0:01

You're listening to Comedy Central. Wow.

0:05

Hey, everybody, welcome to another episode of

0:07

The Daily Social Distancing Show. I'm

0:09

Trevor Noah and on tonight's episode, Roy

0:12

Wood Jr. Joins the riots in Alabama.

0:14

We show you how Hollywood helps

0:17

the police. And then I'm going

0:19

to be interviewing a young man who's caught

0:21

my eye over the past few years. And I

0:23

don't know, guys, I think if I leave the

0:25

show, he might be able to take

0:27

my spot. His name is John

0:30

Stewart's. So

0:32

before we get into that, let's catch up on today's

0:34

headlines. Welcome to the Daily Social

0:36

Distancing Show. From

0:39

Trevor's couch in New York City to your

0:41

couch somewhere in the world. This

0:44

is The Daily Social Distancing Show with Trevor

0:46

Or. Let's

0:50

begin with the COVID nineteen pandemic,

0:53

the virus that's somehow been to more parts

0:55

of America than Guy Fiery. Back

0:58

in March, when we first realized how serious

1:00

it was, a lot of people were like, damn,

1:03

this might not be over until like the summer.

1:06

Well, summer's here, and it turns

1:08

out Corona might just be getting started

1:11

across the country. States are shattering

1:13

coronavirus records, with nearly thirty

1:15

five thousand cases yesterday in the US,

1:18

the highest one day total in two months.

1:20

Today in Florida, a record

1:23

new cases, but California has seen

1:25

a twenty nine percent jump in hospitalizations

1:28

in just two weeks, and in Texas,

1:30

the governor sounding the alarm. Houston's

1:32

Texas Medical Center reports n cent

1:35

of the area's current I See you beds are filled

1:38

nearly three out of ten with COVID patients.

1:40

Texas Children's Hospital is admitting

1:43

adults to free up beds for COVID patients.

1:46

Oh lord, it's

1:48

happening again. Just as

1:50

New York's numbers started going down,

1:53

the rest of the country is seeing an explosion in cases

1:56

and hospitalizations.

1:58

In fact, in places like Houston,

2:00

Texas, it is getting so bad

2:03

that they're even sending adults to

2:05

the children's hospital, which

2:07

is awful. These people are seriously

2:10

sick. They should not be at a hospital

2:12

where all the doctors are children. What

2:18

that's not what a children's Oh

2:20

and I'm not shocked this is happening. I mean, because

2:22

let's be honest, much of America has treated

2:25

the coronavirus the same way we treat our bodies

2:27

in the winter. Yeah, we're always like, yeah,

2:29

I know, it's not looking good right now, but when the summer

2:32

comes, I promise you everything is gonna be in shape.

2:34

And then the summer came and things were still not looking

2:36

good, and people are like, yeah, screw it, I'm

2:38

still going to the beach. So coronavirus

2:41

records are being broken every day across America.

2:43

In fact, right now, basically the only place

2:46

where cases are actually declining is in

2:48

the original epicenter of the outbreak in

2:50

the Northeast, which is why New York, New

2:52

Jersey, and Connecticut just announced

2:55

that anyone who is entering the States

2:58

will have to quarantine for two weeks.

3:00

Now, that's going to be almost impossible

3:02

to actually enforce, but

3:05

the good news is it already takes

3:07

two weeks just to get through the Lincoln Tunnel

3:09

into New York, so it kind of takes

3:11

care of itself. In fact, things are

3:13

looking so bad for the US that

3:16

Europe is considering a ban of

3:18

all US citizens until

3:21

they can figure out what the hell

3:23

is going. And I see where Europe

3:26

is coming from, because we can't

3:28

deny that the United States is doing

3:30

a particularly bad job compared

3:32

to other countries. I mean, look at

3:34

the charts right cases

3:37

in all those other places are going down,

3:39

while America went down for a little bit and

3:41

then shot back up. So I

3:44

guess congratulations on flattening

3:46

the curve. The question is, though, why

3:49

is the US doing so badly well?

3:52

While many Americans are wearing masks and

3:54

socially distancing and following the advice

3:56

of health experts, one thing you cannot

3:58

overlook is that there are also many other

4:01

Americans who are just really

4:04

really um well,

4:06

you know, you you judge for yourself. At

4:09

a commissioner's meeting in Florida's Palm Beach

4:11

County, anger erupted after a unanimous

4:14

vote to make masks mandatory.

