Unpacking NOLA and Cybertruck Attacks & An Unusually Civil Jan. 6 | Rep. Jamie Raskin

Summary

The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Summary of "Unpacking NOLA and Cybertruck Attacks & An Unusually Civil Jan. 6 | Rep. Jamie Raskin"

Release Date: January 7, 2025
Host: Jon Stewart
Guest: Congressman Jamie Raskin, Maryland’s 8th Congressional District Representative and Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee

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1. Introduction and January 6th Commentary

Jon Stewart opens the episode with his trademark satirical take on the January 6th certification ceremony of the U.S. elections. He humorously critiques the perceived futility and theatricality of the event, highlighting the continued tensions surrounding the process.

• Notable Quote:
  • “What a historic day in Washington, D.C. it is, as many of you know, January 6th.” [00:35]

2. Analysis of the New Orleans Terrorist Attack

Stewart shifts focus to a recent terrorist attack in New Orleans, analyzing the incident's implications on national security and political discourse. He discusses the initial reports naming Shamsud Din Jabbar as the suspect and satirizes the immediate politicization of the event.

• Notable Quote:
  • “A radical Muslim named Din Jabbar illegally crossing the border to commit violence against Americans.” [06:12]

Stewart critiques the rush to blame border policies without substantial evidence, mocking the simplistic narratives often presented in political debates.

3. The Tesla Cybertruck Explosion at Trump Towers

The podcast delves into the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump Towers Hotel in Las Vegas. Stewart humorously dissects the absurdity of the event, questioning the motives behind it and the intelligence of the perpetrator.

• Notable Quote:
  • “Cybertruck exploded outside a Trump Hotel. So even terrorists are political cartoonists now.” [08:16]

He further highlights the irony of the attacker professing support for both Donald Trump and Elon Musk, pointing out the nonsensical nature of the act.

• Notable Quote:
  • “The cybertruck bomber guy...it really seems more of a demanding you hang in there.” [15:11]

4. Exploring the Perpetrator’s Profile and Manifesto Critique

Stewart offers a critical view of the perpetrator's background, emphasizing the incongruity between the individual's mundane professional life and the extreme act of terrorism. He mocks the simplistic and unconvincing nature of the attacker’s manifesto, suggesting a lack of genuine ideological motivation.

• Notable Quote:
  • “These attacks are really frightening and add to this feeling of societal tenuousness...” [14:10]

5. Interview with Congressman Jamie Raskin

The latter half of the episode features an interview with Congressman Jamie Raskin. The discussion centers around the events of January 6th, the current political climate, and the internal dynamics within the House of Representatives.

Key Discussion Points:

• January 6th Certification: Raskin describes the day as largely uneventful and peaceful, contrasting it with previous years’ tumultuous events.

  • Quote: “Today was actually a totally uneventful and peaceful and nonviolent day.” [21:03]

• House Dynamics: Raskin elaborates on the narrow margins within the House, highlighting the challenges Democrats face in advancing legislation amidst Republican infighting.

  • Quote: “We're down to 219 to 215 because Matt Gaetz left...” [23:34]

• Electoral College Debate: He advocates for the abolition of the Electoral College, citing its flaws and historical instances where it has contradicted the popular vote.

  • Quote: “Why don't we actually come together and step forward? I mean, the Electoral College can get you killed these days.” [27:05]

• Democratic Strategy: Raskin emphasizes the importance of organizing and engaging young voters through initiatives like Democracy Summer to counteract GOP influence.

  • Quote: “The future really is with the young people, and we need them.” [32:37]

• Media and Communication: He acknowledges the need for Democrats to better communicate and connect with diverse audiences in the fragmented media landscape.

