Jon on ICE's Killing of Renee Good and Trump's Model of Compliance for Protesters | Jenin Younes

Summary

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Podcast Summary: The Daily Show: Ears Edition

Episode: Jon on ICE's Killing of Renee Good and Trump's Model of Compliance for Protesters | Jenin Younes

Host: Jon Stewart (with News Team & guests)
Air Date: January 13, 2026

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Overview

In this episode, Jon Stewart and The Daily Show team dissect the turbulence of recent US domestic and foreign policy under President Trump, with an especially sharp focus on the killing of Renee Good by ICE, the expansionist handling of Venezuela, Iran, and Greenland, and the erosion of civil liberties. Later, civil liberties attorney Jenin Younes joins for an in-depth discussion on free speech, governmental overreach, and the shifting dynamics of protest, compliance, and state coercion.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. News Rundown: "What is Happening?" in America and Abroad

• Stewart kicks off with a satirical, exasperated scan of chaotic headlines: US interventionism, Trump declaring himself President of Venezuela on Wikipedia, the Fed Chair's "hostage video," and regime change appetites in Venezuela, Iran, Greenland, and more.
• Memorable Quote:

  "We are on the Donald Trump Gravitron. We don’t know what up or down is. We just know it feels like we’re all gonna vomit." (Jon Stewart, 01:48)

[00:47] Venezuela Crisis

• Trump is shown prioritizing meetings with oil executives—Exxon, Chevron, Halliburton—over direct crisis management.
• Satirical comparison: Trump described as “the Walt Disney of chaos” (Jon Stewart, 05:11).
• Catch-22 as Trump glibly threatens to exclude Exxon for being “too cute” about rebuilding a country “that is not ours.”
• Quote:

  "I'd probably be inclined to keep Exxon out. I didn’t like their response. They're playing too cute." (Donald Trump, 06:16)

[07:11] Iran Protests and Threats of Force

• Iranian protesters being killed; Trump responds by threatening strong intervention, becoming a self-declared global decision-maker.
• Parody: Trump’s rationale is garbled ("some people killed that aren't supposed to be killed" - 08:09).

[09:00] Greenland as Target for Expansion

• Trump insists "We need Greenland very badly" (09:31), citing rivalry with Russia and China as justification for acquisition.
• Stewart lampoons the colonial logic:

  "That’s like the argument you make when you want to give land back to the people who were already there. Not for you to then take it because you've got a bigger boat. You're doing some weird reverse woke land acknowledgement." (Jon Stewart, 12:25)

[13:19] Domestic Reverberations: Compliance and Vertigo

• The collapse of checks and balances, with Trump openly attacking press and institutions. The show lampoons his thin-skinned reactions to media scrutiny.
• Quote:

  "Seriously, what a stupid question. Are you stupid? Are you a stupid person?" (Donald Trump, 15:21)

• Stewart sarcastically apologizes on behalf of America for expecting government transparency.

[17:15 onwards] January 6th/7th: Double Standards and Compliance

• Stewart walks through the administration's “model of compliance”—reinterpreting January 6 protests as "peaceful patriots" and the killing of Renee Good as justified, due to labeling her a "domestic terrorist."
• Critical observation: The shifting definition of protester vs. terrorist is dictated solely by the president’s will, setting a precedent for state-sanctioned violence.
• Quote:

  "In America today, Donald Trump is the sun. And if you revolve around him and worship him, his warmth shines upon you..." (Comedian/Commentator, 19:14)

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2. Interview: Jenin Younes on Civil Liberties and The Killing of Renee Good

[21:09] - Introduction and Younes' Background

• Younes, known for suing both Biden and Trump administrations over free speech, describes civil liberties as on a dangerous downward curve.
• She notes that while both major parties are guilty, Trump is "worse on censorship and civil liberties generally" (22:43).

[23:32] - Social Media Censorship Litigation

• Younes recounts her experience working on Supreme Court cases involving Biden-era censorship—revealing that precedents established then are now aiding Trump administration overreach.
• Warning:

  "As I warned a lot of liberals who are celebrating that decision—it would be cited against us. And it is being cited now." (Jenin Younes, 23:55)

[25:26] - ICE Killing of Renee Good and State Overreach

• Younes discusses the online blowback after criticizing the ICE killing of Renee Good, especially from right-wing figures (J.D. Vance).
• She asserts ICE agents had neither legal right to arrest nor to shoot Renee, explaining that ICE lacks authority for random traffic stops.
  • "ICE officers are federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. So they don’t actually have the right to do traffic stops and that kind of thing." (Jenin Younes, 26:46)

[27:41] - Broken Accountability and Dogmatic State Action

• The administration’s immediate branding of Renee Good as a "domestic terrorist" reflects a broader culture of overreaction and militarization within ICE.
• Stewart highlights even police-aligned friends considered the killing grossly incompetent, echoing the sense that "worst police work I’ve ever seen" (27:41).

[30:15-32:57] - Immigration Enforcement, Sanctuary Cities, and Civil Rights

• Younes says ICE’s tactics have moved from targeted toward mass, punitive, often unlawful detentions—especially in blue states/sanctuary cities.
• Stewart and Younes debunk myths about sanctuary cities: they must comply with criminal warrants, but don't assist in routine immigration queries.

