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Hey, Ears Edition listeners. This is Daily Show supervising producer Ian Berger. We're so happy to be back making new episodes of the Daily Show. The Daily Show returned with John Stewart and Jordan Klepper hosting Today. I'm fortunate enough to be joined by Daily Show contributor Jordan Klepper. Jordan, how are you?
I I'm doing well. Good to see you.
Good to see you. I feel like we spent a lot of time together.
We do. We're on the road all the time, yes, but this is nice. We're in a podcast studio. We're not in a Lakita somewhere. Usually we're having whatever strange breakfast that whatever hotel shoves out to us, usually a weird type of omelet, greasy omelet, yeah, bad hash browns.
We're forced to eat alike and weirdly. Today we're in the office and we ordered the same dish for the same restaurant. It's true, so we may have a problem, I think, because we're forced to eat similar food. When you come back to New York, you're like, oh right, other options.
I got called on it this week because this week I get to host and there are some benefits to hosting there you get a little bit more help. And so they asked, do you want any breakfast when you arrive at the office, And I was like, that's amazing. And what I asked for was one of those protein packs from Starbucks. And Vas, who was setting this all up, was like, just like, is that just what you eat on the road. I'm like, oh, that is what I
get the road. Yeah. Usually, I'm like, I want a kind of healthy breakfast, and your best bet is a protein pack with a hard boiled egg from Starbucks. And that's that's the highest. That's that. When they're like, you are host you can have whatever you want for breakfast, I'm like, get me the big protein pack from Starbucks.
Like I want to feel at home, make me feel like I'm in a terminal in a regional airport. This is great. Thank you guys. I did it.
It's like Akron in here.
Well, let's just talk about this week. There's big news this week, a familiar face back at the desk on Mondays and back helping us make this show. How do you feel about it? How do you think it's going.
We've had such a fun week, what a exciting surprise when they announced that John was coming back. Just you and I both got to work with John back in the day. Boit what nine years ago? Almost ten years ago? You started? Went how many years ago?
I started just before the eight convention? Well eight conventions, it was both yeah and then you started.
I started almost a yeah twenty fourteen, and so I was with John for a year and a half. And then they make this big announcement and they bring John into the studio that he's going to be hosting Mondays.
And what a surprise, What an exciting, awesome shock for us to sort of have this this a person who was really important for so many people's lives here at the Daily Show, and who I think, you know, we've mishearing his voice over these last few years, even though he's had wonderful shows where his voice has been on. But I think there's so many people here who were like, oh, I'd love to hear him day in and day out. So to have him back on the show is pretty gosh darn great.
How do you think his involvement in kind of like tone he may set on Monday Nights, but his involvement of the show will inform the other nights. Nights you host, and night days we go out into the field.
You know, we had when John came in, we had a big meeting where John kind of sat down to talk about the things he was excited about with the election. And I think we've had such a unique year and a half with guest hosts. We've had gotten to try a lot of different ideas, a lot of different voices at the show, and I think this last year and a half taught us many things, and one of them
is sort of the infrastructure of the Daily Show. You're still we have such a very clear voice at this show, and even if you're changing who the host is, this building is built to sort of get these ideas attacked and approached in very similar thoughtful ways. But we haven't had an opportunity to sit down and really talk about, like, all right, this is what we're doing attacking the biggest election year of our lives. And John came in and sort of was like, here's what I'm feeling about this.
This is such an important year. It's an existential threat, is what everybody is talking about. And we all know the threat Donald Trump poses, and we also know it looks like it's gonna be Joe Biden, And what do
derimocrats feel about this? What are the insecurities people have around this idea, and how do we talk authentically about the fears people have, How do we criticize bs wherever we see it, and how do we prep for this wild election year as a team and look at it almost holistically so that we can approach the big trend over the next year while also being on the ball
day in and day out. And so it was really it was really what the show needed was John coming in and all of us kind of getting into that room and be like, all right, here we are. This is the team. We got John Stewart back, and we are running as fast as we can till this election. And it really kickstarted everybody to be like, all right, the clock starts.
I feel like we had a great run with a lot of incredible guest hosts, but the tones are different, and now it feels like we have this unified, unified front and we're all running in the same way and attacking things in the same way.
Yeah, And to.
That, we had to fingers the pulse shot last weekend. Do you wanna tell us a little bit about that?
