The Daily Show: Ears Edition - ICYMI - Mark Ruffalo on Supporting Kenosha, WI, and the 2020 Election

Episode Date: September 20, 2020

Mark Ruffalo talks about the shooting of Jacob Blake and the ensuing protests in his hometown of Kenosha, WI, and discusses his support for Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television. Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. You're rolling? But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth D Done of CBS News, listened to 60 Minutes, a second look on Apple podcasts starting September 17th. I spoke with Academy Award-nominated actor Mark Ruffalo. We talked about what's been happening in his hometown of Kenosha and so much more. Check it out. Thank you so much for joining me on the show.

Thank you for coming back, not in person, but like, you know, the way we do everything now. Buddy, it was just, it feels like it was yesterday that we were, right? And a thousand years ago, both at the same time, that we were just sitting like, we would never have thought we would have never thed, tho, thed, tho, th......... th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. to have, th. to have, to have, to have, to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. that, to. to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, th. th. th. th. thi. thi.. thi..................................................................................................................... to. to. to. to. to. to. to, to. the the the the have I should have and would have enjoyed those moments more. Like I would have hugged you for longer, I would have talked to you for longer. I would have, I feel like there's so many interactions that I didn't fully appreciate because I didn't know that I

would not be having them for like seven months of my life. Buddy, I know exactly what you mean. Maybe that's part of what this is all about about thi th. thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. that is that is that is that thi. I that's that thi. I would have thi. I would have thi. I would have thi. I would have thi. I would have thi. I would have thi. I would have thi. I would have thi. I would have thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. I would thi. I would that the. I would the. I would have theeeea. to to to to to to to to theea. I would have to to to theeea. I would have thea. I would have thee just to appreciate right things we take for granted like hugging people yeah being next to people without a mask on or being around people who don't have masks on and not wanting to hit them before like berate them or ask them like what thethe fuck is your problem? What's a big deal, man? This is, I feel like, this is the part where Scarlet Chahanson starts talking to you very softly and brings you down and just like calm you. You're one of the most versatile actors that, like, of our generation, you know,

I feel like in many ways, you know, what we see of you in the movies is who you are in real life because Mark Ruffalo in real life is somebody who's been outspoken for a long time and it's no different right now. You know, Kenosha is in the news, Jacob Blake, Kyle Writtenhouse, you know, the protests, the protests, the shootings, the racial tension, and you wrote a really a a a a the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, like, the, the, like, the, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, the, like, like, like, like, like, 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, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the,ro, thro, thro, thro, throwne, throwne, throwne, the, the, the, the, the, the protests, the shootings, the racial tension, and you wrote a really powerful piece that speaks to Kenosha, because, you know, speaks to Kenosha from your heart. As somebody who's from Kenosha, what do you wish more people would understand

about what's going on there? Well, you know, it was shocking, first of all, to see Kenosha in the news at all. I mean, it's just not not a a place a place a place a place a place a place a place a place a place a place a place a place a place a place a place a place thia thia, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not a place, it's not a place, it's not a place, it's not, it I mean, it's just not a place that you hear about, other than, you know, factory closings. And my family's there. And, you know, I, I, it was devastating to see what happened there and then what followed. You know, I had to see Jacob Blake shot like that in front of his family. And then to see, you know, all these people, you know, cult go out and protest for black lives, you know, which is what we're doing,

you know, and that's the truth of this moment. And I feel bad for anyone who doesn't join us, especially for the people who say all lives matter, because if you truly believe all lives matter, then you should be on the people who say all lives matter, because if you truly believe all lives matter, then you should be on the streets right now with your black and brown and white brothers who are all fighting for one of the races where obviously it doesn't appear like they are being considered the same way the rest of us are,

all right? So that's what all lives matter, that all lives do matter, and that black lives have got to be lifted up. Then you should be out, you should be the first one out on the street, you know. But these protests have been, you know, predominantly peaceful. We don't hear about that. You know, we only see the guys, like in Kenosha, Wisconsin, they made 170 of the arrests over those days of protests. And 120 of tho the thors thors thors thors thors thors th th of them were from out of town.

