The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Highlights of the Fourth 2020 Democratic Primary Debate | Alex Wagner (Rebroadcast)

Episode Date: October 25, 2019

Trevor breaks down the fourth 2020 Democratic debate live, and CBS News special correspondent Alex Wagner gives her take. Originally aired October 15, 2019. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. Hey guys, this is Tom Segura. And I'm Burke Creysher. And you're listening to Two Bears One Cave, or you should be listening to Two Bears One Cave. We are on Spotify. On Spotify. And we are not smart.

That's an understatement. But you'll have a lot of fun, hopefully. I think you might enjoy it if you might enjoy it if you give us a listen. If you got your perfect blood work back from your doctor and you have full permission to tie one on, make sure you check out Two Bears One Cave. It's with me, Tom Stegora and my co-hosts, Bert Kreuzer. The Machine The Machine. My shirt's off. Live from Comedy Central's world news headquarters in New York. The Daily Show with Trevor Noah presents. Vote Gasm 2020.. The field narrows from 10 to 12. Wait, what? That can't be right. Yes, welcome to the Danish show everybody. Thank you so much for tuning in.

I'm Trevor Noah, thank you for coming out. Let's do it. Oh man, this is exciting. The fourth Democratic presidential debate ended just moments ago, and we are coming to you live, people. Live right now. We're live. You don't believe me?

Then, take a look at this newspaper. You see there? theat, theat. thiiii. Now, we're going to talk about what happened in the debate. But if you watched, you know that this was this was this was this was this was was this was was this was not this was not th was not th was not th was not a normal debate. This thing was supersized. There were 12 candidates on stage, an all-time record, which is a little weird. I mean, candidates aren't supposed to multiply

as the debates go on. So please, America, remember to have your candidate spayed or Newton. We can't handle any more. If you ask me, I think the Democratic Party is just too nice. That's how this happened. Like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, I the the the the the the the the the the thiophi thiophi thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I'm thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, 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 just too nice. That's how this happened. The GOP would never do this. They're literally cancelling entire primaries right now to lock out other candidates. Meanwhile, the Democrats are like a nightclub on a Tuesday. Everyone gets in. It's just like, you know?

Yeah, it's just like six guys and sandals. Come on in. Come on in. Now, before every debate, all, all, all, all, all, all, all, all, all, all, 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 and the commentators like to weigh in on what we should expect. But there is one pundit who always kills it. Hey, Twitter World, yours truly. Uh, tonight we have the debates, 12 people on stage telling us why we should vote for them. And I just hope that they spend their time telling us about their qualifications and their plans and why they should be voted for and not waste the the.......... And to to to to to to to to to their plans and why they should be voted for and not waste time talking about in your windows and rumors about the guy next to them.

Yeah man, nothing worse than innuendos and rumors. You know people talking about who you're with and where your blood was found. Let's just focus on the issues. So coming into this debate, they have been a lot of new developments. Elizabeth Warren has surged in the polls. Joe Biden and his son have become targets of the Trump administration. Bernie Sanders had a heart attack. And last week, Pete Budajjjjjnuck into his first R-rated movie. But by far, the biggest development since the last debate has been the impeachment

inquiry into President Donald Trump. So that was the first topic of the night. I don't really think this impeachment process is going to take very long, because as a former prosecutor, I know a confession when I see it. This president had obstructed justice. This president on three occasions, three occasions, has invited foreign governments and heads of government to get engaged in trying to alter our election. We th th the president the president the president the president the president the president. the president. the president. the president. the president. their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their theaseaseaseaseaseaseaseaseaseaseaseaseaseaseaseaseasea. thoomea. 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 teaughea. tea. tea. tea. tea. tea. tea. tea. tea. tea. tea. tea. te engaged in trying to alter our election. We have to impeach this president.

He lied to investigators, obstructed justice, fired James Comey, head of the FBI, tried to fire Mueller. The president 10 years or 100 years from now, we'll look back at this moment and draw the conclusion either that no one is above the law or that a president can get away with anything. Okay, I hear what you're saying, but let's be honest. The way the planet is going in a hundred years from now, the president isn't gonna be worried about impeachment. He's gonna be worried about the price of lizard blood.