  • Quote: “We have to be a lot better about getting in front of the different audiences...” [34:10]

Notable Exchange:

• Jon Stewart: “Democracy Summer sounds like really the worst camp anybody's ever been to.” [31:27]
• Jamie Raskin: “I invite you to come and appear. I think you'll find something very different.” [31:42]

6. Concluding Remarks

The episode wraps up with Stewart commendingly addressing Raskin’s contributions, both in the Judiciary Committee and his broader political efforts. There’s a light-hearted exchange about future appearances and the importance of youth engagement in politics.

• Notable Quote:
  • “Your work in those committees is really... something to watch.” [35:24]

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Key Insights and Conclusions

• Political Polarization: The episode underscores the deepening divide in American politics, with Stewart and Raskin highlighting the intense partisan conflicts and their implications for governance.

• Security and Policy Critique: Stewart’s analysis of the New Orleans attack and the Cybertruck explosion serves as a critique of simplistic policy responses to complex security issues, emphasizing the need for nuanced understanding.

• Democratic Strategy: Raskin's interview provides a strategic outlook on how Democrats plan to navigate the current political landscape, focusing on grassroots mobilization and engaging younger voters to build a more resilient party base.

• Media’s Role: Both hosts touch upon the evolving role of media in shaping political narratives, stressing the importance of effective communication strategies to reach diverse and fragmented audiences.

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This episode of The Daily Show: Ears Edition masterfully blends humor with incisive political commentary, offering listeners both entertainment and thoughtful analysis of pressing national issues.

Transcript

[Jon Stewart]

You're listening to Comedy Central from the.

[Jamie Raskin]

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]

Happy New Year. Awesome. Please. Very nice. Thank you. Thank you. Welcome to the Daily Show. Welcome to the frozen tundra of New York City. My name is Jon Stewart. What? What a historic day in Washington, D.C. it is, as many of you know, January 6th. It is January 6th. And as you can see, once again, a blanket of angry white descending on the Capitol. This white, oddly enough, not as disruptive. It did snarl traffic, but a lot less bear spray and Confederate flags. Of course it is January 6th. It is the day that traditionally we now pretend that we knew was a big deal in terms of certifying the elections. Be honest, before that insurrection, you had no idea that was a ceremony. You had no idea there was a January 6th ceremony or what it did or why it did. Now you just gotta act like, oh, yes, the reading of the election, so important. But let's get to it. It always begins with the traditional children's procession where they bring in boxes filled with the cremated remains of their dead pets, and then they dump them all the ashes on the speaker's desk, and then the speaker blows on the dust until the name of the president elect is conjured in the mist. America is a wondrous land. But it's good to see them bringing in the boxes there. Nice to know that democracy now has pallbearers. So, so trenchant. Of course, the ultimate indignity of this January 6th is that Donald Trump's opponent, Kamala Harris, because she is the vice president, serves as the master of ceremonies to this. Really, you are a very reactive and sad group. The empathy, the charts with this group. Kamala Harris has to be the master of seminaries. Poor baby. But it does suck. The votes for President of the United States are as. Donald J. Trump of the state of Florida has received 312 votes. Kamala D. Harris. That's gotta sting. She's like, um, I can hear you. God damn. It's like attending your own funeral. And even the mourners are like, woo hoo. I can't imagine anything that would be more uncomfortable than standing there while the crowd applauds. Your opponent, Kamala D. Harris of the state of California has received 226 votes. Wait, that sounded louder. There's a lot of joy in that room. I think she could still win this thing. She just needs to find like 130,000 votes in Georgia and then, you know, Tell me. Michigan and Pennsylvania. Maybe Wisconsin. Maybe that's the flipped North Carolina. But ultimately, the certification ceremony that we all look forward to every four years since I was little went off without a hitch because it's amazing how smoothly our democracy can work when you don't act like a little bitch when you lose. Not naming names, just saying. But it was lovely to begin this new political year on a peaceful and calm note, because the actual new year was really quite rougher. You know, the hopeful dreams of a peaceful new year filled with love and camaraderie, of people in Times Square holding in their pee for 12 hours, shattered by a terrorist attack at 3:15am in New Orleans. The attack was sudden and horrific and sent law enforcement scrambling to find the perpetrators and viewers scrambling to find out if the perpetrators, once found, would validate or invalidate their previously held political viewpoints. We are hearing local reports that the suspect has been named as Shamsud Din Jabbar, which would indicate Middle Eastern descent. Oh, would it? You don't believe he's of the Mayflower dinger bars? The Connecticut dinger bars. I'm going over to the country club today. We're gonna play around with Ginger. So point one maga. The FBI confirming that an ISIS flag was located in that Ford F150 pickup truck when the attack occurred. ISIS flag. That's two zero MAGA. It's best of five. Papa needs a brand new reason to deport everybody. We do know that the vehicle crossed.

