The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Harris-Walz Campaign Holds First Rally & Republicans Call Walz "Tampon Tim" | Barbara McQuade
Episode Date: August 8, 2024Michael Kosta on Tim Walz's debut at Philadelphia's rowdy Harris rally, the GOP struggle to find an attack line on the new VP candidate, and Republicans descending into tampon turmoil. Plus, Troy Iwat...a investigates why Trump is calling Harris and Walz communists and discovers other secret commies. And, with Kamala Harris now the nominee, conservatives are breaking out their old standbys: racism and misogyny. In a new installment of "In My Opinion," Charlamagne Tha God refutes the right's claims that Harris is a DEI hire who lies about her race, and calls on the media to help filter out the bulls**t. Then, University of Michigan Law School professor and former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade joins to discuss her new book, “Attack From Within: How Disinformation is Sabotaging America.” She explains how “disinformation” — the deliberate use of lies — is different from misinformation, how tactics like declinism and nostalgia are being used by the far-right in the current election cycle, and how regular Americans can take control by advocating for social media regulations and staying media literate.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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John Stewart here, unbelievably exciting news.
My new podcast, The Weekly Show, we're going to be talking about the election,
economics, ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches.
Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast.
You're listening to Comedy Central. From the most trusted journalists at Comedy Center, it's America's only source for news.
This is the Daily Show with your host, Michael Costa. We have so much to talk about tonight Kamala Harris and Tim Walls, hard
launch. Conservatives are furious about tampons and Charlemagne the God is here to talk about
Kamala's race. Spoiler alert, she's black. So, let's get into it with another edition of Indecision 2024.
Yesterday, Kamala Harris announced her vice presidential pick is Tim Wals,
Minnesota governor and guy who just found a quarter behind your ear.
And last night, she took her shiny new running mate out for a spin at a rally in Philly.
Violent crime was up under Donald Trump.
That's not even counting the crimes he committed.
Say it with me, we aren't going back.
We aren't going back.
We aren't going back. We aren't going back.
In Minnesota, we respect our neighbors and their personal choices that they make.
Even if we wouldn't make the same choice for ourselves, there's a golden rule.
Mind your own damn business.
Whoa!
Whoa! Whoa!
A Minnesotan saying, damn, that's spicy.
But if you watch this rally, it's clear Democrats are in a much happier place than they were
a few weeks ago.
They're like, why do my hands keep banging together like a seal?
Are the corners of my mouth going up?
Why, am I sick?
Even I felt it, and I'm dead inside. Corners of my mouth going up? Why? Am I sick?
Even I felt it, and I'm dead inside.
And part of this is that Tim Walsh
creates excitement because he's a new main character.
It's like when you've had the same mailman for 20 years,
and then a new guy comes around, and you're like, you know,
this time I'm going to learn this guy's name.
What can I say? I'm a good person.
So, the point is, this energy is great for Democrats and terrible for Republicans,
which is why they spent all day trying to find an angle of attack on Tim Walls.
And I'm open to hearing it. I don't want to be partisan.
So Republicans, I'd like to hear a serious critique from one of your sharpest minds. Let's bring in Scott Sheldy this morning.
What do you think of Walsh as the vice presidential pick, Scott?
I'm going to guess this guy's response is moo.
I mean, I mean, you know, let's give him a chance.
Let's give him a chance. He might have a very valid critique of Tim Wals' policies.
Let's hear him out.
What do you think of Walsh as the vice presidential pick, Scott?
Look, Stewart, he's not a serious candidate.
All right.
Not serious, huh?
I agree.
I hate having to listen to unserious people.
You know, it really pulls my utters. Look, here's a rule of thumb.
You're not allowed to talk about being serious
if you have to milk your clothes before putting them up.
Now, to be fair, there are real policy issues Republicans have been hitting walls on,
like helping undocumented immigrants get health care and his reaction to the George Floyd protest.
But they just can't resist a story like this. He supports putting tampons in the boys's b' tho's b' tho's tho's tho's thoys' thoys' thoys' thoys' thoes thoes thoes th th th thi thoes thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi the thi thi thi. thi. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi the the the the the the the the theeean thean. thean. thean. thean thean thean thean. thean the the can't resist a story like this.
