Jon Stewart Knocks Dems' Lack of Vision Countering Trump Agenda | Sen. Chris Murphy

Summary

Summary of "Jon Stewart Knocks Dems' Lack of Vision Countering Trump Agenda | Sen. Chris Murphy"

The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Host: Jon Stewart and The Daily Show News Team
Guest: Senator Chris Murphy, Democratic Senator from Connecticut
Release Date: March 18, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of The Daily Show: Ears Edition, Jon Stewart engages in a spirited dialogue with Senator Chris Murphy, delving deep into the current political climate dominated by President Donald Trump's agenda. The conversation navigates through the Democrats' strategic shortcomings, internal party conflicts, and the overarching challenge of countering Trump's influence in American politics.

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Trump’s Dominant Influence

Jon Stewart opens the discussion by highlighting President Trump's recent actions, emphasizing his aggressive stance both domestically and internationally. He remarks:

"It is Trump's world and we're just cowering in it." [01:06]

Stewart criticizes Trump's deportation policies and his controversial statements against media outlets, setting the tone for the episode's critical analysis of the current administration's tactics.

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Senate Budget Showdown

The core of the discussion revolves around the Senate's budget resolution (CR) and its implications. Senator Murphy outlines the detrimental effects of the CR, stating:

"It would cut by nearly 50% funding for medical research to take away nursing home care from millions of our seniors. There's more than a billion dollars of cuts to veteran benefits. I'm voting no." [04:43]

Jon Stewart echoes Murphy's frustration, urging voters to stand against the proposed budget:

"I will be a hard no. Vote no. Hell no." [05:01]

The conversation highlights the Republicans' maneuvering in the Senate, where despite their compelling budget plan, they lack the necessary votes to pass it without Democratic support. Stewart sarcastically remarks on the filibuster rules:

"You only saw the play once. You see Republicans." [05:54]

Murphy candidly addresses the internal disagreements within the Democratic Party regarding the budget, emphasizing the need for the party to take decisive action to prevent government shutdowns and hold the administration accountable.

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Democrats’ Strategic Missteps

A significant portion of the episode critiques the Democratic Party's lack of a coherent strategy to counter Trump's influence. Stewart questions the party's foundational governing philosophy, asking:

"Is there a reflection on the Democratic side that part of what this is, is their theory on governance is somewhat broken?" [27:22]

Senator Murphy responds by acknowledging the party's drift away from its core principles, stating:

"When I first got into politics, the Democratic Party every single day talked about reforming government, talked about reforming democracy, talked about getting big money out of politics, talked about strict ethics reform. And somewhere we lost our way at some point." [28:09]

Stewart further challenges the Democrats' credibility, pointing out their reliance on corporate lobbyists and incremental policy changes rather than bold, systemic reforms.

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The Need for a Cohesive Vision

The dialogue underscores the urgent need for the Democratic Party to develop and communicate a unified, comprehensive vision that resonates with the electorate. Murphy emphasizes:

"We need to be a party that stands for everybody in this country having access to happiness and success, not just the billionaires. We need to be a party that attacks corporate power." [26:52]

Stewart probes into the practical aspects of this vision, questioning the lack of actionable plans:

"What are the three things that in that CR, if Chuck Schumer had any leverage, what are the three things he would have asked for?" [23:40]

Murphy candidly admits the absence of such concrete proposals, highlighting the Democratic Party's struggle to present tangible solutions to the public.

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Building Infrastructure for Change

Addressing the Republicans' strategic advantage, Murphy asserts:

"The Republican party has paid for a permanent infrastructure around ideas and around messaging that makes something like Project 2025 possible." [32:18]

He critiques the Democratic Party's reliance on short-term advertising campaigns, advocating for a sustained effort to build and promote foundational ideas that can effectively compete against the Republicans' entrenched strategies.

