The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Barack Obama - Protecting Democracy and the Commitment to Facts

Episode Date: December 22, 2022

“Democracy requires, by definition, getting along with people who don’t agree with you.” Former President Barack Obama discusses why he believes the youth turnout made all the difference in Democratic victories in the midterms; how globalization, disinformation, and the media infrastructure are contributing to the weakening of democracy globally; and what advice he has for Trevor after The Daily Show.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. Our guest tonight is here to discuss the inaugural Obama Foundation Democracy Forum and how he's training the next generation of young leaders in the U.S. and around the world. to the today's guest tonight is here to discuss the inaugural Obama Foundation Democracy Forum and how he's training the next generation of young leaders in the US and around the world. Please welcome the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Yeah. That's right. Yeah. That's right. I am. Yeah. That's right. I am. I should have brought Michelle here so that she could. This is how I'd like to be greeted when I come home.

This is how I'd like to be greeted when I come home. But I feel like Michelle's the start in the house though, right? Oh, absolutely. Mr. President, welcome to the data show. It is wonderful to see you. Do you miss your name,'s the star in the house though, right? Oh, absolutely. Mr. President, welcome to the Daily Show. It is wonderful to see you. Do you miss your name, by the way? Because everyone calls you Mr. President, but like, I feel like I would, like if people call me Mr. Daly, I would miss.

Just being called Trevor. Do you miss your name sometimes? You know, my best friends Welcome to the show. Let's start with, I mean, the most pressing news. The midterms just happened, you know, America voted, the house is flipping. Democrats have held onto the Senate. Many credit you for coming out and pushing out, you know, people to vote. I would love to know two parts to that.

Number one, do you, do you you you you you you you you the the the th you th you th you th you th you th you tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, to to to to to tho, tho, to to to to to to to to to to to to to to their, their, their, their, their, their, their, the. You know, number one, do you, do you feel pressure whenever you ask to come out? It's like in the movies when, you know, they need that home run and the bases are loaded and the teams are losing and they go, Barack, we need you to hit this out in the park, we might lose everything. Do you feel the pressure? Does it get to you? And second of all, what does it say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say, what, what the the that that that the that the that that that that that, what, what the the that, what, what, what, what, what that, what that, what that, what that, what that, what their, what their, what their, what their, what their, what their, their, their, their, their, their, they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they're, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, that before an election. Look, I think that the reason we did better than expected can be attributed to not me or anything I did, but it has to do with A, we recruited some excellent candidates. You look like at Westmore in Maryland, Josh Shapiro in Pennsylvania. You look at our Senate candidates, you know, a John Fetterman and Marker. Westmore in Maryland, Josh Shapiro in Pennsylvania. You look at our Senate candidates, you know, a John Federman and Mark Kelly.

They are committed, passionate, down to earth. They connect with people. And so I come in mainly to shine a spotlight on them. So that's point number one. And the second thing that happened in this midterm, and we've seen it now for three elections, so I'm starting to feel pretty hopeful that this is a habit. Young people are voting.

And you've got higher... It has been many times remarked how I got thumped during midterms during my presidency. And part of it was that voting rates were really low. In some sense, I think a lot of Democrats felt, all right, Obama's there, we'll be okay. And, you know, if it turns out that McConnell and Boehner and others suddenly have power, then that greatly restricts what a president can do. And I think that lesson was learned.

Trump comes in and suddenly 2018, 2020, and now this one, you've seen young people come in and they're typically voting at a rate of 70 to 30, 60 to 40 Democrat to Republican. And that makes a huge difference. And so their enthusiasm, I think, is what really drove this election. I agree with that in terms of the people who actually voted. But young people don't seem to be turning out as much. So the ones who did vote voted overwhelmingly Democrats. But the number of young voters seems to be the people the people to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to to to to to to to be to to be to to the to the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the their. the 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. the the th. thiiii. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea, you know, so the ones who did vote voted overwhelmingly Democrat. But then the number of young voters seems to be dwindling from