He supports putting tampons in the boys' bathrooms for kids as young as the fourth grade.
He says Republicans are weird, yet this is the governor who put tampons in the boys' bathroom
A nickname for Tim Pampon Tim is tampon Tim.
We need to introduce tampon Tim to the world. Tampon Tim. Tampon Tim. We need to introduce Tampon Tim to the world.
Tampon Tim.
Tampon Tim.
That sounds like a fictional character, parents tell their daughter about when she gets
her first period.
You know, like, look, look what Tampon Tim tim left under the sink, honey.
Super Plus, overnights.
You've got your mom's flow and we couldn't be prouder. But basically what happened is that walls passed a law that put free tampons in all public
schools, including boys' bathrooms.
With all due respect to tampon tampon, I really just don't care about this.
You know, best case scenario, a trans kid gets tampons.
Worse case, the weird kid in class puts them up his nose
and pretends to be a walrus, which is also best case scenario.
Personally, as someone who was a 13-year-old boy,
it doesn't matter what you put in that bathroom.
Whatever it is, they're gonna draw a penis on it.
They're gonna rip it off the wall and try to flush it down the the the the toilet.
on it. They're going to rip it off the wall and try to flush it down the toilet. It's either that or go to geography and I'm not going to waste my time with that.
Anyways, Tim Walls, the governor of Minnesota, which is the capital of Alaska, doesn't
seem to be overtly problematic, which is why Republicans are accusing him of hiding something. This is a guy who hides behind his flannel jacket, but he's actually a wolf in sheep's
clothing who cannot be trusted.
A progressive in sheep's clothing.
Governor Walsh is a socialist in sheep's clothing.
He's a freak in sheep's clothing.
He's a freak.
He's a freak.
He's a freak in sheep's clothing.
That's ridiculous.
Not like cows clothing.
That's normal.
But a sheep, what a freak. Yeah, I know.
It's so good.
By the way, isn't sheep's clothing just like a wool sweater?
I love wearing sheep's clothing in the fall.
I can make so many more cute outfits, you know?
Senior portraits here on high, 98. But yes, Tim Walls may be a former football coach, a hunter,
a guy who looks like he has his own homemade dry rub,
but Republicans are saying,
don't be fooled by the moderate vibes.
Tim Walls is a secret communist.
And nobody is more on board with this line of attack than Donald Trump himself.
He's a very, very liberal man.
If you want to know the truth, he's probably about the same as Bernie Sanders.
He's probably more so than Bernie Sanders.
She is more so than Bernie Sanders.
There's never been a ticket like this. This is a ticket that would want this country to go communist immediately if not sooner.
Immediately if not sooner?
There's no sooner.
That's what makes it immediately.
If you tell someone you want something sooner than immediately, they're going to be late
because they're going to waste their time thinking what kind of idiot says immediately if not sooner.
By the way, yeah.
By the way, when Joe Biden rambled like this, all of us were like, this man is obviously
senile but now that he's dropped out, it's becoming more obvious that Trump's brain isn't
exactly in great shape either, and he should get that looked at immediately, if not sooner.
For more, on the Republican reaction to Walls, we go live to Troy Awada.
Troy.
Troy.
It seems like Republicans are still trying to figure out how to attack Tim Walls.
No, I think they've figured it out.
Tim Walls is a communist sheep.
A radical, left-wing Marxist socialist who is also a sheep.
So Republicans think Kamala should have picked a more moderate VP, like Josh Shapiro.
No, he is also a communist. A Marxist communist kosher sheep.
He's exactly the type of socialist
that Democrats love to pick instead of blue collar heartland
people like Tim Walls.
Well, Troy, they did pick Tim Wall.
I know, it was a big mistake picking that Marxist socialist.
I'm sensing a pattern here.
It seems like Republicans just label every Democrat as a communist.
I mean, what if her VP pick was Captain America?
The guy who fought Hitler? Like, Joseph Stalin?
