Jon Stewart on Biden 2024: It Is What It Is? | The Weekly Show With Jon Stewart

the idea that like hey it's it's the almighty or the alternative or whatever the the the bro don't compare me to the almighty compare me to the alternative to the alternative which is what I use with my wife and her ex-boyfriend all the time you know oh are you are you getting Prim married in your own man you Prim no no what I've done is I've eliminated the opposition hey everybody Welcome to the weekly show with John Stewart I am John Stewart we were off last week it was uh it was July 4th it was it was we celebrated America we celebrated the holiday of America uh with uh good cheer with barbecues with explosions which in some ways feels preent uh with where America appears to be heading in the present moment like oh my God was that an explosion what the oh the house is shaking uh we were here of course with our super producers Britney mic and Lauren walker uh guys we were going to do taxes we're breaking down the tax bill that every American pays we're going to show where it goes to how it might be disconnected from the Urgent needs of the people and then uh there was happened Lauren that's exact Britney yes you're both yes you are both there was a debate we watched it and since then there's been an explosion of conversation amongst uh people uh online and uh within the Beltway apparently only elitists by the way uh apparently average people are not having this conversation it's only elitists uh where there is a concern that the confidence in the current commander-in-chief may be may be waning somewhat and so we thought well [ __ ] we we should probably talk about that pivot have either of you had conversations uh with family colleagues co-workers was was this in terms of triage your conversations I was um doing what I watched my dad do during Mets games growing up which was like lots of pacing and screaming and I didn't really look at my phone so you're suggesting that this debate was the Mets game of political Intrigue yes H have people been you know in terms of post debate what's what's been the general tenor of the conversations this is the first time I've come out from under my covers no um I feel like I Doom scroll on Twitter which makes me sad and then you know conversations are split honestly there are people that are very much like stop talking about it stop asking questions just get in line support you know we're we're voting for an Administration not a single person is you know what I get told a lot it is interesting though they keep saying you know I keep hearing back when they were only talking about Trump they were like stop talking about Trump and now they were talking about Biden they're like [ __ ] shut up talk about talk about Trump uh but we do have a good conversation today uh we got some guys forward so I'm gonna I'm goingon to jump in there and and let's see where we go so let's Jump Right In with our guest for the week John Fabro and Tommy verer they're founders of crooked media host of pod save America authors of democracy or else how to save America and 10 easy steps and barari sers CNN political commentator and author of the moment hello everybody hello hey there so nice to uh to see all of you thank you so much for joining us uh I think we should discuss maybe the obviously the kind of the elephant uh in the room that's been occurring uh Sky Dan has bought Paramount why would they why would they do something like that confusing no we're we're going to discuss the uh The Fallout from Joe Biden's debate performance and the general sense of the Twitter commentary that uh I should shut the [ __ ] up Tommy and John should shut the [ __ ] up and bikari is a very nice man who should continue talking would that would that about summarize the the uh The Fallout from these situations so Tommy and and John I'm gonna I'm GNA start with you I think that the debate so shocked my conscience on what my expectation was that it felt to not speak out uh would be malpractice at some level it is that what you were feeling as you watched it what was your sense yeah I mean I think we all watched it together um I think five minutes in we were all watching from you know hands over our face between our fingers um it was so much worse than I ever imagined it could have been um and it wasn't just bad like a one-off performance bad it was bad in the way that highlighted I think uh Joe Biden's single biggest vulner ability which is his age and concerns about his ability to to complete four more years you know it would have been like Mitt Romney driving onto the 2012 debate stage in a Ferrari and just like chucking cash out of people right like highlighting your vulnerability and then that would have been so it would have been cool awesome if he had just walked out and like making it rain [ __ ] was that the I know was that the first debate when he kicked you guys ass or not K first one kicked our ass but that was a that was but that's a good point because that was an ass kicking in the sense that like Obama wasn't sharp he didn't have message down he didn't seem like he came ready to to fight and make a case against Romney this was bad in that you know Biden struggled to speak coherently and and get sentences out and make an argument and that to me was was chilling it would have been like if in that first debate with Romney Barack Obama went out and said look I wasn't born here but let me tell you something that that's you know I just you know I'm not from here I'm not from this country everyone who's been wondering but I I imagine you didn't watch the debate and think to yourself he's killing it but you you had a very different response to what you were seeing do you want to talk about that yeah no I I think he got his ass kicked up down left right and sideways I also don't think elections are won in June um I think that there is a great deal of just OV excitement by a lot of my friends on the left or over concern I mean it is what it is I mean I I people are talking about I mean people are engaging in this fantasy fiction of this offramp this proverbial off whether it's not one um people are talking about this open convention whether it's not going to be one um if in fact there is an opportunity for someone else to replace Joe Biden the only person who has the infrastructure the cash in order to do that or at least give us a chance to last four months would be KLA Harris but I'm just very soberly saying we got our aski in the debate first and foremost you know we can have all of these conversations about Joe Biden needs