The Daily Show: Ears Edition - China Strikes Back at Tariffs by Roasting JD Vance & Selling Out Luxury Retailers | Sen. Tammy Duckworth

Episode Date: April 17, 2025

Ronny Chieng breaks down how JD Vance's comments calling Chinese people "peasants" have escalated both the shade war and the trade war with China, impacting American industries from automakers to Hollywood. Plus, Troy Iwata chimes in on the one thriving business of the trade war: TikTok luxury knockoffs. Michael Kosta checks in with Canadians to see how they feel about Donald Trump's aims to make them America's 51st state, including one ex-pat who immigrated to Canada when Trump first became president and a gun-loving member of Canada's silent MAGA minority. Iraq War veteran and Democratic Senator from Illinois Tammy Duckworth sits down to discuss the work she is doing in Congress to improve care for veterans and how the Trump administration is setting back that progress by taking jobs away from thousands of veterans and making DOGE cuts to life-saving Veterans’ Affairs programs. They also discuss Trump’s broken promises to the veterans who voted for him, how DEI benefits the military, and why confirming someone as unqualified as Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense contradicts the right’s alleged “meritocracy.”See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. From the most trusted journalists at Comedy Central, it's America's only source for news. This is The Daily Show. I'm Roy Chiang. We got so much to talk about tonight. TikTok is making offers you can't refuse. America makes Canada an offer it's definitely refusing. And Trump and China are fighting so hard, they should just make out already.

So let's get right into the latest developments in trade wars. ["The Star-Spangled Banner"] My favorite word, my favorite word, tariffs. ["The Star-Spangled Banner"] It's been two weeks since Liberation Day and we're in a full-blown trade war with China, with tariffs now at 145%, which means the trade war has officially moved from show-er

to grower. And some people are concerned about this trade war because they like, want the economy to be like good or something. But you know what? Trump is not stressing about it. Yesterday the White House press secretary reading a statement, she said President Trump dictated. China needs to make a deal with us. We don't have to make a deal with them.

There's no difference between China and any other country, except they are much larger. Yeah, that's kind of a big difference, though. It's like saying, why should I be scared to fight the rock? He's just like any other person except much larger. Yeah, that's the scary part. But I guess Chinese people must be confident that they can push China around because they're not just throwing around tariffs, they're throwing some shade.

Vice President JD Vance is caught in a firestorm of his own making, calling the Chinese peasants. To make it a little bit more crystal clear, Vice President JD Vance is caught in a firestorm of his own making, calling the Chinese peasants. To make it a little bit more crystal clear, we borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture. That is not a recipe for economic prosperity. Oh, shit!

He's really calling Chinese people peasants. Nobody likes to be called a peasant. Even legit peasants are like, actually I consider myself more of an agricultural entrepreneur. But yeah, JD Vance called the Chinese peasants a couple weeks ago, and now that the news finally got to their villagers by donkey cart, they are pissed. Tonight we are seeing China trading insults with the Vice President JD Vance

in the latest knock against President Trump's trade war. Let the American countrymen love the Chinese people for 5000 years. F***! That went so hard. Oh no, are we the Drake in this beef? Are we the certified peasants? At the same time though, saying your 5,000 year old civilization doesn't intimidate Americans because half the people here don't even think the earth is that old.

Also, let's just be real, okay? There's no way Americans are the peasants here. Do peasants have medical debt? Didn't think so. Checkmate China. But it's not just Chinese officials who are mad. China has extremely online losers just like our peasants and they're mad too. On China's tightly controlled internet, government censors are allowing Vance's interview to

go viral, amplifying the outrage, igniting anger and sarcasm. Look, this is their true face, arrogant and rude as always. We may be peasants, but we have the world's best high-speed rail, the most powerful logistics, and leading AI and drone technologies. Aren't such peasants quite impressive? One hashtag about the Chinese peasants remark

shot to the top of China's Twitter-like platform, Weibo. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait, is that, is that Michael Kosta? How did the third whitest host of a daily show go viral in China before the Asian one? That's f***ed up. That's, that's, that's the same triangle and everything. Wait, is China watching this?

