Speaker 1: You're listening to Comedy Central, coming to you from New
Speaker 1: York City, the only city in americ It's the Daily Shown.
Speaker 1: President Parack Obama is here, and Parack Obama and if
Speaker 1: we mentioned President Barack Obama this He's the Daily Show
Speaker 1: with Trevor's everybody, welcome to the Day to Show. I
Speaker 1: covered every Thank you so much for shooting it. I'm
Speaker 1: trying to give a coming in and everybody thanking the
Speaker 1: thing and thank you for being it. Take a seat,
Speaker 1: Take a seat. We've got a very special show lined
Speaker 1: up for you tonight. We're all going back to the moon.
Speaker 1: Republicans are storming the house again and herschel Walker gets
Speaker 1: involved in a fight between werewolves and vampires. Plus we're
Speaker 1: being joined by one of my favorite black American presidents,
Speaker 1: Barack Obama's daring every day. So let's do those people.
Speaker 1: Let's sound straight into today's headlines. All right, people, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna be honest with all the news happening right now.
Speaker 1: I don't think we have enough space in today's show.
Speaker 1: There's not enough time. And I tried everything. I tried everything.
Speaker 1: I even tried putting the news in the sauna so
Speaker 1: it could sweat it out for a little while, but
Speaker 1: it didn't work. The news just came out glistening and
Speaker 1: sexier than ever. But we still don't have enough time. Fortunately,
Speaker 1: though not enough time, it's just enough time for a
Speaker 1: segment week Hall you nobody got time for that. Let's
Speaker 1: kick things off with the Moon a k a. Ashy Earth.
Speaker 1: The last time humans set foot on it was nine
Speaker 1: of any two. But now we might finally be getting
Speaker 1: a sequel. NASA going back to the Moon for the
Speaker 1: first time in five decades, launching the most powerful rocket
Speaker 1: in the world into space, kicking off its high stakes
Speaker 1: Artemus one mission. This is a test flight with test dummies,
Speaker 1: but if this succeeds, astronauts could do the same in
Speaker 1: two years, and NASA says that this really opens the
Speaker 1: door to a whole new world of space exploration. The
Speaker 1: long term goal here is to set up a base
Speaker 1: on the Moon where people can actually live. Yes, unlike Crypto,
Speaker 1: we are actually going through the Moon. And before you
Speaker 1: hate us not saying, oh, do we really need to
Speaker 1: go back to the Moon, Yes we do, of course
Speaker 1: we do. Was Aldrin left his keys up there, You've
Speaker 1: been locked out of his house for fifty three years,
Speaker 1: and you know, I's thinking it, wouldn't it be funny
Speaker 1: if when we got back up there, we find out
Speaker 1: that the original astronauts and a bunch of crazy ship
Speaker 1: that they can tell us about, Like the new astronauts
Speaker 1: step out and there's a bunch of moon babies that
Speaker 1: looked like Neil Armstrong and it was just like, Daddy,
Speaker 1: you're finding it back from your trip to get cigarettes, Like, wait,
Speaker 1: why are you still babies? Now? As much as I
Speaker 1: love space travel, and I really do, my one issue
Speaker 1: with NASA is why do they keep using Greek names? Huh?
