The Daily Show: Ears Edition - The Republican National Convention 2020: Fear and Shouting | Chris Evans and Mark Kassen
Episode Date: August 26, 2020Trevor covers the 2020 RNC, Desi Lydic and Roy Wood Jr. host a game of "America's Got Suppression,"Â and Chris Evans and Mark Kassen discuss their platform A Starting Point. Learn more about your ad-...choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it.
This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television.
Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives.
But that's all about to change.
Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible.
I'm Seth Done of CBS News.
Listen to 60 Minutes, a second look on Apple podcasts
starting September 17th.
Hey, everybody, what's going on?
Welcome to the Daily Social Distancing Show.
I'm Trevor Noah. It is Tuesday, August 25th.
And we are now just 70 days away from the election.
That's the reason you're starting to hear all those election day songs on the radio.
Anyway, on tonight's show, the strange mix of hope and fear in night one of the RNC.
Jerry Falwell Jr. reads from The Book of Sexi Revelations, and Roywood Jr.
and Desilite play Democracy's most depressing game show.
So let's do this, people. Welcome to the Daily Social Distancing Show.
From Truders' couch in New York City,
to your couch somewhere in the world.
The Daily Social Distancing Show presents.
The Republican National Convention,
celebrating February's record economy.
Yesterday was the start of the Republican National Convention.
The first and only time Donald Trump has renewed his vows.
And going into the convention, I thought it was going to be tough for Donald Trump to sell
himself for another four years.
I mean, mostly because, you know, we live in a plague-scarred hellscape where a hundred
and 80,000 people have died and we can't go to a movie or hug our grandparents.
But then I watched the convention.
And guys, it turns out that Donald Trump has actually done a really good job
by preventing all of that from happening.
From the very beginning, Democrats, the media, and the World Health Organization
got coronavirus wrong.
One leader took decisive action to save lives, President Donald Trump.
The president quickly took action and shut down travel from China.
Donald Trump's quick action and leadership saved thousands of lives during COVID-19.
President Trump truly moved mountains to save lives and he deserves credit.
Just imagine what 2020 would have looked like fighting for your life without Donald Trump
fighting for it too.
Ah, imagine what 2020 would have been like without Donald Trump?
Hey, do you want to go eat dinner inside a restaurant? Okay, cool. I'll see you then.
You're right. That would have sucked.
Essentially, they're trying to convince everyone that this massive failure is
actually a massive achievement, which is not something normal people do when
they apply for a job. I see on your resume here, it says that you crashed a car
into Dunkin Donuts. Yeah, dude, but it would have been like a lot worse if Joe Biden was driving.
And it's especially crazy.
Considering that at the last RNC, all they talked about was the four dead Americans in Benghazi.
But now, they're acting like Trump did a great job by only having 45,000 Benghazis.
But I guess it's true.
Without Trump taking any action, millions more
Americans could have died. So good on Republicans for seeing the glass of bleach half-full.
But Trump's failure with coronavirus is only one perception Republicans needed to change
at their convention. Another one is that the GOP is a WAP, a white-ass party.
So last night, the party showcased their diversity by giving speakers slots to all four of America's black Trump supporters.
And I don't know what they're going to do for the rest of the week.
I mean, Tim Scott has already spoken.
So they're going to have to bring him back out on Wednesday with a fake mustache,
like, hello, it's me, Senator Brimschmott. And while while th, I I th, th, th, th, th, it their th, it their their their their th, it's their their their, it's th, it's th, it's th, it's th, it's th. the, it's tho, it's the, it's thi, it's the, it's tho, it's tho, it's the, it's tho, it's to all all all all all all all all all all all all all all all all all all all all all all all all all all all all all all all all all all all all all all all all all all all. to all. to all. to all. to all. to all. to all. their their their, it's their, it's their, it's their, it's thr. thr. thr. thr. thr. thr. the. thean. thean. thean. thean. thean. thean. thean. thean. the. thr. the. while some of the black speakers last night attested to how not racist Trump is, one
of the speakers went even further and declared that the real racists are the Democrats.
You may be wondering, why is a lifelong Democrat speaking at the Republican National Convention?
And that's a fair question.
And here's your answer.
The Democratic Party does not want black people to leave their mental plantation.
We've been forced to be there for decades and generations.
But I have news for Joe Biden.
We are free. We are free people with free minds.
So let me get the straight.
When other groups organize and vote by their interests, they get a fancy name like voting
blocks, but when black people do it, you get told you're acting like an extra on roots?