Oh, okay. Well, uh, hey, thanks for watching this. Hi, uh, Chinese friends, um... I don't believe what I'm saying right now. I'm just making Paramount money. Thank you for using this video. I was just talking tough to China. But words are not China's only weapon in this trade war. They're also using, you know, trade.

China's retaliation now includes suspending exports of rare earth minerals and magnets to the United States. Those materials are essential to a number of American industries, including car makers, aerospace manufacturers, and semiconductor producers. China produces 90% of the world's rare earth minerals. Okay, so rare earth metals are critical. Well, maybe we should have thought that before we launched a trade war

against a country that had them all. I mean, where are we gonna get our gadolinium now, huh? We're gonna buy Congolese gadolinium? That shit's mid. What else are they hitting us with? China has reportedly told Chinese airlines to stop buying parts from American companies and it says it will no longer accept deliveries

of Boeing jets. Come on, you're not gonna accept our Boeing jets? Well, good luck finding another plane with self-crashing technology. Is there anything else? China could strike back in other ways, like urging Chinese students to study elsewhere, telling travel agents to steer tour groups away

from US cities. Oh no, if Chinese students stop coming to the US, who are Americans gonna lose their spots to? Indians? Yeah, yeah, that'll work, yeah, actually. Actually, yes. But look, Americans have to stay strong, okay? I don't wanna hear any whining.

Oh no, China's not buying our Made in America products. Well, suck it up, patriots. Certain industries are just gonna have to suffer and that's how it is, because this is war. China announced they're restricting imports of Hollywood movies to their country. Okay, f*** that, this war has gone too far. Some of our finest, most likable Chinese Malaysian actors

have built a career in Asian themed movies that depend on the Chinese market, alright? It's called, it's called crazy rich Asians, not crazy just getting by Asians. And don't forget, this affects you too China, if you ban American movies, how will you ever find out the ending to all these remakes of movies from decades ago?

But as drastic as some of these trade policies are, they're nothing compared to the awesome power of Chinese propaganda. And luckily for China, we all have a Chinese propaganda app on our phones. There are the videos seen by millions of Americans. TikTokers claiming to work at Chinese factories that make high-end products

and offering to sell them directly to Americans for much, much cheaper. Products like Gucci, Prada, Louis Vuitton. Do you like this bag or this? Two down there. Two down there. Two down there. Two down there. All in. Two down there. Yeah, good news, honey. I am getting you that Gucci bag for your birthday.

But forget about the designer products because these TikToks aren't just offering cheap Chanel bags. They're offering cheap everything. Do you want my laundry pots? Do you want laundry capsules? Do you want laundry beads? One pot costs only five cents. Just to shape customers' hair. Do you want my laundry pots? Do you want laundry capsules? Do you want laundry beads?

One pot cost only five cents. Ding, ding, ding. Just to ship customer-scented candles to U.S. for only two dollars. Do you need a house? We can build it for you in just 48 hours. Place an order and we will deliver it to a country. Good news, honey, I am getting you

that prefabricated house for Memorial Day. For more on the trade war, we go live to the White House with Troy Iwata. Okay, Troy, that's a lot of designer clothing. And I got it all for $8. Thank you, trade war. Okay, Troy, please don't thank the trade war, right? If tensions keep building,

it could be economically devastating. Okay, I know. But the longer this trade war goes, the more incredible deals I'm finding on TikTok. So personally, I think tensions could get like 5% to 10% higher. Even a dumb peasant country like China could understand that.

Okay, Troy. No, Troy, that's exactly the kind of talk that could escalate the trade war. Okay, and I'm fine with that. Look, look. This is like 400 Tide Pods and it was 15 cents. I had to break a dollar. I have a lot of luxury clothes to wash and these are extra nice so I'm going to wash them on extra hot with my towels.

No, no, this could cause a global recession. All right, then we'll buy our way out of it. For the first time in our lives, we can get Hermes scarves in bulk, like all those dumb people in China. Troy, those aren't real Hermes scarves. They're real if you believe, Ronnie. Okay, but if everyone can afford to get them,

are they even really luxury goods anymore? Uh, yeah, Socrates. Okay. Just wait until Christmas. You'll change your tune once we're stuffing our stockings with Gucci. Aren't you Jewish? Not at these prices. This is still a huge risk, all right? Is it really worth a market crash just to get a washing machine for 20 bucks?