[33:45] - Escalation, Polarization, and Legal Dead Ends

• Younes notes both left and right have become dogmatic, but critical power disparity remains ("only one side...has the guns," Stewart, 34:18).
• ICE’s activism is increasingly a quota-driven "fishing expedition," violating rights with impunity, especially before courts can respond.
  • "These officers are acting like thugs. They're not trained, you know, they're not acting like normal police officers should." (Jenin Younes, 37:29)

[38:23] - Prospects for Change?

• Younes is pessimistic about change, pointing to "perpetual escalation" of rights abuses regardless of which party is in power.
• Quote:

  "Whoever wins, we continue to see a denigration of our civil liberties. This administration is very blatant. But the one that came before was kind of bad, too. That's why I was suing them all the time." (Jenin Younes, 38:58)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (W/ Timestamps)

• "We are on the Donald Trump Gravitron..." (Jon Stewart, 01:48)
• "You're like the Walt Disney of chaos." (Jon Stewart to Trump, 05:11)
• "I'd probably be inclined to keep Exxon out. They're playing too cute." (Trump, 06:16)
• "We may have to bomb Iran to prevent Iran's government from shooting protesters." (Comedian/Commentator, 08:18)
• "We need Greenland very badly." (Trump, 09:31)
• "That’s like the argument you make when you want to give land back to the people who were already there..." (Jon Stewart, 12:25)
• "Seriously, what a stupid question. ... You fake news." (Trump, 15:21, 15:34)
• "In America today, Donald Trump is the sun. And if you revolve around him and worship him, his warmth shines upon you." (Comedian/Commentator, 19:14)
• "I will say I think Trump is worse on censorship and civil liberties generally." (Jenin Younes, 22:43)
• "As I warned ... that decision—it would be cited against us. And it is being cited now." (Jenin Younes, 23:55)
• "ICE officers are not ... they can’t pull you over without probable cause." (Jenin Younes, 26:46)
• "That might be the worst police work I've ever seen." (Jon Stewart, 27:41)
• "These officers are acting like thugs. ... they're not acting like normal police officers should." (Jenin Younes, 37:29)
• "Whoever wins, we continue to see a denigration of our civil liberties. ... That's why I was suing them all the time." (Jenin Younes, 38:58)

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Major Segment Timestamps

• 00:47 – Venezuela chaos & oil “summit”
• 07:11 – Iran protests, threats of force
• 09:00 – Greenland ambitions
• 15:21 – Trump's attitude toward press & compliance
• 17:15 – January 6/7: protester vs. "domestic terrorist" double standard
• 21:09 – Interview: civil liberties (Jenin Younes)
• 25:26 – ICE killing of Renee Good examined
• 30:15 – Immigration law, sanctuary cities myths, mass detentions
• 33:45 – Partisan escalation & prospects for civil liberties

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Tone & Style

The episode is defined by trademark Daily Show satire: biting, exasperated, darkly humorous, and sharply critical of unchecked executive power. Stewart and the team use exaggerated analogies, mock solemnity, and deadpan to highlight abuses, confusion, and legal peril. Younes provides clarity and gravity, with a lawyer’s frankness and realism.

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For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

This edition of The Daily Show is essential listening for anyone grappling with how executive power, policing, and civil rights are morphing in America. The careful parsing of legal overreach around ICE and protest policing, together with the show’s sardonic cataloguing of “chaos headlines,” clarifies why so many feel political vertigo. If you care about due process, protest rights, or the meaning of “compliance” in 2026, Stewart and Younes deliver both laughter and sober warning.

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Transcript

[Announcer]

You're listening to Comedy Central. From the most trusted journalists at Comedy Central. It's America's only source for news. This is the Daily show with your host, John Stewart.

[Jon Stewart]

What up? Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Daily Show. My name is Jon Stewart. Man, do we got a show for you tonight. Civil liberties attorney Janine Yunus will be here later. Civil liberties we're going to be talking about.

[Comedian/Commentator]

They don't care. They don't care about that. Or we'll talk about whatever the government deems appropriate.

[Jon Stewart]

I really, you know, I'm trying to keep myself. How was your weekend?

[Comedian/Commentator]

Was it good? Yeah. Yeah. How was your weekend? Yeah. What the.

[Jon Stewart]

Is happening? What the.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Is happening in this country?

[Jon Stewart]

From Minnesota to Venezuela to Iran to Greenland, Cuba, Mexico, Colombia, to Philadelphia. I'm sorry.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Not all the news was bad.

[Jon Stewart]

Why is the President of the United States declaring on Wikipedia that he is now the president of Venezuela? That's real. Why is our Fed chairman making what appears to be a hostage video? How the steak become the healthiest food in the country? What is happening? We are on the Donald Trump Gravitron. We don't know what up or down is. We just know it feels like we're all gonna vomit.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Each moment brings another event with cataclysmic implications and consequences. And the guy at the center of it, the instigator, the catalyst of all.

[Jon Stewart]

This chaos and confusion, he's just out there tgifing it. Oh, hey, what's up, everybody? Hey. See you soon. Not if I see you first. Boom, boom, boom. Just look at Venezuela. We took it over, what, three days ago, four days ago, five days ago?