Stewart humorously depicts the Democrats' current state as aimless:

"It looks like ad hoc people on TikTok making better brand for themselves. But the party seems utterly rudderless." [33:15]

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Call to Action and Conclusion

As the episode concludes, both Stewart and Murphy underscore the critical moment the Democratic Party faces. Murphy urges:

"So if you're really serious about communicating a message that resonates with people, you wouldn't be talking about just negotiating in a different way for 10 drugs. You would be talking about putting a cap on the amount of money that any drug company can sell drugs to any American." [31:53]

Stewart encapsulates the conversation by emphasizing the necessity for the Democrats to redefine their approach and actively engage the public with meaningful policies:

"What they want is a cohesive message that feels like it addresses what people believe were the corrupt and broken elements of the system the Democrats helped design and have to be honest with themselves that no longer are functioning in the way that they want." [39:44]

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Notable Quotes

• Jon Stewart: "It is Trump's world and we're just cowering in it." [01:06]
• Sen. Chris Murphy: "It would cut by nearly 50% funding for medical research to take away nursing home care from millions of our seniors. There's more than a billion dollars of cuts to veteran benefits. I'm voting no." [04:43]
• Jon Stewart: "I will be a hard no. Vote no. Hell no." [05:01]
• Sen. Chris Murphy: "We need to be a party that stands for everybody in this country having access to happiness and success, not just the billionaires. We need to be a party that attacks corporate power." [26:52]
• Jon Stewart: "What they want is a cohesive message that feels like it addresses what people believe were the corrupt and broken elements of the system the Democrats helped design and have to be honest with themselves that no longer are functioning in the way that they want." [39:44]

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Conclusion

This episode serves as a critical examination of the Democratic Party's current strategies and shortcomings in effectively countering President Trump's agenda. Through sharp wit and incisive questioning, Jon Stewart and Senator Chris Murphy shed light on the urgent need for the Democrats to develop a unified, actionable vision that can resonate with voters and combat the entrenched influence of Republican strategies. The dialogue calls for introspection within the party and a recommitment to foundational principles that prioritize the well-being and empowerment of all Americans over corporate interests.

Transcript

[Jon Stewart]

Introducing Instagram teen accounts. A new way to keep your teen safer as they grow. Like making sure they always have their seatbelt on. All right, sweetie pie, buckle up. Good job. Or ring the bell on their bike. Okay, kid, give it a try. Nice. Or remember their elbow pads. Knees too. Okay? Yep. There you go. New Instagram teen accounts. Automatic protections for who can contact your teenage and the content they can see.

[Chris Murphy]

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, Shaun Stewart.

[Jon Stewart]

Welcome to the show. Hey, welcome to the Dallas show. My name is Jon Stewart. We got a great show for you tonight. By the way. We were on a break for a week and I got got my hair did. Looking pretty sharp. By the way, Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat from the great insurance state of Connecticut, will be joining me later to talk about how the Democrats are. Ladies and gentlemen, I gotta tell you something. It is Trump's world and we're just cowering in it. Over just the past few days, Donald Trump deported hundreds of Venezuelans to El Salvador. Despite a judge's order extraordinarily renditioned, a pro Palestinian Columbia student with a green card declared that CNN and MSNBC should be illegal. By the way, I'm not against everything he does. No. But perhaps most impressively, yesterday the president.

[Chris Murphy]

Played in a golf tournament at Trump International Golf Club in Palm Beach County.

[Jon Stewart]

He later took to social media to.

[Chris Murphy]

Announce his championship win, calling the victory.

[Jon Stewart]

A quot great honor. Oh, he won the tournament at Trump International. How did that happen? This dude's whole life, he's like the make a wish Batman kid. Hey, look at that, Donald. You called all the criminals. Look, I'm opposed to anyone rolling back American democracy, but I do tip the cap to any 78 year old winning a golf tournament. And by the way, still having enough energy left to stroll into the command center in his golf attire to bomb the shit out of Yemen. Yeah, now look, anyone can bomb the shit out of Yemen after nine holes, but 18. By the way, when he did that shift at McDonald's, did they just let him keep the headset? Is that while they're bombing the shit out of Yemen, he's like, hold on, I got fries at the drive through window. Hold on. By the way, by bombing Yemen, Donald Trump continued a presidential tradition dating back decades. It may have been what the Wright brothers invented the plane for. How much better do we have to make this for it to be able to reach and bomb the shit? Out of Yemen. But fear not, because Democrats put on the back foot finally have an opportunity to stand up and show their dispirited party they still have the principle and the backbone to face down this wannabe tyrant.

[Chris Murphy]

Republicans need at least eight Senate Democrats to reach the 60 required votes or the government's going to shut down at midnight tomorrow night.

[Jon Stewart]

Oh shit. It is on like Donkey Kong. It turns out the Byzantine Senate rules have presented a golden opportunity to the minority party because the budget the Republicans are proposing is a non starter.

[Chris Murphy]

This is a terrible cr.

[Jon Stewart]

A bill that is designed to hurt the American people.

[Chris Murphy]

It would cut by nearly 50% funding for medical research to take away nursing home care from millions of our seniors. There's more than a billion dollar of cuts to veteran benefits. I'm voting no.

