The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Kal Penn's Extended Interview with President Joe Biden

Episode Date: May 3, 2023

President Biden discusses his political heroes while giving Kal Penn a tour of the Oval Office and a rare look inside the president's private study. President Biden also discusses passing bipartisan legislation when the country is so divided, and how young people's advocacy can affect policy on climate, drilling, and human rights. Original Air Date: March 13, 2023See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. You're listening to Comedy Central. I'll walk on a place you spent some time. Thank you, sir. I have, the fireplace never been on what I've been in. I tell you what, I have it on all the time. It's kind of humbling walking in here. I mean, for real. I had, my brother Jimmy come in and, you know, pick the rug and the desk and all that stuff.

And make a long story short, I come walking in like five o'clock on inauguration day. And I walked in, I said, geez, I said, I've never seen Franklin Roosevelt. I'm admirer, but there's always George Washington small portrait there. And Abraham Lincoln and John, and, the, the president, th, th, the president, th, th, th, th, and, th, th, th, the president, the, the, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, you thi, you the the president, you the president, you thi, you the thi, you 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 thi, you, you, the the the thi, thi, the the the thi, the the the the the thi, thi, the thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, threateea, threaten, threaten, threaten, threaten, thi., thi., thioloughea, thi., thi. Wea, ththere's always George Washington's small portrait there. And Abraham Lincoln and John Meacham, that president's historian. Jimmy had called him for some help. And he looked and he said, because no one's ever inherited a world economy and as much disarray as he had. And I said, oh, that's wonderful. And then I said, well, why Lincoln? He said, the country's never been as divided since Lincoln was president.

But what I did was I wanted to be able to sit here at my desk and look out. And I only had two political heroes when I was getting involved. That fell over there, Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy. I was a great admirer of John Kennedy, but I can never picture John Kennedy at my kitchen table. I could kind of picture maybe. And then the two people who I got involved and engaged with is Cesar Chavez because I got not involved, but I supported verbally the Farm Workers Union. They were trying to organize in Delaware when I was running as a 29-year-old kid. And his granddaughter works for me. And then Rosa Parks, who was over here. And, and, so, 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 th, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I ki, I ki, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe thi, maybe thi, maybe thi, maybe thi, maybe thi, maybe thi, maybe thi, maybe thi, maybe the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the they-k, I they-k, I they-k, I they-k, kind-k, kind-k, kind-k, kind-k, kind-koomorrow, I ty-k. today, kind-k. I today, kind-k. I today, kind-k, maybe today thi-k, were trying to organize in Delaware when I was running as a 29-year-old kid. His granddaughter works for me. And then Rosa Parks, who's over here. And so I tried to make it kind of warm like I thought about.

Now, the other guy never showed up on an inauguration day, so I didn't have to worry about. But it's kind of neat. And the things I've done in here like for example I the moon rock over here. All right I'm a huge NASA fan a big astronomy fan. Oh are you really? Oh, well this is cool. That's an actual moon rock and one of the you know that rove they have up there. My name is on the back with other presidents. Oh, that's cool. It's really cool. But I want to show you something really cool. Come on back here. Not many people come back this way, but come on. Thank you, sir.

Oh yeah, not only are we seeing the Oval Office, we're also getting a rare tour of the president's private study. This is like the world's most dignified episode of MTV Cribbs. By the way, that is a Wyeth painting by Jamie Wyeth, the son. And he told me the Kennedy family didn't like him because they made them look too contemplative. Oh, but I just got a smile. I know I think it's great but anyway and that's the house I was raised in Scranton. That's awesome. Wow. Or as they say, Scranton, so I went and spoke at the Kennedy. 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 thi. th. th. 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 th. Why, th. Why, th. Why, th. Why, th. Why, th. Why, the. Why the. Why, the. Why together. Why. Why, together. together.ea. today.e. today.e. today. today. Why. together. Why. Why the. Why the. Why on. Scranton. So I went and spoke at the Kennedy Library a couple of times. The last time I spoke there, I get handed this by Caroline Kennedy.