And why is it that the people who always say you should be a free thinker have a very
specific set of instructions on how to think?
Think for yourselves, black people.
All right, I'm gonna do that. I'm gonna vote for the Democrats. No, I said, think for yourselves. Vote Republican.
Okay, maybe I'll vote independent.
Yo, you better start thinking for yourself.
I mean, black women in this country vote Democrat more than anybody else.
And I'll tell you now, nobody is more of a free thinker than a black woman.
I dare you to tlt of I should have shed my mouth. And also, this argument is especially confusing coming from this dude.
Because he's saying, the Democrats are trying to enslave you.
Also, I'm a lifelong Democrat.
That's like every confused meme on the internet at once.
Does that mean he's keeping his own voters on the mental plantation?
I feel like I need to watch 12 years a mental slave to understand what the fuck he's talking about. Now, to be fair, it's not that the RNC completely denied the existence of racism in America.
They just think that racism is a less systemic problem and more of a personal obstacle
on the way to an inspirational triumph. And two of their best speeches actually came from people
who have made that exact journey.
America is not a racist country.
My father wore a turban.
My mother wore a sorry.
I was a brown girl in a black and white world.
We faced discrimination and hardship,
but my parents never gave in to grievance and hate.
My grandfather's 99th birthday would have been tomorrow.
He suffered the indignity of being forced out of school
as a third grader.
Yet, he lived long enough to see his grandson
become the first African-American
to be elected to both the United States House and the United States Senate in the history
of this country.
Our family went from cotton to Congress in one lifetime.
Look, whatever you think about Nikki Haley and Tim Scott, you cannot deny that they have
inspiring stories. But here's the thing about them using their stories to show how exceptional
America is. Haley and Scott are literally the thing about them using their stories to show how exceptional America is.
Haley and Scott are literally the exceptions.
The fact that Tim Scott is one of the only black senators and Nicky Haley was one of the
only minority governors is, if anything an argument for the existence of systemic racism
in America, not against it.
Imagine being the sole survivor of a plane crash, looking around at the wreckage and going, wow, I wish all these other passengers, the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the sole survivor of a plane crash, looking around at the wreckage and going, wow, I wish all these other passengers could have persevered and overcome this crash just like me.
Shout out to Boeing! I mean, if America didn't have a racism problem, then their achievements
wouldn't be a big deal. Getting elected as a minority would be as easy as say mailing a letter.
Well, I mean, that's a bad example, but you know what I mean? What I want is a world where a black man becoming a senator isn't inspirational.
That's when black people will have really made it.
When there's a black senator who's just like,
yeah, so my dad was a CEO, and then his billionaire friend started a super PAC.
So I guess I'm here now.
Of course, there's really only one speaker anyone at the Republican the Republican the Republican the Republican the Republican the Republican the Republican the Republican the Republican the Republican anyone at the Republican Convention wants to hear from, and that's Donald Jerry Falwell Trump.
Well, I'm sorry to tell you that the President did not speak in prime time last night,
but we did get a speech from his oldest disappointment, Don Jr.,
who briefly turned the convention into an infomercial.
My father's entire worldview revolves around the idea that we can always do even better.
Imagine the life you want to always do even better. Imagine the
life you want to have, one with a great job, a beautiful home, a perfect family.
You can have it. Imagine the country you want to live in, one with true, equal
opportunity, you can have it. Heroes are celebrated and the good guys win.
You can have it. That is the life. That is the country. That is the good guys win, you can have it. That is the life.
That is the country.
That is the world that Donald Trump and the Republican Party are after.
And yes, you can have it.
Honestly, put your hating aside.
You have to admit Don Jr. would make a great motivational speaker.
And not in the traditional way where he inspires you with quotes,
more like in a way where people would look at him and say, if that guy can run a giant company and speak at a major political convention, that
guy? Just imagine what I can accomplish if I put my mind to it.
Also, if Donald Trump has already been president for almost four years, then why do we still
have to imagine how great life could be if he was president? Trump's presidency is like your 48-year-old cousin's DJ career.
If it hasn't been successful by now, it's not gonna be.
But if Don Jr. couldn't get you on board with his vision of America,
maybe the problem was that your TV volume wasn't loud enough.
In which case, Don's girlfriend and former Fox News host, Kimberly Gilfoil,
turned it up for you. Do you believe in American greatness?
Believe in yourself in President Trump.
His promise was to put America first, and he has.
