
Speaker 1: don't believe Joe Biden should be president or they you know,
Speaker 1: they'll be vague about the answers. What do you what
Speaker 1: do you think it says about American democracy that so
Speaker 1: many people are getting elected to these positions when they
Speaker 1: seem to dismiss the election itself. Well, the interesting thing
Speaker 1: is you notice election deniers don't deny their own election.
Speaker 1: Funny how that works, um, how many of them actually
Speaker 1: believe that, uh, some of the nonsense that that circulates,
Speaker 1: versus those who think it's convenient or it's a way
Speaker 1: to own the Libs, or it's a way to send
Speaker 1: a message um or align themselves with Trump. That's hard
Speaker 1: to say. But what is important is that because of
Speaker 1: some really concerted efforts in a lot of important states,
Speaker 1: some of the most egregious, prominent, and potentially dangerous election deniers,
Speaker 1: they got thumped, They got beat and particularly in these
Speaker 1: Secretary of States races and in some cases governors races,
Speaker 1: where you know, the next presidential election you could have
Speaker 1: somebody who could really do some damage there. I think
Speaker 1: we held the line. Now, what it does say, more
Speaker 1: broadly is the fact that, uh, not just here in
Speaker 1: the United States, but around the world, the fundamental precepts
Speaker 1: of democracy are being challenged. Um, we're not having arguments
Speaker 1: about policy, but we're having arguments about the the rules
Speaker 1: of the game, which previously we all agreed to. Right,
Speaker 1: there was a notion that all right, we run elections,
Speaker 1: whoever gets the most votes actually wins. The loser concedes,
Speaker 1: goes back and tries to do better next time. Um,
Speaker 1: and what we've seen now, for a whole host of reasons,
Speaker 1: is a creeping sense that, uh, if the outcomes not
Speaker 1: what we want, then we can do whatever we want
Speaker 1: and say whatever we want in order for us to win.
Speaker 1: And that is profoundly dangerous. And as I said, it's
Speaker 1: it's not unique to the United States, but when it
Speaker 1: happens in the United States, it sends a signal all
Speaker 1: around the world that weakens democracy. And and that's why
Speaker 1: think us getting our house in order is so important
Speaker 1: when when you look at the discourse in the country's
Speaker 1: well and and and around the world. But again, I
Speaker 1: think you're correct in that America as a leader in
Speaker 1: what's happening right now, the discourse has become so toxic.
Speaker 1: You you were in every single state, you were meeting
Speaker 1: with people all the way from Iowa, you know, through
Speaker 1: to California, where wherever you you were meeting people on
Speaker 1: the ground, they were listening to you. There was an
Speaker 1: openness even though people had different political affiliations. It seems
Speaker 1: like that has eroded over time. And I wonder what
Speaker 1: you make of that. Where where do you think it's
Speaker 1: coming from? Do you think of social media? Think do
Speaker 1: you think it's the tenor of politicians in the capital.
Speaker 1: Two things. The biggest change that's taken place when I
Speaker 1: ran for let's say US Senate in Illinois. You go
Speaker 1: down state, that's the South. I mean, it's rural, it's conservative.
Speaker 1: There aren't a lot of folks who look like you
Speaker 1: or me. Um, and certainly there are more Trevors than
Speaker 1: there are Barracks. But and uh so uh and I'm
Speaker 1: driving around. I've I've got you know, map for young
Speaker 1: people here that it's this paper thing. You can't figure
Speaker 1: out how to fold it back, but it's how you
Speaker 1: find your way on roads. Um and uh. But I
Speaker 1: go into a town and it'd be Republican, you a
Speaker 1: lot of evangelicals, et cetera. But I could go to
Speaker 1: a diner or a VFW hall or uh, County Fair.
Speaker 1: I could go to the local newspaper and the owner
Speaker 1: there is conservative and he's got a bowtie and buzz cut.
Speaker 1: He's kind of skeptical about my ideas. But there wasn't
Speaker 1: the filter that had been created by Fox News or
Speaker 1: the media infrastructure, the sort of right wing conspiracy theory,
Speaker 1: uh you know, folks. And so they came at me
Speaker 1: with an open mind, and I could I could listen
Speaker 1: to them, and they could listen to me, and at
Speaker 1: the end of the day they might say, well, he's
Speaker 1: a little liberal for our taste, but we have something
Speaker 1: in common. He talked about, you know, his mom getting sick.
