The Daily Show: Ears Edition - From the Archives: Barack Obama - December 12, 2016

Episode Date: April 2, 2018

Trevor visits President Obama at the White House to discuss Russia's impact on the 2016 election, the incoming Trump administration, the future of Obamacare and modern racism. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Today's Ears Edition episode features an extended interview with former President Barack Obama from December 12, 2016. Thank you for being on the show. It is great to see you. Yeah, I'd like to apologize, first of all. I know you've waited a long time for this and you wanted to make this happen. I just, I'm sorry, I. You guys wouldn't, uh, wouldn't book us. I kept on calling. But let's get into it. No, thank you for being on the show. We are living through one of the craziest times ever.

I mean, just before we came to the interview, more news broke. We heard that the CIA assessed with high confidence that the Russians were involved in the hacking of the DNC and the RNC with the specific intent of swaying the election in favor of Donald Trump. And we heard that, you know, the president the president the president the president the president the president the president the president the election in favor of Donald Trump. And we heard that, you know, the president ordered a review of this from all intelligence agencies. And you wanted the news or you wanted the briefings to be concluded before the inauguration of Donald Trump

when he takes power. Why the rush? Well, it's not a rush. Keep in mind that when the DNC got hacked, we immediately assigned our intelligence community, our law enforcement, to investigate what had happened. And we determined and announced in October that it was the consensus of all the intelligence agencies and law enforcement that organizations affiliated with Russian intelligence were responsible for the hacking of the DNC materials

that were being leaked. So that was a month before the election. This was not a secret. And the reason that I have called for a review is really to just gather all the threads of the investigations, the intelligence work that has been done over many months so that the public and our elected representatives going forward can find ways to prevent this kind of interference from having an impact on the elections in the future. I will say this though, Trevor.

None of this should be a big surprise. This was reported on before the election. I don't think there was any doubt among anybody in the media or among members of Congress as to who was being advantaged or disadvantaged by the political gossip that was being put out in drip, drip fashion leading up to the election. I think now the difference is there is a president elect Donald Trump. Now the big question is, what would be a suitable response? People say, well, this is an act towards the United States or this is Russia undermining

the very democracy that we stand on. But I think what's, I think it's, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I th, I th, I th, I thi, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, th, uh, thi, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, thi, thri, thi, uh, uh, uh, thrip, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi. dr, thi. dr, thi. dr, thi, thri, thri, thri, thi, towards the United States, or this is Russia undermining the very democracy that we stand on. But I think what's, I think it's really important for everybody to understand what our challenges. Russia trying to influence our elections dates back to the Soviet Union. What they did here, hacking some emails and releasing them is not a particularly fancy brand of espionage or propaganda. We were frankly more concerned in the run-up to the election

to the possibilities of vote tampering, which we did not see evidence of, and we're confident that we could guard against. But Trevor, I think what everybody has to reflect on is what is it about our political ecosystem, what is it about our political ecosystem? What is it about the state of our democracy, where the leaks of what were frankly not very interesting emails that didn't have any explosive information in them. The risotto was interesting. Ended up being an obsession.

And the fact that the Russians were doing this was not an obsession. This was not a secret running up to the election. The president-elect, in some of his political events specifically said to the Russians, hack Hillary's emails, so that we can finally find out what's going on and confirm our conspiracy theories. You had what was very clear relationships between members of the president-elect's campaign team and Russians and a professed shared view on

on a bunch of issues. The real question that I think we all have to reflect on is, what's happened to our political system where some emails that were hacked and released ended up being the overwhelming story and the constant source of coverage, breathless coverage that was depicted as somehow damning in all sorts of ways, when the truth of the matter was it was fairly routine stuff. And the reason I say that is because going forward, I worry that we don't spend enough

time on self-reflection about how our democracy is working, our campaign is working, and how all of us have to, I think, do a better job making sure that we talk about what's at stake. For example, these emails got a lot more attention than any policy that was being debated during the campaign. Let me ask you about what's at stake. President's electors very clearly said he refuses intelligence briefings. And so he's come out and said, I don't need them because I'm a smart man.

You are a president. You know what a briefing entails. Can you make effective and informed decisions without intelligence briefings and without the support of the agencies around the presidency? Well, I think the president-elect may say one thing and do another once he's here because the truth of the matter is that it's a big complicated world. It doesn't matter how smart you are. You have to have to have the best the truth of the matter is that it's a big complicated world. It doesn't matter how smart you are, you have to have the best information possible to

make the best decisions possible. And my experience with our intelligence agencies is that they are not perfect. They'd be the first to acknowledge that, but they are full of extraordinarily hard-working patriotic and knowledgeable experts, and if you're not getting their perspective, their detailed perspective, then you are flying blind. You know, part of what we have done is to just hammer away at the basic principle that intelligence shall not be subject to political spin. And I'm very proud of the fact that over the course of the eight years, the message I've sent to every intelligence agency is

