The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Fox News Pundits Spin America's Latest Mass Shootings | Marianne Williamson

Episode Date: August 7, 2019

Mike Huckabee and Sean Hannity come up with bizarre ways to avoid blaming gun violence on guns, and Marianne Williamson discusses her 2020 Democratic presidential campaign. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast. The Weekly Show is going to be coming out every Thursday. So exciting. You'll be saying to yourself, TGID. Thank God it's Thursday we're going to be talking about. All the things that hopefully obsess you in the same way that they obsess me. The election. Economics. Earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about

ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. And I know that I listed that fourth, but in importance, it's probably second. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? I mean, talk about innovative. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. August 6, 2019. From Comedy Central's World News Headquarters in New York, this is the Daily Show everybody. Thank you so much for tuning in. Thank you for coming out.

Thank you more for coming out. I'm Trevor Noah. Our guest tonight is a best-selling author. And, and she's a breakout star from the Democratic presidential debate. Thank you for coming out. I'm Trevor Noah. Our guest tonight is a best-selling author. And she's a breakout star from the Democratic presidential debates. Marion Williamson is joining us everybody. Also on tonight's show, guns are back in the news.

The new hot vacation trend, and do you like corn? Doesn't matter, you're going to be eating a lot more of it. So let's catch up on today's headlines. War. Hmm. Good God, y'all. What is it good for? Well, according to China, hitting back at the US. We begin with the escalating trade war with China and the growing concern about its

effect on the US economy. The United States is officially labeling China a currency manipulator, accusing the nation of deliberately lowering the value of its money to sell goods cheaper and gain a competitive advantage. China also delivering a blow to U.S. farmers, announcing it is asked state-owned firms to stop buying U.S. agricultural products. Wall Street is not happy with this trade war. The Dow plunged more than 750 points Monday, its worst day of the year.

Yes, the trade war between America and China has escalated bigly. And this thing is no joke. It's tanking the markets. It's straining diplomatic relations. And in fact, yesterday, when I opened a fortune cookie it just read sub bitch Here's your lucky numbers now one of the bigger issues for the United States is that if China stops buying American farm products the American farming industry is going to crash all right and they've already planted the crops so they to need to figure out what to do with them. You know, I mean, getting rid of corn, that part's going to be easy because every Democrat running for president eats two ears of corn at the Iowa State Fair.

And if my calculations are correct, that's about 10 million. How many people are running? That's 10 million, right? It works out. The other vegetables are going to be harder. Yeah. I'm not not. Just have her come out like, you know what my favorite thing is? Soybeans! And everyone will be like, I love soybeans. M-ah-ah-ah- So as it stands, it doesn't look like the U.S. and China are any closer to stopping their trade war. And those aren't the only countries with beef right now. Tensions between India and Pakistan are only getting worse after India removed Kashmir's autonomous governing status. And South Korea and Japan are on high alert after the world's most dangerous tel-tubby launched some missiles into the sea.

Which is not just bad for diplomacy, it's also bad for the environment, Kim Jong-un. We're trying to pull plastic out of the ocean, this asshole is throwing entire missiles in. And if all the constant bad news popping up on your phone is proving too much, well, maybe you need a vacation to unplug. And I mean really unplug. We're going to move on now to a popular vacation trend getting off the grid. More people are searching for ships that help them get away from it all and disconnect. No cell service and no Wi-Fi is starting to mean no vacancy. With a 300 personperson waiting list, this converted fire tower in rural Oregon

costs $200 a night, or $2,000 a night in Alaska to really, really shut it all out. Crazy, but necessary. Near me, the Tree Bones Resort in Northern California offers $300 a night yurts, and of course, a human-sized, a human-sized bird vest, and the fact that there's no cell service or Wi-Fi for guests. Okay, okay, you know what, that seems like a good idea. Unplugged your phone and go to a place with no cell service, but let me tell you something now, when that giant bird comes back to its nest, good luck calling for help.

Also, can we admit that these results are just rebranding how bad they are? Just like, yeah, we don't have Wi-Fi, it's a special feature. Every shitty resort should do this. Do you love hot yoga? Well, great news, our air conditioner has been broken for eight months. And finally, while some people are trying to find ways to get off their devices, their tegeneration of parents using technology technology technology technology technology technology technology technology technology technology technology technology technology technology technology technology technology technology technology technology technology technology technology technology technology to to to to find ways to get off their devices, there's a new generation of parents using technology to help raise their kids. Struggling to get your kids to help around the house? Not your kids always help around the house.

