The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Bonus: A Conversation with Jordan Klepper on "The Last Laugh"

Episode Date: October 26, 2020

Jordan Klepper guests on "The Last Laugh" podcast, hosted by The Daily Beast's Matt Wilstein, to discuss attending Trump rallies amid a pandemic, his experience with COVID-19 and more. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. Up next is a special bonus episode,

featuring an interview of Daily Show contributor, Jordan Clepper, conducted by Matt Willstein, senior writer of The Daily Beast and host of the podcast, The Last Laugh. Today's guest literally risks his life going to Trump rallies just to make the rest of us laugh. On the day Donald Trump most likely contracted COVID at an event in the Rose Garden, he hosted another slightly different kind of super spreader event, a campaign rally.

These rallies are a known vector for spreading many of Trump's favorite lives. So I traveled to the battleground state of Pennsylvania to see just how many people had caught Trump's version of reality. I'm here at a Trump rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. We are weeks away from the election, months away from finding out who wins and probably about a year away from losing the loved one to the inevitable civil war. Let's do this. This is the last laugh.

I'm Matt Wilstein from The Daily Beast, and I am so excited to welcome Jordan Clepper back on my podcast this week. Jordan was one of our earliest guests on the last lap. We talked in person in New York City last spring but I really wanted to have him back on during these final few weeks before the election because he has just absolutely been crushing his Trump rally field pieces for the Daily Show. I had so many questions for Jordan about how he pulls off these incredibly cathartic confrontations with the most embarrassing Trump supporters he can find. And lucky for us, he was willing to reveal almost all of his secrets.

Jordan also talked about his own bout with the coronavirus early in the pandemic and shared his most optimistic hopes for a post-Trump America. All right, here we go. This is me with Jordan Clepper. So it really does feel like it's been a very long time since our last conversation in New York. And I wanted to have you back on just because I've been obsessed with your pieces that you've been doing for the Daily Show from the Trump rallies. Just it's kind of incredible what you've been able to do despite everything. So yeah, I wanted to talk about that. And if people haven't heard our original interview, I encourage everyone to go back and that will have more sort of your background.

And that will to have to this place. But I really want to focus on what to focus to focus to focus, I to focus, I to focus, I to focus, to focus, to focus, to focus, to focus, to focus, to focus, to focus, to focus, to focus, to focus, to focus, to focus, to focus, to to to to to have, to have, to have to have, to have to have to have, to have, to have, to have, to have, to have, to have, to have, to have, to have, to have, to have, to have, to have, to be to be to be to be to be the, thei, thei, thei, but I really want to focus on what you've been doing over the past year just because it's been crazy. Well, I'll definitely be making references to things I referenced in the past interview. So like you can enjoy this if you're just hearing this interview, but you'll really get the full totality of this experience if you listen to the other one and understand who I am, the small little peccadillos that I spr-I th...... I'm the th. I'm th th th th th th th thr. I'm thr. I'm thr. I'm thr. thr. thr. thr. thr. thr. thr. thr. thr. th th thr. thi. thi. thi. the. the, like thi. thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi. I'll thi. I'll thi. I'll thi. I'll thi. I'll thi. I'll thi. I'll thi. I'll thi. I'll thi. I'll thi. I'll thi. I'll thi. I'll thi. I'll thi. I'll thi. I'll thi. I'll thr. I'll thr. I'll thr. I'll t teeean. I'll tean. I'll teean. I'll definitely thr. I'll definitely thr. I'll definitely thr. I'll thin. I'll th that I sprinkle throughout this next conversation. Exactly, exactly. So yeah, just enjoy both is what I say. Exactly. You got the time. I know you do. So yeah, I mean, I guess just to go to go back a little bit to how you kind of started this whole Trump rally journey that you've been on. You started doing this in 2016 at his rallies, right? What do you remember about sort of the first one that you went 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. the th. thi. the the the thi. Yeah, the the thi. Yeah, 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. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I. I. Yeah. I, th. Yeah, th. I, the. I, te. I te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. to? I believe it was in New Hampshire and I remember it being cold. You know, at that point, I think back, nobody knew what the Trump phenomenon was going to be.

He was popular and he was up at the time, but we didn't know how legitimate he was. And if I recall, it was January, I was outside some arena of the New Hampshire, I'm guessing it was a hockey arena. And the the the big the the thapapapapapapapapapapap. the big, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thin, I'm, I was, I was, I'm, I'm, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thin. thin. thin. thin. th. th. thin. th. thin. th. th. thin. th. th. thin. th. th. thi. thi. I thi. I was, I was, I was a hockey arena. And the big, the big difference and the big thing I noticed over the course of those initial like six months of coverage was like those early rallies, people very excited about Trump, people were, they started to adopt the gear and the attitudes, but the bar for what you were willing to divulge on camera was shifted over the course of those six months. I often think back of birthrism and I remember getting on the road and talking to people and that was even if you were a birther and you didn't believe Brock Obama was born in America or an American citizen, that wasn't the kind of thing you shared on camera and so you'd go to rallies and I

remember like occasionally somebody would bring that up and you'd be like oh wow somebody's devulging something the fringe. Six months later, seven out of ten people were divulging that Barack Obama wasn't born in this country. And then, you know, and then the other three were talking about how he was the one who bombed the World Trade Center. So you noticed at the beginning, people were like, what can we say? That was January? And by the end, the answer was anything you want. Yeah, and that was because they were being given permission by the permission the permission the permission the permission the the their their their their their their their their their their th. their th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thr. thi. th. thee thee thee thee thee thee thee thee thee thee th. th. th. th. th. the other the other the other the other 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. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. three. three. three. three three three three other other three other three other three three other three other three thr. the. th was because they were being given permission by Trump to say it, right? Exactly. I mean, I think I felt that at the time, you know, there was still this idea. If Hillary won, that things would go back to normal to some degree, but I think he really gave permission for people to show that ugly side. And I think you saw that up front, it was like, oh, there is permission that it's no longer that it's that it's that it's that it's that it's that it's that it's that it's that it's no that it's no thiiiii. thi. T thi. T thi. T thi. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. thi. thi. thi. Thea thi. thi. 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 still still still still still still still still still still still still still still still still still still still still still still still still still still still still a thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi first African-American wasn't born in this country. That was something that at least people who harbored bias and perhaps racial animosity also harbored shame in the mass

