♪ ♪
ANNOUNCER: Coming to you from New York City,
the only city in America, it's The Daily Show.
Tonight,
Why we're sending nudes to space,
The history of Black jockeys.
And Alex Burns and Jonathan Martin.
This is The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.
(cheering and applause)
What's going on, everybody? Welcome to The Daily Show.
I'm Trevor Noah. Thank you so much for tuning in.
Thank you for coming out in person.
Thank you for being here! Thank you so much.
Take a seat, everybody. Take a seat. Let's get into it.
Let's get into it. We have got a great show for you tonight.
Roy Wood Jr. is going to explore the secret Black history
of the Kentucky Derby. Madison Cawthorn is back in the news
with another scandal, and our guests are the New York Times
reporters who got the Kevin McCarthy tapes
where he's trashing Trump about January 6th.
So, let's do this, people.
Let's jump straight into today's headlines.
♪ ♪
All right, let's kick things off with inflation.
As you know, all across the world,
prices have been skyrocketing.
And it's all thanks to the pandemic, supply chain issues,
and a Russian man who clearly wasn't hugged enough as a child.
And because of that, everything costs more.
Groceries, gas, blackmail. It's terrible. Everything.
And every government around the world is trying to
figure out how to bring inflation down,
which is why now the Federal Reserve is stepping in with
a major move that America hasn't seen in decades.
ANCHOR: On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve raised
the interest rate by half a percentage point--
the biggest hike in 22 years.
The increase makes borrowing money more expensive,
from new mortgages, to auto loans, to credit cards rates.
It's designed to cool down consumer demand,
and curb inflation, now at a 40-year high.
ANCHOR 2: And Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, saying the
aggressive move-- They're saying it can be done without
risking a recession.
So, there's a path to that. Now, I would say I think
we have a good chance to-to have a soft-- or soft-ish
landing, or outcome, if you will.
Okay, I felt confident in him until he said...
a soft-ish landing.
Soft, I like. Softish-- Any time you have to add "ish"
to something, I don't feel reassured anymore.
"Yeah, this roller coaster is safe-ish."
"These clams are fresh-ish."
"Yeah, baby, we're monogam-ish."
You know how this is going to end.
But basically, basically, here's how it all works, right?
The Fed raises interest rates,
which means the cost of borrowing money goes up, which
means that people and businesses will spend less money,
which then makes prices start to come down.
And it works because higher interest rates affect
so many things in your life. It makes a mortgage more expensive,
it makes car loans more expensive, it makes
paying off your credit card more expensive.
Even makes buying Twitter more expensive.
That's why Elon has to go halfsies with Saudi Arabia, now.
The trick--
The trick, as Jerome Powell was alluding to, is that
you have to bring spending down, but not too much too fast.
Yeah. You got to do it just right,
or the economy could crash and you end up in a recession.
So it's a delicate balance. You know?
Think of it, um-- You know what? Think of it--
Think of the economy like a house party, all right?
Yeah, you-you want it to be banging, you know what I mean?
You want it to be banging, but you don't want it to get
out of control, because no one can get a drink,
everyone's punching and fighting over what's left--
It's chaos, basically! It's chaos.
So, raising the interest rates is like trying to
calm the party down. Right?
But if you're too extreme and call the cops,
or if you just, like, turn on the lights and now everyone sees
who they were dancing with,
now the party ends. The whole thing shuts down.
That's a recession of a party. So what the Federal Reserve
is trying to do is change the players just enough
so people stay, but that also make sure that nobody's
dancing on the table. Does that make sense?
You understand what we're doing, yeah? Yeah.
So it is tricky. It is tricky.
But they have to try
because if they don't do something,
a dollar will get you less and less every day,
which is gonna suck for everyone.
Especially for the dollar.
(laughter)
"Man, this sucks!
"Back in the day, people used to use me for everything.
"You could buy a horse with me. You could buy a windmill.