Listen, you know that. Well, there's now an app for that. It's called Chor-Z. It was going to do their treaty? Not at my house. Yeah, I was gonna say, huh? You can continue to live here. I never got paid. Okay, this is an interesting idea.

Parents can use an app to tell their kids what chores need to be done. And they just send to photoshop a clean room and get paid. Also, having kids who don't want to do their chores is such a first world problem, right? Because in Africa we already have an app for this. It's called Whippin' Their Assess. No internet connection required. But also at the same time, fuck parents.

Yeah, you know what, I said it. I don't like thiscooked parents. Yeah, you know what? I said it. I said it. I don't like this idea of parents. Like they give birth to us, and then all of a sudden we have to clean their house? Huh? What is it? I didn't apply for this job.

You made me. Now I'm washing the street and treated them like a kid. Clean my house. It's like, I don't want to leave. You aren't going anyway, young men. You'll be guilty of like six felonies. And what, you know what makes the worst, is that parents trick you. They spent the first six years of your life treating you like royalty. Oh my little princess. Oh my little prince. Like, what happened to Princess? It's like a reverse Cinderella. I'm sorry, this touches me because as a kid.

I had to do everything. Chores were everything for me, including laundry without a washing machine. I spent half my childhood as an appliance. A closest friend was a toaster oven. He never got out. You know what the worst part was when your parents would just make you clean up the yard. How do you clean up outside? This is going to be dirt on the dirt.

Oh, there's leaves. Because there's trees, you asshole. Kids don't need an allowance, they need reparations. Okay, now that I've won the Kids Choice Awards, let's move on to our main story. Let's get into something a little more serious. Since the two mass shootings over the weekend in El Paso and Dayton, the conversation around sensible gun regulation in America has been reignited. Because let's be honest, having two shootings back-to-back makes the conversation unavoidable. It's the same way for getting your kid once at home means you're an unlucky mom, but

if you do the same thing twice, social workers are coming in. And this weekend's tragedies seem to have motivated lawmakers in D.C. Some Republicans are proposing new red flag laws to take guns from people who show signs of threatening behavior. While many Democrats are focusing on things like universal background checks, renewing the assault weapons ban, and getting high-capacity magazines banned, which makes perfect sense. I mean, the mass shooter in Dayton had a gun that could fire 100 bullets before he needed to reload, which is insane. I don't care what anybody says. I know some people would be like, we need guns to hunt. Yeah, but if you

need a hundred bullets to kill a deer, maybe you should try fishing. And while most legislators are trying to figure out which laws will curb future mass shootings, Fox News has chosen to spend most of their time telling people that shootings have nothing to do with guns. Starting with Mike Huck-a, 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, thi, thi, thi, 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, the the the the th, the thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi. thi. thi. to thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii. to thi. thi. thi. thi, thi, thi. to spend most of their time telling people that shootings have nothing to do with guns. Starting with Mike Huckabee, who thinks we shouldn't have fewer guns, we should just have more God. It's our cultural fault, and part of what we've done, we've created a culture in which we've said, there is no God. The common denominator in all of this is not the particular weapon. It's the hate inside the heart. It's the loss of morality. It's that disconnecting from a God who values all people,

and who would never let me do that to another person. That's just not how we're hardwired from the father above. Yes, according to Huckabee and many people on the right. The real problem in America is not access to guns. It's a lack th, th, th, the th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, the th, th, th, th, th, the th, th, thi, the the thi, thi, the tho, thi, and thi, the tho, the tho, the tho, the tho, thoomomomomomomomomomomomomom, th, th, th, and tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the the thi, the the the the thi, and thi, the rights. The real problem in America is not access to guns. It's a lack of access to God. So if people were more religious, then they wouldn't do bad things. My only problem with this argument, the whole God argument, is that everyone seems to have a different idea of what God is saying.

All right? He says like, God and evil will never mix. If you have God in your heart you're a good person but think about in the Middle Ages the Crusaders said God to tole them to kill people in the Middle East. Hell in the 1960s in America white evangelical said God told them black and white people shouldn't mix. So either people pick and choose when and how to use God or maybe God's just so far away he's hard to hear you know yeah yeah maybe it's the distance he's up the the their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their Yeah. Maybe it's the distance. He's up there like, love thy neighbor. And people are like, what? Black people should be slaves?