[Jon Stewart]

I will be a hard no. Vote no. Hell no.

[Chris Murphy]

I am even more hell no.

[Jon Stewart]

Can you be more hell no? Is that like hell no? H e double hockey stick by the way. Like who's this dude fooling? You know that salty language isn't you merkley dollar in the swear jar. It's he double hockey sticks from now on. But this abomination of a budget shall not pass because Senator Schumer, please remind the people what is necessary.

[Chris Murphy]

Republicans do not have the votes in the Senate.

[Jon Stewart]

You don't have the votes. You need congressional approval. Cause you don't have the votes because the filibuster requires. I only saw the play once. You see Republicans. Your little evil budget plan might have worked if you hadn't forgotten that one. Senator Schumer is Charles in charge of the Democratic Party? I'm afraid your diabolical scheme has been foiled.

[Chris Murphy]

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer set off a firestorm heading into this weekend when.

[Jon Stewart]

He changed course and announced he would vote to move forward on a Republican backed funding bill. Turns out you had the votes. Republicans had the votes. What the happened?

[Chris Murphy]

I will vote to keep the government open. I believe it is my job to make the best choice for the country to minimize the harms to the American people.

[Jon Stewart]

But, but you had. But you had said it were terrible and. Oh. Oh, wait a minute. Oh shit. I know what's going on here, all right. I know what's going on here. Yeah, you had me going, Chucky. You probably got a little something out of this, didn't you old C shoe? You wouldn't have given up that powerful leverage on the budget for nothing. My guess is Chucky got some cheese. Did Schumer get anything from Republicans in exchange for those dumb Votes. He did not. Senator Schumer, no disrespect, but you are a disgrace to Jewish stereotypes about financial negotiations. That's just. I thought the whole point of us is that's what we do. But you're out there. How much is it? $5. How about I give you, like, what are you doing? And for those of you who may have felt like this was a total capitulation, Senator Schumer just felt like this wasn't the moment for Democrats to press their case because Trump is still too strong. When he went below 40% in the.

[Chris Murphy]

Polls, the Republican legislators started working with us.

[Jon Stewart]

He was at 51. He. He's now at 48.

[Chris Murphy]

We're gonna keep at it, keep at.

[Jon Stewart]

It, keep at it until he goes below 40.

[Chris Murphy]

When it happens, I am hopeful that our Republican colleagues will resume working with us.

[Jon Stewart]

You're gonna keep at it, keep at it, keep at it, keep at it. And what. This was it? This was the it that you would have been keeping at the keeping of the it. It's not the keeping of the it that's the issue. It's what the it. Don't you have to start it to keep at it? If this wasn't it, then what it? What is it? If this not be it? But apparently the grand plan is Dems keep fecklessly complaining until the 48 approval comes down to 40, which is a plan. But it's forgetting one crucial piece of information in Schumer's popularity calculation. Devastating cascading poll numbers for Democrats. Only 27% of voters have a positive view of the party. The lowest favorability rating in the history of NBC's polling. You're at 27%. You've got to get Trump to lose eight points of popularity just for you to get to the point where you're 13 points below him. Your approval is only 7 points above where it turns red and goes into low power mode. Maybe. Maybe you're not a numbers learner. Maybe a visual demonstration of where you. Here, let me meet you, where you live. All right, here we go. This is nice. I'm gonna do this. 48% approval. This is them. This is you. This is you. 27%. This is them. Oh, I see. They're much higher. Yes, they're much higher. And if you keep this up, you'll be wearing these on your dick. Do you understand? Jesus. Perhaps I'm being too hard on the senator, although I am not. Perhaps he has insider knowledge of a quiet, smoldering Republican amenability to compromise. Perhaps Underneath that hard shell of Republican intransigence is a soft nuggety center of responsible legislative leadership waiting to be freed. Bargains driven in the hallowed yet marbled halls of power. Or maybe someplace mustier. I talk to them. One of the places I told them.

[Chris Murphy]

To go, in the gym. You know, when you're on that bike in your shorts, panting away next to.

[Jon Stewart]

A Republican, a lot of the inhibitions come off. That's your plan? I'm gonna dangle my balls out of my shorts and maybe at the gym. Oh, you know, they're gonna lose all their inhibitions on the equipment. You know, actually, Chuck, I would like to work with you on Medicaid reform. And also, I never told anybody this, but I once jerked a guy off in a park. Oh, this elliptical, I just lose my inhib. And you know, I would probably be just a skosh more receptive to Schumer's theory of gym based negotiation strategies if it had worked the last time.