[Jamie Raskin]

Through Eagle Pass, Texas, crossed the border two days ago.

[Jon Stewart]

A radical Muslim named Din Jabbar illegally crossing the border to commit violence against Americans. Yahtzee. And while normally the right in tragedy would caution us to take a moment for thoughts and prayers for the victims and not politicize it, that's only when they think they're on the wrong side of this shit. The Biden administration has created an environment that allows things like this to happen. Mr. Trump is blaming the Biden administration's open border policies. We've been saying for over that there's likely to be a terrorist attack on.

[Jamie Raskin]

Our home soil with an open southern border.

[Jon Stewart]

No time for thoughts and prayers. Deploy the Continental 48 cloche. That's the, that's, that's, that's called a cloche. It's, you know, in the diner and you're like, I'll have that pie. And they act like someone's going to steal the pie and they put it under that thing. That's called a cloche. And that's the basis of the joke. Of course. No, no. What I love most about this job is the ability to educate on the various paraphernalia found at diners. Of course, the judgment that the networks came to was, of course, rushed to. Now we're hearing from multiple reports that he was an American citizen, he was in the Army Reserves, that he wasn't some illegal immigrant that came across the border. Lift the cloche. Look, the cloche has been deployed. You must lift the cloche or the thing in the D. All right, so it didn't turn out to be the ironclad argument for sealed borders that the right was hoping for. But fear not, more chaos to come.

[Jamie Raskin]

Breaking news out of Las Vegas, where a Tesla cybertruck exploded outside the Trump Towers Hotel.

[Jon Stewart]

Cybertruck exploded outside a Trump Hotel. So even terrorists are political cartoonists now. A little on the nose, don't you think? I mean, come on. I think it's pretty clear what's going on here. Have at it, boys. John, I'm going to point out the obvious. He goes to the Trump resort in Las Vegas. Donald Trump. He's in a Tesla cybertruck. Elon Musk. This was a statement he was making.

[Jamie Raskin]

A statement about Trump, about Elon.

[Jon Stewart]

Should the FBI be treating this as another attempt on Trump's life, even though he wasn't at the hotel at the time? Why the not? I saw a car accident outside his hotel in New York. Let's make that number four or five. Who cares what's really happening? But unfortunately, even for that narrative, the statement by the bomber was actually, I think Trump is awesome.

[Jamie Raskin]

Officials say the man who blew up a Tesla cybertruck outside a Vegas Trump hotel expressed support for President Elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk, saying Americans need to, quote, rally behind President elect Donald.

[Jon Stewart]

Trump and Elon Musk. Far be it from me to tell someone how they should express their affection. I've worked for years to become more open, but even I know that blowing up someone's shit in front of more of their shit therapy business call a mixed message. So neither end of the illegal immigrant, anti American parlay has hit. But don't let reality ruin a good narrative. The person who committed the attack was indeed an American citizen. But let's not take our eyes off the bigger picture here, which is that over the past four years, millions of people have come into the country. My goodness, what else don't we know? If these are a couple of people who are homegrown, what don't we know of all of these people who have come across the border yes, yes, clearly we have a problem over here. So what about over there? It turns out that American born extremists not only show we have to close the border, they also take the wind out of the left's other favorite policy prescriptions. This also should lay bare the idea that gun control is gonna make us safer. You know, we're using.