Speaker 1: This program is Artemis, The old one was Apollo. Why
Speaker 1: does NASA's update things, you know, name rockets off to
Speaker 1: today's mythical heroes. Everyone, we're sending Artemus to the moon
Speaker 1: ball ring. Everyone, We're sending John Wick to the moon. Now,
Speaker 1: if we had more time, we could talk about whether
Speaker 1: humans should be going anywhere in the universe, given the
Speaker 1: fact that we can't even get COVID under control down here,
Speaker 1: because if we're not careful, we might turn into the
Speaker 1: con Cristodors of the Solar system, right, just like is
Speaker 1: there life on Mars? There was? But we don't have
Speaker 1: time to talk about life forms in space because there
Speaker 1: are some new life forms coming to Congress. How Speaker
Speaker 1: Nancy Pelosi just said that she will not seek a
Speaker 1: leadership position in the new Congress. Her and anouncement comes
Speaker 1: after Republicans won control of the House of our Presentatives
Speaker 1: in the midterm elections. With great confidence in our caucus,
Speaker 1: I will not seek reelection to Democratic leadership in the
Speaker 1: next Congress. Yes, that's right. It is a new era
Speaker 1: in Congress. Nancy Pelosi is stepping down and Republicans have
Speaker 1: officially one control of the House. And this time they
Speaker 1: did it without shooting on the floor. That's growth, that
Speaker 1: is growth. And you know, Kevin McCarthy might be happy
Speaker 1: right now. You know that he's he could replace Nancy
Speaker 1: Pelosi next year Speak of the House. But remember remember
Speaker 1: half of his caucus believe in Jewish space lasers that
Speaker 1: stole the election using Venezuelan mind control. So good luck
Speaker 1: to him controlling them. Yeah, he's gonna be trying to
Speaker 1: get more tax cuts for corporations. Meanwhile, they'll be like, poa,
Speaker 1: we want a subpoena. Hunter of Biden's pains, bring it here.
Speaker 1: Put that painters under oath. And you know, Republicans are
Speaker 1: finally gonna learn that being in charge brings its own
Speaker 1: set and promises. You know, you've got it. You've got
Speaker 1: to deliver. You know, you have to deliver on your
Speaker 1: campaign promises. That's that's a challenge. Was the number one
Speaker 1: issue that they campaigned on, Joe Biden. And now that
Speaker 1: they want voters will be expecting them to Joe Biden.
Speaker 1: They have to do it. They have to go through
Speaker 1: the steps they said it not me. Yeah, they're gonna
Speaker 1: have to possibility to ask him out. They're gonna have
Speaker 1: to agree, you know, on the restaurant to take him
Speaker 1: out too. And then when they take him home, they're
Speaker 1: gonna have to listen to his stories before he lets
Speaker 1: them smash. They're gonna see a people never tell you
Speaker 1: about the time I set him about the pool marriage
Speaker 1: A great time, is nigga? Yeah, good luckkeeping her heart
Speaker 1: on through that, Republicans. Now, if we had more time,
Speaker 1: we could talk more about all the news coming out
Speaker 1: of America's politics. For instance, we could talk about the
Speaker 1: Senate moving closer to protecting gay marriage finally. Oh, we
Speaker 1: could talk about Tellen Bess becoming Allen's first female mayor,
Speaker 1: or we could talk about you. Ever, the next Speaker
Speaker 1: of the House will be able to beat Nancy Pople.
Speaker 1: He's high school on the stock market. But we don't
Speaker 1: have the time for that, because that's one man who
Speaker 1: God forbid might be joining these people in the Capitol,
Speaker 1: and boy is he gonna be bringing the greatest hits.
Speaker 1: Watching this movie called Friday Night for to Night and
Speaker 1: some kind of night, but it was about vampires. But
Speaker 1: I'm gonna tell you something that I found out a
Speaker 1: ware wolf could kill a vampire. Did you know that?
Speaker 1: I never knew that, so I didn't want to be
Speaker 1: a vampire. The more I want to be a ware
Speaker 1: of wolf. So I'm watching my TV of these kids
Speaker 1: watching dead TV. That got jumped in front of this
Speaker 1: holy world, threw it on the vampire forehead. He covered
Speaker 1: his eye, then he took his hand away. He started
Speaker 1: last word, He took the curls, he put it on
Speaker 1: the vampire forehead and the vampire didn't even do anything.
Speaker 1: He said, that don't work, And that's the way it
Speaker 1: isn't our life. It ain't even working unless you got faith.
Speaker 1: You gotta have faith in this country. You gotta have
Speaker 1: faith in this in the elected officials. And right now,
Speaker 1: that's the reason I'm here. Step aside, get his bug
Speaker 1: a dressed America has been your greatest speech of all time,
Speaker 1: because you tell me the last time you heard a
Speaker 1: speech about vampires, werewolves, faith, politics, and garlic? Huh? And
Speaker 1: I don't know if herschel Walker should be a U. S. Senator,
Speaker 1: but he should definitely be elected as America's official movie reviewer.