[Comedian/Commentator]

I don't remember.

[Jon Stewart]

Meanwhile, our State Department says if you're.

[Comedian/Commentator]

An American, there are armed gangs in Venezuela trying to kill you.

[Jon Stewart]

So you would think that maybe this calls for a little gathering in the situation tent or wherever is operationally right.

[Comedian/Commentator]

For talking about Venezuela right now. But the president had a different idea.

[Jeanine Yunus]

President Trump convening top oil executives at the White House to talk about divvying up Venezuela's oil.

[Jon Stewart]

What the happening? Yes, a meeting of all of the most important stakeholders. Exxon, Chevron, Halliburton, and of course, the guy from Dune who lives in the.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Oil bank, By the way. I think you can tell I don't use that treatment. By the way, lest you worry that Donald Trump is in any way feeling the burden of this moment, the terrifying responsibility of so many lives held in his hands. Let me reassure you, he's fine.

[Donald Trump]

Here we are. And in fact, if you look, come to think of it. Well, I gotta look at this myself.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Sir, we're trying to have an urgent meeting on possibly the collapse of a petrostate. You're gonna just kinda walk out of the window and look at, look at Rubio and Vance. Look at, look at the faces on Heckle and Jekyll over there just looking and smiling like, oh, Paw Paw.

[Jon Stewart]

He'S so cute.

[Comedian/Commentator]

You should see him when the ice.

[Jon Stewart]

Cream truck goes by.

[Donald Trump]

What a view. This is the door to the ballroom. Well, what a job.

[Jon Stewart]

Really.

[Comedian/Commentator]

This, this meeting is the moment for your funny ballroom.

[Jon Stewart]

Act him out.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Armed gangs are roaming freely through both of the countries you say you run right now.

[Jon Stewart]

But go ahead, take a moment to.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Look at what might be through the window.

[Jon Stewart]

You're like the Walt Disney of chaos.

[Comedian/Commentator]

All it takes is imagination. And by the way, if you're getting up and walking to the window and you don't think that's enough of a doddering old man move. Old Cankles McGee had one more chewable Tums up his sleeve.

[Donald Trump]

You're all going to do very well, I think. Really very well. Marco just gave me a note. Go back to Chevron. They want to discuss something. Go ahead. I'm going back to Chevron. Thank you, Marco.

[Jon Stewart]

Does anyone else have a private note they'd like me to read aloud? Anybody? Now, by the way, there was an.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Oil company, Exxon, that expressed some reservations about investing money in rebuilding the infrastructure of a country that is, and I.

[Jon Stewart]

Quote, not ours and is somewhat volatile at the moment. How did the President handle this?

[Comedian/Commentator]

Somewhat rational cost benefit analysis.

[Donald Trump]

I'd probably be inclined to keep Exxon out. I didn't like their response. They're playing too cute.

[Comedian/Commentator]

They're playing too cute. You just made yourself the President of Venezuela on Wikipedia. But they're the ones that are being glibbed. Do you see how up everything is right now?

[Jon Stewart]

First of all, I have to offend.

[Comedian/Commentator]

The good faith of an oil company because they don't think they can safely extract another country's resources in as cost effective a manner as might benefit their shareholders. Who am I anymore?

[Jon Stewart]

And by the way, Donald, why are you the President of Venezuela? Doesn't your oath of office to America.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Have a non compete.

[Jon Stewart]

What are we doing? What are you just trying to pick up a few extra hours? What, the holidays hit you hard? I just need a little couple extra bucks until like February, March.

[Comedian/Commentator]

That ballroom's not gonna pay for itself.

[Jon Stewart]

Meanwhile in Iran, protestors have taken to the streets. Tired of the totalitarian rule of the Mullahs and have been gunned down in the streets. Protests and violence have broken out throughout that country. It is chaotic and fragile. So guess who's thinking about stepping right in? That's right. The President of Venezuela.

[Donald Trump]

I have options that are so strong, so, I mean, if they did that, it'll be met with a very, very powerful force.

[Comedian/Commentator]

I have options. Did you hear what he. I have options. Not Congress, not the American people. I. Apparently, Trump is the sole factor in all decisions everywhere throughout the world. Now he just wants to take a little more time staring out the window before he lets us know what fresh hell he will unleash next. And the most confusing thing about his reason for intervening in Iran is his reason.

[Jeanine Yunus]

President Trump has warned of striking Iran if the regime kills protesters.

[Donald Trump]

There seem to be some people killed that aren't supposed to be killed.

[Comedian/Commentator]

We may have to bomb Iran to prevent Iran's government from shooting protesters. Look directly into camera with an expression of half bewilderment and despair. P.S. john, don't read this part.

[Jon Stewart]

And if that's not enough, in the.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Middle of all this, we are going.

[Donald Trump]

To do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not. I would like to make a deal, you know, the easy way. But if we don't do it the easy way, we're going to do it the hard way.

[Jeanine Yunus]

The.

