♪ ♪
ANNOUNCER: Coming to you from New York City,
the only city in America,
it's The Daily Show!
Tonight,
Nancy Pelosi is a jet-setter,
taking down terrorists,
and Ms. Pat.
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, everybody!
All right, we're gonna have a fun, fun show for you tonight.
Take a seat, take a seat.
There are so many things happening in the news.
President Biden is killing it,
Nancy Pelosi is gonna get us all killed,
and Donald Trump has endorsed twins.
So, let's do this, people.
Let's jump straight into today's headlines.
-♪ ♪ -(cheering and applause)
All right, before we get into the big stories,
let's catch up on a few other things
that are going on in the world.
First up, a passenger
on a flight from Bali to Australia
was fined more than $1,800
for having two undeclared Egg McMuffins in their luggage.
And, honestly,
I don't know if they'll be able to pay for that.
You know? No, 'cause, I mean,
the type of person who saves Egg McMuffins for later
probably doesn't plan and has $1,800 lying around for fines.
You know what I mean?
But, apparently, Australia is-is very concerned
about bringing in food from Indonesia
because there's an outbreak of foot and mouth disease
and that's why they're being really strict.
And when I saw this, I was like, "Damn,
"do you know how poisonous you got to be
to get banned from Australia?"
Yeah. Their border patrol is like, "Oh, a pet snake?
"Come on through. Killer spiders? Right this way.
"Aah! Egg McMuffin!
"Oh, that could hurt someone, mate!
That could really hurt someone!"
Uh, in sports news,
the head of the Saudi Arabian golf tour revealed today
that Tiger Woods turned down a $700 million offer
to play for their league.
-Yeah. Turned it down. -(murmuring, applause)
-(cheering) -Yeah. Kudos to Tiger Woods.
That is-- that is really amazing.
All these other golfers just taking the money
from Saudi Arabia, you know?
But Tiger stood up. He was like, "No."
I-I would do the same thing.
In fact, Saudi Arabia, offer me that $700 million.
Yeah, you'll see.
Just put it in my bank account. You'll see what I'll do.
And the rest of you won't see me again. You'll see. (chuckles)
Oh, here's something fascinating. Here's something.
A major new study of 72 million people has found
that poor children are much more likely
to move up the economic ladder if they have friends
who are rich.
Yeah. I know, which seems kind of obvious, you know?
I mean, I feel like they didn't need to do a whole study.
They could have just watched Fresh Prince.
But...
still, now we know statistically
that poor kids do better with rich friends,
which shows you why it's so important
to have different zoning when it comes to housing,
to have schools that are integrated, you know?
It gets people on the same trajectory.
I mean, on the downside, it also means
that you have some kids coming back demanding weird snacks.
You know? They're just like,
"But, Daddy, Theodore has prosciutto-wrapped melon balls!"
Like, "Well, Theodore sounds like a little bitch.
Now eat your cheese stick."
But, anyway, anyway... (chuckles)
let's move on to the big news of the day,
'cause there is a lot of it. A lot of news.
Starting with China,
the original build-the-wall country.
Since Xi Jinping rose to power in 2013,
the communist regime
has steadily been increasing its influence around the world.
Right? They've been advancing into Africa.
They've been claiming territory in disputed waters.
And, most importantly, creating the perfect algorithm
to get us all hooked on pink sauce.
But one thing China wants more than anything
is for the world to acknowledge that they own Taiwan.
Which is why they've gotten super pissed off
at where Nancy Pelosi just booked her Expedia trip.
House speaker Nancy Pelosi has arrived in Taiwan.
The speaker arriving just, really, moments ago
for a visit which has been controversial
and speculated about for weeks now.
She says that the congressional delegation's visit
is part of the unwavering commitment
to support Taiwan's vibrant democracy.
NEWSWOMAN: In the past few days, China launching
the most aggressive military exercises in 25 years,
accusing the U.S. of interfering in its internal affairs.
NEWSWOMAN 2: Chinese President Xi Jinping warned
President Biden in a call last week
about the U.S. meddling in the contested territory,
with Chinese officials reportedly communicating...