[Jamie Raskin]

What are we gonna do? Start pre registering people for car or giving background checks for people to get cars?

[Jon Stewart]

I saw it. You got halfway through that point and you're like, no, oh, oh, I don't. I could almost see it when your brain was. I don't want to go down that road. Oh, what are we going to have to do now? Register our abort? No, don't say abort. Duh. I don't know what's happening. Putting on a one man show over there. Well, what are we gonna make people get licenses for their good girl? What it seems to show is that people have a tremendous ability to fit whatever happens into their predetermined dogmatic worldview. It's not a rush to judgment as much as like a gag reflex. Which is why in the immediate aftermath of these terrible events, we all wait to see whose worldview will be validated. And it makes it doubly frustrating that the FBI feels the need to play into the demand for immediate answers when they couldn't possibly know them yet. I give you the FBI four hours after the attack. This is not a terrorist event. Just say you don't know yet because a couple of hours later, when you find out what's really going on, you're just gonna look dumb. The FBI, we are working with our partners to investigate this as an act of terrorism. Okay? No harm, no foul. It's not like you played into the fears of co conspirators out there lining the streets with explosives. We do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible. The FBI has recovered video surveillance video that appears to show three. Three men and one woman appearing to help put IEDs, what are believed to be IEDs at locations in the French Quarter. Holy shit. IEDs in the French Quarter. I guess I have no option but to violently confront anyone in the vicinity that I believe is operating a sleeper cell. Police interviewed those four individuals and now believe that they just were bystanders who happened to look suspic. But I already killed them. Look, they happen to look suspicious in New Orleans. Oh, what were they wearing? Beads in the winter, Little sparkle and glitter. What were they carrying around? Musical instruments. And seemingly too upbeat for a funeral.

[Jamie Raskin]

It Turns out those were just patrons.

[Jon Stewart]

On the street that were looking inside the coolers. Yes, nothing more suspicious than people on Bourbon street at three in the morning looking inside coolers. I also arrested some ladies who were lifting up their shirts, clearly signaling to the other jihadists. These attacks are really frightening and add to this feeling of societal tenuousness that we've all been ingesting since. I'm going to go with the creation of Facebook. Almost more frightening is that we can't place these attackers into the normal, neat boxes of disturbed, bullied loners. Not only do they not fit into neat ideological packages, they almost seem uncomfortably normal. The ISIS supporting Jabbar. This is him from a while back.

[Jamie Raskin]

I'm Shamsa Dane Jabbar, property manager with Blue Metal Properties and team lead at the Midas group at Core Realty. I just want to say hello and let you know a little bit about me. So I'm born and raised in Beaumont, Texas and now live in Houston.

[Jon Stewart]

Here's the crazy thing. He's the terrorist. I'd have bought real estate from this guy. He seems totally run of the mill guy who's been life coached up. He's even got the, if you notice there in the background, the basic bitch motivational discipline posters. Go all in, Take responsibility, be disciplined. Terrorists generally don't have those posters. I don't remember Bin Laden having to remind himself to hang in there, by the way. This is true. Just as a side note, that is the original hang in there baby poster. I don't remember. I had one that was like a super cute orange kitty. But this one, it really seems more of a like demanding you hang in there. Like, like, like it's in black. Like, like it doesn't really look like a kitty trying to like give you. It looks more like De Niro and Cape Fear doing like pull ups in a cell and being like I will you up. Like that is not that cat. That cat would. If you died, that cat would eat you and crawl inside and go to sleep. Although I guess most cats would. All right, look, I don't like these terrorists and killers having such vibrant digital trails. I don't want them to be relatable. The cybertruck bomber guy, you see some of the photos on Facebook. He did a lot of traveling. There's one photo of him that was actually taken in Thailand. I nap and look at Luigi Mangioni. This guy was a hooded professional assassin with a silencer. And now we gotta watch him deliver the valedictory speech at his high school.