election to election, and many young voters are saying they feel disillusion, they feel like America hasn't made a way for them. They don't see a future for themselves. Well, look, what is always true is young people are going to vote at slightly lower rates than old people like me. Because they've got better things to do. Michelle and I are sitting at home, you know, eating dinner, we've kind of run out of things to say. But let's go vote. Young people, Malian Sasha, they're out, you know, they've got all kinds of stuff. So, so that's always going to be the case that young people's voting rates are a little bit lower. They are higher now than they were in the midterms

when I was present. And in such a polarized environment, one, two, three percent. If they're turning out at 21 percent instead of 18 percent, makes a difference. That can make an enormous difference. Right. When you look at that tiny difference, you still see the places where, I mean, people got into power despite the fact

that they deny elections. I think Republicans got 170 election deniers into Congress. People who don't believe in the way America is running its elections. People who don't believe Joe Biden should be president or they, you know, they'll be vague about their answers. What do you think it says about American democracy that so many people are getting elected to these positions when they, they seem to dismiss the election itself? Well, the interesting thing is, you notice election deniers don't deny their own election. Funny how that works.

How many of them actually believe some of the nonsense that circulates versus those who think it's convenient or it's a way to own the libs or it's a way to send a message or align themselves with Trump? That's hard to say. But what is important is that because of some really concerted efforts in a lot of important states, some of the most egregious, prominent, and potentially dangerous election deniers, they got thumped. They got beat. And particularly in the Secretary of State's races and in some cases, governor's races where in the next presidential State's races and in some cases governor's races where in the next presidential election you could have somebody who could really do some damage.

There I think we held the line. Now, what it does say more broadly is the fact that, not just here in the United States, but around the world, the fundamental precepts of democracy are being challenged. Right. We're not having arguments about policy, but around the world, the fundamental precepts of democracy are being challenged. We're not having arguments about policy, but we're having arguments about the rules of the game, which previously we all agreed to, right? There was a notion that, all right, we run elections, whoever gets the most boats actually wins, the loser concedes, goes back and tries to do better next time.

And what we've seen now for a whole host of reasons is a creeping sense that if the outcome's not what we want, then we can do whatever we want and say whatever we want in order for us to win. And that is profoundly dangerous. And as I said, it's not unique to the United States, but when it happens in the United States, it sends a signal all around the world that weakens democracy. And that's why I think us getting our house in order is so important. When you look at the discourse in the country as well, and around the world, but again,

I think you're correct in that America is a leader in what's happening right now, the discourse has become so toxic. You were, you were in every single state. You were meeting with people all the way from Iowa, you know, through to California, wherever you, you were meeting, you were meeting you were meeting people, you were meeting people, you were meeting people, you were meeting people, you were meeting people on the ground. They were listening to you. There was an openness even though people had different political affiliations. It seems like that has eroded over time.

And I wonder what you make of that. Where do you think it's coming from? Do you think it's social media? Do you think it's the tenor of politicians and the capital? Two things. The biggest change that's taken place when I ran for let's say US Senate in Illinois you go down state that's the South I mean it's rural it's conservative there aren't a lot of folks who look like you or me and certainly there are more Trevers than there are barrocks in these areas but and and uh and I'm driving around.

I've got, you know, a map for young people here. It's this paper thing. You can't figure out how to fold it back, but it's how you find your way on roads. And, uh, but I go into a town and, it'd be 70% Republican. a lot of evangelicals, etc. But I could go to a diner or VFW Hall or County Fair. I could go to the local newspaper and the owner there is conservative and he's got a bow tie and buzzcut and he's kind of skeptical about my ideas but there wasn conservative and he's got a bow tie and buzzcut. He's kind of skeptical

about my ideas, but there wasn't the filter that had been created by Fox News or the media infrastructure, the sort of right-wing conspiracy theory, you know, folks, and so they came at me with an open mind. And I could listen to them and they could listen to me. And at the end of the day, they might say, well, he's a little liberal for our taste. But we have something in common. He talked about his mom getting sick. I remember my mom getting sick.