Where it was Yeah, we knew we wanted to jump out and get out there. We hadn't been out on the road for a while, and we've been wanting to cover what's happening in South Carolina. Nicki Haley like we spend a lot of time at MAGA rallies, but wanted to see what other Republican voters are curious about. And so we found a big Trump event down outside of Myrtle Beach, and Nikki Haley had an event across the state, and so our goal there was to one see what
a Nicki Haley voter is looking for? Is there, like who is that person? If Nikki Haley drops out, are they jumping over to the Trump team? And also what did Trump voters think of Nicki Haley? Is this race over what happens to the people once this thing is decided? And also big issues of the moment, like I don't know Trump's saying there'll be a dictator from day one.
We had an opportunity since he made that comment and he made the comment about poisoning the blood of our country when he was talking about immigration, we haven't been able to confront and talk to the MAGA Republicans about whether that affected their views of Donald Trump. And so this was a chance for us to get on the road and do that.
One thing that I appreciated about this segment, producing it and watching it, watching you in it, it wasn't just a Maga rally. We were able to go to two different events and that's rare, and I think we were kind of holding off on doing something till we had this opportunity. Now we both know this opportunity is not going to last long. It made you know, we'll see how long Haley's in it. But what was your impression of the Haley rally when you got there, We were
there a little early. It was very different than from what we're used to.
I would say it was refreshing.
Some I would agree, like.
Just the logistics of a Trump rally are that you show up in a parking lot six hours before Donald Trump arrives and there's thousands of people wait to go inside. And so even functionally, we're talking to people in a parking lot who are who are in it to win it, and they're there for that rally. Approaching the Nikki Haley event, people are not waiting outside hours at a time, but the people who arrive a little bit before Nicki Haley
arrives are politically curious folks. They're less garden. There were some people who were die hard Nicki Haley people, small few, but dedicated. But people were excited to hear what she had to say. And frankly, we don't talk to many people who are open minded and have yet to decide what they believe. Usually we talk to a Trump rally and people aren't there to see what Trump is all about.
They're not going there to learn no, that is for sure. I don't mean like throughout their life that might be the case, but certainly at a Trump rally, nobody's going there to learn anything.
Yeah, it's so. Originally I believe these these rallies were set up for the American populists to get to know these candidates, to question them on their their motives and their policies, and to form an opinion about them. The Trump rallies, that's not the case. You are there to rally raw raw around this idea. The Nikki Haley people like I want to hear what she has to say.
I have my own beliefs about this. I want to know if she is for me and so that was quite frankly, super refreshing, and it felt it felt like a throwback with the little American flags and the buttons and the curious and the nervous people signing people up for mailing lists. It was like, oh, this is what the political world used to be like a decade ago, right, I think it's what.
We would hope we could encounter more. Yes, as you said, it's refreshing. Like even just the backdrop, it was like, oh, we're not in a parking lot. This is this lovely green field with this pretty barn in the background. It was a wedding venue. I could see having a wedding there, but that's a very different vibe than a parking lot.
Even like the music playing, yeah, seemed like, you know, there was some fun queen songs and some nice, non offensive classic rock.
You go to a little jet.
Little Joe Jet was thrown in there. You could see hear nodding to like female rock stars from the past, but not having to go all in. She doesn't want to be a feminist, so you know, everything is politicized there, but you can go to Trump probably It's like, how many times do I have to listen to Leonard Skinnard, or or even sometimes they bring in speakers and videos that are advertising for the Trump campaign in a way
like it's this Haley event was. It was remarkably refreshing, a little bit of a deviation that we usually get.
I totally agree, and it was. It was lovely and small and short. And I don't know how many more of those we'll get to attend, but you want to tell us a little bit about some of the characters you met there.
We ran into a decent amount of folks. I mean, I think overall a few hundred people probably showed up for this Hailey event. And we ran into some people who were Trump voters who had just had it. They felt like they were embarrassed by Donald Trump and were really really looking for another answer. We ran to a couple of people who had traveled from out of state who wanted to see Nicki Haley who are super fans of Nicky Hay. Talked to a Democrat or two who
were there because they were disappointed in Joe Biden. I wanted to see what Nikki Haley offered. Another person did talk about the realities of potentially voting for Nicki Haley in the Republican primary as a way to be against Trump and perhaps voting for Biden in a general election. So there were a handful of things.