Speaker 1: I remember my mom getting sick. You know. It seems
Speaker 1: like he loves his kids. I love my kids, and
Speaker 1: there was some sense of connection. And I think the
Speaker 1: filter now has become so thick. It started I think
Speaker 1: with Fox News and some of the other uh uh
Speaker 1: you know, traditional media, and now with social media that's
Speaker 1: gotten turbo charged. If you go into those same communities now,
Speaker 1: they have so many preconceptions about what somebody like me believes,
Speaker 1: cares about, etcetera, that it's very hard to penetrate. So
Speaker 1: I think that the answer is both thinking about information
Speaker 1: flow and media and how do how can we breakthrough
Speaker 1: that information bubble that people are in. That requires, by
Speaker 1: the way, progressives to get out of their media bubble
Speaker 1: because we've got some preconceptions that I think create barriers
Speaker 1: as well. And then working a lot more locally, uh,
Speaker 1: because you noticed that when you're on the ground doing stuff,
Speaker 1: it's harder to stereotype people. And the nationalization of our
Speaker 1: politics I think has been damaging. The more we can
Speaker 1: focus on grassroots efforts, real world rather than just virtual
Speaker 1: meetings m conversations, that's what over time, I think can
Speaker 1: can help strengthen democracy. And that's part of what you
Speaker 1: know ours has been at the at the foundation is
Speaker 1: with young leaders who are working on the ground, coming
Speaker 1: up with new ideas to create those connections. Well, I
Speaker 1: definitely want to speak to you about that. I want
Speaker 1: to speak to you about democracy worldwide. I want to
Speaker 1: speak to you about disinformation and what we can do
Speaker 1: to immunize ourselves from it. But we gotta take a
Speaker 1: quick break. We'll be right back after this with more
Speaker 1: from President to us about alcome back to the Daily Show.
Speaker 1: We are still here with President Barack Obama chatting democracy,
Speaker 1: disinformation and who is better looking between us? I want um,
Speaker 1: let's start. Let's you know, the real question is how
Speaker 1: how will they luck when he's sixty if you wants
Speaker 1: attractive when they're in the almost almost, yeah, almost doesn't count. Almost.
Speaker 1: Let's all over. Let's talk about my planswer. Let's talk
Speaker 1: about your your your foundation. Let's talk about what you're doing.
Speaker 1: We see you out there, you know, we see you
Speaker 1: talking about democracy. See, the world isn't a really interesting
Speaker 1: place in that, you know, a few years ago and
Speaker 1: I think the world was that of the world was
Speaker 1: you know, you could say the countries were democratic. Democratic,
Speaker 1: you know, they had they had elections, people won those elections,
Speaker 1: there was an exchange of power, etcetera. And now I
Speaker 1: think seventy of the world is living in a state
Speaker 1: where they either ruled where it's a complete you know, autocracy,
Speaker 1: or it isn't a democracy. Two things again, One, why
Speaker 1: do you think the world has gotten there? You know,
Speaker 1: if if democracy and freedom on things that everybody wishes
Speaker 1: to have, why does it seem like the world is
Speaker 1: moving away from that? And then secondly, what can we
Speaker 1: do or why should we then try get back to
Speaker 1: this democracy. If you look at the trend lines, there
Speaker 1: are a bunch of factors. I think globalization, the global
Speaker 1: economy disrupted a lot of traditional societies. What do you mean, well, Uh,
Speaker 1: the global supply chainliminates industries, eliminates jobs, increases. Uh, you know,
Speaker 1: the wealth gap not only between countries but within countries. Right. So,
Speaker 1: and then modernity challenges people's traditional notions of religion and
Speaker 1: family and general roles. And you've got these culture clashes. Right,
Speaker 1: You're in some village in Yemen and suddenly your kid
Speaker 1: has a phone and it's looking at the Kardashians and
Speaker 1: right and and you're so so you get this vertigo
Speaker 1: and what happened, what you've seen happen I think in
Speaker 1: a whole bunch of places is essentially a pushback, a
Speaker 1: backlash to change that is happening too fast, uh for
Speaker 1: their comfort. And when people are pushing back against change,
Speaker 1: then they're vulnerable to politicians who say, you know what,
Speaker 1: I can make things just like it was back then,
Speaker 1: when you we're feeling more important, you had higher status.