Speaker 1: Did you hear that? I want to watch that movie.
Speaker 1: I don't even know what it was. He should do
Speaker 1: this for every movie y'all seen the Little Mermaid? This
Speaker 1: was more of the fish, but her boyfriend do it
Speaker 1: for in the old Ship. And because of an octave push,
Speaker 1: she lost that voice. And we need a new voice
Speaker 1: in Washington. And now that Little Mermaid is black tank.
Speaker 1: You relates to Jenner tifty. Now, if only we had
Speaker 1: more time, we could watch more of herschel Walker's speech. Oh,
Speaker 1: we could talk about how Elon Musk said that he
Speaker 1: will eventually let someone else run Twitter, which is a
Speaker 1: genius idea that everyone else had before he took over.
Speaker 1: We could talk about how this ft X crash could
Speaker 1: actually bring all of Crypto down because of the regulators
Speaker 1: looking into crypto. We could talk about how Congress might
Speaker 1: be bringing ticket Master in for hearings, because I guess
Speaker 1: they couldn't get Taylors with tickets either. But we don't
Speaker 1: have the time for any of that because there's someone
Speaker 1: backstage by the name of Barack Obama and we gotta
Speaker 1: make time to speaker. Got to go, don't go away.
Speaker 1: I don't know about welcome back again. Our guest tonight
Speaker 1: is he had to discuss the inaugural Obama Foundation Democracy
Speaker 1: Forum and how he's training the next generation of young
Speaker 1: leaders in the US and around the world. Please welcome
Speaker 1: the forty four President of the United States, Barack Obama. Oh,
Speaker 1: I don't do what you're doing. A good thank you. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's what UM. I should have I should I should
Speaker 1: have brought Michelle here. So this is this is how
Speaker 1: I'd like to be greeted when I come home. But
Speaker 1: I think that Michelle's the star. Mr President. Welcome to
Speaker 1: the day to show. It is wonderful to see you.
Speaker 1: Do you miss your name, by the way, because everyone
Speaker 1: calls you Mr. President? But like I feel like I
Speaker 1: would like if people call me like Mr Daley. I
Speaker 1: would miss just been called Travior. Do you miss your name?
Speaker 1: Sometimes my best friends call me Barack. You should probably
Speaker 1: Mr President. You know, welcome to the show. Um, let's
Speaker 1: let's start with I mean the most pressing us. The
Speaker 1: mid terms just have and you know, America voted, the
Speaker 1: House is flipping, Democrats have held onto the Senate. Many
Speaker 1: credit you for coming out and and pushing out, you know,
Speaker 1: people to vote. I would love to know two parts
Speaker 1: to that. You know. Number one, do you do you
Speaker 1: feel pressure whenever you ast to come up. It's like
Speaker 1: in the movies when you know they need that home
Speaker 1: run and the basis are loading, the team's losing and
Speaker 1: they go, but Rock, we need you to hit this
Speaker 1: out of the park. We might lose everything. Do you
Speaker 1: feel the pressure? Does it get to you? And and
Speaker 1: second of all, what does it say about the state
Speaker 1: of the Democratic Party that they always need you to
Speaker 1: come out and do that before election? Look, I think
Speaker 1: that the reason we did better than expected can be
Speaker 1: attributed to not me or uh, you know, anything I did,
Speaker 1: But it has to do with a We recruited some
Speaker 1: excellent candidates. Uh you look like good? Uh Westmore in
Speaker 1: Maryland Josh Shapiro and Pennsylvania. You look at our Senate candidates,
Speaker 1: you know a John Fetterman and Mark Kelly Um. They
Speaker 1: 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've got higher It has been
Speaker 1: many times remarked how I got thumped during mid terms
Speaker 1: during my presidency, and part of it was that voting
Speaker 1: rates were really low. People In some sense, I think
Speaker 1: a lot of Democrats felt, all right, Obama's there will
Speaker 1: be okay. And you know, if it turns out that
Speaker 1: McConnell and Baynard and others suddenly have power, then that
Speaker 1: greatly restricts what a president can do. And I think
Speaker 1: that lesson was learned. Trump comes in and suddenly and
Speaker 1: now this one, you've seen young people come in and