NEWSWOMAN: Two weeks ago, President Biden had warned
the U.S. military did not want Pelosi to go.
I think that...
the military thinks it's not a good idea right now.
Yeah, I would agree.
Now's not a great time to start World War III.
I mean, the world has so many other things
to deal with right now.
All the drama on Love Island, you know.
I can't believe that Ekin-Su ended up with Davide.
Are you serious?
And it's crazy that Pelosi just ignored Biden like that.
You know? Well, I mean, I-I assume she ignored him.
Maybe she just couldn't understand him, you know.
Yeah, he was like, "Listen, Jack,
"don't skedaddle over to the... the Taiwanese, I mean...
"Come on, man, we need you here in America.
You read me, skipper?"
She's like, "You got it, Joe, I'm on my way."
"No!"
So now, because Pelosi has defied Chinese warnings
not to visit Taiwan, the Chinese government
is conducting military exercises in Taiwan's backyard.
Yeah, which is a scary escalation.
But at the same time, when you think about it,
it's also kind of ridiculous that countries do this.
You know, they fly their planes past,
aim their guns, but they don't shoot.
It-It's scary but it's also ridiculous.
You know, it's like threatening someone
by standing outside their house, just yelling,
"You want to mess with me?
Look at what I'm capable of."
(grunting)
"Imagine this is your face."
(grunting)
"Yeah, think about what you did."
But let's move on from the war America may be about to start
to the one it is still trying to finish--
the War on Terror.
As you know, it started on September 11, 2001
when the Twin Towers were destroyed by George W. Bush.
No, I'm kidding, I'm kidding.
-(groaning) -I'm kidding. I'm kidding.
It was Dick Cheney.
-No, I'm-- no, no, I'm-- no. -(applause)
It was al-Qaeda, it was al-Qaeda.
And the plotters of the attack included Osama bin Laden,
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and Ayman al-Zawahiri.
And America swore revenge, and over the next 20 years
America killed Bin laden, captured Sheikh Mohammed,
invaded Afghanistan, invaded Iraq,
bombed Pakistan, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, and Libya,
deployed troops to Mali, Kenya, and Nigeria,
and completely obliterated the big shampoo bottle industry.
Only tiny bottles for you.
But in that whole time, the U.S. never managed
to find Ayman al-Zawahiri until yesterday.
The U.S. has now killed the world's top terror target.
More than 20 years after 9/11,
the hunt for Bin Laden's number two is now over.
NEWSWOMAN: He has been in hiding for more than 20 years,
one of the world's most wanted terrorists.
But tonight the United States finally caught up
with Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Justice has been delivered,
and this terrorist leader is no more.
NEWSMAN: Senior officials say the U.S. government used
an unmanned drone and Hellfire missiles
to target the third floor balcony
of a residential apartment building in downtown Kabul.
NEWSMAN 2: Experts say Hellfire missiles do not explode.
Instead, the missiles are equipped with razor-like blades
extending from the fuselage, which slice through a target.
MAN: So it will go through and essentially vaporize
a human body, but somebody standing within feet
of this person would not be injured at all.
NEWSMAN 2: The senior administration officials
saying authorities spent months identifying
Al-Zawahiri's patterns to avoid civilian casualties.
The strike was so precise from a drone,
it killed him on a balcony
without harming any family members in the building.
Goddamn.
America clipped the world's most wanted terrorist
off of his safe house balcony?
I mean, also, at this point
maybe we should stop calling them safe houses.
No, every terrorist gets killed in a safe house.
They should, they should call it
a house that you think you're safe in, but you never know.
And what's crazy is that America didn't just kill him.
They killed him with a razor blade missile,
which I didn't even know was a thing.
-Did you? -(audience shouts)
I didn't know.
Yeah, the weapons America has sound like things
that kids just make up on the playground.
"I'm shooting you with a laser-guided missile
with razor blades in a shark's body."
Meanwhile, the CIA is up in a tree like, "With a shark's body.