And as for Biden, his question was a little different. He was asked why it's not okay for a president's family to be working with foreign businesses and foreign companies, but it's okay for a vice president's family to do. And I think I get where he was going, but it took a while for him to get there. Look, my son did nothing wrong. My son's statement speaks for itself. What I think is important is we focus on why it's so important to remove this man from office. On the 17th, look, the fact that George Washington worried on the first time he spoke after being elected president that what we

had to worry about is foreign interference in our election. Okay, one minute he's told my son, then it's George Washington, then something about the 17th. Like, Joe Biden is the only candidate who remixes his speech while he's giving it. He's just like, removing this man from... Give it a bit, if we, wait, seven, on the 70th, 17th, the fact that the fact that... It's like a weird topic tonight, with the standard debate about whether government-run insurance should be an option or the only option. But the thing that got the crowd going was when the OG of Medicare stepped into the game and showed everyone why they should put respect on his name.

The issue is whether the Democratic Party has the guts to stand up to the health care industry which made a hundred billion dollars in profit whether we have the guts to stand up to the corrupt price-fixing pharmaceutical industry which is charging us the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs and if we don't have the guts to do that if all we could do is take their money we should be ashamed about... Thank you. Aye, ay, ay, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, Bernie. Bernie Sanders! You can't deny, you cannot deny.

No one speaks about health care with the passion that Bernie does. I also have a suspicion that that's the same speech he gave every time the nurses try to give up to the pharmaceutical industry. I just need a nap, I'll be fine. Now, you probably didn't notice tonight, but one of the 52 candidates on stage was Tom Steyer, right? Hedge fund billionaire and Scarecrow from Oz. And most people, most people only know Stier from his TV ads where he calls on President Trump to be impeached. And if you think about it, it's a pretty cool perk of being a billionaire. You can just buy ads on TV and make everyone listen to what you want to talk about. Yeah.

Like, if I was a billionaire, my ad's just be petty, you know, I'd be like, hello, I'm billionaire Trevnauer, Trevor Noe, and Sanders a few weeks ago made headlines by saying billionaires should not exist. So of course, the moderators asked Tom Steyer an actual billionaire about Bernie's comment. And his answer was not what you'd expect. Senator Sanders is right. There have been 40 years where corporations have bought this government and those 40 years have meant a 40 year attack on the rights of working people and specifically unorganized labor. I was one of the first

people on this stage to propose a wealth tax. I would undo every Republican tax cut for rich people and major corporations. Yes the billionaire just said the government needs to tax the shit out of billionaires. And you saw Bernie's face, he was like, is this a trap? Is this a joke? What, what? He's taking my thing?

You can't take my thing. And you know, it seems weird, but when you's the same way I think America has enough South African late-night comedians. Like, yeah, zero was too few and one is more than enough. We get it, apotite. We get it, move on. We get it. We get it.

One is enough. So, the debate then moved to foreign policy. In particular, President Trump's decision to pull troops out of northern Syria. And although all the Democrats had different proposals on how they thought they would handle the conflict in the area, they all agreed on one thing, that Trump is doing it wrong. What this president has done is that he has sucked up to dictators, he has made impulsive decisions that often his own team doesn't understand. What he has done is wreck our ability to do foreign policy because nobody in the world will believe this pathological liar. This president is caging kids on the border and effectively letting ISIS prisoners

run free. This president has betrayed American values. Turning the moral leadership of this country into a dumpster fire. We have an erratic, crazy president who knows not a damn thing about foreign policy. Okay, okay, hold on. Hold on. You may not like Donald Trump, but you can't say he doesn't know a damn thing about foreign policy. Because unlike Trump, not one of these Democrats has congratulated the country of Nambia on their health care system.

Right? And maybe that's because there is no country called Nambia, but that's not the point. The point is none of you can find it on a map. Now, since the debate was in Ohio, the moderators also spent time focusing on the opioid epidemic, which has ravaged the Buckeye state. And the candidates candidates candidates candidates candidates candidates candidates candidates candidates candidates candidates candidates candidates candidates candidates candidates candidates candidates candidates candidates candidates candidates candidates candidatesaged the Buckeye state. And the candidates had different thoughts on the problem, but many of them agreed on who should help solve it. Let's go over after these pharmaceutical companies

for what they've been doing to destroy our country. They are nothing more than some high-level dope dealers. Until we hold those responsible, accountable for their actions, Purdue Pharma, Johnson, and Johnson, we're going to continue to have have th of th of th of th of th of th of th of the the the to have the the to have the the to have the the the the to have to have the the the the the the the the the the the the the their actions. Purdue, Pharma, Johnson, and Johnson. We're going to continue to have this problem. The people that should pay for this, that should pay for the treatment, are the very people that got people hooked and killed them in the first place. And that is the people that are manufacturing these oak yards.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'd 100% agree with Clovershaw. Drug companies should have to pay to rehabilitate all the people that they got addicted. Oftentimes on purpose. And you know what? It shouldn't just be drug companies, every industry.