to do this and Joe Biden needs to do that but after July 22nd if I'm not mistaken or 25th whenever we have the roll call he is our nominee so then what are you going to do I I'm resolved to the fact that we have three choices we have Donald Trump we have Joe Biden and the couch and whe whether or not I was at Essence fest or whether or not I was fishing with my good friend Jared Lo hold off a dock in Orangeburg County last week the people I talk to are all saying the same thing like let's just get on with it I mean we know what we're going to do we know who we're going to choose and it is what it is I mean we we have bigger things that we're fighting for other than going back and rehashing the fact that our candidate is 81 years old probably eats a Denny's goes to bed at 4:00 and changes tennis balls on his walker you just described my perfect weekend thank you B so I want I want to talk about because I think bar you you bring up a really interesting mindset and I want to talk about that because I am of the opinion that democracy is not just under Threat by authoritarians or by a supreme court that has decided maybe we shouldn't have left England in the first place and a Archy is is actually slightly preferable but I want to talk about the phrase it is what it is because I think that that is a is a complacency that I've have seen in the Democratic party for a very long time uh that includes Ruth Bader Ginsburg not retiring on time that includes Merck Garland not going after Donald Trump for January 6 on time that includes not being able to get uh Meritt Garland onto the Supreme Court that includes allowing Amy Coney to get on to the Supreme Court that includes not being responsive to urgency and to new information and just saying it is what it is guys and shrugging and I think my point is there is opportunity here it may not be open convention it may not be a new uh person to to take on to the ticket but there is a vibrant and and I think ultimately positive at least conversation and acknowledgement to be had that is not being had because it is what it is and what are you gonna do so I I want you to respond to that if if you yeah I don't I don't actually mind the conversation I'm not somebody who wants to put you and ax and Tommy and and and John and the guys and and uh and Tim put you guys on an island and just ship you guys off white guy summer white guy summer white boy summer you and I know so I'm not somebody like I I appreciate the the thoroughness in which you're having this debate I'm kind of looking beyond that and to your is what it is your your kind of uh monologue there look the fact is you can go back to Ram Emanuel not putting the impact on uh or the emphasis on the Judiciary as he should have in Barack Obama not doing what he should have done at the Judiciary or codifying roie Wade or whatever he could have done when we actually had the house and the senate in 2008 those type of things we can we can go back and relitigate those things under that Mantra of it is what it is what I'm talking about right now is very practically the choices we have before us and so I am geared up trying to prevent project 25 I'm geared up trying to make sure that the things that we're talking about the Chevron ruling which I I mean I I know that people are caught up on presidential immunity the Chevron ruling in my opinion was more devastating to the fabric of democracy than anything we've seen in recent history he's talking about the ruling from the Supreme Court which made it much more difficult for federal agencies to regulate whether it's the EPA or uh SEC or any of those uh agencies to regulate uh the people that they're charged with regulating that they they undercut those decisions uhre and they did what they did similar in DOS they similarly in dobs they overthrew decades worth of precedent which the Supreme Court is not necessarily known to do unless you're like Clarence Thomas and you're getting flowed out by your billionaire donors all over the country right and so yeah I I am just I think I think there are a lot of people who sit in my seat and they have a very sober look at where we are practically and say cannot afford in November to go back any further we felt like 2020 we were on the precipice of of a third reconstruction and we missed that Mark and since that time we've actually been going backwards and I know that people just don't want to backslide anymore and I feel like having Biden is the president if we're backsliding under Biden you're you're saying we're no but I can go through his L list of achievements but what we're talking about are the attacks on the attacks on Dei we're talking about the attacks on formative action we're talking about how in Arizona they passed an abortion bill from the 1800s how they passed dos how they we just went through presidential immunity I mean there are cultural and and leg and and policy initiatives that firmly make me believe that we've gone backwards I mean look at black home ownership no I'm not I'm not disagreeing with you I'm just saying the administration is is the administration right now but John and Tommy I I want you to address this because what barari is suggesting is that he's being strategic that this isn't about noticing that the president May no no longer be up to the job this is about about staying with the status quo because strategically I guess and barari tell me if I'm misrepresenting this that gives us our best opportunity to win and I think my point is I don't know that that's the case I I think I would disagree that that's the best strategy but but what's your thought I mean you would disagree and literally all of the polling and data available would also agree with this uh position as well Joe it's not fiction at all that that Joe Biden could step down tomorrow he could announce that I am uh you know what I have a important job to finish there's I'm doing two jobs right now I'm president United States and I'm running for president and president United States is too important and I want to focus on that and I I can pass it off to KLA Harris or we can have an open conven whatever he wants to do he could easily do that tomorrow and the idea that we cannot influence bar Bari just got very sad well well no that's not a that's not a real thing that's it is a real barari why is that not a real thing why is that real not real when in the history let me ask you is it not a real thing technically or is it not a real thing you think emotionally or or technically it's not a real thing I think technically emotionally first of all I mean the