"Did you get that, boys?
We got to go make one of those."
Razor blade missiles? That's especially genius
because, like, if it hits, you kill the target,
but even if it misses him by a little,
he gets, like, a really shitty haircut.
(laughter)
That's just as good. No one's gonna be loyal
to a guy with a bowl cut.
I will say, though, I will say,
you know, when you see stories like this,
when you see stories about what America's capable of,
this is where you realize there's really no excuse
for the amount of domestic terrorism in America, right?
-(applause) -Because Zawahiri...
Zawahiri lived
all the way in Afghanistan, right,
in some random safe house in the middle of nowhere,
and America knew what time of day
he liked to go out onto his balcony.
But when a white supremacist posts on Facebook
that he's gonna murder everyone and then buys an AR15,
everyone's like, "Oh, there was no way to stop this, yeah.
Oh, if only he liked balconies. Wah."
(laughter)
And I know some people are saying, "Oh, who cares?
"America killed Al Qaeda's leader,
"but Al Qaeda isn't even in the game anymore.
This is like taking out Tom from Myspace."
That's not the point. The point is, America never forgets.
Unless it's slavery, but everything else,
-America never forgets. -(applause and cheering)
You thought it was over.
America came back.
America's a kid who never stops playing hide-and-seek
decades after the game is done.
Yeah, you're at a retirement party giving a speech,
and America pops up behind you like, "I found you, bitch!"
-(laughter) -"I'm with my grandkids."
"Not anymore."
Still, though, this is like one hell of a strike.
They got him with a missile. I'm still stuck on this.
-A missile filled with swords. -(laughter)
This is how I know I'm not cut out for the war room and, like,
all of the things you need to do as commander in chief,
all these... I-I know, if I was in that room,
I would not have been able to keep my cool in there.
All right.
Target acquired, Mr. President.
They say contact in three, two, one.
Oh, shit! Goddamn! Oh! Oh!
Oh, did you see the swords? The swords are coming out of there!
Oh, it's like Fruit Ninja! Aah! Aah!
How are you watching this?
How's everybody just watching this?
Oh, you're not even going to flinch?
Nobody's going to flinch? Oh, I'm the only one.
Oh, okay. You're acting like you've all seen a missile
that has swords come out of it. Okay, I'm the only one.
All right, you guys aren't even moving here. You're not...
Did you see that shit? You see that?
That shit was wild! Wow. That was crazy.
That missile just knew. It can find anyone.
Wow. Even you, Kamala. (stammering)
I'm just playing, but where are you hiding?
Oh, I see you. Oh, shit, that was crazy.
(laughter, applause and cheering)
Oh, then finally...
Today was a big day for the midterm primary season
with a lot of closely-watched races
that will tell us a lot about the direction
of the Republican Party. You know?
Will it be filled with crazy extremists
who worship Donald Trump like a god,
or will it be filled with traditional conservatives
who worship Donald Trump like a god?
And one race that everyone is talking about
is the Republican Senate race in Missouri.
And the reason it's getting so much attention
is because Donald Trump decided
to give one of the weirdest endorsements of all time.
NEWSWOMAN: It is primary day in America.
Former President Trump hedging his bets
in a Missouri Senate race, simply endorsing "Eric,"
a first name shared by two rival Republican candidates.
NEWSWOMAN 2: Trump has triggered confusion in Missouri
after endorsing "Eric" in the state primary
without providing a last name.
There are two Erics in the race.
Both Eric Greitens-- who's been accused of abuse and blackmail--
and Eric Schmitt-- the current attorney general--
have claimed the endorsement as their own.
NEWSMAN: Now both Erics are saying
the former president is supporting them.
Each posted a statement online
thanking Trump for his endorsement.
A source close to the former president told NBC News,
leaving off the last name of the "Eric"
he was endorsing was intentional, saying,
it was an "epic troll."
Just when you think you've seen it all from Donald Trump,
he does something like this.
There are two Erics running
against each other in the primary,
and Trump put out a statement endorsing "Eric."