President Trump believes in you.
He emancipates and lifts you up to live your American dream.
You are capable. You are qualified. You are powerful, and you have the ability to live your American dream. You are capable.
You are qualified.
You are powerful, and you have the ability
to choose your life and determine your destiny.
Ladies and gentlemen, leaders and fighters for freedom and liberty and the American dream.
The best is yet to come.
Did that seem kind of loud to anyone?
First of all, I want to wish a speedy recovery to anyone who was listening on headphones.
I'm praying for you.
And I guess we also found the one person who actually signed up for Rudy Giuliani's masterclass.
America!
You know when you're at a party and the music turns off and then all of a sudden you're
talking way too loud?
That's basically what Gilfoyle did for an entire speech.
And then I shut my pants!
And aside from the speech being so loud that Canada called the cops, the actual content
was also ridiculous.
Donald Trump believes in me.
The dude also believes in Kim Jong-un and hydroxochlor queen. I don't
want to be in that group. So, those were the big speeches. A full-throated
defense of the idea that there's nothing Americans can't do if they put their
minds to it. Although there was also another big idea running through the
whole night, which is that the one thing Americans won't be able to overcome is Joe Biden, who will the the the the the the the the the thiiiiii. 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, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, thi, thi, thi, thi, the, the is the is the is theeeeeeeeean, thean, thean, thean, thean, theeeeeeeeeeeeeee is the is th the one thing Americans won't be able to overcome is Joe Biden, who
will leave the country a permanently smoking ruin.
Joe Biden and the radical left are now coming for our freedom of speech.
They want to destroy this country.
They want to steal your liberty, your freedom.
You will not recognize this country or yourself.
They want to abolish the suburbs altogether.
No matter where you live, your family will not be safe.
The vengeful mob that seeks to destroy our way of life.
A party that wants to burn down the foundations of our country to the ground.
Crime, violence, and mob rule.
They'll disarm you, empty the prisons, lock you in your home, and invite MS-13 to live
next door.
With no hope of escape except death itself.
Oh, good God, I'm terrified and confused.
Because if Joe Biden gets elected, MS-13 is going to move in next door.
But we won't live there anymore because we'll be kicked out of the suburbs.
And if we try to go to church, the Democrats will call the cops on us.
But there won't be any cops, because they defunded the police, so we'll have to take ourselves
to prison.
But they abolish the prisons.
So now all the criminals are out on the streets, which means. they can't shoot us, but the their, their, their, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, their, the, their, their, the, because, their, their, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, but, but the, but the, but the, but, but the, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because, because. their. their. the. their. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. their. their. the their. their. to, to, to, to, to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. the to. to words have been canceled. I don't know what it means. I mean damn that was a
terrifying evening. No wonder Don Jr. was crying. But here's the thing that I
don't think Republicans understand. It's hard to scare people about the damage
Joe Biden could do after the damage Donald Trump has already done.
Joe Biden could destroy your way of life.
Dude, I'm Clorox wiping my grapes. How much worse could shit get?
Oh, and by the way, this is also a lesson for the Democrats,
because they spent four days of their convention basically pitching a return to normalcy
and bringing Republicans into their tent. I mean, John Kaisig gave a full four-minute speech and AOC had to fit hers into a Tick-Tock.
But it didn't count for shit.
The RNC is still saying that Joe Biden is basically Joseph Stalin with a better smile.
But that was night one of the RNC.
And basically, the party made sure that they had something for everyone. For people who feel like the country is thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, 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 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 tho, tho, the, tho. tho. tho. tho. ton, ton, to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to sure that they had something for everyone. For people who feel like the countries in chaos, Trump will make it better.
For people who feel like things are going fine, well, you have Trump to thank for that.
If you're a minority, racism is just a small bump on your way to an idyllic life in the suburbs.
If you're scared of minorities, don't worry.
Trump is going to keep them out of your idyll suburbs. If you're hard of hearing, Kimberly Guilfoyle has you covered. And if Kimberly Guilfoy made you hard of hearing, well President Trump will
release his big beautiful health care plan any day now. All right, we have to take
a quick break, but when we come back we'll catch up on the trees, Russians, and hot
sex lives of America's most devout evangelicals. So stick around.
When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it.
This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television.
Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives.
You're rolling. But that's all about to change.
Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible.
I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes, a second look, starting September 17th,
wherever you get your podcasts.
Welcome back to the Daily Social Distancing Show.
It is night two of the Republican National Convention, but it is also night infinity of
everything else that's going on.