culture. But when you have the guy on stage who gets voted in saying oh you don't need to have shame about that in fact you can use it as a weapon suddenly that came out in the open and Pendo's box was open so even if Hillary had won I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I th th th that th th th th that 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 that th th th th that that that that that that that was that was that was that was that was that was that was that was that that was that that that that was that that that that that that that that that that that that that th that that that th th th th 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 thee. the. the. thea the. thea thee. the. thea the. the. the can use it as a weapon. Suddenly, that came out in the open and Pendo's box was open. So even if Hillary won, I don't think it would have been that easy to close that box. Right. Just says it won't be that easy to close if Joe Biden wins. But we'll get to get that later. Things will change, but thinneu. Things will change, but thi. thii. th th th th th th th th th th tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho thi. thin, thin thin thin thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, tho-a. tho-a, I tho thin thin, I tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho 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 tho tho, I tho. tho. tho. thooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo And you know, the upside of that is there's not a whole lot of stuff that's being hidden anymore. The downside of that is there's not a whole lot of stuff that's being hidden anymore. Yeah, I mean the culmination of that shamelessness probably came with the access Hollywood

tape and I remember you did one piece right after that sort of with everybody reacting to it. And I think that was that was that was that was that was that was that was that was that was that was th th th. I was th. th. I was the the the the the the their their their their their their their their th. I was not a whole th. I was not a whole the whole the whole tho tho tho tho tho tho tho the a whole a whole the. the of a whole the. the. the. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the the th. th. th. th. their not a th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi's not the is not the is not a whole the is not a whole the. There's not a whole thee. It's not a whole theeeeeeeeeeee. There's not a whole thee. There's not a whole the is not a whole the is not a whole th it. And I think that was this moment where we all thought, oh yeah, I think this is going to be it. This is going to be the thing that's a bridge too far and they were like, you know, two Republican Congress people who were upset about it. But you really went to the rally and got I thinneed to that point, which was people saying, oh no, no, this is this is that one when you went there and got those kind of reactions? You know, I was to begin with, I was surprised and then you became pretty normalized to it.

I think what the whole purpose behind figures, the pulse as it started out was exactly that. Like, let's let's go there, let's see what people actually believe. Where is the needle, and is it moving, I, and, and, and, the, the, th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thin, thin, thin, thin, thi, thi, thi, thi, tho, th. tho, tho, thi, 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. to, th. th. to, thi, to, to, to, toe, toe, toe. toe. too. toe. toea. toooooo toea. toea. toea. toea. toea. toea. toe. toe. toe. remember specifically with the access Hollywood tape, like what was shocking was the backflips people would do to protect the identity they already had with Donald Trump. And, you know, the media wanted to say like, well, we know politics. We know that once you crossed this line, well, you're going to lose the electorate. But when you went to these events, these weren't political auditions. These were not discussions about the ideologies and the ways in which to come through on the basic conservative tenets. They were rock shows, they were football

tailgates, and yeah, maybe your team lost last week, or maybe your star quarterback did something awful and is in jail for domestic assault. But you have a game next week, and guess what? Most of those people still show up, and they're still wearing the uniforms, and they've concocted an excuse as to why that thing that happened, which we can agree is bad, but doesn't discount the thing that is already there. And so, that is, it's truly a testament to American creativity, the way in which we can change our belief to keep us cordoned off from having to completely change who we are and who we might vote for. And I think that was the Trump genius is people identified themselves with him.

He was the underdog then. He was the person who was speaking for them. And as silly as that sounds for a so-called billionaire from New York, coming to the middle of Iowa and saying I speak for the average man. He was an underdog who definitely spoke for people who felt like they weren't being listened to in some degree. And so Access Hollywood comes out and an American ingenuity comes through and they find ways in which to excuse that. At which point you're like, oh, there isn't a line that we will hit. Even the popular vote isn't going to stop this. This is sort of how it is. I hitched a ride to a rally in the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania to ask Trump supporters if he had finally crossed the line. You know what?

So what if he wants to grab pussy? I want to grab pussy. That's a no. I wish I could grab as much pussy as he has. Well I'd like to grab our cater bite a pussy and shove some Yankee doodle dandy right up its ass. Also a no, but how were they okay with a presidential candidate bragging about sexual assault? Wait for it? I think it's just locker room talk. They're really, guys in the bar talked that way when they see a pretty girl. What are you gonna say? I've heard worse about men talking about girls, women, so... Are they, are you their about their about their their their their their their their their their they, are thing about thing about thing about thi? Are you thi? Are you thi? Are you thi? Are you thi? Are you thi? Are you thi? I thi? I thi? I thi. I's 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. I? I? I. th. I. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thin. th th th th th toe toe toe th toe th th toe th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th are you talking about other like presidential candidates like Mondale? Yes. Did you feel like those experiences in 2016 going to the rallies gave you any more insight into how the election would turn out?

Were you less surprised than other people do you think? I you know I was not at all surprised by the fervor and the excitement for Donald Trump, the vitrial for Hillary Clinton? The one thing I didn't have was perspective. I went to a bunch the the th 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 all all all all the the the the the the the the the the th surprise surprise surprise surprise surprise surprise surprise surprise surprise surprise surprise surprise surprise surprise surprise 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 the th. the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thro. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the thea. thea. the th. the the the Clinton. The one thing I didn't have was perspective. You know, I went to a bunch of rallies, but it's really hard to have perspective of how, what are we at now, 220, 270 million Americans. You have no sense as to like, is this, it was what I'm looking at an accurate snapshot, or is this anecdotal here? And so, yeah, the polls I sawto a lot of people and I think he is very popular, but this is something that America never rewards at a general election. So I was surprised. I didn't think it would turn out that way, but I was not surprised that people were excited

Donald Trump could or should be president. Yeah, so now that you've been going to these rallies this cycle, is there any difference? Is there a feeling that there's a different level of excitement,,,, thiiiiiiiiiiiiii, 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. thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii. thiiii. thi. thi, thi, there a feeling that there's a different level of excitement or anything that you've noticed different between 2016 and 2020? Sure. Well, it's hard to keep the party going with 200,000 dead. Right. But you'd be surprised. People still show up drunk. It's more of a wake now, I think, is what these rallies have turned into. I went to one a week and a half ago, and there's still the excitement there. There is also one level of people literally have to get their temperature checked as they go in, so they can't be completely naive to the reality around them.