Speaker 1: they're typically voting at a rate of seventy to thirty,
Speaker 1: sixty to forty Democrat to Republican and that makes a
Speaker 1: huge difference. And so there, but enthusiasm, I think is
Speaker 1: what really drove this election. I agree with that in
Speaker 1: terms of the people who actually voted, but young people
Speaker 1: 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 disillusion 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 better things to do. Michelle and I
Speaker 1: are sitting at home, you know, eating dinner, kind of
Speaker 1: run out of things to say. Well, let's go about
Speaker 1: young people. Millie and Sasha, they're out and they got
Speaker 1: all kinds of stuff. So, uh so that's always going
Speaker 1: to be the case that that young people are voting
Speaker 1: rates are a little bit lower. They are higher now
Speaker 1: than they were in the mid terms when I was president,
Speaker 1: and in such a polarized environment, one to three percent,
Speaker 1: if they're turning out at instead of eight percent, 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 the interesting
Speaker 1: thing 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 we do some damage there. I
Speaker 1: think we held the line. Now. What it does say,
Speaker 1: more broadly is the fact that, uh, not just here
Speaker 1: in the United States, but around the world, the fundamental
Speaker 1: precepts of democracy are being challenged. M We're not having
Speaker 1: arguments about policy, but we're having arguments about the the
Speaker 1: rules of the game, which previously we all agreed to write.
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, um, 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 UH, that is profoundly dangerous. And as I said,
Speaker 1: it's it's not unique to the United States, but when
Speaker 1: it happens in the United States, it sends a signal
Speaker 1: all around the world that weakens democracy and and and
Speaker 1: that's why I think us getting our house in order
Speaker 1: is so important when when you look at the discourse
Speaker 1: in the country as well, and and and around the world.
Speaker 1: But again, I think you're correct in that America as
Speaker 1: a leader in what's happening right now, the discourse has
Speaker 1: become so toxic. You you were in every single state,
Speaker 1: you were meeting with people all the way from Iowa,
Speaker 1: you know, through to California. Where wherever you you were
Speaker 1: meeting people on the ground, they were listening to you.
Speaker 1: There was an openness even though people had different political affiliations.
Speaker 1: It seems like that has eroded over time. And I
Speaker 1: wonder what you make of that. Where where do you
Speaker 1: think it's coming from. Do you think social media think?
Speaker 1: Do 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 are a lot of folks who look like you
Speaker 1: or me. Um and certainly there are more Trevors than
Speaker 1: there are Brucks in these areas. But Um and uh so. Uh.
Speaker 1: And I'm driving around, I've I've got you know, map
Speaker 1: for young people here that it's this paper thing. You
Speaker 1: can't figure out how to fold it back, but it's
Speaker 1: how you find your way on roads. Um and uh.
Speaker 1: But I go into a town and it'd be Republican,
Speaker 1: a lot of evangelicals, et cetera. But I could go
Speaker 1: to 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's 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 aided by Fox News or
Speaker 1: the media infrastructure, the sort of right wing conspiracy theory. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know folks. And so they came at me with
Speaker 1: an open mind, and I could I could listen to them,
Speaker 1: and they could listen to me, and at the end
Speaker 1: of the day they might say, well, he's a little
Speaker 1: liberal for our taste, but we have something in common.
Speaker 1: He talked about, you know, his mom getting sick. I
Speaker 1: remember my mom getting sick. You know, it seems like
Speaker 1: he loves his kids. I love my kids, And there
Speaker 1: was some sense of connection and I think the filter
Speaker 1: now has become so thick. It started I think with
Speaker 1: Fox News and some of the other uh uh you know,
Speaker 1: traditional media, and now with social media, that's gotten turbo charged.