way this works is and I I love the kind of land that we're living in where one can assume that Joe Biden can say that I don't have the ability to run for reelection after I've already announced that I am after I've done all of these things raised all of these money these monies have the infrastructure around the country but yet I don't have it in me to finish this campaign no he can say I can't win can't win because all the polling says he can't win yet I can still be president of the United States so those things are not those can't win one's a multi-on job and one is auditioning for a four-year job I think that's I'm gonna I'm gonna also jump in and say like look nobody actually knows now things are looking dire for the president but four months I think any of us would agree in a modern media timeline is for [ __ ] ever it really is I think we I think we confuse this idea you know we just saw France uh lose terribly in the Parliamentary elections macron jumps out with a snap election Weeks Later they've stemmed the tide of Le Pen I mean it it can be done and that's my point Mari we are complacent and that complacency sets in a cynicism with the American public and I think you're giving us a binary Choice that's not real I don't necessarily agree OB Biden can't win or Kamala can't win we just don't know and the world changes so quickly and and we don't know about those things but here's what I do know it's not a binary Choice President Biden's Defiance I don't think is the right strategy I think the idea of not acknowledging the progressive and degenerative nature of what he's dealing with is gas lighting anybody who supports him and this I of him going out there with bromides about Joey my dad said to me Joey it's not about how you get knocked down it's about how you get up and you're like I don't know that you can get up sir I think that's really not the metaphor you want to go with and there's no shame in that we all get there so I don't understand there is an opportunity here to have a more honest adult sophisticated [ __ ] the media [ __ ] whatever they're going to say you are in control of how this goes down and I don't I think they're bungling even the response barari no and so I don't I've never said this Choice has been B binary in fact I think people who um analyzes race as being binary and I may have missed your point have it wrong because I've always said that and where I am right now today the the choices are Joe Biden Donald Trump and the couch that that those are the three choices that people have in this race and so I think I disagree with that and I and I'm trying to figure out why you feel that that is that it is all etched in stone Joe Biden owns this decision and so if we want to spend our time pressuring Joe Biden by all means continue to tweet continue to talk about it do those things take that upper level I've never in the history of History seen a white man see the he's the most powerful man in the world seed all of that power to anyone let alone a black woman F that's one two I don't know if you remember Gandalf I and and two I I I disagree with the political climate where anybody says that you cannot run for president but you can still be president now all of that's conjecture none of that is technical but I have a I know in the field but isn't that anybody who's already served two terms I mean they they're president but they're not running if if it's your second ter but they're not quitting that's that's a given like you you'd be quitting the campaign you mentioned the French beating fascism you know how they beat fascism 210 candidates stepped down in various District races so they wouldn't split the vote against the farite that is how the French beat they put country over party they put country over party and when Joe Biden is the official nominee I will shut the [ __ ] up and I will March and I will fight for him and I will knock on doors and I'll donate and do whatever it takes but this is an extraordinary situation and it is time for courageous action and we have a window between now and the official nomination of Joe Biden where we can do something that's never been done before in our history and I I just don't agree that a mini primary is fanfiction I think you could find ways to compete for 4,000 or so delegates let me finish I'm not saying you're saying that I'm think that's the what's out there like you could find a way to compete for those delegates they will all get together at the convention in Chicago and and nominate but if Biden doesn't want to do that he is an excellent Communicator in KLA Harris waiting in the wings and I think the subtext you hear from a lot of Biden supporters I'm not saying you bikari is they're like look if Joe steps down it's got to be kamla and and she's am she's not good at running I'm not saying bad yeah they're criticizing her right they're they are they are they are knifing her on background in these stories being like K's numbers are terrible she can't win and I Biden Administration is doing that people in the Biden Administration supporters of Joe Biden are absolutely backgrounding the Press yeah sir yeah they are they put I mean they did it publicly they put out a memory where she was doing worse than him against Trump that was the first they put out after the debate which I I wouldn't have done to my vice president but here's the here's here's all that matters Donald Trump is leading by more than he has ever LED in a race for president right now he is leading by more than any Republican has led at this point in a race in a general election in 20 years okay since George Bush perhaps all the polling is wrong but then you'd also have to explain why the same polls that have Joe Biden down all these Senate Democrats in tough races are comp comptitive so then you say okay well we got a couple months to turn around could he turn around yes he it's not that he can't win it's the question is is Joe Biden facing we're facing Donald Trump and a threat to democra an existential threat to democracy as we all as Joe Biden says and the question is is Joe Biden the best candidate to give us the chance does he give us the best chance to defeat Donald Trump knowing that he has not been formally nominated yet and he could make the decision himself to step down and you know what Joe Biden who who is an 81-year-old white guy Catholic who became president has moderated his views a lot and listened to people a lot in the last several years and when progressives push him on something or moderates push on something Joe Biden listens and he takes in