"Hell, they bought Alaska with me,
and they got change."
(laughter and applause)
"But look at me now. Thanks to inflation,
"I'm just a glorified bookmark covered in fecal matter.
"People don't even want to snort cocaine with me anymore.
"Now they only talk about Benjamin.
"That loser wasn't even president.
"The only things I have left in my life now
"are dollar stores and strip clubs,
"and I swear to God, if strippers
start taking Bitcoin, I'm-a kill myself."
(laughter and applause)
The dollar's very angry.
(cheering and applause)
All right.
All right, let's move on...
let's move on to a politician
who will presumably never be on money,
Madison Cawthorn, North Carolina congressman
and villain on every CW show.
Five weeks ago, Madison Cawthorn claimed
that his Republican colleagues were doing cocaine
and having giant orgies,
which he was deeply disgusted by.
Yeah. Because, you see, he's a true Christian
who stands for traditional conservative values.
Yeah. So, that's what he said about his colleagues,
and clearly, he pissed somebody off,
because since he made that accusation,
week after week,
people have been leaking things
that seem to be exposing him as a fraud.
Yeah. The scandals have included everything
from pictures in lingerie
to allegations of insider trading
and a campaign aide with their hand on his crotch.
And now, in the words
of the esteemed political analyst DJ Khaled,
another one.
This is a completely shocking video
appearing to show the congressman
completely naked in this video.
NEWSWOMAN: It reportedly shows him acting crass,
I guess could you say, with a friend
in a, uh, bedroom
while not wearing any clothing at all.
Now, notably, this is put out by an opposition group.
This is a group that's working actively
to try to defeat the congressman
in the upcoming Republican primary.
But the congressman, he admitted
that it is, indeed, him in the video.
Yeah.
Someone released a video of Madison Cawthorn
from a few years ago before he was in Congress,
naked, basically pretending to hump his friend's face.
And believe me, I wish there was another way
to say that, but there is not.
(laughter and applause)
That's the story.
And you got to admit, man,
these people are coming for Madison Cawthorn.
You know, in fact,
the way they're coming for Madison Cawthorn,
I'm starting to think
maybe those cocaine orgies were real, you know?
He said too much.
So, for the 50th time, Congressman Madison Cawthorn
was forced to release a statement explaining
why this isn't as bad as it seems.
You are witnessing one of the first examples
of a politician who grew up with a cell phone in their hand
with the ability to take photos, videos,
and have others use that content as a way to hurt you.
Most of my colleagues in Congress right now
would not be serving in Washington
if they grew up within a single mile
of a cell phone growing up.
Okay, before we address the statement,
can anyone explain to me why the American flag
is in that video?
(laughter)
That flag wasn't humping anybody.
Why are you dragging the flag into this bullshit,
Madison, huh?
You can even see the flag behind him like,
"Uh-uh. Uh-uh.
I wasn't there."
(cheering and applause)
Now, as for the point
the young congressman was making,
as much as I do not like him,
I have to agree.
Since the beginning of time,
people have had the ability to insulate
what they do in private from what they do in public.
But now we have a whole generation
who's growing up documenting
every single dumb thing they do
or say or hump.
And-and honestly, unless they're breaking the law,
we're gonna have to figure out
how to deal with this in society.
Right? Because thanks to phones,
everyone's friends have dirt on them.
Yeah, honestly. Everyone. Everyone.
In fact, if your friends don't have any dirt on you
that could someday ruin your career,
then-- I'm sorry-- you're not friends.
You're just acquaintances, okay?
Understand that now.
(laughter and applause)
And, so, I agree. I honestly agree.
You know? This is just part of the product of the times.
Yeah, what he was doing was extreme,
but this is part of the times.
Like, if previous generations of politicians
had the same technology as we do now,
we might have seen really embarrassing selfies
of Abe Lincoln, you know?
Yeah, and can you imagine young Mitch McConnell with an iPhone?