Like, I honestly don't know where Huckabee's getting this from. Because even in the Bible, people who are close to God still do really bad things. Like, there's the story of King David. He literally walked with God all the time, like they hung out together. But that didn't stop David from killing a guy just so that he could sleep with his wife. That's in the Bible, by the way. David loved God, but he loved ass just a little bit more. Yeah. Look at him in that painting.

Look at him in that painting. He's going, oh, gotta get that ass. Look at that face, David's nasty. So that's Huckabee. Leave guns alone and get it to God. Now, if you don't think religion is gonna solve America's mass shootings, luckily the presidential advisory network has another solution. Instead of fewer guns, they just say we need more parents. These young men have no father, no father at home.

So you have to go back to some of the institutions and ask yourself, what's different about America now? Nobody really believes this is about Donald Trump or assault weapons. If only, young men are the problem. No communities, no fathers, no mentors, no initiations, into personal responsibility. What happens when boys or dad deprived is they don't have a male role model to channel their testosterone constructively. Why does that guy sound so creepy when he's saying that?

Okay now to be honest, I don't think this is the worst arguments in the world. It does help young man to have a stable family life. But it's also hard to have a stable family life if your dad is getting gunned down at a Walmart. Like I would love for every young man in America to magically have a perfect upbringing that helps get rid of their rage. But I have no idea how you're going to achieve that. Right? Because you can write laws that'll regulate guns. You can't write laws forcing people to have a good family life. What? Is it just going to be like a dad at the door, like kids?

Daddy's decided to run away with these secretaries. Like, actually dad, the law says you have to stay. Oh, damn you, Congress! All right, let's go and play some catch. But as usual, the best worst ideas on Fox thox can all be found in one place. Sean Hannity, prime time Fox News host, and neck with hair. You see, according to him, America's problem isn't too many guns. It's not enough guns.

I have been calling for a long time. Every school, secure the perimeter of those schools, equip them with retired police and military. I want guys to donate 15 hours. I think we could cover every school, every hour, every day, at a metal detector, and I think we're gonna have safer schools. Have one-arm guard on every floor of every school, all over every mall, the perimeter, and inside every hall of every mall. Now, that gives us an instant response opportunity that we normally wouldn't have.

Every hall of every mall. That sounds like the bleakest Dr. Seuss book ever. In every hall of every mall, on every floor, in every door. We need a guard in every room, or we'll end up in the tomb. Good night, Pumkin. Good night, Daddy. I'm glad the law made you stay. Look, man, this isn't a new idea. After every mass shooting, Hannity and many other people say that having more armed guards

everywhere is the only way to stop these shootings. What they seem to forget is that guns are everywhere in America. Parkland had an armed guard, but he was afraid to go in. The country music festival in Vegas had armed guards, but the guy was shooting from the the the the the the the the the the the the th shooting from shooting from shooting from shooting from shooting from shooting from the the shooting from shooting. After the shooting. After the shooting. After shooting from shooting. After shooting. After shooting. After shooting. After shooting, the the the the the the shooting, the shooting, after shooting, after shooting, the shooting shooting, after shooting, after shooting, after shooting, after shooting, after shooting, after shooting, after shooting, after shooting, after shooting, after shooting, after shooting, after shooting, after shooting, after shooting, after shooting, after. their their their their their their shooting. After. After. their shooting, after shooting, after. their their the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. that. that. that. the that. the that. that, that, that that that that that that that that that that that, after shooting shooting, but he was afraid to go in. The country music festival in Vegas had armed guards, but the guy was shooting from the window of a hotel. And as for instant response, the police in Dayton, Ohio, responded to that mass shooting in 30 seconds, less than 30 seconds, in fact.