his advice and then he makes decisions based on what people are telling him so the idea that we and I know that you said this was okay with but like in the next couple weeks the idea that we all don't have influence on this decision when we're talking to members of Congress and then members of Congress were talking to the president like I think it's worth making a run at asking him to reconsider this because they haven't shown us a plan the Biden campaign of how they win they haven't shown us any of their data they haven't shown us a path they haven't made they haven't talked about how he's going to turn it around there's just been nothing and like I think it's weird that they think that the Joe Biden we saw on stage has a is a better has a better shot of beating Donald Trump than kamla Harris the first black women vice president that he chose for the job who is a fantastic Communicator like I just don't understand there are a lot of nuggets I just want to jump I I look if if Joe Biden decides one morning he wakes up after Catholic mass I think the most important day is actually you know Thursday after Thursday he's able to If he if he if he goes out there and falls down literally then okay but is that really where we're no I'm saying then then he may be like I'm not doing it okay I don't know but but if he decides then I want to push back on the fact that it's an Open Primary it's not an Open Primary it's KLA Harris's race I mean she will be the nominee and the fact is she should actually be president of the United States to make her stronger going into that I mean that that's just just as but doesn't that undercut somewhat your it is what it is like you're now laying out I think a scenario that's plausible and maybe even stronger my complete thought is this while we are while you guys are launching a pressure Campaign which is effectively what it is but I want to tell you something so this is what I would object to this idea that this is a pressure campaign what it is is a visceral response emotionally to something shocking that was seen Joe Biden has run on this idea of honesty and decency but they have not been honest about the condition and the difficulties that he has been facing and so it undercuts one of the foundational arguments that they even have made so this is not a campaign I am not working in coordination with various people I have a platform and I have been stunned and disappointed and angered by what I saw and how I've been talked to that I didn't see what I saw that's all look you saw you my point is you saw what you saw you're outraged by what you saw you have every right all three of you all to be as visceral and have whatever reaction you want to have to it right my only point is that there's going to come point in time in the next two weeks maybe where I am working over the next two weeks to try to get Joe Biden reelected right that that's my goal because he's the nominee he's the presumptive nominee if that changes which I really do not believe it is going to change but do you want it to change barari I guess is my question do you think we have a better chance if it does change bikari I'm not sure I really don't know the answer to that question there you go so it's so it isn't what it is is my point but my my point is that I think a lot of people have backup quarterback syndrome they really do I agree with that I agree with that I'm a patriot fan we had a hot ass backup quarterback named Jimmy garoo I'm with you I was gonna say but you don't know you maybe have Tom Brady or maybe you got Tommy cutlets you don't know until you throw him in now Drew bledo got a raw deal by the way he got is is Drew blo the Joe Biden of this metaphor maybe KLA Harris is Tom Brady let me change the metaphor let me change the metaphor and I'll throw this to to John Tommy so we talked earlier about the French you know putting down fascism on the thing I'm going to give you another metaphor about the French in the 1930s as Germany was building up their armaments the French decided on a strategy to defeat fascism it was called the magino wall and they built it and they were a series of giant concrete bunkers stationary with guns all pointing in One Direction and the Germans came through the area and went oh I think we can just go around this and they went around it and then just fought and destroyed it and that can't that also be a metaphor that this idea of no this is our plan it's rigid it's status quo it's all facing in One Direction and it's utterly incapable of holding off that Onslaught and that was the last time they tried to defeat Fascism and guess what they didn't part of why I'm so concerned barari is because I watched the debate and I was like man that was really bad but I I let's give him a little time to do some more things then I watched the ABC news interview and frankly it made me more concerned because it was at times incoherent again during some of the radio interviews he did where it turns out his campaign actually gave the host the questions like those didn't go particularly smoothly Morning Joe wasn't great and you could hear him reading papers and so I I'm like I'm not trying to be a dick like I have a lot of love and affection for Joe Biden and people in that white house but the guy's not been doing things off teleprompter and he has not shown us that he can run the kind of campaign that he needs to run to win and like you mentioned a pressure campaign I mean I'm seing quotes from State Party leaders saying look we can't say what we really think we can't articulate what the Grassroots is saying because we'll get punished by the Democratic party and we'll get robbed of resources so that to me is kind of the worrisome omera that's happening and I and I'm sure barar you're probably seeing these too but like the private polls are coming back the internal polls from like these Senate races and it's freaking people out it's like Biden down 10 in Pennsylvania Biden down six in Wisconsin even as Bob Casey's up two and Tammy Baldwin's up three and and a lot of these house members are seeing it in their District safe Biden districts are starting to look bad I don't even like New York state where do you guys see all this stuff how come I don't get to see any of this [ __ ] I don't get any of this stuff we'll text you but I also think that that this is kind of siloed like this is kind of siloed this is what happens when you Jin up this type of uh you know visceral maybe rightfully so hysteria I mean you believe this is the the tail wagon dog people are panicked right and they're panicked and