It's still the concert. It's still a tailgate party. But there's a slight difference. I compare it to going to see the spin doctors for the came out and got their album and seeing them perform live was quite the experience and you might be a spin doctor's fan for the rest of your life going to shows every time they come around to your town but four years later playing the same songs the same courses you had before you're telling yourself you're excited you still the t-shirt you might buy a new t-s t-shirt you might buy a new t-shirt but they don't have any new hits to sing and so there's a little bit of a you're grinning through more clenched

teeth I would say and I get I don't want to downplay the excitement at those rallies but it's not fresh anymore that that stuff's four years old and build that wall it doesn't quite ring with the power it did four years ago yeah there's only so many the the the the the the the the th th I I th th th th is th th is th is th is th is th is th is th is th is 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 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 the the the the the the t. te te te te te te te teeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee te te. te te times you can hear pocket full of kryptonite. And again, that number is high. No, it's a good song. It's a good song. To be very clear, give me a hundred, a hundred times. But yeah, in going again, like I was like, oh, this is, people are excited. There were smaller numbers. Again, partially because you could die going to these now. But there's also a different feeling a different theee And there's a little bit of desperation I see in the air.

Since my last Trump rally, there have been roughly 37 Marvel movies and one very combative impeachment trial. But what else has changed? So what's new this season? Um, everything. Honestly, we got this baby Yoda shirt. Great America keep. I get it. It sounds like something Donald Trump would say.

Or Yoda, I suppose they have very similar syntax. We're not all great speakers. Do you have any Trump that bitch? You don't have Trump that bitch? No. Anything that's at all aimed at women? Not for women, at women. What are you hoping for a bill to wall? I'm hoping for a wall. Who's gonna pay for it?

Who's gonna pay for it? Who's gonna pay for it? Who's gonna pay for it? that's what we're gonna find out about? Yeah, I mean speaking of risking your life to go to Trump rallies. I mean that's something that you're dealing with and your crew and everyone who's going, it really has to think about this in a different way than you did six, eight months ago. So how does that manifest and how do those, how do you decide that it's worth it to risk your life to go make comedy at a trump rally? Well, you know, I'm a hero first, comedian, second. so it's always worth it to risk my life. Safety is first. I, to, and for Comedy Central and Viacom in general.

When all this went down, you know, the goal was for us to be safe. And we were creating content from home. I was talking to people who were locked away. I did a Doomsday Prepper's piece. I did Zoom interviews with the head of the FEC. Like we were trying to find content and ways to tell these stories while also being responsible. And as these rallies started to happen again, and as also the media started going out and covering those, we looked at how could we get out there. Because we were curious, I want to get out there, I want to do these pieces, I want to talk to people, but I want to do it safely, and the today to be clear, and there, the the to be clear, and there, the the to be clear, and the the the the the the tooe, the the the the the tooera, and sorall, and sorall, and somea, and somea, and too, and too, and too, and their their their too, and to do to do to do to do it to do it, and to do it, and to do it, and soo, and somea, and somea, and somea, and somea, and somea, and somea, and somea, and somea, and someau, and someauauau, and somea, and somea, and somea, and somea, and somea, and somea, and somea, and the the the the the the the the the the thea, the thea, the thea, the thea, the thea, the thea, and thea, thea, thea, and soralloan.a, and soralloa, and soralloa, and sor me and the people we talked to. So we went to the boat rally. And I comedically talk to somebody on another boat. That's both a comedically brilliant choice,

but it's mostly legally the only way we could talk to people was with plexiglass in between us, even with masks on and a body of water between us. And then this last rally I went to. We're tested beforehand. the number of people who can be in to be in to be in to be in to be in to be in to be in to be in to be in to be in to be in to be in the to be in the to be in the the to be in to be the to be the to be to be to be to be to be to be to be the the the the the to be. to be. to be. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. 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 the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. theatically. thea. thea. theeatically. com. com. com. cometically. cometically. commetically. com-commetically. com-commetically. the the com. com-cmetically. the the to, we're tested beforehand, everybody who goes out there, we're socially distant, we're eliminating the number of people who can be in cars and vehicles together, and we go with a COVID-compliance officer who is with us watching the way we interact with people. We're ten times more prepared than the commander-in-chief who shows up eight hours later. Because we want to be safe. Again, it's not worth that risk. I think it's really important to talk to the folks there, and I'm really proud of the pieces that we do, and the show wants to be a part of that conversation.

But most importantly, we need to be responsible. It also doesn't take much to be responsible. There's a lot of steps you people I talked to who weren't wearing masks had masks on them, who were ready to put them on. If only the guy who arrived later would say, yeah, put that thing on, it might save some lives, they would do it. But it must be frustrating for you to talk to these people and have them, you're wearing a mask in this last one, but they're not. And it's very deliberate on their their their their their their their their. their. their. their. their. their. It's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's very deliberate. 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. th th thr. th th th th th thee. th th th the. the. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi.'s very deliberate. It was politicized right from the get-go. It's us versus them. And I think he's created a culture where that is the case. How do we differentiate ourselves from the other folks? But again, he makes everybody wear a stupid red hat. Nobody looks good.