Speaker 1: If you go into those same communities now, they have
Speaker 1: so many preconceptions about what somebody like me believes, cares about, etcetera,
Speaker 1: that it's very hard to penetrate. So I think the
Speaker 1: the the answer is both thinking about information flow and
Speaker 1: media and how do how can we break through that
Speaker 1: information bubble that people are in. That requires, by the way,
Speaker 1: progressives to get out of their media bubble because we've
Speaker 1: got some preconceptions that I think create barriers as well,
Speaker 1: and then working a lot more locally um because you
Speaker 1: noticed that when you're on the ground doing stuff, it's
Speaker 1: harder to stereotype people. And the nationalization of our politics
Speaker 1: I think has been damaging. The more we can focus
Speaker 1: on grassroots efforts, real world rather than just virtual meetings
Speaker 1: m conversations, that's what, over time, I think can can
Speaker 1: help strengthen democracy. And that's part of what you know,
Speaker 1: our EMPSIS 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 about democracy worldwide. I want to speak
Speaker 1: to you about disinformation and what we can do to
Speaker 1: immunize ourselves from it. But we gotta take a quick break.
Speaker 1: We'll be right back after this with more from President
Speaker 1: to us about bold Welcome back to the Daily Show.
Speaker 1: We are still here with President Barack Obama chatting democracy,
Speaker 1: disinformation and who has better looking between us? I want
Speaker 1: let's start. Let's you other. The real question is how
Speaker 1: will they look what he's sixty attractive when they're in
Speaker 1: the almost almost almost almost. Let's run all over. Let's
Speaker 1: talk about planswer, Let's talk about your your your foundation,
Speaker 1: Let's talk about what you're doing. We see you out there,
Speaker 1: you know, we see you talking about democracy. The world
Speaker 1: isn't a really interesting place in that. You know, a
Speaker 1: few years ago and I think the world was had
Speaker 1: of the world was you know, you could say the
Speaker 1: countries were democratic. Democratic, you know, they had they had elections,
Speaker 1: people won those elections, there was an exchange of power,
Speaker 1: et cetera. And now I think seventy percent of the
Speaker 1: world is living in a state where they either ruled
Speaker 1: where it's a complete, you know, autocracy, or it isn't
Speaker 1: a democracy. Two things again, One, why do you think
Speaker 1: the world has gotten there? You know, if if democracy
Speaker 1: and freedom all things that everybody wishes to have, why
Speaker 1: does it seem like the world is moving away from that?
Speaker 1: And then secondly, what can we do or why should
Speaker 1: we then try to get back to this democracy? If
Speaker 1: you look at the trend lines, there are a bunch
Speaker 1: of factors. I think globalization, the global economy, disrupted a
Speaker 1: lot of traditional societies. What do you mean, Well, you know, uh,
Speaker 1: the global supply chain eliminates industries, eliminates jobs, increases, Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, the wealth gap not only between countries but
Speaker 1: within countries. Right. So, and then modernity challenges people's traditional
Speaker 1: notions of religion and family and general roles. And you've
Speaker 1: got these culture clashes. Right, You're in some village in
Speaker 1: Yemen and suddenly your kid has a phone and it's
Speaker 1: looking at the Kardashians and right and and you're so,
Speaker 1: so you get this vertigo and what happened, what you've
Speaker 1: seen happen, I think in a whole bunch of places
Speaker 1: is essentially a pushback a backlash to change that is
Speaker 1: happening too fast uh for their comfort. And when people
Speaker 1: are pushing back against change, then they're vulnerable to politicians
Speaker 1: who say, you know what, I can make things just
Speaker 1: like it was back then when you were feeling more important,
Speaker 1: you had higher status. You know, you didn't have people
Speaker 1: who don't look like you suggesting somehow that yeah, you're
Speaker 1: doing something wrong, um, that somehow your traditions are flawed.
Speaker 1: And and that appeal usually also involved saying the problems
Speaker 1: you're feeling are somebody else's fault. It's it's those folks there,
Speaker 1: it's immigrants, it's gays, it's hind News, it's Muslims, it's
Speaker 1: so forth and so on and uh. And that then
Speaker 1: gets turbo charged with the information issues that we talked about. Um.