Speaker 1: You know, you didn't have people who don't look like
Speaker 1: you suggesting somehow that yeah, you're doing something wrong. Um,
Speaker 1: that somehow your traditions are flawed. And and that appeal
Speaker 1: usually also involves saying the problems you're feeling are somebody
Speaker 1: else's fault. It's those folks there, it's immigrants, it's gays,
Speaker 1: it's hind News, it's Muslims, it's so forth and so
Speaker 1: on and uh. And that then gets turbo charged with
Speaker 1: the information issues that we talked about. Um And Look,
Speaker 1: democracy requires by definition, getting along with people who don't
Speaker 1: agree with you. Uh. And the other thing that happens
Speaker 1: is these countries are become less homogeneous, right. And so
Speaker 1: you just had a um a right wing party in Sweden,
Speaker 1: which we always used to Swedes. Right there, so chill
Speaker 1: and democratic, right, But if you've got a whole bunch
Speaker 1: of immigrants coming in, suddenly people start getting nervous. And
Speaker 1: and so part of what I think we have to
Speaker 1: do is to stand fast on the principles of equality
Speaker 1: and self governance and representation and everybody gets a seat
Speaker 1: at the table. But I think we have to also
Speaker 1: find a language and a story, a way of telling
Speaker 1: the story about how we can get together that does
Speaker 1: not threaten people who are uncomfortable with change as much.
Speaker 1: Um and and that's you know, going to be different
Speaker 1: for different countries. But I'll give you an example. There's
Speaker 1: a young leader who we worked with from Slovenia, she's
Speaker 1: part of our network, who was an advocate for doing
Speaker 1: something about domestic violence. The laws of that country didn't
Speaker 1: have domestic violence was a real problem. Ran a referendum,
Speaker 1: it got crushed, and we worked with her and suggested, well,
Speaker 1: maybe you want to talk to the people who didn't
Speaker 1: vote for it. So she goes out to these rural
Speaker 1: villages with these um older, traditional rural, very religious, very
Speaker 1: conservative women and just interviewed them and listen to them
Speaker 1: and talk to them. And it's not that they agreed
Speaker 1: with domestic abuse, it's that they thought their way of
Speaker 1: life was being challenged. She adapted their language, ran the
Speaker 1: referendum again a few years later, and it passed right
Speaker 1: because she adopted the language that made them feel as if, Okay,
Speaker 1: this is not so much a earthquake a huge change
Speaker 1: in how we live, but it's rather affirming our best values.
Speaker 1: And I think us finding ways to do that in
Speaker 1: a consistent way will help um But it's hard. Yeah, Look,
Speaker 1: for most of human history, democracy is relatively recent vintage.
Speaker 1: It's a blip. Yeah, tribe, uh, you know, nation, state, race, sect.
Speaker 1: You know, that's typically been how we organize things. And
Speaker 1: it's always easy to say us versus them, that that's
Speaker 1: that's the easy politics. What what democracy demands is always
Speaker 1: a little bit more difficult. It also feels like, you
Speaker 1: know when when when you observe it, there are two
Speaker 1: elements that that I often see is, on the one hand, storytelling.
Speaker 1: As you said, it's often easier to tell a story
Speaker 1: of blame. Yes, why are things going wrong? It's because
Speaker 1: of that person. It's simple. There's the person. We we
Speaker 1: we've solved it. Why are things going wrong? Why? Oh,
Speaker 1: there's a confluence of factors. And you have this and
Speaker 1: you have the economy. You gotta understand the supply to
Speaker 1: That's not an answer for many people. And when you
Speaker 1: sell freedom, they got I don't. I can't eat freedom.
Speaker 1: I can't buy a house with freedom. I can't, you know.