So let's catch up on all the other news in our unconventional checkup.
Let's begin with Russia. It's like if a frown was a country.
For years, only one prominent politician has had the courage or stupidity to stand up to the autocratic ruler Vladimir Putin.
But for Putin, that was apparently one too many.
Doctors in Germany say a critic of Russian president Vladimir Putin was likely poisoned.
Remember doctors in Siberia blamed Alexei Navalny's illness on a drop in blood sugar.
And Navalny was flown to Berlin for a treatment this weekend.
The Russian dissident is in an induced coma.
His supporters believed that somebody poisoned his tea before he got on a flight in Russia?
Over the past several years, other Kremlin critics have been involved in apparent poisonings
or suffered mysterious deaths.
That's right.
Russia's most prominent dissident was poisoned at the airport.
And that means it was either Vladimir Putin or he ate the food at LaGuardia. the the their. their. their. their. the the airport. And that means it was either Vladimir Putin
or he ate the food at LaGuardia.
Either way, we need a full investigation.
No, I mean, come on, let's be real.
It was most probably Vladimir Putin.
I mean, the man uses so much poison.
I wouldn't be shocked if we find him at the poison aisle in Costco.
Should I buy 24 pack or 36?
Yeah, you always end up using it. That's what makes it even more ridiculous that the Russian doctors
Didn't diagnose this as a poisoning
Although maybe that's how they teach it in Russian medical school
Doctor this political dissident drank tea and then he collapsed. Yes, looks like he has a very common case of the sleepies. It happens to people who don't keep the mouth shut. I gotta say it must be terrifying to live in a country where the leaders stay. to poison to poison to poison the the the the their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their thoysysysys thoys. thoys. thoys. thiia. their thi thi thi thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. th. thi. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. their. Do. Do. Doe. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. their. thi. thi. thi. toe. toe. toe. toe toe toe toe to toe toe toe toe toe toe toe toea. toea. toea. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. to people who don't keep their mouth shut. I gotta say, it must be terrifying to live in a country where the leaders stay in power
by trying to poison opposition candidates.
So much more chill to be in a country where they can just do it by shutting down the post-office.
But democracy in America isn't defeated just yet.
Because yesterday, Democrats in Congress called the Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to get answers out of him about what the hell is going on with the USPS.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy appearing on Capitol Hill yesterday to defend recent changes
to the U.S. Postal Service ahead of the November election.
The hearing before the House Oversight Committee was at times combative.
In exchange with Congresswoman Katie Porter of California, Dejoyed acknowledged a lack of familiarity with some basic aspects of the Postal Service.
You don't know the cost to mail a postcard?
I don't.
What if it's like one of those greeting cards, it's a square envelope?
Then what is the postage?
I'll submit that I know very little about a postage stamp.
Within a million or so, can you tell me how many people voted by mail in the last presidential
election?
No, I cannot.
To the nearest 10 million?
I would be guessing.
I would be guessing, and I don't want to guess.
I'm glad you know the price of a stamp, but I'm concerned about your understanding of
this agency.
God damn!
This guy's like the worst person to bring to a trivia night.
Okay, the next question is, what do you call the box that you put mail in?
Oh my god, thank God, we've got the Postmaster general on our team. What do you think to Joy? Um, okay, I know this one, they're blue.
Oh, I'm taking all of them away.
Oh, I should know this.
But in a way, this is kind of refreshing to watch.
I mean, we're so used to seeing guys in power mansplain and going,
well actually, it's refreshing to see a mann, thr-a, thu, thu, thu, thu, thu, thi, thi, thr-a, threll me, I don't know shit. But let's move on to Jerry Falwell Jr.,
President of America's foremost evangelical university
and wherewulf that quit mid-transformation.
Falwell has been a fixture of the Christian conservative movement
for 15 years since following his famous father into the family business.
But now, all of a sudden, he's not.
All right, breaking overnight, influential evangelical leader, Jerry Falwell,
Jr. is indeed out as president of Liberty University. After a tumultuous day where his fate
lurched back and forth, Falwell was put on indefinitely two weeks ago after he posted a photo
on social media showing him and a woman both with their pants unbuttoned.
Questions about Jerry Falwell Jr's leadership at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia,
come after John Carlo Granda, claimed in an interview with Reuters that he had a year's
long sexual relationship involving Falwell's wife and the evangelical leader.
Granda said he was 20 when he met the Falwell's while working as a pool attendant at
a Miami Beach hotel in March of 2012.