[Jon Stewart]

It's Greenland. Based on my knowledge, everything there is done the hard way. You know, when you order food in Greenland, Uber eats, takes eight days, and they don't deliver over fjords. So the point is, people don't fill up on Iran and Venezuela and Minneapolis. You gotta save room for this other invasion. It's like a whole mukbang of catastrophic possibilities. It's exhausting. This is all just one weekend. And why do we even need Greenland?

[Donald Trump]

We need Greenland very badly.

[Jon Stewart]

Why? And why do we suddenly need all.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Of Venezuela's oil and whatever is buried under Greenland? What is. Can I ask a question? Are we broke?

[Jon Stewart]

Is that why we have to do all this? Did you lose your job? Did you somehow Trump casino the United States? Cause if the country needs money, we.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Can all get second jobs.

[Jon Stewart]

We'll all be president somewhere. If Wikipedia will have us.

[Comedian/Commentator]

I don't understand. Why do we have to take over Greenland?

[Donald Trump]

If we don't do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland, and we're not going to have Russia or China as a neighbor.

[Jeanine Yunus]

We're already.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Russia's already our neighbor. This is where Greenland is.

[Jon Stewart]

Russia's closer. Unless, in your mind, you think Alaska lives in a Box next to Hawaii. No, no, no, I get it, I get it, I get it. We don't want Russia or China to take over Greenland.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Oh, you know what we could do to deter it? Not through arrogance or conquest, but what if we formed like kind of an alliance with Denmark and Greenland? We could include all the North Atlantic nations. What would we call this? Almost like a North Atlantic Treaty Organization that we.

[Jon Stewart]

I don't know what we could.

[Comedian/Commentator]

I guess we'll never know. But again, since we all now dance to the tune of Juan Piper, what possible justifications could you have for just taking someone else's land? And please, if you would irony proof your answer.

[Donald Trump]

I'm a fan of Denmark, but you know, the fact that they had a boat land there 500 years ago doesn't mean that they own the land.

[Jon Stewart]

Can someone pass him a note? How do you think we got our land? We landed here on a boat 500 years ago and it was ours. And you're out there. Hey, Denmark doesn't own it because they.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Landed on it 500 years ago.

[Jon Stewart]

That's like the argument you make when you want to give land back to the people who were already there. Not for you to then take it because you've got a bigger boat. You're doing some weird reverse woke land acknowledgement.

[Comedian/Commentator]

I would like to acknowledge that Greenland sits on colonized and conquered indigenous people's land.

[Jon Stewart]

And I would also like to say.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Dibs. Why am I even trying, by the way? Why do I even care to figure this out? It's not like anyone on your side ever takes the effort to convince all of us on the United States long term policy goals. It all just appears to be like a lazy Susan of vengeful whims from our all powerful mad king.

[Jon Stewart]

Did you know Trump doesn't like Federal.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell? Because Trump wants to be able to dictate our country's interest rates himself. Now this poor Jerome Powell, now you got him looking like he's broadcasting from Taliban territory.

[Jerome Powell]

The Department of Justice served the Federal Reserve with grand jury subpoenas threatening a criminal indictment related to my testimony before the Senate Banking Committee last June. That testimony concerned, in part, a multi year project to renovate historic Federal Reserve office buildings.

[Jon Stewart]

Can someone get this mother a glass of water? And by the way, I don't feel good about this next joke, but I'm.

[Comedian/Commentator]

About to do it. It's not politically incorrect, it's just inside finance. So anyone who doesn't listen to Bloomberg surveillance in the morning, you can just leave the room I'll wait. Okay. Wow. That dude, he's struggling. It appears the chairman of the Federal Reserve is having a liquidity crisis.

[Jon Stewart]

That's going to kill at the terminals.

[Comedian/Commentator]

I'm going to remind you, all of this is happening in one weekend. All of it. One weekend. This president has made monumental changes to the manner in which this country operates. And the American people are rightfully feeling a vertigo about how a country born on self determination and constitutional republic principles can turn into.

[Jon Stewart]

Whatever you say, boss. Sounds like a good idea, boss.

[Comedian/Commentator]

So I think the American people reasonably have questions. But when the American people raise those questions.

[Donald Trump]

Seriously, what a stupid question. Are you stupid? Are you a stupid person? It's a stupid question. Just a terrible question. You are a terrible reporter. You're a terrible person and a terrible reporter.

[Comedian/Commentator]

You've got nothing about nothing.

[Donald Trump]

You fake news.

[Comedian/Commentator]

How dare we? How dare we?

[Jon Stewart]

How dare we question His Excellency? I don't know what we were thinking.

[Comedian/Commentator]

You know what?

[Jon Stewart]

I'm. So.

[Comedian/Commentator]

We owe you an apology, sir. Mr. President, sir, we are so deeply sorry to have questioned your singular and delicate genius. It's just that this is a kind of an adjustment for us because we've all been raised in the American system of government. I'm not going to get into the weeds with it. 3 CO. Equal branches of government, checks and balances. Something about quartering soldiers. I think it's quartering, it's incursive. The Q could be a P or an S. The point is this. That's what we've been operating under for the last 250 years. If you want to learn about it, President Trump, you can ask all your acolytes. They say they keep it in their pockets. I guess it's kind of a relic. So just have to give us some time to adjust to this new world of total compliance so we can understand the rules. Because, you know, it's confusing. Like, for instance, we all watched the footage of January 6th, but I think.

