The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Guest Spotlight: Rep. Colin Allred, Sebastian Junger & Ken Harbaugh

Episode Date: April 7, 2024

Desi Lydic sits down with Texas’s 2nd District Representative Colin Allred to discuss his campaign for Senate seat against Ted Cruz, his plans for restoring women's reproductive rights, and the importance of paternity leave. Also, executive producers and writers, Sebastian Junger and Ken Harbaugh, join Desi to talk about their award-winning documentary film, “Against All Enemies.” They chat about the dangers of U.S. veterans joining domestic terrorist groups, how some January 6th participants were also former veterans, and how members of these groups tend to have a desire for combat that they may not have seen during their time in service.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Survivor 47 is here, which means we're bringing you a brand new season of the only official survivor podcast on fire. And this season we are joined by fan favorite and Survivor 46 runner-up, Charlie, Charlie, I'm excited to do this together. Thanks, Jeff. So excited to be here, and I can't wait to bring you inside the mind of a survivor player for season 47. Listen to On Fire the official survivor podcast starting September 18th wherever you get your podcast. You're listening to Comedy Central. My guest tonight represents Texas's 32nd district and is running for the Senate against America's sweetheart Ted Cruz. Please welcome Representative Colin Allred. How you doing?

I'm doing well. How are you? I'm doing great. Welcome to the show. Yeah, this is great. It's different from what I usually do. Yeah, they're fun, right? You guys are a little better than the house right now. Just slightly. That's, I mean, that's not saying a lot. That's keeping the bar pretty low. You have such an interesting resume. You're a former NFL player, Civil Rights, yeah, Civil Rights Attorney, Congressman, and now currently running against Ted Cruz for this. Yeah, in Texas as a Democrat, which is a bit of an uphill battle, right? Right, right now you're currently pulling at six points behind. Yeah, Texas as a Democrat, which is a bit of an uphill battle, right now you're currently pulling at six points behind.

Does it make it worse that you're lagging behind Ted Cruz of all people? Now listen, I'm confident that on November 5th, that Texans are going to come out and show who we really are. You know, I think we've had enough of 12 years of having an embarrassment, one of the most divisive senators in the country. If somebody who I think fundamentally doesn't appreciate who we really are as Texans, I'm a fourth generation Texan. I was raised by a single mom in Dallas, you know, you mentioned what I've been able to do,

but I was able to do that because I had a lot of help from my community, from my state. I want to make sure that we can have somebody who actually cares about us in the Senate. You have said before that you don't, Texas doesn't have to be embarrassed by their senator. What is the most embarrassing thing about Ted Cruz? Is it that he fled to Cancun while Texans were in the dark and cold or that time that he didn't feel the booger on his lip for so long? Burned in my memory. You know, I think there's the antics, right?

There's like the reading Green Angs and Ham on the Senate floor while you're trying to take health care away from 40 million people, there's stuff like that. There's the fact that he podcast three times a week, which is a lot. That's a lot. That's a lot. You know, when you had that little rolly bag when he's coming back from Cancun, you know, it's frustrating. It's a lot. through those little rope lines at any time. When you're going through it alone to explain why you abandon your state during a statewide crisis, that was really embarrassing. That's the topper. That was the topper. You're a father of two and you were one of the first members of Congress to take paternity leave. Wow. First of all thank you for your service. And secondly, why is that so rare among your colleagues?

Yeah, yeah. Well, I didn't know that I was going to be the first when I did it. I thought that it was just a normal thing to do. You think? You know, I grew up and I know that when we had kids, that I was going to do it right. And that starts at the beginning. And there's so much... We've learned a lot.

There's so many benefits for when men take leave in those early days. It's better for the men themselves, for their spouses, for their kids. And you know, this is not available to every American and I want to make sure that it is and so that's one of the things I've been looking at because you and I both know that those early days are tough and when you're welcoming you know your bundle of joy is also coming with a whole lot of other things that are changing your life and you know I don't think it's right that we're the only major developed country in the the the their their their their their their their their their. their. their. their. their. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I the the the the the their their their their their.. I the th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. te. te. te. te. te. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. things that are changing your life. And you know, I don't think it's right that we're the only major developed country in the world that doesn't have a national pay-lea policy. that doesn't have a national pay-lea-lea policy.