Speaker 1: And look, democracy requires by definition getting along with people
Speaker 1: who don't agree with you. Uh. And the other thing
Speaker 1: that happens is these countries are becoming less homogeneous, right.
Speaker 1: And so you just had a um, a right wing
Speaker 1: party in Sweden, which we always used to Swedes right there,
Speaker 1: so chill and democratic, right. But if you've got a
Speaker 1: whole bunch of immigrants coming in, suddenly people start getting
Speaker 1: nervous and and so part of what I think we
Speaker 1: have to do is to stand fast on the principles
Speaker 1: of equality and self governance and representation and everybody gets
Speaker 1: a seat at the table. But I think we have
Speaker 1: to also find a language and a story, a way
Speaker 1: of telling the story about how we can get together
Speaker 1: that does not threaten people who are uncomfortable with change
Speaker 1: as much um and and that's you know, going to
Speaker 1: be different for different countries. But I'll give you an example.
Speaker 1: There's a young leader who we worked with from Slovenia,
Speaker 1: she's part of our network, who was an advocate for
Speaker 1: doing something about domestic violence. The laws of that country
Speaker 1: didn't have domestic violence was a real problem, ran a referendum,
Speaker 1: it got crushed, and we've 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 in the past right,
Speaker 1: because she adopted the language that made them feel as if, Okay,
Speaker 1: this is not so much of a earthquake a huge
Speaker 1: change in how we live, but it's rather affirming our
Speaker 1: best values, and I think us finding ways to do
Speaker 1: that in a consistent way will help um. But it's hard. Yeah,
Speaker 1: look for most of human history, democracies, relatively recent vintage,
Speaker 1: it's a blip. Yeah, tribe, uh, you know, nation, state, race,
Speaker 1: sect you know, that's typically been how we organize things.
Speaker 1: And it's always easy to say us versus them, that
Speaker 1: that's that's the easy politics. What what democracy demands is
Speaker 1: always a little bit more difficult. It also feels like,
Speaker 1: you know when when when you observe it. There are
Speaker 1: two elements that I that I often see is, on
Speaker 1: the one hand, storytelling. As you said, it's often easier
Speaker 1: to tell a story of blame. Why are things going wrong?
Speaker 1: It's because of that person. It's simple. There's the person
Speaker 1: that we we we've solved it. Why are things going wrong? Well,
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 god, 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 the US versus them, the who is
Speaker 1: and who isn't. Sometimes I think for many people it
Speaker 1: feels like it feels like the populists come in and
Speaker 1: just do you know whether it is in Brazil, you know,
Speaker 1: whether it's most Sonarrow, you know, with it's in America
Speaker 1: with Trump with it 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 worse 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 commun in these rural communities
Speaker 1: that they're not wrong that the economy, the global economy
Speaker 1: has shifted away from them to urban centers, even in
Speaker 1: their own states. And so the opportunities in Austin, Texas
Speaker 1: are different than in a rural community in these Texas,
Speaker 1: um and people notice that. So we have to spend
Speaker 1: some time thinking about how are we delivering on behalf
Speaker 1: of people whose lives who used to work in a factory,
Speaker 1: who used to uh, you know, farm for a living
Speaker 1: and have have dignity and worth and stability and security
Speaker 1: in those lives, and now suddenly they don't feel as
Speaker 1: if they've got the lottery ticket in this in this
Speaker 1: existing economy, that does have to be addressed. And in
Speaker 1: places like Africa, um, you know, right now you have
Speaker 1: let's say, China coming in heavy presence in a lot
Speaker 1: of these countries, providing a lot of foreign ai, a
Speaker 1: lot of strings attached, a lot of Chinese workers coming
Speaker 1: into build big buildings. But if we're not there, if
Speaker 1: we're not helping build that road, if we're not there
Speaker 1: to uh build that port, then naturally people are going
Speaker 1: to start thinking, well, maybe that's a that's a recipe
Speaker 1: for bettering my life, as opposed to you know, some
Speaker 1: flowery language but has nothing behind it. I wonder, though,
Speaker 1: do you think inclusive capitalism is somewhat of a paradox?
