Jon Stewart & John Oliver on America's Trump Monarchy Era | David Remnick

Summary

Summary of "The Daily Show: Ears Edition" Episode: "Jon Stewart & John Oliver on America's Trump Monarchy Era | David Remnick"

In this compelling episode of "The Daily Show: Ears Edition," hosts Jon Stewart and John Oliver engage in a spirited dialogue about the current state of American politics under President Donald Trump's administration. Joined by special guest David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker celebrating its 100th anniversary, the conversation delves into the alarming trends that suggest a shift towards authoritarianism, the role of media, and the challenges faced by the Democratic Party in countering these developments.

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1. The Super Bowl and "Gulf of America Day"

Jon Stewart opens the discussion with a satirical take on the recent Super Bowl, mocking the extravagant celebrations and quickly leading into a critique of President Trump's latest proclamation.

• Jon Stewart (02:12):
  "Congratulations to the people of Philadelphia who immediately celebrated their victory by attacking their own city, killing their own city. Die. Philadelphia."

The conversation sharply pivots to Trump's declaration of "Gulf of America Day," a move Stewart sarcastically labels as grandiose and out of touch with reality.

• Political Analyst (04:50):
  "This is a proclamation declaring today, February 9, 2025, as the first ever Gulf of America Day... even bigger than the Super Bowl."

• Jon Stewart (05:24):
  "It's bigger than the Super Bowl. In fact, my favorite thing about Gulf of America Day are the commercials... When America is swallowed up by the rising waters of the Gulf of America."

2. Debating America’s Move Towards Monarchy

A heated and humorous exchange ensues between Jon Stewart and John Oliver regarding the feasibility and implications of America adopting a monarchical system.

• John Oliver (18:38):
  "What I'm saying is let me be the first to welcome America to its monarchy era."

• Jon Stewart (20:20):
  "America, yes, we are having a bit of trouble with democratic governance, but I don't think we want to abandon our republic and go full empire."

Oliver provocatively suggests that a monarchy might streamline decision-making, while Stewart counters by emphasizing the importance of maintaining democratic institutions.

3. Interview with David Remnick: The New Yorker’s Centennial

David Remnick joins the discussion to reflect on the centennial of The New Yorker, sharing insights into its historical challenges and its enduring relevance in today's media landscape.

• David Remnick (24:32):
  "Ray Irvin was the artist, and they put it out and it went on the newsstands... didn't do very well."

Remnick highlights the magazine's resilience and commitment to long-form journalism amid a rapidly changing media environment dominated by quick, often superficial news bites.

• David Remnick (26:21):
  "There aren't little dots in one sentence. Summaries of world events... people actually want to know what's going on in the world."

4. The Threat of Consolidated Executive Power

The core of the episode revolves around Trump’s aggressive expansion of executive power and the insufficient response from the Democratic Party.

• Jon Stewart (17:45):
  "It's been a good run, America. It's looked like we're becoming less like the constitutional republic it's been for 250 years and more like the monarchy that we all fought to escape from."

• David Remnick (36:43):
  "But the problem is that he's president and he's maximizing executive power as quickly and as fully as he possibly can."

The hosts discuss the erosion of checks and balances, the judiciary's role in countering executive overreach, and the media's responsibility in informing the public.

• David Remnick (31:17):
  "What's happening right now... President is overstepping executive power not once, not twice, but in multiple ways."

5. The Democratic Party’s Struggles

Remnick critiques the Democratic Party's lack of cohesive strategy and leadership in opposing Trump's maneuvers, emphasizing the need for unity and proactive measures.

• David Remnick (33:40):
  "We just need someone on their side willing to lose everything for progress. Like a Russian dog being shot into space."

• Jon Stewart (34:24):
  "The editor of one of the most esteemed magazines in American history just told the Democrats, sack up."

6. The Role of the Press and Public Engagement

The episode underscores the critical role of the press in maintaining democracy by providing accurate, in-depth reporting and holding those in power accountable.

• David Remnick (35:19):
  "It is to describe so that you're fully in possession of the facts and points of view are expressed and, you know, then you do with it what you will."

Notable Quotes

• Jon Stewart (22:53):
  "Things didn't end up so great for the British Empire."

• John Oliver (19:54):
  "Welcome America to its monarchy era."

• David Remnick (36:43):
  "But the problem is that he's president and he's maximizing executive power as quickly and as fully as he possibly can."

---

Conclusion

The episode concludes with a sobering reflection on America's political trajectory, emphasizing the urgent need for collective action to preserve democratic institutions. Jon Stewart and David Remnick highlight the fragility of democracy in the face of concentrated power and call for heightened civic engagement and media accountability.

• Jon Stewart (34:43):
  "You heard it here first in the answer. Shocking."

• David Remnick (35:25):
  "It's long, but aggravating. But now it's, you know, went in the other direction."

This episode serves as a critical examination of the current political climate, blending humor with serious discourse to shed light on the pressing challenges facing American democracy.

