'Pod Save America' Hosts | The Oaf Of Office

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert Episode: 'Pod Save America' Hosts | The Oaf Of Office
Release Date: January 21, 2025

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Introduction In this engaging episode of The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert, host Stephen Colbert welcomes back the founders of Crooked Media and the hosts of Pod Save America—Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, and Tommy Vitor. The conversation delves into the tumultuous political landscape following Donald Trump's unexpected return to the presidency, offering sharp wit, insightful commentary, and satirical takes on recent events.

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Donald Trump's Inauguration and Presidency Stephen Colbert kicks off the discussion by addressing the surprising re-election of Donald Trump, blending humor with political analysis. He quips about living "by airport rules" under Trump's administration, highlighting the unpredictable nature of Trump's leadership style.

Notable Quote:

Stephen Colbert [00:57]: "Donald Trump is president again. [...] For the next four years, we get to live by airport rules. Calories don't count, and it's perfectly reasonable to have a vodka tonic at 8am."

Colbert references former Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld's famous axioms, introducing a twist with "unknown knowns" to underscore the unpredictable decisions under Trump. He humorously critiques Trump's inauguration, describing it as the "smallest of all time" due to cold weather and a limited audience.

Notable Quote:

Stephen Colbert [03:52]: "Trump swears his crowds are normally very big, but you can't tell because it's so cold."

The discussion includes a satirical take on Melania Trump's inauguration attire and Trump's unconventional inauguration speech, mocking the disjointed mix of serious national issues and bizarre announcements made by Trump.

Notable Quote:

Christine Macchio singing national anthem and then being named Secretary of "Getting you folks a nice table in the corner."

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TikTok Ban and Reinstatement A significant portion of the conversation centers around Trump's policy reversal on TikTok. Originally aiming to ban the app, Trump surprisingly announces plans to reinstate it, sparking confusion and satire among the hosts.

Notable Quote:

Jon Lovett [29:27]: "The problem is that we really like these apps, do so much damage to us. They suck our attention. They make us anxious and angry and furious with one another."

Lovett criticizes the illogical nature of banning TikTok for Chinese ownership while neglecting the broader issues posed by social media platforms. The hosts humorously dissect the futility of the ban, emphasizing that the core problems with these apps persist regardless of ownership.

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Preemptive Pardons and Presidential Power Stephen Colbert and the Pod Save America hosts delve into President Biden’s controversial preemptive pardons, including members of the January 6th Committee and Biden’s own family. They highlight the dangers of unchecked presidential pardon power.

Notable Quote:

Tommy Vitor [33:33]: "If Donald Trump directs someone to go commit a crime, directs someone to go murder someone, and then he can just pardon them and tell them in advance, I'll pardon you. If you go commit that crime is incredibly dangerous."

This segment underscores concerns about the potential abuse of pardon power, advocating for a constitutional amendment to limit such executive authority.

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Crypto Ball and Meme Coin Satire The hosts mock Trump’s foray into cryptocurrency with his "Trump brand crypto Meme coin," portraying it as the latest example of Trump's opportunistic ventures.

Notable Quote:

Stephen Colbert [16:27]: "Trump launched his Meme coin on Friday at an event called the Crypto Ball featuring a performance by Snoop Dogg."

They parody the spectacle around the coin launch, highlighting its peak value and Trump's substantial ownership, suggesting it as an elaborate scam akin to previous dubious financial schemes.

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Ceasefire in Israel and Gaza Kevin Sorbo, one of the guests, provides an overview of the recently brokered ceasefire between Israel and Gaza. He attributes the successful negotiation to both the Biden administration's groundwork and Trump's pivotal role in pressuring key stakeholders.

Notable Quote:

Kevin Sorbo [31:34]: "President Trump won and put pressure on Netanyahu and Hamas. [...] He deserves credit, yes."

Sorbo outlines the three-phase deal: the release of hostages, withdrawal of Israeli forces, and reconstruction efforts, emphasizing the collaborative efforts required to achieve lasting peace.

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Democratic Party’s Future and Strategy The conversation shifts to the Democratic Party’s strategies moving forward. Tommy Vitor critiques the party’s failure to adequately address inflation and connect with the working class, calling for a more empathetic and persuasive approach to regain voter trust.

Notable Quote:

Tommy Vitor [28:07]: "If we are able to take back the House in 2026, then Donald Trump will never sign another piece of legislation again."