And it's that famous letter he wrote. And this is the actual copy. And it's, you know, why am I going? We chose to go to the moon in this decade because that goal will serve the origins of measure of measure of measure of measure of measure of measure of measure of measure of measure of measure of measure of measure of measure of measure of measure of measure the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the to the moon in this decade because that goal will serve the origins of measure by the best of us. And it goes on and on. Well that's, I mean, the, just even that top line, no prejudice, no hate in outer space. Bingo. I don't know if you have any tattoos. I've got some from the NASA Voyager, which was launched in 77. No, the golden record, which was launched in 77. I mean, the Golden Record, which had, you know, science, music, art, but no politics, no

war, no religion, none of the things that divide us. And so it's just the idea of hope through exploration. Unfortunately, before the president showed me all of his tattoos, it was time to go. Thanks. Thank you, sir. I really appreciate your time and thank you so much the th th th th th th th th th tho th tho th tho the tho tho tho tho tho tho the tho the tho tho tho the story tho the story the story tho their their their tho tho their tho-s, their tho. Thanks. Thank you sir. I really appreciate your time and thank you so much for the stories and the Oval Tour. Mr. President, welcome to the Daily Show. Welcome back to the White House. Thank you. It's very nice to be back. I was trying to figure out when the last time you and I had a conversation was and I realized it was November 2016 at a very diverse DiVali party that you hosted just a few weeks after Trump became the president-elect.

And I remember that you described that night as an Irish Catholic vice president and a Muslim Gold Star family celebrating a reception observing a Hindu holiday. It's America. Well, exactly. That's how I felt. I mean, I remember just feeling so positive and so much hope there. And then... That was Mr. Khan, yes, exactly. Then I remember just four years of policy and vitriol under Trump, and now things feel more divided.

So I was curious how you feel that we can stay hopeful and how can we get the country to unify. The truth of the matter is that I'm ever more optimistic in my entire life about it. No, I mean it. Now. I tell you what, look, if you think about it, the reason I had not, I give my words the Biden, look if you think about it the reason I had not I give my words about and I hadn't planned on running again I had lost my son Bo it was a tough tough time and I wasn't gonna run at all for real and then remember what happened in Charlottesville when those folks came out of the

fields and the torches and swastikas and the white supremacist and a young woman was killed I've th I I I I th I thededed thed thed th I thed thed thed thed thed thed thed thed thed thed thed the young woman thed thed thed thed thed thed thed to to to to to to the the the the. the. the. the. I hadn't the. I hadn't the the the. the. I hadn't the. the. I had th. I had th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. th. th. th. I th. I th. I thin-I thin-I the thin thin thin thin thin thin the the the the the the thean thean toed thean thean thean thean thean thean thean thean the the the out of the fields at night with torches and swastikas, and the white supremacist and a young woman was killed, I spoke to her mom. Then President Trump said there were very fine people on both sides. And I give my word, that's when I decided I'm going to do this. But I was worried about doing it because I knew how bitter it would be. And so I got a phone call from my true story. to. to to to say, to to say, to to would be. And so I got a phone call from my, true story from my eldest granddaughter saying, we have a family meeting. You probably are aware if it's around here.

We have a tradition of the Biden family. Any child can ask for a family meeting. It doesn't often happen, but to take it seriously. So my grandchildren, my four granddaughters and grandson, Bo's children, and's children, came down on a Saturday and we sat and talked and they said, trying to convince they said, we know you're thinking of running pop but you ought to do it. Daddy wants you to do it talking about Bo and the rest. And I said, well it's going to be pretty tough.

And they said you got to do it and we decided to do it and I did it for three reasons. One, to restore the soul of this country, that's not who we are. We're a decent, honorable country that cares. We really are, we still are. Second one is to you know begin to take care of the middle class because the middle class does well the poor have a real shot and the wealthy do very well. And thirly to to to to the the the the the the the the the th the th the th th th the th th th th thi their thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thoe. thi. thi. thoeoeoe. thoesoes one thoes one thoes one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one one. their their their their their thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. theeeeean. thean. thean. theean. I thean. I's teeeeauuuu. I's theauuu. I's their theauuu have a real shot and the wealthy do very well. And thirdly, to unite the country. And at the time, people thought, well, maybe the first two, but you'll never unite the country. But look what we did. We got a lot done. No one thought I could ever pass the infrastructure bill. No one thought I could ever do anything about making sure that we took care of people with disabilities and drug prices and whole range of the,

no one thought we could do anything on the environment, no one thought we could do anything about same-sex marriage. I mean, we did not all of it, but a significant portion of it was done in a bipartisan way. When I was a White House aide, I remember having meetings in this room on climate. They didn't always go so well. And I never would have imagined 12 years ago

that something as sweeping on climate as the Inflation Reduction Act would have happened. So my question, really, and I was watching all of this unfold, is who or what created the political space for you to take that kind of action? Young people. Young people. A generation, that generation between 18 and 35 now, they're the ones that created the space.