(groaning)
I mean, even if there was nothing scandalous,
we'd still have to see him trying to look cool
every single day on TikTok.
-♪ ♪ -See him there, trying to...
(laughter, applause)
♪ ♪
Yeah, he-he's looked like that since he was 14.
That's just his face.
That would've gone viral, by the way.
All right, let's move on to a story about space,
Jeff Bezos' vacation home.
For decades,
humans have been trying
to not only find other planets for us to destroy
but also intelligent life for us to colonize.
And we've tried everything.
You know? We've sent out deep space probes.
We sent out radio waves.
Uh, in the '50s, we sent, like,
a bunch of dogs and monkeys for some reason.
But now, after decades of no luck,
NASA has decided to take things up a notch.
NEWSMAN: NASA scientists plan to send pictures of naked humans
into space, hoping to catch the attention of aliens.
Nudes will come with an invitation to respond.
Pictures aren't graphic. Just a drawing of a naked man
and a woman next to a picture of DNA.
NASA revealed this as part of a project
called Beacon in the Galaxy
to send a message to any alien civilizations.
Okay.
First things first,
they've got to hire more women over at NASA, because...
only dudes would think the best way to introduce yourself
is with unsolicited nudes. "Hey, aliens!
You up there?"
(cheering and applause)
What are we doing?
Those aliens are gonna be really upset
that they turned on their AirDrop
for everyone in the galaxy.
But, also, but, also, but, also,
if you are going to send nudes,
why would you send these nudes?
Let me tell you something, man, if I was an alien,
no way in hell I'm coming to this planet.
Like, if someone sent me these nudes and they said,
"Hey, you up?" I would be like, "I am so far from up.
I'm in a coma. I will never be up again."
I mean, look at this thing.
Feels like you're sexting with an Atari.
what is that? Huh?
The woman doesn't even have a nose. Look at that shit.
Think about what we're saying.
Either this planet has zero technology,
because this is how they draw themselves,
or this is how they actually look.
Either way, I'm not coming. I'm not coming.
That's a terrible thing to send.
Like, maybe if I was, like, a 13-year-old alien,
I could make that work. Yeah. You know what I mean?
But...
but how are these the nudes that we're sending to aliens?
If we want aliens to get interested,
don't send them an Etch A Sketch drawing.
Send them coupons for OnlyFans. Come on, man.
Get them in the game.
You know, honestly,
even if the aliens are interested,
I think we've got to be careful.
This is sending the wrong idea about us into the galaxy.
Just imagine for a second, the very first thing
we send to aliens is naked photos?
What, are we only trying to make contact
with the horniest aliens in the universe?
Yeah, no wonder every time they abduct someone,
they probe their butts. We're sending out the wrong vibe.
You understand how scary this is?
You know what's gonna happen here, right?
The aliens are gonna get here
and they're just gonna expect to smash immediately. Yeah.
And then they're gonna be disappointed.
Yeah. Imagine if someone you've never even met before
texted you nudes and then you go there and they're like,
"Cool. Now that you're here, I wanted to introduce you
to Joe Biden."
That is the worst catfishing ever.
They'll blow up our planet just for that.
Come here all orny-- horny and they'll be like,
"Take us to your leader. We're here to smash."
Now we're in trouble.
Yeah. The only way that would work out is if the aliens come
and Trump is president. Yeah.
No, no, no, 'cause if there's one thing
I'll tell you about Trump, he'd (bleep) the shit out
of those aliens.
He'd be like, "I don't know what they have down there,
"but I'm grabbing it!
"I'm grabbing it.
Come here, aliens."
(chuckling)
-(cheering and applause) -We...
We should actually hope...
We actually should hope
that this only reaches the horny aliens.
Because you realize how offensive this is going to be
if it just ends up in front of a normal alien?
They are going to be so pissed off.
Sheila! Sheila!
Those Earth perverts left pornography on the lawn!
Yes, I'm sure it's not my pornography!
you know I wouldn't be yanking my floor flex
to a drawing of two hairless monkeys.