A whole washing machine for $20? Okay, let me speak to China. Zhang Guo, To Xiang Ba, Ni De, Chang Chun, Oye Bei, Uncle Sam's penis, Ya Kua. Damn, I f***ing nailed that. Troy, I speak Chinese, I have no idea what the f**k you just said. All right, do you need me to explain Uncle Sam to you

or a penis? Okay, you know what, get out of here Troy. Troy Wada everybody. When we come back, Michael Kosta visits our new estate, so don't go away. Thank you for being here today. Thank you for being here today. Thank you for being here today. Thank you for being here today. Thank you for being here today. Thank you for being here today.

Thank you for being here today. Thank you for being here today. Thank you for being here today. Thank you for being here today. Thank you for being here today. Thank you for being here today. Thank you for being here today. Thank you for being here today. Welcome back to The Daily Show. Donald Trump might be in the middle of a trade war, but we shouldn't forget his other wars. Michael Kosta checked in on them just to find out

what's going on. For decades, Canadians have been wasting away in a country known best to the world as America's hat. But that's all about to change. Canada was meant to be the 51st state. It's just an artificial line that was drawn in the sand. In the ice. But not everyone's so sure about that. Meet Stephen Shanebark, American political refugee.

The night that Trump was elected in 2016, I started looking into becoming a Canadian citizen and I moved here in 2020 full-time. I gave up my apartment in Brooklyn, moved to Toronto. A lot of people said they were going to move to Canada when Trump won, and it's bullshit. But you actually did it. So I wrote, I actually did it becoming Canadian because of Trump.

Is that the book where you admit that you killed O.J.'s wife? No, it's not the book. No. It's not? I didn't. Hmm the book. No. It's not. I don't know. Hmm, exactly what OJ said. And just like a white bronco chase cut short, Stevens worried his escape from America might have been a feudal gesture. Just look at history.

Austria was the first country that Hitler took over when he was expanding, and it was very similar to Germany, the way Canada is similar to the US. And they just kind of absorbed it. And that was the beginning of Hitler's expansion. If you think Trump's Hitler, then why would you move to America's neighbor?

It's like, well, I'm going to ride this whole Hitler thing out over there in Poland. I'm not saying at all that Trump is Hitler. He's not. But if Trump is 10% as bad as Hitler, that's bad enough. Well, Stephen, Trump didn't want to invade Canada until you moved up here. So, you flattered him away?

No. You fled America, but America's coming. And you can't stop a bulldozer. We're going to take Canada, that'll be a 51st state. Then we'll go to Greenland. I think we should get Hawaii. That's nice over there. That'd be sweet to have Hawaii.

What are you going to do? Keep running away from it. That's nice over there. That'd be sweet to have Hawaii. Uh-huh. What are you going to do? Keep running away from it? There's nowhere to go. Well, of course, Stephen hates this idea, but I bet every day Canucks couldn't wait to trade in their free health care to join Team USA. How excited are you to be the 51st state of the United States? Not that fired up about it.

You need stronger language than that. We have guns. Can you look in that camera and tell Donald Trump how you feel about becoming the 51st state of the United States? Come on. Yeah, I mean, you're throwing a lot of words around, but I think that's, yeah, we know what you're doing.

It's not gonna go anywhere. That's the meanest you can get. Yeah. Maybe they just didn't know what they were missing. This is a bottle of our syrup. It's not maple syrup. There used to be a black woman on it, but it kind of became a whole thing. We love our country. We really do.

Don't you want to dominate the Olympics? You do dominate the Olympics. I'm on the Summer Olympics, the one that people care about. This is what the new flag would be. I don't know, man. I thought the Maple Leaf was going to be with the stars, but I should have had this thing made in China. Canadians of all ages, races and species seem united in their rage.

It's a good thing Kristi Noem isn't here. And this trade war is getting messier than a plate of poutine at a Celine Dion concert. Thousands of Canadian hockey fans booing our national anthem. Liquor stores have removed American distilled alcohol from their shelves. Polls show 90% of Canadians do not want to be part of the United States. But what about the other 10%? The silent majority. The most elite and intellectual Canadians take a different view.