And then there was Bubba.
Oh, and there was Bubba. And then you did you recognize Bubba? When we approach a place, we're always looking for who is most eager to talk, who looks like they have something fun to say, who is a character?
I think I approached him and he was so friendly right away. Baba is the guy who told us that voters who didn't appreciate Nikki's track record as governor were higher than a Georgia Pine, which I'd never heard before. And it's just lovely.
Holes aren't great for Haley up against Trump for this primary one.
I am not smart enough to tell you numbers, but I can tell you thing. She is certainly not going to get embarrassed in this state. I have a problem with people insinuating she might not have been an effective governor. Really well, they either lived in another state or there high as a Georgia Pine.
I know I'm not from there. Are those tall trees.
Buried tall Buddy. When I approached, he was so friendly and almost like grateful that I asked him if we could talk to him, and again, that's also refreshing. And then I took a look at his truck. So sometimes you're trying to suss people out, like will they be interesting? Are they eager to talk? As you said, And then you look at the bubber stickers on people's vehicles, and
it tells you a lot about them. Now, Bubba had had a wide variety of stickers on his tracks, if you want to tell us about that.
I believe initially he had an organization. I believe he helps homeless veterans. And so there was there was that out frontly a person who was giving back to the community. He then had a body piercing by glock sticker on the back, a bigfoot sticker, two big foot stickers. So he appeared to be a man of contradiction, but a man of interest.
Absolutely, and a lovely golden retriever too. It's all like weird contradictions but charming thing.
So the block thing felt aggressive until we started to talk to him about it. And frankly, again, part of what made that Haley rally so refreshing worth the characters were really fun and compelling, and he was somebody who has served in the Georgia State Legislature, I believe for many many years, calls himself a true independent, has never been connected to any party In particular, I think he
still volunteers with the Georgia State Legislature. Knew Nikki Haley from way back when was an amateur filmmaker, as he told us about he told us about eight foot content, the big He's made multiple films about Bigfoot. I believe he was such a lovely character, who who who loved, He loved South Carolina, gave back to South Carolina, wanted to be a part of government, and was seeking out people who could do some good. Felt Nicki Haley was
that person. He was voluntary. He was putting up signs, he was handing out stickers to folks, and he was also talking to us about bigfoot content like this this is America.
Yeah, I loved it. I loved it. And another thing about him I thought so charming was like how heartfelt he was in her defense, like she is not going to get embarrassed here, and like that line. I was like, oh, I hear you. I'm not sure about that. Unfortunately, I'm not sure about that. But that's really great that you are. You know that passionate. Unfortunately, just three hours down the road Donald Danos Trump and I say Dano's not because
he's a marvel villain, but because he's inevitable in that world. Unfortunately. Yeah, he was having a rally and it was very different, if you want to tell us about your initial impressions, contrasted with the Hailey race.
Yet again, there's a ton of people there. We roll up and there's a pin that's cording off with hundreds and hundreds of people who have been there. You know, this event as always this event. I think we started at two. I think we're there at eight thirty and there's probably close to a thousand people there. Now. I will also say there is no doubt that people are
showing up for Trump rallies. The one thing I can't speak for is the overall breadth of support at a Trump rally, because the big picture that they got from this Trump rally was Trump showed up, people couldn't get in.
They filled that venue quickly, and so there were a thousand people outside that Trump pulled up before he went in, and he did a photo op outside with a thousand people who couldn't get inside the right, which is a good look and it shows that he's a popular guy and he is let it be known people are showing up for a Donald Trump event. I think there should be some more investigation as to whether these events are as big, and I think he's booking smaller venues than
he has in the past. But regardless, there are photo ops to be had, and there are a bunch of people who will wait in a parking out for six hours ready to talk, especially outside of Myrtle Beach. Uh, they were, they were there the party, a little bit of fun and talk that Maga tak.
Yeah, there were people on our on our flight down who were there for both reasons and Myrtle Beach drunk and Trump Maga party.
Drink golf. Trump's had a T shirt somewhere outside of beach.
Yeah, I get it. I get it. Other impressions from this rally there was stuff, you know, as you said, we kind of wanted to see their reaction to kind of the most outlandis thing Trump has said since we've done the previous right, what were your reactions to that?