[Jon Stewart]

We may have gotten a very different.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Interpretation of it rather than the correct interpretation of it, which of course is yours. So help me out here. We'll play a game. On January 6th, a bunch of.

[Donald Trump]

They were peaceful people, these were great people.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Went to the Capitol peacefully protesting a stolen election.

[Donald Trump]

I have never seen such spirit and such passion and such love.

[Comedian/Commentator]

But while they were there, Capitol Hill.

[Jeanine Yunus]

Police officers instigated the violence that day.

[Jon Stewart]

So the people we saw earlier beating.

[Comedian/Commentator]

The shit out of police officers were hardworking, loving people provoked by law enforcement. And ultimately, they deserve a full Part Got it. Don't agree that's what actually happened or what should have happened afterwards, but at least it sets a precedent. But now let's jump ahead, I don't know, a day to January 7th. We've all seen that footage. I think I know what I saw that day, too. But let's go through it again with the correct interpretation. On January 7, a highly disrespectful, deranged, lunatic woman, professional ice agitator, domestic terrorist, did what?

[Jerome Powell]

This woman used her car as a.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Weapon, tried to run over an ICE agent, an attempted murder, and so she was shot and killed. So while very little of the descriptions that you were saying matched what we all saw on the tape, the important lesson here is what she brought it upon herself. Mother, we are in a confusing, dark place, and this is where, quite frankly, rule of law and institutions are kind of an important framework. But now that those are gone, what's our North Star?

[Jeanine Yunus]

Do you see any checks on your power on the world stage? Is there anything that could stop you if you wanted to?

[Donald Trump]

Yeah, there's one thing. My own morality, my own mind.

[Comedian/Commentator]

So nothing. But thank you. I'm no longer confused. Couldn't be more clear. In America today, Donald Trump is the son. And if you revolve around him and worship him, his warmth shines upon you. You could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose his support as long as it's done on his behalf. But if you do not support him, if you live in the darkness of what I guess we will refer to from now on as blue states, fearing the day he turns his terrible wrath towards you, whether you're a single human woman on a side street somewhere in Minneapolis, or a sovereign nation that happens to have land and resources that we, a larger sovereign nation, think we also might want. And so his people are making a bet that adhering to a principle of forced compliance and. And coercion will give us a more stable and prosperous America than a principle of shared alliance and common interest, it's kind of a tough bet, because I read somewhere, I don't know where, that people have inalienable rights granted by a creator, not a king. So holding that coerced world together is going to be kind of a tall task. But if anybody's up for it, it's Donald Trump, a man with unrivaled focus and discipline. Actually, you know what? Could you give me a second? I'm just, you know, I'm so curious. I just want to.

[Donald Trump]

I just want to go and see.

[Jon Stewart]

When we come back Jeanine Lunes will be here and she'll.

[Donald Trump]

She'll go through.

[Jon Stewart]

Welcome back to the Daily Show. My guest tonight, she is a civil.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Liberties attorney and co host of the podcast Previously Prohibited. Please welcome to the program Jeanine Yunes.

[Jon Stewart]

Hello. I feel so bad, but, you know.

[Comedian/Commentator]

We'Ve taken a long time taping tonight, and you were nice enough to come up here with your family and your small child, and you are now apparently living in our green room. But thank you for being here.

[Jeanine Yunus]

Oh, thanks for having me.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Jeannie, I wanted to talk to you because we are in a moment where consistent courage seems in short supply. You are a civil rights attorney who has been canceled by both the right and the left, which means you must be doing something right. What in your mind is the civil rights moment we're in right now and how it compares to some of the work that you're previously doing? And is this of a continuum or an acceleration in your.

[Jeanine Yunus]

It might be an acceleration. So I've done a lot of free speech work specifically, and I actually sued the Biden administration. That was where I got my start on free speech.

[Jon Stewart]

Right.

[Jeanine Yunus]

But I will say, Is that how.

[Comedian/Commentator]

They talk about that in law terms, like, I got my break on a Biden censorship?

[Jeanine Yunus]

Sort of.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Jeanine Yunus]

I will say I think Trump is worse on censorship and civil liberties generally.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Right.

[Jon Stewart]

But that is not.

[Comedian/Commentator]

That's an interesting to hear because on the right, censorship in civil liberties was such a rallying point, and he so clearly isn't. But they've flipped that.

[Jeanine Yunus]

Well, I don't think a lot of them were that principled to begin with, but I worked with a lot of people who are quite maga, I guess, on lawsuits, including the current Solicitor General of the United States and various other people who are relatively high up in the administration. And they've taken a totally different tack this time around. So they're on the censorship side.

[Comedian/Commentator]

How are they dealing with you? So you were representing them in censorship cases during the Biden administration. What specifically were those surrounding?

[Jeanine Yunus]

The main case I worked on that went to the Supreme Court had to do with the government involvement in social media censorship, the Biden administration mainly, especially Covid stuff. So I worked with a lot of these people. I represented a couple of them who had been.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Had their accounts removed and other things that had happened and that they felt that the government had been responsible for pressuring.