Sounds like a communist to me.
What about Mr. Peanut? Okay, every peanut is the same.
Same color, same shape, same taste, communist.
What about the Geico gecko?
Okay, anyone that sells insurance is a communist.
It's a shared risk.
The gecko, Jake from State Farm,
Leemu Imo and Doug, all communists.
And don't even get me started on Flo from Progressive,
she's progressive and her name is Flo. She is definitely putting tampons in boys bathrooms. That pig in a red dress
who teaches kids about sharing as a communist? Uncle Sam? You know who Sam is the uncle to.
Mao say Dong.
Come on.
Look it up, it's on my substack.
Troy, aren't these attacks, getting old?
Republicans do this.
Every Democratic candidate.
Can't they find something new to say?
It's not the Republicans' fault that everyone who doesn't agree with them in all of history has been a communist, Michael. th........ th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, to to to to thi, to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to 't agree with them in all of history has been a communist Michael. Okay? If they picked a normal person, Republicans would call
them normal. All right, here, here. What if the Dems say their VP is Donald Trump?
Donald Trump? You mean Kamidan?
Free money during COVID? Best buds with Putin? Married to an Eastern European? Troy.
Troy, come on, not everyone is a communist.
What about you and me?
Wake up, Costa.
You and me work at Comedee Decentral.
I, I, no.
I'm not a communist.
You're not, neither am I, comrade.
Vinc, uh. Troy Awada, everybody. I mean, comrade. Vince, vink. Troyawata, everybody.
I mean, when we come back,
Charlemagne the God is joining us, so don't go away. Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show,
it's going to be coming out every Thursday. So exciting. You'll be saying to yourself, TGID,
thank God it's Thursday. We're going to be talking about. All the things that hopefully obsess
you in the same way that they obsess me. The election, economics, earnings calls.
What are they talking about on these earnings calls?
We're gonna be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches.
And I know that I listed that fourth, but in importance, it's probably second.
I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out
on Thursday?
I mean, talk about innovative.
Listen to the Daily Show.
We all know I've got great opinions, but I'm not the only one. Studies show that other people also have opinions.
So, here with another installment of In My Opinion is our good friend Charlemagne the God. Hey, now if you've been following the presidential election, you've probably heard the news
that there's a DEI candidate in the race. That's right, that's right. Those identity-obsessed
Democrats pick someone just because of their race and gender. Tim Walth was a balancing choice for her. He's white, he's male.
We do know that they wanted to get a white male on the ticket, so he's going to be that one.
Here's a really important one. He's an old white dude.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
Yes. Thanks to affirmative action, there is an old white guy on the Democratic ticket for the first time.
For the first time in about 17 days, okay?
I'm glad white men are finally getting that moment in the sun.
Just make sure to wear enough SPF, all right?
Now, you all know what's really going on.
According to Republicans, Tim Walls isn't the DEI higher, because to them, every letter in DEI actually stands for the same thing.
Black, black, black, which means the real DEI candidate is Kamala Harris.
She's a diversity hire.
Of course she's a DEI hire.
100%. She was a incompetent diversity hire.
This is a woman, this disaster whose only qualification was having a vagina in the right skin color.
That's right.
Having dark skin in a vagina is an instant path to the oval office.
If you don't believe me, take it up with Ronald Reagan's black pussy.
Okay. Okay? Okay? Listen, man, this argument is so stupid to me.
If being a woman or a minority with the golden ticket to get in the head in politics,
then President Andrew Yang would have already done Universal Basic Income and President Kanye
West would have already changed the national anthem to Gold Digger, okay?
I mean, I've looked at pictures of the last 46 to gold digger. Okay? I mean
I've looked at pictures of the last 46 presidents and it sure seems like
there's one identity in particular that gives you a leg up. White, white man.
I'm just saying Donald Trump would not have gotten the job if his first
name was Donnell. All right? He'd be evicting himself. He'd be evicted himself from his own apartments before his career could begin.
But for the sake of argument, let's suppose Kamala was given a chance because of her identity.