If you create something addictive, you should be responsible for making it harder to consume, like Oreos. If they're gonna make those cookies so goddamn. Thea thoooooo. The least they could do is after like every fourth cookie put a mousetrap inside. BAM! Slows the addiction down. Ah, I'll try again tomorrow. Yeah. Or like porn hub. Pornhub.

Every hour that you're on there, they should randomly pop up a picture of your grandmother. Just be like, you'll be like, ah, I guess I'm done. Hi, Nana. But the elephant's in the elephant in the elephant in the elephant in the elephant in the elephant in the elephant in the elephant in the elephant in the elephant in the elephant in the elephant in the elephant in the elephant in the elephant in the elephant in the elephant in the elephant in the elephant in the the the the the the the the the the the the the the elephant is the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the tho. thoom. thoom. thoom. the. the. the. the. the the too to too. too. too. too. too. th th th th th th th th attack. And eventually, the moderators got around to asking about it in a very, very awkward way. There is a question on a lot of people's minds, and I want to address it tonight. You're 78 years old and you just had a heart attack. How do you reassure Democratic voters

that you're up to the stress of the presidency? If you're elected, you will turn 80 during your first term. Last month, former President Jimmy Carter said he could not have undertaken the duties of the presidency at 80 years old. Why are you so sure that you can? If you win the presidency, you would be the oldest president ever inaugurated in a first term. You would be 71. Congresswoman Gabbard, you're 38 years old and you would be the youngest president if elected. Should age matter when choosing a president. Okay, okay. Is it just me? Or did the moderators ask everyone about their health just to hide the awkwardness of them asking Bernie? Right? Because they're like,

but everyone, everyone, everyone. I even get the part about asking people about being too old, but asking Telsie Gabbard about being too old, but asking Tulsi Gabbard about being too young? Is that really a concern? Tulsi, are you too fit and vibrant for the presidency? Is it possible you might die of young age? And that, and that wasn't the weirdest part of the night. The weirdest part of the night might have been when Kamila Harris started a real-life Twitter beef. Senator Warren, I just want to say that I was surprised to hear

that you did not agree with me, that on this subject of what should be the rules around corporate responsibility for these big tech companies, when I called on Twitter to suspend Donald Trump's account that you did not agree, and I would urge you to join me. Twitter should be held accountable and shut down that site. It is a matter of safety and corporate accountability. Thank you, Senator Warren, you can respond. So look, I don't just want to push Donald Trump off Twitter. I want to push him out of the White House. That's

our job. But the way... Join me in saying that his Twitter account should be shut down. Let's figure out. No? Wow. Someone's mad they didn't get a retweet? What happened there? He's like, you didn't say the thing with me. And Elizabeth's like, no, I don't care about that. And I'll be honest, I'll be honest. I kind of understand Warren's point here. Like, we need Trump on Twitter.

It's the only way we can monitor what he's up to. Yeah, otherwise he's doing that shit in secret. You've got to think of Twitter like a presidential baby monitor. That's what you got to think of it as. Yeah, the whole time you look and you're like, hold on, hold on, he's awake and he wants to nuke a hurricane. I gotta go, I gotta go. I gotta go. But Harris, Harris wasn't the only one picking a fight with Elizabeth Warren no. to the the tapapapapapapapapapapapap the a to to toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, too, too, too, too, too, tolde, to to to to to to to to to to to to told, to hold, to to to to to to hold to hold to hold to hold to hold to hold to hold to hold to hold to hold, hold, hold to hold, hold, hold, hold, hold, hold, hold, hold, hold, hold, hold, hold, hold, hold, hold, hold, hold, hold, hold, hold, hold, hold, hold, hold, hold, hold, hold. to hold. to hold. to hold. to hold. to hold. to hold. told. to hold told. to to the the the thi. the the to to they. to to to they. to to to to to to to they, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold, hold, hold, hold, hold, hold Warren only grew more intense. I want to give a reality check here to Elizabeth because no one on this stage wants to protect billionaires, not even the billionaire wants to protect billionaires. We just have different approaches. Senator Warren is more focused on being punitive or pitting some part of the country against the other. Your signature, Senator, is to have a plan for everything, except this. I appreciate Elizabeth's work, but again, the difference between a