Grandis said their relationship continued until 2018 and involved him having sex with Becky
Falwell while Jerry Falwell looked on.
Okay, look, let's start off with this.
What consensual adults do in their sex life is up to them and I don't judge anybody
for anything.
You do whatever tickles your
exposed fly. But Forwell has made it his business to judge what everyone else is doing with their
sex lives. He speaks out against gay relationships. And until just five years ago, students at his
university weren't allowed to do anything beyond holding hands or even watch R-rated movies.
Meanwhile, he's apparently letting this pool boy check his wife's chlorination levels.
Honestly, sometimes I think guys like this are reading a different Bible to the rest of us.
Because the Bible I read says to love thy neighbor and judge not lest you be judged first.
But this guy's Bible is like, these gays are gross, but here's something you can do that super hot. And look, I've said it before.
Nothing is more dangerous to a relationship than a sexy pool boy.
That is why I only use one of those pool cleaning robots.
I mean, don't get me wrong, I still try to smash the thing, but it's not interested.
And finally, an update on the terrible fires sweeping Northern California. The firefight continues for firefighters in northern California
where three major wildfires are still burning in the Bay Area.
Two of those fires are the second and third largest ever recorded in California.
In one week, the fires have scorched more than 1.2 million acres,
an area the size of Rhode Island.
California has seen roughly 600 new wildfires pop up in just the past week.
It's due to a combination of hot, dry weather and some 12,000 lightning strikes.
This is big base in Redwoods, it was devastated by flames.
However, many of those huge massive redwood trees have survived this fire.
the trees have survived, despite being burned.
Okay, first of all, it is such a relief that most of the redwood trees survived this fire. Also, I like how they mention these fires of the size of Rhode Island.
You know, three things are certain in life.
Death, taxes, and a California fire being compared to the size of a random state because
we're all terrible at math.
So if you're keeping score at home, we've got 1.2 million,
two hurricanes in one week, and a pandemic, and a pandemic pandemic pandemic pandemic pandemic't know if those are signs from God, but if I was Jerry Falwell Jr.
I'd maybe stick to cold showers for a few weeks.
When we come back,
Worwick Junior and Desiletic host a hot new game show
that you might be playing against your will.
So stick around.
When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it.
This is 60 Minutes.
It's a kind of a magazine for television.
Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives.
But that's all about to change.
Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible.
I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes, a second look, starting September 17th,
wherever you get your podcasts.
Welcome back to the Daily Social Distancing Show.
North Carolina is shaping up to be a battleground state this year.
But will we be able to trust that its voters will be treated fairly?
Well, Desiletic and Roywood Jr. find out in their new and confusing game show.
I'm Roywood Jr. She's Desilatic and this is America's Got Suppression.
The number one show about how the freest, most democratic country in the world keeps some
of this citizens from voting. Tonight we're in North Carolina, home of sandy beaches, delicious barbecue, and the most
beautiful plantation weddings that your sorority sisters never should have had.
That's right, Desi, in North Carolina is also ground zero for voting suppression in America.
Let's meet our first contestant.
Jayden is a college senior who loves his lucky hat, but doesn't love that his voting rights
are being threatened by a voter ID law proposed by the state's Republican legislature.
My experience with voter suppression comes from the North Carolina General Assembly trying
to pass a voter ID amendment. I'm an out-of-state student in North Carolina.
So I don't have what they deem worthy IDs in North Carolina.
All I have is South Carolina driver's license
and then my school ID.
It's a legitimate ID.
I mean, you can use it to get into the library.
You can use it to get into bars even when you're underage.
You can use it to cut up cocaine.
Okay, yeah.
So you can't vote with that?
You know, this law is being pushed by the Republican Party. And we all know college students tend to vote more democratic,
especially students at HBCUs.
Ah, yes, HBCUs, that's historically African-American colleges and universities.
You can say black.
Oh, okay.
Historically black colleges and universities.
Wait, what did you just do?
Let's get our next contestant.
Vashtai Hinton Smith is always wearing glasses.
And she was deprived of her voting power
when her historically black college was gerrymandered.
Jerrymandering is a mechanism that is used to draw voting districts to make sure you can get re-elected.
I always thought it was a sex act. No, Desi, it's when they dilute the power of a specific voting block, like splitting
a school into two districts.
Just look at that map and tell me that district isn't getting f-
fete.
Vash, how did you fight back against this in North Carolina?