so you're so you're seeing the reflection of that panic but I will ask panicked for a reason rightfully so because they saw it I'm not disagree yeah I don't I don't agree with that I'm not disagreeing with that benon had a poll out um they did a post- debate poll and uh voters who watch the entire debate uh prefer Trump over Biden by 51 to 46 voters who didn't watch the debate or split 43 for Biden 40 for Trump so you actually Biden did better with people who didn't watch the debate heard about the debate than he did with people who actually watch which shows it's not the hysteria or the reaction to the debate that's worrying people it was the debate when was the last time a debate dictated who was going to be president of the United States and by the way what this is a question to John and Tommy because I I do I do have a I do have like a a scientific question I was looking at all these I was looking at all these all these polls come out about Senate candidates and I saw one poll in particular where Tammy Baldwin was up five points or six points and and Joe Biden was down five points or six points which would mean in the state of Wisconsin there are the math is like 200 or 300,000 split ticket voters which is something that's never happened in the history of mankind why do we think that the fundamentals of this race will be that vastly different when to John's point like I I hear you John like the under the underg guring foundation of who Joe Biden is is honesty and decency right but you don't look at that in a vacuum the question is is tertiary it's three three things like do you think that he's more honest and decent than Donald Trump or do you want to stay home that's the scenario we're in after the Democratic Convention if Joe Biden's the nominee like complet I completely agree with that before the convention but I hear you that's right I'm sorry yeah whenever he whenever they do the roll call thing so but like until then I think it's too cynical honestly I think that's the idea that like hey it's it's the the it's the almighty or the alternative or whatever the the the bro don't compare me don't compare me to the almighty the alternative to the alternative which is what I use with my wife and her ex-boyfriend all the time you oh my God are you are you getting primaried in your own marri you primar no no what I've done is I've eliminated the opposition I am selling to the Nom uh so you know when there's a large threat there's two things that you define you define the threat and then you define your defenses all I'm saying is if we are taking an honest look at what our best chance to defend ourselves against a perceived threat I think we are selling ourselves short and in in a lot of ways using as as Tommy put it omera to stifle what could be an incredibly productive at least conversation even if Joe Biden came out and said look I understand where I'm at in my lifespan and cycle and what I do here's how this government works rather than coming out and becoming trumpian and saying you think someone else could hold NATO together they could never only God can tell me to get out of the race like if he were to come out and say Here's here's my team here's how we hold the line but we're not seeing any of that nothing that's been done inspires any confidence other than the fatalism of it is what it is and this is what we're stuck with and that's the part that I think has degraded people's trust in institutions and the government from the GetGo that's a problem I'm a blend of both okay so I'm it is what it is and I'm working towards what I believe to be the ultimate goal which is to defeat Donald Trump While others are having discussions about the visceral reaction they had to the debate and Alternatives but I also think those discussions are decently healthy again I don't I'm not trying to excommunicate the the Pod boys I'm I'm mad they were listed in an email the blast email right I'm not that's not pod damn them damn them all Jes Christ I actually have a sticker that says Pricks for Pricks for Biden that me too I got one yeah he gave me one of those too so like I'm not I think I think the discussion is healthy because I'm going to need all of you all if I'm going to win this race and I'm going to need all of you all to want to put every ounce of your being in although we disagree on who the nominee is or who we believe the nominee will be I am still you know working towards that same goal which is to rid ourselves of fascism because I believe after November if Donald Trump is reelected it can go really bad really quickly guys let me ask you this you know uh when you talk about uh ridding ourselves that what do I do with my anger at a Democratic party that honestly has put us in this rocking a hard place position that wasn't honest over this past year about what was happening internally at the White House was not in any way preparing the public for kamla Harris wasn't doing any of that there was a I don't know if it's complacency or deceit or whatever it was but a Democratic party that missed all of the threats that were coming their way and and has left us vulnerable here I I hear you there I think bari's right that normally incumbent presidents run again and I think said he wouldn't let's be fair he said he wouldn't there was a suggestion that he would not run for a reelection that he would be the bridge to the Next Generation I Believe by not a suggest he said yes uh but he never said I will not run again anyway step that aside I think President Biden uh and his advisers took the wrong message from the 2022 midterms that this was somehow about support for the White House when in reality it was Donald Trump helping Elevate some really terrible candidates like Dr Oz who got their clocks cleaned right and then he made his decision to run again and it sound look I don't know I'm not around Joe Biden ever I've seen him two or three times in the last six months but it sounds like the the change the decline pretty rapid well listen we saw him at an LA fundraiser out here that's kind of a lot two to three times in six around the president a few times yeah we had a couple of beers Co let me let me let me contextualize that I saw him in person at a fundraiser and then I watched him on the debate and the in-person fundraiser I saw in Los Angeles a couple weeks before the debate was as bad as the debate everyone I walked out of the debate with John was there we were talking to people around us in seats uher people we didn't know in this fundraiser we were like that was chilling in fact George Clooney just wrote