Vitor stresses the importance of Democrats listening to constituents and effectively communicating their policies to prevent future electoral setbacks.

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Foreign Policy and International Relations The hosts discuss Trump’s foreign policy stance and its implications on international relations. Kevin Sorbo mentions concerns from European allies about Trump's associations with tech oligarchs and the potential destabilizing effects on NATO and global economies.

Notable Quote:

Kevin Sorbo [22:32]: "They’re worried about tariffs hitting the German economy. They’re worried about support for NATO."

Colbert humorously compares the confusion over Trump's renaming of geographical locations to imperial versus metric systems, highlighting the administration’s seemingly arbitrary decisions.

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Conclusion and Future Outlook As the episode wraps up, the guests reflect on the uncertainties of Trump’s upcoming presidency. They discuss the potential for significant policy shifts and the importance of vigilant civic engagement to influence positive outcomes.

Notable Quote:

Tommy Vitor [27:10]: "We got to hope for the best, plan for the worst."

The conversation concludes with a light-hearted exchange about future projects and the anticipation of upcoming political developments, maintaining the show's signature blend of humor and insightful discourse.

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Final Remarks Stephen Colbert thanks the Pod Save America hosts for their candid insights and encourages listeners to stay informed and engaged. The episode seamlessly blends satire with substantive analysis, making it a valuable listen for those seeking both entertainment and a deeper understanding of current political dynamics.

Notable Quote:

Stephen Colbert [35:14]: "Love it. Let’s talk about the most important thing here. Trump is getting credit for saving TikTok."

Overall, this episode offers a comprehensive and entertaining exploration of the political shifts occurring with Trump’s resurgence, the challenges facing the Democratic Party, and the broader implications for American society and international relations.

Transcript

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[Justin Hartley]

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[Stephen Colbert]

What's your job?

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When people go missing, I get hired.

[Stephen Colbert]

To help find them.

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[Stephen Colbert]

I will drink to that.

[Justin Hartley]

Justin Hartley stars.

[Jon Lovett]

Hold on.

[Stephen Colbert]

Did you say Arrow Run? That's a new one.

[Justin Hartley]

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[Stephen Colbert]

Welcome one and all in here, out there, all around the world to the late show. I'm your host, Stephen Colbert. Well, ladies and gentlemen, it happened. Donald Trump is president again. Hey, hey, hey, hey. Remember what Obama said. Don't boo, vote. And if possible, do that several months ago. Apparently, from that reaction, I would say some of you have unpleasant feelings about all this. So I have an important announcement to make. For the next four years, we get to live by airport rules. Calories don't count, and it's perfectly reasonable to have a vodka tonic at 8am who knows what time it is, where you're gonna land. That's the time you're on. A lot of people have said to me, and I'm sure to some of my writers, too, they say, oh, I bet deep down you're feeling kinda good because with Trump coming back, the jokes write themselves. I just want to say, if you don't like the jokes tonight, it's not our fault. The jokes wrote them. So how, where do you begin? Off we go. First of all, how do you make sense of today? How did we get here? Well, secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld had these famous axioms. He had three of them. There was there are known knowns, things that you know that you know. There are unthere are known unknowns, things that you know that you don't know. And then there are unknown unknowns, things that you don't know that you don't know. And he said that that last group was the most dangerous. But he never completed the quartet of the possible combinations. The final, in my opinion, the most dangerous one is there are unknown knowns things that we know, but we choose to unknow for some reason. Come on. Well, for some reason. And it may be a perfectly understandable reason the American people have decided to unknow what they definitely knew about Donald Trump. Right. Well, today. Today the great remembering began. It was a frigid day down in Washington, so at the last minute, Trump moved his inauguration indoors. Totally understandable. So, Mr. President, it is with the utmost respect that I say, always the Big Swan. Greatest poison ever. Feeling a little chewy? You want some hot cocoa with marshy mellows? You weather cuck. Trump announced. Trump announced the change of venue. On Truth social posting, I have ordered.