[Jeanine Yunus]

That's right. Yeah.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Right. And were those. What was the outcome?

[Jeanine Yunus]

Well, we lost at the Supreme Court, actually. And as I warned a lot of liberals who are Celebrating that decision. It would be cited against us. And it is being cited now. In fact, in many cases where we're suing, the people are suing the Trump administration.

[Comedian/Commentator]

When did you get the sense that this was going to flip? When they came into power, or is it always that way, that whoever's in power is going to be more coercive?

[Jeanine Yunus]

I wanted to believe a little bit that the Trump administration would hold true to its word because he specifically talked about our case and this kind of censorship. And one of his first executive orders was actually called ending federal censorship and restoring free speech in America. So I thought maybe they would do something, but it became rapidly clear within a few weeks.

[Comedian/Commentator]

You believe that they might do that. That's adorable. It is. I thought for a second that he might not be principled when one of his first moves was threatening to jail Mark Zuckerberg. That's when I thought, oh, that doesn't sound like a free speech thing now. Specifically. Now, you just recently sort of got a lot of viral attention from. In this case in Minneapolis. You were writing on Twitter about sort of what you thought were the overreaches of the government in this ICE raid and what happened to this, Renee, the terrible incident. J.D. vance saw what you wrote and started going at. You feel good?

[Jeanine Yunus]

Actually, it kind of did.

[Jon Stewart]

Did it really? Yeah. It's not nerve wracking. I would be very nervous.

[Jeanine Yunus]

No, actually, I wasn't. That I looked at it and I was like, oh, J.D. vance, quote, tweeted me and he seems to be insulting me.

[Comedian/Commentator]

He seems to be insulting everyone. What was the gist of the argument? Where did it split?

[Jeanine Yunus]

So I would say two things. He thought that the officers had a right to arrest her and to sort of start the whole confrontation and also then to shoot her. And I disagree on both those things. I don't think the officers had a right to arrest her and to stop her or to shoot her, obviously.

[Donald Trump]

And this is.

[Comedian/Commentator]

It's so fascinating because now this feels like it's. The moment that we're in feels very fraught because there doesn't appear to be any. As he said in that clip, the only thing that will stop me is my own morality. That's something Thanos would say in an Avengers movie. Like, this is why we have due process and those things. So what was it in your training that made you think they don't? Because my understanding is the cops have a right to arrest you if they think you're obstructing. Is that not the. What are people's rights in that situation?

[Jeanine Yunus]

Well, they're not cops. I mean, ICE officers are not. ICE officers are federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. So they don't actually have the right to do traffic stops and that kind of thing.

[Comedian/Commentator]

So they, they could not pull you over and say, do you know how illegal you are? Like they can't. Like they're not allowed to without probable cause.

[Jeanine Yunus]

No. And if they had probable cause to believe you had someone illegal in your car or you were an illegal alien, I suppose maybe they could pull you over, but not absent circumstances like that.

[Comedian/Commentator]

So in this circumstance. But if she's obstructing them, does that then give them the right? Because my understanding is they do have a right to arrest people if they are obstructing them.

[Jeanine Yunus]

I expect if this case goes to trial, that will be a litigated issue because the obstruction has to be pretty serious and it has to be of their enforcing the immigration law. So just blocking traffic, I would think probably wouldn't rise to that level. But I'm sure, again, if it goes to trial, that will be an issue that comes up.

[Comedian/Commentator]

And then there was the second part of it, which I think is the one that I think. I think what threw me off the most was the dogmatic certainty of the administration. Without any fact finding, they just went, this is a domestic terrorist. This person's life was in jeopardy. He had to. Was well within his rights to kill her. I am, look, I come at this, this is probably about like, I'm very close to a lot of like cops and barbers and those guys. And so I do, I am very sympathetic to what they go through and to what we as a society ask them to do and the danger that they put themselves into. But even they looked at this situation and went, that might be the worst police work I've ever seen. First of all, you never put yourself in front of a vehicle or behind a vehicle. Those two shots, shots two and three, were from the side of the vehicle. There's no way to justify that once you're already past there is like, I'm trying to wrap my head around, are we litigating civil rights or are we litigating competence?

[Jeanine Yunus]

I think what was being litigated was whether or not people liked ICE being there in the first place. And the administration, you know, felt as though what they feel as though what they were trying to do is being impeded by these crazy left wing activists, as they would put it. And so their perspective or their take on the whole thing started with that. And I think they Dug themselves into a bit of a hole because they, within minutes or hours they were saying she was a domestic terrorist, she had purposely tried to ram the office over. There's no way you can look at that video and think she purposely did it. I think one can maybe argue about whether there was some, you know, a justification defense, a self defense theory could work at trial.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Right.

[Jeanine Yunus]

But to say she purposely did and then they didn't know what to do because they had already, you know, started going around saying this.

[Comedian/Commentator]

And so in their minds. So you believe this is purely like a double down of a, you know, a theory of the case that they developed. Let me ask you, you know, it brings to mind Tom Holman said something interesting. He said we've got to tone down the rhetoric against ICE officers. But in my mind there is also something, a responsibility on their end. They've been provocative and confrontational as well in America. Have you ever seen an immigration enforcement regime like this?

