Why Joe Biden is Losing to Trump in the Polls | Doug Melville - podcast episode cover

Why Joe Biden is Losing to Trump in the Polls | Doug Melville

Nov 03, 202327 min
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Episode description

Charlamagne Tha God handles the latest news, including Don Jr. testifying in his father's fraud trial and birds with racist namesakes getting renamed. Plus, Grace Kuhlenschmidt chimes in on George Santos surviving the House's expulsion vote. Then, Charlamagne Tha God breaks down why America isn’t backing Biden in the polls for president 2024 in the latest Long Story Short. And Author Doug Melville chats with Charlamagne Tha God about what inspired him to write “Invisible Generals” about the untold story of America’s first Black generals, why he encourages other to go out and get their own family stories to take control of the narrative, and how Americans can help better honor their veterans without glorifying war.

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Transcript

Speaker 1

You're listening to Comedy Central.

Speaker 2

From New York City, the only city in America. It's the show that you said you news. It's The Daily Show with your host charlemagnea Gun.

Speaker 3

Hey, welcome to the Daily Show. I am your host, charlamagnea God. Hello, and I'm sorry to say it's my last night. Yes, but at least unlike Trevor Noah, they know I'm leaving. I love you, Trevor. I'm just joking. All right, We've got a great show for you tonight. So let's get into the headlines. Let's kick things off with the crime kingpin of America, Donald J.

Speaker 1

Trump.

Speaker 3

This guy, this guy man, he's got so many court cases going right now. His charge with stolen documents, election interference, porn star hush money, and of course kidnapping. Yeah, but here in New York. The charge is that he lied about his real estate business so he could get better bank deals and tax breaks. And because this is the Trump family business, the kids are also getting dragged in.

Speaker 4

The court tonight, the first of Donald Trump's children taking the stand as a witness in the civil fraud trial that could tear the family real estate business apart. Donald Trump Junior and his brother Eric, took control of the

Trump organization when their father became president. Trump Junior described himself as just a real estate broker, and when asked if he was familiar with basic accounting practices or was a member of an accounting organization, he answered, sounds exciting, but no. Judge Arthur and Goren has already determined financial documents signed by Trump Junior fraudulently inflated what his father's

net worth by as much as two billion dollars. Today, Trump Junior testified he wasn't really aware of what he was signing, saying, I leave it to my CPAs.

Speaker 3

Y'all think he's full of shit, right, Yeah, but that's because y'all are Trump hats, all right. I believe this man, I really do. Don Junior's defense is that he has no idea what's going on in his own company and doesn't even really understand business at all.

Speaker 5

Which seems right to me.

Speaker 3

Does anyone think this man is a criminal mastermind? The only fraud he's capable of is pretending a beard is a jawline, all right? And I know you're like, oh, so you think the Trump's just signed all these things without knowing what they said. Yeah, that's what everybody does. Every website you've ever been on has asked you to sign something and.

Speaker 5

You did it without reading it.

Speaker 3

Mark Zuckerberg might own all of our kidneys. All right, well, let's move on because for a long time now America has been struggling to overcome its racist past. Yeah, and the good news is we're just about done with all the big issues. Okay, all the big issues have been solved. All that's left is birds.

Speaker 6

The New York Times says birds in the Americas will no longer be named after people. The group responsible for standardizing English bird names says it will rename all species honoring people. It's being done to no longer pay tribute to those with racist pass such as John James Audubon, the famous bird illustrator, was a slave owner who opposed abolishing slavery.

Speaker 5

Yeah, racist, sit up for everybody. Again.

Speaker 3

We found out that some birds are named after slave owners. So now every bird's got to go down to the DMV and get a new ID. But you know what, Fine, let's get rid of the human bird names. And while we're at it, let's get rid of all the mean ones too. Everyone keeps reminding that ego that is bald. If Chris Rock can't say that to Jada, why do we say.

Speaker 5

It about our national bird?

Speaker 3

Cheat my eagle's name out of your freeing mouth. Finally, let's move on to George Santos, New York Congressman and faith to him.

Speaker 5

Chris Christy.