[Jamie Raskin]

As I Conclude my speech. I have to remember that a valedictory.

[Jon Stewart]

By definition is a farewell. By the way, where did that kid go to high school? They all look like extras in a consent video. I'm not trying to be a dick, but it looks like everybody in the background looks like they're about to go like, all right girls, who wants some grain alcohol? And now we all gotta wait around on pins and needles for their motive. Have to know why. What's the road from real estate wannabe to the west is decadent and they have left manifestos, but their manifestos suck. Luigi Mangione, who was allegedly so obsessed with health care costs that it drove him to murder. Here's what he wrote in his manifesto. Frankly, I do not pretend to be the most qualified person to lay out the full argument. I'm just the muscle. I'm not the idea. I don't know anything about it. I just know, you know, finally, someone willing to stand up for what he isn't really sure he believes in. To be quite honest, I urge the news media, don't even call these manifestos. These are an insult to manifestos. Throwing something down on your notes app is not a manifesto. You know what, say what you want about Ted Kaczynski, the man put in the work cabin with no plumbing. 35,000 words, old school typewriter, double spaced bibliography, table of contents. I think it had been blurbed by other crazy people. If you have to read one manifesto this year, Charles Manson. These other guys are out there. Hey, chatgpt, write me a concise screen against the healthcare industry as though it were a Drake rap. Like this is. The point is, I don't know what's going on here. Where normal seeming people have a setback in their life, end up online, down some rabbit hole. The algorithm amplifies their anger and fears, and all of a sudden you're releasing a half assed manifesto and shooting the place up. It doesn't have to be this way. So a plea to all the would be terrorists that are out there. Hey girl, down on your luck. Girlfriend left you. Job's a dead end. Spend a lot of time watching whatever YouTube autoplay is showing you. And now you've got some ideas. How about you don't kill everybody, just do what everybody else does in that situation, get a podcast. That way nobody dies. You get a podcast, nobody dies. You can still terrorize people. And no, I do not want to be on it. When we come back, we'll be talking to Congressman Jamie Raskin. Don't go away. Hey, welcome back to the Daily Show. My guest tonight, he represents Maryland's 8th congressional district in the House of Representatives. He was elected ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, and he joins me now from Washington, D.C. please welcome the program Congressman Jamie Raskin. Sir, hello. How are you, sir? Thank you. Thank you for joining us. I imagine, sir, a very hectic day. Did they do the traditional chasing of the Congress people through the bowels of the building?

[Jamie Raskin]

Yeah, well, luckily it was snowing outside, so all the insurrectionists were slipping and falling on the road and everything. But no, we. Today was actually a totally uneventful and peaceful and nonviolent day. It's what January 6th should be, and it's what it used to be like, I suppose.

[Jon Stewart]

Congressman, is it hard on a day like today seeing the way that it went, not to be passive aggressive to the Republican colleagues, to not be like, oh, hey, look at this, done by one. Hey, oh, my God, we can go out to Fridays and eat apps. Because there was no rioting.

[Jamie Raskin]

Yeah. I mean, the whole thing took like maybe 25 minutes. It should have taken 15 minutes. But some of our Republican colleagues confused it with the Republican National Convention. And they were cheering and applauding and yelling. We were just there to count the votes and we were not there to, you know, continue the campaign. But yeah, I mean, I talked to my friend Lauren Boebert and I asked her how she enjoyed it, and she said it was great because no Democrats had made any objections. And I said it was terrific because nobody tried to assassinate the vice president. So, you know, we were all happy with how it went.

[Jon Stewart]

That's a good point. Now, at any point with Lauren Boebert when you say something like that, and I'm assuming that this doesn't happen, but does she ever say touche?

[Jamie Raskin]

Lauren's actually very funny, you know, like it's sort of like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. You're either a Marjorie Taylor Greene person or you're a Lauren Boebert person. And I'm a Lauren Boebert person myself, although they call her Lauren Gropert, which really isn't fair.

