Jon Stewart Spotlights Fox News's Anti-Poor Narrative | TDS Time Machine

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May thirteen, twenty fifteen, Comedy Central's Worldviews headquarters in New York.

This is the Daily Show with charms, tools, good story.

Good show.

Tonight, our old friend Reza Oslon will be joining us, and we're going to talk about all kinds of stuff, mostly God. You know, I'm watching Fox News, which I'll continue to do now for another I don't know thirty six shows minus Today's Open and Well.

We often poke fun at them for lying and sucking. They do care very deeply.

About certain issues like Benghazi, or women's legs, or that time one of their female anchors didn't wear a dress now known as Antskazi. The point is, after Fox Finish is caring about lots of other stuff, they eventually care very deeply about poverty.

We haven't heard much about poverty from the Obama White House over the last four years.

Virtually no emphasis on families.

Why not focus on poverty?

I remember five or six years ago President Obama making this one of his main talking points.

I'm going to fix the structure of the African American family.

Where did that go?

And while the president has been addressing those issues his entire presidency.

Good point.

In fact, yesterday President Obama sat down for a seventy six minute discussion at Georgetown University in which he explained all sorts of things about personal responsibility and the debate between government assistants and personal responsibility as being a false choice, and families, etc.

A free market is perfectly compatible with also US making investment in good public schools, public universities, investments in public parks. If we do those things, the values and the character that those kids are learning, they're less likely to get pregnant as teens, and less likely to engage in drugs, and less likely to be involved in the criminal justice system. That is a reinforcement of the values and characters that

You know who else talked with his hands, Hitler. So Fox finally.

Got the substantive presidential discussion on poverty that they always wanted, including on stage the counterview from the head of the conservative American Enterprise Institute.

He was on stage.

I can't wait to see Fox's happiness and satisfaction.

Fox News Alert, Fox News Front and Center.

President Obama taking time out today for one of his favorite topics, Fox.

News's Obama accused Fox News of propagating harmful stereotypes about poor Americans.

The President accused the media, in particular Fox News, of suggesting the.

Poor are unwilling to work.

Yep, just like college students in a four hour commencement, Fox basically pays no attention until they hear their own names, it turns out, at one point in this at one point in this incredibly thoughtful and productive session on poverty, the President made the easily provable and decidedly true point that Fox news narrative is that poverty is not a function of economic condition, but of character.

The effort to suggest that the poor are sponges, leeches, are don't want to work, or lazy. If you watch Fox News on a regular basis, it is a constant menu. They will find like folks who make me man, Yeah, I don't know where they find them, right, And they're all like, I don't want to work, I just want a free Obama phone or.

Whatever, and that becomes an entire narrative. Really yeah, really really really really yes.

What's with your tone of disgust and disappointment? Are you anchoring a news desk or did you just come home to find your dog at eating your cat's entire litter box?

Roscoe.

Really, it sounds to me like the president has a remarkably firm grasp on your business model there, Fox, So why are you outraged?

In my opinion, the president is spinning his own policy failures as the middle class shrinks and the poor are trapped in this system, so to speak, the present blames us, the honest messengers.

The honest messengers.

Martha, Really, what what.

Did you even?

Did you even watch the program?

What are you talking about, Barney?

We've looked at the food stamp program, not at the recipients. We haven't characterized the recipients. We've looked at the program. We're not saying that the recipients of food stamps are bad people or that they're lazy.

That is such a rich buffet of bull I can't at the three course prefix.

I'm sorry, prickfest for starters.

Let's demonstrate Fox's contempt for those in power in our first course of this meal and a mouse douche if you.

Will, America's poor are actually living the good luck.

Just call them pennies from government heaven.

The United States of entitlement, the nation of takers, entitlement society.

Scary.

We have nothing against the poor, It's just that their rabbit is greed burst through America's.

Chest like the monster and alien. But I'm sorry you were saying.

You don't characterize the poorest bad people are lazy while your entree is ready just as you asked for.

It medium unfair.

We have conditioned people to look to the government to be their answer for every problem they have and take zero responsibility.

The mocher class, subsidized freeloaders.

Give me these goodies, give me a cell phone, pay my rent.

Beilouts from cretel to grave.

Nation of moocher's freeloaders in America.

Entitlement, mentality and.

Sitting on the couch eating bonbonds, people who sleep till noon, sucking.

Off you know, the nipple of the government.

How removed from reality is Fox's perception of their own coverage on poverty. The main defender of your network's attitude towards those in poverty is the main offender. He does segments that would make Ebeneezer Scrooge. Go hey, take it easy. These are people we're talking about. So for dessert tonight, we serve you baked a lass hole.

The handout nation rolls on. We hand out seventy nine billion dollars every January to these so called poor people.

You're not being mean to poor people. I am.