Speaker 3

Santos has been accused of lying and cheating everyone he's ever own out of money, and last night, Republicans in Congress finally had enough and held a vote to expel him.

Speaker 5

But the outcome was what you'd expect.

Speaker 7

Overnight, Congressman George Santos surviving a rare vote to oust him from Congress. Twenty four Republicans joining most Democrats to expel Santos, but the resolution falling far short of the two thirds majority.

Speaker 5

Needed to pass.

Speaker 7

Santos defiant I feel like you process is still alive. The push to expel Santos was put forward by his fellow New York Republicans, pointing to his lines about his background, from his education and work experience to his religion and family history. He even falsely claimed his mother was in the nine to eleven attacks. But even lawmakers who find all that concerning weren't expelling Santo's before his trial ends would set a dangerous precedent. Is there a scenario in which you would.

Speaker 5

Step down and resign?

Speaker 3

Look, man, we all know George Santos is full of shit, right, he'd be the first person in history to make a polygraph test.

Speaker 5

Go what though?

Speaker 3

But this is another example of how Republicans just don't care. Anybody else would flee in shame if they were caught doing half the stuff he did. But this dude is like, I ain't resigning. Prove my mama didn't personally jump out of the twin towers and land on Osama bin Laden's.

Speaker 5

Hey. For more on the vote that expelled.

Speaker 3

George Santos, we go Live to the Capitol.

Speaker 5

With Grace Couland Schmidt.

Speaker 3

Grace, Now, Grace, you gotta tell me how did George Santos survived?

Speaker 5

His vote?

Speaker 1

So inspirational?

Speaker 8

Right, He's overcome so much his crimes, his lies, his lies about his crimes, his crimes that involve lying.

Speaker 1

He's a savvah, his homes up.

Speaker 8

You get it.

Speaker 3

But Grace, the evidence is so clear, how did the House not both to expel him?

Speaker 1

Because it sets about precedent?

Speaker 8

Then they'd have to expel every congress person who commits a crime, and George Santos is hardly the only criminal in Congress. The only difference is that most other congress people are a little bit more discreet with their crimes and a lot more discreet with their homosexuality.

Speaker 5

Oh what, Grace.

Speaker 3

There's got to be a standard of behavior for our elected officials, right yeah.

Speaker 8

But at the same time, Santos makes everyone in Congress look better. Now, Lauren Bobert can say, hey, he's stile a veteran's dog's cancer money. Who cares if I dry cranked the guy at a musical Charlemagne. It's just good management to keep your dumbest employee around to make everyone else look better. That's what my manager at the GAP told me. I was basically unfireable. They had to keep me no matter how many mannequins I dry crank.

Speaker 3

Grace, Come on, please please stop saying dry crank. I'm just saying that we need to be able to take our representatives seriously.

Speaker 8

Oh hard disagree. We've got four hundred and thirty five congress people. That leaves room for at least one like joke congress person. You know, like how En Sync had Joey Fotone, a fat Italian guy and a boy band. Pretty funny, and think.

Speaker 5

I like Joey Fotone.

Speaker 3

But what happens if Santos is convicted of these alleged crimes?

Speaker 5

Don't have to expel him the right.

Speaker 8

Maybe, or maybe we should just let him cook and see what kind of new crimes he comes up with. I mean, he could steal his Amboni and demolish the cast of Disney on ice or launch an orphanage into space. Either way, everybody's having a good time except for the orphans.

Speaker 5

So are you saying we should take pleasure in this mess?

Speaker 8

Grace exactly comfortable, but let's try to enjoy it like getting drinkers.

Speaker 3

All right, that's enough, Grace coolss mean everybody, When we come back, we'll talk about how Joe Biden can stop dry cranking America.

Speaker 5

So don't go anywhere.

Speaker 3

Hi, welcome back to the Daily Show. I want you to imagine the future. The year is twenty twenty four. Taylor Swift is head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs. Mitch McConnell has been frozen for four hundred and eighty seven consecutive days, and Joe Biden is up for reelection against a twice impeached, convicted felon And even though the polls show a dead heat right now, Vice President Kamala Harris is feeling pretty confident.