They had enough of it. They had enough of it. And so what I did was, when I trying to figure out whether I could put something together, I met with them. We had rallies. I mean, they showed up in the 2020 election. They showed up in the 2022 election. And we passed the largest environmental plan in all of history,

over $368 billion. We got it done. And what happened was Mother Nature let her wrath be seen in the last two years. For example, I have traveled on helicopter over more forest area burned to the ground than the entire state of Maryland. That's how much has burned to the ground. Floods, droughts, all the things. And so people can't deny it anymore.

They can't deny the fact. And I've traveled the world. I've gone the the the the the the the the the the the the the meeting the meeting the meeting the meeting the meeting the meeting the meeting the meeting the meeting the meeting the meeting the meeting the meeting the meeting the meeting the meeting the meeting the meeting the meeting the meeting the meeting the meeting the meeting the meeting, the meeting. the meeting, the meeting, the meeting, the meeting, the meeting. the meeting. the meeting. 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 meeting. the meeting. the meeting. the meeting. the meeting. the meeting. the meeting. the meeting. the meeting. the meeting. They can't deny the fact. And I've traveled the world. I've gone to all the COP meetings around the world, meeting the meetings on climate. If we don't keep the temperature from going above 1.5 degrees Celsius raised, then we're in real trouble. Now we're in real trouble. That whole generation is damned. I mean, that's why the first the first the first the first the first the first the first the first the first the first the first the first the first the first the first the first the first the first the first the first the first the first the first truly trouble. And that's why the

first meeting I had with the so-called, you know, G7, the largest economies in the world, democracies in the world. The first thing we talked about was, they want to talk about was my initiative on energy, on dealing with, moving toward, for example, I called all them automakers and truck makers and I asked him to come to the South Lawn first year and to try to talk him into it and doing something more of the going electric. And within five weeks,

all of them agreed they were going to go electric, 50% by 2030 and by 2050, all electric. And I think we can do it. You're also responsible for reviewing drilling and oil production. Yes. What would you say to those young people who want you to continue to be their champion but might not think that you're going far enough or fast enough on climate? Well, first of all, we're going to faster than anyone's ever gone.

We're going to need fossil fuels for at least the next 10 years. It's not like tomorrow we can turn it all off, number one. And so in addition to that, things got really complicated when Putin put 185,000 forces into Ukraine, having a profound impact on their energy ability to be able to keep the heat on in the winter and keep things moving. And so we're going to need fossil fuel. What we have to do is we have to, I have, I've said, no more drilling off our ocean. I mean, the whole range, but there still has to be, there has to be the ability to generate

some energy. But we can get rid of coal much more rapidly. And by the way, for example, I was up in Massachusetts on the largest coal-producing electric facilities in the nation. Well, guess what? We hooked it up to wind technology. And so now, and it's cheaper. We can do solar. We can do wind cheaper than we can do fossil fuels.

So it's a matter of transitioning, but it's not like you can cut everything off immediately. You obviously understand the existential threat that young people feel when it comes to climate. Sure. How do you balance that with the immediate concerns of babysitting Congress or getting getting 51 or 60 votes on some of this? Well look, I've been relatively, I know I'm being careful here. I'm relatively successful in working across the aisle.

There is a Maga Republican portion of the party. It makes up about a third of the Republican Party. I've had more than a half a dozen Republican senators I've known for years over the last two years come to me individually and I promise I'd never mention the names and I'll go to my grave never mention him. You can tell me later? No I'm not telling I've seriously. I've never broken my word and saying Joe I agree to to to you to you to you to to to to to to to to to to to to to the the the the the they they they they th. I they they. I th. I th. I'm thi, if thi, if thi, if they, if I'm thi, I'm thi, I'm tho. I'm their their their their their their their their their their their their their they. I'm they. I'm they. I'm they. I'm they. I'm they. I'm they. I'm they. I'm they. I'm they. I'm they. 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 thii. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm. No, I'm not telling. Seriously, I've never broken my word. And saying, Joe, I agree with you, but if I do anything publicly, they're going to primary and me I'll lose.