Transcript

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[Jon Stewart]

You're listening to Comedy Central.

[Daily Show Announcer]

From the most trusted journalists at Comedy Central. It's America's only source for news. This is the Daily show with your.

[John Oliver]

Host, John Stewart.

[Jon Stewart]

The face of a puppy. Welcome to the Daily Show. My name is Jon Stewart and man, we worked almost all day on tonight's show. We've got a great one for you tonight. David Remnick will be joining me later. He is the editor of the New Yorker magazine. They're celebrating.

[Correspondent]

What an erudite crowd.

[Jon Stewart]

Celebrating their 100th year at the New Yorker. And he and I will be discussing the difference between umlauts and diuresis.

[Correspondent]

Emphasis on the. I'll just go now.

[Jon Stewart]

Let's just. But first, the super bowl was last night and man, it was on television. It began with the teams being introduced.

[Correspondent]

From heaven.

[Jon Stewart]

And it's just weird. And it ended with the Kansas City Chiefs. And who. So congratulations to the people of Philadelphia who immediately. Who immediately.

[Correspondent]

I disagree, by the way.

[Jon Stewart]

Who immediately celebrated their victory by attacking their own city, killing their own city. Die. Philadelphia. They were mashing their own city, doing tens of dollars worth of damage. Yeah, that's right.

[Correspondent]

I'm implying it's a shithole.

[Jon Stewart]

Give Saquon back. But of course, my favorite moment was the inexplicable post victory horse race where the winner stands triumphant atop the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum. That's not Photoshopped. That's the horse ran up the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum, reared up on its hind legs and went, Adrian. But here's.

[Correspondent]

Here's. And I'm gonna, you know, drop some knowledge here. No one really cared about the game because of the earth shattering announcement that had been made moments prior.

[Guest Speaker]

You know, we're flying over right now. We're flying over a thing called the Gulf of America. And I'm sign a proclamation, and perhaps you could define that.

[Correspondent]

First of all, why do you fly around in a Hyatt hotel room?

[Jon Stewart]

Second of all, define proclamation. You don't know what a procl.

[Correspondent]

Or did you just want her to say what the actual proc. I'm sorry, I interrupted. Go ahead.

[Political Analyst]

This is a proclamation declaring today, February 9, 2025, as the first ever Gulf of America Day.

[Guest Speaker]

And we're flying right over it right now. So we thought this would be appropriate. Even bigger than the Super Bowl.

[Jon Stewart]

It's true. Bigger than the Super Bowl. In fact, my favorite thing about Gulf of America Day are the commercials. It's very historic. I'm sure we'll look back on this day fondly when America is swallowed up by the rising waters of the Gulf of America. You know, it turns out it's kind of a weird thing. Airplanes might not be the best place.

[Correspondent]

To make bigger than the super bowl announcements.

[Guest Speaker]

Even bigger than the Super Bowl. This is a big thing. And almost everybody now has assented to that.

[Correspondent]

Ladies and gentlemen, if you could please direct your attention out the right side of the aircraft. Air Force One is currently in international waters, the first time in history, flying over the recently renamed Gulf of America.

[Jon Stewart]

First of all. Oh, my God, it shut him up even for just a second. I think airplane pilots must be the most powerful force in the universe. I feel like the Democrats have to.

[Correspondent]

Get themselves an airplane pilot. Sorry for the interruption, but you can't do that.

[Jon Stewart]

Maybe they'll let Schumer. Schumer will be the pilot, but forgive.

[Correspondent]

Me, I've seen it forgotten.

[Jon Stewart]

What does calling it Gulf of America do?

[Correspondent]

Do we get all its fish now?

[Guest Speaker]

Make America great again. Right. That's what we care about, making America great again.

[Jon Stewart]

Yeah. Everything Trump does is all part of making America great again. Order one, roll back everything from the previous not great administration. Regulations on the environment, regulations on the Second Amendment, the Title 9 guidance. And not just the big shit. You want to make America great again.

[Correspondent]

You can't skimp on the details.

[Political Analyst]

President Trump says he's going to reverse Joe Biden's mandate to phase out plastic straws, saying, enjoy your Next. Drink without a straw that disgustingly dissolves in your mouth.

[Jon Stewart]

You okay?

[Correspondent]

He's right on this one.

[Jon Stewart]

He is right on this one. Those straws are terrible. Objectively, Terr. I'm supposed to have some weird tissue paper dissolve in my mouth just cause turtles can't figure out straws aren't food. No, don't eat the tubes, you stupid turtles. So Trump is making America great again.

[Correspondent]

By taking us back to 2016. But obviously if we're gonna make America great again, we can't stop in 2016. We gotta keep pushing to that place when America was truly great. How much further back do we need to go? So, looks like it's the 70s.

[Jon Stewart]

Oh, like you don't know who Burt Reynolds is. If you're gonna make us great, you're gonna have to roll further back than the 70s. What do you got?

[Guest Speaker]

We're going to stop the destructive and divisive diversity, equity and inclusion.