I want it straight, without spin. And I think we've developed a culture that does that. My hope is that that remains because we've seen in the past where there was political spin on intelligence, or at least that the intelligence agencies felt obliged to cater to the predispositions of the president or his team that you end up making bad mistakes. Let's move on and chat about Obamacare. It's one of my favorite time. I love Obamacare. One of the major deadlines is coming up. Yeah. I want everybody to sign up. If you're not signed up. Where's the camera? Here's I've got many cameras. Healthcare. Gov. Yeah, here's what one of the things people ask is

some people go, President Obama you asking me to sign up is like the CEO of Vine telling me to join now. What's the point if the incoming administration says they're getting rid of it? Well, first of all, if you sign up now, you will have insurance for a year, and it's better than not having insurance for a year at minimum. And as I've said before, for the majority of people, when they include tax credits that they may be eligible for, they can get health insurance for 75 bucks a month, which is cheaper than their cell phone, or their cable coverage in some cases. And that'll protect you against an accident, a major illness, could end up saving your home or your bank account or your pension.

And it'll give you peace of mind. But what you've also been saying in the debate around Obamacare, and this has been true for six years, this has become sort of a holy grail for Republicans, based on ideology and not facts. The fact is, is that we have the lowest uninsured rate in history. The fact is, despite all the predictions to the contrary, health care costs have gone up more slowly since I signed that law than any time 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 thi thi. thi thi thi. thi. thi. the th th th th th th th th th th thu thu 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. And thi. And thi. thi. And thi. thi. thi. thi. the the the thean. thean thean thean thean thean. And thean thean. thi thi. And thi. thi. And the predictions to the contrary, health care costs have gone up more slowly since I signed that law than any time in the last 50 years. The fact is that the law itself provides protections

that are really popular. It's just people don't know it's Obamacare. So the fact that you can't be refused health insurance because of a preexisting condition. The fact that your kid can stay on your health insurance plan until they're 26 years old. The fact that women can't be discriminated against and charged more simply for being a woman by an insurance company. The fact that you don't have a lifetime limit, those are all protections that are being provided to people right now who get their health insurance through their job.

And they'd miss it if they didn't didn't didn't didn't didn't didn't didn't didn't didn't didn't didn't didn't didn't their. So their. So their, their, their, their, their, their, their, th, their job. And they'd miss it if they didn't have it. So what happens is that the Republicans now are saying, well, maybe we'll technically repeal it, but won't go into effect for another three years, while we come up with a replacement. And what I've said before is, listen, if they had a great idea, they should have come up with it five, six years ago when we were passed this bill, because I would have loved to have something that worked even better and was even cheaper and was less controversial.

The truth is that what we came up with were the best ideas at the time. There are some tweaks that can be made to the program, for example, a public option in those communities where there's not enough competition among insurers. More subsidies so that it's cheaper for people who are right at that borderline and where they're finding it's still expensive to buy health insurance. But my, it will be interesting to watch Republicans who now actually have to produce, come up with a replacement that works better. I don't think they will, and as a consequence, you should sign up now and count on the fact that you're going to have insurance for a while.

Here's a quick question I have for you off that. You know, the incoming administration seems to be making a complete 180 on a lot of your major initiatives. So climate change, Donald Trump and his team are going the other way, immigration, they're going the other way. Do you think this changes your post-presidential public life? Does this change who Barack Obama is once he leaves the White House? Well, a couple of points. They may change policy on climate change, but climate change is still climate change.

It's still happening. So if the oceans are still going up and, you know, some streets in Miami, a mile or two from where the president-elect has a golf course, are seeing flooding in the middle of sunny days, and it's salt water coming up through the ground, that's still going to have to be dealt with one way or another. On all of these issues, reality doesn't go away. And, you know, I've had several conversations with the president-elect in which I've said to them, look, if you can find different approaches to deal with the problems, I don't pretend that I was the repository of all wisdom.

What you can do is pretend they're not problems. And I think every president comes in and discovers that A, reality doesn't go away. B, the federal government is an aircraft carrier, it's not a speedboat. Turning it is hard. Now in terms of my role in this whole process, I think it is important for me to recharge. I think it's important for me to reflect. I think it's important for me to reflect. It's important for me to get back in my wife's good graces and can then take a decent vacation and spend some time with her. And I'll do some writing and speaking, but what I have said

is that I'll be paying attention. I'll be a citizen of this country that I love deeply. And I don't anticipate that I suddenly just vanish. But I think it's important to give the incoming administration the space and to give the public clarity about what it is that they're space and to give the public clarity about what it is that they're trying to do so that that plays itself out a little bit and you know there there may be occasions where even in the first year if I think core values of ours are being threatened. I mean I will I've said this if I