Think about that. That is an amazing job by those police. They could not have done a better job, and still, nine people were killed..... thuuuuuuuu. 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 th. the th. th. th. the th. th. th. th. th. th. the the the the the the the the the th. the the the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. the thean thean thean thean thean thean thean thean thean thean thi. thi. thi. thi. They could not have done a better job and still nine people were killed in 30 seconds. So like I don't think people think about this the right way like like Hannity mentions schools and malls but as we've seen mass shootings can happen anywhere so you're gonna put an armed guard in every Walmart every movie theater every synagogue every mosque every mosque every church every office building every in every Walmart, every movie theater, every synagogue, every mosque, every church, every office building, every bar, every nightclub, every concert,

every garlic festival? Huh? To have enough police for that, you realize we'd all have to become police. Yeah, and I don't want to be a policeman. I don't. I don't. I'm mixed. It's confusing. Yeah, the white half of me of of of of me of me of me of me me me me me me of of me of of me of of me of of me of of me the white of of me the white the white of of the white the white thoomomom. thoom. thoom. thoom. the white thoom. th of th of me. th. the white th. tooom. tooom. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. the the the the the the the to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. the to. the the to. to. the to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. the the white half of me would always be putting the black half of me over. I'd never get anywhere.

And for me, the strangest part of this argument honestly is this. Hanley and Fox News talk every day about protecting American freedoms. But if everyone in America is forced to live in a world of perimeter fences, metal detectors and armed guards in every hall, then it starts to feel like society is living in a prison, and the only thing that's free is the gun. We'll be right back. The Weekly Show. We're going to be talking about the election, economics, ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart wherever you get your podcast. My guest to like is a best-selling author and activist who is running for President of the United States.

Please welcome, Marion Williamson. Welcome. Welcome to the show. Thank you so much for having me on. It is an absolute pleasure to have you on, especially considering your journey in this race. Wa'er. to the show. Thank you so much for having me on.

It is an absolute pleasure to have you on, especially considering your journey in this race. When your name was first announced, it was Oprah's spiritual advisor, and I remember being like, I'm sorry what? And then, you know, when the debates came around, you're standing on the stage, and you are a spiritual person. You are somebody who speaks you know in larger ideas than just what is happening. It seemed like you are out of your depth. After the second debates though, you were the most Google name in I think

49 states and all of a sudden people went from Marion Williamson the joke to, oh maybe she says a few things we like, maybe she's got a plan. Why do you think you're connecting with so many people who first thought that you were a joke? Well, first of all, even if you look at the first debate, the substance of my words were as serious as any substance on that debate stage is the way I had delivered my words. It was a little funny in a couple of places. But the things actually talked about, where substantial is what I is what I is what I is what I is what I is what I is tha, tha, tha, tha, thi, thi, the thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, is a thi, is a thi, thi, is a thi, is a thi, is a thi, thi, thi, thi, is thi, is thi, is thi, is a thi, is a thi, is a thi, is a thi, is a thi, is a thi, is a thi, thi, is a thi, is a thi, is a thi, is a thi, is a thi, is a thi, is a thi, is a thi, is a thi, is a thi, is a thiauiauiauiauiauiauiauiauiauiauiauiauiauiauiauia, substantial is what I talked about this time. I'm not saying anything everybody I know isn't saying.

People have a deeper conversation than the establishment conventional political dialogue presents. And so I'm simply talking about things the way I believe people talk these days. People understand that more is going on than just externalities. And people understand that if you want to transform your life, you're going to have to address things on a deeper level than just the fixes on the outside.

You do speak about levels, consistently, levels or higher powers. For instance, that's what you said at one of the debates. You said, this needs help from a higher power. Now, when I heard that I was like, but that I was like, but that, but that, but that, but that, I was like, but th and I was like, but th and I th the United States. So is that the second highest power? What is, this is a genuine question. I want to know, like, what do you believe that means? Well, it's interesting because Abraham Lincoln spoke that way. And this is, we're living in an aberrational time that the left has become so over-secularized

in its conversation. When I was growing up, people like, thia, the, the, the, thiiii, thi, tho, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, what thi, what thi, what thi, what tho, what tho, what tho, what tho, what tho, what th. th. th. th. th, what th, what th, what th, what th, what th, what th, what th. th. th. th. What th. What th. What th. What th. What thi, what thi, what thi, what thi. thi. What thi. thi. thi. thi. the. thean. thean. thean. thean. thean. thean. thean. thean. thean. about the soul of America and a contest for the soul of America. It's only been in the last few decades that the left has become so over-secularized in its language. Traditionally, on the right, there has been a focus on issues of private morality. But traditionally, on the left, there was a focus on issues of public morality. War and peace is a moral, the the the the the the the the the thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, tho, tho, thoes, thi, thi, thi, thoomoomoomoomoomoomoomoom-a, thoom-a, thoomom-a, thoes, thoes, thoes, thoes, thoes, thoes, thoes, thoes, thoes, thoes, th. th. th. th. th. the, the, the, the, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, the, the, the, the, the, the, the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th issue. How we tax the rich and make it so much easier for rich people to get richer and harder for everybody else to even make it. That's a moral issue. The fact that we have millions of American children who go to school every day,