Speaker 1

The Biden Harris ticket is running next. Connect with Donald Trump? Why are you not thirty points ahead.

Speaker 9

When the American people are able to take a close look at election time on their options. I think the choice is gonna be clear. Bill, We're gonna win. Let me just tell you that we're gonna win.

Speaker 5

Will you, Kamalo? Will you?

Speaker 3

Because I just took a poll of that man's face and it's not looking good. Regardless of what Kamala says. Democrats are clearly nervous about this election, and they should be because, Yeah, Biden has accomplished a lot historic investments in green energy, record breaking job growth, and he even got a black woman on the Supreme Court. Yeah, I mean with a six or three conservative majority, she's powerless there,

but she at least got a free rope. But despite Biden's record as president, it's still close, which is a hell of a thing. You running against someone who has ninety one felony charges against them who you already meet, would be a pretty easy victory. So the question is how the actual is Joe Biden losing to Donald Trump. I have a theory and it's something I want to discuss more in to Night's long story short.

Speaker 5

Now.

Speaker 3

When Joe Biden first ran for president in twenty twenty, it was a lot simpler.

Speaker 5

Campaigning is easy. Just make a bunch of promises.

Speaker 3

It's like when you're about to move into a new building and the landlord is all nice, promise and he'll fix this, paint that. But then you move in and he goes missing, like black news anchors on CNN.

Speaker 5

Now, I mean they're basically gone.

Speaker 3

But the point is, once you get the job, you actually have to follow through on those promises and whatever the reasons. Out of the ninety nine biggest promises Biden made the people, he's only following through on about thirty percent of them. That's a seventy percent rate of letting you down. You can't spit any game with those numbers. Hey girl, you want to come over, I promise that

only seven times out of ten you'll leave unsatisfied. But the other three who is on There's some ladies that would take that deal right now.

Speaker 5

But yeah, Biden has let people down.

Speaker 3

He promised not to drill for oil in Alaska, now he's doing it. He said he would never build more border wall, but that's exactly what he's doing. And again, all presidents break promises.

Speaker 5

George H. W. Bush said no new taxes.

Speaker 3

Obama said he closed one time of mo after y'all said he'd take a stand for the working man, but he was in a wheelchair the whole time. America can forgive all that, but one thing America doesn't forgive is weakness. They want to see you fighting for your goals, and on some key issues, Biden seems to be waving the white flag.

Speaker 7

President Biden today is explaining why he thinks he had no choice but to approve new oil drilling in Alaska.

Speaker 10

My strong inclination was to disapprove of it across the board, but the advice I got from counsel was that if that were the case, may very well lose that case in court to the oil company. I have gone before extending my executive authority to do on my own anything about guns, and what do you do? So I can't do anything except plead with the Congress to act reasonably.

Speaker 9

President, specific about what you did to try to reappropriate those border funds, especially when Democrats controlled both chambers of Congress.

Speaker 10

The wall thing, what you're talking about, Yeah, they passed. Well, I was told that I had no choice.

Speaker 3

I was told I have no choice. I was told I have no choice by who aren't you the president? If someone tells you no, just showed them a picture of a drone in the conversation. Well, see, that's why I think Biden loses so many people.

Speaker 5

He just looks weak. And I'm not talking about physically.

Speaker 3

People want to see that president going to the mat to get what he wants. And it doesn't help that anytime Biden does take a strong stand on something, his staff comes out to say he didn't mean it.

Speaker 1

The White House was back in cleanup mode over another round of confusing coins made by the President. Is the pandemic over? The pandemic is over?

Speaker 4

The White House rushed out to walk it back, saying the president's comments do not mark a change in policy toward the administration's handling of the virus.

Speaker 3

President Biden delivered a fiery speech in Warsaw, perhaps carried away by the moment Biden seemed to call for an end to Vladimir Putin's rule.

Speaker 10

For God's sake, this man cannot remain power.

Speaker 4

Secretary State Anthony blink and quickly walked back Biden's words.