-(laughter) -Just Eric.
He could be supporting any Eric in the world.
Well, not any Eric, but you know what I mean.
-(audience groaning) -You know?
-I'm not his father. -(laughter)
To me, the best part of the story is
that before he made the announcement,
Trump called Eric Schmitt and told him
that he was getting the endorsement.
Then he called Eric Greitens
and told him he was getting the endorsement.
-(laughter) -But he didn't mention to either of them
that he was endorsing both of them.
Yeah. What an asshole.
Turns out the dude even brings infidelity
into his endorsements, you know?
He's the first politician to have a side Eric.
"You're only Eric for me, Eric.
"Don't listen to those other Erics,
they're just jealous."
All right, that's it for the headlines,
but before we go to a break, it's time to check in
on all the latest social media trends
with our very own Ronny Chieng, everybody.
(cheering, applause)
so good to see you, Ronny.
So, uh, what's happening online? What's trending?
(sighs) Another day in hell, Trevor.
I guess what's trending today is what, what is it today?
Oh, Tuesday vibes.
Whatever that means.
Hey, when you have a PhD in stupid
maybe you can explain it to me, okay?
'Cause as far as I'm concerned,
every day on the Internet is #StupidVibes.
Eve-even you, Trevor, participating in this.
What is this? Trevor Noah: "Three days till the weekend.
Prayer emoji."
Oh, prayer hands. Oh, prayer-prayer hands.
Even if God heard you he'd be like,
"What am I supposed to do with this?"
In fact, I'm gonna start a new Internet challenge
right now. Yeah. It's called
the "smash a phone against your face challenge," all right?
What you do is you take your own phone
and then you smash it on your face!
Ronny, Ronny, Ronny, okay, Ronny. Ronny.
First of all, I don't know why you keep going after
my social media posts. Secondly, if you hate the Internet,
you realize you don't have to do this segment, right?
Wait, wait, what-what are you talking about?
I-I live for this shit.
Yes. And-- oh, oh--
and-and by the way,
by the way, that guy-- that guy who got a fine,
uh, for bringing McDonald's McMuffins into Australia--
yo, that punishment wasn't harsh enough. Okay?
They should have given him the death penalty.
-What? -Okay?
What kind of idiot brings McDonald's
to another country?
Every country has McDonald's, okay?
There's McDonald's in every airport.
In fact-- yo, most airports now
are just a McDonald's.
It's like we're just flying from McDonald's to McDonald's.
And he smuggled it in his luggage?
Yo, smuggle it up your ass like a professional, okay?
Oh, oh, oh, an-- oh, yeah, oh, yeah, yeah, Tiger Woods--
and Tiger-- oh, Tiger Woods didn't take the money
-From the Saudi golf, uh, whatever? -Yeah.
Yo, Tiger, Asian to Asian-- yo, take the money.
Take the money. I'm telling you, take it.
I-I always take the money
from the worst people in the world, okay?
Because what better way to punish evildoers
than to take their money?
Yeah! Take their money.
-I take everyone's money. -No-- wait, no. What?
Oil companies, big tobacco, ISIS, Comedy Central--
if I don't take the money,
bad people will just have more money, all right?
In fact, in fact, next week,
I got asked to judge an episode
of The Masked Singer in North Korea and, you know,
you should come with me, Trevor.
-You should-- They really want you. -No. No, Ronny.
I told you I am not going to North Korea, Ronny.
Oh, okay, so, what--
you just want a dictator to keep all his blood money?
You're basically funding terrorism at this point.
No, I'm not! What are you talking about?
Also, also, everyone, get off Nancy Pelosi's back, okay?
All this, "Oh, she's causing World War III.
Ugh, World War III." Good, we need World War III.
Ronny, how you can say that?
Easily, Trevor. We need World War III
to complete the trilogy, okay?
What if-- what if--
what if Lord of the Rings ended at number two?
We'd be like, "Yo, are these guys gay or not?"
We'd never know, all right?
Also, aren't you sick of all these World War II movies?
Like, we need something new. We need some fresh ideas here.