Yeah. I mean, one doesn't even have a nose, Sheila!
Come on. You know what I'm into, and it's not this crap.
Plus, I don't need pornography.
I only need you. You know I love you, baby.
I love you, Sheila.
(applause)
I love that couple.
All right, that's it for the headlines.
But before we go to a break, let's check in
on the stock market with our very own finance expert,
-Michael Kosta, everybody. -(cheers and applause)
-Michael? -Yeah. Yeah. I mean...
Pray do tell, what is happening in the market today, man?
Well, I'm an expert at this, you know?
And-and I... I am crushing the market.
-So, so you say. -I mean, I'm absolutely crushing it,
and as an expert, I do have a hot tip for you.
-Can't wait. -And I got a hot tip for you, as well.
So we'll get into that, but before we do, before we do,
-the Fed raising the interest rates. -Yes.
This is a great thing, okay?
Because during the pandemic, you know, we lost interest, right?
I lost interest, personally.
I lost interest in Netflix.
I lost interest in my family, you know. I...
I lost interest in work, to be honest with you.
I wasn't trying that hard before, but now,
I am really phoning it in, okay?
-This... -So, but, but, but look,
raising the interest rates-- it affects everyone,
and especially regular,
middle class homeowners like myself, okay?
Now, I have a ski castle in Courchevel.
It's the French Alps, 12,000 square feet.
It's on a nice, pristine, glacial lake,
and if I hadn't locked in my rate before this,
I wouldn't be able to redo the kitchen
on the main property, so...
It's Tuscan marble, Trevor, okay? So, um...
But, you know, one thing I've learned is,
whenever you complain about renovating the kitchen
in your fifth home, nobody has any sympathy.
But can you imagine a 16th century ski castle
with a bad kitchen?
-(laughing) -(laughter)
I love to cook.
-You... -Let's get... let's get...
Yeah, you have a true victim here.
-Oh, but the-the NASA sending the nudes? -Yes.
Yeah, and we'll get to this in a second, but, um,
that's a risky move, okay?
Because NASA doesn't know who's gonna get those nudes.
I mean, what if it's alien children? Right?
Now Earth is exposing itself to children, you know?
Did you think about that? Next thing you know,
Earth is on the intergalactic sex offender list, you know?
And we got to go around from galaxy to galaxy,
knocking on the atmosphere, saying,
"Hello. I'm Earth. I'm your neighbor
"for three billion years.
I'm legally required to tell you I'm a sex offender"?
(laughter)
-Sounds good. -Can I get... can I get to the market?
-Oh, yeah, yeah, thank you. -Okay, okay. Cool. So, look.
Yesterday, on the news that the interest rates were going up,
-the market shot up, okay? -Yeah.
Today on the news that the interest rates were going up,
the market shot down, all right?
So I'm an expert here, don't forget.
In summary, when the news of the interest rates are going up
-Yeah. -...the market will either go up,
or it's going to go down.
-(applause and cheering) -Thank you.
-Well, well, I mean, hold on. -Well, I'm the expert, yeah.
Hold on, Mike.
Yeah, but-but, Michael, that doesn't make any sense to me.
Yeah, well, that's because you're not an expert, like me.
And that's my hot tip, okay?
Leave it to the experts.
(applause and cheering)
Thank you, I think, Michael Kosta.
All right, don't go away 'cause when we come back,
Roy Wood, Jr. is gonna take us through the secret world
of Black horse racing. You don't want to miss it.
(applause and cheering)
(cheering and applause)
welcome back to The Daily Show.
This weekend is the Kentucky Derby,
the biggest day in horse racing and mint juleps.
But what does horse racing have to do with Black people?
Well, let's find out
in another edition of CP Time.
♪ ♪
I do not have his money.
Ah. Well, hello.
Welcome to CP Time,
the only show that's for the culture.
Today, we'll be discussing Blacks in horse racing.