[Chris Murphy]

We talk to our Republican colleagues all the time.

[Jon Stewart]

I talk to them all in the gym.

[Chris Murphy]

When you're a 60 year old on.

[Jon Stewart]

A bike, panting in your shorts, the inhibitions sort of fall away. You know, I'm not here to posture shame, but for a guy who seems to be spending most of his life in the gym, a little less talky talk, a little more core. Second of all, in the gym, they're only being agreeable with you because they want you to leave them alone in the gym on the stationary bike. Oh, sure, Chuck, yeah, I'm definitely gonna do that. But I have to tell you something. Pedaling really hard and not going anywhere, it's a great metaphor for the Democratic Party right now. Really. Also, Ball slight, but for some reason, there is a persistent fiction within the Democratic Party that if they just hang out with Republicans in the gym or wait out Trump's popularity or give them concessions on a continuing resolution they said would harm the country, that Republicans will finally see the light. Democrats will be rewarded with productive bipartisanship. Or as they put it, this fever will break. All this excitement about Donald Trump, it's going to break.

[Chris Murphy]

So it is like a cult.

[Jon Stewart]

The fever will break.

[Chris Murphy]

Is this the night the fever will break?

[Jon Stewart]

The chance to break the fever. I believe at some point soon the fever will break.

[Chris Murphy]

I think you're gonna see the fever break.

[Jon Stewart]

President Obama saying, quote, now I believe.

[Chris Murphy]

When we're successful in this election that the fever may break.

[Jon Stewart]

If someone's been running a fever since the aughts, that's not a fever. That is their default resting temperature. This fiction that you are inventing this idea that somehow, oh, they'll come to their senses. It allows Democrats to keep thinking that Republicans are actually the ones in the precarious position.

[Chris Murphy]

They've got a very narrow margin in the House, a bit bigger margin in the Senate, and their goals are internally conflicting. They don't have the numbers.

[Jon Stewart]

Republicans need Democratic votes.

[Chris Murphy]

It's going to be clear they can't pass anything without Democratic help.

[Jon Stewart]

Congress won't be able to keep the lights on, let alone pass anything of.

[Chris Murphy]

Substance without the buy in and blessing of House Democrats and Hakeem Jeffries.

[Jon Stewart]

It's a great message, except Republicans have gotten everything through every crazy appointment. The guy who wrote the children's book on Russiagate runs the FBI, Tulsa Gabbard, RFK weekend, Fox and Friends guy. They all sail through literally. The only one that has failed so far is picking a Chucky doll that runs on cocaine and Viagra for Attorney General. And that's just because the Republicans personally hated him, probably for something he did at the gym. Look, you don't understand. These Republicans are committed to a plan born of ideological 50 to 60 year project to remake the United States. And classifying it as a fever excuses you from having to propose an alternative coherent vision and allows you to pretend that this is just an issue of messaging and not merit. Boy, are Dems busy fixing the messaging. Ambitious Democrats have a new game plan. They're going to yak it up about sports and go on more podcasts or whatever the hell this is.

[Chris Murphy]

Hi, I'm Congresswoman Sarah Jacobs.

[Jon Stewart]

Get ready with me while I explain.

[Chris Murphy]

To you how House Republicans are trying to give away your health care to give tax breaks to big corporations.

[Jon Stewart]

Last week, Republicans introduced their budget resolution. I'm sorry, I'm having difficulty focusing on what you're saying because I'm terrified that you're a hard yellow light away from getting ready with Dan Crenshaw. Obviously, that is not meant in any way to diminish Congressman Crenshaw's service and how he was wounded in Afghanistan making a Get Ready with Me video. Comedy's legal again, right? Perhaps nothing is as emblematic of this mismatch between the parties than the Democrats latest viral offering. Choose your character. Now, I understand Democrats would want to showcase that some of their members have not had hip replacement surgery yet. And I hope you understand whatever that last one was, I'm fighting you while taking a shit. Just understand this, whatever this is, is no match for the game Republicans are playing.

[Chris Murphy]

Finish him.

[Jon Stewart]

When we come back, Senator Chris Murphy. Don't go. Introducing Instagram Teen Accounts.

[Chris Murphy]

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[Jon Stewart]

Like making sure they always have their seatbelt on.

[Chris Murphy]

All right, buckle up.