China versus America.
Tons of roles for Asian actors. Yeah.
Yo, actors who can do everything.
Actors who can do intense! (growls)
Or s-sad. (cries)
Or happy! Yay!
If you cared about Asian representation, Trevor,
you would support World War III.
Anyway, that's what's trending. So, uh, #TuesdayVibes.
-Ronny Chieng, everybody. -(cheering, applause)
No World War III. All right, when we come back,
we're gonna be chatting to a civil rights lawyer
who tells us why public safety doesn't mean more cops,
so don't go away.
(cheering, applause)
(cheering and applause)
Welcome back to The Daily Show.
My first guest is an award-winning
civil rights lawyer and founder of Civil Rights Corps.
He's here to talk about his work
challenging the money bail system;
holding prosecutors, judges, and police accountable;
and finding a nonpunitive approach to public safety.
Please welcome Alec Karakatsanis.
-(cheering and applause) -How are you?
-Thank you for having me. -Thank you so much.
Welcome to the show.
You-you have a really interesting story, Alec,
because, you know, y-you worked as a public defender.
You've worked in the justice system for a long time.
You're part of many organizations
that fight for people who are incarcerated,
unjustly or in a way
where they-they can never find their way out of the system,
which is unjust in-in a different way.
Um, but a lot of your notoriety
has come from your Twitter threads,
in how you break down the world,
the way we see policing in the country,
and the way even liberal organizations, funny enough,
are part of the problem.
So let-let's start with that part.
You know? What made you decide to not be looking at Fox News,
not be looking at, you know, right-wing outlets
but rather say, "No, New York Times,
"L.A. Times, Washington Post,
you need to change the way you talk about policing in America"?
I began this work because I care so deeply about safety.
Everyone's safety.
I care about violence in our communities.
And as I was going around the country
fighting these injustices--
the cash bail system, police abuse--
all over the country, we were running into obstacles.
And one of the main obstacles was this status quo approach
that many progressive people have.
And it's not their fault, really, right?
We're bombarded constantly in the media
-with what we call cop-aganda. -Mm-hmm.
And cop-aganda has, really, I think, three main functions.
The first function of cop-aganda
is to narrow our conception of what safety means.
We're constantly being told
that there's all of these threats around us,
but the threats that the media and the police
and certain large corporations want us to be focused on
are not the things that actually most determine our safety.
So, for example, you've seen all over the country,
um, uh, con-conversations about retail theft,
-um, or a wave of crime, right? -Yeah.
What you don't hear is about the epidemic of wage theft.
-Wage theft costs $50 billion every single year. -(applause)
Wage theft alone is about five times the value
of all robbery, burglary, larceny, shoplifting combined.
And why are we not hearing about it?
And I think it's because
you have this "law enforcement" system--
I use that system in quotes because police want us
to call them law enforcement,
but, in reality, they only enforce some laws
against some people some of the time.
So, so let's, let's-let's talk about that.
(applause)
That, you know, th-there's a disconnect,
it feels like sometimes, in the conversations we have
in America because, on the one hand,
many people will agree that law enforcement needs overwatch.
You know, many people agree that law enforcement, um,
that isn't in some way regulated by-by an outside body
will run rampant.
But at the same time, there are many communities
who will still say,
"Yes, but we-we still need some form of law enforcement.
"We need some form of justice.
We need some form of protection."
And this is something that almost goes
beyond law enforcement as we know it in the world today.
So, so what is an argument for a better world
that, that doesn't subscribe to the notions of how people think
law enforcement needs to exist now?
Let's just start with some
of the very basic facts that we know.
If we care about safety, we care about harm,
the number one thing we need to do is address
the actual root causes
of violence and harm in our society.
The actual root causes of harm in our society
are not the fact that we're not policed enough, right?
We have the most police of any society,
we have the most prisons, prosecutions,
courts, judges, probation, parole.
If probation, parole, prosecutors, judges,
and courts-- if money spent on that made us safe,
we would have the safest society in the history of the world.