We've had court cases, which is illegal. very long time to win. The North Carolina Supreme Court, they decided that this was a partisan
gerrymander, which is illegal. Every year, every election, there's always a fight. So,
if that doesn't make us the most suppressed, I don't know what does. You know, Roy, I got to tell
you, I have never experienced voter suppression before. Some people are just lucky, I guess. I think privilege is the word you're looking for. No, I th. th. 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, 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, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi. thi. thi. thiiii. thiii. thiii. thii. thi. thi. thi. thi, thi I think privilege is the word you're looking for. No, I think it's luck.
Okay, next up is Dan McCready, a veteran and solo entrepreneur who has a friendly face.
And while running for Congress in 2018, his Republican opponent's campaign allegedly used voter fraud to defeat him.
Wow. Something seems off with this guy. This is, uh, this doesn't seem right
because this guy's, this guy's white.
You're white, right?
Well, of course, his name is Dan.
He's definitely white.
Dan, I'm sorry about her, okay?
Why do you think you've got what it takes to be the most suppressed?
What happened in my race, which was the largest case of election fraud in modern-day American history. I thought we lost by 905 votes,
only to find out that my Republican opponent
had hired a known criminal who sent workers to the doors
of voters that they knew were likely to vote Democrats,
including African-Americans.
Oh, Dan, you can say black.
No, no, you can't, Dan.
Don't do that.
Never mind, Dan. Those, no you can't Dan. Don't do that. Never mind Dan.
Those workers stole their ballots.
They forged signatures.
They filled in the vote choices for people.
It's interesting, Desi, because it's usually Republicans who accused Democrats of voter
fraud.
Huh, that is interesting.
But at the end of the day, the bipartisan Board of Elections in North Carolina voted 5-0 to
hold a new election.
All right.
So they held a new election, Desi, and he won his office and fought back on that suppression.
That's what I'm talking about, Dan.
Now that is a happy ending.
Well, unfortunately, I didn't win.
But the important thing is that, in this case, the system worked. So you lost twice, is what you saying.
He got cheated, he lost, and then he lost again.
I gotta give it up to you, Dan.
I never seen anybody get suppressed twice in the same election.
Okay, time to take a last look at all our contestants and see which one has
what it takes to when America's got suppression.
That's right. Is it going the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the win America's got suppression. That's right. Is it going to be restrictive ID laws, race-based gerrymandering, or outright
voter fraud?
This is tough, Dessie.
Absolutely.
And the winner of America's got suppression is.
the winner.
Mitch McConnell.
Oh, that makes sense.
When voters are suppressed, he wins.
Every time. To the other contestants, uh, you lose.. th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, that makes sense. When voters are suppressed, he wins. Every time. To the other contestants, you lose.
So does democracy.
Yes, it does.
All right, well, it was fun playing with you.
America's Got Suppression returns next week,
live from Atlanta, Georgia.
You're making me do this again?
Yeah, we have like 49 more states to do.
Thank you so much, Roy and Dizzy.
I can't wait for the next episode.
All right, we have to take a quick break.
But when we come back, I'll be talking to Chris Evans, aka Captain America himself, about
his new mission to save voting.
So stick around.
When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it.
This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television.
Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives.
But that's all about to change.
Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible.
I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes, a second look on Apple podcasts starting
September 17.
Welcome back to the Daily Social Distancing Show.
Today I spoke with actors and filmmakers Chris Evans and Mark Kassin about their new venture
called a starting point.
It's a nonpartisan platform where you can learn about issues directly from elected officials and apparently it's only got facts. Check it out.
Coming back each time to the place we knew to people that were familiar
and it started to feel like we were doing something that was working and that
people wanted to participate in. We're gonna have to get you a permanent office.
I'm not sure. I don't know if I can handle that. The hope is that we can become synonymous with an unbiased presentation of what is going
on in Washington.
Chris, Mark, welcome to the Daily Social Distancing Show.
So let's jump straight into this idea, a starting point, a website where if I understand
correctly, people can log on to just get the facts about politics and engage with their
politicians.
The question I have is, can you create a website that is nonpartisan if facts around politics
are involved?
Sure.
I mean, that's the challenge, isn't it?
There's three sections to the site, and I'll let's the viewers go check it out, themselves.
But the first section is where we outs basic issues, not only by the elected officials themselves, but trying to give the electorate a perspective of not only the Democratic but
the Republican perspective to know where they fall in the political landscape.