Texas was one of the first states to criminalize abortion. What would be your plans to protect and restore women's reproductive rights? As you mentioned, my wife and I, we've had two boys in Dallas in the last five years, and I went to every ultrasound appointment, every genetic testing, and you know, those rooms, when you're having those conversations with your doctor, they're too small to have somebody like Ted Cruz in there with you. Oh my God. Oh, my God. What's happening in Texas is really, it's a tragedy. We've had 26,000 women who've had to get birth to their rapist child since these laws

went into place. We've had stories like Kate Cox, so it was a mother of two, who had a much-one and third pregnancy. She'd go to the emergency room four times. Her doctor said she needed a medically necessary abortion and she asked her state, can I have it close to home because I have a one and a three-year-old at home. They said no and they didn't just say no, it's that if you do this we're gonna prosecute you, your doctor, your hospital. We have counties saying you can't drive to the county if you're gonna use the roads to access an abortion. I mean that doesn't that doesn't doesn't that doesn't that doesn't that doesn't that doesn't that doesn't that doesn't that doesn't that doesn't that doesn't that doesn't that doesn't th doesn't that doesn't th doesn't th doesn't th doesn't th doesn't th doesn't th doesn't tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho' tho' tho tho tho tho tho tho tho th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th the the the the the the the the the the the the the to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the an the, to me, the only way that we can restore this right to Texas women and families

is at the federal level by codifying Roe v. Wade. And I'm going to be the vote. Voter turnout is going to be critical for you to flip the seat. It's been estimated that 9.5 million registered voters didn't vote in the last election. to. to. to. to. to.. to to to vote. to to vote. to to to vote. to to to to to to the the the to the to the to the the to to to to the to to to the to to the right. the right. And I. And I. And I tho tho. And I tho. And I th. And I th. And I the right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right. the right right right. the right right. the right. the right. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It's to to to to to to the to the to to to to to to to to to to.o. It's to. I to. to. I to. to. the to. the the to. I. I the the the the the critical for you to flip the seat. It's been estimated that 9.5 million registered voters didn't vote in the last election. How will you encourage Texans to get out and vote and does it rhyme with schmoshmorsion? As you mentioned, I was a civil rights lawyer, but I was a voting rights

story specifically before I ran for Congress. And to me, there's nothing more important than getting, you know, Texans and our fellow Americans engaged in our democracy. And in Texas, we make it way too difficult to vote. But I want folks to know, there's a reason why they're trying to make it harder for you to vote. Why are they trying to take your voice away? Why are they trying so thying so thying so thying so so so thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii. their the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. to make to make to make to make to make to make to make thea. thea thea to make to to to to make to make to make to make thea thea thea thea thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. theee and thea. thee an thee an thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. tea. thea. thea. thea. tea. tea. tea. te so hard to make it difficult for you to be engaged. Don't let them do it, right? And to our young people, you know, it's like one of these things where you wouldn't let your grandparents pick your playlist for the next six years. I want to pick your senator, right? You know, so. So, I mean, I think it's also true that we have to talk about what's at stake. To me, in Texas, what's at stake is our fundamental freedoms.

They've taken away a woman's right to choose the ability to make your own decisions about your body. They're banning books. They're kicking kids out of school because of their hairstyle. I mean, to me, this is fundamentally And I think folks are going to come out and stand up for that. Wow. You serve on the Foreign Affairs Committee. We just recently found out that seven aid workers were killed in Gaza due to Israel airstrikes. Does that give you any hesitation to providing Israel with bombs?