-We don't. -(applause)
What actually matters, what actually matters
for our safety is investing in things like reducing poverty.
-Right. -Like safe, permanent supportive housing.
-Right. -Health care, public health.
I completely, I completely agree with you on that.
You know, I-I'm a firm believer in that.
Uh, I think it's the, you know, the cause versus the symptom.
Th-Th-There is a confusing element
that-that I think often gets overlooked,
and it's the transition.
You know, I-I see it when people talk about electric cars,
I see it when people talk about policing,
and-and it's the unfortunate truth that there is always going
to be a transition from one system to another.
Unless there is a revolution that happens overnight,
there needs to be a transition.
What do you propose for the transition in between?
Because we do have police now.
There are unions that are very powerful,
that even the police say, "Hey, w-we, we can't say anything.
The union is controlling how this is doled out."
So, what do you do for the interim?
'Cause I think we can-- you and I will agree on all of that.
You know, those are long-term solutions,
but in the, in the, in the short term what do you think we can do
to keep people safe and also find a way
to move the system over?
The good thing is that we know exactly what works
and we have a lot of evidence.
So anyone who tells you that the solution,
even in the short or medium term,
is more funding for police,
that's like climate science denial.
There's overwhelming research that the programs
-that already exist-- -Mm-hmm.
um, permanent supportive housing,
safe consumption sites, violence interruption,
restorative justice,
investing in safe places for communities to gather,
or at school, music theatre programs,
early childhood education-- all of these things work,
and they work quickly.
-The problem is we don't have the political power. -(applause)
-Right. -Often what happens is, we identify,
like, in our work, these enormous injustices.
Like, there are 500,000 human beings in cages
right now this country
because they can't afford to pay cash to get out.
Right? We identify that injustice, and what happens?
A lot of prominent establishment liberals--
they propose a reform.
But the reforms that are being proposed are backed
by those same interests that created the current problem.
And so, we're constantly being hit with short
-and medium-term solutions that are reforms... -Mm-hmm.
that actually exacerbate the problem.
Let me give you an example. Take the bail system.
If you care about the presumption of innocence,
about people being taken away from their children
-because they can't make a monetary payment-- -Right.
like, millions of children are separated from their parents
every single year-- you want to fix this problem.
So enter the establishment Democrats.
What do they do in most of these cities?
They're trying to replace the cash bail system
with privatized, for-profit, electronic monitoring,
electronic incarceration.
This is enormously profitable.
There are billions of dollars to be made
with private corporations who want to convert our system
-of mass incarceration... -Right.
...to a system of mass electronic detention.
I-I... As I say, I've always admired the fact
that you almost have a "start at home" approach.
You know, you aren't spending your time fighting
with conservatives or Republicans
who believe in that system. You're challenging liberals,
you're challenging progressives, you're challenging Democrats
who claim this to actually follow through on it.
So, my question to you would then be,
for-for... for the media specifically,
who you have a, you know, a targeted focus on,
you know, for the newspapers for the publications,
what do you think is a change that they could make overnight?
Because they're the... That's completely in-house.
What is something they could do right now
that could present a clearer vision
of where America should be?
I think there are a few things.
Number one-- as I wrote in my newsletter recently,
cover the things that are most threatening
to our health and safety.
-Cover the 100,000... -(applause)
Cover the 100,000 violations of the Clean Water Act
every year that are killing children,
that are killing families.
Did you know that...
there are 100,000 deaths in the U.S. alone,
and ten million across the globe, because of air pollution?
That is five times the number of homicides in the U.S. alone.
Did you know how many people-- tens of thousands--
die from eviction and-and, uh,
predatory lending practices that put people into poverty?
Um, these are solvable problems.
We know how to solve them, but the people in this country
don't treat them urgently.
And the reason is because the volume of news stories,
the sheer volume, every single day,
it's about shoplifting, it's about this isolated crime,
it's about that isolated crime.