She still had to do something with it on her own.
And Kamala has done a great job as vice president.
Remember that one big thing she did?
Me neither, okay?
And that's exactly what you want in a VP,
someone who doesn't make the news.
A VP is like a carbon monoxide detector.
You want to have one, but if it makes any noise, something's gone wrong.
Okay?
In fact, Yes, that's right.
In fact, the last time I remember a vice president doing anything that made the news, it was
this.
Vice President Dick Cheney apparently broke the number one rule of hunting this weekend
when he accidentally shot a friend in the face. Yeah, yeah, yeah, accidentally.
Just like he accidentally invaded the wrong country
after 9-11.
Yeah.
Now did I think about it, Dick Cheney made the news a lot.
Don't be like Dick Cheney.
And this is yet another weird thing about Republicans.
They always say that liberals are obsessed with race,
but they're the ones who can't stop thinking about it.
They had a blank slate to build a narrative around Kamala Harris,
and they immediately went 1860 on us
because they got black on the brain.
And Republicans aren't only saying Kamala is too black enough.
They're also saying she's not black enough.
Early in her career, she identified as South Asian.
Now she is considered an African-American woman.
Is she black? Is she Indian?
Nobody knows?
Kamala's Indian black heritage or whatever it is, she wants to be today.
One year she's black, the next year she's of South Asian descent. She was Indian all the way and then all of a sudden she made a turn and she went,
she became a black person.
Just to be clear.
I don't know if you know this or not, but you can be both.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I don't want to break your brains. But two isn't even the most races a person can
be.
Yeah.
Bruton Mars is the most races a person can be.
And we know what's going on here.
All of these attacks are the pink Kamala as just one big phony.
Going to Georgia two days ago and putting on a fake southern accent when you were raised
in Canada.
Whoa.
So wait, she's faking being black and she's Canadian?
Well, that's the worst thing you can call somebody this year.
Drake.
Drake.
And it's been a rough here for Drake.
And if I were a white Republican, I'd be a little worried about Democrats flipping this
on me.
If Republicans are appointing themselves the black police, Dems could become the white police.
Because not all whites are Maga whites.
You got cumbucia whites.
You got cargo short whites.
You got Stanley Cup whites.
Both kinds of Stanley Cup, hockey and beverage. You've even got whatever kind
of white JoJo C.Wye is. White people around the country watch that clip like, she's not like us, she not like us. But honestly, I'm not even mad at Republicans
for bringing up Kamala's race.
They've got a job to do,
and they're doing it the only way they know how.
The real bullshit is the media
for hearing the Republican talking points
and treating it like it's a real story.
The Vice President's racial identity has been in the news. Identity heritage is newly injected into the race.
Why is former President Trump questioning
the vice president's racial identity?
Talk about racial identity dominated the headlines.
The claims about vice president Harris's identity
will probably make the most headlines.
What do you mean these claims will make the most headlines?
CNN, MSNBC, ABC. You're the ones who decide what the headlines are.
Okay?
All right.
Like, these issues don't make headlines unless you put it in the headline.
And none of these issues should be a headline.
If a guy came up to me on the street saying, the vice president is a chameleon, she can transform from Indian to black. I've seen it.
I'd be like, well God bless you sir, here's two dollars. I gotta go.
Okay, all right. Media, if you need headlines, it's not like it's a shortage of
important issues in this election. You got immigration, you got the
economy, you got reproductive rights.
The best place to dispose of a road kill bear cub.
Those are things that we need to be talking about.
OK?
Or maybe spend some time looking at how the GOP is already planning
on how to steal the election by having corrupt state officials,
refuse to certify the results, getting corrupt judges to back them up, the whole thing goes to the corrupt Supreme Court that's already anointed Donald Trump or king, so
now they can overturn the results of the election to declare him the winner in exchange for
a new RV.
But, hey man, what do I know?
That's just my opinion. Show the name of the guy when we come back, Barbara McQuade will be joining me in the
show so don't throw away.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes. Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show, coming out every Thursday.
We're going to be talking about the election, earnings calls. What are they talking about ingredients to bread ratio on sandwiches.