Usually, when you think of horse racing,
the only black thing that comes to mind is the horse itself.
Turns out, many of the people riding them
have been Black, too.
Not to take anything away from those black horses, though.
Stay strong, my horse brothers.
(whinnies)
For many years in the early days of organized horse racing,
Black jockeys were extremely common in the sport,
partly because Black people had a lot of experience
taking care of horses during slavery,
and partly because riding horses
was the best way to prevent the police
from stopping you for a broken taillight.
Take the Kentucky Derby,
the biggest event in the sport.
It's so popular, you've probably heard of it
even if you're not a gambling addict
that blew his kid's college money
and lost the house on weekend races.
I'm sorry, baby. Whispering Willow
was supposed to be a sure thing.
In the first Kentucky Derby in 1875,
13 out of 15 jockeys were Black,
and the winner of that race was Oliver Lewis.
Oliver rode to victory on his horse Aristides.
Strange name, but it was the 1800s.
If you got a Black jockey,
you got to at least give the horse
an extra white name to balance things out.
Despite his success, Lewis retired from racing
the very same year he won the Derby.
Which is understandable.
With the prize money he won, he could finally achieve the dream
of every Black man in 1875 Kentucky--
moving out of Kentucky.
And not only were Black people the first to do it,
but they were some of the best.
Like Isaac Burns Murphy,
seen here thinking about racism, probably.
Isaac was considered one of the greatest jockeys in history.
He was the first person to win the Kentucky Derby three times,
and his win record is still unmatched to this day
at 44%.
Murphy was the first rider ever
to be inducted into the Horse Racing Hall of Fame,
which is the highest honor a jockey can receive
other than being told, "Hmm,
you're actually taller than I expected."
But despite their success in the sport,
Black riders soon all but disappeared from horse racing,
making it yet another thing that started out very Black
but became very white.
Much like rock and roll
or Brooklyn.
And that's because, in the early 1900s.
there was a concerted effort
to push Black jockeys out of the sport.
White racers engaged in harsh tactics
both on and off the track.
They would hit Black riders with riding crops
or run them into the rails.
Two-time Derby winner Jimmy Winkfield
was even threatened by the Ku Klux Klan.
The irony--
he and the KKK
both love riding horses.
If equestrianism can't trump hate,
then I don't know what can.
The harassment got so bad
that, in 1904,
Winkfield left the country
to become a racing superstar in Russia.
Do you know how bad it's got to get
for a Black man to move to Russia?
They didn't even have Black people over there back then.
Although maybe that's the secret--
got to get in early before they learn how to do racism.
But soon enough,
practically the only Black jockeys you could find
were those creepy little statues on rich white folks' lawns.
Between 1921 and the year 2000,
not a single Black jockey even raced in the Derby.
Do you understand how long that is?
It took all the way until the Baha Men released
"Who Let the Dogs Out"
for a Black person to compete again.
Not saying that the two are related, unless...
Nah, that... You're being crazy, Roy.
Now one Black rider who did make waves
during those years was Cheryl White,
the first licensed Black female jockey in America.
Cheryl started her career racing straight out of high school,
which means she was the most influential
Black teenager on a horse until Lil Nas X came around.
And she didn't need the help of Miley Cyrus's daddy.
At just 17 years old,
White was already winning races
and gracing the cover of Jet magazine,
which is incredibly impressive.
Nowadays, most 17-year-olds I know could only make the cover
of Dumbass Up-to-No-Good magazine.
I see you boys doing the vaping before school.
I will snitch on you.
Watch me.
So the next time you think of horse racing,
think about the Black jockeys that blazed the trail
back in those early days.
Don't just think of Seabiscuit,
or the guy who rode Seabiscuit,
or how much money you lost by not betting on Seabiscuit.
Baby, I'm not coming home for a little while.
I'm so sorry.
♪ ♪
Well, that's all the time we have for today.