Especially people who are white, white skin with red, it never looks good. Not a great look. It brings out the rudiness. And I hate to say it, that's the fan, the fan, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, thi, and, thi, and, and, the, and, and, thi, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, they, thi, they, thi, thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thethat's the fan base. But he's got everybody wearing red, the worst color on everybody. He could get everybody wear a face mask. I was surprised. We we sort of expected to go out there and people would have thought face masks were a hoax. thoaukes and you didn't need to wear it wasn't a thing. thiau. A face mask, they wasn't wasn't wasn't wasn't wasn't wasn't wasn't wasn't wasn't wasn't wasn't wasn't wasn't a thing. It wasn't a thing. It wasn't a thing. It wasn't a thing. It wasn't a thing. It wasn't a thing. It's wasn't a thing. their th. thin. thin. thin. thin. thinnea. thinnea. thin. thia' a thoom-a' tho-a' tho-a'er. their thi. thi. their thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. their. their their their their thi. their thi. their thi. thi. thr-coeea. thr-coea' thea'a'a'a'a'a'a'a'a'a'ea'a'a'a'a'er. thr-a'er. changed. Oh no, it's a thing. It's not a hoax. It's very real. Oh yeah, a face mask, they help. I have one. It's in my pocket. I don't need to wear it because I've been told that you don't need to wear it to these events.

And so again, the same logic could be utilized to protect people as well. And yet again, you have a selfish person in charge who doesn't wield the easiest thing he could to wield and save lives, because it works better for him to use it to make an us-versus-them situation. It's truly tragic. I kind of want to dig in a little bit to sort of how you prepare for these these comedic perspective in terms of the process. So before you arrive, what kind of preparation are you doing to go in there and talk to people?

We can use this last one as an example maybe. Well, so for this last one, so right now, I tend to go out with a field producer, which is how Daily Show does field pieces, but I've been paired with, thi-in, th, th, th, to, to, to, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, to, and, and, 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, what, what, to, what, to, to, what, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, the, the, the.... to, to. to. to. too. too. too.a. too. too.a. toa. toa. toa. toa. too. toa, too, too, to producer. I worked with back at the Daily Show. I worked with at the opposition and at Clepper. And now we're back working together again with the Daily Show. And we do all of the rally pieces together. And so essentially, Ian and I will, for this last one, look at a potential event we could go to.

Usually we come up with a take or a question that we want to broach when we get there. The way the news shifts now, we tend to be much looser with that because what happens in the morning could change in the afternoon. And so we go out with a handful of ideas and questions that we have that we think will be curious there. Ian and I, and usually another person from the Daily Show, a writer will get on a phone call, and we'll sort of have a conversation. Talk about like, what are we expecting? What do we want to know? Comedically, what might be some angles that we could go into?

What are things we've heard people talk about? You can only prep so much for these field pieces. They're inherently improvisational. They're very much conversations and they live and die on how well you're listening. by having some of those conversations beforehand, thinking through ways in which we can logically walk through it, and potential avenues for comedy in my back pocket. So we'll show up with a few pages of ideas that E&I will have like talk through on a car ride in or a phone call the day before.

Some things that if we don't get anything, we might be able to film there just straight to camera. We always end up getting stuff. But you then arrive sort of having thought through what could happen. You walk out there and, and again, 90% of the stuff you talked about is not applicable. You're like, well, that assumption was totally wrong. People don't think this. I thought nobody's, everybody was going to be anti-masks. Oh, there were a few masks and people weren't anti-mask. Okay, we're not even going to go down that anymore.

Supreme Court, for example, we prepped and we talked about, like, people are going to really want to talk about abortion here because he was literally announcing a Supreme Court pick hours before. People didn't care about that. A few folks wanted to get into how excited they were about the stopic of the day for most of the people there. So you let go of that as well. Because I am an improviser at heart, and I think these things work best when you aren't encumbered with jokes you think you need to make and you're more so listening to the things that are said.

There's inherent contradiction that's stumbling out of most of the people to try to get underneath that thing that they've heard and now are replaying to you, but you actually get to interact with them. Like, that's the comedy. So, in a nutshell, it's a lot of prep work to prepare yourself for the what-ifs, and then you let yourself just be free in that moment

to respond to respond to respond to respond to respond to respond to respond to respond to respond to respond to respond the to respond the to respond to respond the to respond to respond the to respond to respond to respond to respond to respond the to respond to respond earn to respond earn to respond earn to respond earn to to to to respond earnestly 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 be to be to be 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 to to to to to the the the the the the the the the the the the the wise and the house. Yeah, I saw you said somewhere else that you think people don't really listen to what you're saying and more are responding to your either physical cues or the tone that you're using. Has that been pretty consistent throughout that you feel like it's not as the way, the part of the comedy comes out of the fact that they're not really hearing what you're saying? Well, I think Americans in general, that that that that th th, th, th, th, th, th, thi thi thi thi thi thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the the the the the thi, thi, their, the, the, the, their, 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, they.. they. they. thi, thi, thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. the part of the comedy comes out of the fact that they're not really hearing what you're saying? Well I think Americans in general often don't listen very well so as a comedian you can really take advantage of that. But yes I think like there's a lot going into it not to over-analyze these moments but physicality. They're already judgmental of people who have cameras in front of them. They see me from a distance and they're going to make assumptions as to whether or not I'm

somebody that they want to divulge what they actually believe in to or are they going to be put up defenses. And so part of that is the questions you ask, part of that is the way you carry yourself. I tend to be a pretty open kind of person and approachable and I thi 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 thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi they they're they're they're thi. they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're 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 they they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're 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 they they're they're they're they're they're to tone and not listen to words. And so sometimes you get people because you're like, that person's agreeing with me so I will go farther. It's the idea of yes and. If you can make somebody feel like they're on the same page with you, they're gonna offer you one more thing. And so, yeah, we employ that as we go out there, make somebody feel comfortable so they can reveal the Daily Show or even recognizes you from these videos that you've been doing. It varies. I'm recognized there by some, and for some people that's enticing, they want

to engage. As much as people think the news is fake news and they don't like people with cameras, you'd be surprised how many people flock to a camera. And so if I'm that guy from the Daily Show or that guy or that guy, you will get people like, hey, I got a thing to say to you. And sometimes I will be a drunk person who will follow you around for 10 minutes screaming at you and you try to move around and you can't lose him. That happens. Sometimes it's the person who's like, I got a thing to say, will you talk to not, though, we are in these bubbles, and those videos haven't necessarily made its way into that bubble, so I'm just some guy with a camera that they want to talk to about an experience.