I'm just trying to make Canada great. So let's make it the 51st state. Ha ha ha ha ha. Finally, a normal f***ing person. You gotta make a stand. If you believe in what you believe in, I believe in I wanna become an American. I'm gonna do it.

I mean, just think about the possibilities. You could be sentenced to the death penalty. You could drive over a bridge not knowing if it's gonna collapse. Cheese coming out of a spray can. I've never tried spray can cheese, right, but I'm looking forward to it. And after living under Canada's jackboot, Josh is eager to speak his mind. First Amendment, right? Freedom of speech? Where you like freedom of speech?

And the thing about the First Amendment is that that thing is iron clad. Yeah. I mean, unless you're a protester or a legal firm or a member of the media or a Democrat or a green card holder, but other than that, huh? That's good. And in case you couldn't tell by the way he looks, there's another amendment that Josh is way more excited about. So Canada doesn't have a second amendment?

We do have certain guns, but not the ones that we do in America. The AR-15. We can't have any guns that have over, I think, it's five rounds. Five rounds. That means that you can't even have a mass shooting. Well, you know, you can't even mass shoot at a deer, right? That's why American hunters are so good, because they can pop off 200 rounds in five seconds. You're going to hit something.

This Quebecanan shaman was almost passing for an American, but there was just something that was off about him. Look at that, get it, get it, let's go! Like the Canadian dollar, it's closed, but just not quite there. What is it, Monopoly money? In fact, there was something off about this whole country. The differences are subtle but really significant. Like when I go get pizza, they ask me what kind of sauce I want on the pizza if I want

like sweet and sour sauce or chipotle sauce. Wait, wait, wait. What the f*** did you just say? They give it to you and they say what kind of sauce do you want on it? And I said what do you mean? I'm from New York. we don't do that. These bastards, sweet and sour sauce on pizza? Not even Little Caesars would do a thing like that.

Anyone know what they put on pizza in Greenland? Thank you, Michael. When we come back, Senator Tammy Duckworth will be joining me on the show, so don't go away. Applause Applause Welcome back to the Daily Show. My guest tonight is an Iraq War hero and Purple Heart recipient who currently represents Illinois in the U.S. Senate. Please welcome Senator Tammy Duckworth.

Thank you for coming on the show. Oh wow. Still having fun. Yeah, well man, if you cheer for Illinois and New York, that's tough. Senator, you're a war hero. You served in Iraq. You sacrificed so much for your country, but you're also a Democrat. Why do you hate America?

I actually love America so much. You know, maybe we have too much liberty and freedom. I don't know. That seems to be what this administration thinks. Yeah, like you were a war veteran and then you decided to go to Congress. Yeah. I mean, what was harder, the war or Congress?

I mean, it seems pretty tough. They gave me body armor and bullets when I went to war. So I think Congress is harder. Yeah, I know. But you're in it. I'm in it. You're in it right now. I'm in it. Yeah you used to fly missions in Iraq. I did. You were a helicopter. I was a Black Hawk helicopter pilot loved it. That's amazing. Yeah it's bad and you decided to run for Congress and you won. I did I was I was pissed off that we were not

taking care of our veterans, so I decided to run. Yeah. And so how are we treating our veterans? Well, we were doing really well until Trump decided to fire 6,000 of them from their federal jobs in the last three months. Yeah, and why do you do that? Well, you know, I guess this is a guy who hugs the flags

as he loves America, but then fires 6,000 veterans. I don't think he cares about us. Yeah, so what, like, what was the, what was the, would he give any reasonable fine? There was no reason. It's part of their cuts across federal government. Veterans, after they serve in the military, tend to want to serve the country, continually too.

As civil servants. As civil servants. So 30% of the federal workforce are veterans. And so this president has fired more veterans than any other veterans, than any other president in modern history. Okay. Six thousand and counting. And how is that, how is that, okay, we get it.