[Correspondent]

Yeah, the 70s won't fly. 70s was all about women's lib and stonewall. Now my friends, we gotta go back further to make America great.

[Jon Stewart]

And ladies, when we do go back.

[Correspondent]

Don'T worry, it's all gonna work out for you.

[Guest Speaker]

You will no longer be thinking about abortion. Women will be happy, healthy, confident and free. Like everything else, it's a little bit different today. You're not allowed to say that because if you call a woman or girl beautiful, that's the end of your career.

[Jon Stewart]

Aw. You can't even say hey sugar tits. But ladies and gentlemen, we're gonna go back to the old days with regular tits, not the ones that disgustingly dissolve in your mout. Jesus. But let's not stop in the 70s there folks. Not even in the. Let's keep going because that sounds like the 50s and the 50s are still too inclusive. I mean, by then Italians and Irish were considered white.

[Correspondent]

No, that's too far.

[Jon Stewart]

Keep going back.

[Correspondent]

America's greatness awaits.

[Guest Speaker]

We were the richest country in the world. We were at our richest from 1870 to 1913. That's when we had. We were a tariff country.

[Jon Stewart]

1870S.

[Correspondent]

Okay, there we go.

[Jon Stewart]

1870S. Pew, pew, pew, pew, pew. And of course, while America presently is still pretty rich.

[Correspondent]

Apologies, Luxembourg. Point taken.

[Jon Stewart]

Who wouldn't trade our current environment for America's 1870s tariff driven, becandeled, tuberculosis laden pre industrial heyday.

[Guest Speaker]

We were so wealthy, we had commissions set up what to do with all the money that we were taking.

[Jon Stewart]

In quick point of order though, to.

[Correspondent]

The extent that we were at our richest from 1870, to 1913, it wasn't so much we as like four guys and we called them robber barons as a sign of affection.

[Jon Stewart]

Meanwhile, the rest of America, the leading cause of death, was falling into a vat at work. And it got to the point where even the robber barons realized that the only way this glorious era in American history was going to end was either full scale revolution or reasonable compromise.

[Correspondent]

Which is how we ended up with.

[Jon Stewart]

Stuff like income tax and labor laws and workplace safety guarantees.

[Correspondent]

So let's really tread carefully in the greatness way back machine. Arizona House Republican Andy Biggs introduced a bill this week that would abolish osha, a Department of labor agency tasked with overseeing workplace safety, to the vats and.

[Jon Stewart]

Fill mine with boiling tallow. Boy. What? What? Why not just bring back child labor.

[Correspondent]

While you're at it? When you talk about school lunches, hey.

[Guest Speaker]

I work my way through high school.

[Correspondent]

I don't know about you, but I.

[Guest Speaker]

Worked since I was. Before I was even 13 years old.

[Correspondent]

I was picking berries in the field before we had child labor laws that precluded that.

[Jon Stewart]

You were picking berries in a field before your bar mitzvah. I mean, by the way, how old are you if you were picking berries before there were child labor laws? Because you look great is the key.

[Correspondent]

To good skin working the fields as a child.

[Jon Stewart]

Now, I hate to bring this up.

[Correspondent]

But if we are going back to the 1870s and before, does that include every diversity initiative?

[Guest Speaker]

Birthright citizenship was, if you look back when this was passed and made, that was meant for the children of slaves. This was not meant for the whole world to come in, everybody coming in and totally unqualified people with perhaps unqualified children.

[Jon Stewart]

Don't bring us your tired and poor huddled masses. Do you have any mathletes? Any Dougies Hauser? We will take all of your Sheldons young.

[Correspondent]

And.

[Jon Stewart]

For those of you at home.

[Correspondent]

Who might fear that the President's desire to take us back to our nation's historic greatness may tread into unconstitutional action, Fear not, because the brilliant design of our nation allows for the co equal branch of the judiciary to stand as a bulwark against tyranny. As judged in the landmark decision of 1803, Marbury vs Madison, which, as you know, is when James Madison lost the historic Supreme Court case to Stephon Marbury.

[Jon Stewart]

Marbury ran him out of the building and established our foundational separation of powers.

[Political Analyst]

Vice President J.D.

[Correspondent]

Vance.

[Political Analyst]

He had some interesting words about the separation of power and government.

[Jon Stewart]

He's for it.

[Political Analyst]

If a judge tried to tell a General, how to conduct a military operation that would be illegal. If a judge tried to command the Attorney General, and how to use her discretion as a prosecutor, that's also illegal. Judges aren't allowed to control the executive's legitimate power.

[Jon Stewart]

Of course they're allowed to adjudicate the boundaries of that power. That's the whole point of the judiciary, to interpret whether those powers are legitimate. You went to law school, Mother. The alternative is that acting. The only alternative is that the executive determines for himself what is constitutional. At which point there would be no guardrails against.

[Correspondent]

Oh, hey, hey, Congress. Hey, buddy.

[Jon Stewart]

You got a little separation of powers problem.

[Correspondent]

I was wondering, any chance you might be reasserting your authority?