And we're not talking about the threats to our existence,
like the rise of fascism. Or, for example, um,
the growing right-wing threat in this country
to reproductive health. Did you un--
did you realize that, um--
When-- You know, I've been looking and studying
very carefully how the media is covering
-Joe Biden's current request for 100,000 new cops. -Mm-hmm.
When I see liberal Democrats all over the country,
both in newsrooms and in politics, um,
talking about that "This isn't a big deal,
and we need to pass 100 cops" just to have a little bit
of talking points and success for the midterms.
Understand this: voters who care about that
and what a right-wing fascist force taking over our society
are gonna vote for the Republicans anyway.
Um, people who care about building and investing
in communities are looking for leadership
on things that we actually know work.
Like better schools, early childhood education,
programs in communities run by the people
who are most impacted by these problems.
I will say this, though--
Be-Before I let you go, and I know I got to let you go.
I-I will say this, though,
this is where I will disagree with you slightly.
Th-- Time and time again, you'll find when you actually
look at voting blocs, people do not have access
to that information, and so they do not vote accordingly.
People will say, "You know what?
"I just want crime in my neighborhood to go down.
"I feel like the Democrats are not serious about crime.
"I feel like, you know, we need better cops or more cops.
I feel like--" because they maybe don't have the information
or they-they haven't been given any possible solution
that isn't policing. And so I think
there's a difficult disconnect that may go back to,
if they read about it, if they see it,
they would, uh, think about it as a possibility.
So, uh, Alec, thank you so much for joining me on the show.
-Thank you for having me. -Thank you for your time.
-And, uh, hopefully we'll chat again. -(cheering, applause)
Alec's book, Usual Cruelty, is available now,
and you can sign up for his Copaganda Newsletter
for free on Substack. All right, stay tuned,
because when we come back, the hilarious Ms. Pat
will be joining me on the show. Don't go away.
-Thank you, again. -(cheering, applause)
(cheering and applause)
Welcome back to The Daily Show!
My guest tonight is a very funny comedian
who's here to talk about her hit BET+ series
The Ms. Pat Show.
I'm gonna miss you calling me four times a year
to pay your phone bill.
I know you loved us,
and I love you, too.
And I know you did your best,
but your best wasn't always good enough.
Rest easy, Mom.
♪ ♪
What the (bleep) is that supposed to mean?
(cheering and applause)
Please welcome Ms. Pat!
-♪ ♪ -(cheering and applause)
Welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome.
Ms. Pat, welcome to The Daily Show.
Thank you for having me.
I've been trying to get here for years.
-I made it. -You made it?
What do you mean you made it? I feel like I made it,
-talking to you. -(cheering and applause)
First things first, congratulations.
You know, it is so rare for a new show to come out
in this, like, flooded market
and get the recognition that yours has.
Congratulations on the Emmy nomination for your show.
-Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. -Best Directing.
-(cheering and applause) -It...
I-I don't know how to explain your show to people.
I go, "It's hilarious.
"It is also engaging.
It-it feels like a sitcom but for grown folk."
Like, if you told me, if you pitched to me and you said,
"I'm gonna make a show that's about, um,
"a life of selling crack,
"formerly selling crack and sexual assault
"and also struggling as a single mother
and it's all gonna be funny,"
I'd be like, "That's impossible."
But you did it. I'd love to know how.
How did you-- how did you think, "I can make all of this funny"?
Well, I mean, the show was in the works for five years
with Lee Daniels and we went through three writers
and he found somebody that can catch my voice.
And you know, I'm a comedian. You know, he came up.
He was like, "Hey, Jordan E. Cooper is my co-creator."
He was like, "Oh, we're going to do a cussing sitcom."
And I'm like, "A cussing sitcom? I can curse?"
And he was like, "I think that'll be great,"
because I curse in my real-day life, you know?
I curse every day. Let him tell it.
-Uh, I'm saved on Saturdays, but... -(laughter)
'Cause I don't want to go to church on Sunday.
-You have to tithe. But... we took... -(laughter)
You know, what was great about this show was,
we took everything that I've been through,
and we threw it in with comedy
'cause that's what I do with my real-life stand-up.