4:16

This turned down right ugly. Here

4:18

here was the scene. And ma'am, as a doctor,

4:21

I really have many question marks about

4:23

your degrees and what you really know. And

4:25

I'm sorry, ma'am, but I don't think that you are worthy

4:27

of your credentials. And I would ask

4:29

suggestively that you go back to school and

4:32

get educated. And they want to throw God's

4:35

wonderful breathing system out the door. You're

4:38

all turning your backs on it. You literally

4:41

cannot mandate somebody to wear a mask

4:43

knowing that that mask is killing people. It

4:46

literally is killing people. And every

4:48

single one of you that are obeying

4:50

the Devil's laws are going

4:52

to be arrested, and you doctor

4:55

are going to be arrested for crimes

4:57

against humanity. Six ft like

4:59

I said said before, is military protocol.

5:01

You're trying to get the people to train

5:04

them. So when the cameras,

5:06

the five G comes out, what they're

5:08

they're gonna They're gonna scan everybody. We gotta get

5:10

scanned, we gotta get temperatured. Yes,

5:12

it appears America isn't just dealing with a deadly

5:15

strain of coronavirus. It's also dealing with a deadly

5:17

strain of stupidity. If wearing masks

5:19

killed people, there would be no doctors,

5:22

no dentists, and no hockey

5:24

goalies. Every hockey game would end

5:26

with a score of a thousand to nine and eighty. Why

5:28

are we even arguing with these Indians? And this just

5:30

shows you how destructive social media has been.

5:33

I mean, you have random people berating

5:35

qualified health professionals because of

5:37

some conspiracy theory that they probably

5:39

came across on their Facebook feed. You

5:42

can't trust Facebook for medical advice.

5:44

It isn't run by a doctor, it

5:46

isn't even run by a human. And

5:48

this is why everyone should stick to Instagram.

5:50

The worst thing you'll end up doing is getting a butt

5:53

lift and buying lots of plants. I mean, sure

5:55

your body will be out of proportion and your home will look like a

5:57

forest, but at least you still believe in science.

5:59

I mean, do these people listen to themselves?

6:03

Just me from what you guys think, every

6:05

government and every

6:07

health expert around the world is

6:09

involved in some giant conspiracy

6:12

to oppress everyone on Earth. But

6:16

they don't have the power to block that one

6:18

video on YouTube that exposes the

6:21

real truth. With this

6:23

fake health crisis, we will

6:25

enslave all of humanity. But

6:30

what about the YouTube videos?

6:35

Does anyone know how to code? Now?

6:39

Look, having people who believe crazy

6:41

conspiracy theories and ignore facts, that's nothing

6:43

new. What is new is

6:46

that now one of those people lives

6:49

in the White House. Did anybody see my speech

6:51

the other night on Saturday night? But

6:57

I said the other night, there's never been anything where

6:59

they have so many names. I could give you nineteen

7:01

or twenty names for that, right, it's

7:03

got all different names. Wuhanhans

7:09

was catching on coronavirus,

7:12

right, coming

7:15

flu Yeah, m hm,

7:19

come flut. Covid,

7:24

COVID nineteen covid. I

7:26

said, what's the nineteen COVID nineteen? Some

7:28

people can't explain what the nineteen? Give me the

7:30

COVID nineteen, I said, that's an odd name.

7:33

Yes, how will we

7:35

ever know why the disease discovered

7:37

in ten has nineteen

7:40

in its name. Probably the same idiots

7:42

who came up with the name Madden twenty. I

7:45

mean, there's way more than twenty football players.

7:47

It makes no sense. So

7:49

on the one hand, we have scientists

7:51

searching for a vaccine, sequencing genomes,

7:54

and generally busting their ass on an unprecedented

7:57

effort to understand and defeat this

7:59

pandemic. On the other hand, we're

8:02

six months into this thing and the guy

8:04

in charge of the response is still trying

8:06

to figure out the name of the virus.

8:09

Give me two more months, guys, I think I can

8:11

crack you. I think the one in

8:13

the nine goes together. It makes ten times

8:16

two. That's rights happening now.

8:18

I guess what I'm trying to say is you might

8:20

want to upgrade to Zoom Premium

8:23

because we're gonna be talking in

8:25

those little boxes for a while. When we

8:27

come back, we'll talk about how America's

8:29

problem with police brutality might

8:31

be your DVR's fault. Stay

8:33

tuned, Welcome

8:36

back to the Daily Social Distancing Show. In

8:38

the wake of the George Floyd killing, most

8:40

Americans have now come to realize that the

8:42

police need sweeping changes.

8:45

But the question is why

8:47

has it taken so long? Why did so

8:49

many people, particularly white people, think

8:52

until now that police are just

8:54

find the way they are. Well,

8:57

one reason is that most Americans don't

8:59

actually have much actual experience with police.