Listen, this is a horrible tragedy, and these folks were there to feed folks who are suffering from famine, extreme conditions. They've done it around the world, and to me it's an incredibly noble venture that they're engaged in to try and make sure that we can combat these conditions. And, you know, as I see it, October 7th was a tragedy, and the response in many ways has been incredibly difficult to deal with. Our role, I think, has to be to try and ensure that we have, as we're negotiating for an extended ceasefire, that we have these hostages come home, and that we find a way forward in which there's their peacefully next to each other. And that has to be our name Dave. And we've had, you

know, this has been our policy for some time but in some ways I think it had drifted away and in a strange way I think this has highlighted the need that we come back to this. That we make sure that we have a peaceful and independent Palestinian state next to a stable democratic and Jewish Israeli state and these folks can coexist because we honest we cannot continue down this road. I so appreciate the work that you do and I so appreciate you being on the show tonight. I wish you the best of luck. Representative Colin Allred. Thank you. Hey, everybody, John Stewart here.

I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show, coming out every Thursday. We're going to be talking about the election, earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart wherever you get your podcast. My guest tonight are executive producers and writers of the award-winning documentary film

against all enemies, which exposes the role-winning documentary film Against All Enemies, which exposes the role of military veterans and extremist groups. Please welcome Sebastian Younger and Ken Harba. Well, hello. Thank you so much for being on the show. Well, thrown. Uh, this movie scared the shit out of me. Was that, was that the goal?

Yeah, it's a, it's a, it's a, tough time in America right now. And I think we all have to pay attention to whether we stay in democracy or not. And that's what the point of this film was, is to get us to think about that. Yeah. It really, really does. Can you're a military veteran, a former Navy pilot? You can absolutely say that the vast majority of veterans have not joined these extremist groups, but for those that have, what's so compelling to them to join the Oathkeepers, the Proud Boys, three percenters?

Well, I'm glad you recognize that the vast majority of my buddies, my brothers and sisters in arms, don't go join the proud boys or the oath keepers. But the ones that do, in many cases, do it out of a sense of needing to recapture that camaraderie and that sense of belonging that they felt in uniform. When you take the uniform off, that goes away almost overnight. And one of the things these groups do really, really well is recreate that by giving these veterans that sense of purpose and that sense of mission. The problem is that mission is undermining democracy. Sebastian, you, you explored, you co-directed an award-winning documentary, Restrepo, that explores the war in Afghanistan and you've extensively talked about combat veterans reintegrating into civilian

life in your book, Tribe. What is it specifically about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that play a role in everything that we're seeing right now? Yeah, I mean, it's complicated. The guys I was with in Afghanistan off Iraq that play a role in everything that we're seeing right now. Yeah, I mean it's complicated. The guys I was with in Afghanistan off and on for a year, you know, they sort of trended conservative, but I can't imagine any one of those guys doing anything like what happened on January 6th. The real combat veterans usually don't have anything to prove. And I think one of the ways that the January 6th crowd is dangerous. They're dangerous in two different ways.

One is that there are some real deal special special forces guys who know what they're doing, who could organize a very serious violent situation in this country. And we have to be very, very careful of those guys. Most of the, I would say most of the guys on January 6th with the beards and the, you know, camo, the tactical pants, etc., etc., might have been in the military, but probably never saw combat. And I think that makes them extremely dangerous because they have this sort of fantasy of themselves as a hero, along with probably some psych disorders and that creates, that creates a very, very dangerous mix. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, 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. thioueou-I thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, might might might might might might might might might might might might might might might might might might might might might might might might, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, might might might might might might might might, thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thea. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. I to thi. thea. thea. thea, might the. that creates a very, very dangerous mix. Yeah, well you bring that up. Would you say that is it fair to say that in this country we could have stronger support systems for those veterans who

are coming back and and reintegrating into society? Yes, I don't think that's the problem here with these guys. I think they're sort of willing dupes of a dishonest ex-president and they were sort of, they were, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thu-and, thu-and, thu-and, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, tho, thi, tho, thi, thi, thi, is thi, thi, is thi, is thi, thi, is 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, to to to to to to to to to to thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, th they were sort of, they wanted to believe something, and they wanted to award a fight, and they wanted to be, act in a supposedly heroic way at a crucial moment in history, and like save the nation, except it's all nonsense, right? But that aside, just generally for vets, absolutely. We live in an amazing but alienating modern society, and vets come back, and it hard to fit in and frankly it's very hard for all of us to fit in. I mean the depression and suicide rate in this country is through the roof like why would that be?