[Jon Stewart]

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[Chris Murphy]

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[Jon Stewart]

Welcome to the Daily Show. My guest tonight, a third term U.S. senator from Connecticut. Please welcome the program, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy. Sir.

[Chris Murphy]

What, what do you, what do you really think about the Democratic Party? I didn't, I didn't pick that up.

[Jon Stewart]

What is happening? So just in, in this CR for the budget. Yeah. There was great resolve and unity about what a disaster this was for the American people. Chuck Schumer. They need us. If they don't have us, they don't get to pass it. And then he just flips. And I don't want to just blame it on him. There was clearly a decision was made within the Senate. Was there a meeting at a, was there a lunch where all the senators in the Democratic caucus had, I'm going to assume, mostly mushy food?

[Chris Murphy]

There is, there is, there is, there is Jell O served at every single one of our lunches.

[Jon Stewart]

I've been to the Senate. There is a chewing and digestion issue. Was there a discussion as to whether or not you would invoke the filibuster, not give them cloture? And how did that discussion go?

[Chris Murphy]

Yeah, there was a discussion and there was a disagreement. I don't listen, I don't agree with the decision a handful of my colleagues made. And this all, to me sits in context. Right. I mean, as you have Described what is happening right now is the billionaire takeover of our government, the highest level of corruption that we have ever seen coming out of the White House and by the way, attitude, the destruction of our democracy because they know that they can't get away with it if we can hold them accountable. And so this moment requires us to break norms. This moment requires us to take risks. And I get it. A lot of my colleagues said shutting down the government, being in a government shutdown, that's a risk that hands power to Donald Trump and Elon Musk. But how on earth are we going to ask the American people to take risks for us right when there's a five alarm constitutional fire and we need them to be out on the streets not, not with thousands or tens of thousands of people, but with hundreds of thousands of people if we're not willing to show courage and take risks ourselves.

[Jon Stewart]

Well, that, you know the idea and I've heard a lot of it. I think you bring up a lot of it at some point, but I hear a lot of the American people have to get involved. And it does feel a little bit like, well, we've gone to a Knicks game and they're getting their asses kicked and in a timeout they turn to the crowd and go like, you're in. Like, isn't, isn't the whole point. And I hear a lot of, like it's a billionaire takeover and it's a threat to democracy. What I don't hear a lot of is what are the three things that in that cr, if Chuck Schumer had any leverage, what are the three things he would have asked for? Other than what would he have asked for? Because I, I follow it pretty closely and I don't know.

[Chris Murphy]

Yeah, listen, so that CR transferred a bunch of money out of programs that help regular people. Right. There was money cut from housing programs and job training programs. That's bad for this country. It gave the President new authorities that he didn't have before the CR was passed.

[Jon Stewart]

What are the new authorities?

[Chris Murphy]

So for instance, one of them is that the President under the CR can start new military programs in the country that have not been authorized independently by Congress. And of course, but before we.

[Jon Stewart]

Ooh, Congress just authorized that. So it is authorized.

[Chris Murphy]

Well, we don't normally give that kind of open ended authorization to the President. Certainly not at a time when the President is regularly hourly abusing his statutory and constitutional authority. It seems like a pretty bad time to give him additional. So.

[Jon Stewart]

So Chuck Schumer could have said, I am going to filibuster this unless you keep the power of the military purse with us.

[Chris Murphy]

So this is the first time since I've been in Congress that we have not had a bipartisan full year spending bill. Right. That was negotiated with Republicans and Democrats, and that's what we wanted. We wanted to have a seat at the table. Listen, this was not going to be a perfect bill.

[Jon Stewart]

It was the saddest thing I've ever heard.

[Chris Murphy]

No, but you want it. But you don't want a full year spending bill passed without having some of your priorities in that bill. And that's not what ended up happening here. And I get it. The specter of the shutdown was real. You never know who's going to win a fight over a shutdown. But this seems to be a moment where our party should be taking some risks.

[Jon Stewart]

It didn't seem like they even tried.

[Chris Murphy]

Yeah, yeah, John. I mean, and again, I don't think you can ask the people of this country to do these exceptional things that are going to be necessary to save our democracy if we aren't willing to take risks. And it's not just what happened over the cr. Right. I mean, we have the opportunity to just say no to all legislation that's coming before the Senate unless it fixes the constitutional crisis. We didn't all have to show up to the State of the Union speech. We could have decided to do something extraordinary like boycott it en masse.