9:01

In fact, in a typical year, only of

9:04

US adults have any type

9:06

of contact with police at all.

9:09

So I mean most Americans see the cops

9:12

less than Trump sees Eric. So if people don't see

9:14

cops in real life, how are

9:16

they forming their opinions about the police.

9:19

Well, a lot of it comes from the same way

9:21

I form all my opinions about Klingons.

9:24

Television baby police dramas

9:26

are iconic, hugely popular,

9:29

and now under intense fire from

9:31

activists who say these shows far too

9:33

readily portrayed cops as good

9:35

and trustworthy while

9:38

undermining real life claims of

9:40

systemic racism and abuse. Police

9:43

not only consult on these shows, but they're also very

9:45

aware that their portrayals impact public

9:47

perception, and they have a vested interest

9:49

in making sure that portrayal is positive.

9:52

The two thousand fifteen study found viewers

9:54

of crime dramas are more likely to believe

9:56

the police are successful at lowering

9:58

crime, used worse only when necessary,

10:01

and that misconduct does not typically

10:03

lead to false confessions. Yes,

10:06

believe it or not, watching cops

10:09

shows makes a lot of people see

10:11

the police as infallible, and

10:13

honestly, I don't blame any of these people.

10:16

I mean, I'll admit a lot of my perceptions

10:19

about reality have been shaped by

10:21

TV as well. I believe

10:23

sponges wear pants, I believe white people

10:25

have no black friends, and most importantly,

10:27

I believe that every kiss begins

10:29

with K. Now, part of the reason it's easy

10:32

for TV shows to convince people that cops are always

10:34

right and always good at their jobs is

10:36

because that's what we want

10:38

to believe. I think we can

10:40

all agree that we want people who are going

10:42

to enforce laws fairly and effectively so

10:44

that we don't have to do it ourselves.

10:47

I know, I don't want to do it like I don't.

10:49

I don't want to have to find the person who stole

10:51

my car. I've got other things to do, you know. I want

10:53

to go look for a new car. I don't have the stress of having

10:55

to find the thief, because I mean, like, what happens when

10:57

I find them? Do I arrest them? Do

11:00

I throw them in prison in my apartment? Then

11:02

I have to give them a job in my library, and then

11:04

they educate themselves and get a degree, and

11:06

then they turn their life around, and I'm stuck with an

11:08

inspirational story in my hands. I don't need that

11:10

stress. And when you watch these shows, you understand

11:13

how they can shape public perception because,

11:16

according to cops shows, whenever

11:18

cops are breaking the law, it's

11:20

only because they have to. We

11:23

can't just break protocol because we think it's right at

11:25

the time and expect to get away with it. Normally,

11:27

I'd agree with you, but in this case, I'd rather

11:29

ask for forgiveness than permission. As you will know, we

11:31

will need a warrant to search the house and

11:34

callen These are exigent circumstances.

11:37

You let me worry about the legal ramifications.

11:39

If I could have been the rules a little bit to get a bad guy

11:41

off the street, I'm gonna do it. You would

11:43

to forget warrants, forget the

11:45

rules. It's on

11:48

us they catch you. That

11:51

was cool, although what that guy was actually

11:54

saying is the Constitution is

11:56

pussy. It's amazing how cops and TV shows

11:59

are always saying that the only way to

12:01

catch a criminal is by breaking

12:03

the law themselves. Technically, that

12:05

cop is now a criminal too, which means another

12:07

cop should kick his ass. But then

12:09

that new cop is also a criminal because he's breaking the law,

12:12

which means another cop should then beat

12:14

up Cop number two, So the third cop beats

12:16

him up. Then a fourth cop has to come in too beat them then

12:18

a basically every cop show should

12:20

end with the entire precinct in a brawl while

12:22

the suspect just sneaks out of the door. And you see that. That's

12:24

what cop shows are really good at doing.

12:27

They make us believe that the

12:29

only way the police can truly be effective

12:32

is if they break the rules that society

12:35

created to protect us from

12:37

police. And by the way,

12:40

when TV cops break the rules, it's

12:42

not usually by filling form to seven

12:45

G instead of to seven B. No, they

12:47

often do it by beating the ship

12:49

out of the suspect. And I told you everything.

12:52

Now you haven't, but you will want to beat the balls

12:54

off yet. Please don't let me hit me proud.

12:56

The only thing on this earth that's gonna stop him from

12:58

heating you is you tell on the truth. I'm

13:02

gonna tell us what happened. I'm

13:04

gonna do something I won't regret, not for

13:06

one second. We can do this the fast

13:08

way, the slow way. Then,

13:14

oh you can't. Did

13:16

you see that? A

13:22

shot bones son

13:24

of a bitch will fix you right now, so you can't love

13:26

any more kids.