Right. Right. So extremist groups have been in the US for a long time but what makes this particular moment so so impactful and so dangerous? We have dealt since our founding as a country with extremism with extremist groups? And th and th and th and th and th and th and th and th and th and th and th. th. th and th. th, and th, and th, and th, and th, and th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thly, th, thi thi thi thi thi thi to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to th th th th th th th th th th thly thly thly thly thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi to thi to to to to with extremist groups, but you have to go back a long ways to find a period in American history where a domestic terrorist movement has the cover of a political party. That is a new situation when you have a former president name-checking an organization, the Proud Boys, deemed by Canada as a terrorist entity, name-checking them from behind a presidential podium, that is incredibly invigorating for these organizations. And you probably have to go back to the rise of the KKK in the south

to find an analog to a terrorist movement that had major political cover and used it to wreak havoc. You bring up the former president. He has certainly said some controversial things about veterans, somewhat disrespectful. Some might say he's asked wounded vets to not appear at his events. He's called American service members who have passed suckers and losers. Why is it that you find that your military brothers and sisters are coming to his side? We all know he has no respect for the military. He disdains the very idea of service. He didn't just call those who serve suckers.

He calls those who died fighting for the country suckers. He called those who put on the uniform to serve their country losers. I think it's incumbent upon us to make sure that every single veteran knows between now and the election, just how disdainful of the very idea of service the former president is. There's no real evidence so far that Trump and his followers will accept the election results up coming. How do you, how do you, how do you see this playing out? It could go a

number of ways. I mean I certainly hope that the the person who tried to end democracy doesn't win a second term. Even if he loses though I think we all know that he's not going to concede he tried to overthrow the results of a free and fair election once. I assume he'll do it again. I know Sebastian has thoughts on this but I thi th I th th I th I th I th I th th I th I th I th th I th I th I th I th I th thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi the tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the to to to the to the the the to the the the the the the the the the to overthrow the results of a free and fair election once. I assume he'll do it again. I know Sebastian has thoughts on this, but I think we need to be prepared for the worst. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I can't think of a good reason why there wouldn't be violence if Trump loses.

He hasn't, I mean, he's all in now, right? He's wide open to criminal prosecution. He's the only thing protecting him. And it shouldn't even protect him, but it seems to be for the moment. So he's got nothing to lose. A lot of these far-right extremists don't trust the government, they don't trust the government, they are untrusting of our intelligence agencies. Is there, do you see any kind of hopeful time in our future where we're all dealing with the same facts? I think...

I think... Glimber of hope, please. I think it starts with conversations like this. It starts with films like against all enemies, but at the end of the day, it's going to come down to one-on-one conversations. It's going to come to come to come to come to come to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to their their their their their their, a their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, thoomomorrow, thooomorrow, together, together, thooooooomorrow, thooooomorrow, their, their, their, their, their down to one-on-one conversations. It's going to come down to a family member who cares about a veteran who is at that crossroads, between doing something noble like joining Team Rubicon and helping disaster relief victims across the country, or joining the proud boys and oathkeepers and undermining democracy. That decision often comes down to a conversation with someone who cares about that veteran.

Well, thank you so much for being on. Thank you for making this incredible film and starting this conversation. Against All Enemies is in select the theaters and available on VOD, Ken Harba and Sebastian Younger. Explore more shows from the Daily Show from the Daily Show, where you get your podcasts. Watch the Daily Show week nights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central, and stream full episodes

anytime on Fairmount Plus. This has been a Comedy Central podcast. Survivor 47 is here, which means we're bringing you a brand new season of the only official Survivor podcast on fire, and this season we are joined by fan favorite and survivor 46 runner-up Charlie Davis to bring you even further inside the the try to do this together. Thanks Jeff so excited to be here and I can't wait to bring you inside the mind of a survivor player for season 47. Listen to on fire the official survivor podcast starting September 18th wherever you get your podcasts.