I mean, the thing that I'm always so curious about with these daily show field pieces, and what people like Sasha Baron Cohen do, or any of these people who are going out and interacting with real people, is then thi thi thi thi thi their thi thi their thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. I'm just their their thi. I'm just thi. I'm just some some some some some some some thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their. I their. I their. I their. I thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm just just thi. I'm just thi. I'm just thi. I'm just thi. I'm just thi. I'm just thi. thi. thi. thi. I'm just thi. I'm just thi. I'm just thi. sort of permission to use them on the show, right? And does that ever get tricky in terms of people willing to, you know, sort of knowing that they might end up getting embarrassed in some way? Americans want to be on television and they want their voices heard. So when they see a camera, and we're up front with them, you know, we're not deceit, talk to you we need you to sign permission that we can use this on television and we give them a sheet that they can read and they sign and then we have a conversation. So yeah there's a legal process to all of this that we are very up front about but people again they're willing to talk and also the irony that perhaps some people see in the videos that I in the Daily Show make

is not necessarily an irony or a reality that those folks see either. I think the guy who I talked to in the last rally who is like, I'm not a sheepil, and that's a teal. I'm a lion, I'm not a sheep, I won't be a sheeple. And I ask him why he's not wearing a mask. He's like, oh totally wear a mask if I see everybody wearing a mask, but I'm not going to just put out a mask because I should. I'm not a sheepil. To me, I hear irony. I see contradiction. To him, he does it at all. He sees ideology and that he's not a sheepil, and that's something I'm sure it's a t-shirt he saw at some point. But he also sees logic of like, oh of course if the people the people the people the people the people the people the people the people the people the people the people'm going to follow them, but I'm not a follower. And so, oddly enough, I think you could show some of these videos to a lot of the folks

who are in them and they wouldn't see it as a gotcha moment. They would see it as vindication of the point of you they already have. You're pro-life. Of course. It's important for Americans to a mask? I mean again it's a personal choice I think if everybody was wearing them and everybody said put a mask on how we respect everybody's wishes and put it on. We're not cheap. We're not cheap. We're not cheap. You're not cheap. But if everybody here was wearing masks. If everybody was wearing but again we're not cheaper. You're not cheaply. You're not cheapal.

You're not cheaple. You're not cheap. We're not cheap. you. th if if everybody 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. But everybody th th thi. But everybody was everybody was everybody was everybody was everybody everybody thi. But everybody was everybody was everybody was everybody was everybody th, but you're not everybody everybody everybody everybody everybody everybody everybody everybody everybody everybody everybody everybody everybody they they're not everybody. But everybody everybody. But everybody. But everybody. But everybody. But everybody. But everybody. But everybody. But everybody. But everybody. But everybody. But everybody. But everybody. But you're not. But everybody. But you're going to look at what everybody's doing and you're going to follow along. But not cheap. Not cheap. Do you ever hear from these people afterwards who have been on and either are upset about something or actually like that? This last rally, we didn't get to talk to him because he passed on by, but somebody I talked to in Hershey, Pennsylvania, came by and heckled us. I don't think he knew it was us, thus thua thuu – thu – thu. tho tho tho tho tho, th tho, tho, thus, thus, thus, thus, thus, thus, thi, thi, thi, thus. thus. thus. thus. thi. thi. thus. thus. thus. thus. thi, thi, thi. thi. thi. thi. 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. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. toa. toa. toa. toa. toa. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. I don't think he knew it was us, but he was in our last video claiming he read the Ukrainian call transcript, which he clearly did not, and he walked by again. I was like, oh right, I think people need to know it these rallies. I'm seeing people over and over again at these rallies. It's the same

people going again and again and a lot of the same people, especially the first few hundred people. They're in a their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, the same, the same, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, the same, 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, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their especially the first few hundred people, they're in RVs, they're traveling around, they're there for the party. And they're not always going in for the speech either. It's like a football team that's losing. You might you might tailgate all day. You might not go to the game because you're drunk by the time the game starts and you kind of know what's going to to happen. Yeah. Yeah. that's th. Yeah. th. Yeah. th. Yeah. th. Yeah. th. th. Yeah. Yeah. th. th. Yeah. Yeah. th. the the th. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. th. Yeah. th. Yeah. th. th. th. the th. Yeah. th. th. their the their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. their. their. Yeah. their. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. t. t. t. t. t. t. th. th. th. th. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the the. the speech or you have it on occasion? Well, I tend not to go into it because that's where you catch COVID and perhaps die. The Herman Kane rule. It's stay outside if you can. Not usually. Originally we would go to the event outside where we would talk to the rally goers

and then we would go inside as well. After doing that a handful of times. One, they don't let you film much inside. They usually keep you, if you have a camera, they put you in a pen and then Donald Trump berate you. Right. Also, it's really hard to interview people when macho man is playing on repeat in the background at full volume. And so, so we found like, the purpose of this isn't necessarily the chaos that happened inside the rallies. The purpose of it is is is is is is thoooooooooo, the the the th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the, thi, thi, thi, their, their, if, if, if their, if th, if th. th. th. thi, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if th. th, if, if, if, if, if th, th. th, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi, thi, thi, the thi, the thi, thi, the the thri. thri. the the throo. throooo. the theei. the thei. thei. thei. the. the. the. that happened inside the rallies. The purpose of it is let's talk to the people who are going and they're showing up 12 hours in advance in a parking lot. You have plenty of time. We have plenty of time. We just hang out in parking lots for a good 10

hours and after 10 hours in a parking with the coronavirus taught him about the president's seemingly rapid recovery earlier this month. And later, he reveals details about an interview with a drunken Trump supporter that he had to cut from his most recent piece because it was just too sad. Did I read that you actually had COVID at some point over the last six months or was that... Oh yeah, early on. I was way ahead, before it became trendy, before it was something that half of the people in this country acknowledged that it did exist, I was already on it. In late March, I caught the symptoms and caught COVID and had to stay home and I was lucky I didn't have to go to the hospital,