Uh, I'm Roy Wood, Jr., and this has been "CP Time."
And remember, we're for the culture.
Uh, can somebody help me put on this fake mustache?
There's a gentleman named "Knuckles" swinging by
to get some money, and I don't have it for him,
and I got to get the hell out of here. Come on.
Hurry. Hurry. Hurry. Okay, all right.
This location has been compromised!
♪ ♪
Come on, Jenifer Lewis.
♪ ♪
-(applause and cheering) -Roy Wood, Jr., everybody.
All right, when we come back, Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns
are joining me on the show, so don't go away.
(applause and cheering)
(cheering and applause)
Welcome back to The Daily Show.
My guests tonight are political reporters
who are here to talk about their explosive new book,
This Will Not Pass:
Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America's Future.
Please welcome Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns.
-♪ ♪ -(cheering and applause)
Welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome.
Welcome to the show.
Hi, everybody.
All right, gentlemen, I'm not even gonna
waste any time. I trust that you are good.
Let's drum... jump straight into this.
Um, this is...
The best way to describe this book for me
is it-it-it's basically like
The Real Housewives of Washington, D.C.
It makes it look like the most scandalous place.
You-you realize there are so many inner feuds
and-and things that we don't even know about.
When I'm reading this book, I'm going,
"Well, shouldn't the American people see that, then?"
Like, why do they get the sanitized,
like, "Oh, this is how we are"
when, in fact, this seems like...
It seems like this is what's deciding the country
versus what the people are seeing on the news,
but the people are voting on what they see in the news.
-Yeah. -No, and I think that that's spot-on,
and it's one of the things
that we believe so passionately about political journalism.
It's one of the things that we try to do in this book
is that there's not some clean separation
between the personalities of politics
and the feuds that you're talking about
and the Real Housewives-style drama and the policy of it.
-NOAH: Yes. Yes. -It's the personality
and those feuds and all the sort of high school-level pettiness
that actually drives what happens.
And if people in Washington were more up-front about that,
I think, first of all, they would confirm a whole lot
of what the American people sort of suspect
about their politicians.
But secondly, I-I... You know,
I think it would be possible, maybe, for the country
-to have a more honest conversation... -Yeah.
...about what's wrong here
if we weren't all putting on a different face in public.
But when the cameras are running in Washington, Trevor,
you see two very different kinds of politicians
than what you see behind the scenes in private
when they don't know that, say, the audio is running.
-So, this book exposes a lot. -(laughs)
Let's talk about that. The audio.
You know, I mean,
one of the biggest bombshells from the book
is the audio that-that you released,
which was the audio of Kevin McCarthy
after January 6th basically saying,
"Yeah, we've got to make Trump pay for this.
-He's responsible." Et cetera. -Yeah.
Mitch McConnell essentially being like,
"Oh, I hope he does get impeached."
You-You-You're hearing things from politicians
who said the complete opposite when they were on camera.
So how did you hear about it?
-Well, uh... No. -(laughter)
A lot... A lot of work. A lot of hours.
A lots of talking to people at all levels of government
and even people outside of government.
I mean, there's this perception
among folks who read political journalism
that it's this Hollywood idea
where, like, somebody in sunglasses
comes and, like, drops you a bag outside your house or, like...
-And you get the story of a lifetime. -NOAH: Mm-hmm.
It ain't that. It's, like, a lot of work.
It's a lot of shoe leather. It's a lot of time
talking to people and hoping
that you can piece things together
to eventually get the full version of a story.
And if I could just, you know, look,
you had a little fun with us at the Correspondents' Dinner.
-NOAH: Mm-hmm. -Uh, that's fair. We're big boys. Uh...
-We noticed. We noticed. -Uh, we can... we can take it.
(cheering and applause)
But the... but the honest... the honest response
to, uh, to your line that night
is, look, if we were in a position
to release that information the second we got it,
of course we would have done that.