I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday?
Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast.
Welcome back to the Daily Show.
My guest tonight is a University of Michigan Law School professor, former US attorney,
an author of the New York Times bestseller,
Attack from Within, how disinformation is sabotaging America.
Please welcome Barbara McQuade. All right, nice.
Look at this.
Look at that.
There's a fist on the cover coming out of the center of America.
And I'm like, is that where the attack is coming from? Is it Nebraska right there?
No, but it is a white, right-handed fist.
Yes, right.
Well, you know, where are we in the disinformation in America?
What does that America? What does
that mean? What is misinformation? What is disinformation? Yeah, well
disinformation is the deliberate use of lies to manipulate people in advance an
agenda. Misinformation is kind of its unwitting cousin. We hear
something, we think it's true, but it's a lie and we amplify the
claim exponentially. Disinformation is done on purpose.
Yeah. Misinformation is done on purpose. Yeah.
Misinformation is a family member, Facebook scrolling, repeating something they saw.
Exactly.
Yeah, from within.
From within, is this the problem in America now?
Is it coming from within?
As you say in the book, is the call coming from within the house?
Yeah, I think it is.
I spent my career as a federal prosecutor prosecuting national security cases. I teach a course on national security law at Michigan Law School and historically.
And historically we have thought about information warfare and propaganda is coming from
outside our borders from hostile foreign adversaries. But now we are seeing it, I think, as a
political tactic within our own country. So these attacks that we hear about Kamla Harris being a thei-I hire. Or that that, you th, you thu, you thu, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, thu, thu, thu, thuil, thui, thui, thui, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. Yeah, thi, thi, thi, I thi, I thi, thi, thi, thi, thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. I thi. I thi. I thi, thi, thi, thi. So these attacks that we hear about Kamala Harris being a DEI higher, or that, you know, she recently happened to
become black. These are deliberate efforts to stoke division in society.
What are some of the other tactics? Because, man, as consumer of news and media, I
should know what these are. Yeah, absolutely. And there is a list of some of the tactics in the book. the society is going downhilling-n, thiiiiiiiiii. th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, you, you, th, you, th, you, thi, you, you, you thi, you thi, you thi, you know, you know, you know, you, you know, you thi, you know, you thi, you thee, you thee, you thee, you thee, you thi, you thi, you thi, you thi, you thi, you thi, you thi, you thi, you thi, you th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, theeea. thea. theauuu. thea. thea, thea, the book, but you know one of them is this idea of declineism.
Society is going downhill. Everything's awful. Cities and ruins, American carnage.
Sound like a Trump speech right now.
These are some of the same tactics that Hitler talked about in Mein Kampf and used in Nazi Germany in the 1930s.
And in fact, if you look at the data, you know, crime rates are down.
The economy is up. All of the indicators are actually on the upswing. And yet, if we can
talk about the society as being down, then it allows us to say, well, these extreme
times call for extreme measures. And people believe these things. It allows scapegoating
of other people in society and demonization
of others. One thing that really resonated to me is tribe over truth.
Explain that more to me. Yeah, so one of the things we've seen in our deeply
polarized times is that people identify with their political tribe, their
team. It's almost like, you know, Michigan versus Ohio State. We care about being loyal to the team. One of those teams is legit. Well, that's true.
That's true. But we know it. We know it. Yeah. Right. But if it all becomes just a
joke, but then I realized I probably just perpetuated this thing you're talking about. that's the te. thehehehehe. tha. tha. the. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. the. tha. tha. tha. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's is is is is is is that's is th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th is is legit is legit is legit is legit is legit is legit is legit. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. tha. tha. tha. thae. thae. thae. tha. thae. thee. thae. the. the. the. that's thi. thi. thi becomes more important than truth. And that just doesn't work in a democracy.
We will never resolve anything if all we care about
is advancing our team winning, dunking on our opponents.
And that's what politics has become,
this idea that I'm going to go along with the con,
even if I believe that it's not true.
So, you know, stop the steal. One thing that really resonated with me was,
and I didn't think about it, was the use of nostalgia.