chronically traumatized in schools that don't even have the adequate school supplies with which to teach a child to read. And if that child cannot learn to read by the age of eight, the chances of high school graduation are drastically diminished and the chances of incarceration are drastically increased in the richest country in the world. That's a moral issue. The fact that we have 13 million children who are hungry in America is a moral issue. So to me, issues of politics should take as much moral consideration and reflection as anything else.

And the fact that we have a society where we have made economic principles, not an economic principle that has led us to anything other than the largest wealth in almost a hundred years, 1% of Americans owning more wealth than the bottom 90%, 40% of all Americans struggling on a daily basis. What are we doing? It's interesting that you... What are we doing? Right, but you have the numbers, clearly, and it feels like you have intentionally geared

your message towards larger issues and a large idea. I think in one of the first debates you even said, you specifically said, it's one thing to go into the nitty gritty but we're not speaking to the larger issues. Donald Trump didn't win by talking about the nitty gritty. He spoke about the idea of the idea of, the, the, the idea of America. Is that what you think people need to hear? Is the idea of the the themeaugh is just the numbers? It's the idea of the idea of the idea of the idea of the idea of the idea of what what I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I the the the the idea the idea the idea the idea the idea the idea the idea the idea thihea. thi. thi. thi. It's what I thi. the the thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the thi. thi. thi. thr. thr. toda. toda. today. today. today. today isnitea. today. today isnitea. today. the the the th administrative aspect of the presidency, he said, is secondary. He said, the primary role of the presidency is moral leadership. It's not what I believe people need to hear, but it's the conversation I believe we need to have in order to navigate the times in which we live. Right. Do you think then Donald Trump has as much responsibility as a leader to be morally responsible as he is in what he's doing.

Because many people on the right will say, well, look, I mean, he says some things and you know, yeah, I wish he wouldn't tweet and I wish he wouldn't say that. But at the end of the day, he's getting results. Do you think America should just be results driven, or do you think there's another aspect of being president? Well, first there the the th, thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi.. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi, th all, look at the results. I don't know what television shows they're watching. I don't know what newspapers they're reading. This is an administration that has gutted the Clean Air Act. It's gutted the Clean Water Act.

It is given permission for chemical companies to sell pesticides that we know are harmful to a child's health. This is a an administration that for the sake of $350 billion in arms in arms in arms in arms in arms in arms in that in that in that in that's in that's that's that's that for the sake of $350 billion in arm sales to Saudi Arabia is willing to give aerial support to a genocidal war, where tens of thousands of people have died of starvation, many of which are children, in a way that would make our grandparents roll over in their graves. These are the results. So when people say he's gotten results, yeah, he's gotten results so that a few of his friends can get even richer.

These are the results that we want. Let me ask you this, then. Let me ask you this. If I want to agree with you on that point and say, okay, you're right. These are moral arguments that people should be having. We've seen that Donald Trump is willing and able to find people to write laws that will support how he feels. That is correct. So what laws would you then come in with on day one? What laws would you try and enact?

That would, you know what I mean? That would complement how you feel. Because we know how you feel about the issues. But what laws do you think? Concretionate laws? Well, absolutely. the to pass a law and not only legislation, but probably also constitutional amendment for public funding of federal campaigns.

Because right now, we have a... Because the undue influence of money, particularly corporate money on our governmental policy is the cancer underlying all these other cancers. So that's number one. That's what we've got to deal with. Then we need a massive infusion of economic hope and opportunity into the life of the average American. We're going to get there by repealing the 2017 tax cut, two trillion dollar tax cut that gave 83 cents of every dollar to the very richest individuals and corporation. You put back in the middle-class tax cut. Notice that that's not an economic stimulus, that bill. Then you close those

subsidies, you stop those subsidies, like why did we pay 26 billion dollars to the fossil fuel companies alone last year in subsidies? Martin Luther King said if they give it to rich people, they call it a subsidy. If they give it to poor people, they call it a handout. Then you realize that our government actually advocated and passed a law against the interests of the American people, making it, because of all the law being done by Big Pharma, that the United States government cannot actually negotiate for drug prices with big pharmaceutical companies. Then I agree with Senator Warren that we should have a 3% tax on billionaires. We have a 2% tax on people $50 million and more.