Speaker 1: And then the second part is what you're talking about,
Speaker 1: you know, the US versus them, the who is and
Speaker 1: who isn't. Sometimes I think for many people it feels
Speaker 1: like it feels like the populists come in and just
Speaker 1: do you know, whether it is in Brazil, you know,
Speaker 1: whether it's most so narrow, you know, with it's in
Speaker 1: America with Trump, whether they go they're just gonna do,
Speaker 1: and whether they do or don't actually do it feels
Speaker 1: like they're gonna do. But then some people go, oh,
Speaker 1: but when we get the freedom people they want to
Speaker 1: talk and they want to discuss, and it seems incremental
Speaker 1: and it seems like things won't change. Is there a
Speaker 1: way to combat that, because it is a feeling a
Speaker 1: lot of the time. Well, yeah, Look, if you want
Speaker 1: to be a progressive, pluralists, tolerant democrat. Uh. And I
Speaker 1: don't mean small D democrat, I don't mean Democratic Party. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, you can't be a wuss. I mean you
Speaker 1: you you You've got to have a story that with
Speaker 1: some swag, you got to be able to sell the
Speaker 1: future and and deliver and uh and also call out
Speaker 1: the fact that what those folks say they're gonna do,
Speaker 1: they almost never do, right, because the truth of the
Speaker 1: matter is is that, um, when you look at we
Speaker 1: we have experiments those countries that have the ability to
Speaker 1: harness everyone and everybody participates and there's consent and people
Speaker 1: feel like, all right, this is working for US versus
Speaker 1: places that um are failed states. You know, the track
Speaker 1: record of democracy is is pretty good. But you know,
Speaker 1: we have to be forceful in making our argument. And
Speaker 1: what is true is that um you know, we can't
Speaker 1: just talk. We gotta walk the walk, which is why
Speaker 1: you know we're having a form in New York. One
Speaker 1: of the topics that we're talking about is inclusive capitalism.
Speaker 1: It people are when you think about, let's say here
Speaker 1: in the United States, there's greater appeal of right wing
Speaker 1: populism in a lot of communities, rural communities that they're
Speaker 1: not wrong that the economy, the global economy has shifted
Speaker 1: away from them to urban centers, even in their own states,
Speaker 1: and so the opportunities in Austin, Texas are different than
Speaker 1: in a rural community in these Texas UM and people
Speaker 1: notice that. So we have to spend some time thinking
Speaker 1: about how are we delivered on behalf of people whose
Speaker 1: lives who used to work in a factory, who used
Speaker 1: to uh, you know, farm for a living and have
Speaker 1: have dignity and worth and stability and security in those
Speaker 1: lives and now suddenly they don't feel as if they've
Speaker 1: got the lottery ticket in this in this existing economy,
Speaker 1: that does have to be addressed. And in places like Africa, um,
Speaker 1: you know, right now you have let's say, China coming
Speaker 1: in heavy presence in a lot of these countries, providing
Speaker 1: a lot of foreign aid, a lot of strings attached,
Speaker 1: a lot of Chinese workers coming into build big buildings.
Speaker 1: But if we're not there, if we're not helping build
Speaker 1: that road, if we're not there to uh build that port,
Speaker 1: then naturally people are going to start thinking, well, maybe
Speaker 1: that's a that's a recipe for bettering my life as
Speaker 1: opposed to you know, some flowery language, but it has
Speaker 1: nothing behind it. I wonder, though, do you think inclusive
Speaker 1: capitalism is somewhat of a paradox? You know, it feels
Speaker 1: like it feels you think it's because it feels it
Speaker 1: feels like, I mean, capitalism is designed to extract as
Speaker 1: much wealth as possible from every single interaction that you
Speaker 1: can look. You know, I mentioned yea Sweden and some
Speaker 1: of the problems they're having because immigration. On the other hand,
Speaker 1: you look at Scandinavian counters. They're capitalist countries, but some
Speaker 1: and those work very well. But some people would argue
Speaker 1: that their foundation is more you know, socialists, and then
Speaker 1: they go with it's it's almost like they go with
Speaker 1: with socialists first and then capitalism is our undercurrent. Not really,
Speaker 1: you know, well if you go there, essentially they people
Speaker 1: are taxed more and they have more common goods. But
Speaker 1: you're still going around at a job and you get paid.
Speaker 1: You know, you can't. It's not like you're going into
Speaker 1: the store just rabbing whatever you want walking out, but
Speaker 1: the fish man you gotta pay for it, right then
Speaker 1: the guy registers checking and did American profit here today?