[Jon Stewart]

Opposition party Democrats.

[Correspondent]

You ready to do some oppositioning?

[Democratic Congressman]

There are some things we can do, but the Republicans are in the majority in the Senate and the House. We're going to need some Republicans, frankly, who are willing to lose. Who are willing to be a Liz Cheney and say, I will lose my seat to do the right thing by this country, not the right thing by Donald Trump. I haven't seen it yet. Let's hope.

[Political Analyst]

Democratic Congressman Dan Goldman of New York.

[Correspondent]

That's the sales pitch.

[Jon Stewart]

We just need someone on their side willing to lose everything for progress. Like a Russian dog being shot into space. You can see the Democrats backbone on our new show American Backslide, starring Dan Goldman as hopeful loser.

[Correspondent]

But fine.

[Jon Stewart]

We have to rely on Republicans in.

[Correspondent]

Congress to be a check on Trump. How's that going? Republican Senator Thom Tillis says that while.

[Political Analyst]

He believes Trump's actions run afoul of.

[Correspondent]

The Constitution in the strictest sense, he.

[Jon Stewart]

Believes nobody should bellyache about that.

[Correspondent]

You're comfortable if he shuts those down without getting congressional approval, Congress will be.

[David Remnick]

Involved at some point.

[Correspondent]

But I think the country's comfortable. They're using that authority right now in a way that hasn't been used in a long time. So it looks radical. It's not.

[Sponsor Announcer]

Do you think he violated the law?

[Correspondent]

Well, technically, yeah.

[Jordan Klepper]

I'm not losing a whole lot of sleep.

[Jon Stewart]

Well, it's been a good run, America. It's looked like we're becoming less like the constitutional republic it's been for 250 years and more like the monarchy that.

[Correspondent]

We all fought to escape from.

[Jon Stewart]

But I think the important thing to John, the. The.

[John Oliver]

The prodigal son appears to have returned.

[Jon Stewart]

What is that? Wait, is that. Hold on. Do my eyes deceive me? Is that. Is that Young John Oliver? Are you here to offer America your wisdom and counsel?

[John Oliver]

Oh, no, no, no. No, no, John, I am here to gloat. America had its little fun, didn't you, in experimenting with democracy? You're. You fought so hard to get away from us acting up, throwing all that tea into the harbor. You still owe us for that, by the way.

[Correspondent]

I mean, how much? It was just tea, John.

[John Oliver]

It was, it was just tea.

[Jon Stewart]

You take that back. You take that back right now. I know, I know. The point is, it's a very sensitive beverage after that.

[John Oliver]

The point is, you told everybody that you were gonna be different. You weren't gonna turn out like your mean old dad who was so horrible to you when you were grow. So we sat back, we let you spend your wild teen years experimenting with your ridiculous ideas of checks and balances. Because deep down, we knew that once you got that nonsense out of your system, you'd be backed. In fact, if I may sing from Hamilton.

[Correspondent]

No, I, I, I'd really, I, I'd appreciate.

[John Oliver]

Not that that's fair. What I'm saying is let me be the first to welcome America to its monarchy era. Congr. Congratulations, everyone. You can now take your place in the pantheon of great empires alongside the British, the Roman, the Klingon, Wakanda, whatever one Baba the elephant was the ruler of. I forget.

[Jon Stewart]

Hold on a second. Mr. Oliver.

[John Oliver]

Yes.

[Jon Stewart]

If I may.

[John Oliver]

Yes, Ambassador Oliver, go ahead for a moment, please.

[Jon Stewart]

America, yes, we are having a bit of trouble with democratic governance, but I don't think we want to abandon our republic and go full empire.

[John Oliver]

Yeah, but why not, John? You really prefer the system that you have right now? Oh, I need 51 votes for a bill to pass. Is the vice president in town to break a tie? Or wait, is this, is this one of the bills that needs 60 votes for no clear reason? Well, I'm sorry, little Timmy, no health care for you.

[Correspondent]

All right.

[Jon Stewart]

It does not sound great when you put it like that.

[John Oliver]

Oh, you mean when I put it entirely accurately, John, it doesn't sound great? What I'm saying is don't fight being a monarchy, John. Embrace it. Kings get shit done. Now, is it stuff that you want done? Not necessarily, but they do move quick. They taste cumin at lunch, and they've taken over an entire continent by dinner time. That is how the British rolls, John. F everyone else. They're not like us. In fact, if I may sing a line for Mr. Kendrick Lamar.

[Jon Stewart]

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I really, I really don't think you should do that.

[John Oliver]

I appreciate you for stopping me on that one.

[Jon Stewart]

Yeah. Not to be short Sighted, but spoiler alert.

[Correspondent]

Yeah.

[Jon Stewart]

John.

[John Oliver]

Yeah.

[Jon Stewart]

Things didn't end up so great for the British Empire.

[John Oliver]

Uh, first of all, how dare you? Uh, we are technically between empires at the moment, but we're keeping our castles warm and our crowns bejeweled for the day that we get back onto our feet.