[Jon Favreau]

The inauguration address, in addition to prayers and other speeches to be delivered on the United States Capitol rodunda, as was used by Ronald Reagan in 1985, also because of very cold weather.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay, you can't act like you're doing it just because of Reagan. Honey, it's not that I couldn't perform in bed last night. It's just that out of respect for President Carter, I'm flying at half staff instead. Thank you, Joe. Thank you, thank you. The smart choice. Instead. So they held the ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda, or as it looked from the dome camera, the Freedom Pit. The thing is, the Rotunda can only hold approximately 700 people, which means Trump's inauguration crowd officially called the smallest of all time. Probably why he did it. Probably why he did. Trump swears his crowds are normally very big, but you can't tell because it's so cold. One person who wasn't bothered by the cold weather was Senator John Fetterman, who arrived at the Capitol in shorts. It's the most surprising cold weather inauguration look since 2020, when Bernie Sanders wore those mittens and nothing else looks good. You gotta say, it looks pretty good. Melania Trump made a real statement with her look. That statement, I am Carmen Sandiego. That's the first reaction. That's the first reaction, obviously, but it's not entirely fair. She also looks like the guy from Spy vs. Spy. And I know what some of you were saying. This is the first lady we're talking about. Shouldn't you say she looks like J. Robert Oppenheimer? Which is actually much more fair, especially given her motto, be death. When our new president finally entered the rotunda, he immediately tried to kiss his wife and. Oops, denied.

[Jon Favreau]

Denied by the hat.

[Stephen Colbert]

Now we know why the brim is so big. It serves. It serves the same sanitary function as the sneeze guard on a salad bar. New York tenor Christopher Macchio sang the national anthem and then was named Secretary of. Getting you folks a nice table in the corner. Then Trump was sworn in by Chief Justice Roberts. Trump did not place his hand on the Bible for the oath of office. Okay. Now, when the ceremony was going to be outside, he was going to put his hand on the Bible, but when they moved it inside, the fire marshal wouldn't allow it. Here's the thing. There you go. Safety first. Safety first. Here's the thing. If he doesn't touch the Bible, is he really president? I mean, who did touch the Bible? Melania, Is she president now? Could the hat be president? It clearly believes in a strong border. Then Trump got up there and gave his speech. Unlike eight years ago, it wasn't all pure darkness, just most of it. Some of it was just plain weird.

[Donald Trump]

The Golden Age of America begins right now.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah, well, when he's right, he's right. The golden age is just around the corner because we're getting brand new episodes of Elsbeth. Elsbeth Elizabeth. She'll find out who stole the missing vowels from her name. Thursday's at 10. Overall, the speech was a predictable hodgepodge of well worn complaints and grim news. Here's how he addressed the tragic wildfires in California.

[Donald Trump]

They're raging through the houses and communities, even affecting some of the wealthiest and most powerful individuals in our country, some of whom are sitting here right now. They don't have a home any longer. That's interesting.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yes, yes. And. And that's an interesting way to express condolences. It's like those Hallmark cards. I'm fascinated by your loss. Weird. Of course. Of course. Today. Today is also Martin Luther King Day. And Trump promised. Yeah, well, agreed. I agree wholeheartedly. And in his speech, Trump promised that his presidency would honor Dr. King's legacy.

[Donald Trump]

Today is Martin Luther King Day and his honor. This will be a great honor. But in his honor, we will strive together to make his dream a reality. We will make his dream come true.

[Jon Favreau]

Yes, we will make his dream come true. And that dream was, of course, buying Greenland. I don't know why. Not sure. Maybe that's where the mountaintop was. I don't know. He had his own reasons.

[Stephen Colbert]

In his speech, Trump made a pledge to the nation.

[Donald Trump]

We are going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. And we will restore the name of a great president, William McKinley, to Mount McKinley.

[Jon Favreau]

And the Atlantic Ocean is now the Miami Pond. And I am officially heretofore renaming my penis the Baconator.

[Stephen Colbert]

Available.

[Jon Favreau]

Available for a limited time only at participating. Wendy'.

[Stephen Colbert]

Trump also. Trump also. Don't encourage me. Don't encourage that sort of joke. Trump also laid out his plan for American imperialism. First, he threatened to invade Panama and then invade the rest of the universe.

[Donald Trump]

We will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars. Launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars.

[Stephen Colbert]

That's right, ladies and gentlemen. It's manifest destiny in space. After the speech, it was time for the benediction. Heavenly Father, we're so grateful that you.

[Donald Trump]

Gave our 45th and now our 47th.

[Stephen Colbert]

President a millimeter miracle. It's also what Stormy Daniels called it. We're back, baby. We're back. We're back. But you know what? You know what? That brings up an important point. You know, that Stormy joke today represents, I believe, a turning point, turning page for all Americans, whether you supported Trump or not. No matter how much we think we know what's going to happen over the next four years, we don't know. We all have to look at the President with fresh eyes and let go of all the things that he did during his first term and look to the future. Right, Mr. President, 2020.