plan and a pipe dream is something that you can actually get done. Damn, Elizabeth Warren might have an even bigger target on her back now than Joe Biden, and it makes sense. I mean, she's risen to the top of the polls and now her competitors have their sights set on her. and that th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th at that really, that really, that, thi thi thi thi thi thi thia, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, their their their their their their their their, their their their, thi, thi, thi, their their their their their their, their their their their their their their their, their their thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thr-a, thr-a'' a throan, throan, throan, throoooooge, thi, thi the top of the polls, and now her competitors have their sights set on her. And that really was the big takeaway of tonight, is that they're coming for you, Elizabeth, and all I can say is, wow, the Supreme Court sure does suck. We made a podcast about that.

We sure did. There is a supermajority of conservative maniacs on the Supreme Court right now, really doing some damage. I'm Michael. I'm Riannan. And I'm Peter. Our podcast, 5-4 is about all of this. Every week we dissect and analyze a different ruling that has made our country a little worse, a little more cruel. And you would not believe how many of them there are. Check out 5 to 4. That's the

number 5-4, wherever you listen to podcast. Welcome back to the dinner show coming to you live on debate night. My guest tonight, co-hosts and executive producers the circus on Showtime. She's also a CBS News special correspondent and contributing editor of the Atlantic. Please welcome Alex Wagner. Welcome back. All right, let's jump straight into it. My favorite question to ask because it's not a real thing, who won the debate? You know, I feel like Elizabeth Warren survived the debate and she was taking on a lot of

incoming fire, so I'm going to say she won it, but I mean, it's hard when you have, that democratic field, you've made note of how many of them there were on that stage it was like you know when you pour water on Gremlins and they just start like multiplying it was like they was hard for people to get a word and edgewise she came prepared to push back I thought she got a lot more fire than she would given the fact that technically Joe Biden up until a the the th's been leading in the polls. What was amazing about the debate is how little he seemed to matter to the rest of the field. Joe Biden didn't get any of the incoming fire that Elizabeth Warren got.

He almost got no attention from the rest of the field. Is that a bad sign? Yes. I think if you're Joe Biden. Yeah, because that means think there is, it is a gift and a curse, to paraphrase Jay-Z, to be, to be in the hot seat, right? Elizabeth Warren likes being acknowledged as a frontrunner. She doesn't like taking on all the criticism that she got, I'm sure, Joe Biden, I'm sure wishes a little bit more that fire was coming his way.

It was a remarkable turn of events given where we were in the last. Any standouts? There's always a debate moment where someone goes, wow, this was the moment where you got that little 2, 3 percent bump that could be the difference later on in the race. Between being a 1 percent candidate and a 4 percent candidate. Yeah, it matters at this point. I think, you know, with Biden's dissent, toende, thiii. candidate and you saw a lot of energy being put forth by Amy Klobuchar and Pete Budajjjjj tonight. They came with a lot of I don't know maybe paprika on their oatmeal today at breakfast because they were ready to go. And they kept on saying like the Midwest as somebody from their, as somebody like they kept on... Centrism, middle of the country, middle of the road, I'm not the crayed, the middle, the middle, the middle, the middle, the middle, the middle, tha, thr, thrism, I's, I'm middle, I'm middle, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, their, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, their, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, their, their, their, their, they. their, their, they.a, their, their, they.a, their, their, their, their, I'm, their, I'm, I'm, the road, I'm not crazy. Right. And that was basically the subtext of every one of their answers.

Like, their cray, I'm not, vote for me. Because we need someone who's not cray, I'm going to win. Right. And I think that they had added momentum tonight precisely because Biden is bursed at this moment. When you watch these debates, I mean, it's three hours of these people th, putting forth their ideas, they're going back and forth. What was interesting is everyone was going back and forth. And every time Corey Booker would speak, he'd be like, guys, guys, guys, guys, guys, we shouldn't argue because the president likes this and it's bad.