[Jon Stewart]

Look, no offense.

[Correspondent]

Mm. But I'm not sure the imperial model.

[John Oliver]

Oh, really? The imperial model isn't for you, John.

[Guest Speaker]

That's right.

[John Oliver]

Have you seen anything America's done over the last 50 years? Because for a country that doesn't want to be an empire, you're doing a pretty good impression of one right now. Invasions, economic exploitations are now suggesting turning Gaza into a beachfront casino. Even King George would have been like, I don't know, guys. Feels like the situation's a bit more complicated than that. And I'm literally dying of medieval brain disease.

[Jon Stewart]

You know what?

[John Oliver]

He was.

[Jon Stewart]

He was doing that. He was dying.

[John Oliver]

He was dying of a medieval brain disease. It drove him crazy, but he could see that it was an unreasonable request.

[Jon Stewart]

We really. We really have become our father.

[John Oliver]

Yeah. Yeah. And you know what, John? Don't be sad about it. We couldn't be more proud. This shouldn't be a sad time. The arc of history is so long, it eventually becomes a circle, and you end up right where you started. You might even call it the circle of life. In fact, if one may sing the great imperial subject, Sir Elton John's opening Zulu chance from the Lion King. Please stop me, John. Please. Please stop me from doing that. I do not want to do it, John. Please stop me. Please stop me. I don't want to go out like this. Stop me, John.

[Jon Stewart]

Stop me.

[John Oliver]

Neither of us want to.

[Jon Stewart]

Oliver, everybody, thank you very much. Tonight premieres this Sunday on hbo. When we come back, David Remnick will be joining us. Don't go away.

[Democratic Congressman]

Watch.

[Jon Stewart]

Hey. Welcome back to the Daily Show. My guest tonight, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, author, and longtime editor of the New Yorker, which is celebrating 100 years.

[Correspondent]

With a special anniversary issue out today. Please welcome David Remnick.

[Jon Stewart]

Sir. Thank you. Thank you for being here. Very excited.

[Correspondent]

100 years of the New Yorker. And this a special treat, ladies and gentlemen. I don't know if you can see this. It is their swimsuit edition.

[Jon Stewart]

It is.

[Correspondent]

Is this the original cover from.

[David Remnick]

That's from 1925.

[Jon Stewart]

And this is the first cover that.

[Correspondent]

Was on the New Yorker.

[David Remnick]

That's right. Ray Irvin was the artist, and they put it out and it went on the newsstands. Harold Ross was The editor, Raoul Fleischman. A yeast fortune behind the magazine.

[Correspondent]

Sure.

[David Remnick]

And it sold nothing.

[Correspondent]

It sold nothing.

[David Remnick]

Didn't do very well.

[Jon Stewart]

Even with all that yeast money behind it.

[David Remnick]

Didn't rise.

[Jon Stewart]

You should enter that in the caption contest, David.

[Correspondent]

John Oliver warmed it up.

[Jon Stewart]

Warmed it up pretty good out there.

[Correspondent]

And this is.

[David Remnick]

They almost closed the whole thing down after three months. They almost gave up on the whole thing. Yeah.

[Correspondent]

What was it that turned it. Why in three months? Did something happen?

[David Remnick]

It was meant to be just a purely comic jazz age, 1920s, pre depression thing. And they were going to close it down after three months. And then they had a good piece about the Scopes Monkey trial.

[Correspondent]

Sure. Who did what?

[Jon Stewart]

I watched it on Court tv. It's fantastic. Gwyneth Paltrow.

[Correspondent]

And.

[David Remnick]

And then I swear to God, what took off on the newsstand was a piece, you're not going to believe this, about cabarets and nightclubs and things like this. And people were fascinated and it flew off the newsstand and the next thing you know, we were a big success.

[Correspondent]

Really, at that time. Were the illustrations the majority of it or were the articles the majority of it?

[David Remnick]

Oh, it was purely little bits and pieces. And the first profile that ever ran, and we're famous for longer pieces, you know, the first piece that ever ran as a profile was a one page profile. The head of the Metropolitan Opera, showbiz one page.

[Jon Stewart]

And, you know, the writer was like, 500 words, I'll never make it.

[David Remnick]

And it was awful. It was dreadful.

[Correspondent]

Really.

[David Remnick]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Jon Stewart]

And now, 100 years later, then, when.

[Correspondent]

You'Re carrying the mantle of something that has been here for so long, though it does present an extra burden and challenge. You don't want to be the guy.

[Jon Stewart]

That'S the last editor. Right. You don't want to be the last.

[Correspondent]

Guy out the building.

[Jon Stewart]

And it's changed so much.

[Correspondent]

So in this more challenging media environment, to do long form, this, you buy this and you. I don't remember what that's called, but.

[Jon Stewart]

You look at it and read, read, read.

[David Remnick]

Yeah. And read more.

[Jon Stewart]

What?

[Guest Speaker]

Yeah.