an up at about how we need a new nominee and he he hosted the fundraiser and he just said the same thing in the New York Times which is what everyone at the fundraiser thought like everyone was there like what what happened I I he had just flown back from Italy right so like everyone was like oh he must just be so unbelievably jet lagged but obviously there is a more systemic problem well and that's why I don't think it was some it's not some conspiracy like I I saw him I was at the White House and I saw him in December of 22 and I thought he was fine he like remember he recognized my mother-in-law from meeting her in 2018 like I was like oh he's not he's not I mean he looks older and he sounds older but he's fine and then I saw him the the night before the correspondence dinner and he looked like he did at this La fundraiser and at the debate and I was very worried and then the next night at the correspondence dinner he gave a good speech and I was like okay maybe he was just tired so I do think people were wrestling with this like maybe he's tired maybe but like to your point question about the Democratic party this is a decision that Joe Biden and his closest advisers have made and no one else like Joe Biden could have stepped aside like no Democrat wanted to challenge a sitting president during a primary because they usually you don't beat a sitting President right Joe Biden made the decision to run he and his advisers made the decision to run again even though he said he'd be a bridge even though he selected kamla Harris who who they could have built up and said okay now I'm going to pass the Baton to you he made the decision to run and so we were all left to say okay the rest of the democratic party was like all right you guys are telling us you're the best chance you're our best chance to to beat Donald Trump again to Stave off fascism we trust you this it's on you guys and then we got that debate and then we got all the interviews afterwards so it's like I'm only interested in beating Donald Trump too like we all are that's like the that's the number I'm terrified of what will happen if Donald Trump win I just don't know that Joe Biden is our best shot to do that anymore when have we put points on the board when was the last time Joe Biden put points on the board the State of the Union you know what I mean like what was the last good moment you guys remember well State of the Union I mean I I don't know I mean I I I I try not to just stay tuned into the Washington Post in New York Times listen it's you know the needle's going to move here and there and small I think this is a more macro view this is what drives me crazy about Democrats though the frame by which we like you know I remember in October right Access Hollywood came out Donald Trump was grabbing women by the [ __ ] right and then soon thereafter the bottom fell out polls were showing that Donald Trump was getting his behind kick that all the Senate candidates were like oh my God like this man cannot be at the top of the ticket r prus actually walked up to the top of Trump Tower to try to convince him to drop out the race Rance at the time was the chair of the RNC and Donald Trump told him to go kick rocks right go pound s but what we saw after that after he was resolved to stay in the race we saw everyone then the I mean and Republicans do this so well they just fall in line they don't fall in love they gathered around they got behind this guy who is a narcissistic sociopath and they ushered him into the White House do you think that would have happened had the Access Hollywood tape come out a month before the Republican convention back in 2016 and Ren prus and all those Republicans Ted Cruz who spoke at that convention and was like spoke out against Trump at the convention even though he later fell in line like this is a different scenario like if this was the third week in October we wouldn't be having this conversation right now right like we wouldn't be having this conversation and barari I I would also suggest you know Bill Clinton on the eve of it all uh it came out he had had an affair uh I can't remember Jennifer Flowers I think it was and then it was uh the Paula Jones situation and then there was the Monica Linsky situation and Democrats did fall in line there were I mean people made oh this is terrible and I'm disappointed with the president but ultimately the Democrats did fall in line I I think that you are soft selling the more fundamental aspect of people viewing somebody who I'll be perfectly honest with you I don't know of a job interview that you could have G on and delivered the performance that was delivered by Joe Biden and gotten a job and I'm not talking about the presidency I'm talking about like cashier at Home Depot like a job that you would not think okay that that is the hardest job in the entire world the only problem with that John and the only problem with framing it as such is the fact that you discount everything that he's accomplished in the first three and a half years no I don't I don't at all running for what he did three and years he's running for the next four but nothing happens in a vacuum and what we what we have to do is people just want to my my friends my friends on the left we want to only magnify what we saw on at the debate which is fine I get it we're talking about age but I'm also talking about the accomplishments prior to and the threat that is right down the road and I think I I mean we do oursel a disservice by saying our guy is old we know that he shuffles we know that it's not old it's not I think it is cognitive decline it's it's not just age it's cognitive decline there are people who are at the very least it's an inability to communicate right like I I'm not a doctor but like he can't we need the the candidate that we run for president needs to be able to communicate effectively that's just the most basic it's the most basic part of the job of being a candidate for president is you need to communicate effectively and if you or reassure us that here's how we operate in that environment but to suggest that this discounts three and a half years it doesn't but it does give you a window into the next four and if you look at his performance in 2020 versus his performance in 20124 there is inexorable decline it's just it's undeniable so what I don't understand is okay fine he stays but deal with it headon stop pretending stop gaslighting like that's fine deal with it head on that's fine but I don't want to silence the debate I I think it's fine I think it's Heth talk about it don't