[Jon Stewart]

I thought the paddles, I thought, anytime you can take a page out of the Valentine heart candy playbook, little messages like, is it? Maybe this is begging the question. Maybe we need to step back and say, is the problem here not that the Democrats don't have a plan to fight it, it's that they actually don't have a plan, that they don't have a foundation of how they would look. This election was about the American people repudiating that government was serving their needs.

[Chris Murphy]

Right.

[Jon Stewart]

The Republicans have been working on this little project 2025 for 60 years. And the Democrats feel like they were just caught off guard. So what is, what is the foundational governing philosophy of the Democrats that addresses people's discomfort with the way that their government has been operating?

[Chris Murphy]

Yeah, I mean, listen, ultimately we need to be a party that stands for everybody in this country having access to happiness and success, not just the billionaires. We need to be a party that attacks corporate power. Right. So that people are in control of their lives. And listen, we do not hold the levers of power right now.

[Jon Stewart]

Right.

[Chris Murphy]

So we need to be clear with People that the things that are being broken right now are being broken by Republicans who asked to be in charge of the House and the Senate and the White House. And you are seeing.

[Jon Stewart]

But the public doesn't view them as breaking it. They view the Democrats as having broken it. That's my, My question is, is there a reflection on the Democratic side that part of what this is, is their theory on governance is somewhat broken? That. You know, let me explain it this way. Let me get a bit more specific example. If I'm a taxpayer, I feel like I pay money, I pay taxes, but I don't get health care. I have to buy insurance. So if I buy insurance, I get health care. Well, not really. I get access to a system that maybe will deny me my health care or maybe will do that. Have Democrats thought about, isn't that the fundamental problem with how people are viewing their government?

[Chris Murphy]

It shouldn't take 10 years to build a bridge. Right? It shouldn't take 5 years to get a subdivision permitted. Government is not working for people right now. And when I first got into politics, the Democratic Party every single day talked about reforming government, talked about reforming democracy, talked about getting big money out of politics, talked about strict ethics reform. And somewhere we lost our way at some point. That went from a top three issue to like a top 20 issue. And that allowed the Republican Party to become the party that was actually aggressive about reform in government. If we want to be credible. Anti corruption messengers. And by the way, this is the most corrupt White House, the most corrupt government we've ever seen.

[Jon Stewart]

Oh, thank God I stopped talking about me. This is the most corrupt show I have ever seen in my entire life.

[Chris Murphy]

Then as Democrats, we have to start talking about how we would fix it. And what happened in this last election, as you know, is that we made democracy the tent pole of the Harris campaign. And it looked like we were defending the existing democracy. This version of democracy is working for billionaires, corporations and the elites. And if we don't talk about how we're gonna change that, then we're not gonna be credible in this country.

[Jon Stewart]

But isn't it going to be, please enjoy your coffee? I think credibility, I think, is such an important word here, but it's something that is earned. And I see a Democratic Party that is way too comfortable with corporate lobbyists. A Democratic Party that God bless, that we can negotiate the price of 10 drugs. And that that's a huge victory. Like, if that doesn't send the message that this party is utterly out of touch with, it's not A party that understands, it seems, the power and leverage that government can have to fight corruption. It seems altogether too comfortable being a part of the corruption.

[Chris Murphy]

So listen, it all started during the Wall street crisis of 2008. The Democratic Party is supposed to be the party that breaks up the banks, not the party that bails out the banks, right? And it was that day the Democratic.

[Jon Stewart]

Party started to lose credibility for that, isn't it? Maybe it's Jimmy Carter opening up trade, it's Clinton deregulating the financial institutions. This is a long history of. Even when you think about Medicare or the aca, oftentimes those are just subsidies. Corporations love the aca. They're making a shit ton of money, billions of dollars.

[Chris Murphy]

So this party has become addicted recently to sort of writing people checks in order to compensate for the way in which the economy is rigged. I'm not saying that the child tax credit.

[Jon Stewart]

Now we're getting somewhere, baby. Come on. Why are you talking? Murphy, let's go.

[Chris Murphy]

So I'm not saying, right. I'm not saying that the child tax credit isn't a good thing or a little bit more money for your Obamacare subsidy isn't a good thing, but that doesn't make people feel good that you're having to give them a little bit of money to compensate for the fact that work doesn't pay in this country, that drug company CEOs are making out like bandits buying their seventh house. Right? Hallelujah.

[Jon Stewart]

Hallelujah.