[Jeanine Yunus]

No. And I think it is unusual.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Yes.

[Jeanine Yunus]

Yeah.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Okay.

[Jeanine Yunus]

Yeah. And I think we saw someone today. There was a 17 year old kid who actually turned out to be a US citizen taken out of a target and beaten up and then and left.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Like 10 minutes away from the target to get home. So my understanding of immigration enforcement had always been like, and I think most Americans would agree with this, if there are rapists and murderers and people who have committed crimes and they're in this country legal, get them out. But it's generally a fishing expedition. I have a name, I have a person. I'm going to do that I don't think we're comfortable with. I'm going to throw a net on this area that I generally think has people that look like they might be in this country illegally. And I'm just going to do a group and if I end up with citizens and non citizens and I don't care.

[Jeanine Yunus]

Yeah.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Is that what has provoked some of this?

[Jeanine Yunus]

Yes.

[Jon Stewart]

Take your time.

[Jeanine Yunus]

Yes. I mean it's, you know, they're trying tothey're trying to have a mass deportation policy. And so they're just taking a lot of people in who shouldn't be. And what's happening is people's civil liberties are being violated because you're not supposed to just, you know, arrest people or put them in ICE detention or whatever without some kind of basis.

[Comedian/Commentator]

So. And it does seem very punitive because I read a statistic that 70% of these operations are in blue states where they're doing like in red states. They're not doing these sweeps where they go in and just grab a bunch of people in a parking lot or shut down a business. They're doing it in blue cities and blue states.

[Jeanine Yunus]

Yeah, that's definitely what's happening. And I think they're probably targeting sanctuary cities to so called sanctuary cities because they think they're not complying.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Now let's. So I hear that a lot. What is a sanctuary city?

[Jon Stewart]

Does that mean you don't have to.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Comply with ICE for even civil deportation or just criminal deportation? What does it mean to be a sanctuary?

[Jeanine Yunus]

I don't think there's just one definition, but generally speaking, they're not helping immigration authorities and to greater or lesser extents, they are not looking at people's immigration status and dispensing like social services and that kind of thing.

[Comedian/Commentator]

But what is so my understanding in the law is that if you are a criminal and you have a warrant or a detainment, they have to, you have to cooperate still, even if you're a sanctuary city.

[Jeanine Yunus]

Yeah, of course. Yeah, right, yeah.

[Comedian/Commentator]

So the story we're being told about sanctuary cities seems not necessarily the case.

[Jeanine Yunus]

Probably it's exaggerated. Yeah. But they are not necessarily complying and they are not turning people. So normally someone will be flagged in the course of things if they're getting benefits or something. And you're asking for some kind of identification so they're not turning those people in or.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Right. Whether those people have a criminal record or not?

[Jeanine Yunus]

Well, they would have to. I mean, if they knew they had a criminal record that made them deportable, presumably. They would have to. They would have to do that, yes.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Okay, so what is. What can people do if they view. Is this purely a question of, you know, it seems they're primed for a fight and an escalation of protest is going to be met with an escalation of violent tactics. And the fear is that it's a purposeful provocation into what they would consider the Insurrection Act. That's sort of like the online version of it. In your mind, what's the proper way to go about any of this for citizens that are concerned?

[Jeanine Yunus]

Well, that's a very complicated question.

[Comedian/Commentator]

That's why I brought an attorney.

[Jeanine Yunus]

I mean, I don't know that anyone can resolve this. I think one of the problems is both sides have become so extreme in their rhetoric and their beliefs. I mean, as you pointed out earlier, most of us would agree that people who've committed heinous acts and are not in the country legally should be removed. But I think there's there's been a dogmatism on both sides and I think we need to meet in the middle, as you know, should be the case with actually many issues.

[Comedian/Commentator]

I mean, the only thing about that is only one side really though has the guns and that's right, because it's, you know, when I look at, when I look at that video, I don't see both sides in a dogmatic stance. I see a woman, maybe naive, sitting in a car thinking she has to do something and she's going to block something. And a wildly extreme overreaction to that small act of defiance. And then, and then like I just, when they say like she was radicalized, I just think, well, there are masked gunmen in her neighborhood who she's read about taking 17 year old kids and pulling them off the street. That wasn't. It didn't feel like I'm used to. I know what a terrorist attack looks like.

[Jeanine Yunus]

Yeah, that was not a terrorist attack. Right, Definitely. But I think one thing that's, that many people on the left are missing is that people on the right, the rhetoric that the administration is using when it comes to immigrants is appealing to them because they think they truly believe that their lives are worse and part of the reason is illegal immigrants. I'm not going to weigh in on whether or not that's true. That's not my right. But I do believe that there's an ignoring of the problems that working class Americans face is part of the issue and that the Democratic establishment has been part of that and that's why there's so much hate.

[Comedian/Commentator]

So that's why it locks in. And then even though those are the same people who a few years back would say, I got my guns to keep, you know, I remember, you know, during COVID like they made people in Michigan mask for two weeks and like the militia stormed the Capitol and it.

[Jon Stewart]

Was like, we can't take it anymore.