but it was a real beast. It was two weeks of feeling like crap. I felt like I got beat up. My symptoms primarily were a little bit of a fever, but then my body just ached like I'd been in a fist fight and I lost a sense of task. And the tasks the sense the sense the sense the sense the sense the sense the sense the sense to sense the sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense the sense the sense the sense sense sense sense sense the sense the sense the sense the sense the sense sense sense sense the sense sense sense a the sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense sense the sense sense sense sense the sense sense sense sense the sense the sense sense sense the sense the sense the sense the sense the sense the sense the sense the sense the sense the sense the sense the sense the sense the sense to to to to to to to to to the to to to to the the to to to to to the the to to to the to the to of of of of of of of of of the the of the sense of the sense of the sense of the sense of the sense of the sense the sense the sense of the sense of taste, and then my wife also got it. And it was a really scary few weeks. And the taste didn't come back for a while, and you don't feel great for weeks after that as well. It's scary. And I think a lot of people in New York, you know, I see these numbers potentially going back up,

and it's worrisome. But I do think the folks in New York, we went thheed, so quickly and so hard that within a month, like everybody was starting to act. Like it was good in April and May where you started to see people really wearing masks. It wasn't just half the folks there. It was most people you see on the streets are taking this seriously. But I was being careful. I don't exactly know where I even got it.

I was washing my hands and it still got me, and it still affected me. And it was it was it still it still it still it still it's no joke. Yeah and yet I mean that's what's so odd about Trump getting it and seeming to recover like four days later completely and out back out on the road and like no problem I mean I guess do you do you attribute that to the the treatment that he got or what do you think? I don't trust any of that the man is a liar I don't I don't trust trun try don't th th th th th th th th I don't th thust thus thus thus thus thus thus thus thus thus to thus thus thus. thus. Do thus. Do that he's a that he's a that he's thus. Do that he's a that he's a that he that he's that he's that he's a that he's that he's that he's that he that that to to 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 the the the the the the the the the to to to to to to to to to to to to try. to toe. true. true. true. true. true. true. true. true. that that that's. that's. that's. that? I don't trust any of that. The man is a liar. I don't trust the timeline. I trust that he's jacked up on steroids. You know, half of these stories is how sick he is. And if my experience was, you get sick, you feel better, and then you feel terrible,

and fingers cross you get through it. much fewer symptoms. I don't think we know exactly how tough it was for Trump. I think some of the stories that it got scary for a while I tend to believe. I'm not surprised that he came out on the other end. He has the worst diet I've ever seen and I'm sure he'll live to be 127 years old. That tends to be when you're born with a silver spoon up your ass you tend to fly by with this stuff. But. But. th. th. th. th. th. th. the th. th. th. th. th. th. I I I I I 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 be to be to be to be, I'm to be, I'm to be, I to be, I 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 tend, I tend, I tend, I tend tend tend tend tend tend tend tend tend tend te tend te te te. tend tend tend tend to to to to to to to to to tend to fly by with this stuff. But I don't doubt he got scared as well, because it's spooky when it hits. Yeah, and yet it did not change his outlook or demeanor in any way. It's surprising.

He seemed to use it as a weapon to try to get more and more people to think he's a hero. I think we've heard that song before. And going out and telling everyone he's he's heheheheto kiss everyone now has been a pretty weird development in this whole thing. I would say I talked to my doctor, I got the antibodies and I was excited. I took the test. They said you have antibodies. I was like, great, what does that mean?

And my doctor said, I don't know. Yeah, they don't get it for a little while. It also could mean you're immune for a month or so. But what it really means is you don't change how you act. You still act with caution because we don't know enough. So that's what I was told, but apparently Donald Trump gets different information. This is something that I was just listening to Samantha B's podcast and she had Alana Glazer on and they had this really interesting conversation about the moment when they felt their cultural impact sort of outside of themselves and what that feels like. And so for instance, Sam was talking about her whole Ivanka Trump thing

and how that kind of blew up beyond what she knew her influence was. And I was curious if you've had a moment like that, whether through this or just in general at the Daily Show or with the opposition where you said where you kind of all of a sudden realize that you were reaching more people than you than you may have thought. Well I think I know Jennifer Aniston retweeted the last video so I do think I've finally broken through. That's big. It's huge. That's interesting. I mean I always kind of see myself as under appreciated so it's hard to say that I have seen that.

I don't know. I will say these videos where I go to the Trump rallies, I am surprised at how I'm popular, perhaps they are. And, you know, I've done a lot of work and done pieces in the political world, even in the activism world, even with the shows that I've done, where I've got to see, to see, the, the, the, the, the, the, to, the, the, the, the, to, the, the, the, to, the, the, the, the, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, I'm, I'm, I'm, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I's, I's, I's, I's, I's, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, and, is, is, and, is, is, is, is, and, is, is, is, and, is, is...e, the thr.e, thr.e.I's, thr. And, thr-a.I's, thr-a.e. And, thr-a. And, thr-a. And, thr-a. And, thr-I. And, to see an influence on a more personal level. I'm shocked at where like when I get stopped on the street, nine times out of ten, it's you're that person who does those Trump rallies, goes to those rallies. And it will happen in small towns across America. I'll have friends who are like, who live in England and their friends will tell them about it.

It's clearly broke it out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out tho. I think if I'm to wrap my head around what that means, I do think in some ways I'm providing an avatar for a lot of frustrating people who want to have these conversations and want to retort things that they think are insanity, and call out contradiction and call out hyperbole. And it does feel like sometimes those videos and those pieces, those things I do serve as substitutes for people who don't get a chance to have those conversations. I get to be you at Thanksgiving. And so I'm happy to do that and happy to be a part of that and it's it's nice to see that it has it has reached people in that way. Perhaps it's also an example of how far we

are from talking to other people who are different from us that we kind of need to see that in such a way. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's thi thi thi thi thi. It's thi. It's thi. It's thi. It's thi. It's thi. It's to to to to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. I, I, I, I thi. thi. thi. the. to the. thei. thei. thei. to thei. to to to thi. to to to to to to to kind of need to see that in such a way. It's interesting. I mean, you go and you really get these, you kind of confirm our worst suspicions about Trump supporters in a way, and it's kind of the opposite of what I feel like CNN's been doing a lot, which is they go. They try to find the truunds who have totally abandoned him and kind're really doing the opposite of that. I think you're right. I think you watch these things, oh, they're crafting the narrative that, guess what? There is a giant shift over there. I'm not seeing that.