And they were provocateurs and they were, you know, trashing a town that they're not even from. That was what broke my heart, because that's not what I know about Kenosha, Wisconsin. As, as disparate as the, it is economically, as much as people struggle there, there is a community there. That being said, that community is also facing,

you know, generations of racial injustice and inequality. But what the news I was seeing coming on to there didn't feel honest to me. It felt salacious, it felt, you know, of course, they're going to go for, there. As a community, as there, there, there is, there, there, there, there is, there is, there is, there is, there is, there is, there is, there is, there is, there is, there is, there is, there is, there is, there is, there is, there is, there is, there is, there is, there is, there is, there is, there is, there is, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there is there is there is there is there is there is there is there is there is there is there is, there is, there is, there is, there is, there is, there is a there is a there is a there is a there is a the their their their their their their their their their their their thi, thi, their thii, their thiii, their their their is, their their is, their is, the onto there didn't feel honest to me. It felt salacious. It felt, you know, of course, they're going to go for the worst things. And then of course you have what, you know, the kid was a 17-year-old with an AR-15, being called from out of state to come and be a vigilante and basically shoot people. All this was heartbreaking and I was honestly, Trevor, I was paralyzed. I didn't know how to respond to it and I and usually I get some sort of message like this is your time to go, this is your time to be there, this, but you know, we're living in COVID. I couldn't go. You know I'm taking care of my family here. And and then and

then something opened up. You know I was reaching out to the community. I heard about this black BLAK black lives activists of Kenosha. And and so I thr-and so I reached out through them and did that Instagram IG live to counter this kind of story that was coming out of the Kenosha news at the time that was coming out of the media that was coming out of the Trump campaign that Kenosha, Wisconsin was some kind of hellhole where a black terroriiizing the community, which is totally an utter bullshit as we all know.

I think a lot of people would appreciate the fact that you don't just speak out, but you also advocate for action. This election is one of the most important that America will ever face, and you've gotten out there. And people have known for a long time that you're a huge Bernie Sanders supporter. And now you've been going out saying people, we have to get behind Joe Biden and we have to vote. You know, for a long time it felt like the Bernie faction of the party would never coalesce behind Joe Biden. But it feels like this election is different, would you say? Yes, we learned a big lesson from 2016, you know. The propaganda of the United States elections and election cycle is that

the presidential election is going to solve everything. But an election really is only a comma on a movement. And so we have to look at who are the candidates and how do they align to what this movement is about. Which candidate is going to bring us closer to racial parity? Which candidate is going to bring us closer to a green new deal? Which candidate is going to bring us closer to student debt reform? Which candidate is going to bring us closer to universal health care. If you have any sense of long-term movement building,

then you have to say that's Joe Biden. We're not going to get that from Trump. We all know that now. And so at this point, if you're an activist, if you really care about the movement and the things that you say you care about, the closest thing you're going to have to coming, to making that happen is Joe Biden. And when Joe Biden is in office, we're not going to stay on the White House long like we did with Obama. We are going to keep coming. We are going to keep demanding and we are going to make sure that we have movement on this thing. Because you want to know what what what what what? the the the the the th, we, we, we, we, we, we, we the the the the th, we the most the most th, we the most the most th, we th, we the most tho, we tho, the closest tho, the closest tho, tho, the closest tho, tho, the closest the closest tho, the closest the closest the closest tho, the closest the closest the closest the closest the closest the closest the closest the closest the closest the closest the closest the closest the closest, the closest, the closest, we the closest, we the closest, we th, we tho, we th. tho, we tho, we tho, we tho, we tho, we to tho, we to to tho, tho, and we are going to make sure that we have

movement on this thing because you want to know what? We put you in office this time. You know, like when I was in Kenosha and I and I wanted to know what was happening there. That was really happening there. They were having a block party, Trevor, and they were dancing and they were doing harcuts and they were dancing, and they were doing COVID testing, and they were doing haircuts, and they were feeding people, and they were registering people, and they were having people sign up for the census. Now, that's what the community does. And that's what's beautiful about what's happening in this moment.

The gold in the silver lining of Trump is that all of these organizers who have been doing this work for years are all coming together from, whether it's from the environmental movement to the racial justice movement to the criminal justice reform movement, we're all interconnected now, and we've never been that way. There's so much to be hopeful about right now. And I think that's the message that we're missing, you know? Well, I hope that your optimism is rewarded and it's great to see that you still have the passion that you've had for so many years. Thank you so much for joining me on the show. And good luck when you get back out there in the streets. Buddy, we got to make a plan. We got to make a plan the plan the plan the plan the plan the plan the plan to make a plan the plan to make a plan their to make a plan their to make a plan. to make a plan. to make a plan. to make a plan. to make a plan. to make a plan to make a plan to make a to to to to to their 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 to to to to to to to to to to to their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the their their toa.a, we gotta make a plan for voting. We gotta, I mean, make a plan, check your registration, call a friend, take a friend, take your grandmother, make it a party, make a plan, and that's how we'll win.

Mark Ruffelow, thank you so much for joining me. Love you, man, you're the best. Thank you, Trevor. The Daily Show, Weeknights, 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. to the Daily Show and Instagram and subscribe to the Daily Show on YouTube for exclusive content and more. This has been a Comedy Central Podcast.

When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television. Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes, a second look, starting September 17th, wherever you get your podcasts.