I take the darkest things, and I try to find the funny,
and then I tell people,
"You can't change the past so why cry about it?"
So I took child molestation, and I made it funny.
I took getting shot in the back of the head and made it funny.
Yeah, you see, the audience right now is going like,
-"Wait. What?" I could feel you... -(laughter)
But that is exactly what you do is, you use...
And I mean, as comedians, we understand this,
but it's so rare to be able to translate that to an audience.
You know, you... It feels authentic.
You don't minimize the experiences.
And every single episode of the show
brings you into a world that you may not be familiar with,
but it makes you understand people.
You know, that's what I feel like your show does.
It makes me understand someone who hasn't lived my life.
Yeah, exactly, and... Well, I take it... When we take it...
And even though you haven't been through what I've been through,
you probably know a Ms. Pat, or you probably know a victim.
-I like that. -Or you probably know somebody been though
-what I have been through. -Yeah.
You know, just because you haven't been molested
-don't mean nobody else haven't been molested. -Mm-hmm.
Just 'cause you haven't been shot
don't mean nobody else haven't been shot.
So we all kind of been through stuff
with families and friend members.
I just experienced it, and put it on TV with comedy.
You've put it on TV with comedy.
You've been successful at doing it.
You've got a wonderful cast that tells amazing stories.
I would love to know where you see the series going from here.
What do you hope to achieve?
Uh, it's gonna show you the real path of my life as a comedian.
'Cause I'm a comedian in this show.
So eventually, before they cut out the lights,
I'm gonna become a famous comedian.
(laughter)
-NOAH: Yeah. -(applause and cheering)
I'm no fool, Trevor.
(laughs) I got an ending.
Before they turn out the lights, "Hey, let me give you
the last episode, okay? Let's end this thing right."
It is such a wild story. You know, I--
Sometimes people will hear my story and they go, like,
"That doesn't sound real." I'm like,
"But it is real but it doesn't sound that great."
And then I-I read your story, I was like, "But this is not real.
One person couldn't have gone through all of this."
What-What is your secret?
Beyond the comedy that you use as-as a tool
to process this information, like,
where does your resilience come from as a human being?
Um, I don't dwell on things I don't have control over.
-I cannot change the past. -Wow.
So-- (chuckles)
And I'm-- You know, I'm not a big churchgoing person,
but I just learn when I can forgive
the people who harm me, I can start to live.
So, my mother, my first kid's father,
who shot me in the back of the head,
those were the two biggest devils in my life.
So once I forgave them, I found happiness.
I love that. I love that. I love the show.
It's an honor to have you here.
Come back when you've won all the Emmys,
all the awards, super famous comedian.
Everyone should watch your Netflix special.
And I hope you'll join us again and again and again
-Again and again. -and again and again.
Ms. Pat, thank you so much
-for being here with me. -Thank you for having me.
-(cheering, applause) -Thank you so much.
For upcoming stand-up dates,
check out MsPatComedy.com,
and don't forget-- season two of the The Ms. Pat Show
premieres August 11 on BET+. We're gonna take a quick break
-but we'll be right back after this. -(cheering, applause)
(cheering, applause)
Well, that's our show for tonight.
But before we go, before we go,
I just wanted to remind you that recovery efforts
are underway after record-breaking floodwaters
have hit eastern Kentucky. We need to help them.
And The Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky
is doing all that they can to assist these efforts.
So if you can, please support them
and the work that they're doing at the link below.
Until next time, stay safe out there.
And remember, if you're a terrorist who wants to get
some fresh air on a balcony,
maybe just buy a fan instead.
Now here it is, Your Moment of Zen.
Tonight, Biden gave a speech boasting that
he's killed an Al Qaeda figure in Afghanistan.
Great. Feel safer? Of course you don't. Nobody does.
They loathe the elected president so much
they're incapable of acknowledging
any accomplishment, no matter what it is.
Trump is bad. Trump killed Baghdadi.
Therefore, killing Baghdadi was bad.
That's how these purported geniuses actually think.
They are purely reactive.