You know, it seems like he loves his kids, I love my kids, and there was some sense of connection. And I think the filter now has become so thick. It started, I think, with Fox News and some of the other traditional media, and now with social media, that's gotten turbocharged. If you go into those same communities now, they have so many preconceptions about what somebody

like me believes, cares about, etc. that it's very hard to penetrate. So I think the answer is both thinking about information flow and media and how can we break through that information bubble that people are in. That requires, by the way, progressives to get out of their media bubble, because we've got some preconceptions that I think create barriers as well. And then working a lot more locally, because you notice that when you're on the ground doing stuff, it's harder to stereotype people. And the nationalization of our politics, I think, has been damaging. The more we can focus on grassroots efforts, real world rather than just virtual meetings,

conversations. That's what over time I think can help strengthen democracy. And that's part of what our emphasis has been at the foundation is with young leaders who are working on the ground, coming up with new ideas to create those connections. I definitely want to speak to you about democracy worldwide. I want to speak to you about democracy worldwide. I want to speak to you about disinformation and what we can do to immunize ourselves from it. But we've got to take a quick break.

We'll be right back after this with more from President Barack Obama. There we're back. Welcome back to the president Barack Obama chatting. Democracy, disinformation, and who is better looking between us, I won. Let's start with... Let's... You know, the real question is, how will he look when he's 60? You know, I mean, everybody's attractive when they're in the 20s and 40. You know, I mean, everybody's attractive when they're in the 20s and 40. Come on, you know.

I'm almost 40. Almost 40. Almost. Yeah, almost. Almost. That doesn't count. Live a little bit. Let's talk about, I plan to, let's talk about your, your foundation. Let's talk about what you're doing. We see you out there, you know, we see you talking about democracy. The world is in a really interesting place in that, you know, a few years ago, I think the world was th. th. th. the world th. th. th. th. th. the world, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the world, th. th. th. th. th. the th. th. th. the th. th. thi. thi, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, th. th. th. th. th.s, again. One, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the world, thi, the world, the world, you the world, you the world, you the world, you the world, you the world, you the world, you the world, you the world, you the world, you the world, you the world, you the world, you the world, you the world, you the world, you, you th. thi, you thi, you thi, you the world, thi, their, their, their, their, their, their, thi, thr-c-c-c-cou. You know, you know, thi. You know, thr-c-c-cou. You know, you know, you know, you know, again, one, why do you think the world has gotten there? You know, if democracy and freedom are things that everybody wishes to have, why does it seem like the world is moving away from that? And then secondly, what can we do or why should we then try to get back to this democracy? If you look at the trend lines, there are a bunch of factors, I think.

Globalization, the global economy disrupted a lot of traditional societies. What do you mean they're disrupted? Well, you know, the global supply chain eliminates industries, eliminates jobs, increases, you know, the wealth gap, not only between countries but within countries, right? And then modernity challenges people's traditional notions of religion and family and gender roles. And you've got these culture clashes, right? You're in some village in Yemen, and suddenly your kid has a phone

and it's looking at the Kardashians, and right? And so you get this vertigo. And what happened, what you've seen happen, I think, in a whole bunch of places, is essentially a pushback, a backlash to change that is happening too fast, for their comfort. And when people are pushing back against change, then they're vulnerable to politicians who say, you know what, I can make things just like it was back then. When you were feeling more important. You had higher status. You know, you didn't have people who don't look like you

suggesting somehow that, you know, you're doing something wrong, that somehow your traditions are flawed. And that appeal usually also involves saying the problems you're feeling are somebody else's fault. It's those folks there. It's immigrants, it's gays, it's Hindus, it's Muslims, it's so forth and so on. And that then gets turbocharged with the information issues that we talked about.

And look, democracy requires, by definition, getting along with people who don't agree with you. And the other thing that happens is these countries are becoming less homogeneous, right? And so you just had a, just had a right-wing party in Sweden, which we always used to, Swedes, right? They're so chill and democratic, right? But if you've got a whole bunch of immigrants coming in, suddenly people start getting nervous. And so part of what I think we have to do is to stand fast on the principles of equality and self-governance and representation and everybody gets a seat at the table.