Well, I think the big question we had we went down there was Trump as dictator There's been a lot of Trump as dictator talk. Also Trump uh as as king he's asking for total hmmunity as president. Did it bump with any of his supporters, No, it didn't. I think it didn't bump with any of its supporters. I think some of them would talk around, like the idea
of a dictator. That's still a pejorative for some people in the Maga universe, and so they might roll their eyes at that language, but still jump on board the idea that Trump Trump needs the power to get stuff done and doesn't want the checks of the government. A dictatorship for day one, Yeah, and that's what we need. What does that actually look like. Well, that means that about half the people in the Department.
Of Justice should be arrested and put behind bars.
That's like a true dictatorship.
Yeah.
Well, you know, if it needs to happen, Donald Trump said it'll be a dictator day one. What do you think of that? Is that a good idea? Let's get it done, get in and get it done, let's go. He's not going to be like a Hitler dictator. No, more like a Mussolini dictator for a day. Yeah, put the people in place, a dictator can do that, right, It can put people in place, the good people over here, the bad people over here into Gula at this point is what America they need.
Yeah, I don't think we've found that. If we found anyone who kind of rejected like he should be dictator on day one, I don't think we We didn't cherry pick those people, like No, that's the group of people we asked, and that's that was all. The answers were just like.
That, Yeah, across the board, that is what they wanted. I mean other things we noticed there too, is you know, it's interesting some people want to talk economy. Some people want to talk we want Trump back to get the economy back on board. Something that I found fascinating was you talk about, you know, the stock market is up, inflation is on its way down, job numbers are up, Unemployment is down, like there are some really good numbers
for Biden. Now that doesn't resonate with Trump folks. What they bring up is the housing market and gas, And quite frankly, I don't think gas could get low enough for people not to complain about the price of gas. So they blame Biden on gas and housing. I think is a big thing that perhaps Democrats don't pay enough attention to is Biden can tout how the stock market's doing well, and quite frankly, Trump has taken plenty of
credit when the stock market is up. But I don't think that is a metric that a lot of the MAGA folks look to.
I think I hear you, but I think that is a metric they did look to when you were as president. They would brag about that, and.
I don't know if that was something they felt when he was president. I think that is something that they used as AMMO. I mean, half of the conversations we have with people is people grasping for AMMO that they can use to make Trumps as popular and as cool as they possibly can. But I think there is some stuff that is a reflection of how they feel. And again it's it's partially a tactic when they talk about housing as opposed to Wall Street numbers, but it did
feel real. The things that they see are like, oh, gas, and I have a cousin or myself or my kid can't afford to buy a place right now, And I blame Joe Biden for that.
Yeah, No, that was very clear, and we actually I don't think we even had time to include all those conversations. No, that's certainly a conversation we'll have in the future. It's not going anywhere. One other thing that we thought we would get material from and we didn't was talk about the super Bowl. You want to tell us about what we expect.
Well, and that's when we do these pieces. We often go down with a handful of topics that we want to address with people. And this is why it's so important to go out there is because you sit in a New York studio, you watch cable news, you get online, you're on Twitter, you're on Telegram. You're hearing what conversations are, and then you go into the real world and see
if they actually resonate. The conspiracy theory that's been online and also on Fox News is this vilification of Taylor Swift to the point that perhaps she is a governmental plant, an agent for Biden. It goes in many, many different directions, and so we were prepping ideas of like, great, if we go to this Maga rally, we want to talk and see that the super Bowl was the next day.
If you turned on Fox News, you hear them rolling their eyes at Taylor Swift and talking about her being overly political.
People are still furious as her involvement with the Chiefs and how that somehow helps liberal America, Like they're still tweeting about it. But as we say, sometimes Twitter is not real life.
The Internet is not a real place. And when we went to that Maga rally, nobody gave a shit about Taylor Swift. The only people who did were a couple ladies who loved to Swift, and we asked if he'd supported if she supported Biden, would would they not be Taylor Swift fans? No, they love Taylor Swift.
Now there are two women under twenty five years old. They're like, of course we love her.