[Jon Stewart]

So there's a lot of passive aggression down there.

[Jamie Raskin]

There is indeed.

[Jon Stewart]

What is. Now, things aren't going to change much in the House because Johnson was the speaker before the Republicans controlled the House. So generally, other than some changing of committee chairmanship and your being elevated to ranking, what's going to be different for Democrats in the House in this new session?

[Jamie Raskin]

They've got a much narrower margin now. So I think we're down to 219 to 215 because Matt Gaetz left and then Elise Stefanik's on her way out and Mike Walls. Oh, I appreciate that cheer. And so it'll be 217 to 215, which means they cannot afford to lose a single vote. And they've already suffered the defection of Congresswoman Spartz from Indiana, who got so mad about the fact that she wasn't put on the committee she wanted that she has left the Republican conference and is an independent now. And we haven't even started deliberations yet. So I think we're going to be in good shape to exploit some of the conflicts and contradictions going on within the Republican conference. I think you probably saw, John, that the enraged nativist racist MAGA bases upset with Elon Musk and the Broligarchs who want to bring in tens of thousands more cheap foreign laborers. And so that's something that's already starting to explode in terms of the Republican politics. But there's a bunch of issues like that, including abortion, where there's still some libertarians who don't want to go near it. But the theocratic majority within MAGA, led by Mike Johnson, say that life begins at conception. And so they've been trying to ban it nationally. And we expect that to come back and hopefully we'll be able to pull over some of the lingering pro choice Republicans.

[Jon Stewart]

Right. Is that more a question of, you know, in terms of. Because when you don't control in the House especially. The House especially is kind of a zero sum game. The Senate rules are sort of so antiquated and bizarre and you need 60 for this and cloture for this and three quarters for this. The House really is. Even if you have one other member, you control all of who gets called before Congress. You get to control the witnesses, you get to control the legislation. Does that make it harder for Democrats even on a purely logistical, mechanical way?

[Jamie Raskin]

Yeah, it does. Because over on the Senate side they've got the filibuster. So each senator theoretically can throw a monkey wrench into the whole thing. Whereas, you know, we've got our rules Committee and we adopt the rule, and the rule is usually whatever the majority wants. In fact, they wrote the first partisan discrimination into House rules and history saying that they're going from one person to move to vacate to seven members moving to vacate, but they've got to be from the majority party. So it would be like saying, you know, only Republicans can move to adjourn or move to reconsider a vote, but they voted for that. And one of my new colleagues actually from Rhode island said, this is outrageous. This violates equal production. Go to the Supreme Court. And I was like, yeah, we've been there. We've done that. The Roberts Court is not exactly all over these unconstitutional.

[Jon Stewart]

You gotta tell the new kids, like, oh, I've got some bad news for you about that Supreme Court. They're gonna do that. Are there things, though, like, can the Republicans do that with, like, the debt ceiling? Like, I know there were a lot of Democrats who thought that the debt ceiling fights were ridiculous and really limited their ability to get anything done. Are there any sort of. Can the Republicans say we're going to remove the debt ceiling, but only for four years and basically force for whatever they want to do and spend on they can do, and if Democrats regain control, that all goes away again? Yeah.

[Jamie Raskin]

I mean, fortunately, they're more divided than they are, even hateful of us, so they can't get together to get anything done. If you look at the last Congress, the only way that we kept the government afloat and going was Democrats coming in to bail out Mike Johnson. And I think it's going to be the same thing. I do think there could be some issues where we get together. For example, Donald Trump is very proud of the fact that he beat Kamala by 3 million votes. And we are proud of the fact that Joe Biden beat Donald Trump by 7 million votes in 2020. But if they're proud of the popular vote, why don't we get rid of the Electoral College and start electing the president the way we elect everybody else, like representatives and senators and mayors and governors. Why don't we actually come together and step forward? I mean, the Electoral College can get you killed these days, as we saw in 2020. And it's given us five popular vote losers in our history, twice in this century, Donald Trump and George W. Bush. So let's move forward on that. Why don't we get together on that?