There's no denying that now people say if a fact goes against what they believe in, well,
then it's been influenced. It's been faked.
So Mark, how do you play into convincing people that the fact is in fact a fact?
You know, Chris and I and Joe, we talked a lot about this going in on how we would do that
and what we would do.
And if you look at the different fact check websites, it becomes arbitrary really quickly
and very debatable.
So what we did is the best that we could do.
they can't say too much too mitten. So that, that stops. So that that stops too much blovating. But two, we handed it over to another organization that
just handles accountable dealing with policy and tracking bills. So therefore then when people
want to say well we couldn't find any backup for that, we couldn't find any backup for this. And then it is incumbent upon people to say well then where do we go to to to to to to to their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. their. their. their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just the. the. toe. toean. toean. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. tha. thea. the find more backup and we try some breadcrumbs. But again, we're just a starting point.
I like that you call it that a starting point, because it feels like,
I mean, please forgive the pun, but it feels like this is end game, you know,
and now you're starting off where it feels like we're long past.
Like, people don't seem to care about what a thing is. They care about how it feels right now. Sure. Do you think you can get people back to a place where they go to look for facts before
they make a decision on who or what they vote for?
Sure.
I mean, even what you said earlier, that that kind of dizziness of the obfuscation, deliberate
obfuscation by a lot of people in power I think that does breed a kind of disinterest and apathy.
And so I think what we're trying to fight against is the exhaustion that the political landscape
can present with the dizzying of, you know, subjective information, subjective facts, and just
trying to connect people back to elected officials, the political landscape itself in an effort
to try and, you know, breed participation. So that democracy doesn't d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d, thee, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, thiiiii. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thea. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. the. the. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. th, breed participation so that, so that democracy, you know, doesn't die, not to be dramatic, but that's what will happen.
The folks in D.C. that you see on TV are talking about things that the folks who elected them
are concerned with.
That's what we're really committed to more and saying, this is the fact, this is the way for, we're not the authority. We're trying, we're trying, we're trying, we're trying, we're trying, we're trying, we're the, we're the, we're to to to to to to th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, that's, that's, that's, that's, that. that's, that. that. that, that's, that. that, th. thi, thi, thi. That's, th. That's, th. That's, th. That's, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi, thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. that's, that's, th. that's, thi. that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, thi. thi. thi. thi. th.tenor of the conversation to be a more productive dissonance. That was good, Mark. Remember everything you said.
Thank you.
I'm going to feel one of your analogies right off.
Let's put that on the site.
So you don't have likes. You don't have dislikes.
You don't have comments.
You don't have, you basically don't have the internet on your website.
It's very old school. to know though, why don't you have likes, why don't you have dislikes, why don't you have comments? Well, because I think it's a bit of a negative reward mechanism. I mean, I may
not be the only one on this call to say that, you know, it's not refreshing, you know,
in time you go and scroll through the comments section, you don't walk away and say, man, I feel better thate. So I think sometimes the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the taile. I can't the ta the taa. I the taa' their their their their their their tai. I'm tai. I'm sometimes, tai. I'm tai. tai. their thr-a' throwne. their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their. their. their. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. ta. ta. ta. ta. ta. ta. ta. ta. ta. ta. ta. ta. ta., tailor what you want to say, to encourage likes and seem louder or more relevant than you are. And so I
think we just wanted to kind of remove that. And again, I think that's actually
one of the contributing factors that makes people turn away from politics
because it is the vitriol is just at an all-time price. So I think just to try and make and make to to to to to to to to the landscape to to to to the landscape to to to the landscape to to to the landscape to to the landscape to to to to the landscape to to to to to to to to to the landscape to to to the landscape the landscape th. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the landscape to to the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi thi. the thi. the. the. thr. thr. try try try and make try and make try try and make the. thr. thr. the an thr. to the an the an the of the kind of toxicity that sometimes,
you know, individual opinions can have. And then also, you know, we do have one way that people
can get feedback, which is they can take two actions on our site. One is to register to vote,
and the other is they can connect to their elected officials,
they can reach out. They can reach out. And I think we've registered almost 7,000 people to vote so far, and over 35,000 people have reached out to their elected officials.
So at least to us, an engagement is if you reach out to your elected official,
an engagement, if you register to vote and actually do something.
Chris, I have to ask you this question.
There's no denying that many people consider you a woke bay.
Right?
Online people know that you share your views.
You have thi their the a progressive, you've never hidden this.
Yeah. To be the face or one of the faces of this website means that some people are going to
automatically assume that some of the things you are doing are trying to push people to the left or not.