[Chris Murphy]

So if you were really serious, if you were really serious about communicating a message that resonates with people, you wouldn't be talking about just negotiating in a different way for 10 drugs. You would be talking about putting a cap on the amount of money that any drug company can sell drugs to any American.

[Jon Stewart]

Is that so hard? That's the point. The point is simply the government subsidizes these corporations with billions of dollars and demands nothing in return.

[Chris Murphy]

That's right.

[Jon Stewart]

And isn't that the foundation of a governing philosophy? Maybe they could put it in a book. They could call it Project, something like. Is that work not being done? Because right now it looks like ad hoc people on TikTok making better brand for themselves. But the party seems utterly rudderless.

[Chris Murphy]

Okay, so two things. One, we viewed people like Bernie as an outlier threat to the Institutional Democratic Party, when in fact what he was talking about and is still talking about is the crossover message, right? Is the message that actually it's the.

[Jon Stewart]

Traditional Democratic message, that actually it's RFK.

[Chris Murphy]

Democrats and that pulls Trump voters back into the Democratic coalition. The second thing is this. The Republican party has paid for a permanent infrastructure around ideas and around messaging that makes something like Project 2025 possible. Whereas Democrats raise lots of money every two years, we blow it all on 30 second ads that disappear into the ether as soon as the election is done. Instead of actually building our own permanent infrastructure. So we could be selling our ideas like economic justice, like loving instead of fearing your neighbor, like breaking up powerful corporations every single day.

[Jon Stewart]

Practical ideas, common sense.

[Chris Murphy]

But sell them every day. Build the infrastructure in order to be.

[Jon Stewart]

Able to sell them every day. Clearly they have the money. Clearly there are think tanks. Is it because no one has brought the party together as an individual? Is it because the corporatist part of the party has been dominant?

[Chris Murphy]

Listen, I think the Republican Party has had some dominant figures, Some of them funders like the Kochs, some of them political figures like Donald Trump. The. The Democratic party hasn't had that kind of continuity of leadership. But there's also a consultant class inside the Democratic Party that makes a lot of money off of those 30 second ads. And they don't make as much money if you're actually developing ideas that last. And so breaking the grip of those consultants on the Democratic Party who have made a lot of money but have not actually produced as many votes as we would like, that's part of our challenge as well.

[Jon Stewart]

Right? No, listen, I couldn't agree more. Are you. It feels a little bit like the Democrats are standing on 34th street and they're looking up at the Empire State Building and they're going, we should build one of those. And we're like, oh, why didn't you? And they're like, I don't know. We, you know, opened up a papaya king a few blocks down today. But, you know, how far back in this process do you think the Democratic Party is? And is there even a consensus about beginning that process? Because it doesn't seem to be even nascent.

[Chris Murphy]

Yeah, but they are handing us the opportunity. Right? Donald Trump ran as a fake populist and he is there for the unmasking. Right. He has no clothes. I mean, don't. Right.

[Jon Stewart]

Fire shack.

[Chris Murphy]

Yeah, yeah, but. So they're literally every single day empowering the billionaires.

[Jon Stewart]

I've still got Chuck Schumer in the gym in my head, so don't. There's nothing you can say to me that is gonna wash that shit out of my br.

[Chris Murphy]

Yeah, some of us go to the gym, some of us don't. Shoot.

[Jon Stewart]

We're on an Elliptical. I'm sorry.

[Chris Murphy]

So it's there for the taking. Their only legislative agenda item of any consequence is another tax cut. All of the money going to the billionaires and the millionaires. So it's there for the taking to rebrand the Democratic Party as the true populist party party. But it takes.

[Jon Stewart]

But not rebranding, actually remaking and doing.

[Chris Murphy]

Yes, and listen, we are the party that actually has ideas that transfer power from the powerful to the powerless. We have been a little bit too addicted to incrementalism, but they are handing us the opportunity to go out and rip from their coalition. Right? People who actually do care about reordering fairness in our economy and are looking at these guys and realizing, you know what? The economy still sucks. My income isn't going up. And it kind of feels like the only people that are benefiting are Elon Musk and their billionaire friends. So, like, take the moment and build a set of ideas that are big and hairy and transfer power in a meaningful, easily to understand way for the power of the.

[Jon Stewart]

But that's what I'm saying. You want there. I don't tell them to do it.

[Chris Murphy]

You invited me here.

[Jon Stewart]

Sitting here yelling at the screen. These people. Look at these people. Look how sad these people are. They're just sad. Every day I come in before the show. Do you have any questions? What are they going to do? I don't know. I'm here on Mondays.