But I think we have to also find a language and a story, a way of telling the story about how we can get together that does not threaten people who are uncomfortable with change as much. And that's going to be different for different countries. But I'll give you an example. There's a young leader who we worked with from Slovenia. She's part of our network, who was an advocate for doing something about domestic violence. The laws of that country didn't have domestic violence,

it was a real problem. Ran a referendum, it got crushed. And we worked with her and suggested, well, maybe you want to talk to the people who didn't vote for it. So she goes out to these rural rural th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, the rural, the rural, the rural, the rural, the rural, the rural, the rural, the rural, the rural, the rural, their, their, their, their, their, the, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, the, the, th. the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the th. thee, thee, thee, thee, the, too, toooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. I I I'a, too, too, too, maybe you want to talk to the people who didn't vote for it. So she goes out to these rural villages with these older, traditional, rural, very religious, very conservative women, and just interviewed them and listened to them and talked to them. And it's not that they agreed with domestic abuse, it's that they thought their way of life was being challenged.

She adapted their language, ran the referendum again a few years later, and it passed. Right? Because she adopted the language that made them feel as if, okay, this is not so much of a, you know, earthquake, a huge change in how we live, but it's rather affirming our best values. And I think us finding ways to do that. thi that, thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi their their their their their their their their their their their their thi. She thi thi thi thi thi that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that in how we live, but it's rather affirming our best values. And I think us finding ways to do that in a consistent way will help. But it's hard. Yeah, look, for most of human history, democracy is a relatively recent vintage. It's a blip. It's a blip. you know, tribe, you know, nation-state, race, sect, you know, that's typically been how we organize things and it's always easy to say us versus them that that's that's the easy politics. What what democracy demands is always a little bit more difficult. It also

feels like, you know, when when you it. There are two elements that I often see is on the one hand, storytelling as you said, it's often easier to tell a story of blame. Yes. Why are things going wrong? It's because of that person. It's simple. There's the person. We've solved it. Why are things going wrong? Well, there's a confluence of factors and you have this and you have the economy. You got to understand the supply to. That's not an answer for many people. And when you sell freedom, they go, I don't, I can't eat freedom. I can't buy a house with freedom. I can't, you know, and then the second part is what you're talking about, you know, the us versus them, the who isn't, who isn't. you know, whether it is in Brazil, you know, with it's Bosanaro, you know, with it's in America, with Trump, where it, they go, they're just going to do.

And whether they do or don't actually do it, it feels like they're going to do. But then some people go, oh, but when we get the freedom people, they want to talk and they want to discuss and it seems they their to discuss, their to discuss, their to discuss, their to discuss, their their, their, to discuss, their, to discuss, their, their, to discuss, their, their, to discuss, their, their, their, their, to to discuss, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, throwne, throwne, throwne, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, change. Is there a way to combat that? Because it is a feeling a lot of the time. Well, yeah, look, if you want to be a progressive, pluralist, tolerant Democrat, and I don't mean Democratic Party, you know, you can't be a wuss. I mean, you've got to have a story with some swag. You've got to be able to sell the future and deliver. And also, call out the fact that what those folks say they're going to do, they almost never do, right? Because the truth of the matter is that when you look at, we have experiments, those countries that have the ability to harness everyone, and

everybody participates and there's consent and people feel like, all right, this is working for us, versus places that are failed states, you know, the track record of democracy is pretty good. But, you know, we have to be forceful in making our argument. And what is true is that, you know, we can to be forceful in making our argument, and what is true is that we can't just talk, we've got to walk the walk, which is why we're having a forum in New York. One of the topics that we're talking about is inclusive capitalism. People are, when you think about, let's say, here in the United States, there's greater

appeal of right-wing populism in a lot of communities, rural communities, that they're not wrong that the economy, the global economy, has shifted away from them to urban centers, even in their own states. And so the opportunities in Austin, Texas are different than in their their own states. And so the opportunities in Austin, Texas are different than in a rural community in East Texas. And people notice that. So we have to spend some time thinking about, how are we delivering on behalf of people whose lives,

who used to work in a factory, who used to farm for a living, and have dignity and worth and stability and security in those lives, and now suddenly they don't feel as if they've got the lottery ticket in this existing economy. That does have to be addressed. And in places like Africa, you know, right that does have to be addressed. And in places like Africa, right now you have, let's say, China coming in heavy presence in a lot of these countries, providing a lot of foreign aid, a lot of strings attached, a lot of Chinese workers coming in to build big buildings.