thought a Muslim registry was being set up that violates the Constitution and violates who we are and would make us less safe because it'd make it easier for groups like ISIL to recruit and radicalize homegrown terrorists, I might have to say something about that. If I saw a DREAM Act kids, young people who are brought here as children, who are, for all intents and purposes, Americans, suddenly being rounded up, contrary to who we are as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants, I might have to say something about that. So, but it's not, it's not my intention to be, I think, I've said this before, the old guy at the bar,

you know, he's just kind of hanging on. Yeah, you know, I need to, I need to take some time. I've got one more question for you. This is a personal question. It's a little bit selfish. I look up to you because because because because because because because you because you because you because you because you because you because you because you because you because you because you because you you you you you you to you to you to you to you to you to you to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to say to say to to to to say to say to say to say to say to say to to to to to to to to to thi. thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I th. I th. I th. I th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm to to to to to to have to to to to to to to to to thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm toe. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm th selfish. I look up to you because we share a lot in common. We both have parents who are black and white, both half-African, south side of Chicago, south side of Africa. Similar.

In and around race, when you are a person who has a platform, when you are in a space where you are engaging with people, it is often difficult to navigate and skirt that line between speaking your mind and sharing your true opinions on a race, whilst at the same time not being seen to alienate some of the people you are talking to. Because if you are a white person who's speaking about race, then you are just a person who's interested in race. If you are a person of color who was speaking about,

I was like, oh, the black thing started again. So the question I've always wanted to know is, how did you navigate that through your two terms? You know, uh, the the thuke, thuke, thuke, thu, thu, th thu, thu, thu, thu, thu, thii, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, tho, tho, tho, thi. thi, thi, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, to to to to to to to thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi, thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. So, thi. So, to, to to to to throoooooooooooo. toee. too. And, theee. And, the to the. the. to know how you navigate to that through your two terms. You know, my general theory is that if I was clear in my own mind about who I was comfortable in my own skin, and had clarity about who I was comfortable in my own skin, and had clarity about the way in which race continues to be this powerful factor in so many elements of our lives, but that it is not the only factor in so many aspects of our lives, that we have by no means overcome the legacies of slavery and Jim Crow and colonialism and racism, but that the progress are not subject to racism can sometimes

have blind spots or lack appreciation of what it feels to be on the receiving end of that, but that doesn't mean that they're not open to learning and caring about equality and justice, and that I can win them over because there's goodness in the majority of people. If I, I always felt that if I really knew that and I just communicated it as clearly as I could, that I'd be okay. Another way of saying this is there's not been a time in my public life or my presidency where I feel as if I have had to bite my tongue.

There have been times in my public life where I've said, how do I say this diplomatically? How do I say this, as you indicated, in a way that it's received? Yes. Right? So there have been very few instances where I've said, well, that was racist. There have been times where I've said, you know, you might not have taken into account

the ongoing legacy of racism in why we have so many black men incarcerated. And since I know that you believe in the Constitution and believe in justice and believe in liberty, how about if we try this? Now, some might say, well, you're not speaking fully truth to power because of that diplomacy. Yes. But, you know, I don't think that...trying to appeal the better angels of our nature, as

Lincoln put it, is somehow compromise. There may be times where you just have to call things out and name names. But the challenge we face today when it comes to race is rarely the overt, clansmen style racism, and typically has more to do with the fact that people got other stuff they want to talk about and it's sort of uncomfortable and it's somebody not getting called back for an interview although it's never explicit or it's you know who gets the TV acting job the actress who doesn't quite look the part, and what does

that mean? And in that environment where you're not talking necessarily about cut and dry, racist behavior, but rather about the complex ways in which society is working these issues through. You know, trying to reach folks in ways that they can hear, I think is important. And I would add, everybody's got a different role to play. You know, if Chris Rock's doing stand-up, then there's a benefit to him doing something that is different from the President of the United States doing something.

For one thing, you know, he doesn't have to edit his language quite as carefully, because I am still subject to, you know, some restraints on those seven words George Carlin talked about. Yes. I can't use those as a general proposition. Because a lot of children are watching. I try to, I try to I try to comport myself in a way that my mother would approve of. Well I just want to say thank you so much for being on the show. Thank you for being an inspiration and most importantly thank you for giving me an opportunity to see what I would look like

after eight years of the toughest job in the world. You know I I will say that I resent how young and good looking you are you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you th you are th you are th you are th you are th you are thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi that that that thi thi thi that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that th th th th th th th th th th th th th th thi thi thi the the the the the thi thi thi thi thi thoooooooooooooooooooooooo. the the. the. the. the. thee thoooooooooo the toughest job in the world. You know, I will say that I resent how young and good looking you are because I used to think of myself in those terms and it's been downhill for quite some time. Thank you, sir. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. The Daily Show with Trevor No. Ears Edition. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central, and the Comedy Central app. Watch full episodes and videos at the Daily Show. Dotcom and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content and more. This has been a Comedy Central podcast. Hey everybody, John Stewart here.

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