13:32

You sure you didn't give them brain damage when you slammed

13:34

his head against the steering wheel. Kathain

13:36

Grove, I think brain damage was a pre existing

13:39

condition, don't you think, George. I

13:42

need to see a doctor all at

13:44

once. Yeah, that

13:46

guy doesn't deserve to see a doctor. He

13:49

may be committed a crime, and even

13:51

if he didn't commit the crime, well, then this will

13:53

be a lesson to stop him from committing one in the

13:55

future. The same reason I

13:57

plan to pre beat all my children. Could

13:59

you might not have done anything yet, but I know you

14:01

will. It's actually crazy how every cop

14:04

show has police just regularly

14:06

using violence to help them do their

14:08

job. TV doesn't do

14:10

that with any other profession.

14:13

There aren't medical dramas where they're like,

14:15

doctor, this doesn't make any sense.

14:18

The patient's lab work is normal, but his

14:20

heart is failing. Well, maybe we need

14:22

to smack him around a little bit and see

14:25

what he knows what I

14:27

used to be on a cop show. Every cop

14:29

show makes it seem like the reason cops

14:32

have to beat suspects is just because without

14:34

the beat down, they won't tell the truth,

14:36

and so those beatings protect the rest of

14:39

society from these line criminals. But

14:41

in real life, beating a

14:43

suspect is a great way to get them to

14:45

confess to something they didn't do, which

14:48

means you've locked up an innocent person and

14:50

you've let the real criminal walk free. And

14:52

by the way, even if the person did do the crime,

14:55

their lawyer can get them off because their confession

14:57

wasn't legitimate because they were beaten. So beating

15:00

a suspect to solve your cases like washing your computer

15:02

with water, Yeah the virus has gone, but sold

15:04

your laptop. So whether

15:06

we like it or not, TV

15:09

is a powerful tool that

15:11

shapes how the public sees the police,

15:14

shapes how the public sees the polices role

15:16

in society and how accountable

15:18

they should be. Because in real life,

15:21

when rogue cops throw away

15:23

the rule book and take matters into their

15:25

own hands, it doesn't look cool

15:27

like in one of the TV shows. It looks

15:30

a lot more like this. The Valdasta

15:32

Police Department facing a lawsuit this morning

15:34

for unnecessary and illegal force after

15:37

arresting the wrong suspect and reportedly

15:40

breaking his arm in the process.

15:45

Open Oh

15:50

my god, that's painful. Bodycam

15:53

videos showing the officers handcuffing and slamming

15:55

that man to the ground. That was back in February,

15:57

Antonio Smith stopped for suspicious

16:00

activity and accused of panhandling, but

16:02

officials have the wrong man. Smith was released

16:04

at the scene. Now he's filing

16:07

a seven dollar lawsuit. You

16:09

see, unfortunately, every

16:11

day in America there are people who have

16:14

encounters just like that with the police. And

16:16

so so all those show creators, directors

16:18

and writers in Hollywood who make these

16:20

cops shows and have been tweeting

16:23

that something needs to be done about the police.

16:26

Well, one way you can help make

16:28

a difference is if you do something

16:30

about the police on screen. When

16:33

we come back, Roy Wood Jr. Checks

16:35

in on a looting victim in his hometown,

16:38

and then we'll talk to Jon Stewart's

16:40

Don't Go Away. Welcome

16:45

back to the Daily Social Distancing Show.

16:48

Right now, America is seeing some of

16:50

the most widespread protests in

16:52

its history, and although the vast majority

16:55

of them have been peaceful, there has

16:57

been some looting. Now

16:59

all are on, Roywood Jr. Went to his hometown

17:02

in Alabama to bring us this story

17:04

of a small business owner and her surprising

17:06

reaction to people who looted her store.

17:09

I spent the last few weeks quarantining

17:12

here at my mom's house in Birmingham, by

17:15

I told Trum at work. Birmingham

17:18

has a deep history with civil rights,

17:20

so it's not surprising that people protested

17:23

here after the killing of George Floyd.

17:25

Like in many cities, some of the protests

17:27

led to riots and looting a small businesses

17:30

like this optometry office run by Dr

17:32

Wanna Kee Adams. We've been here for years,

17:35

you know, and it's just it's unnecessary.

17:38

So I'm going to go and talk to her and of course I'm

17:40

going to observe all pandemic protocols.

17:43

What happened the night of the protest?