How do you assure people that it's not happening? And more importantly,
how do you stay away from doing what you believe is right because of your political beliefs?
Yeah, well I'll still express my opinions when I feel called to do that.
I don't think one has to step on the other.
I led with the fact that, you know, look, everyone knows I'm democratic.
Everyone knows I have my issues with certain people and I won't hide those.
But when you examine the mechanism of the website, it's virtually impossible. I mean, at least I would argue virtually impossible for me
to somehow inject my opinion into the mechanism of each section.
Each section is pretty airtight in terms of just trying
to give the elected officials a platform
and encourage connectivity between those two parties,
the elected officials and constituents, rather.
So, again, I understand people's concern, but like I said, I've been trying to shout that I'm aware
of it too.
You have to talk to a lot of politicians who you don't necessarily agree with, both of
you.
Chris, you caught a little bit of flack when people saw you take a picture with Ted Cruz's
daughter and it was like, oh, you're with Ted Cruz?
And you're like, theaned, the. thu, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, I, I, I's, I's, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I's, I's, I's, I's, I's, I's, I I's, I I's, I I I's, I I I's, I I I I I I's, I's, I I I's, I's, I's, I I's, I's, I's, I's, I's, I's, I's, I's, I's, I's, I's, I's, I'm toe. told. toa, I'ma, I'ma, toa, toa, toa, toa, toa, toa, toa, toa, toa, toa, toa, toa, toa, toa, toa, I'ma, I, well, I'm here for the daughter and Ted Cruz says this for my daughter, but then there's Ted Cruz in this. How do you balance that on your side?
Because I mean, it is a little bit weird.
Some people are like, I don't agree with any of your politics, but as Captain America,
I don't agree with any of your politics, but as Captain America, I don't tak. How do you balance that and how do you respond to people who go, Chris, how could you do that? Yeah.
Well, in that circumstance it was a child, I always take a picture with a kid.
But in general, just even sitting down with certain politicians,
there are certain people on the extremes of both parties who there's no wiggle room for that.
And again, what I would argue is, look, if this person wasn't writing bills that affected your life, fine. We can shun them,
you know, and we can scream loud in them. But we can't pretend they don't have some sort of say,
some sort of image. And I think far more pernicious to become stubborn and retreat to your corner
than it is to say, okay, I wholeheartedly disagree with you. I think you may even, you know, infringe upon human rights, you know, something. And something. And something. that that that that that that's. that's. thine, thine, thine, thine, th. thine, th. th. th. th. th. thine, thine. thine, thine, thin is, thin is, thin. thin. thin. thin. 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. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thin, thin, thin, thin, th thin, th theeeeeee. thin. theee. theee. the. thin. thin. th. th you know offends me deeply as a person I'll still let this be a landscape of competing ideas and get you out that way
Because I think the other way just become cyclical and and everyone spirals and no one listens
And I don't think you move the ball down the field as effectively as you would if you say okay
Let's just you know out talk me
And these are elected officials right I mean they are responsible for passing legislation that will affect our lives.
I mean, Chris did something, Tim Scott came on.
He said, listen, you and I don't agree on a lot of things, but I appreciate that you'll
let me have a conversation on about things that I know you don't agree.
And I think if we can do that, maybe people can get better at having conversations, at least at Thanksgiving around the dinner table with things that agree with, without punching each other in the
face.
Well, as your website name suggests, we hope that this is a starting point.
Congratulations to both of you and hopefully more people will register to vote and more people
will engage with their elected officials. Christonight, but before we go, we talked about it tonight, but California
is in trouble right now.
The wildfires there are out of control and have already burned over a million acres and
destroyed thousands of homes.
One of the agencies helping out on the ground right now is the Center for Disaster
Philanthropies Wildfire Recovery Fund. They support communities across the state, especially ones with vulnerable populations as they work to rebuild and recover from wildfires.
Until tomorrow, stay safe out there, wear a mask, and if Vladimir Putin invites you
to a tea party, find an excuse.
The Daily Show with Kervanoa, Ears Edition. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at
11, 10 Central on Comedy Central and the Comedy Central app.
Watch full episodes and videos at the Daily Show.com.
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This has been a Comedy Central podcast.
When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it.
This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television.
Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives.
You're rolling. But that's all about to change.
Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible.
I'm Seth Done of CBS News.
Listen to 60 Minutes, a second look on Apple podcasts,
starting September 17.