Speaker 1

We do not have.

Speaker 2

A strategy of regime change in Russia or anywhere.

Speaker 1

Else for that matter.

Speaker 11

President Biden starting controversy over comments that he made about defending Taiwan.

Speaker 4

To be clear, Sir, US forces, US men and women would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion.

Speaker 10

Yes, the White House that back almost immediately, saying our policy hasn't changed on Taiwan.

Speaker 3

God damn, It's amazing how often Joe Biden has to walk things back, considering he can barely walk forwards. So voters, especially progressive voters, have seen Biden give up or get over rude.

Speaker 5

To be fair of Biden, not on everything.

Speaker 3

Though, like student loan relief, the Supreme Court said he couldn't do it. But Biden's been finding ways because that's how much he cares about driving young people to vote for him. But on too many issues he's rolling over. Now, say what you will about Trump. You might not agree with any of his policies, but you've probably noticed.

Speaker 5

He fights for them.

Speaker 3

He even fights for the ones that are stupid as hell.

Speaker 11

Seeks toilets and showers.

Speaker 1

You don't get any water. I call my people, environmental people. Why are we doing this?

Speaker 5

Because when you wash your hands it takes you five times longer get to the.

Speaker 1

Water's I come, You got soap? You can't get it off.

Speaker 5

You go into this shower, right, you turn in the water, drip, drip.

Speaker 3

People are flushing toilets ten times, fifteen times.

Speaker 4

Ten times, right, ten times, bomb Bob, not me, of course, not me, but you yim.

Speaker 5

He's so dangerous but so entertaining.

Speaker 3

Trump's the only president to get his daily intelligence briefing from everyone.

Speaker 5

Poops.

Speaker 3

Okay, The point is that's why many people like Trump.

Speaker 5

He fights.

Speaker 3

He's not gonna let something like congressional red tape or judicial rulings or even the Constitution itself stop.

Speaker 5

Him from getting what he wants.

Speaker 3

The man fought to stay in power after he lost the election.

Speaker 1

Who does that? Gainst us?

Speaker 3

And America's got a thing for that, gainst the shit. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't want the president to break the law or stage a coup to get what he wants, but voters.

Speaker 5

Are attracted to strength.

Speaker 3

So long story short, if Biden and the Democrats want to retain power in the next election, stop telling us how much you are not like Trump, and maybe in this one way, just one way, start acting like gangsters, fight like hell on the things you care about instead of rolling over and throwing up your hands. America wants the president to fight for them the same way the Alabama Riverboat crew fights for each other. And if you don't understand that, the quote President Biden, you ain't black

all right. When we come back, author Dug Melville will be joining me on the show Can Don't Go Anywhere.

Speaker 5

Welcome back to the Daily Show.

Speaker 3

My guest tonight is an author whose new book is called Invisible Generals, rediscovering family legacy and a quest of honor America's first black generals. Please welcome Doug melvilleging.

Speaker 1

How you doing?

Speaker 9

And how you doing?

Speaker 5

Doug, my guy?

Speaker 1

How are we doing tonight? How's everything?

Speaker 5

Man? Blessed Black and Holly Favorite? How you feel right?

Speaker 1

I'm feeling just the same now.

Speaker 5

Invisible Generals.

Speaker 3

This book was partially inspired by You Going to See Redtails and you hated it.

Speaker 1

Well.

Speaker 11

When I went to go see a screening for Redtails, the main character in the movie, who was played by Terrence Howard, is actually like the patriarch and center of our family. So when he came out and his name was changed, I got really upset about it. I went home and I talked to my dad about it, and he said, Doug, if you think changing the name in a movie is bad, let me tell you the family story to let you know how I lived, and then maybe you could see why that doesn't mean as much

to me as it means to you. And he shared with me the family story of the Invisible Generals, and that's what was the impetus for me to write my book.

Speaker 5

Us tell Us Who the Invisible Generals Are.