I think that's an important reminder that, like the Internet is not a real place, now it can affect real things and it is a tool to rile people up. And Fox News is going to talk about Taylor Swift because it gets clicked, so it gets people angry. And your grandma might be angry in a basement down in Tampa, Florida, which she's watching this Taylor Swift person. And there's probably some people on Telegram who love to go down that
conspiracy wormhole. But our little slice of folks at the MAGA rally were not affected or thinking about Taylor Swift and the Super Bowl in any constructive way. And I think that is a constant reminder to not look at the conversations on Twitter or Telegram or x as a reflection of the actual conversations people are having in Redemara.
Would you go so far as to say, maybe it not been it was not a worthwhile use of time. I'm to write with you, me and some great writers on this show, like forty Taylor Swift jokes.
We had some We had a backpocket full of some really fun Taylor Swift jokes, some premises about what Usher was going to be promoting, what environmental policies.
Weirdly, they didn't know Usher either. They had no opinions on Usher. We'll be right back to chat Moore with Klepper talking about characters. There was one character at the end of the piece, a very sympathetic character that you talked to. Do you want to tell us about that interaction? What we His name is Mike because he had a tattoo with his own name on his.
Arm, Mike tattoo on his arm. Mike was Trump supporter Trump volunteer who had arrived at this Trump event hours before, but it was pretty clear he wouldn't be able to get in, and he was a little bit stressed and upset about it. We started talking to Mike about Trump. I think the first it's not in the piece again,
these pieces are truncated. The first thing Mike talked about we asked him over the upcoming election, and his prognosis was that Trump actually was going to be reinstated before the next election, so he would be elected as president when he's elected in November, because he'd be reinstated pre November.
So I mean, double president. If you're the president and then you get elected president, are you double president? Is it like you kind of power up in a video game? I mean, honestly, like bigger Mario.
And the technically that might be that might be a you know, that might be some sort of loophole that Democrats want to explore, because if you put him in a month before the presidency, then he wins. Is he already served a second term and therefore cannot serve beyond that. Mike Knton thought this true, and frankly neither had I.
But it's wild that that it wasn't on our show because we had other things to talk about.
This is that's why we keep going out. It's like people like, oh, what's on the cutting room floor. There's a lot on the cutting room floor. There are a wild things there's there. Every conversation has a January sixth conspiracy embedded in it that we look afterwards 're like, are we talking about this right now? Because the conspiracy always is evolving and codifying in different ways. But we're like, no, stay focused, stay focused, and we're not going to talk
about this thing with Mike. Mike got scammed and that's what was interesting Mike.
So before we get to the scam, we had talked through that double president thing, and I felt like the conversation was wrapping up because he kind of wasn't making sense about a lot. And this is why it's a good idea to never listen to me. Jordan's I gave you the wrap it up side just behind the other camera. I was like, okay, we can wrap this up. I
don't know if you ignored me, that'll be okay. I don't know if you didn't see me, but either way, you kept talking to him, and which you and I both say this a lot, like sometimes you just really do just have to keep talking to people and let them open up.
And then he did open up. He did, and I think that's what was compelling about Mike. He was very, very open, and I think he wanted to get something off his chest. And he started talking about these investments that he had made into Trump World products.
I have supported him with checks and the.
Gold gold Trump bars, one hundred dollars gold things.
I can't get rid of those NFT.
Cards, the TRB cards, not that they gave me a pin number or they good at any ATM went to ATM, couldn't get nothing out.
The card has nothing on. Do you think it was a scam.
It might have been.
I don't know.
So you've invested a lot in Donald Trump.
Yeah, everyone is telling me to buy something different.
Stop buying, don't buy any and I just as a as a guy who's just getting to know you here, stop it right, I am. I wasn't familiar with a good amount of them, Like at first we thought he was talking about certain Trump World like NFTs. He had mentioned purchasing gold bars, which upon some further research, I
think were Trump branded. I think they're branded as gold bullion bars that cost about one hundred bucks, and I think he was under the assumption that these were like legal tender as opposed to just fake gold with Trump's face on it, that it cost one hundred dollars because they're ripping people off.
I think he also assumed he got a debit card that had more money on it then he paid for.
Yes, there's a thing called a TRB scam that is a company that essentially is jump. Donald Trump is created a world of products that he just dumps onto a lot of the MAGA supporters. And some are as silly as NFTs, some are as goofy as weird hats. But there's a lot of investment opportunities in Trump paraphernalia that a lot of people take. And then I think there's
a second tier of organizations that prey on that. And one of these scams is selling Trump cards that I essentially are saying, if currency ever devalues, you have these credit cards that you've already put money into that you could go to a bank and get money out of. And so he was aut of the assumption that he could buy one hundred dollars cards and they'd be worth thousands of dollars in a bank if he waits thirty
days and then goes to a bank. And he was telling us he went to the bank, he wasn't getting the money, and he's filed police reports and it's starting to ruin his marriage and he's falling apart because he's invested so much money in this Trump universe.
But then he his instinct was to perhaps invest more.
Yes, another person had found him and said they could help him if they paid him more. And this is we we find the humor out there in the road. But there are people like Mike, And I think what was so compelling about him, is I really, you really feel for this guy like Mike seemed really sweet and kind.
He seemed truly troubled by these things that he was promised that would be financial windfalls or at least a way to support a person who was the president of the United States, and people clearly took advantage of him. He saw it as a scam, but he had no way out. Literally, he police reports and other scammers were coming to him asking for more money, and he didn't know. He didn't know how to get out of this.
Didn't he said he wanted to go into the Trump rally to ask, Yeah, people within Trump's orbit, like, hey, what can I do about this? Now, They're gonna not know anything about that because defend Trump's campaign and and his uh administration or whatever they they are not they don't sell these products. But at the same time, I don't think they're doing enough to like kind of separate themselves.
If somebody put your name on something and it was fraudulent, you'd want to be like, hey, everybody, don't buy that.
Yes, they've they are a part of a of a Donald Trump universe that sells crap promising bs to a lot of MAGA supporters who are constantly getting emails asking you to donate or asking you to buy weird pictures, weird paraphernalia, things that will have collector value in the future.
And so they've create created like a h an entire ecosystem of bad investments legal in many cases dubious but legal that people put money into and that attracts like chum in the water, a bunch of other bad actors who are creating fake, scammy businesses taking advantage of these MAGA people who are spending money on Nick knacks, and now these knick knacks are our weaponized to just take the money off of it, and they're leaving somebody like Mike who doesn't know who to turn to outside of
a literal Trump rally, unable to get in, just wanting a few questions. And yet we're like, leave Mike, you need to leave this. There's a scam going on inside right now, don't go in. And that draw he still wants to go in. He still wants to go in and listen to that man because you hope he has an answer for well.
To be honest, like when we were shooting it, we were talking to him. I don't think either of us knew what he was talking about. We had some familiarity with ads we have seen, but the debit card thing, the gold coins, the gold bullion bars, I had not heard of, and so I like, obviously we looked it up afterwards, and we looked it up in the car and we're like, oh, this is a real problem. It's very sad. But when it was happening, I was like, I don't is this real? Is he really describing something
that exists? And unfortunately it does.
Yep.
There's a lot of bad ways you can spend your money in the Trump orbit. They are good ways. You could, for example, buy shorts with Donald Trump's face on your crotch. Now I don't know that you can, Like I don't know what the resale value on those shorts is, but I think you'll always be able to get something for that.
I think if you have, I mean, yeah, there there's some Trump material and Trump branded apparel that will always have at least historical significance. And when you put his face on, I think there were they cargo they were cargo st boogie Bard shorts.
They look like Bard shorts.
They were like board shorts with a Trump mouth on a crotch in a way. Again we made the joke, We make a joke about where the mouth is. But I do think of the designer. At what point is this just is this just coincidence? I think not? But do they did Trump fans want his mouth on the crotch?
Well we're talking about it, so yeah, Like if it wasn't on the crouch and it was just on the thigh, that guy's not on television. Man, I'm just say it and we're not talking about it. And you think you're gonna You're gonna Facebook market Porge George with Trump's face just on the thigh. No One's gonna bite that, No one's coming for it. It's gotta be something you can talk about.
Put the lips on the crotch, otherwise it ain't TV.
Oh my god. Yeah, So that's the other side of rallies obviously. On one thing that we're still not quite sure about was there were there were protesters, and this was disheartening. Not the protesters. There were protesters on this This rally took place at Coastal Carolina University, so there were students whose lives were disrupted, and there was a group of protesters, mostly minority protesters, who were not happy with how the college had handled things. Yes, and so
they weren't being disruptive. They were literally across the street in an empty field protesting this event. And then what we witnessed was Trump fans immediately attacking them, not physically, but without knowing why they were there. Yeah, do you remember that? What was your reaction to that?