Man, I'm a sucker for that.
Sure. You know?
Me too. Yeah, and you say in here, if you've ever seen a car commercial, or I like, you know,
you know, the fonts, I always find myself gravitating towards a font that reminds me of a simpler time in my life. Are authoritarian politicians using nostalgia this way?
Absolutely, because all of us love that, right?
I mean, baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, right?
You know, for me, when I think about nostalgia, my childhood, I think about the happy
times, it was 1968, right?
War was raging in Vietnam.
We had assassinations of our leaders.
But in my little world, everything was wonderful.
So when I see a Bapyard barbecue with families
in their Bermuda shorts,
that all makes me feel happy and warm and safe.
And so yes, utilizing nostalgia as a way to bring you in and say,
we're the party that's going to make you safe,
because we're praying on your fear.
And so if we can bring you back to that idea of tradition and nostalgia,
we can make you feel safe.
You talk about Trump in here, but is it just one side that's doing this?
Is it everybody?
Is it both sides? I don't like to both sides when it is one.. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. the to. the the to. the to. th. th. th. thi. the thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. toe. thi. thi. thi. I's, thi. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the thi. thi. thi. thi. toda. toda. today. today. today.a. today.a.a. today.a. today. today. today. thea. today. the say that it is a tactic that can be used by anybody.
And so that's why I really wanted to write this book and raise awareness of these tactics
so that people can see it regardless of who's pushing it.
But at this moment in history, I do believe that it is the far right branch of the Republican
Party that is most responsible for trafficking in lies.
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. What can we do in a bigger sense and what can I do as a
country? Yeah so I think there are a number of things we can do in terms of
reforms. So social media certainly is a place where lots of disinformation is spewed. We have
we have power like we've never had before.
And I think there are regulations that we can take that could help stem the tide.
Sometimes when I say that I hear, you want to censor America, you hate the First Amendment.
And the answer is no, I'm a big advocate for the First Amendment and free speech,
but I think if we look at process over content, we can find ways to have some common sense reform. So for example, the algorithms that are deliberately designed to stoke outrage because that keeps us
online and that sells more ads and that's more money for the platforms.
I think if we could control the way our private data is taken so that we can be micro-targeted,
that is something that we could regulate.
I mean, disinformation is pretty profitable. No?
I mean, you know, a podcast about conspiracy theories, a lot of people listened to, you know,
a podcast like mine, the Tennis Anyone Podcast with Michael Costa.
It talks more about life and tennis.
It's not really a question there, Barbara.
That was just me wanting to push that. But when I, okay, this weekend, I'm, I grabbed my phone, talking about social media,
the first thing I see was trans boxer makes her opponent default.
And I go, holy shit, that's a crazy headline.
And then you kind of, and I come to work on Monday, you start start unpacking it's like that's not at all what what this was so what can we
do you know that's I think I have my head on straight I think I can figure
out a fact from fiction but that's it's it's very deceiving what can you do at
home if you're watching with your family if your kids are there how can how can we teach them to decipher this stuff. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the stuff. the stuff. their. their. their their their their th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. their thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I I I I I I I I I I I I I I th. I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. I? Yeah. And this is the kind of lie that I think is difficult to stop because of our First Amendment.
People have a right to say things even that aren't true.
I think one of the things we can do is improve our own media literacy.
So as a country, we could teach it in schools.
We could teach it to do to help us build resilience against that kind of false claim. And the reason people use that is, of course, people who want to divide us, people who traffic
and disinformation exploit an opportunity.
They say, oh, here's a chance to really stick it to the LGBTQ community, right?
So I'm going to really stoke this and get people all amped up.
But there are things we can do.
One is reading with a their their their their their, their, thiiii, thi, their, thi, thi we can do. One is reading with a critical eye, you know, not just the tweet that someone
with, you know, they usually have a handle like, you know, patriot girl, right, or something
like that, right? Probably not a real person. Probably a Russian, you know, sitting in
a boiler room somewhere who just says, you know, I hate it when men beat up on girls or something.