I am being mean to poor people, frankly, I am. Many poor families have homes with cable TVs, cell phones, computers, you name it, much much more. Ninety nine percent of them have a refrigerator. Eighty one percent have a microwave. You're going to give us the emotional side of the story. People need fifteen dollars per hour to live on. The's starving without it. Okay, I got that. The image we have of poor people as starving and living in squala

Anyway, you boy, what day is it today? Is it Christmas Day? Oh? Go up and buy all the gooses.

Keep them out of those lazy boy hands. And if you see a boy on crutches, push him down.

He's not crippled. He's crippled at hot. He lacks a richness of legsness?

Are these glaring? Are they?

I don't? Are these honestly?

Are these glaring contradictions a product of lack of self awareness or cynicism, or.

Stupidity or evil?

I don't know anymore, and I'm starting to lack a richness of What I don't understand is another journalist on another network leaping to defend something so clearly indefensible.

What about the specific clip about Fox News calling poor people leeches, sponges and lazy?

Have you ever heard that on Fox News?

No?

I have not.

Well, I guess it's time for our favorite game show.

Did you even try to research this? All?

Right?

The rules are simple.

First, Joe Scarborough cites three words. He says he's never heard Fox News called poor people, and then we see how wrong he is. Today's words are lazy, sponges and leeches.

Ready sitko. These programs do make people lazy. They get food stamps.

It makes it easy for them.

To sponge off their girlfriends and spouses. So the more of the leeches that he can get to vote for him.

And that's our game. We'll be right back.

Earlier this week, Jordan Klepper, he gave us part one of his complete coverage of the UK elections. In tonight's part two, he now completes his complete coverage completely.

Jordan.

Last week in the UK, the Conservative Party had a huge victory I assume by using the same wedge issues American Conservative candidates used so expertly.

Well, I do believe life begins at conception.

Government run healthcare.

This is what I do to out law. I think marriage is between a man and a woman. How am I going to win? And I said guns?

Obviously these same issues would resonate in Britain. How important is the gun issue for you?

I don't know what that is.

You don't have any guns here?

No?

Does that upset you?

Yeah?

I mean how do you shoot legislation you don't like?

We voted though, Is socialized medicine getting thrown down your throats?

No, we've already got it. Well, big an issue as abortion. The main parties are all thinking the same thing on that. What about gay marriage?

That's also not a debate. We have it and the one it's all fine.

So what the you guys talk about?

We're talking about the economy.

We talked about something called the.

Dean maybe political consultant Steve Morgan can tell us why they're ignoring these key issues.

Well, I mean we would argue that we deal with the real issues here and those are not those.

Is there any party out there that's talking about the fun wild card stuff like climate deniers or anti immigration or big fears and stuff like that.

We've got onto immigration from the UKIP party u KIP, what is that uk Independence Party? And there a very dangerous party because there's enophobic. They appealed to the worst elements of British society.

Okay, that's a party.

I understand that sounds like good old American campaigning. But was UKIP candidate Kim Rose able to walk the fine line between exploiting people's fears and bald faced hatred babut the vices and car us You know, we're not masist.

We want to stop the mass migration of people coming into this country. They're coming over in bass numbers. And now you've got communities taken up parts of the town which is all full of Polish people.

See, he's not racist, he just doesn't like Polish people.

I'm not a racist. What I'm trying to prove the actual fact. Now, this isn't about race. This is about space. All we want is our country back.

If you're not repeatedly defending the fact that you're being called racist over and over again, you're doing something wrong.

Absolutely, absolutely, I am not. That's what I'm saying.

I can't think of any reasons why people were confused about his policies.

I've got into trouble with a Hitler comment, so I'll quote it from the book of Mind Camp.

The Nazi reference.

Good idea, although we don't usually actually quote Hitler. Sounds like he was ready for American style politics.

He just needed a couple of pointers from a pro.

Army.

Give her the worst case scenario.

The worst case scenario is this great, great country will cease to exist. Nice you know about the Kip policies.

Hit her with the one hundred years of darkness if.

We don't get out of the EU, and our children and our grandchildren will have one hundred years of doctors.

This guy was on fire, but then his toughest challenge squaring off with the rival candidate from the Green Party.

Yeah.

Look, fact is, at the end of the day, we aren't the only party of what's a complete withdraw from the opinion, And I know you can't see that.

Make the Hitler reference again.

In nineteen forty two and in nine Camp said that if they will take away our freedom in tiny into sensible pieces about what's happening in this.

Country, boom walk away, just good good. Ultimately, Kim Rose ended up with the whopping thirteen percent of the vote, which seems like way more than he deserved. And actually, in the time I spent here in Britain, apart from their terrible version of baseball, I was impressed with their electoral system. Guys like this are marginalized. They spend little on the elections, they had just six weeks to campaign, and their news media provides reasonably sober analysis.