[David Remnick]

There aren't little dots in one sentence. Summaries of world events.

[Correspondent]

Son of a bitch.

[David Remnick]

No, it's in def. It is in defiance of every trend that we think is happening. But look, I think that people actually want to know. They want to know what's going on in the world. They want to know what's going on in Washington. They want to know what's going on with other people's lives and have some empathy for it. They want to laugh. And that's what we're trying to do. It's a pretty inclusive formula, I will.

[Correspondent]

Say, for me, because the circadian rhythm of the news has become the circadian rhythm of Twitter. I almost think it's leading that sort of incentivized outrage and hate and things that I find great solace in long form journalism. It really is a comfort food. But also, there's not a lot of people out there who are taking the time to contextualize things.

[David Remnick]

Well, I think there are more people than you think. I mean, a million, two million, three people subscribe to the magazine. I hope it'll be more, especially after this night. I think there's nothing like shame pandering.

[Jon Stewart]

There are most.

[Correspondent]

Mostly sports fans.

[Jon Stewart]

They're not interested.

[David Remnick]

My first job, sports writer for the Washington Post.

[Correspondent]

Really?

[David Remnick]

Yeah.

[Correspondent]

I didn't even know they had athletic teams.

[David Remnick]

They had what's now called the Commodores.

[Correspondent]

Oh, very nice.

[David Remnick]

Which I thought was a singing group.

[Correspondent]

It's exciting.

[David Remnick]

I think people want to find out more than just ridiculous tweets and they want to know what's going on. And they want fairness and fact checking and a sense of decency. And they also want some media outlets that aren't knuckling under, not intimidated by the moment. And that's our promise to you. And I think that we're looking for another hundred years, but I'd like to get past the next four, quite frankly.

[Correspondent]

Yeah. Is this.

[Jon Stewart]

Have you.

[Correspondent]

You've been in this a long time. Yeah. Is this a media moment that is reminiscent to you of any other analogous.

[David Remnick]

It's not even reminiscent of the first Trump term.

[Correspondent]

Right. Totally different.

[David Remnick]

Immensely. In a weird way, more competent. I know that sounds very strange, but they seem to have come to the game very determined to do a ton of things fast and overwhelm you and overwhelm me and everybody here and to.

[Correspondent]

As though they had a project in mind that they were going to. I don't know what year it was.

[Jon Stewart]

Named for, but damn it.

[David Remnick]

But. But there's a shrewdness to it. And part of the shrewdness is contingent on the weakness of the Democrats and the confusion of the Democrats at the moment. And the sport of the election, quite frankly, there are a lot of people behind them. And our job is to get it right and to get it fair and to get it factual and to not just be yelling and screaming and wagging our fingers with polemics, but to really describe these things with. With some sense of seriousness. And I think people want that Is.

[Correspondent]

There a break glass moment for you in this? You know, we talked about it earlier with the audience about not overreacting to each individual outrage and moment and is that frustrating? Do we keep ourselves on DEFCON and I don't know which one is the worst?

[David Remnick]

9, 10. Yeah. I notice sometimes when I go out to dinner with this person or that person and meet friends, whatever this, every once in a while, in fact, quite a lot, somebody will say to me, you know what? I've signed off on the news, I'm not watching it. I can't take it. I have to, you know, protect myself. It's too much.

[Correspondent]

I understand that instinct.

[David Remnick]

I understand it. But while you're doing that, Trump keeps going, politics keeps going, the world keeps happening. And you may choose to protect yourself, but then you're part of the problem, I'm afraid.

[Correspondent]

Yeah, no, we were talking again. Action is the antidote for that anxiety. The question is, what have you, what have you learned from deterring this kind of executive action? Because the real moment to me will be that sort of Marbury versus Madison moment where, you know, they'll say, well, enforce it. Well, who enforces it? I guess the US Marshals. And if the US Marshals work for the DOJ and the DOJ is run by somebody who tells them, no, don't enforce it.

[David Remnick]

What's happening right now? Right now, right. The President is overstepping executive power not once, not twice, but in multiple ways. And courts are going to have to stand up to do what courts need to do. The press needs to describe it in all its fullness and accuracy. Citizens need to do what citizens are capable of doing and it requires everybody. And the Democratic Party that Congressman Goldman did not exactly present the face of a warrior.

[Jon Stewart]

That might have been my favorite moment that I've seen where what are the Democrats gonna do?

[Correspondent]

And he's like, I hope.

[Jon Stewart]

Hopefully one of the Republicans will be like, this is crazy, we shouldn't.

[David Remnick]

I wanna lose chapter 12 in Profiles and Courage.

[Jon Stewart]

Right?

[David Remnick]

Yeah, yeah.

[Correspondent]

Do you, as you, and you've spent time talking to people that are obviously very informed within Democratic Party, it's their beat. Do they sense there is anything. I look at this as this is a 50 year project that the Republicans have run to reset the country to its not just pre Great Society, not just pre New Deal, but as even Trump is saying, like robber baron ethos.