Them owning the ports, et cetera. But if we're not there, if we're not helping build that road, thin, thinne thin, thin, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, th, th, th, th, th, th, you th, you th, you th, you th, th, you th, you th, you th, you th, you th, you thin, you thin, you thin, you thii, you thi, you thiioli, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you thiiii. thi. th right, you th, you th, you th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, them owning the ports, etc. But if we're not there, if we're not helping build that road, if we're not there to build that port, then naturally people are going to start thinking, well, maybe that's a recipe for bettering my life, as opposedto you know some flowery language but has nothing behind it. Right, right. I wonder though do you think inclusive capitalism is somewhat of a paradox? You know it feels like it feels like you you think it's possible because it feels like I mean capitalism is designed to extract as much wealth as possible from every single interaction that it can. Look you know I mentioned you know I mentioned Sweden and some of the problems

they're having because of immigration. On the other hand, you look at Scandinavian countries, they're capitalist countries, and those work very well. But some people would argue that their foundation is more, you know, socialist and then they go with, it's almost like they go, we're socialist first, and then capitalism is our undercurrent. Not really. Well if you go there essentially people are taxed more and they have

more common goods. But you're still going around at a job and you get paid you know you can't it's not like you're going into the store just grabbing whatever you want walking out. But the question... See it's friend. You know you got walking out. All right, see it. See you, spend. You know, you gotta pay for it, right? Then the guy, the cash register is checking, did I make a profit here today? Right, but the reason I'm asking that is because, and maybe it's the words that fail that sometimes. I often, you know, I'll talk to my friends about this. It's interesting that we sort of stopped, 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, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I 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 cash, the the cash, the cash, the cash, the cash, the cash, there's this, there's communism, this capital, and then we just stopped, we're like this is it, there's

capitalism and that's that I sometimes wonder is there not something better? Is there not something we could be moving to? I think there is. Maybe I should be asking what is inclusive capitalism? The reason I just used, let's let's say a denmarked. example is not because it's going to work perfectly in India, the United States, etc. The point though is they've got some blend, some mix. Right. Right. Right.

There is an advantage in terms of efficiency and also freedom to a market system. You have a control system. You have a control system. You know, some guy in an office is deciding how many potatoes we're going to grow this year, that usually doesn't work. The flip side of it is that what we've also learned is that if some guy in a boardroom is deciding I'm going to ravage the environment to do whatever I want, that doesn't work either. So we're going to have a blend of some sort. We want some collective decision making about the social good and we want something that's efficient and dynamic and allows us to exercise our innovation and freedom. And we don't need to worry so much about the labels as we do about being

practical and thinking about what's working and what isn't. And this is going back to the information issues. This is part of why, to me, one of the biggest challenges is democracy is not just the mechanics of elections or the independent judiciary. Those things are all important, but this is why this information and media issue is so important because what we've seen here in the United States and elsewhere is a abandonment of a commitment to facts and reason and logic and stuff that is useful. And some would say necessary. Necessary. And if we can't have a debate based on facts then we can't get to

Better solutions right we start talking in slogans and nonsense and there's no reality check. We just make stuff up. I didn't lose an election. You know, there's something broken over there And and it doesn't and it's impervious to facts. So so part of what I think? I'm. I'm I've been spending a lot of the fact. 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've th, I've th, I've th, I've th, I've th, I've th, I've th, I've th, I've th, I've the the the the the th, I'm 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 the the the the the the the the th, I've th, I've thin. I've thin. I've the. I've the. I the thea. the the the the the the the the the the the the. the the the. I th's something broken over there. And it doesn't, and it's impervious effects. So part of what I think, why I've been spending a lot of time thinking about this, this information issue is how do we, in how we teach our kids, in you know, either industry standards or and or regulation of these social media platforms, how do we get back to the point where you can have opinions, we all do. But facts matter. And proof matters. And our capacity to debate and say, you know what, if we do things this way, it might work better.