Speaker 1: You know, it feels like it feels you think it's
Speaker 1: because it feels it feels like I mean, capitalism is
Speaker 1: designed to extract as much wealth as possible from every
Speaker 1: single interaction that can look you know, I mentioned yea
Speaker 1: Sweden and some of the problems they're having because immigration.
Speaker 1: I'm the other hand, you look at Scandinavian counters. They're
Speaker 1: capitalist countries, but some and those work very well. But
Speaker 1: some people would argue that their foundation is more you know, socialists,
Speaker 1: and then they go with it's it's almost like they
Speaker 1: go with with socialists first and then capitalism is our undercurrent.
Speaker 1: Not really, you know, if you go there, essentially they
Speaker 1: people are taxed more and they have more common goods.
Speaker 1: But you're still going around at a job and you
Speaker 1: get paid. You know, you can't. It's not like you're
Speaker 1: going into the store just grabbing whatever you want walking out,
Speaker 1: but the fish man you gotta pay for it right
Speaker 1: then the guy registers check 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
Speaker 1: better it is? Then something could be? I think there
Speaker 1: is I should be is inclusive caist. The reason I
Speaker 1: just used let's say a Denmark as an example is
Speaker 1: not because it's gonna work perfectly in India, the United States, etcetera.
Speaker 1: The point though, is is they've they've got some blend,
Speaker 1: some mix, right. There is an advantage in terms of
Speaker 1: efficiency and also freedom to a market system. You have
Speaker 1: a control system. You know, some guy in office is
Speaker 1: deciding how many potatoes we're going to grow this year.
Speaker 1: That usually doesn't work. The flip side of it is
Speaker 1: that what we've also learned is that if some guy
Speaker 1: in a boardroom is deciding I'm gonna ravage the environment
Speaker 1: to do whatever I want, that doesn't work either. So
Speaker 1: we're gonna have a blend of some sort. We want
Speaker 1: some collective decision making about the social good, and we
Speaker 1: want something that's efficient to dynamic and allows us to
Speaker 1: exercise our innovation and freedom, and we don't need to
Speaker 1: worry so much about the labels as we do about
Speaker 1: being practical and thinking about what's working and what isn't.
Speaker 1: And this is going back to the information issues. This
Speaker 1: is part of why to me, one of the biggest
Speaker 1: challenges in democracy is not just the mechanics of elections
Speaker 1: or uh, the independent judiciary. Those things are all important,
Speaker 1: but this is why this information and media issue is
Speaker 1: so important, because what we've seen here in the United
Speaker 1: States and elsewhere is a a abandonment of a commitment
Speaker 1: to facts and reason and logic and you know, stuff
Speaker 1: that is useful, uh and and necessary. And if we
Speaker 1: can't have a debate based on facts, then we can't
Speaker 1: get to better solutions. Right we start talking in slogans
Speaker 1: and nonsense and there's no reality check. We just make
Speaker 1: stuff up. I didn't lose an election. You know, there's
Speaker 1: something broken over there, um and and it doesn't and
Speaker 1: and it's impervious defects. So so part of what I think,
Speaker 1: why I've been spending a lot of time thinking about this, uh,
Speaker 1: this information issue, is how do we and how we
Speaker 1: teach our kids in you know, either industry standards or
Speaker 1: and or regulation of these social media platforms. How do
Speaker 1: we get back to the point where you can have
Speaker 1: opinions we all do. But facts matter, and and proof matters,
Speaker 1: and and our capacity to debate and say, you know what,
Speaker 1: if we do things this way, it might work better.
Speaker 1: And then you may disagree, but at least we we
Speaker 1: agree to a set of rules whereby we can I
Speaker 1: have a better solution. It's possible to get to that
Speaker 1: place when almost tough. Let's talk about the United States.
Speaker 1: Almost half the country says, well, what all those rules?