[Jon Stewart]

Is that before or after they add the conservative provinces of Canada to the popular vote total? Like, I just get the sense that they're always one step ahead. They're like, sure, let's do that. Oh, welcome, Alberta. Like, they'll do something that just screws it. And is there something in here, too? Congressman, I want to ask you, isn't there a certain something freeing for the Democrats right now having nothing to do with the Republicans and their infighting and all that? I follow this relatively closely enough to look like this now I'm 27. I follow it relatively closely. I don't know who's in charge of the Democratic Party. I don't know the direction you're going. Isn't there something enlivening about the opportunity before Democrats right now to rethink, to have that opportunity? Almost a rumspringer, if you will. You don't control the judicial, the Congress, the executive. You have the opportunity to recreate what this party will be going forward. Is there a process for that? Is there a desire for that?

[Jamie Raskin]

Yes. And being in the minority definitely is a lot more fun and it invites a lot of creativity. And it's, you know, it's a riot in the pre January 6th sense of.

[Jon Stewart]

The word slogan that's going to fly with most minorities. I think most minorities would be like.

[Jamie Raskin]

But look, we now have the opportunity to organize for massive democratic victory in 2026. And that's exactly what we're doing, because we think that everywhere they're headed is so extreme that the vast majority of the American people are going to reject it. Most Americans do not want to ban abortion across the country. Most Americans do not want to deport 12 million people. Most Americans don't want to turn the Department of Justice into an instrument of revenge and retaliation. And we're going to be standing up every single day, John, for the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the freedoms and rights of the people.

[Jon Stewart]

Do you think it's going to be a lot of work, but I look forward to seeing how it goes. Do you think, you know, with this election being sort of a repudiation boy, there's nothing worse in politics than having to govern. It seems like it. Just when everybody gets mad at the status quo, do you think the leadership from the Democratic Party, the future of it is going to come from Washington, which is so. The brand is so diluted at this point for the American people, or do you think it's going to be more from the state houses and the governors? Where do you think that energy is going to come from in your mind?

[Jamie Raskin]

I mean, look, I think it's going to come from all over the country. I think it's going to come from Democracy Summer, the project we've got for young people all over America to learn about the history of social change in the country and to get involved in digital organizing and canvassing and organizing and, you know, it might come from our two new states. And I'm not talking about Panama and Greenland. I'm Talking about Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, which we are fighting to admit as new states begin.

[Jon Stewart]

But you don't control anything. You can't get these things done. By the way, Congressman, let me just say this. Democracy Summer sounds like really the worst camp anybody's ever been to. That is. That does not sound like.

[Jamie Raskin]

Well, I invite you to come and appear. I think you'll find something very different. I mean, these young people.

[Jon Stewart]

Oh, Congressman, would you invite. If you guys listen to me, if you have a retreat. Oh, would I love to come down there and.

[Jamie Raskin]

All right, you will be our guest comedic speaker at Democracy Summer.

[Jon Stewart]

I'm taking over this bitch. I'm coming down there, Raskin.

[Jamie Raskin]

All right, well, look, I gotta tell you, we've got. I should have brought it with me, but we've got the most beautiful poster in the world that Shepard Fairey made for us. He's the guy who did the Obama Hope poster. He made a Democracy Summer poster for us. The future really is with the young people, and we need them. And there's a major battle going on for young America right now, and we need young people in the Democratic Party to lose.

[Jon Stewart]

What was the hardest part? So many constituencies moved to the right. What was the one that stung the most? Was it Latino voters made a big move? Men and women. But young people, surprisingly, were the ones that really made a move. And until you sort of get together and decide what that core value is of the party, isn't it hard to have a plan to gain those demographics back?