Speaker 1: But the reason I'm asking that is because and maybe
Speaker 1: it's the words that fail us sometimes. I often, you know,
Speaker 1: I'll talk to my friends about this. It's interesting that
Speaker 1: we sort of stopped. We went, oh, the socialism is
Speaker 1: you know, there's this, there's the communism, this capital and
Speaker 1: then we just stopped, like this is it? This capitalism?
Speaker 1: And that's that I sometimes wonder is there not something better?
Speaker 1: Is there something we could be making? Maybe I should
Speaker 1: be is inclusive capitalists. The reason I just used let's
Speaker 1: say a Denmark is an example is not because it's
Speaker 1: gonna work perfectly in India, the United States, etcetera. The point, though,
Speaker 1: is is they've they've got some blend, some mix, right,
Speaker 1: there is an advantage in terms of efficiency and also
Speaker 1: freedom to a market system. You have a control system.
Speaker 1: You know, some guy in office is deciding how many
Speaker 1: potatoes we're going to grow this year. That usually doesn't work.
Speaker 1: The flip side of it is that what we've also
Speaker 1: learned is that if some kind in a boardroom is
Speaker 1: deciding I'm gonna ravage the environment to do whatever I want,
Speaker 1: that doesn't work either. So we're gonna have a blend
Speaker 1: of some sort. We want some collective decision making about
Speaker 1: the social good, and we want something that's efficient and
Speaker 1: dynamic and allows us to exercise our innovation and freedom.
Speaker 1: And we don't need to worry so much about the
Speaker 1: labels as we do about being practical and thinking about
Speaker 1: what's working and what isn't. And this is going back
Speaker 1: to the information issues. This is part of why to me,
Speaker 1: one of the biggest challenges of democracy is not just
Speaker 1: the mechanics of elections or uh the independent judiciary. Those
Speaker 1: things are all important, but this is why this information
Speaker 1: and media issue is so important, because what we've seen
Speaker 1: here in the United States and elsewhere is a a
Speaker 1: abandonment of a commitment to facts and reason and logic
Speaker 1: and you know, stuff that is useful, uh and and necessary.
Speaker 1: And if we can't have a debate based on facts,
Speaker 1: then we can't get to better solutions. Right we start
Speaker 1: talking in slogans and nonsense and there's no reality check.
Speaker 1: We just make stuff up. I didn't lose an election.
Speaker 1: You know, there's something broken over there um and and
Speaker 1: it doesn't and and it's impervious defects. So so part
Speaker 1: of what I think, why I've been spending a lot
Speaker 1: of time thinking about this uh disinformation issue, is how
Speaker 1: do we and how we teach our kids in you know,
Speaker 1: either industry standards or and or regulation of the social
Speaker 1: media platforms. How do we get back to the point
Speaker 1: where you can have opinions We all do, but facts matter,
Speaker 1: and and proof matters, and and our capacity to debate
Speaker 1: and say, you know what, if we do things this way,
Speaker 1: it might work better. And then you may disagree, but
Speaker 1: at least we d we agree to a set of
Speaker 1: rules whereby we can arrive at a better solution. It's
Speaker 1: possible to get to that place when almost tough. Let's
Speaker 1: talk about the United States. Almost half the country says, well,
Speaker 1: what all those rules and why are you even deciding them?
Speaker 1: And why are we having this conversation You are not
Speaker 1: even affect How do you honestly mean, how do you
Speaker 1: get to that place with people were not The interesting
Speaker 1: thing is even in those places that are just inundated
Speaker 1: with what I considered to be nonsense and uh lies
Speaker 1: and and this portions, when people operate in their own lives,
Speaker 1: they're still operating on facts right on their jobs. When
Speaker 1: they're coaching their kids the league or their soccer game.
Speaker 1: In football, they don't let the ref just kind of say,
Speaker 1: you know what, this time, we're just gonna get five
Speaker 1: points for the touchdown. It's like wait, wait, wait, folks
Speaker 1: on the sidelines saying no, it's six points for the
Speaker 1: touchdown and then you get the extra point. And so
Speaker 1: we abide by all kinds of facts in our own lives.
Speaker 1: It's just this national story that is being told where
Speaker 1: we allow lives to be told, and we accept them
Speaker 1: mainly because it turns out there when we tell a
Speaker 1: story about the other side, it makes us feel better.