All right. They don't like it. And that's specifically, was it Doge or was it something else? It was Doge's across the board cuts. When you fired this many federal employees, you're gonna lose that many veterans. But Doge has also come out and they've announced

they wanna cut 80,000 personnel just from the Department of Veterans Affairs. That's their next target. But okay, and that it I don't know are these people they can lose or is it is it gonna run fine? Is it running fine now? What's the situation in the Veterans Affairs? It was getting better. We passed the the PAC Act which was bipartisan which basically signed up a million more veterans who were exposed to cancer-causing toxic smoke from

burn pits. They're finally getting the care that they need and now we have those folks on board and now they're going to fire all the people who take care of those folks. Okay and so I'm pissed. Okay can anyone stop this or? Well we can we can try to stop them. We are fighting them every step of the way. In my case, I've been able to get some veterans their jobs back. They fired veterans from the Veterans Crisis Hotline. These are people who answered the phone when a veteran is contemplating suicide.

They pick up the phone and they get an answer within eight seconds, or at least they used to. And so some of the folks who work in that hotline were fired, and they reached out to me, and we were able to get them their jobs back. So we are fighting back. So. Like one at a time. So there's one at a time.

So there's jobs, there's jobs that are lost. But then there's overall just like veteran health care, right? Yeah, they've had to cancel operations. The spouses, the family members of disabled veterans are not getting support through their hotline. Appointments are being canceled or now they're having to wait even longer. We would just turn in the corner. We were actually reducing the number of homeless veterans. We were just adding more veterans, getting more benefits.

But remember, this is a president who says people who are wounded or died for this country in uniform are all losers and suckers He doesn't care about us. Okay, so Just to just to put it out there This is also a guy who? Arguably a lot of veterans would also vote for at the time. So how do you reconcile that? I mean, well, I think what they bought was this rhetoric from him that he was gonna, you know,

he wants to make America great, strong, and powerful, and yet all he's done has made us weaker, sicker, and less secure. Okay, so... Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

So, I mean, I guess the relevant question is, do you think it's changing the opinion of the people who voted for him? Oh, definitely. Have you seen what's been happening at these Republican town halls, where people across the country are showing up in town halls and saying, what are you doing to our veterans? I'm a veteran. Why did you cut my benefits?

I had a veteran reach out to me from Tennessee because he was declared dead. And didn't get his regular checks. Was he dead? He, well, he didn't reach out to me through a Ouija board. He actually reached out to me. Okay, okay. But like, okay.

But again, the question is, okay, so we all have, obviously, you know, what kind of preaching is required here? Obviously the people who didn't like, who didn't want to vote for his president still, we maintain that we shouldn't have voted for this guy. What about, the question is, what about the veterans specifically? Because you're more in touch with that community. Yeah. When, do you feel that there is a change in sentiment that was previously overwhelmingly in

his favor? Do you think it's changing a bit or is it still very much, no he's doing the right thing, we don't see a problem, the issues exaggerated I mean is that I think it's changing I think there's two things that are happening one the fact that he is basically kissing Vladimir Putin's you know means that they're these are people who spent their entire military careers getting ready to oppose Russia. And now they see the commander in chief basically doing whatever Putin wants him to do. So that is changing the sentiment. The other thing that's happening is all of this rhetoric against women serving, against

LGBTQ veterans serving, people forget that there's been a generational change within the military. Gen Xers are now the old people, Millennials are now the upper management and they've only ever served. And we're happy to be here. They're now the field great officers. So sick of the Gen X people. Yeah, I'm Gen X. Oh yeah. Okay. No, so millennials are now the majors, colonels. Yeah. Wait, they're colonels now? They're now colonels.

Oh, way to go. Yeah, right, they're now sergeants majors. You know, they're now higher ranking. And so- No, you say this, but then it's like- But they- They, he kind of said what he was gonna do before he ran. Pete Hegseth was Petegsef before he got appointed

against women in military. They still won. So my question is, is anything that's happened changing the sentiment? It is because I think a lot of them didn't believe that that was what was going to happen. And they saw the reality of the fact that the military cannot do its job without women in service.

The military cannot truly do its job without diversity in the force, where people can speak different languages around the world. You want soldiers who can speak Swahili without forces in Africa. You want soldiers that can speak all the different languages. And so the millennials have only ever been in the military where there was equal service with women and LGBTQ. What are you saying? White people can't speak Swahili?