I'm sure there are some examples of that. Sure. To me, what interests me is contradiction is revealing. I've said this before, but I think contradiction reveals the lie that you tell yourself. And I get to go out on these these rallies and I think I get to see, I get to see something true about the American spirit. I think I, you see what us as Americans hold on to so dearly. And even when confronted with evidence or logic that makes it all disappear, you still hold on. And so that's what's most interesting to me about it, especially with any of that political writing, any like, I'm a giant hunter as Thompson fan

and reading fear and loathing on the campaign trail, or looking back at some of the ways he exposed that. I do think like seeing journalists who are open about their lack of objectivity, and telling a subjective experience out on the to to to to, and underneath this messy, weird political landscape that has this shine of red, white and blue but underneath there's so many machinations that don't often get exposed and I think I get to do a little piece of that which is like let me go out there to that front line and find the contradiction that Americans hold on to so dearly.

You know obviously last time last election, everyone was sure Hillary Clinton was going to win. This time I feel like we're getting at this point where everyone's even more sure that Joe Biden's going to win, which is kind of scary. And do you feel like you're going to these rallies has given you any more insight this time into what's going to happen? What is your definition of win? I guess I thia thia thia thia thia thia thia thi thi thi thuuuuuuuuu thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thus thus thus thus thus tho thus to to to to 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 thi. th. th. th. th. to to th. to to to to to to to to to to to to th. th. to th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. toe. to the. the. the. I thi. I to to to what's going to happen. What is your definition of win, I guess I would say. I don't know, again, the one thing I don't have is perspective.

I go to rallies where people who are most adamant about supporting Donald Trump or want to see the show up and cheer. I don't think you get much from seeing who has the most lawn signs up in their yard. I don't think being super excited about your candidate is always the healthiest thiiiiiiii. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I to. I to. I 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 what 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 what to what to what to what to what to what to what to what to what to what to what to what to what to what to what to what to what to what in their yard. I don't think being super excited about your candidate is always the healthiest thing. I've Tana Hasey Coates had a quote about voting for the presidency and said, like, he equates it to taking out the trash. Like, it's something you got to do and you should do. But it's not necessarily the t are Biden voters out there who are like, oh guess what? I know I don't have Biden hats, Biden shirts, Biden stuff. Exactly. But I'm voting

for Joe Biden, but I also have other shit to do. Which to me is maybe a more informed, healthier voter of like, wait a minute, but where's all this Biden excitement? You're like, guess what? I think the good voter isn't, doesn't have time to be that excited. Vote for the person who's going to get you closer to the things that you think this country needs and then spend your other time trying to make other good things happen. Yeah, it can be important to you without you being excited about it. Exactly. So just because you're not waving the flag, it's not important and you're not important and you're not to to to to important to to to to to the to the to thip thip thip than than to than thin thin from that. What I can judge from is the things we've seen in the past is I think Donald Trump's going to make a stink and I think it's going to get messy. I look to how the Mueller report was laid out and he sends his lackey out there to tell you what

was in the report for anybody got to read it. And I think when we look ahead at the election, I think that was a dry run. I. I that, I that, I that, I that, I that, I that, I that, I that, I that, I that was, I that, I that, I that, I that was, I that was that was that was that was that was that was that was that was that was that was that was that was a that was that was that was that was that was that was that was that was that was that was that was that was that was that was that was that was that was that was that was that was that was that was that was that was, I that was that was that was that was that was that was that was that was that was that was that was a th, I was a the the the the the the the the the the the the the the thi, thrue. thrue. the thrue. thrue. the thrue. thrue. thrue. thrue. throwneee. thrue. throwne. thrown, th knew it at the time, but I think that's what we're going to see in a few weeks. So I don't know, I don't know what the numbers are going to be. And then even those numbers, they have to be filtered through this archaic thing called the Electoricolage so we get different numbers. And who knows? Maybe that means to before and I hope we get to see through it so we actually get to see what the people want and that gets to get enacted. Expect to do any more field pieces for the daily show between now and the election or do you have plans? I'd like to.

Right now we're looking to see what the schedules are for both candidates and we'd like to get on the road. Again, safety is the number one priority with the show. to. th. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. C. C. C. C. C. I. I. I. The. T. T. T. I. T. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's to be to be to be to be. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's the. It's the. It's the the the the the the the the the the to. the to. to. the to. the to. to. the to. the to. the the the the the the the the the the the number one priority with the show and so it has to do where these events are if we can be safe if our crew can be safe but as this campaign winds down it'd be nice to get out there one or two more times and see just see if anything's changed. Aside from the COVID risk have you ever feared for your safety or your life in these situations and in field pieces? Well I mean as wuss, I'm constantly fearing for my life. That's just more existential dread. They can get a little heated here and there, and we've had times where four years ago,

they made sure that I went out also with a security guard to be there in case things would a little sour, and a few times things would go sour, and I would go out with two security guards. And I would go out with zero security guards. I'm a big tough guy. The network says I need to go out with security guards. But you never know right now. People get pretty heated. And I will say more often than not, people do want to engage and it doesn't get to the point where we're attempting to fight one another. Last time, again, people got upset. A guy I talked to, people didn't, people, people, people, people, people, people, people, people, people. their. their. their. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People, people. People, people. People the the the to, people, people to, people to, people to, people, people to, people, people, people got, people got, people to, people got, people got, people got, people got, people got, people got, people got, people, people, people, people, people, people to, people. People, people. People, people. People, people. People, people. People, people. People, people. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. People. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. the. to. to. to. the. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. People got, people got, people got, people got, people got, people got, people got, people got, people got, people got, people got, people got, people got, people got, people got. to. to. the. to. talked to didn't like the way we were talking. He was a religious man and wanted to yell at me for being a godless heathen. When I pointed out some of the heathen-like things that Donald Trump had done, he got pretty upset about that, and we had to end it early.