gas like poke that's fine like I'm cool with that but I'm also saying that there is a [ __ ] monster that is November fourth fifth six whenever the ele I know we're getting our asses kicked by the monster that's what we're worried about we're worried about the monster listen pose our reflection in time and I do think that a lot of the hysteria that we are self-inflicting upon oursel causes a lot of the reflection that we're seeing in these polls and I would also argue that in 30 45 days you're going to see a race that is once again neck and neck and tight around the country it's a very polarized closely divided electorate safest bed is a close race and it's been a close race right but I have seen and I've s I've sat in these focus groups you've sat in these focus groups for like the last several years and people just they are concerned swing voters undecided voters young black voters young people Latino voters they say over and over again they're worried that Joe Biden's too old to be president and they they they respect him they don't like Donald Trump very much they think Donald Trump's a liar some of them think Donald Trump quite dangerous but they're like I don't think Joe Biden's up for it and they've been telling us this for three years now I can tell you anecdotally the individuals like my mom and her friends who were all in responded to that debate with tears and with fears and with reality and the administration's inability to deal with that honestly and forthrightly to me is almost more damaging than the actual debate itself and it shows a disconnect or an inability to be agile and honest and that's more Troublesome to me than almost anything else don't disagree with anything you said my only my only point would be that my mom and her friends who usually are the ones who determine who the Democratic party nominee is like the the black women in her chat group they refer to themselves as the quote unquote posi um they were they were they were hurt they were saddened they said he got his ass kicked they said he was old as hell but at the end of the day they were more resolved than ever to call their girlfriends and say we gonna vote for them and then one thing they admonished us or admonished me about was we don't need any more chaos they don't want any more chaos they're going to ride with Joe Biden and they don't want they don't want an open convention they don't want a pro they don't want any of that but you don't think white knuckling It with Joe Biden is chaos it's but it's the chaos we know I mean that I think that's a fair argument that is a fair fair take that but one thing you mentioned though like you mentioned like we're not talking about Joe Biden's accomplishments and like oh look we we do a show a couple times a weeks we've talked about those accomplishments constantly and I give Joe Biden a ton of cred Global we not let me finish let me finish I give him credit for climate change the infrastructure Bill Ukraine right all the things he's done great but what is really glaring about this white house and Joe Biden himself is he does not have a message about the next four years they are not talking about what he's going to do why he's the only person he's going to do it he is just like pointing to things he's done kind of angrily and being like why am I not getting credit for holding NATO together and OAS which no one knows what that is by the way it's a it's a nuclear submarine deal with the Australians how the [ __ ] is that coming up in these conversations like that's not talking I have voted in every election the past 20 years on Aus always always the Aus caucus we're the OAS caucus the ship is sailed on getting credit from these things voters are like we don't care I wholeheartedly agree with you and so prior to the debate my my main line was that I I very rarely talk about Donald Trump and Joe Biden in the same sentence per se as I characteriz them other than the fact that I felt both of them were prisoners of yesterday I felt both of them just like it was for a different reason like Joe Biden has this weird Nostalgia for for like swimming in pools with po pop right it it's kind of freaky and then and then Donald Trump Donald Trump has this he's like he's like the king of white grievance from yester year but and and and I think that both of them have a fundamentally project 25 is what it is but you take that away both of them have a hard time articulating a vision for the future and that's when I think age matters because one is 78 and the other is 81 and it's very difficult when you're 81 or 78 to talk about a future that you may not be a part of right and that is the prisoner of age and so I agree with you wholeheartedly that I've been pushing them to lay out a vision for the future and I don't know when they're going to start doing that other than our you know cuz right now they're kind of fighting front back side to side I mean they're so busy beating up on y'all and and and John Stewart that they don't really they don't have time day but hopefully Mystic by the way I'll wrap it up with this because I know everybody's got to get going uh and I'm gonna say this uh Tommy John and then bikari you can have the last word with all the headwinds and obstacles in front of us I remain incredibly optimistic about the resilience of the system that we're fighting over I do believe that uh the challenges that are in front of us are some of them intractable but also uh you know I never there's never despair in any of this it is always all right I guess it's it's it's buckling down so I I would ask you guys to maybe answer the question what about the resilience of this system still gives you uh a hope in that I mean I do think you make an important point that it's we can't all speak in apocalyptic terms in the left and the right does this the country will exist the day after the election if Donald Trump is President I do think he might change core things about our democracy that we can't undo and just fundamentally change the character of this country and so that's why I am happy to be uh the stupid pod bro cracker talking about this now um because I do think the risk is real and it's it's if Barack Obama lost to Mitt Romney there would have been a different policy agenda implemented I think Donald Trump could change the character of the country in a fundamental and dangerous way right I I I think we have there's two choices right you you quit and then bad [ __ ] happens or you try and fight right and I think that's what we're all trying to do right now and and trying to Stave off the the