Speaker 11

So the Invisible Generals are America's first two black generals, a father and a son, General Benjamin O'Davis Senior and General Benjamin O'Davis Junior, And these two men, at the start of World War Two, were the only two black officers in the whole United States military out of three hundred and thirty five thousand people, and they work together to help desegregate the military, create the Tusky Airmen and

so many more things. But their story had never been told, and it was my passion to go out and write it.

Speaker 5

That's right, going back to Redtails.

Speaker 3

Plus second, why do you think a lot of military moves struggle with getting history right?

Speaker 11

I think the challenge with Red Tales is that when people look at it, they feel that it's true American history, but it's actually just the facade of that. It actually is an amalgamation of the stories. And not paying the families and using different fictional names allows you to have a little bit more with the storytelling, But then the families feel a certain way because this is how people

recognize the story. Yet the families aren't compensated, and the stories that are actually happening are never really told.

Speaker 5

So just a way to not pay y'all.

Speaker 1

Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's a way to not pay us.

Speaker 3

Did George Lucas or the writer interview you other family members when crafting the story.

Speaker 11

No, some other Tuskegee Airmen were contacted, but my family in particular was not contact, which I thought, you know, as the commander and the creators of the Tuskegee Airmen, I thought that there would be a little bit more, you know, effort to go reach out to the family, but that wasn't the case in this movie.

Speaker 3

Why do you think Hollywood likes to gloss over the real stories of African Americans in the military. Like, don't get me wrong, I love movies like Major Pain, but I'm sure it was like I'm sure it's like a real black major story.

Speaker 5

That was ignored.

Speaker 11

Yeah, I think the biggest challenge with this is I think the people that are the decision makers have a certain narrative or a certain formula that.

Speaker 1

Works really well for them.

Speaker 11

But if you ask me, the story of the Tuskegee Airmen and particularly the Invisible Generals, is one of the greatest American stories ever told. And I think we have to encourage people to go out and actually get their own family stories and talk to the individuals on the couch and say, tell me what happened, and then also take the effort to write the narrative.

Speaker 1

Because whoever writes.

Speaker 11

The narrative or photographs the narrative owns the copyright. So if it's not the family learning And this is what I want to tell all veterans and all family of veterans, your story is in the public domain. You don't actually control it or own it. If a journalist tells it

what writes it, they take control of the narrative. So it was important for me as a family member to say, I am going to take control of this narrative and I am going to write it so the actual words in history that happened can be told in an accurate way.

Speaker 1

Wow.

Speaker 3

A lot of people, a lot of people think movies and books like this glorify war, But how do the stories of veterans do the opposite.

Speaker 11

Actually, the stories of veterans are really stories of leadership and stories of the United States of America. I think we need to look more as what defines an American, not always chop it up into different subsets, but actually look at these as American stories, and then I think when we have that set, then we can look at these stories as a way to unify. I think leadership is an important quality that all veterans have, and many veterans go on to work in the private sector, but

we don't talk about their military service. You know, Coach k graduated from West Point, but you think of him as the coach of Duke basketball.

Speaker 1

You don't look at him as a veteran and.

Speaker 3

Why he learned how to be such a disciplinarian.

Speaker 11

Exactly, and that's why his leadership was taken from what he learned at the academy. So it's important to realize a lot of veterans aren't, you know, walking around and fatigues. They're actually everyday people, CEOs, people that spent time supporting their country and now is their opportunity to do it in the private sector.

Speaker 3

In the book, you tell the story of getting west Point the name in New Barracks after your great uncle Ben, and that happened around the same time people started tearing down Confederate statues. Do you think that movement had an impact on getting the military to honor it.

Speaker 1

I do.

Speaker 11

I actually think that was a very unique moment in time where there was a lot of statues coming down, particularly of Lee. So that was the person who was kind of the center point of it, Robert E.

Speaker 1

Lee.

Speaker 5

And they knew you weren't talking about Lee Daniels.

Speaker 3

Yeah, Robertie Lee, Yeah.

Speaker 11

Lee Daniels, Yeah, of course, but Roberty Lee had the statues and this was a unique opportunity because West Point at that time and had nothing named after a black graduate. So this was a chance for them to They were building their biggest largest barrack. There was three names up for consideration, and when I went and told them the story of the Invisible Generals as I had researched it,

they named the building after him. And it's the largest barracks on the middle center of the West Point Cowege.