But part of the exercise of writing a book
and part of why it's different from writing for a newspaper
or producing a television show
is that the people you're talking to,
the sources you're working with will be more candid with you
and will share more information--
it's not just audio, it is documents,
it is notes that they're taking in real time,
it is their personal views and recollections--
when they feel they're sharing it for history
and not, you know, a show that's gonna air,
uh, in a couple hours from now.
That is-- That makes no sense to me, because, I mean, like,
it's not like this is ancient history.
-Well, it sort of-- It's-it's sort of... -I mean,
this happened a year ago, and you're telling me
the politicians are like, "Well, this will never see
-the light of day in a year"? -It is-- it is--
it is actually extraordinary, and it's one of the things
-that I think-- I think-- I think... -This-- I mean...
These are the people running the country?
-When we were... -Or trying to.
When we were-- when we were ha-- when we were doing
these interviews, you would see people sort of...
-very sort of uptight and then you'd say... -Yeah. "Sir."
"Listen, this is-- this is for history," and they're like,
"Oh, well, if this is for history."
-And it's like, "It is out next May." -(laughs)
I mean, like, let's talk about the, you know--
some of the-the other stories. For instance, there's a part
in the book-- we actually have the audio here
and we'll go to it real soon-- is there's a part of the book
-where you're interviewing Donald Trump himself. -Yes.
Right? There you are, interviewing the man.
And in the middle of this interview,
does he call Lindsey Graham or does Lindsey Graham call him?
Lindsey Graham calls him
while we're sitting there, uh, in the lobby at Mar-a-Lago
-for his guests to see. -Yes.
Lindsey Graham calls him.
And Trump does not get up from the couch.
He's like, "Excuse me, fellas." He just, like, sits there
and, like, takes that call on his cell phone
and then puts it on speaker, so we can hear it!
So, we've actually got the audio.
Let's-let's play that call.
So, here's the thing. For-for context, for me,
is-is this is the same Lindsey Graham
who, after January 6, was bringing up the 25th Amendment.
He was like, "This is too much. We've gone too far."
And then Trump has him on the phone and he's just like,
-"Dance for me" and-and he does. -And this is April.
This is three months later, too. So this is pretty-- Yeah.
Is-is this... Does this show us
that the politicians are lying to the people
or they're lying to Trump?
-That's a great question. -That's a really good question.
Look, I think we were shocked, uh, uh,
not that Lindsey Graham would be calling Trump at that point,
but, you know, we all know that, uh,
Lindsey Graham rode back to Donald Trump really fast,
that his pronouncements on the night of January 6, uh,
had a very, very, uh, short expiration date, uh, on them.
But I think just hearing in-in real time in front of us
this, you know, sort of dancing monkey routine
was really an extraordinary, uh, uh, moment.
I don't know that he's lying to anybody.
I think Lindsey Graham genuinely believes
that is he playing a vital role as a diplomat
between the establishment of the Republican Party
-and Donald Trump. I'm not saying he's right. -Can I...
-I just-- That's clearly how he's rationalizing it. -Yeah.
It puzzled even some of his colleagues in the Senate.
But you just heard there the-- you know, just how far it goes.
I think Trump knows that Lindsey isn't, like,
his biggest fan in the world,
uh, and that, privately, you know, rolls his eyes
but that he sort of, uh, you know,
is trying to sort of stay in the arena
-and so he has to keep Trump on his good side. -Okay.
And I think, you know, like, L-- you know, obviously,
Lindsey-L-Lindsey is pretty obviously,
uh, aware of Donald Trump's liabilities
and would admit that in private.
So I think, like...
What's the old saying? You can't BS a BS-er.
I think they kind of both know
that the other isn't totally on the level.
And so I guess it works, right?
-I mean, not for the country, you know? -(laughing)
-It-it... It's just-- It seems... -I mean for them!
-(applause) -Yeah, no. It just-- it just seems...
Like, if...