[David Remnick]

But that's a political battle. Some of that is a political battle that's natural over, over federal spending, for example, over culture wars. It's not A mystery that we have such.

[Correspondent]

That's right. It's not constitutional.

[John Oliver]

No.

[David Remnick]

This is about breaking the norms of the Constitution and the law and what are you gonna do about it?

[Correspondent]

Right.

[David Remnick]

That's different.

[Jon Stewart]

So what are.

[Correspondent]

If you were going to say, you know, the people, there's gonna be protests, there's gonna be those things. But at this moment, it is broadly popular. The agenda that has been enacted is, if we had a revote today, he would probably do better than how he.

[David Remnick]

Did on, I think CBS said 52.

[Correspondent]

53%, which for him is a lance.

[Jon Stewart]

I mean, that's.

[Correspondent]

For any president really, in this day and age, to have that kind of popularity is really unusual.

[David Remnick]

Yep. So I think we're headed toward a big crisis. I really do. And I think we're in the midst of it.

[Correspondent]

Right.

[David Remnick]

We really do.

[Jon Stewart]

Okay, well, thanks for being here.

[Correspondent]

It's incredible to me how there really is a rudderlessness amongst the opposition party.

[David Remnick]

Yeah, well, the opposition party is the Democratic Party. That's licking its wounds. It's beating itself up for what happened, and rightly so. In terms of the Biden decision to run a second time or the decision to kind of have a willing suspension of disbelief on where Biden was in terms of popularity or his age, all the rest, there's a kind of sense of injury, embarrassment and withdrawal. But enough already. Enough already.

[Correspondent]

Sack up.

[Jon Stewart]

Yeah, you hear that? I'm going to say this right now. The editor of one of the most esteemed magazines in American history just told the Democrats, sack up. Shocking. You heard it here first in the answer. Shocking.

[David Remnick]

But look what you described, which is that you have a historical trend and then there's a reaction to it. And this has happened any number of times. I fully expect and hope that that will happen again in some form or another. Again, it is not the job of the press. And this may disappoint some of you, Right. To be at the head of the barricades, shaking the fist and leading the charge. It is to describe so that you're fully in possession of the facts and points of view are expressed and, you know, then you do with it what you will. In a democracy, that is a really important function.

[Correspondent]

Do you really think the Democrats problem is a messaging problem? I think it's. I don't know what they stand for. I don't know what they're.

[David Remnick]

Three weeks old. What is it? Three, four weeks old.

[Correspondent]

This is not a.

[David Remnick]

People did not believe. I think people did not fully take on board that what Donald Trump was saying that he was going to do in all those speeches that we either laughed about or disbelieved or, you know, kind of let fly by or were foolish enough to believe that he would lose, they did not quite take on board the full reality, the fullness of what he was going to do, how fast it was going to come, and with what sense of diabolical organization. Because you have to say, it is just coming so fast at people in terms of the press, in terms of public opinion, in terms of the Democratic Party, that people are on their heels. And I, you know, hope that doesn't last for. Because there's no. If you keep ceding that to Trump, a lot of damage is going to be done very, very quickly.

[Correspondent]

I almost wonder. You almost want to say to them, you have to exist outside of him. It's as though they define themselves almost entirely by reactions to his movements, you.

[David Remnick]

Know, but the problem is that he's president and he's maximizing executive power as quickly and as fully as he possibly can.

[Correspondent]

Right.

[David Remnick]

And unless you have a coherent reaction to that, whether it's in Congress or the press or the greater world or on the street, you're going to lose a lot. Ultimately, he might get pushed back. Ultimately, in two years, there might be a midterm election that weakens him. Ultimately, he may overplay his hand in this court case or that court case, and he loses. But a lot of damage is going to be done to a lot of human beings. And also, the one thing that we haven't mentioned is the quality of cruelty to all this, not just illegality.

[Correspondent]

It seems like that's the point of it.

[David Remnick]

Yeah. I mean, just the cruelty about the description of trans people and our fellow brothers and sisters who are immigrants or have birthright citizenship. There is a tone of insult and the desire to damage.

[Correspondent]

If you were to come to me and say, I want to make government more efficient, I want to make it more effective, there's a lot of things in here, in the way that we do it, and it doesn't work. I'd be highly on board with that. It's something that I screamed about it for years.

[David Remnick]

I can fully believe it. And government agency, whether it's USAID or whatever it might be.

[Correspondent]

Yes.

[David Remnick]

But the notion of putting somebody in charge of the health, the public health of this country who's a conspiracy theorist and a liar, and that's strange.

[Correspondent]

They don't view it in that way, though. So I think that's part of the disconnect is they're not viewing it through that lens. What they're viewing it as a fighter who's done their own research and awoken to the corruption of the government. And my point is, if the government is the only power strong enough to stand up to international corporatist interest, there is no other anything that. And if you think rapacious greed is going to make your health care better, and if you think rapacious greed is going to make pharmaceutical companies come to heal or oil companies come to heal, I don't know what you're looking at. Without government effectively managing those instincts.