Speaker 1: It's like, you know, Trevor, he's a jackass. You should
Speaker 1: see and you're happy to be sitting there and and uh,
Speaker 1: and and and so we enjoyed the performative aspects of
Speaker 1: making stuff up and and part of that is because
Speaker 1: we don't think they're consequences to it. Now, what we've
Speaker 1: learned from the election of my successor, from the pandemic,
Speaker 1: from the insurrection is actually the stories we tell do matter.
Speaker 1: And you know, having some baseline of sticking to the
Speaker 1: truth when you're telling stories about our country, about policy,
Speaker 1: but also about the other side, that matters. Um And
Speaker 1: and I I like to think that part of what
Speaker 1: happened in this election is people said, Okay, you know what,
Speaker 1: some of this stuff is getting a little too crazy.
Speaker 1: It turns out that there is a you know, a
Speaker 1: majority of country that does prefer normal not crazy. And
Speaker 1: that's and that's is, that's a basis for I've talked
Speaker 1: to you for hours about this. I know you don't
Speaker 1: have the time. Um. It has been wonderful having you here,
Speaker 1: though it's also been wonderful seeing you know what what
Speaker 1: you're getting up to, because after you you know, we
Speaker 1: have the pleasure of interviewing you at the White House
Speaker 1: just before you left, and then afterwards I saw you
Speaker 1: kite surfing, and I, uh, I loved it. I loved it.
Speaker 1: By the way, um great technique. But I often wonders, like,
Speaker 1: you know, what is Mr President gonna do next? Where
Speaker 1: does he go? And you know, you started producing shows
Speaker 1: about issues around the world, and now you've got this forum.
Speaker 1: I wondered if maybe you know you have any tips
Speaker 1: for me as you know, because well because because you
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, I like we basically you know,
Speaker 1: we'll get the same you know, you know, I'll say, dumb,
Speaker 1: I think you're gonna have to, uh really focus on
Speaker 1: relearning things like driving, pressing your own elevator button. I
Speaker 1: think was what was the last time you heard the
Speaker 1: drag players? Take myself? Yeah, we have very you you
Speaker 1: you don't like, you're very like you know. That's like
Speaker 1: I said, you missed the President forever. You have secret
Speaker 1: service forever. That's correct, I do, and and it uh,
Speaker 1: I still am in a bubble. I thought I thought
Speaker 1: I could escape it quick stories. Since we're in New York.
Speaker 1: I used to say, Oh, you know what, once I
Speaker 1: get out of here, I'm gonna just be able to
Speaker 1: like walk through Central Park and that's gonna you know,
Speaker 1: and I'll just put like on a baseball cap and
Speaker 1: it's gonna be fine. And yeah, Michelle's all like, yeah, okay,
Speaker 1: good luck with that. And the first time I tried it, um,
Speaker 1: I got like half a block and then suddenly there
Speaker 1: was this and their phones and traffic stopping and it
Speaker 1: didn't work. So um, so uh, you know, uh, I
Speaker 1: guess what I would say though, is uh that you
Speaker 1: will be missed here. But um and uh but but
Speaker 1: but we were talking backstage. Uh, you're already following. One
Speaker 1: piece of advice that I would have is leave when
Speaker 1: your poll numbers are high. That that's how they'll remember you.
Speaker 1: So I'm actually, yeah, I'm excited. I'm gonna you know,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go on the road. I mean, I've said
Speaker 1: this to you before. You know the way it's the
Speaker 1: White House car spot instead and Georgia when you're doing
Speaker 1: this week. You're a very funny guy. So you want
Speaker 1: me to open for you, but I'm showing Stacaso. It
Speaker 1: doesn't you know, what's not even open. I wouldn't Dan,
Speaker 1: we could co you know, you can't open for me.
Speaker 1: You you still miss the president. We just do like
Speaker 1: a man headlining tour. You know what I mean and
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. Well, cousin Aracko, com everybody
Speaker 1: I want to take alright overlap, Thank you. What's the
Speaker 1: Daily Show? Weeknights and eleven ten Central on Comedy Central.
Speaker 1: In stream fool episodes anytime on Paramount Plus. This has
Speaker 1: been a Comedy Central podcast