But I was like, but that's a debate is. That's what a debate is. Right. I thought that it was, the to me in that tone of voice. And it was like, you get the memo? That the point of this is to speak to each other in that tone of voice? I mean, I do think that there is an emotional battle happening, unfolding inside the Democratic Party today, which is, how do you lead the country forward? What does this party stand for?

And it's a big playing field between between between between between between between between between between between between between between between between between between between between and the the the the the the center and the center and the center and the center and the center and the center and the center and the center and the center and the center and the center and the center and the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the and the left flank of the party. And that needs to be litigated. And that's what this primary is about. So yeah, people should disagree. Because at the end of the day, there needs to be someone that represents the Democratic Party. And we don't know where the party is right now. It's interesting that you say the left flank specifically. Because just today, thi. He plans to endorse Bernie Sanders and appear with him at a rally in Queens, New York on Saturday. That is pretty big. AOC is one of the rising.

I thought it was going to be Lizzo. He was like, there's going to be a special guest. I was like, no. I mean, AOC is cool too, but. But she does not. Yeah, she doesn't wrap. She doesn a woman. Not that that needs to be who women. to. It. It. It. It. It. It. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's a the the the the the the the blow. It's a blow. It's a blow. It's. It's a blow. It's. It's. It's a blow. It's a blow. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's a. It's a. It's a. It's a. It's a the. It's a the. It's a the. It's a the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the fact that Warren is the one with the momentum, she's a woman, not that that needs to be who women endorse, but the fact that she didn't get that endorsement

is going to be as much of a story as Bernie getting the endorsement. But let me ask you this, though. Do you think it could actually help Warren, because here's something I've noticed is, you've got AOC saying, no, Bernie is my person. And AOC is painted as the crazy left of the thing. And so now you've got Elizabeth Warren who has a space where she's carved herself out as, no, I have a plan, but I'm not as left as Bernie. I'm also going to give you progressive policies. Does it actually help her? That is like a seven-layer ninja like mine Jiu-Jitsu Sunday. And I appreciate it, Trevor.

I think she's probably more just like, bum that she didn't get AOC's endorsement. But I mean, I think probably there's some like residual after-effect that is positive for her. I think it bears mentioning in this moment that AOC worked on Sanders' campaign. The reason she ran for office in 2018 is because she was recruited by a group that grew out of Sanders campaign. So she clearly feels some affinity there and maybe, I don't know, he promised her a vice presidency. I don't know

what was in the bag to sweet. I'm kidding about that. I don't have any reporting to suggest that they're running together, although he would have to pick someone pretty young. So all of that is to say, I thi, the the the, the the, the the ththeu, ththeu, ththeu, thin, thin, the the thin, thin, thin, thin, the the, thin, thin, thin, thin, to to to to to to to to thin, thin, thin, to thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, so thin, so thin, so thin, so thin, so thin, so thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, the, the, to to the, to to the, the's a good and important thing for Bernie to get that endorsement as there are a lot of doubts about his staying power in the race right now. So the debate is done. We just watched the fourth debate. Are Americans learning anything from these debates? Is the needle being moved in any particular direction or has it just become rhetoric? Like when you're watching just as an observer who is both in the needle being moved in any particular direction or has it just become rhetoric? Like when you're watching, just as an observer who is both in the world of news,

but also as somebody who's just involved in politics and as an American, are you watching that going, huh, that does change my mind or how that actually would move the needle? You know, I think this debate gets, or these debate series are getting dinged for being, you know, the too many gremlins................ for being, you know, the too many Gremlins on stage, etc. I'm dinging them myself. But at the end of the day, I do think that there is some substantive debate about health care policy. We didn't see anything on the environment or immigration tonight, but we've seen that in previous

debates. I mean, I think you have a bunch of people on stage who very care very deeply about policy and want to talk through it and understand and understand and understand and understand and understand and understand and understand and understand and understand and understand and understand th and th and I do think there's meat in there. I think there should be fewer questions like, hey, old person, are you too old? And young person, are you too young? I mean, nobody up there is gonna be like, you know what, I am too young for this. I am too old for this.

Take me out, coach. strong B minus in terms of substance. Was a pretty good debate. B minus from you is an A for many people. Thank you so much for joining us on the show again. Great having you back. The circus has Sundays at 8 p.m. on show time. It's a really fun show. Alex Wagner, everybody. Thank you. Thank you.

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