You do all that stuff, Trevor, we've got some cash on hand. And then we start doing what we should be doing. We take care of the cash. I don't know about your chakra, but I know the numbers are lining up. We'll have more with Marion Williamson when we come back. We'll try. to the Democratic presidential candidate Marion Williamson. At the debates, one of your lines has become iconic, and that is, we're nolly to their theobey.

We're dealing with a health care system, we are dealing with a sick care system. What does that mean? What it means is that the conversation we're having is how to treat people once they're sick. We also have to talk about why there's so much more chronic disease in America. And why is that? Well, because of our chemical policies, our agricultural policies, our food policies, our environmental policies, and even our economic policies, given that our economic policies

cause so much economic stress and anxiety on a daily basis, and stress causes illness. But so many times we're not talking about those things, because in order to talk about those things, we'd have to talk about policies with chemical companies and agricultural companies and oil and gas and so forth. You seem to be somebody who is constantly trying to find the balance between the spiritual and the physical, you know, the ideas of what we do in the world and then what we feel and what is changing who we are as human beings. You have come under fire, for some of those views and how they've come across.

For instance, people have said, Marian Williamson is against vaccines, because I think at one point you compared forcing people to get vaccines to Orwellian or Draconian ideas. What are your views on vaccines? Well, I've never said anything bad about vaccines. I am pro-vacines. Infectious diseases are very serious issue. And any time that there is a medical intervention, there's both benefit and risk, and the government must always come down on the side of the public good.

There has been a conversation over the last few years about mandatories and about exemptions, religious exemptions, personal exemptions. And when I made the comment that sounds Orwellian or Draconian, I shouldn't have said that, and I'm sorry about saying that. It was a glib way to talk about that conversation. But I think with all of these things, you know, I'm not anti-vax, I'm the last, I'm the least anti-science person, I'm the least anti-medicine. I'm the least anti-medicine medicine medicinetold anyone not to take medication. Right, people said that specifically in and around, for instance, depression.

You know, you've spoken at length about how you feel people should be dealing with depression and some people felt like you were saying, you know, get off your meds, you don't need them if you are depressed as a person. No one felt that who read what I said. That's the problem we have thin't, 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. to, to, thi, to to to to to to to th. th. th. th. th. th. th. to to to to 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 their, their, their, their, their, th. th. th. th. to to thin, to told, toe. tooooooooooooe. toe. toe. toe. toooe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. to, to I said. That's the problem we have today. People don't read, though. People don't read, but I found it very disappointing, even on the left, given that I am a progressive, that so much has been, that has been repeated about me related to those things. Come from websites, tweets that are no different than the inquirer. And I think that when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when their their their their their thi thii thi thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi. thi. thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I is thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thin, I thin, I ththe the the to to to to to to to the to the the the the the the the the the the, you know, I think when you're running for office, if people disagree with you, that's democracy. But when people disagree with you based on a false picture of you, a mischaracterization

of you, that's damaging to our democracy. So what do you think people who struggle with depression should do? Well I think the issue is what's depression? There is deep depression. First of all, I have never, um, psychpeutic drugs clearly have a place in some people's lives and I've never had any, and never wandered into a lane having to do a serious mental illness. What I'm talking about is a spectrum of normal human despair.

And with that spectrum of normal human despair, I have 35 years of experience working very up close and personal with people within that spectrum of normal human despair. People who have been divorced, whose lovers left, their spouse left, someone they loved died, they had a professional failure, they went bankrupt, their child is on drugs, are all kinds of serious stresses in people's lives that are not a mental illness. So you feel that the U.S. overprescribes? Do you think that's what it is? There is this, people thiiipip 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 thiiiuiuiu— thi-a thi-a. thi-a. thi-a. thi-a. thi-a. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, who are, who are, who th. Who is, who th. th. th. th. th. th. their, who, who, who, who, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. their, their, what it is? You know, there's this people talk these days mental health experts. There are as many mental health experts who are sounding the cry with a concern about the overprescription of antidepressants now as there are talking about the underprescription and excuse me but what are we? We are now living at a time where Attorney General's all over this country, so I think some like 47 states,