[Chris Murphy]

So you can't get. So you can't, I don't think, get a lot lower than 27%. Right.

[Jon Stewart]

I wouldn't bet on it for.

[Chris Murphy]

And listen here. The opportunity of this moment. Moment is given how legitimately upset people are at what has happened over the last week. This is an opportunity for the Democratic Party collectively to show that we are ready to meet this moment. Show that we are ready to.

[Jon Stewart]

If you had to put together the dream team tomorrow to start this project, who are. What are the groups that you're pulling together? What are the people? And how are they getting started on creating this cohesive governing philosophy that says government is still important as a counterweight to not just legislative power or executive power, but of corporate power and of world interventionist power. And we need it. Could you name three people that you'd put on that task tomorrow?

[Chris Murphy]

Well, listen, I think every single Democrat has to be a part of this. I mean, again, I reject this idea that, that people like Bernie are threats to our electoral success. I think these ideas centering our entire conversation around asking the billionaires to transfer a little Bit of their success to everybody else is core to the sort of existential future of the party. And we need to bring this conversation everywhere. This is our project right now. We can't stay in Washington and win this fight. Right. We have got to be.

[Jon Stewart]

I don't think they're gonna let you stay in Washington.

[Chris Murphy]

We have gotta bring.

[Jon Stewart]

But three people don't come to mind because I can't see Bernie anymore. Sweet Bernie in his sweater, walking the Capitol grounds, out of breath, going like, AOC and I, we're gonna go. We're gonna be in Colorado, we're gonna be in Nevada. Come out and see us. I don't know what these people are doing, but I'm doing my best. Like, there's gotta be another answer to that.

[Chris Murphy]

But. Right, but, you know, listen, 10,000 people are showing up for Bernie, but a thousand people are showing up on a dime. For any Democrat who's got a message that resonates, people are desperate to do something right now. They want to be plugged into action. And so we need to be out there giving people mission sets. Go to your Republican member of Congress's office. If they're not going to come out and do a town hall, tell them what $880 billion of Medicaid cuts would do to your community. Right. Raise your voice online. Go to your state capitol. If we show up and give people action sets, they are going to respond. This is one of these rare moments where it's not like we're asking people to do something and they won't do it. It's the American people asking us to do things that we aren't willing to do.

[Jon Stewart]

What they want is a cohesive message that feels like it addresses what people believe were the corrupt and broken elements of the system the Democrats helped design and have to be honest with themselves that no longer are functioning in the way that they want.

[Chris Murphy]

Make government work again and make it work for everybody, not just, whoa.

[Jon Stewart]

Make government work again. Hold on a second. Oh, man. Hey, everybody, hold on. Maguire. Senator Chris Murphy, who would write that.

[Chris Murphy]

Introducing Instagram teen accounts.

[Jon Stewart]

A new way to keep your teen.

[Chris Murphy]

Safer as they grow. Like making sure they've got the right.

[Jon Stewart]

Gear for writing knee pads, shack and helmet. Done. See you, dad.

[Chris Murphy]

New Instagram teen accounts. Automatic protections for who can contact your.

[Jon Stewart]

Teen and the content they can see.

[Chris Murphy]

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[Jon Stewart]

Hey, that's our show for tonight, but before we get, we're going to check in with your host for the rest of the week, Mr. Jordan Klepper. Jordan, what's on deck this week? Well, Judd, Judd, I got to tell you, it is March Madness, a month. An exciting college basketball tournament starts this week, and I've already got my bracket filled out. It's already busted. Damn it. Damn it. There goes Jordan Jr. S little college fund. Jordan, the games haven't even started yet, so he didn't. You didn't blow it. You didn't blow any of the money. The thing hasn't even. Who'd you pick to win the whole thing? The New England Conservatory of Music? You blew it. Jordan Clapper, everybody. Also, oh, I meant to tell you this. March 31st, I'm hosting a Night of Too Many Stars at the Beacon Theatre right here in New York City. Live comedy event benefiting autism programs nationwide. If you're in town. Yeah, Come see us. It's gonna be an unbelievable lineup, many great stars. We'd love to have you there, raise a little money for these programs that are suffering because, as you know, when public money leaves private, people are. Here it is. Your moment is end.

[Chris Murphy]

It's Fisher cut bait time for Senator Schumer. He's gotta either urinate or get off the pot.

[Jon Stewart]

Vivid imagery there from Senator John Kennedy.

[Chris Murphy]

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 Paramount podcasts.