threat of Donald Trump again and I I think what makes me optimistic is like when you talk to voters right voters I know Drive they drive everyone crazy they're complicated they don't follow politics very closely or the news but they're sensible and smart and know what they see and when you make a persuasive case that is rooted in honesty and reality to voters you do have a chance to change minds and change Minds meaning get people off the couch to the polls or get people to change who they're going to vote for and so I never want to give up on that and that that makes me hopeful but I do think you have to make an argument to voters that meets them where they are and is based in reality of what they saw which is why maintaining Biden as a nominee worries me that said if he makes the decision if he refuses to step down and he makes the decision then like we will make an honest case to vote which is like Yeah Joe Biden's too old to run for president but Donald Trump is too dangerous to be president yeah I feel like I'm kind of there um but I I think what gives me hope and I think what we underestimate sometimes as we are evaluating this is King used to talk about in he he talked about it in I Have a Dream speech and everybody remembers like that rhythmic Cadence of I have a dream that one day we show but we forget about the most important part of that of that speech when he talks about the fierce urgency of now and I think a lot of times we discount the urgency that many people in the elor voters have um as we talked about as you talked about your mom and her friends or your parents and their friends and then my mom and her friends the sense of urgency that people have and My Hope comes from the fact that I believe that there are more people who want to see this country move forward than take it back to a place that is is dangerous for us all it's dangerous because of who you love it's dangerous because you're Jewish it's dangerous because you're black it's dangerous because you're a woman and I think that there are enough people who have that fierce urgy of now that after we get through this little uh inter Squad squabble that we're going through right now um you know whoever comes out the 10 on the other side his name will be Joe Biden we'll rally around and we'll carry him we'll car we'll carry him to the Finish Line like you know you know like the old great man that he is right it always it always reminds me you know they say that what's the quote The Arc of the moral Universe bends towards Justice and and what we all have to remember is and there's a good percentage of people trying to bend it back the other way and it's a l job to keep it bent and no matter what happens I don't think that job goes away and I think that's probably uh where we end but uh gentlemen uh I want to thank you all very much uh for joining us of course we have barari sers from uh CNN and uh political commentator and author of the moment and John favro and Tommy Veer founders of crooked media hosts of pod Safe America and authors of democracy or elf how to save America in 10 easy steps uh so thank you guys very much thank you thanks for having us thank you guys oh man that's feisty there was a good amount of feisty wasi wasn't having it we're lucky that we were in separate Studios I was afraid one of the Pod guys was going to get wedgied I think I think he was going heavy on the listen you nerds you pod boys you pod boys they was coming after me the administration is so angry with the Pod boys and John Stewart parari uh but I actually thought it was a good articulation of kind of the uh the positions there uh and I think the it really is the the it is what it is is the part that I think I find so difficult like that idea that if you're not it is what it is then you are somehow a fantasy fanfic westwing Toady I I don't know how else to put it well when you go down to the like Logistics of actually you know switching the candidate you're start wondering would this happen but it can and and you remember oh right conventions they used to not actually have a candidate sometimes until after the convention there is this idea that I think they are discounting just how much in a modern media environment how long four months actually is and is not the same anymore and by the way Republicans wouldn't throw up their hands they would just [ __ ] bear down and get done the thing they wanted to get done and apologize later easier to ask for forgiveness than permission and they would get it done and somehow end up at the Supreme Court with it being fine like that it's the complacency and that's the part that just buries my soul it makes me very sad I just we we've stopped being able to have conversations it seems or even just like raise our hand to be like uh this feels uncomfortable um it's just very much like shut the [ __ ] up and get in line right and that doesn't which by the way it's interesting they brought up he said you know there's a pressure campaign to get Biden to drop out I would say the opposite I think the pressure campaign is way boy more like a power washer coming the other way like hey I don't know if this guy can yeah yeah it's it's it's a bad scene but uh I would I I think it would be a healthier outcome for democracy if it showed some ability and flexibility and did not continue around this feeling that it's very rigid and disconnected from uh real concerns but we will get to all the topics yeah if like the campaign recognized reality and you know addressed it addressed it exactly we would be in a different place uh but to all the people that are concerned about uh some of those issues that we had raised that are going to be coming up on the podcast they will we do this every week every [ __ ] week yeah baby out here day in and day or day one a week and day one a week we're going to get to all those great topics uh and thank you once again for listening as always thanks to lead producer Lauren Walker producer BR medic video editor and engineer behind the glass Rob vah researcher Jillian spear oh audio editing and Engineering Nicole Boyce and the EPS Chris McShan and Katie gray uh as always uh Britney you got the socials on there that we do I do John Twitter we are weekly show pod Instagram and threads we are in weekly Show podcast and on YouTube weekly show with John Stewart I'm on all of those and including Myspace uh all right kitties to next week and Beyond Yay good stuff the weekly show with John Stewart is a Comedy Central Podcast it's produced by audio and bus Boy 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