[Jeanine Yunus]

Yeah.

[Comedian/Commentator]

These are the same people saying, hey man, it's just guys with guns and masks. Yeah, why don't you comply?

[Jeanine Yunus]

They meant it applied to them. You know, they have the right to fight for their civil liberties, but other people don't.

[Comedian/Commentator]

But isn't that the situation? I mean, have you seen any of these Homeland Security like website things where they're like your heritage, your homeland. Yeah, take it. And I'm like, what the.

[Jeanine Yunus]

Yeah, there was a new one from the Department of Labor today that was like a Nazi slogan.

[Jon Stewart]

Was it really?

[Jeanine Yunus]

Yeah. So it was like one. One people. One. I forgot the exact thing.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Right. Is some of this based on. Because Donald Trump's methodology is so coercive and confrontational that he might be able to get the result. What it looks like to me is, you know, sometimes at the end of the month they say, like, cops are on a quota, so watch out, there's going to be some speed traps.

[Jeanine Yunus]

Yeah.

[Comedian/Commentator]

It feels like this government said, we got a quota and it's 3,000 or 4,000 people and you're not hitting it, so hit it.

[Jeanine Yunus]

Yeah.

[Comedian/Commentator]

It's like they've incentivized them to be as non due process and untargeted as possible. Just get as many people as you can.

[Jeanine Yunus]

Absolutely. Yeah. And that's part of what led to this. I mean, these officers are acting like thugs. They're not trained, you know, they're not acting like normal police officers should.

[Comedian/Commentator]

As a civil rights attorney, is there. So who files the lawsuit? I mean, I'm assuming there'll be due process for that, although they've already. Well, and he'll pardon him, but. Yeah, but like, how do you stop it?

[Jeanine Yunus]

Well, the courts have been somewhat good when it came to, you know, last year when it came to some of the immigration stuff where they were sending people to other countries. But the problem with the courts is that they move slowly. And so the administration can do quite a bit before anybody gets their day in court. And what they do actually is they violate people's rights and then by the time you get the case to court, they've moved on to something else.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Right. And so. And so that. So do you see this in your mind escalating or getting slightly, you know, do you see this now as a perpetual escalation?

[Jeanine Yunus]

I think it's a perpetual escalation, yeah. And then the way the administration doubled down on what happened here, I think is a really bad sign. If they had said, you know what, this was a horrible situation, we're going to investigate, as they should have done. We don't know what happened that would be different. But the fact that they immediately decided she was a domestic terrorist and they're continuing with that is the. I would say, not a good sign at all.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Yeah, I was going to try and end on a hopeful note.

[Jeanine Yunus]

I'm the wrong guest for you, then you got nothing.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Do you think an election could help?

[Jon Stewart]

Do you think there'll be an election?

[Jeanine Yunus]

Well, I'm not actually super hopeful because whoever wins, we continue to see a denigration of our civil liberties. This administration is very blatant. But the one that came before was kind of bad, too. That's why I was suing them all the time.

[Jon Stewart]

What I would give for subtly invading people's rights.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Thank you for being here and thank you for keeping your principles up and doing the best that you can to try and keep those and protect the people that you think are most vulnerable and need protecting.

[Jeanine Yunus]

It.

[Comedian/Commentator]

It really is something to be commended.

[Jeanine Yunus]

Thank you.

[Comedian/Commentator]

So thank you for being here.

[Jon Stewart]

Be sure to check out the podcast 2 Disability Jeanine Yunus, quick break and we'll be right back after. That is our show for tonight. Before we go, check in with your host for the rest of the week, Jordan Klepper. What are you looking at? Jordan? Yes, Jordan Klepper. What do we got this week?

[Jordan Klepper]

Well, John, we will be talking about New York Mayor Zorat Mamdani's plan to build million dollars worth of new public bathrooms. And yes, frankly, I hate this idea. The thing I love most about New York is the fact you can piss wherever you want, whenever you want.

[Comedian/Commentator]

Legally. Legally. No, that's. You're not allowed to do that. That's against the law. That's not a law.

[Jordan Klepper]

Really? Then how come everyone's pissing wherever they want whenever they want?

[Comedian/Commentator]

Supply and demand issue. Because there's not enough bathrooms.

[Jon Stewart]

But it's still not allowed.

[Jordan Klepper]

Right?

[Jeanine Yunus]

Right.

[Jordan Klepper]

Well, then I should go apologize to that philharmonic orchestra. Although you could say the pit is entrapment. I think if you look at it.

[Jeanine Yunus]

Yes.

[Jon Stewart]

Short and clapper, everybody. That's not correct. Here it is, your moment of dead.

[CNN Reporter]

On cnn, it's Nicolania Maderianionia, where in reality, here it's just Nicolas Maduro. Nick for short. Nick Maduro. Nicolas Maduro. Not Nicolania Maderonia and Guatemaliania. This is CNN Guatemala.

[Announcer]

Explore more shows from the Daily show podcast universe by searching the Daily Show. Wherever you get your podcasts, watch the Daily show weeknights at 1110 Central on Comedy Central and stream full episodes anytime on Paramount.

[CNN Reporter]

This has been a Comedy Central podcast.