[Donald Trump]

By the way, that election was totally rigged.

[Stephen Colbert]

It it. He told us to inject bleach. And I still believe there's a pee pee tape. Russia, if you're listening, let the golden age begin. We got a great show for you tonight. More Late show pot show after this. Hey, everybody, welcome back. Please have a seat, ladies and gentlemen. Folks, I'm still over here because there's too much monologue for one act this morning. This morning, before Trump assumed the presidency, there was a polite handoff of the old style for Mr. Joe Biden. Around 10am Trump and Melania arrived at the White House. The couples then went inside for the traditional private tea, which makes sense to me. I mean, this is a challenging time for all of us. Very stressful. Yeah, and I've been turning to tea to calm my nerves as well. Actually, I have a quick message for the folks over at Celestial Seasonings. Your sleepy time flavor is broken. Fix it. How is it possible that the Sleepy time bear is packing so many Z's? Wait a minute. Jimmy, put up the bear. What's next to him? Zoom in. Aha. It's Xanax. I knew it. Benzodiazepine.

[Jon Favreau]

Shave that in there.

[Stephen Colbert]

Biden put up a friendly front, but I'm sure behind the scenes, he's distraught that he was just replaced by an autocrat. Why do I think that? Because moments before he left office, he issued preemptive pardons to Mark Milley, members of the January 6th Committee, Dr. Anthony Fauci, as well as five members of his own family. So just to be safe, I have legally changed my name to Sarah Jones Biden. We've already changed the sign on the outside of the building. Even though he wasn't president until today, Trump's presidential agenda kicked off yesterday. The widely anticipated TikTok band went into effect on Saturday night and the blackout lasted 14 hours. It's what's being called the most productive 14 hours in American history. Meals were prepped, dentist appointments were made, emails were sent, conversations were had, children's names were relearned. It was devastating. During the outage, when users opened TikTok, they were met with a screen that said a law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. we are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. It was a pathetic transparent ploy to suck up to Trump that completely worked. Because shortly after Trump posted I'm asking.

[Jon Favreau]

Companies not to let TikTok stay dark, I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the laws prohibitions.

[Stephen Colbert]

And it worked. At least until Trump sees what's actually on TikTok.

[Jon Favreau]

Easy weekday salads. Kill it with fire.

[Stephen Colbert]

The wildest part of all this is that even though he's saving the app now, during his first term as president, Trump led the effort to ban TikTok. So why would he reverse course? Well, the explanation is pretty complicated. He has no sincerely held beliefs and it wasn't that complicated. Trump has also. Trump has also been busy making appointments to a bunch of positions that don't exist. For instance, last week he posted it.

[Jon Favreau]

Is my honor to announce Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, Sylvester Stallone to be my special ambassadors to a great Hollywood California.

[Stephen Colbert]

That cannot feel good for other aging Hollywood right wing actors. Kevin Sorbo, your reaction? Disappointed. He seems mad. She's very mad. We don't know exactly what the next four years will be like. Except of course we completely do. Because before even becoming president over the weekend, Trump launched the griftiest grift he has ever a Trump brand crypto Meme coin. Now if you don't know what that is, ask your brother in law and get ready to take a pretend phone call. Trump launched his Meme coin on Friday at an event called the Crypto Ball featuring a performance by Snoop Dogg. Snoop, how could you do double do this? This is a betrizzle. What happened to integratizzle? Are you high? Stupid question. The ball was to celebrate all the crypto bros who supported Trump's candidacy. But as always, the guest of honor was him, because after dropping his new coin, it reached a peak value of more than $72 billion, most of which belongs to him because he owns about 80% of the MEM. That is so much money, it's almost enough to have gotten a seat behind himself at his inauguration. Trump isn't the first one to try to pull this kind of scam. His personal meme coin follows in the footsteps of the Hock Tua girl.

[Jon Favreau]

No one knows finance quite like Ms. Tua America. In her spirit, I promise to take our economy and spit on that thang.

[Stephen Colbert]

We'll be right back. Coming up, the hosts of Pod Save America. I don't want to get promoted. I want to stay charmingly insubordinate. Flame blur. I'm okay.

[Justin Hartley]

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[Tommy Vitor]

Let's do this.