And then you may disagree. But at least we agree to a set of rules whereby we can arrive at a better solution. Do you think it's possible to get to that place when almost half, let's just talk about the United States, we're almost half the country says, well, what are those rules and why are you even deciding them? you are not even a fact. I honestly, 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. thi. thi. 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. Not, th. Not, th. Not, th. Not, th. Not, th. Not, th. Not, th. th. th. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. th. th. th. I honestly mean, how do you get to that place with people? Well, you can agree with you. The interesting thing is, even in those places that are just inundated with what I consider

to be nonsense and lies and distortions, when people operate in their own lives, they're still operating on facts, right? On their jobs, when they're coaching their kids' little league or their soccer game or football game, they don't let the ref just kind of say, ah, you know what, this time we're just going to get five points for the touchdown. It's like, wait, wait, wait, Folks on the sideline say, nope. It's six points for the touchdown, and then you get the extra point. So we abide by all kinds of facts in our own lives. It's just this national story that is being told where we allow lies to be told and we accept them mainly because it turns out

that when we tell a story about the other side it makes us feel better. It's like, ah you know Trevor he's a jackass you should see. And and and and so we enjoy the performative aspects of making stuff up. And part of that is because we don't think there are consequences to it. Now, what we learned from the election of my successor, from the pandemic, from the insurrection, is actually the stories we tell do matter. And having some baseline of sticking to the truth when you're telling stories about our country, about policy, but also about the other side, that matters.

And I like to think that part of what happened in this election is people said, okay, you know what, some of this stuff's getting a little too crazy. It turns out that there is a, you know, a majority of country that does prefer normal, not crazy. And that's, and that's, that's a basis for hope. I'll talk to you for hours about this. I know you don't have the time. It has been wonderful having you here, though. It's also been wonderful seeing what you're getting up to. Because after you, you know, I had the pleasure of interviewing you at the White House just before you left and then afterwards I saw you kite surfing and I loved it, I loved it by the way. Great technique, but I often wonder,

like, you know, what is Mr. President going to do next? Where does he go? And you know, you started producing shows about issues around the world, and now you've got this forum. I wondered if maybe, you know, you have any tips for me as, you know? Because, well, because I mean, you and I, like, we're basically the same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you know, you, you, you, you know, you, you, you, you know, we're basically the same. You know, I think, I think you're going to have to really focus on relearning things, like driving, pressing your own elevator buttons. I think you have very different ideas of what my job is and what your job is.

What was the last time you're at the dry cleaners? I was actually on 53rd Street. That's I go, I take it myself. Yeah. We have very, you don't, you're very like, you know? That's like I said, you're Mr. President forever. You have secret service forever. Well, I do. And it, uh, I really get to keep to keep to keep to keep to keep to keep to keep to keep to keep to keep to keep to keep to keep to keep to keep to keep to keep to keep to keep to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the the to to to 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. 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, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, uh, I barely get to keep my hoodies off to this.

I, I, I, I, I still am in a bubble. I thought I, I thought I could escape it. Yeah. Quick story since we're in New York. I used to say, oh, you know what, once I get out of here, I'm gonna just be able to like walk through Central Park and it's gonna be fine know, and I'll just put like on a baseball cap and it's gonna be fine. And Michelle's all like, yeah, okay. Good luck with that. And the first time I tried it, I got like half a block. And then suddenly there was this swarm and their phones

and traffic stopping and it didn't work. So, so, you know, I guess what I would say though is that you will be missed here, but, but, um, thank you. And, uh, but, but we were talking back, you're already following one piece of advice that I would have is leave when your poll numbers are high. That's how they'll remember you. I'm actually, yeah, I'm excited. You know, I'm going to go on the road.

I mean, I've said this to you before. Yeah. You know, at the, whether it's the White House Correspondence dinner, in Georgia when you're doing the speech, you're a very funny guy. So you want me to open for you? So you want to to be're the, you still Mr. President. Just banter. We just do like, you know, he has a cold, headlining tour. You know what I mean?

We call it half and half. You know what I mean? I like that. We can do it. We can do it. We can do it. We'll get people in contact. President Barack Obama everybody. Thank you so much. for exclusive content and stream full episodes any time on Paramount Plus.

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