[David Remnick]

Yeah.

[Jon Stewart]

What are we handing this all over to?

[David Remnick]

This is what's new between the first Trump term and the second term. I lived for four years in the Soviet Union, in the last years of the Soviet Union, and then kept coming back. And now I can't go anymore for obvious reasons.

[Correspondent]

But what did you do in the Soviet Union?

[David Remnick]

I was running a little.

[Jon Stewart]

I can't go any more for obvious reasons. And I'm like, did you kill a dude in the Soviet Union?

[David Remnick]

Just a few, but you don't need to know about that.

[Jon Stewart]

What?

[David Remnick]

I was a reporter.

[Jon Stewart]

Oh, you were a reporter? For four years I was a reporter.

[David Remnick]

For the Washington Post. And you, you know, this was. I was coming to a place that for 70 odd years had lived lives not only of censorship, but of self censorship and a kind of relationship to the government where you were not a citizen, you were a subject. And I had the thrilling experience as a witness to see this seemingly come to an end, to liberalize, to have the promise of democracy, to see, miraculously that Mikhail Gorbachev would come along and open the door. History can move in that direction and God willing, it will again.

[Correspondent]

I've heard that the arc of it is long and bends towards justice.

[David Remnick]

It's long, but aggravating.

[Jon Stewart]

Yeah, yeah.

[David Remnick]

But now it's, you know, went in the other direction. And the oligarchs took over this country in concert with Vladimir Putin and before him, Yeltsin. And to see at an inauguration a few weeks ago of the tech titans of this world sitting in the best seats in the House, right behind the President of the United States, was the most ominous thing. It was even more ominous than the speech itself because those guys are seemingly willing to say and do anything to protect their gigantic business interests. And that is a further recipe for disaster. We've seen it before in this country, but we've never seen it energized by and supercharged by social media and the tools that they have at hand.

[Correspondent]

I don't know why I'm bumming you out. No, I remain optimistic because the history of this country is such resilience through peaks and valleys that we were sure were fatal blows. It's different than these other, you know, we are, for the adolescents of America, being 250 years old, we are a more mature democracy than I think a lot of those countries. We have a history and a pattern of civic engagement at local and state levels that I think will prove even if the body politic at that level begins to erode.

[David Remnick]

But people have to wake up. We have our job in New York. We don't have your job. I think everybody here can't sit back either.

[Correspondent]

I think we need a game plan. Honestly, I don't think it's that people aren't awake. I think they feel rudderless and thirsty for inspiring leadership that feels principled and.

[Jon Stewart]

Has a plan of action that can turn this into something. I don't think the American people want.

[Correspondent]

This corrosive day to day. I truly don't believe that. That doesn't mean they don't want a secure border. It doesn't mean they don't want law and order in their cities. It doesn't mean that they don't want some other common sense things that have been done. They don't want the other part.

[David Remnick]

I agree with you and I, for once.

[Correspondent]

So by agreeing with me, I have now officially been published in the New Yorker.

[David Remnick]

You got it, by the way. Not for the first time you've been published in the New Yorker and we're still waiting for pieces from you. What have you got a job?

[Correspondent]

I was in the New Yorker, yeah.

[David Remnick]

You wrote pieces for Shouts and Murmurs.

[Jon Stewart]

Did I really?

[John Oliver]

Yeah.

[Jon Stewart]

I can't imagine how happy my mother was.

[David Remnick]

The door is always, as always, a pleasure.

[Jon Stewart]

The New Yorker 100th anniversary issue is out now. David Ren, thank you for breaking me right back. Before we go, we're going to check in with your host for the rest of the week, Mr. Jordan Klepper. Jordan, Boom boom. What's up?

[David Remnick]

What's up this week?

[Jordan Klepper]

Well, Jon, we'll continue our coverage of America's descent into fascism, report on the president's onslaught on the constitution, and give 10 blowjob tips that will make your man say bazinga.

[Correspondent]

What?

[John Oliver]

Well.

[Jordan Klepper]

Well, Friday is Valentine's Day and just because our country's in trouble doesn't mean our love lives have to be. Want to hear one of the tips now? It involves a grapefruit.

[Jon Stewart]

Okay. Just for everybody. Well, tune in. And also, by the way, before you Go join myself and a bunch of other fun fine comics at Comic Relief. Stand up for LA. It's on March 3rd in this new York City. For more info and to buy tickets or donate, please go to the link below and get your free blowjob tips. It's right all bazinga. Here it is.

[Correspondent]

Your moment is end. Sky high signing and President Trump Ushers in Golf of America Day. Try that on Gulf of Mexico. Gulf of America.

[Political Analyst]

Everyone listen to this. Gulf of America Day.

[Correspondent]

Gulf of America Day.

[David Remnick]

Gulf of America Day.

[Jon Stewart]

It's the Gulf of America. Things are changing.

[David Remnick]

The world is anew.

[Daily Show 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 plus.

[Correspondent]

Paramount Podcasts.