And he came back and he chased us around. We thought he urinated in his usually only gets to that. And I'm also only telling you this to be, to also point out, people are like, oh you're just cherry-picking the things that happened. That was something that happened and didn't go into peace. There are crazy religious zealots who are popping their pants that look like urination that doesn't make the final tooom. the the final to make. the final to make. to make, the final to make, the final to make, to make, the final thinin, thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi, thi, thi, thr-I is, thr-I is just, thiol-I is just, thr-I is just, thiol-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o, thi is thi is thi is 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 just just, thr-s is just, their-s. thr-suhiuuuuiceaeruiceauicea-seaseaseaseaseaseenenvoiuicea-s. thuliuuicea-s. thr-s, thr-a-a-s. thr for a comedy show. So. Because it's not funny enough or for some other reasons? I think it's also sad. To be honest, there's stuff that's like, we do want it to be reflective of stuff

that we see out there. We're looking for humor. I don't want to hide the fact that like we're looking for characters and people who are humorous, for sure. But also sometimes there's there's there's there's there's there's there's there's there's there's there's there's there's there's there's there's their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their to be their their to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be a to be a to be a to be a to be a to be. to be. thrancea. thrancea. thra. thra. the thra. toeanananan. their to be. toeanantha. to that doesn't make sense to put on television because it's not clean enough what he even was trying to get across. And I think more often than not the things that don't make television are exactly that. It's conversations that just ramble without an understanding of where anybody's coming from. Those are the these people and maybe don't want to put them on television.

Sure, 100%. I get, I empathize more so four years ago. The big parade comes to your town, you show up for the big parade. And if you feel like you haven't been on a winning team in life for a while, you hit your wagon to the underdog. And that was Donald Trump four years to Now four years later I understand a lot of people bring different things to these candidates and I do empathize with that but people didn't know better and we're taken advantage by people who did know better four years throwns thrown. People know better now and so my my temper is shorter, my fuse is thus is shorter because we've been through four years that I think have been actually pretty consequential for this country, and I think the rhetoric he uses four years ago could have been considered,

like, that's just talk, and he's not racist for those things. These are just illusions. I think he's been pretty clear. There's one, there's a reason I'm not interviewing Donald Trump, probably because he's not revealing about Donald Trump, I don't think he's hiding anything. And so I think it's more interesting to talk to the people at the rallies because they're doing the hard work of trying to hide the BS into some sort of logic that makes sense inside their head. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Let's imagine

for a minute that Donald Trump loses the election, kind of recedes into the background, doesn't, you know, becomes not a dominant figure in our every second of everyday life. How do you think that affects your comedy career and what you want to be doing going forward? Retiring! People ask, is Donald Trump good for comedy? No, he's bad for democracy. He's bad for this country, and he's bad for original premises. And I think if Donald Trump is no longer a part of the conversation, then comedians get

to go back to choosing some of the things they talk about. He is the guy who you have to respond to him because he's making such a mess and he has the biggest seat at the table and he has the most power. And so I understand why we feel a need to consistently respond to him and his wake. But if he is no longer a part of 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, the the 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 the 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, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thean, thean, thin, thean, cooooooooooooooooome, longer a part of the conversation, which is a big if, I don't think he goes away quietly. But if he is, then I look forward to like being able to comment on what else is happening in this country. And also if you think that we're going to go back to any kind of a normal, American politics

rarely gets back to anything that is boring and without something to shake your fist at so I'm pretty sure there will be something new to uncover I just look forward it to happening on our terms So the last time you were on I ended by asking you what the last thing that made you laugh really hard is if I Recall correctly, I think you said it was Tim Robinson's a Netflix series which is phenomenal This this time I want to ask you, when you look back, is there a comedian who has made you laugh harder than anybody else? It could be someone that you've seen perform or someone that you know or just someone who really has made you laugh the hardest in your life? Yes, I mean I could talk comedy forever, but the person that makes me laugh hardest is Steve Kugin. I've been a fan of his forever and his character Alan Partridge, which again it might be a surprise it's not not overly political, not anything, but it's it's a character study that to me is so profoundly funny, nuanced and

interesting and I followed his career and he's if you don't know Alan Partridge you don't know Steve Kugin, what is it 20 years, he did a fake talk show. He's a character who's like a down-and-out talk show host, and then he did a sitcom as that character, and then he did a movie as that character, he's done a web series as that character, he just did another new series as that character. I find him consistently funny, it's so layered, it's so thoughtful,

and any time I get down downed a thian flip on Alan Partridge and Steve Kugin and some of the best writing I've ever seen. It makes me joyous. And I will also plug this, the funniest piece of comedy I've ever engaged with is the autobiography, the audio book of Alan Partridge entitled I partridge. I will stand by that as it's six hours of an audio book that is gosh dar. the funniest examination of a hilarious flawed character I've ever seen. That's my joy. Well if anyone has six hours to kill, we know what they should do now.

Do that. Go out and vote, get a voting plan and then waste six hours on I-Partridge. Yeah, while you're waiting in line six hours to vote, you can listen to a... Do that. Well, Jordan, thank you so much for coming back on the show, and I'm, and I I I I I I I I I I's, Jordan. But thank you so much for coming back on the show, and I'm excited to see any pieces you have between now and the election and whatever you do after that. Pray for me, Matt. I am. I always do.

Thank you. All right. Have a good one. You too. Thank you so much to Jordan Clepper for coming back on the last laugh. If you haven't been following his work on the daily show, I'm thiae. thiae. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thathea. thathea. that, that, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. that. that, 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. I, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. tha. tha. to. to. to. to. tha. tha. to. tha. tha. tha. you check out all of his Trump rally pieces on YouTube or the Comedy Central app. And hey, how about giving this podcast a rating and review on Apple Podcasts? We want as many people to hear this show as possible and you can help by spreading the word and sharing it with your friends. You can find me on Twitter at Matt Wilsstein and at the Daily Beast.

And if you're not already, please follow at Last Laugh Pod on Instagram, where you can see photos and videos from all of our episodes. The Last Laugh is distributed by ACAS for the Daily Beast, with audio production by Jesse Cannon. Our theme music is by Claude, who you can find on Instagram at Claude.MP3. You can find this show every week on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. And as always, you can find show notes and highlights from each episode on the Daily Beast.com. See you next week. 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. But 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.