[Stephen Colbert]

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[Stephen Colbert]

I know these guys. They're super nice. Hey, what's up, my man?

[Justin Hartley]

Five seasons in the making.

[Tommy Vitor]

Woo.

[Stephen Colbert]

God damn it. This is terrible. This keeps getting cooler by the second.

[Justin Hartley]

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[Stephen Colbert]

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[Stephen Colbert]

Folks, my guests tonight are the founders of crooked media and the hosts of Pod Save America. Please welcome back to the Late Show, Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett and Tommy Vitor. Welcome back.

[Kevin Sorbo]

Thank you.

[Stephen Colbert]

It's always nice to talk to you guys. You know, I never miss the podcast. It's. I was gonna say it's a joy. It has not been a joy since November, right?

[Tommy Vitor]

It's not a lot of joy since November.

[Stephen Colbert]

No, not. It's been listening to like a couple of, you know, three gut shot guys trying to make their way through the News on a daily basis.

[Jon Lovett]

Because of all that's happened.

[Stephen Colbert]

Right? That's exactly right. Because of all that has happened.

[Jon Lovett]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

So let's talk about all of. Okay. Second inaugural. Happy Liberation Day. Thank you to all of you. How are you guys? How are you guys feeling watching it? I watched the whole thing. It's part of the job. How'd you guys like it?

[Tommy Vitor]

I mean, it was classic Trump in that he, you know, talked. Everything's bad. I'm amazing. I can fix everything. It was the longest inaugural in modern history.

[Stephen Colbert]

It was the longest inaugural.

[Tommy Vitor]

Yeah. 29 minutes, which was the longest.

[Stephen Colbert]

The longest speech, like his longest speech.

[Tommy Vitor]

And then he went and did, like a director's cut 33 minutes after the inaugural.

[Stephen Colbert]

Right.

[Tommy Vitor]

Where he got to say all the things that he felt like.

[Stephen Colbert]

For the super fan.

[Tommy Vitor]

Yeah, for the super fan.

[Stephen Colbert]

We were promised. A lot of people were saying, oh, this is going to be a kinder, gentler Donald Trump. Did you hear, as a speechwriter, did you hear, like, the unifier, peacemaker?

[Tommy Vitor]

Yeah, that's what I think about when I think of Donald Trump, unifier and peacemaker.

[Stephen Colbert]

Right.

[Tommy Vitor]

He.

[Stephen Colbert]

No carnage. There's a lot of carnage there.

[Tommy Vitor]

There's no carnage, but it's just a lot of. He loves talking about himself. I was reading it again after I watched it, and the line that jumped out at me was he said, you know, I have been through more than any President in the 250 year history of this country. No one has been through what I've been through. No Lincoln, no Washington. It's Trump. Trump has been through more than anyone.

[Jon Lovett]

I just would just point out that George Washington spent a whole winter at Valley Forge and they moved today's inaugural inside. There's something to think about. There's something to think about.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah. Love it. There are a lot of billionaires there today up on the stand. Yet Trump won the working class vote and is positioning himself as like, a man of the people. How. What? How does that. How does that. You know. Well, do the Democrats need to get better billionaires?

[Jon Lovett]

Oh, well, I think we gotta. I think right now we're fighting billionaires with billionaires, But I don't know if that's a good look for us. Exactly. I mean, look, Donald Trump, you know, he said he was gonna help make taxes. No taxes on tips. And everybody's like, that's weird. He doesn't normally show empathy for working people, but now we see that he's gonna be the first president that accepts tips. And I think that made him feel kind of A kinship.

[Stephen Colbert]

Tommy, you're a foreign policy guy over there. He said, america's gonna be the envy of every nation. We're already an enviable nation. Yeah. How are our allies and even our adversaries, how are they perceiving this from what? You know, I mean, I think a.

[Kevin Sorbo]

Few months ago, a lot of them did envy the fact that we had bounced back stronger from COVID than I think any other country. But, you know, I think now they're pretty anxious. I was talking to a German lawmaker this morning who was, you know, getting ready for their elections coming up in February, and they're worried about tariffs hitting the German economy. They're worried about support for NATO. They're worried about far right parties across Europe doing better in part because they're getting boosted by people like Elon Musk.

[Stephen Colbert]

Did I hear this right, that the ambassador to the United States from Germany wrote like a cable back to his own government, saying Trump is going to co rule with the oligarchs, the tech oligarchs.