Well, you know. But you want native speakers, right? You want more diversity. We want that diversity and inclusion is a good thing. You want people who have those backgrounds. You want somebody like me who speaks Thai and Indonesian to be able to go in and speak those local languages. And we also have people in charge of the military now,

the millennial generation, who have only ever served equally without Don't Ask, Don't Tell. So they know the lie behind, oh, LGBTQ people are not good for the military. Well, no, they know that we've always served equally. We can't go to war without each other. Okay. I mean, that's... That deserves an applause.

That's a nice sentiment. I hope you're right, because we cover the news every day here, and I just feel like nothing changes, moves the needle either way. I do a lot of jujitsu. All the jujitsu guys are like a lot of veteran people, so I'm not connected to that community at all. Let me just say the ones I have met are very mega.

So I don't know how to. A lot of them are very mega, but they're seeing the reality behind the betrayal, and they're seeing what's happening to veterans with the cuts at the VA. They're also seeing what is happening with Trump bowing down to Putin. Just watch those town halls. A lot of them revolve around people standing up and saying, what are you doing for our national security?

Right. And on the subject of DEI, so another thing you've recently had to... You were on the front lines of hiring because they had to, you were in the Senate when people had to get confirmed and so you were part of the committees that had to have hearings on who to confirm. And so I guess you're kind of on the front lines of this like, I don't know what you want to call this, a backlash against DEI towards meritocracy. And you were, you had to basically appoint, approve the Secretary of Defense.

Yeah, I voted against him. He's the least qualified Secretary of Defense in our nation's history. The least qualified. Just give him a chance. Give him a chance. What do you not like about this guy? Well, let's see, the largest budget he ever was in charge of

was something like $13 million, and he screwed that up so badly, they had to bring in forensic accountants to figure out what he did wrong and now he's in charge of an 825 billion dollar budget. You're talking about a guy who used signal chat to plan a you know a strike right a military strike right. Exactly exactly. So who basically put in an unsecured channel 30 minutes after the drones hit our F-18s

will be on target basically telling the bad guys this is where those F-18s are going to be and exactly what time. He put those pilots lives in danger. He does not deserve to be the Secretary of Defense. You've never planned an outing with group chat before? I never planned an outing for the military involving weapons of war. So what do you say to the people who are like, who think that the DEI thing in the military is inappropriate to kind of use DEI categories in the military for hiring? What I say is that's not true. It never was. thing in the military is inappropriate to kind of use DEI categories in the military for hiring.

What I say is that's not true. It never was. This is a fake argument on their side because it was never done. Remember that this president fired a secretary of defense who was a pilot, highly decorated, 40 years of experience, commanded major units and replaced him with a guy who was a platoon leader who had never run a budget larger than $10 million, and who couldn't even mention parts of the world, you know, where the U.S. has huge troop presence, who didn't understand where the nations of ASEAN were, for crying out loud. And this is the guy that's going to be in charge of our nuclear submarines that transition

those sea lanes. Are you kidding me? Okay. So he got confirmed, though. He got confirmed. our nuclear submarines that transition that that those sea lanes are you kidding me? Okay so he's he got confirmed though. He got confirmed right party line vote. Party line vote and and I guess a couple people a couple people crossed party line but not enough. Okay so that brings me to the next question I mean you're you're actually on the front lines of congress yeah you have to talk to republican congressman all the time. Like, what is it in Congress? Are people, are your colleagues, Republican colleagues, are they seeing the same reality behind closed doors and telling you like, hey, listen, I know

this is crazy, but whatever, or are they drinking, are they true believers drinking a Kool-Aid? What's happening in there? I think the Republicans who are willing to stand up to him were the ones from the first term, they're not back. Right? And so the ones that are there are becoming invertebrates. They've lost their backbones and they're hiding in their shells. OK. This is where they are.

They just roll over for this president. They say, I always assume. Are they true believers or are they, you know what I mean? No, they're worried about their own re-election. And at a certain point, you need to they, you know what I mean? No, they're worried about their own reelection and at a certain point you need to say, you know what? Come at me, go ahead and primary me. My country is more important than this job. Right.