17:46

What did you say? Which means I'm going to talk to her

17:48

right here in this chair. I

17:51

get a call for my security company,

17:54

and so I come down defined for

17:56

windows broken and one

17:58

of the doors broken, and they

18:01

took my high end frames. Have

18:03

you asked other optometrists

18:05

in the area whether or not they did

18:07

this to you? No, sir, because

18:09

it seems to me the only person ever still prescription

18:12

eyeglasses is somebody that could write a prescription

18:15

for eyeglasses. But

18:17

but, but, but but but now what

18:19

I am doing is if somebody

18:21

has nerves enough to bring my own frame

18:24

buppe in here, I'm gonna have to call the cops

18:26

on them. Now. I don't know what I'm gonna do when I see

18:28

them on their face. We need to get a samurai

18:30

sword and a baseball back and

18:33

just anybody with glasses just bust

18:35

their grass in the face. You feel

18:37

me, I feel yeah, I'm gonna let you leave that march

18:39

and I'm gonna be behind. Actually,

18:42

what struck me about Dr Adams was that

18:44

she seemed to feel compassionate for the people

18:46

who broke into her story. If

18:49

they're feeling pain like this

18:51

and you're

18:54

doing something like this or a small fright

18:56

state, God will rebuild it. You know,

18:58

why were you so under standing of the people

19:00

that caused all this damage to It must

19:03

be some severe pain to

19:05

to to to execute, uh

19:08

hurt in this level. You know they have

19:10

issues, you know, and they don't

19:13

know how to properly channel there at

19:15

the angle, but peaceful protesters,

19:18

I'm all for that. It was okay,

19:20

but just don't come tell my shop again. There's

19:23

your unpaid

19:25

my price. My contribution was to get up out

19:27

of my bed and throw on the first

19:29

thing I could try on, didn't even have my

19:31

earrings on, and come down here

19:34

and assess the damage that that That was

19:36

my contribution. So your

19:38

contribution to the struggle was all the

19:40

prescription eyeglasses that they stole, yes,

19:44

and and and being up all night long.

19:47

The story does have a silver lining today

19:50

after the protests, the community mobilized

19:52

to clean up Adams store. Well, I saw

19:55

outpouring a love not just black,

19:57

not just white. I even heard the room

19:59

at that is a guy that's from Birmingham

20:01

that lives in New York and somehow

20:04

ended up out there with a shovel too.

20:07

Birmingham native and Comedy Central's Roy

20:09

Wood Jr. Was right in the next Yes

20:14

it was and

20:17

for the first black woman optometris

20:19

in Alabama. The recent media attention

20:21

has opened some doors that at long been closed.

20:24

Okay, so what's next. You rebuild and you

20:26

just go back to business. Well, we rebuild,

20:29

but we're going to business and another location.

20:32

We'll be going to the Calahada I Foundation,

20:35

which is one of the premier eye

20:37

facilities in Birmingham,

20:39

Alabama. And to be quite honest,

20:42

for the years ago, I couldn't have worked there.

20:44

So it's progress. Okay,

20:46

let me get this track. Your place gets vandalized,

20:49

volunteers come to clean it up. Then after

20:51

the clean up, you get offered a new residency

20:54

for your eye care practice at one of the most prestigious

20:56

eye care institutes in the country.

20:59

Yes, sir, yes, sir, tell the truth.

21:01

You told you told up your own business,

21:03

so if your own business you can upgrade

21:06

to a better I care facility. Tell the truth.

21:08

No, no, no, I did not

21:10

do that, sir. I'm

21:13

sorry it whatever the

21:15

facts look like, it's an illusion.

21:18

I need to see your bank account and make sure you ain't pay no

21:20

protesters. That's all I'm saying. No, I ain't

21:22

paid none of the protests, because you

21:25

can. You can check my records. It

21:27

was probably Antifa, you know Antifa.

21:31

No, no, Antifa. I

21:33

got aunt Shirley aunt Rose and

21:35

I got Antifa. I'll give you her

21:38

number later. He's really nice. Did

21:40

you think you want to get the eyes of them? Which

21:42

is possible. This proves that

21:44

a community can rise up and come together

21:46

under the worst circumstances. It

21:49

also proves that I look good in glasses. Back

21:52

to you, Trevor, Thank

21:55

you so much for that ory. That was amazing. Don't go

21:57

away because John Stewart's is

21:59

next. We'll be right back. Welcome

22:03

back to the Daily Social Distancing Show. Earlier

22:05

today I spoke with my old boss,

22:08

John Stewart's His new movie Irresistible,

22:11

which he wrote and directed, will be in

22:13

theaters and on demand beginning June.

22:16

We talked about his movie and much more.

22:19

Do me a favor, though, look at your lens and not and

22:21

not the screen, so it's no the other. Yeah,

22:23

that's closer to it. Yeah, they're they're there.

22:26

Yeah, that's it. But don't look at you.

22:28

No, don't look there please, oh

22:38

man, Jon Stewart, Welcome

22:41

to the Daily Social Distancing Show. I've

22:43

been doing press now for it's got to be a week straight,

22:46

John Kits and everything from the same space.

22:48

And this is how I've been doing it. And

22:53

for the first time since I've been doing this, someone

22:55

had the decency the kindness

22:57

to go. You might want to look at the camera. Yeah,

23:00

but this is like you know what, it's like the it's the common

23:03

new It's like a thing people don't realize because

23:05

our screens and cameras. I feel like someone needs to put them

23:07

in line because this is not how we talk to each other.

23:09

This is I yeah, you normally look

23:11

at a person. I want to look at you. I want

23:14

to do it like they imagined

23:16

it in the science fiction movies in

23:18

the seventies, where you would do the video call

23:20

and your head in my No,

23:24

I've come to realize that, like all the things

23:26

that we learned from science fiction in the movies, it

23:28

was very ambitious, but we've got like very

23:30

you know, like you know, like if you grew up with poor

23:33

parents, they would always bring you a very

23:35

like cheap version of the cool thing you wanted

23:37

as a kid. That's the future we live in now. That's

23:40

so we would like imagine if you could talk to someone through a

23:42

screen. They're like, okay, you can't do that, but

23:44

you can look off at them and seem

23:47

like you don't know where they are and communicate

23:49

effectively. That's basically what we do. Where

23:51

are you right? Like, what is this? What is this room

23:53

behind you? I'm in my attic. Yes,

23:55

the room. When my children were

23:58

younger, Uh, this was the playroom,

24:00

and so they did a lot of doodling

24:03

where their cousins did because it's where they would come

24:05

up with their cousins. And then they grew

24:07

up and decided, you know what,

24:10

I'm just gonna stay in my room quarantine

24:12

or no quarantine. Uh,

24:15

and you're going to go up into the attic. So that's what

24:17

we've done. It's funny because like it's

24:19

it's beautiful now that I know it was your kids who did

24:21

that. But it almost looks like the same graffiti

24:24

that's on like the Confederate monuments around

24:26

America. It looks like you let people

24:28

practice the graffiti at your house before

24:31

they go to the monuments so they can get it right. And

24:33

TIFA has infiltrated my attic

24:36

problem here. I'm

24:38

doing the best I can, but they are rabble rousers.

24:42

And as you can see, they

24:44

have decided that this wall

24:47

must this is the Berlin Wall, and

24:49

they're gonna take it down. What do you what

24:51

do you? What do you make of all that? Like, like honestly,

24:53

because you know, like I mean this just

24:56

like the Confederate monuments, Like every statue coming

24:58

down, I mean it started with conf or its statues

25:00

have started with you know, like racist people from

25:03

history. Then we started just seeing you know, statues

25:05

coming down of like people who fought

25:07

for the Union and people who fought

25:10

against slavery. And you know, like,

25:12

what do you make of it? Are we just should we just get rid of statutes?

25:14

What's going on? What you'll find is

25:18

if you don't allow regular order

25:21

to take down the statues that represent,

25:24

uh, the insurrection that

25:26

tried to destroy this country and preserve

25:29

the institution of slavery. If

25:31

you make that impossible

25:33

to do through pleading,

25:38

peaceful entreaty and all that,

25:41

you're going to end up with a spasm.

25:43

Look, people shouldn't

25:45

have the statutes

25:47

are not from the Confederate era, from the Jim Crow

25:49

era. There from the era when they don't to say

25:52

just see you know, I know they

25:55

let you go. I just want to make sure everybody understands,

25:57

like we will still subjugate us,

26:00

you know, and and bring fear into your life.

26:04

So you know, because these statutes

26:06

are not people say like you're a racing

26:08

or history. Which, by the way, I don't remember the Conservatives

26:11

during the Iraq War when

26:13

the Saddam Hussein statute fell in

26:16

bad Dad. I don't recall Republicans

26:18

of the time going big

26:21

mistake. You know what history,

26:24

that's your history. Leave it be. So

26:29

you know, the plaque on the

26:31

statue is not history. It

26:33

doesn't say this motherfucker

26:36

thought that he should fight a war

26:39

to ensure that he can have slaves

26:41

on his plant in that still benefit and

26:44

that and then we put it up to instill

26:46

fear in the people that we kept as

26:48

slaves and their descendants.