[Jamie Raskin]

Well, there's no doubt that the right wing social media outlets and the talk shows and the podcasts have been targeting young men especially. And so that's why, look, I'm a 62 year old grandfather now, which means I'm in the younger part of the party in Congress, but my kids are in their 20s, okay? And I know what's going on with young people in their 20s, and they're being targeted. And we need to organize. And as the GOP turns itself into a cult with authoritarian habits of submission and obedience to authority, we have got to be a lot more like an open school for America to come in and to get educated about what's really going on and to feed people not lies and conspiracy theories, but facts and the truth. So I invite you very much, Jon Stewart, to come out. You'll be our kickoff speaker for democracy summer 2025.

[Jon Stewart]

In your heart, do you feel like Democrats are being honest with themselves about what happened or. I'm hearing a lot of, quite frankly, excuses that feel like, oh, we just didn't message well, or if I had only knocked on that door four times. Are they being honest enough with what their actual ideas are in terms of popularity within the American people and all those things, or do you feel like it's still about, geez, if we just had better podcasting, we would have won?

[Jamie Raskin]

Well, you know, it's a process for trying to figure it out. It's not like the election's over on November 5th and November 6th. You know exactly what happened. I mean, it's a complicated situation, but, you know, I'll tell you that everybody is very serious about trying to figure out, both substantively, what went wrong, but also what went wrong in terms of not connecting with different communications audiences out there. And as you know, it's not like the mainstream media is the mainstream media anymore. Everybody's getting their news and their ideas in different places. And we do have to be a lot better about getting in front of the different audiences that have grown up in this new system.

[Jon Stewart]

Well, sir, we really appreciate. There's very few people I like to listen to more than you, and especially on that Judiciary Committee, boy, I. Look, your work in those committees is really. Sometimes I feel like I'm watching, like, Matlock, like, the way you. You walk up there and you just slowly disassemble the logic and all those different things. It's really something to watch, man. And I think we all look forward to seeing those hearings soon. And we really appreciate you taking the time with us this evening. And is January 7th another milestone for democracy? None of us actually know civics, so.

[Jamie Raskin]

I'll tell you one funny story about January 7th, because my kids always say that I get really depressing when I talk about the six. And I've got one really funny story, which is the next day, I was down in Nancy Pelosi's office, and I was waiting in the little receptionist area, and the receptionist picks up the phone, and people are calling in saying, you know, I was in your office yesterday. Do you guys have a lost and found? Because I think I forgot my phone there. I think I forgot my purse there. And so she didn't know what to do. And I said, yeah, let's get in touch with the Capitol Police. So they came over and they started writing everything down. Yeah, just give us your name, your Social Security number, your address, and we'll get you your property back.

[Jon Stewart]

Congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland. Fantastic. Thank you for joining us. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back after this. Hey, that's our show for tonight. Before we go, we're gonna check in with your host for the rest of the week, Desi Lydic. Desi, what are you covering? What are you. Desi. Desi. Desi.

[Jamie Raskin]

Huh?

[Jon Stewart]

Oh. What. What do you got this week? Oh, sorry, John. I'm just following my New Year's resolution to make sure I get more screen time. You say more. Don't people usually try and get less screen time? Isn't that. Oh, no, no. That's a big mistake. See, if you set goals that you can't reach, you're just gonna get depressed when you fail. So my resolution is to do all the stuff I'm gonna do anyway so I complete my resolutions and become a better person. Doesn't more screen time make you a worse and less attentive person that Desi Lydic, everybody. Desi Lydic, here it is. Your moment is that.

[Jamie Raskin]

There is no.

[Jon Stewart]

Reason for us to do that. We understand that these individuals need to be put in place. We're going to have a hearing. Let's move forward.

[Jamie Raskin]

And I apologize about all the news, but I'm at a rest one time with my daughter and I'm actually trying to cope. So I'm, I, I'm going back and forth here. 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.