are now indiiting pharmaceutical executives for their known role in the opioid crisis. So clearly the government somewhere along the line, the fact that we now know that these pharmaceutical executives overprescribed, over-manufactured, and over-marketed painkillers. It's not that painkillers don't have a place. But we know that the greed the greed the greed the greed the greed the greed the greed the greed the greed the greed the greed the greed the greed the greed that the greed that the greed that that the greed lead th a place. Painkillers certainly have a place. But we know that the greed led to predatory

practices on big pharma. Clearly the government, somebody wasn't regulating correctly. All I'm saying is that on everything we should should know that the American people should feel safe. Clearly the FAA was too cozy with Boeing. Or we wouldn't have the Boeing Max's actors. Clearly the EPA is is too cozy with Dow Chemical or we wouldn't be selling these pesticides that we know harm a developing child's brain and clearly the FDA has been too close with big pharma in the fact that we have this opioid crisis. This is not dangerous to discuss. People are saying, I'm crazy and dangerous.

I think what's dangerous and a little bit crazy is that we're not discussing it. And the fact... Let's discuss, let's discuss then, one of the bigger issues that has really resonated with many people from the debates. And that is the issue in and around reparations. Yes. Where Marian Williamson at one point in the debate

seemed like you were talking about feelings and our stresses as human beings and how to evolve and how to find that center, when it came to reparations, you came with the numbers. You were like, here's what black people are owed. here's how much they owed, here's how much black people should be paid by America. This is not a favor, this is repaying a debt. Why have you been so adamant about this issue? Because you've been in it from the beginning. This has been one of your core issues.

Why? I've been talking about this since my book, Healing the Soul of America, the to be balancing spiritual and material. It's not about balancing, it's about applying the spiritual to the material. It's about applying spiritual principle in a practical way. One of those spiritual principles is you can't have the future you want if you're not willing to clean up the past. Now, when Catholics go to confession, or when Jews on the holiest day of the year, the day of Yom Kippur, the Jews confesses the sin, has a day of atonement.

In Alcoholics Anonymous, you're told that you have to take a fearless moral inventory and admit the exact nature of your character defects. This is true of a nation as is of an individual because all that a nation is a group of people. So the same psychological and emotional processes are at play. America will not have the future that we want if we're not willing to clean up this original character defect of racism. Now I do not believe, it's not my belief or my experience that the average American is a racist.

It's not. But I do think that the average American is woefully undereducated about the history of race in the United States. So I find, and I find this in the white est states in America, that when you actually, I become a little American history teacher for a few minutes, and I talk about the fact that the first slaves were brought over in 1619, slavery not abolished until 1865.

That's 250 years, followed by another 100 years of institutionalized violence against black people. That's 350 years of institutionalized violence. That's longer than this country has been in existence. I tell people about Takumso Sherman at the end of the Civil War, promising to every former slave family of four, 40 acres in a mule. Because think about it, you've been a slave and now you're free, but as Martin Luther King said a hundred years later, they were freed, but what were they freed too? So, I'm not minimizing the sacrifices or struggles or successes of any of our ancestors, black or white,

but the issue of economic restitution. That gap that existed at the end of the Civil War has simply not been addressed. It has not been achieved, and it's time. So Germany has given 89 billion dollars in reparations to Jewish organizations since the end of World War II. Doesn't mean the Holocaust didn't happen. But those reparations have gone far towards establishing reconciliation between Germany and the end of World War II. Doesn't mean the Holocaust didn't happen. But those reparations have gone far

towards establishing reconciliation between Germany and the Jews of Europe. And in 1988, Ronald Reagan signed the American Civil Liberties Act, where we gave to every surviving prisoner of the Japanese internment camps in World War II, between $20,000 and $22,000. So the idea of a people that has wronged another people, giving financial restitution, an acknowledgment of that wrong,

an acknowledgment of a debt to be paid, and a willingness to pay it, is not a fringe idea and should not be treated as such. I'll tell you this. I'll tell you this. You sound a lot more sane when you have more than a minute to speak. Marion Williamsonson everybody. The Daily Show with Covernow the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the-day show weeknights at 11th and the Comedy Central app. Watch full episodes and videos at the Daily Show.

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