But there was still something that was bothering me. What was it?

If hum believe with the Iraq War.

Of the Iraq War, that's right, you guys were involved in that too, Yeah we were that.

You guys have made some bonehead moves.

Yeah, oh right, like us.

They fought an unnecessary war.

Their government approval ratings are dismal, and British leaders even promise punishing austerity measures. So apparently, no matter of your electoral system, your government will find a way to fit all up of course if you're British, there is a cultural advantage that cannot be denied.

Hey, and Jordan, we also use the work.

It's not a problem here, So cheers. Here's to the politics we do.

Hey, good ey, Hey.

Jordan Clopper over ride back, Yes tonight.

He is a religious.

Scholar about selling authors books include No God But God and zeal It.

Please welcome back to the program. Res Oslin.

All right, how's it going.

It is going very well, right, you boy, your phone must be ringing off the hook.

As a man who studies.

The God business is very good, very good, right, because.

Of how bad it is.

There's always something to talk about.

Why, you know, I've always said religion has given people great comfort in a world torn apart by religion.

Why hasn't God just settled this?

Yeah he really should.

Just who's right?

Just get it over with?

Why?

Because doesn't he ever think? Okay, okay, this has gone on long enough.

Well, look, the thing about religion that people have to understand is that it's far more a matter of identity than it is just a matter of beliefs and practices. I mean, those things are important, but when you say I'm a Jew, I'm a Muslim, I'm a Christian. You're making an identity statement, far more so than a statement of the things that you believe. I mean, we put it this way, seven out of ten Americans called themselves Christian. Seven out of ten Americans. Someone, think about that for

Hold on, I don't do well with this. Yeah, so you're saying one and thirty five percent. YEA hold on.

That means that seven you gotta get your kids to help.

Yeah.

That means that seven out of ten Americans go to church on Sunday, or seven out of ten Americans read the Bible on a regular basis, or seven out of ten Americans can tell you anything about Jesus except that he was born in a manger and died on a cross. No, of course, not the vast majority of that seventy percent. When they say I am a Christian, they're making a statement of their identity that includes their nationality, their ethnicity,

What struck me about when you said that you should seven out of ten Americans identify as Christian?

Is the whole Merry Christmas hullabaloo.

Yeah, when you say that in a store, you have a thirty percent chance of being somebody, and it really does. It'd be almost like saying, like, from now on in stores just say hello sir.

Yeah. Well, as a Muslim, whenever somebody says Merry Christmas, I am obligated to say to you.

Is that true?

Is that in the Koran?

In the Koran? Yeah, I had no idea.

I thought it was part of the hadith, realize that it was in the Quran. But it brings up such an interesting point because I truly believe that if you remove the construct of religion. And that's why this discussion about Islam is so important, because now that the threat is Islam is of all the monotheistic religions particularly prone to extremism. Maybe in this moment, certainly the other religions have had it. But religion is more than anything else, a choice.

But not viewed that way, No, it's not.

But I mean more importantly, I think it's Look, there's obviously a serious problem with religion religious violence in the world, and particularly in Islam and in the Middle East. But if you're going to blame religion for violence in the name of religion, then you have to credit religion for every act of compassion in the name of religion. You have to credit religion for every act of love in the name of religion. And that's not what people usually think.

In this country, not.

Two hundred years ago. Both slave owners and abolitionists not only use the same Bible to justify their viewpoints, they use the same verses.

To do so.

I mean, that's a thing about scripture. Its power comes from its maleeability. You can read it in any way you want to. If you are a violent misogynist, you will find plenty in the Koran or in the Bible to justify your viewpoint. If you're a peaceful feminist, you will find just as much in those scriptures to justify your viewpoint.

What what if you're a Jew who loves a bacon egg, Is there something to me that might.

Be just as a you gotta be something.

I would recommend the Book of Mormon for you.

I knew it, but I mean, but that is the point exactly.

The point is is that without interpretation, scriptures just words on a page. It requires somebody to read it, to encounter it for it to have any kind of meaning. And obviously, in that transaction, you are bringing yourself, your views, your politics, your your social ideas into the text. How you read scripture has everything to do with who you are. God does not make you a bigot. You're just a bigot.

The violence that is a good point, and the violence that region is an outgrowth of a paucity of many things, not religion, not being the sole driver of these of these identity difficulties that are that are going.

There's a lot of issues that are involved. Social issues, political issues, cultural issues, all those things.

When you stick around, we'll talk a little bit about so how to.

Fix them midtle least, it'd be nice. Let's do this all right, And by the way, We're not going to do it on air, because that'd be too easy.

We're going to do it on the web, paperback up zeal. It's on the bookshelves now, res osen Okay.

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