Speaker 1

Wow. Wow, wow, wow.

Speaker 5

Now this is interesting.

Speaker 3

After your grandfather serves, he worked for the Department of Transportation and.

Speaker 5

He basically created the speed limit.

Speaker 11

Yeah so yeah, yeah, so actually this is a great story. So after he left the military in nineteen seventy, he worked for the Department of Transportation and in that role he created the TSA what became the TSA Airport security. He created the United States Air Marshall Program to keep the sky safe, and he was so successful that they asked him to do it for transportation, not aviation, and that's where he led the creation of the fifty five

mile an hour speed limit. So these were all created by one guy, and we don't even know who he is. Is impossible for me to comprehend.

Speaker 3

The speed limit and the TSA. Yeah, well, what is now known as the TSA, what is it? All back then, did they have.

Speaker 5

A name for it?

Speaker 1

Security?

Speaker 3

Should they be more outreach the servicemen and women of color now they encourage them to write and tell their own stories to make sure their stories are at lost.

Speaker 11

Yeah, I think every single veteran, and even if you're not a veteran, if there's a veteran in your family, or even if you have someone in your couch who wasn't serving but lived a really different life, we should go and ask our ancestors and our relatives. You know, what did you go through and what are their stories? Legacy is so important. We are driven by the generational collateral that our families laid out before us, but we don't even know what that is. The greatest stories in

America are sitting on our couches. The greatest stories in America could be from families the veterans I didn't serve. But it's so important that we take this time because we only have so much time, and we take the stories from our family. We own the stories from our family, and we put them down on paper so our legacy can be preserved in an accurate way.

Speaker 5

What you're saying is so true, man, and you make me think like.

Speaker 3

You make me think that, sadly, a lot of our great stories are you know, homeless, you know, sitting on the corner of our stories asking us for change while they're holding up a sign telling us that they fought in the war, which pisses me off.

Speaker 5

I hate out his country treats his veterans man.

Speaker 11

Yeah, and we could do a lot more for the veterans. And it's everyday things, you know, going to read to veterans, donating time, but also money grants. There's so many things we could do, but it starts with first knowing your legacy and knowing the stories of the people in your living room, and then going ahead and saying, how can I now take my generational collateral and add to the narrative and help others like they helped us.

Speaker 5

Oh, let's expound on that. Just a little Veterans Day is coming up.

Speaker 1

Yep.

Speaker 11

Veterans Day comes to eleven eleven, yep, eleven eleven, at one to eleven.

Speaker 3

How do you think we could best memorialize and celebrate these heroes?

Speaker 11

I think the best thing we can do for Veterans Day to start off, visit a museum, Go support a VA, go to a VFW, which is a veteran a foreign war or out post. Do something that you can do to lend a helping hand. If you don't have the money, dedicate your time. If you don't have the time, let your staff off so they can spend their time.

Speaker 1

But there's always something more.

Speaker 11

We can do, and it's the least we can do for people who fought for the United States of America.

Speaker 1

That's right, Man.

Speaker 5

Man Invisible Generals. Full disclosure.

Speaker 3

I have a book in print called Black Privileged Publishing with Simon and Schusta, and I'm happy to help Doug Melville tell this story. So it comes out November seventh, and it's available to pre order now.

Speaker 5

So we're gonna take a strict break. O's right back after this.

Speaker 1

Thank you so much, Gos.

Speaker 3

That's our show for tonight and my time as hosts. But you canna catch me on The Breakfast Club Monday through Friday, six sam to ten am, and listen to my podcast Brilliant Idiots with Andrew's shout. Stay tuned next week when your guest Holks will be SaaS Solbleman.

Speaker 2

Explore more shows from the Daily Show podcast universe. By searching the Daily Show wherever you get your podcasts. Watch the Daily Show week nights at eleven ten Central on Comedy Central, and stream full episodes anytime on Fairmount Plus.

Speaker 1

This has been a Comedy Central podcast show

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