[Kevin Sorbo]

Sounds about right. I mean, Elon Musk bought his seat on stage today. He spent $250 million to sit on the dais, and now he runs the doge or whatever. I mean, the rest of the tech billionaires that were up there today were there to show that they had bent the knee. I think they were. They were more heads on a pike.

[Jon Lovett]

But it's going to be. Don't you think so?

[Stephen Colbert]

Maybe. Maybe.

[Kevin Sorbo]

Did I ruin the show?

[Jon Lovett]

No, no, no, no.

[Stephen Colbert]

That heads on a pike thing is only a few minutes away from not being a metaphor. What worries you most about what he'll do in these 100 executive orders that he's going to sign, or 200, however many signing today?

[Tommy Vitor]

Yeah. He's doing a lot on immigration, as he said he would when he ran. And presidents typically have wide latitude to do what they want on immigration, so he'll be able to do a lot of deportations if that's what he wants to do. He's already starting that. He wants to end birthright citizenship. I think that's gonna be pretty tough since it's fairly clear in the 14th Amendment that.

[Stephen Colbert]

Right. And it's been cited in the 19th century and then again in 1920s.

[Tommy Vitor]

Yeah. So I think a lot of the executive actions are for show. The thing that really jumped out at me is what we didn't see, which is there's one executive action related to inflation, which is basically the reason he won. Right. Because he said that inflation was out of control, prices are too high under Joe Biden and the EO the executive order he signed today was a whole of government effort and a memorandum to bring down inflation. And I was like, great, great.

[Kevin Sorbo]

That's.

[Tommy Vitor]

That's all you needed? All we needed was just sign a memo, and inflation was going to come down. So I guess, like, tomorrow eggs are going to be cheaper. It's great.

[Stephen Colbert]

We have to take a quick break here. We'll be right back with more Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, and Tommy Vietor. Stick around, everybody. Hey, everybody. We're back with these three lovely gentlemen. Jon Lovett, Jon Favreau, and Tommy Vitor of pod Save America. Kate Lovett. He brought up Gulf of America in his speech.

[Jon Lovett]

Right.

[Stephen Colbert]

He mentioned that he's gonna sign by fiat. He's just gonna change that to the Gulf of America. Mm. Can we just give him this one?

[Jon Lovett]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

It's not that important, right?

[Jon Lovett]

I don't care about it. I don't care about it at all. Okay. Our maps will say one thing. Everyone else's maps will say another. Not the first time that's happened in world history. It does eventually become a problem. When the maps are different, people get very upset, and then wars are fought. But we're not gonna fight over the Gulf of Mexico. We're gonna fight over Panama.

[Stephen Colbert]

But isn't the Gulf of Mexico Gulf of America? Things just feels like imperial system versus metric to me.

[Tommy Vitor]

Right.

[Stephen Colbert]

It doesn't really matter what we say as long as the rest of the world gets it right.

[Tommy Vitor]

He just wants to name stuff. He wants to name stuff after himself, after America. He wants people to feel good about the country. He's run out of, things to do.

[Stephen Colbert]

It's very autocratic. Like, the next thing is to name, like, the months of the year after his mother. Right.

[Jon Lovett]

Well, then he, you know, like, there's all kinds of things he's doing where he INV a problem and then solves it. Right. Yesterday you couldn't buy gas cars. Now you can again. It's like, I can buy a gas car. Thank you.

[Tommy Vitor]

He signed an executive action on free speech. We're all allowed free speech is here again, which is great. We can say what we want.

[Stephen Colbert]

We can say what we want.

[Tommy Vitor]

He may sue us, but we can say what we want.

[Stephen Colbert]

Wow. Go yourself.

[Jon Lovett]

Looks like it was liberation Ban.

[Stephen Colbert]

I.

[Jon Lovett]

You feel lifted.

[Stephen Colbert]

I feel freer already.

[Jon Lovett]

The vibe shifts, Stephen. The vibe shift.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay. Okay. I think we all want a successful presidency for the American people. Sure.

[Kevin Sorbo]

Yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

What do you think the odds of that are? Because you Want peace and prosperity. You don't want any president to fail based upon what those metrics are for failure, but based upon, you know, a previous performance as indicative of future results. Give me odds on a successful presidency. Tommy Vitor.

[Kevin Sorbo]

I mean, I think we got to hope for the best, plan for the worst. I think the Trump inaugural address that we all were supposed to see was kind of boring and low energy and normal. And then there was the overflow, which was the petty grievances and Nancy Pelosi is a criminal and stuff like that. So I think the things we just have to remember are watch what Trump does, not what he says. Don't chase every outrage down the rabbit hole. And then remember the things he cares about. He cares about the stock market going up and he cares about bad headlines. And when those two things, when he doesn't get what he wants from the press or the markets, he'll change course. And so if we can, that's the way we can influence his behavior.

[Stephen Colbert]

Instead of asking what happened, which, as I said before, I don't think people really know exactly how we are or where we are, I think people are going to rush to a lot of an answers there and time will tell. I'd rather ask what's next? How can people channel their pure frustration into energy somewhere productive?

[Tommy Vitor]

Yeah, I mean, we're going to have midterm elections in 2026. Democrats have a very good chance of taking back the House. So I think we can focus on that. If we are able to take back the House in 2026, then Donald Trump will never sign another piece of legislation again. So let's focus on that. But look like, I think the Democratic Party needs to learn to listen to people. We just spent the last four years where, like, a majority of Americans said prices are too high, inflation's too high, and the White House said, no, everything's great. Look at all these statistics. And then everyone said, majority of people said, we don't want Joe Biden to run again because he's too old and he should make room for someone else. And the White House said, no, no, no, we're good. The polls are wrong. He's just gonna run again and it's fine. And I think that we have consistently as a party, felt like being right is enough and being right is not enough. You actually have to persuade people to believe what you're saying. And I think that's what Democrats have to start doing.

[Stephen Colbert]

Love it. Let's talk about the most important thing here. Trump is getting credit for saving TikTok that's right. But he originally wanted to ban TikTok. So whichever way you fall on this issue, you agree with Donald Trump.

[Jon Lovett]

And I'm furious.

[Stephen Colbert]

And you're furious. Okay. Do you think the. From what you know, is this ban a good idea or a bad idea?

[Jon Lovett]

So it was never meant to be a ban.

[Stephen Colbert]

Right?

[Jon Lovett]

It was supposed to. This company was supposed to be divested from its Chinese ownership and sold to an American company, which means we don't mind having an app that's rotting the brains of our children. We just want to be the ones doing the rotten. And so, like, that is confusing to me. And no one has ever made a very good case to me as to why this app that does so much damage is okay as long as it's in American hands.

[Stephen Colbert]

But does it do more damage than, like, Instagram reels or other social media?

[Jon Lovett]

But this, to me, is, I think, the bigger point. I don't know. There's a lot of research says Instagram is bad for us. All this stuff is bad for us. And what we've learned, it's all bad. What we've learned from, like, The Russians in 2016 and Elon Musk taking over Twitter, it's whether it's our billionaires or other countries, what we have learned is that when these people throw a bunch of digital, like nunchucks and digital throwing stars and digital axes in a center of a bunch of Americans, we will pick them up and bludgeon each other with them. And it doesn't seem to really matter who owns it. And the problem is that we really like these apps, do so much damage to us. They suck our attention. They make us anxious and angry and furious with one another. And I do think there's an element of what these apps do, which is they go towards the sensational and the paranoid and the conspiratorial, which has kind of shifted all of our politics to the right.

[Stephen Colbert]

Don't you love a good conspiracy?

[Jon Lovett]

I love a good recipe.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, do you know I have a cookbook? Does this taste funny?

[Jon Favreau]

There you go.

[Stephen Colbert]

You like it? Would you like this? I'd love that. We'll see. Oh, we'll see.

[Jon Lovett]

Okay.

[Kevin Sorbo]

Okay.

[Stephen Colbert]

We'll see. We have to take a quick break. We're back with more Tommy Vitor, Jon Lovett and Jon Favreau. We're back with Jon Favreau, Tommy Vitor and Jon Lovitt. Okay, Tommy. Ceasefire announced over the weekend, implemented in Israel and Gaza. What do you know about the deal?

[Kevin Sorbo]

So we're in phase one. Of the deal last six days, there will be a slow release of 33 hostages by Hamas. Israel. Yeah, clap for that.

[Stephen Colbert]

Of how many? Do we know how many total hostages? There's still there.

[Kevin Sorbo]

There's 94 or so. Some of them, tragically, are dead. So there will be a release of 33 hostages, mostly women, older people, people who are sick. In this first phase, Israel will release hundreds, if not thousands of Palestinians that they have in Israeli prisons. The IDF will pull back from population centers. Aid will surge into Gaza, and then it's a very important step. Phase two is more hostage release. Phase three is reconstruction.

[Stephen Colbert]

But presently the bombing has stopped.

[Kevin Sorbo]

Presently, there is a ceasefire, although there's some reports of, you know, sporadic violence today. But generally speaking, there is a ceasefire holding.

[Stephen Colbert]

Was this the same deal that was offered last May, like eight months ago, and essentially the same.

[Kevin Sorbo]

Basically the same deal.

[Stephen Colbert]

What changed?

[Kevin Sorbo]

I think President Trump winning and putting pressure on Netanyahu and Hamas.

[Stephen Colbert]

So he deserves credit.

[Kevin Sorbo]

He does. He deserves credit, yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

Deserves a lot of credit.

[Kevin Sorbo]

No, I think that Biden's team did, like, the diplomatic spade work, and Trump helped get this thing done, and it's really important. Now, the key here, though, is phase two and phase three will be negotiated starting on day 16 of phase one. So they got a lot of details they have to hammer out, and that's going to require attention from the Trump administration to pressure Israel and Hamas to implement the rest of the deal and actually lead to a durable, lasting peace.

[Stephen Colbert]

On his way out, Favreau, President Biden offered preemptive pardons to a whole bunch of people, including his own family. What? You guys have talked about this on your own podcast? A bunch. This was broader than even people had guessed at. Yeah. What do you think of it?

[Tommy Vitor]

I think the preemptive pardons for members of the January 6th committee, for Dr. Fauci, I think those. It's unfortunate that Biden had to do that, but Donald Trump and the people who were going into his White House campaigned on saying they were going to investigate these people, that they were guilty of crimes, that they were going to take retribution.

[Stephen Colbert]

Kash Patel has him on a list, right?

[Tommy Vitor]

Cash Patel has him on a list. I do think the family pardons are a little concerning. Like, I get why Biden did it, because again, Trump said, the Biden crime family, I'm going to investigate them all. But to just do a sweeping pardon of your family members on the way out the door, I think in general, the pardon power is crazy. I think the fact that any president can unilaterally wield this power to let anyone off the hook who does any kind of crime now ahead of time is just in the wrong hands. Especially like, if, if, you know, Donald Trump uses it. If someone goes and commits. If Donald Trump directs someone to go commit a crime, directs someone to go murder someone, and then he can just pardon them and tell them in advance, I'll pardon you. If you go commit that crime is incredibly dangerous.

[Stephen Colbert]

And then he can't be prosecuted.

[Tommy Vitor]

And then he can't be prosecuted, according.

[Stephen Colbert]

To the Supreme Court. Yeah.

[Tommy Vitor]

So I think we. It would be great if Republicans and Democrats could get together and, you know, propose a constitutional amendment to limit the pardon power, because I think it's way out of control.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, fellas, thanks for being here. Before you go, what are you looking forward to? Like, what are you looking forward to in the next few years? Is there some, like, buying some Trump coins?

[Kevin Sorbo]

Severin, Season two.

[Jon Lovett]

Yeah, I wanna. Yeah, we're gonna finally find out what happens at the end of Wicked. Get the second part of Wicked.

[Stephen Colbert]

Sure.

[Jon Lovett]

You know.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah. Yeah, it's a cliffhanger.

[Jon Lovett]

Looking forward to that.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, new episodes of Pod Save America are released on Tuesdays and Fridays. Jon Favreau, John Lovett, Tommy Vitor, everybody. Thank you for listening to the Late Show Pod show with Stephen Colbert. Just one more thing. If you want to see more of me, come to The Late Show YouTube channel for more clips and exclusives. Paramount plus is your home for the UEFA Champions League. Magnificent. And this season is bigger, better, bolder than ever. That was special. With more epic matchups, momentous and historic. And more moments from soccer's iconic stars. What a goal. What a player. The UEFA Champions League stream every match live exclusively on Paramount. The stuff of absolute dreams. Roll out.

[Justin Hartley]

Transformers 1 is now streaming on Paramount Plus.

[Jon Lovett]

Awesome.

[Justin Hartley]

It's the blast from beginning to end.

[Jon Lovett]

Okay, stop.

[Stephen Colbert]

I'm in. Whoa.

[Justin Hartley]

Transformers 1, rated PG. Now streaming on Paramount Plus.