26:51

So this should have been done in short order

26:53

by a normal functioning society

26:57

years ago. You know you you say,

26:59

you say so thing interesting and that is a normal functioning

27:01

society. It feels like normal functioning

27:04

and society of three words that are very quick,

27:06

quickly slipping away. All over the world people

27:08

are dealing with the same thing that is coronavirus.

27:11

But I honestly believe that America might

27:13

be the only country where

27:15

it's seen as a political issue as opposed

27:17

to a pandemic. Do you know what I

27:19

mean? It seems like something you can choose to believe

27:21

in or not or where you stand politically

27:24

defines whether like the legitimacy

27:26

of the virus, whereas in other places they argue about

27:28

how to deal with it. But the virus itself is not like a political

27:31

issue, and there are

27:33

arguments. Listen, it's We're not the only country

27:35

that's arguing about how

27:37

much to limit freedom

27:40

of movement and having you know, in Italy,

27:42

you saw it, you know, big demonstrations

27:44

and protests against uh,

27:48

you know, trying to confine

27:50

people to a certain extent. But I think

27:53

a reasonable view of it would be it's

27:55

not being done for the sake of tyranny. We

27:57

are actually facing something where tens of thousands

27:59

of people are dying, and it's you

28:02

know, if you think about it, like it's

28:05

like preparing for hurricane you know, when when a hurricane

28:07

is coming. There's always those people that are like, government

28:10

full of shit. I'm not going to board up my windows

28:12

out, but this is a hurricane that if

28:14

we prepare for it, the hurricane

28:17

weekends and

28:19

that's that doesn't happen normally.

28:24

But because in this country now we've set

28:26

up parallel universes in

28:29

in in the multiverse that the

28:31

right lives in, you

28:34

know, this is an infringement. It

28:36

kind of The mask thing is what blows my mind

28:39

because you know, surgeons

28:41

wear them in operating rooms and

28:45

they don't wear them because you know, they dry

28:47

volvos and spy T and

28:49

NPR like they wear them like.

28:52

So I just want to say to people on the mask they like,

28:54

great, next time you're having

28:57

an operation and the

28:59

surgeon comes in with

29:01

washed hands in a mask, just be like, don't be a

29:03

pussy. You don't be some liberal puss. You

29:05

take off that mask and you unwash your hands

29:07

and you stick your paws in my open

29:09

gaping wound, because apparently

29:13

sanitary conditions are

29:16

a liberal mess. I

29:18

knew you, you know, obviously, I mean we

29:20

knew each other when you were leaving the Daily Show. You're like, I'm getting

29:22

into different things I'm taking time with my family. I'm gonna

29:24

do a movie hero or there. It was

29:26

interesting for me to see you do a political movie,

29:28

you know. I was like, John, are just gonna get away

29:30

from politics? Rolls together? But then you made

29:32

a movie that wasn't just about politics, but it was almost

29:35

about the game that is beneath politics.

29:38

I was shocked the first time I went

29:40

to New Hampshire for the primaries and

29:44

and I was sitting with you know, like the

29:46

aids of these of these of these politicians

29:49

or and even the reporters, and they were like, oh, yeah, they

29:51

hang out, they chat, they got for drinks

29:53

afterwards, and I was like, what do you what do you mean

29:55

they hate each other on screen and

29:58

then we hate people on each other is bihoffs

30:00

and I see it happening in the country, but they are

30:02

friends. And I didn't understand that concept.

30:04

And it seems like that's what you're showing people in this

30:06

movie is that we don't realize

30:09

that the w W E of politics

30:11

is not as real as we think it is,

30:13

and we're willing to die for the Undertaker. But the Undertaker

30:16

is just a guy named Bill who goes home

30:18

with Triple h and they call pool. You know what I mean.

30:21

Right, let's not draw the Undertaker into this. First

30:23

of all, he is a

30:25

marvelous wrestling and

30:28

it was undefeated, uh,

30:31

you know, WrestleMania. So let's not

30:33

until obviously listening, listen,

30:36

listen. I didn't want to make a movie about

30:38

the political moment, right.

30:41

I feel like that's the daily show, and that's

30:43

what you guys do so well is you do

30:45

the weather every night.

30:47

You come out and you talk about the political

30:50

moment, and

30:52

you bring the funny and the insight

30:55

and the context to the political moment.