Speaker 1: And why are you even deciding them? And why are
Speaker 1: we having this conversation You are not even affect How
Speaker 1: do you, honestly mean, how do you get to that
Speaker 1: place with people were not The interesting thing is, even
Speaker 1: in those places that are just inundated with what I
Speaker 1: considered to be nonsense and lies and distortions, when people
Speaker 1: operate in their own lives, they're still operating on facts
Speaker 1: right on their jobs. When they're coaching their kids the
Speaker 1: league or their soccer game. In football, they don't let
Speaker 1: the ref just kind of say, you know what, this time,
Speaker 1: we're just gonna get five points for the touchdown. It's
Speaker 1: like wait, wait, wait, folks on the sidelines saying no,
Speaker 1: it's six points for the touchdown. And then you get
Speaker 1: the extra went and so we abide by all kinds
Speaker 1: of facts in our own lives. It's just this national
Speaker 1: story that is being told where we allow lies to
Speaker 1: be told, and we accept them mainly because it turns
Speaker 1: out there when we tell a story about the other side,
Speaker 1: it makes us feel better. It's like, you know, Trevor,
Speaker 1: he's a jackass. You should see and you're happy to
Speaker 1: be sitting there, and and uh and and and so
Speaker 1: we enjoyed the performative aspects of making stuff up and
Speaker 1: and part of that is because we don't think there
Speaker 1: are consequences to it. Now, what we've learned from the
Speaker 1: election of my successor, from the pandemic, from the insurrection
Speaker 1: is actually the stories we tell do matter. And you know,
Speaker 1: having some baseline of sticking to the truth when you're
Speaker 1: telling stories about our country, about policy, but also about
Speaker 1: the other side, that matters. Um and and I I
Speaker 1: like to think that part of what happened in this
Speaker 1: election is people said, okay, you know what, some of
Speaker 1: this stuff is getting a little too crazy. It turns
Speaker 1: out that there is a you know, a majority of
Speaker 1: country that does prefer normal not crazy. And that's and
Speaker 1: that's is is that's a basis for hope. 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 at the White House just
Speaker 1: before you left, and then afterwards, I saw you kite
Speaker 1: surfing and I I loved it. I loved it. By
Speaker 1: the way, um, great technique. But I often wonders, like,
Speaker 1: you know, what is Mr President going to do next?
Speaker 1: Where does he going? 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, like we're basically the same. You know,
Speaker 1: we guys are gonna same, you know, you know, I'll think, Um,
Speaker 1: I think you're gonna have to uh really focus on
Speaker 1: relearning things like driving, pressing your own elevator buttons. I think,
Speaker 1: what was the last time you heard the drag platers?
Speaker 1: That's I go. I taken myself. Yeah, we have very
Speaker 1: you You you don't like you're very like. You know,
Speaker 1: that's like I said, you missed the president forever. You
Speaker 1: have secret service forever. That's correct, I do, and and
Speaker 1: it uh, I get to keep my I still am
Speaker 1: in a bubble. I thought I thought I could escape
Speaker 1: it quick story. Since we're in New York. I used
Speaker 1: to say, oh, you know what, once I get out
Speaker 1: of here, I'm gonna just be able to like walk
Speaker 1: through Central Park and it's gonna you know, and I'll
Speaker 1: just put like on a baseball cap and it's gonna
Speaker 1: be fine. And yeah. Michelle's all like, yeah, okay, good
Speaker 1: 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 a swan and their phones and traffic stopping and
Speaker 1: it didn't work. So um, so 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, You're already following. One piece
Speaker 1: of advice that I would have is leave when your
Speaker 1: 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 Sponsta and Georgia when you're doing this week.
Speaker 1: You're a very funny guy. So you want me to
Speaker 1: open for you? I got I'm showing in Chicago. It
Speaker 1: doesn't you know, what's not even open. I wouldn't dare
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 headlining tour. You know what I mean, And you
Speaker 1: know what I mean. All the cousin of Rocom everybody.
Speaker 1: I want to talk already over last. Yeah, well I
Speaker 1: thought much to thank you so much for shooting in
Speaker 1: Wat's The Daily Show weeknights at eleven tenth Central on
Speaker 1: Comedy Central and stream full episodes anytime on Paramount Plus.
Speaker 1: This has been a Comedy Central podcast