The Daily Show: Ears Edition - ICYMI - Ana Navarro Talks Trump's Effect on the GOP & Florida's Heated Gubernatorial Race

Episode Date: August 28, 2019

CNN political commentator Ana Navarro discusses how President Trump's divisive rhetoric and policies are redefining the GOP, then weighs in on Florida's 2018 race for governor. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. John Stewart here. Unbelievably exciting news. My new podcast, 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. Please welcome Anna Navarro. Before you sit down,

in case people missed it, what does that say? Can we, what does that say? Yeah, you know, since it's Halloween, I thought I'd come dressed as a first lady who really does that say? Yeah, you know, since it's Halloween, I thought I'd come dressed as a first lady who really does care. Oh, welcome back to the show. Thank you. It's been a while.

Welcome to my. Thank you for being here. Welcome to Miami. Much thanks. Have you had Cuban coffee? Have I had? Cuban coffee? I've had Cuban sandwiches.

I've had Cuban friends. I've had Cuban nights out. Cuban everything. Stop right there. This is quite a time. You know what's interesting is, I mean, I have a lot of people who come to the show and we talk about politics. And a lot of time, I won't lie. Many many many many many many many many many many people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people many many many many many many many many many many many many many people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people that many that many that m ma, many that that that that that that that that that that, that, that's that that, that's that's that's that, that's, that's, I've that's, I've that's, I've that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's that's that's that's that's that, that's that's time. You know what's interesting is I mean I have a lot of people who come to the show and we talk about politics and a lot of the time I won't lie many

other people who come to the daily show have political views that match with mine or the audience but you're an interesting position because you are a Republican. Are you still a Republican? You know here's a Republican when Donald Trump was an independent and I'm a Republican now that he's pretending to be a Republican and so many other Republicans are enabling him and allowing him to pretend. So that that presents an interesting dilemma for you and for many Republicans out there right because a day like today is a perfect example so you have a day like today is a perfect example. So you have Donald Trump who comes out and says, I want to change the Constitution. I want to say that birthright citizenship is no longer

part of the 14th Amendment. And Paul Ryan comes out and says, hey, that's not something that you can do. That's unethical, it's impeachable. And Donald Trump replied replied replied replied replied replied replied replied replied replied replied replied replied replied replied replied replied replied replied replied replied replied replied replied replied replied replied replied replied replied replied replied replied replied, you need to focus on maintaining the house. I'm going to do what the new Republican Party needs to be done. And that's, hold on, hold on, that's an interesting space for many people to be in, because it does feel like in some ways Donald Trump is redefining what the Republican Party is all about. What does that mean to you? Look, I think Donald Trump in a very short time,

in less than two years, has redefined the Republican Party. He has redefined the presidency. It is now a place that is used to bully other Americans. It is a place that is used to lie and spread fear. And he has changed America. He has changed the country. He has polarized us in a way that's much greater than we were already. He has fabricated culture wars. He has sown discord. And he's handed the keys to the kingdom to the Russians. So...

But I grew up, you know, to answer your question, look, I grew up in a Republican Party and many of us here in Miami understand this, where it was, you know, we tried to be more inclusive, tried to win, have a bigger tent. Dinosaurs were not roaming the earth when George W. Bush got 44% of the Hispanic vote. That was way before they were doing things like separating children at the border and putting them in little pens. If you look at the situation that America's in now, in many ways you see Donald Trump in his effect mirrored in politics on a local level. You know, for many Republican politicians,

it has now become a clear choice. Either you are with Donald Trump or you have to see your way out of the Republican Party. People like Jeff Lake have chosen that, people like Paul Ryan are saying like I'm out of the game. And then you have people like politicians locally, like the Sanctus, who have run specifically on a message of I am everything that Trump embodies. Are you seeing that connecting with people? Certainly, certainly so in primaries. Look, Ron DeSantis is Donald Trump's parasitic twin. But for Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis would not have won the Republican primary.

Right. And even after the primary, instead of distancing himself from Trump, as for example Rick Scott has done who's treating him like a Zika mosquito, Ron DeSantis embraces him. Donald Trump is going to be rallying for Ron DeSantis in Florida today and again before the elections. And so he's, you know, he's modeled himself as a mini Trump. He is now saying that he, too, agrees with repealing the 14th Amendment through executive order, which is ridiculous and unconstitutional. And that's just the way he's playing it. Look, Donald Trump had so much to do on both sides in deciding primaries.

Often the ones who won in Republican primaries were the ones who embraced him the most and the ones who won in Democratic primaries were the ones who opposed them and confronted him the most. And you know unfortunately many of the Republicans, so many of the Republicans who tried to stand up to Trump, who tried to rebuke him when he merited it, are either retiring, like Flake, have lost elections, or have died. And so you are left with a Republican Party that is more and more like Trump and that depends on him and knows him more.