The Republican Party is going through a significant transition. And we're going to see in the next two years how they end up, whether the Maga Republicans control the party or we get back to conservative. Like for example, a guy as tough as can be is the majority leader of the United States, the minority leader of the United States Senate McConnell. But he's straight. He's a traditional conservative. He's straight. What he says he does, he probably don't even want me saying this. Probably hurt his reputation. But there's a lot of people in the Republican Party who are traditional, Republican,

conservative Republicans that you can deal with. But, you know, these, you know, the gentle woman from the state of Georgia and the mountains up there and others, Gates and anyway. That's very diplomatic. I would have used different language. But no, but it's a. There's an existential question that the Republican Party is going to have to face and

it's going to determine what's happens in the next couple of years. But my focus is just stay focused, focused on the things that matter. We've got to deal with civil liberties and voting rights. We've got to deal with issues relating to economic growth. Look, in this period, I inherited, I think it's fair to say, a gigantic mess economically and politically. We've created 12 million new jobs since I've been president. More than any president's created in four years. We've generated so much growth. We've created 800,000 manufacturing jobs.

With the bill that became a bipartisan bill, with no one thought could happen, the chips and science bill. We used to invest 2% of our GDP in research and development. That's why we were a nation we were. Well, guess what? We decided to start 2% of our GDP in research and development. That's why we're a nation we were. Well, guess what? We decided to start, we ended up being number eight or 10 instead of number one. Well, now we're doing it again through the chips in science bill.

Guess what? Commitments for 300 billion dollars in investments over the next 10 years to build these chips. We invented the chips. We made them, we made them to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start to start. We, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we start, we start, we start, we start, we start. We, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, start the the the the the build these chips. We invented the chips. We made them, we made them much more sophisticated. We used to be, anyway. So there's so much going on that the country's hungry to move, I think. And I'm confident we can do it. It's reassuring to hear you talk about the ways young people can continue to get involved in

that you feel like there's still bipartisan hope there if it's... Oh there is by the way I mean look again if I had if we had had this conversation immediately after Trump lost although he's not sure he did but and I told you we were going to get more done in two years and almost any president's done period and much of it in a bipartisan way. I think everybody would have looked at me like, what's this guy been drinking? What's going on here?

But we have. We have. And I've been able, we've been able to, the leadership of the Democratic Party, is able to hold the Democratic Congress together, and we've picked up a few Republicans along the way. and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I think, and I, and I thi, and I thi, and we, and we've thi, and we've thi, and we've thi, and we've thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, in thi, thi, in thi, in thi, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, 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, thi.. thi. thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii.. thiii. thi. thi. thi. thi. th along the way and I think it's beginning to bear fruit that it's hard to deny that it works. Speaking of young people the Supreme Court is considering striking down your student debt relief decision. What's the plan if that happens? Well first of all

the Constance of Scholars I've spoken to say the people challenged have no standing mean the court is ultimately as much as they want to rule, they're going to, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I to, I to, I to, I to, I to, I to, I to, I to, I to, I to, I to, I to, I to, I to, to, their, their, their, their, their their, it, it, their, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it's, it's, it's their, it, it's their, it, it, it, it, it, it, it's their, it, it's their, it, it's their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their thiii, thi, thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, thiiiiiii, thiiii, thii, their, the no standing. I mean, the court is ultimately as much as they want to rule, they're going to, I think they're going to have to rule that it was appropriate for what I did, number one. Number two, if you think about it, we had this PPP program, that is the program during the pandemic. People lost their businesses because that is shut down, restaurants, and restaurants, and restaurants, and restaurants, and restaurants, and restaurants, and restaurants, and restaurants, and restaurants, and restaurants, and restaurants, and restaurants, and restaurants, and their, and their, and their, and their, and their, and their, and their, and their, and their, and their, and their, and, and I was, and their, and their, and, and, and, and, and I was, and, and I was, and I was, and I was, and I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, and I'm, their, their, their, they.a, they.e.e. And, they. And, they. And, they. And, they. And, they. And, they. And, I'm, I'm, I'm their businesses because that is shut down, restaurants closed, with Bob bought. And so we provided billions of dollars significantly more than the, than helping students with their debt. And a number of the very people who criticized me in Congress actually got benefits in the program. You don't hear them talking about it, right?