I mean, there are so many pictures, there's so many moments that you could boil down, have Norman Rock will paint them and let it be reflective of what America feels like right now. And it was a somewhat confusing situation, but that doesn't mean people didn't have giant, hyperbolic reactions to it. And so that group of protesters, who yet were predominantly African American protesters, who had the college's initials, I believe it was like cc I will say it
I cce you. I think it was. It was, frankly, from a distance, a confusing message. It was something about like CCU, you don't see me. I had to go up and talk to some of the protesters, and again it seemed as if they were they were students who were on campus who felt like the campus sprung Trump's arrival on them shut down the campus. People and dorms couldn't get across campus, and the students were met. They were upset, we don't want Donald Trump this political event
on our campus and you never even asked us. She sprung it on us. So they set up a group across the street, away away from where the rally was taking place, and they just started chanting, CCEU, you don't see me, something of that nature. Again, if you're walking by, you don't really have a sense of any of the context. You just know that this is a predominantly African American
group chanting. And then we watch about thirty feet away, Trump protesters running by, screaming profanities, giving the bird, people driving by honking, trying to drown them out, and just just vitriols and anger, knee jerk like they don't know what this is. They just know this is a group of people screaming. This is a group of people protesting, and I know I hate that so much so that I will give it the finger. I think our producer Abby, who is on the road with us, like what are
they Why are they giving the finger? And you're like, look around, We're interviewing people wearing pictures of Donald Trump giving the finger to Joe Biden. Right, That son is with a mom who has a fuck Joe Biden shirt on, And so when they walk by a group of people peacefully protesting, their instinct is I will give them the finger. I will scream fuck you, like this is.
So broken now. And unfortunately that was like our last moment at the rally, enough that we leave rallies on like an uplifting note. But that was like especially disappointing Unfortunately, you know, what's the reality of.
People ask me all the time, like does anybody change? And again, our job out there is not to make people change. We find irony and hypocrisy and try to call it some bs, but we rarely find people who are changing their minds.
Well, I just want to say, after years of doing this and talking to hundreds, maybe thousands of people, you found one.
I found one and she came up. I think one of our producers, Abby again was talking to her about why she was there, and she told us that she was at JA January sixth. She was arrested for going inside, spent sixty days in jail, and she changed her mind. She saw it as BS, and we talked to her a little bit.
You were a Trump supporter, absolutely, I was a Repolican and I was wrong that day for even being there.
January sixth was an insurrection. Keep her voice down. This is a Trump rally. That's not the most popular take to have right now. And again we're always skeptical, like, really, I don't know if I believe this. Her story checks out and it is true she spent time in prison. She told a little bit of a story about some
of the research she did. She did her own research when she got out about some of the things she had been told that didn't pan out, and now here she was feeling like she'd been tricked duped at a Trump rally trying to talk to other people about the ruse.
I don't know how successful she was, but it was one of the few people that we've ever encountered who wasn't trying to tell the tale of January sixth as a heroic one or some conspiratorial FBI situation, but was telling it as like I made a mistake, I changed my mind. There is hope.
And we had been looking for for other projects, you know, or other segments a year, a year and a half ago. We had been looking for people who might have changed their tune after they faced consequences for what they did on January sixth, and we had not been able to find it. And then suddenly she walked up. So that was interesting. I feel like we're going to do another few years of this, talk to a few more thousand people, and we'll meet a second one.
I can't wait for that. Yeah, for seven years from now, we find another person who was able to slightly change their mind at the next Insurrection.
Well, it's great to be back on the road. It's great to have you back on the road. It's great to have John Stewart back. It's great to have all these wonderful people making this show again. Anything you're looking forward to at the desk, back out in the field.
Man, just hitting the ground running. I think this week has been incredible. We got to go back out to a rally, which is our love being out there in the mix of all this chaos. To come back and see John at the desk was inspiring and really energized everybody. I got to be I've been at the desk this week, at a show last night, and I mean there's no better place to sit than at the desk at the Daily Show, getting to go through the news with the wonderful people at this show. So yeah, I think we're
ready to go. We got a heck of a heck of a year ahead, So get some rest.
All right, get some rest. Looking forward to it. Thank you, Jordan, Thank you.
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