If Ron de Santis wins in Florida, he owes it to Donald Trump. He is indebted to Donald Trump. At that point, Donald Trump owns the guy. But then here's a question I have for you as a Republican who says you've been a Republican your whole life. We always speak about it as if Donald Trump operates in isolation, but somebody has to vote for them. And if Republican voters are voting v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v voee toe toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, tooen, toe, tooen, tooen, tooen, tooan, tooan, tooan, tooan, to to to to to to to to to to to toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. the, the, the, the. thean, thean, thean, thean, thean, thean, thean. too. too. too. toean, to vote for them. And if Republican voters are voting for these people and Republicans are choosing

people who go with Trump, Republicans are choosing to oust people like Jeff Flake, choosing to oust people who stand up to Donald Trump, then do you think that maybe there was a side of the Republican Party that either you were not seeing or you were choosing to not see? Both. Both. And, look, there were there were their their their their their their their their their their their their their there were 15, I think two things happened. I think you're right. I think there was a shift in the base and a in a side of it that many of us didn't see, including the 15 other Republicans who ran for the Republican primary, people like Jeb Bush, people like John Kasek. But I also

think Trump brought out a a different type of people, a different class of people. He brought out people who had not been engaged in politics before, who had not been motivated to vote. Well we saw that with the mail bomber, funnioub and then Donald Trump ignited something in him. So he, look, I think... That was not intended. That was not, look, I think... That was not intended. I'm, that was not, sorry, excuse the pun. You know, like him or not, I think he has awoken something in America on both sides. I think, you know, he has brought out people on one side, but on the other, you know,

on the Democratic side, we're also seeing people more engaged. we're seeing candidates running for the first time, we're seeing more LGBTQ people of color, women running as candidates because they got energized, because they got enraged and because they decided to be part of the process. I think you owe the Me Too Movement in large part to Donald Trump and women who said, you know, because women were silent and didn't talk about the Donald Trump issues before, we ended up with him as president and that ignited a frustration and anger and women that motivated them to speak up and not remain silence and, you know, and stick together in numbers. So when you look at, let's just the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the governor the governor the governor the governor the governor the governor the governor the governor the governor the governor the governor the governor the governor the governor the governor, the governor, the the the the the government 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 the the the thea, threatea, threate, threat.e, threat, threat.e, threat, the threat.o, threat., threat., threat., let's just say Florida itself, let's look at the governor's race,

you look at a race between Andrew Gillum, Rhonda Sanxus, and you see Gillum exciting people in a different way. You see people who are engaged with him, not just on policy, but also in the way that he actually, you know, I guess, conveys his message. When you look at that race, as a Republican. the the the the the thi, the thi, the thi, thi, the the the the the tho, tho, tho, the tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, let tho, let's, let tho, let's tho, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their, let let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's their their their their their their their their their the the the the the the the tho, tho, tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho thoo tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho the the way that he actually, you know, I guess conveys his message. When you look at that race as a Republican in Miami, what do you make of it? Look, I, you know, for me, it's a, for me, I'm a centrist. I'm a moderate Republican, I'm a centrist.

And so when I look at that race, on the one hand, I've got Ron DeSantis, who is increasingly, or forget increasingly, he's not an option. And on the other hand, I've got Andrew Gillum, who is a progressive Democrat, who is much further to the left than I am on policy issues. I had not met him before. I met him a couple of days ago, and I gotta tell you something. Part of the reason that guy is awakening something, is because he's like. the tha. the tha. the thiiiii. the o' th. I met him a couple of days ago and I gotta tell you

something. Part of the reason that guy is awakening something is because he's likable. I had forgotten what it was like to have a likable person running in Florida. He's, you know, he could charm a cat out of a tree. He actually likes people. He, you know, he's relatable. He tells jokes. He smiles. He inspires. He's working through a message. He's th. He's th. He's th. He's th. He's th. He's th. He's th. He's th. He's thi. He's thi. He's thi. He's thi. He's thi. He's thi. He's thi. He's 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 the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the thia. Hea. He's thiauiauiauiauiauiauiauiauiauiauiauiauia.a. Hea. He's thia. He's thia. He's the the thi people. He, you know, he's relatable. He tells jokes. He smiles. He inspires. He's working through a message of unity and being positive. And so, you know, look, I think it's a, it's a huge contrast that Florida voters have to choose from. They're going to have to choose from a message of fear

and scare tactics. Like, for example, one of the things that's got me really upset in the last few days is, and I know there's somebody here from Venezuela, Donald Trump is out there saying that Andrew Gillum, and by the way he's also saying it about Beto O'Rourke in Texas, but he's saying that Andrew Gillum is going to turn Florida into Venezuela. Right. People are dying in Venezuela. It is ruled by a murderous dictator who beats, kills, jails, harasses his opponent who

expropriates property. There is no food in Venezuela. There is no medicine in Venezuela. People are starving. It is a dictatorship. So to be, to incite that level of fear in people and to cheapen the trauma of the Venezuelan exiles who live here in Florida, the Nicaragua exiles, the Cuban exiles, who have

actually fled communists and who have suffered under those systems by casually and cavalierly saying Andrew Gillum is going to turn Florida into Venezuela. Well if he does we've got a real problem because you know what, we've got a Republican legislature in Florida. We've got a conservative Supreme Court in Florida. We've got checks and balances in Florida. That is not going to happen and I hope Florida voters reject a campaign of fear-mongering and scare tactics. We can't fall for that again. Thank you so much for being on the show again. Always wonderful having you. Anna Navarro everybody. The Daily Show with Kverna, 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. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and subscribe to the Daily Show on YouTube for exclusive content and more. This has been a comedy central podcast. John Stewart here. Unbelievably exciting news. My new podcast, 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.