You know, if-if Donald Trump didn't have
as many scandals as he did,
I feel like every single chapter in this book
could have been its own book
-in a different time with a different presidency. -Totally.
-That's a great point. -There's-there's-- I didn't know
but, like, there's a part in the book where you guys
uncover the fact that Jared Kushner
is the person who got Kanye West his campaign manager.
-Yeah. -And all of this was essentially a scheme
to try and siphon Black votes away from the Democrats.
Like, I'm like, that... In and of itself,
that would be the bombshell of the day,
and now, it's just like, oh, yeah, just one part of the book.
-Yeah, totally. -Look, I think it's a great episode
of sort of political, uh, uh, you know, hijinks, right?
But it's really revealing both
of how desperate they were to try to mess
-with the basic electoral map of this election. -Uh-huh.
I think it's also really revealing
about how the White House and the president's family saw,
you know, Black voters
and what they would be drawn to in this election.
The notion that the way to get, to siphon Black votes
away from Joe Biden was to get this sort of screwball celebrity
into the race, and just, you know,
of course those people will, you know,
vote for him instead of the guy they know
as the former two-term vice president.
-Yeah. -That says a whole lot about the people
-who were running the country for four years. -And, you know,
look, with the Trump crowd, it's like a cartoon version
of, like, past presidents.
You know, like, the president's son-in-law,
who, by the way, works in the White House,
-which is... okay. -Yes.
And then, secondly, is, like, basically running the country
as a de facto senior adviser with no actual title
-beyond "senior advisor." -Yes.
And he's also, like, running the campaign on the side, too.
And in running the campaign, he's trying
to wire in a third-party candidate
who happens to be, like, a celebrity.
It's like, he's doing all of this, and, like, ostensibly,
there's ethics rules that kind of exist in the White House.
But, um, it makes a mockery of any sort
of, like, political norms or tradition in America.
That's a great way to put it because what it feels like
this book exposes in a really scary way--
'cause it's revealing, and it's shocking--
but when you get to the end of the book, you go,
-"Man, America's in trouble." -Yeah.
Because it feels like there is a facade
that is being presented by Washington D.C.
It feels like there is definitely a game
that's being played, you know, in the Capitol
-versus what everyday Americans are experiencing. -Totally.
And then, the most important thing is, it feels like
the two-party system has failed, because now, it feels like
Republicans aren't all with Trump.
They play along to try and keep their role.
And, then, like, Democrats aren't all together.
But it feels like the thing's a sham,
and by the time the American people find out
that it really is a sham, it'll be too late.
Well, one of the things that we hope we've accomplished
with this book is to expose that sham
to a pretty significant degree.
The American people deserve to know
what a gigantic gap there is
between the way their politicians behave in public
and the things they say in private about policy,
about each other and even about the American people.
So again, that's sort of the overarching
-journalistic exercise here. -Yeah. -(applause)
Well, I'll tell you this. If you, uh... if you...
if you wanted to get it out there,
a book is a nice start,
but if you really want people to pay attention,
you got to make it into a TV show. Gentlemen,
-thank you so much for joining me. -There you go.
-Thanks a lot. -Brilliant. Thank you, man.
From your lips to God's ears. Thank you.
Jonathan and Alex's book, This Will Not Pass
is available right now.
We're gonna take a quick break,
but we'll be right back after this.
Thank you, man, really.
(applause and cheering)
Well, that's our show tonight. Thank you so much for tuning in.
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When the cell phone comes out,
that's when your pants go back on.
Now here it is-- Your Moment of Zen.
Taco Tuesday has already passed, but that doesn't mean
you can't eat them today, and here's your reason.
Because it's Cinco de Mayo.
So we had Taco Tuesday. Now we're gonna have Taco Thursday.
I guess it's Taco Tuesday on a Thursday.
Oh, yeah, it's Taco Tuesday.
And Taco Wednesday and Taco Thursday
since this is Cinco de Mayo.
When else can you have Taco Tuesday on a Thursday, right?