30:57

I really wanted to think about it as

31:00

the climate and the system

31:02

and that idea that we have kind

31:04

of created this complex

31:07

of media

31:10

and moneyed interests and

31:12

politicians and they all

31:16

work and enrich each other and

31:18

there's very little accountability and it

31:21

grows in. You know, those types

31:23

of symbiotic structures

31:26

don't dismantle themselves. Here's

31:28

this system with its own inertia and

31:30

energy and self interest and

31:33

incentives to entrench

31:35

itself and to grow itself, and

31:37

it's really at odds with any

31:42

relevant facts on the ground. Are are

31:45

the system we have in place to elect people is

31:48

almost working? Antithetically to

31:50

the system we have in place to try and govern

31:52

people. And we

31:55

don't really have a robust governance

31:57

system, but we've gotten in

32:00

rereadibly enriching and

32:02

robust and corrupt and corrosive

32:04

system

32:07

of elections, of campaigns, and of

32:09

influence. So do you see

32:12

a change? Do you see an end where you go like, oh,

32:14

no, it's something is going to happen

32:17

that shuts this soul down. Where

32:19

I'm optimistic is there

32:21

are such talented, committed,

32:25

energized people taking

32:28

the reins of these really

32:31

rotted out husks

32:33

of institutions, and

32:36

you get the sense that

32:39

they're committed to rebuilding them

32:42

in a manner that is going to create a

32:44

sturdier foundation. And

32:47

you know, so much of this country. What you learn

32:49

from this is and the pandemic exacerbates

32:51

it. You know what's essential? Well,

32:54

it turns out all the people in this country

32:57

who are essential to

33:00

it's functioning are the

33:02

lowest paid. And

33:04

how did we create how

33:06

do we you know, for

33:09

many years we've sort of gone on this

33:11

principle of if we just take

33:13

care of the investor class, we'll

33:17

get a taste, you know, And I don't say we because I'm

33:19

I'm now up there.

33:22

But the

33:24

pendulum has swung away from valuing

33:27

work and we

33:30

have to figure out, you know. And they always talk about the

33:32

people that talk about trickle down are always about freedom

33:34

and liberty. Well, what's

33:37

more liberating than not

33:39

having to worry about your health insurance, being tied

33:41

to your job, or working

33:45

really hard but still having to use food

33:47

stamps? Like, that's not freedom.

33:49

And we have to find a way to make those in

33:51

this country who are essential to

33:54

give them more liberty. And

33:57

more liberty comes from

33:59

being able to live a life that

34:03

is built on granted and not on Quicksand

34:06

I could talk to you forever, my friend. Thank you so much for joining

34:08

us again. I hope everyone watches the movie. I

34:10

hope you're having fun. I hope you're staying healthy.

34:13

I hope you're loving your family and your kids and

34:15

enjoying yourself. And let me say,

34:18

may I have a moment. Yeah,

34:20

of course, I'm so impressed

34:23

by everything. I'll say it up here. I'm looking

34:25

at your face, but I'll look at the camera. I'm

34:27

just so impressed by everything that you guys are

34:29

doing and the insights of the

34:31

show and the hilarity of the show, and uh, it's

34:34

just it's it's magnificent, and

34:37

I just wanted to tell you I

34:39

know what goes into making it. So

34:43

I am impressed for the right

34:45

reasons because of

34:48

how hard I know that it is and how beautifully

34:50

you're doing it. The only thing

34:52

I would say is do you

34:54

have to do it so handsomely that

34:59

the handsomeness, if I'm man, feels

35:02

a little bit like a personal attack the

35:06

other stuff, but I love But if you could

35:08

do the show without

35:10

dimples, I'm

35:14

just saying I

35:16

will. I will pass these comments onto management

35:19

and we'll see what we can do. John

35:21

Stewart, thank you so much for joining

35:24

us on the show. I hope to see you again. Look

35:26

after yourself. You gotta happy yourself to

35:28

take care of Thanks. Thank you. Buy How

35:32

do I now? I don't even know how to hang up, So thank

35:36

you so much for that. John. Well, that's our show for today.

35:39

Now. As you may know, June is Pride

35:41

month, and right now we want to highlight

35:44

charities that are making a difference for LGBTQ

35:46

people of color. Associations

35:49

like the National Black Justice Coalition,

35:51

which advocates for federal policies that

35:54

fights against racism and homophobia.

35:57

If you'd like to help them, and you'd like to join in, then please

35:59

donate whatever you can. And if you'd like to

36:01

help specifically in New York, well,

36:03

then what you can do is donate to the Ordinary

36:05

Lord Project. What they do is help LGBTQ

36:08

communities of color fight for their rights

36:10

to organize for change. The

36:13

Daily Show with Governoah Ears Edition. Watch

36:15

The Daily Show weeknights at eleven ten Central

36:18

on Comedy Central and the Comedy Central

36:20

Act. Watch full episodes and videos

36:22

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36:24

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36:26

and subscribe to The Daily Show on YouTube

36:29

for exclusive content and more. This

36:35

has been a Comedy Central podcast