The average student who will benefit from my student loan forgiveness program is somebody making less than 70, 90% makes $70,000 or less. They're just trying to get out of the hole. They're just trying to get started. They're just trying to get up and running. And so it is overwhelming in the interest of the economy. It's a fair thing to do and it's going to generate economic growth that's significant. I understand them worrying. I understand, I don't know whether

people realize, a lot of parents realize, how much of a burden this is. You get out of school, there were no jobs that you graduated because, initially because of a pandemic. You got a debt that is, most cases, exceeding $10,000 loan you got, or grant you got. And it's really a gigantic burden. You want to grow the economy. You want these people being able to go out and make a down payment in a home, be able to go out and start a business, be able to go out and be free to the debt so they can invest in things that they care about.

And it's just so short-sighted, if they don't. I wanted to ask you a slightly different question. So my partner, Josh and I have been engaged for the last five years, which really only means that every auntie and uncle that I have is beyond disappointed that there hasn't been a wedding yet. But Cardi B is going to marry us, apparently officiate our wedding, which would be nice. But my question for you, Mr. President, is you codified support for same-sex marriage and interracial marriages like ours. I'm curious what your evolution was like on marriage equality and what the federal government might be able to do to protect LGBTQ Americans,

especially trans kids who are dealing with all these regressive state laws that are popping up right now. I can remember exactly where my epiphany was. Okay. I hadn't thought much about it, tell the truth, and I was a I was a senior in high school and I wanted to get a job being turned out the only turned out was the only Caucasian lifeguard in the projects in the city of Wilmington, the big swimming pools. And my dad was dropping me off to go in and get an application of City Hall in one thing, Rodney Square it's called. I remember about to get out of the car and I looked to my right and two well-dressed

men in suits kissed each other. I mean, they gave each other a kiss. And then one went, looked like he was heading to the Hercules Corporation building. And I never forgot a turnturn and look to my dad. He said, Joey, it's simple. They love each other. It's simple. No, I'm not joking. It's simple.

It's simple. And it's never been, it's never been, it's just that simple. And I remember, you may remember, because you may have been here when I, in the, our last administration with Barack, I went on Meet the Press. Oh, I know. And they asked me about their show. I was to tell them I had visited a family in another state and I watched these two, this gay couple raising two kids and watching them run in and throw their arms around daddy and so on. So, and I told, I said, well, what do you think?

Rush would ask me, I said, I think people should be able to get married. Married. It doesn't matter whether it's same sex or a heterosexual couple. You should be able to be married. What is the problem? So listen to your auntie and your uncle, get married. Do it now. Don't wait.

Now, transgender kids is a really harder to think. What's going on in Florida is, as my mother would say, close to sinful. I mean, it's just terrible what they're doing. It's not like, you know, a kid wakes up one morning and says, you know, I decided I want to become a man, or I want to become a woman, or I want to change. I mean, what are they thinking about here?

They're human beings. They love, they have feelings, they have inclinations that are, I mean, it just to me is, I don't know, it's cruel. And the way we do it is we make sure we pass legislation like we passed on same-sex marriage. You mess with that, you're breaking the law, and you're going to be held accountable. Thank you, sir. I also can tell that, like some auntie or my mom probably texted you beforehand if you're trying to pressure me too. No, no, no, but get moving man. I don't want to hear you can't do it. I know we're unlimited

time so I just want to ask you looking ahead. There are a lot of names floated. It's a crowded, crowded field. Who should be the next permanent host of the Daily Show? Depending how you edit this program, you. Yes, okay, that's a good answer. Solid answer. Solid answer. I don't think we need to edit anything then. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you for your time, and I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. And again, welcome back.

Thank you. Great to be back. Explore more shows from the Daily Show podcast universe by searching the Daily Show, wherever you get your podcasts. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central and stream full episodes anytime on Fairmount Plus. This has been a Comedy Central podcast.