And unfortunately most of our Republican colleagues don't think that, are not acting in that way. Sure. So I mean, you know, again, you have been, you've always kind of, I think you've kind of led with integrity, you've always stood by your word. I do. Yeah.

How do you, the Democrats like, have lost a lot in the last, they don't control any branch of government, they don't control a popular vote, they don't have any cultural momentum. So clearly, they were doing something wrong. Like what is, what should they be doing? Like what message isn't getting through here, you know? I think the message that's not getting through here, what Trump did was he spoke to a group of Americans who were disaffected, who really felt that this country was leaving them behind, and he made these promises. And a lot of people were watching the reality TV show, I get from a lot of people it's like oh I voted for him but I

didn't think he was gonna come after me I didn't think he was gonna deport my wife I didn't think that he was going to cut funding for Mike to my kids public school I didn't because he said specifically he was going to deport that guy's wife well because he said he was gonna do all of these things right yeah he said he was gonna cut the Department of Education yeah you know people were saying well you but we didn't think he was going to do all of these things, right? He said he was going to cut the Department of Education. People were saying, well, yeah, but we didn't think he was going to go after my special needs kids' funding, right?

They just thought that it was all an act. And it's not. And it's not. And now people are being fired. They're losing their jobs. They're seeing the reality of where we are with the economy tanking, with us less safe than we were before. And they're realizing, oh, I made a mistake.

That's just why you're seeing people talk about, I voted for him, but I wish I hadn't, I made a mistake. And what Democrats need to do is talk to all of those people and say, you know, Illinois, where I'm from, is 102 counties, only six are blue, 96 are red. And I go into the red parts of my county, of my state, and I say, listen, it's about loving this country. It's about putting America first.

It's not about a guy who hugs the flag and then shits on America by starting trade wars and cutting funding for veterans. That's not what this is about. This is about making sure that we support our farmers who grow the food that we need. A country that can't feed itself is not a country that can defend itself. This is about making sure that our veterans have the food that we need. A country that can't feed itself is not a country that can defend itself.

This is about making sure that our veterans have the services that they earn. This is about making sure our military has capable, competent leadership who knows better than to plan war plans on group chat, unsecured group chat. This is about putting America before yourself. And this president has never done that. And Democrats need to start talking to the heartland and talking to people and saying, we are here to fight for you, and we're going to fight for you every step of the way. And that's why you're seeing folks like me

getting out there, especially from the Midwest, talking about industrial America, about what we need to do to regrow our economy and what we need to do to stand up to this president, to make sure that we make those investments in this country and not in the oligarchy billionaires that he's surrounded himself with. Because that's all they care about themselves. to make sure that we make those investments in this country and not in the oligarchy billionaires that he surrounded himself with.

Because that's all they care about themselves. Sure. Do you think that message is coming across? I think it is. When I talk to the ag sector, for example, they've seen body blows after body blows. They, farmers tended to vote for Trump. But when I go to talk to them, they're like,

well, these terrorists are killing. I'm not going to be able to hand my family farm off from my generation to the next generation. I'm the seventh generation. There will not be an eighth generation. The tariffs are going to hurt me. John Deere is losing jobs because the steel coming from Canada is now going to be more expensive.

And so they're seeing the difference. And we need to just continue to pull all those people together and let people to understand that the way that we make America great, greater than she already is, is come together and work together, not by dividing us, which is what this president is trying to do. OK, well, I hope you're right, Senator.

Thank you. Thank you so much for coming to speak to me. My pleasure. Thank you for serving our country. Thanks for serving with integrity. And thanks for representing Asian people and Southeast Asian people in America. We appreciate it.

Senator Tammy Duckworth, everybody. We're gonna take a quick break. We'll be right back after this. That's the show for tonight. Now here it is, your moment of zen. We've all heard the five second rule, right? Let's put it to the test, shall we? Oh, no! No! I have a banana from the green room. Don't do it, Joe, don't!

No! Here it goes. One, two, three, four, five. No, uh-uh. No, but that is, that bottom of our shoes walk around New York City. No! No! Okay, should we go ahead and call out sick form next week?

Yeah. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. No, but that's the bottom of our shoes walk around New York City. No! No! Okay, should we go ahead and call out sick form next week? Yeah.

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