Right. Read some credible. Right. Right. Find some credible. outlets, like the Daily Show, or some... Learn about the background.
What is the basis for people saying that this is not a woman?
And in fact, you will read that she was born a woman, she grew up a woman, she has always
competed as a woman, she has never once claimed to be, tried to be in any way fought as a man. And so these claims are really made out of whole cloth. And so I think that if we thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thin thin thin thin tho tho thin, thin, to be, tried to be, in any way, fought as a man. And so these claims are really made out of whole cloth.
And so I think that if we educate ourselves in that way, by doing a little bit of homework.
Be skeptical.
Exactly. And be a critical thinker.
Just don't accept at face value what you read.
The, um, yeah, you, but you better do it.
You better do it.
You better not sit down at the kitchen table tomorrow
scrolling Facebook and just repeating everything you say.
We better all do it.
The First Amendment is this amazing special amendment that we have
that 260 years ago, the forefathers wrote down,
but man has it got us in a world of shit sometimes, huh? Is there a way to reframe it so we think about it
differently? Are you allowed to say whatever you want whenever you want? I
mean I just I found it so interesting when you talked in here about how
America is particularly susceptible to disinformation. Explain that again to
me. Yeah, well it is because of our cherished First Amendment rights and I
think everybody does cherish it. Whether you're on the right or the left, it is the First Amendment that allows us to speak
out against our government.
But I think sometimes people use that as license to say everything they want to say, and
just because you can doesn't mean you should.
It is also the case that, like all other amendments, like the Second Amendment
and every other right we have in the Constitution. It is not unlimited. The Supreme Court has said the Bill of Rights is not a suicide pact.
And we can have reasonable limitations on things.
You know, there's a doctrine called strict scrutiny that says limitations are permissible if there's a compelling governmental reason,
and the limitation is narrowly tailored to achieve that interest.
So, for example, you can't threaten to kill somebody online.
Turns out that's frowned upon.
Right. Good.
Yeah.
We got that one right.
You can't commit perjury, right? That's free speech, but you can't say that.
You can't yell fire in a crowded daily show studio.
Don't try that.
So there are some limitations. But I th. tho tho tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. thi tho. tho. tho. thi. thi. thi. thi. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. th. th. th. th. th. th. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. tho. tho. tho. th are some limitations, but I really think that the best response to bad speech
is more speech or better speech and labeling of speech.
You know, one of the things I'm most concerned about that's coming down the pike is AI-generated
disinformation.
There's this ad going around now. Ad going around now with Kamila Harris in her own voice, saying things disparaging to
herself.
And so how do we combat that?
You know, people can create it.
People create satire.
And that, but I think labeling is a way for us, you know, more speech is the response.
But I think, the labeling is a way for us, you know, more speech, is think is the best way to address that. Because I wouldn't want to do anything that cuts back on our First Amendment rights.
When you read the book, so much of what I was reading was going, oh my god, yeah, now
that makes sense.
Oh yeah, that speech makes sense.
Oh yeah, so it's very helpful.
And I say every three to four years, Americans should have to get some media literacy license. And there's could be some required reading.
I mean, you need a license to drive.
And then if you get in an accident, you might have to get your license again.
So we should get a license to free speech, and I'm just spitball in here.
And then if you have a speech accident, you should have to.
All right.
Thank you for writing this book. It's a great book. A tap from Within is available
now and check out our podcast, hashtag sisters-in-law. Barbara McLeod, we'll make a quick
break and you're right back after this. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thanks a lot. Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show coming out every Thursday.
We're going to be talking about the election earnings calls.
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I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many
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That's our show for tonight. Now here it is your moment of Zen. Like all regular people
I grew up with in the Heartland, J.D. studied at Yale, had his career funded by Silicon Valley
billionaires, and then wrote a bestseller trashing that community. Come on! And I got to tell
you, I can't wait to debate the guy.
That is if he's willing to get off the couch and show up.
So...
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Everybody John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, the weekly show coming out every Thursday.
We're going to be talking about the election, earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls?
We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches.
I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday?
Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast.