Jon Stewart Debunks GOP’s City Crime Narrative | The Daily Show

Welcome to The Daily Show. So nice to see you tonight. My name is Jon Stewart. And we have an unbelievable show for you tonight. Next week, obviously, we're gonna have the big debate show. But tonight, we're gonna start-- we're gonna get a quick state of play on this incredibly consequential presidential election. I guess the election has basically boiled down to each candidate accusing the other of having soup-- [LAUGHTER] --where there should be brain. [LAUGHTER] There is plenty of fodder for the attacks. For instance, for President Biden, it is his habit of seemingly staring at what can only be considered ghosts or out-of-frame paratroopers. And then, when he's pulled back into frame, somehow giving the impression someone has just quantum leaped into his body. Is that-- is that-- no, don't look directly at the sun, sir. That would-- [LAUGHTER] Now, and as for Trump, basically it's Trump tripping over his own dick any time he tries to capitalize on Biden's age. Like this weekend, Trump appeared at the Herbalife of political conventions, Turning Point USA, where Trump articulated his case for having best brainful neurons smart. [LAUGHTER] Joe Biden has no plan. He's got absolutely no plan. He doesn't even know what the word "inflation" means. Oooh! Oh, you didn't! No! [LAUGHTER] Oh! Joe Biden's so dumb, he thinks inflation is a rise in the overall price level for goods and services in the economy as measured by the consumer price index over time. Oh, shit! Oh! [APPLAUSE] It turns out that is what it is. I'm sorry. I'm being told that is what inflation is. But still-- [LAUGHTER] --you tell them, Donny T. The case he's making to the American public is that he's the sharpest tool in the shed. See if you can find the flaw in his logic just one sentence later. I don't think-- if you gave him a quiz-- I think he should take a cognitive test like I did. I took a cognitive test, and I aced it. Doc Ronny-- Doc Ronny Johnson-- does everyone know Ronny Johnson, congressman from Texas? (IMITATING TRUMP) Ronny Johnson. [LAUGHTER] Acing that cognitive test is a great point, if only his doctor was actually named Ronny Johnson-- [LAUGHTER] --and not actually named Ronny Jackson. He got the guy's name wrong on his cognitive test. [LAUGHTER] [CHEERING] I don't even know what to say. [APPLAUSE] Well, here's the problem. The sad thing is, under MAGA law, his name is now Ronny Johnson. [LAUGHTER] This is the way. But those aren't the only comments Trump seems to have spit the bid on. Just weeks before he heads to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, he called Milwaukee, quote, "a horrible city," forcing liberals around the country to defend Milwaukee. [LAUGHTER] A city they then had to pretend to have been to. [LAUGHTER] Ooh, Milwaukee's the finest city in, I want to say, Indiana. [LAUGHTER] But don't worry because Donald Trump cleared the whole thing up. Well, I think it was very clear what I meant. I said we're very concerned with crime. I love Milwaukee. I have great friends in Milwaukee. But it's-- as you know, the crime numbers are terrible, and we have to be very careful. Yes. Lots of criminals in Milwaukee. Are you talking about now, sir, or when you and your felonious friends come to town? [LAUGHTER] N/A N/A In the script, it just says, Jon turns and makes dumb face. [LAUGHTER] That's what I did. I made a dumb face. [APPLAUSE] Anyway, it's a good save by former President Trump. The city's great. He loves Milwaukee. It's the dang Democrat-encouraged crime. It's one of the right's favorite talking points, not just for Milwaukee, but for all Democratic-run cities, that those cities are crime-infested shitholes, where life is miserable and everyone hates everybody. But people who live in these cities know that this rhetoric is only kind of true. Now-- [LAUGHTER] --and when people who don't live in these cities say it, it's very annoying. And by the way, it does turn out that crime is actually down. The FBI reporting the nation's violent crime rate has dropped dramatically this year. REPORTER: Overall, violent crime down 15% from last year. Murders down 26%. By every national metric, crime is down. Solid trend. [LAUGHTER] Crime is down. It's all a misunderstanding. But now that the FBI numbers are out, I'm sure that the right-wing media will adjust accordingly. Quality of life is not captured in any of the FBI numbers. And if you live in a blue city, walk outside and use your eyes. [LAUGHTER] You should use your [BLEEP] eyes. Do you even see over your shoulder? They were doing double donuts in a parking lot. [LAUGHTER] That's like the Cirque du Soleil of automobiles. That's not crime. That's art. [LAUGHTER] Oh, but I'm sorry. You were downplaying the crime statistics? Now they say there's no crime wave. But do you feel safe? It doesn't feel that way. It certainly doesn't feel that way for the average American today. Democrats will say, well, but crime is down. That's not how people feel. Yeah. As the right always famously says, feelings don't care about your facts. [LAUGHTER] [BLEEP] your facts. Isn't that the slogan on the right? Now, you know-- [CHEERING] --it's very interesting. It does bring up a good point, though. If crime is down so much, why do people, especially on the right, feel like it's up? [SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC] Oh. [LAUGHTER] The crime graphic is-- mmm. I hadn't really calculated slope in a while, but it seems like the x-axis is moving into the nosebleeds, while the y-axis is being tied down and sodomized. I'm sure that-- I'm sure that's just a one-off and not your network's entire programming. Another day, another stream of brazen, violent crimes. REPORTER: The havoc being wreaked upon America, undoubtedly coming to a town or city near you. Blatant and outrageous crimes occurring on a daily basis, coast to coast. You're seeing that in Chicago and New York. These Democrat-run cities-- There's so much crime in the city. I can't comprehend how people live there. New York is now this dystopian hellhole of crime and violence. [LAUGHTER] N/A Is now a dystopian hellhole? You're just figuring that out now, you big puss? Oh, I'm sorry. Is Times Square Elmo too scary for you? Because Times Square Elmo, he comes at you. Are you-- are you scared of Times Square Elmo because he punches back, unlike all the other Elmos who let you tickle them with no consequences? [LAUGHTER] Yeah, New York's a dystopian hellhole. That and the bagels and pizza is why we move here. But, of course-- [CHEERING] N/A Of course, there is one particular type of crime that conservatives seem especially scared about. Mark, why do I keep seeing people pushing other people onto the train tracks? [LAUGHTER] Not that. That's not a crime. That's-- OK. I get that. So the pushing onto the train tracks, that's just a misunderstanding. Here's what's happening. So we do have people in the subways who are there to try to help other passengers onto the train. [LAUGHTER] But sometimes the train isn't there yet. [LAUGHTER] It's not malevolent. It's just early. [LAUGHTER] But I was actually talking about another type of crime. People are getting shot in the face every single day. You can literally get shot anywhere in the city. We have people getting shot in the subway. People are getting shot out on the street. Go out for a loaf of bread, you end up getting shot. (IMITATING TRUMP) Yeah, you get shot. [LAUGHTER] New Yorkers haven't had a sandwich in 12 years. Just an egg parm, loose in the hands. [LAUGHTER] First of all, I'm surprised Trump is scared of guns at all, considering he thinks they sound like this. We had our beautiful marine standing there-- bing, bing, bing, bing. You know, in the old days, bing, bong. [LAUGHTER] Bing-bong. Bing-bong. Bing, bing, bing. I would pay good money to hear Trump describe the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan. Bing, bing, bing. And then the Nazis-- bong, bong. Bong, bong. Nobody can get bread. Bong, bong, bong. Bing, bing. But the point is, if you leave your house in New York, you will be shot dead. [LAUGHTER] To all of our audience members, I'm glad you chose to have your last moments with us. But sadly-- [CHEERING] Sadly, I must bid you a melancholy, a bing-bong. [LAUGHTER] Bing, bing, bing. [LAUGHTER] Now, all of this, by the way, is not to say that gun crime does not exist. Of course it does. And some cities are worse than others. But here's the thing, and I say this with all due respect-- the balls of these right-wing mother-[BLEEP] talking about how there's too much gun crime and chaos in our Democratic cities, when Republicans are the ones who've enabled the flood of illegal weaponry into our cities in the first place. [APPLAUSE] That's right. So don't get your little panties in a bunch. Here's something you want to know. 93% of the illegal guns used in crimes in New York City aren't from here. They, like theater majors, have come here to make a name for themselves. The guns come from states like Florida and Georgia and South Carolina, where the gun laws are lax. And trust me, Florida is not sending us their best guns. [LAUGHTER] They're bringing guns for drugs and crime and rapists. And some, I assume, are good guns. [LAUGHTER] And try as we might to put up some border controls to stem this invasion, this flood of literally undocumented weapons, Republicans fight every attempt to bring some kind of order and even passed laws to increase the chaos. Look at all the laws and things that they've done. In 2005, they passed a law that effectively protects gun dealers and the gun manufacturers from being held liable for where their guns end up. They also try and make sure that terrorists and felons can still get guns. And just recently, they made sure that they can turn those guns into machine guns with bump stocks. They make it impossible to study the effects of guns. They make it impossible to track the illegal guns. They fight [BLEEP] everything. You want to know how cynical it is? You remember this guy-- this guy, Congressman Andrew Clyde from Georgia. He loves to go on TV and talk about crime in Democratic cities. Republicans have always been the party of law and order. And what you have seen is the massive increases in crime have been primarily at Democrat-run cities. Yeah. It turns out while he was complaining about the uptick in gun crimes in New York City, he himself was fighting added scrutiny on gun stores, like the two that he owns that have been implicated in over 25 gun crimes since 2020. Why would they do this? There must be a reason, right? Because the right always tells us there's no coincidences. Right? Isn't that what we're told all the time? It's almost as though Republicans must have a secret plan for this, funded by their billionaires, to flood our cities with illegal, undocumented guns, pouring them over our state borders in the hopes of killing off reliable Democratic voters-- the "Great Displacement Theory." [LAUGHTER] That is obviously what's happening. And no honest person would think otherwise. So there's only one real solution. Unfortunately, for the borders of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, we have to-- what's the word? CROWD: (CHANTING) Build that wall! Build that wall! Build that wall! [APPLAUSE] Bing-bong!