The Daily Show: Ears Edition - President Obama Aims to Inspire a New Generation in "A Promised Land"

Episode Date: August 4, 2023

On Barack Obama's birthday, we revisit Trevor's conversation with the former president to discuss his book. "A Promised Land," the Obama Foundation, and how he hopes to inspire the future change-makers of America.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

John Stewart here, unbelievably exciting news. My new podcast, The Weekly Show, we're gonna 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. You're listening to Comedy Central. I sat down with President Barack Obama for a wide-raging conversation. We talked about the challenges facing the world, his message to young activists, and workshopping

slogans with Michelle. Enjoy. Are you going to filibuster me? Because I don't have all the time, and you're very good at like... So is this like a roundabout way of saying, you just want to give short pithy answer? No I don't want short question. You want me to speed up? You want me to talk faster? No, no, no, no, please Mr. President. I will not purposely filibuster, but sometimes I will have a pause as I'm formulating my thoughts as you well know. Yeah, you can do like like to like to like to like to like to like to like to like to like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like. Like. Like like to like. Like. Like. Like. Like. Like. You to like to like to like to. I to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to speed to to speed like 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 speed like to speed like the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the to. to speed up. to speed up. to speed up. to speed up. to speed up. to speed up. auto, my audio book. So you know, I guess you can press a button so it plays like one and a half times.

Yeah, you can do like 1.25 or one and a half yeah. Yeah. Yeah, you're a one and a half guy. Yeah. I was a little offended by that, but that's fine. It doesn't communicate the depth of feeling with which I'm doing the reading, but it's okay How do you like being referred to like just as a human being? Do you like Mr. President's? People call me Barack, but then sometimes some folks feel awkward doing it. Obviously my that's what my friends call me

So I consider you a friend, but you may feel you know, so no, no, the people the people will feel like they like? Like even Africans will they'll write me letter. Let th a th a th. Like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like just just just, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, th, th, th, th, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi, thi. thi, like, like, like, like, like, so... No, no, no, the people, the people will feel like, like even Africans will, they'll write me letter saying, how dare you refer to... This is my point. So I don't want to get you in trouble. So you can say, Mr. President, you can call me POTUS. My favorite one was Obizal. That was my favorite. Mr. President, welcome to the daily social distancing show. I am very happy to be here with you.

You're out there promoting a brand new book, a promised land, a 700 page book if I may add. I love reading your stuff, don't get me wrong, but I would have like 350, 350, why 700 pages? You know, I would have broken it up even more, but, you know, the publishers thought that breaking it up into two volumes would be about right. And look, the goal of the book was to give people a sense of what it's like to be in the White House as a normal person, finding themselves in extraordinary circumstances. And I think part of the goal, particularly for young people,

I wanted them to get a sense that, you know, not everybody's gonna end up being president, but if you decide that your voice makes a difference, if you decide that you can have an impact, then through the ups and downs you will end up having some pretty extraordinary experiences. And I wanted to be an encouragement for people to say, ah, you know, the guy, yeah, he's okay, but he's not so special.

And look what he ended up doing. Maybe I can do something as well. It feels like this book is Barack Obama convincing Barack Obama to remain optimistic. And what I mean by convincing Barack Obama, I think of like a young Barack Obama, I think of a fledgling Barack Obama, not trying to emulate you per se, but rather anyone who's trying to make a change in the world or their world. That's what it feels like. If you if you are writing to young people to be optimistic in the world or their world. That's what it feels like. If you are writing to young people to be optimistic in the book, what are some of the frustrations that you understand on their side that may

hinder that optimism, you know, because if a young person says, yeah, but this system right now is crumbling more and more, how do you maintain that optimism, or do you think there has to be a point where they go, I'm not optimistic, I'm just fighting to break what it is to create something new? Part of the reason that it's 700 pages long is because by reading the book, they'll see, man, there are a lot of structural problems or barriers in making this place better. We're learning right now in vivid, a vivid example of the fact that our democracy is not the way we would imagine it to be, right? There are all kinds of elements to it where the most votes don't necessarily translate into the equivalent amount of power.

Very popular proposals can wither on the vine because of a filibuster in the Senate. And so I don't try to gloss those over. You know, the Paris Accord did not solve climate change but it created the first global framework whereby all countries agreed we have to do something about this and here's a mechanism to do it. You can still be terrified about the pace at which we are burning up the planet and yet think that was a worthwhile endeavor because it gives us at least the opportunity maybe three four or five years down the road to keep building on that. So that is the kind of mentality I want young people to have. A certain impatience, a

certain frustration, a certain anger about the status quo. There are times now where you have younger activists criticizing me for Obama, why didn't you take care of this or that or the other? And I welcome them feeling frustrated and impatient, because that's how I was before I got started. And then they'll get their own knocks on the head and, you know, some stuff won't work out exactly the way they want. But the impulse is the one that I want to encourage, because it's as a consequence of that constant striving and imagining something better, that things don't get exactly as we want it, but they get better.

You're a very serious person because, I mean, you're a president of the United States, but at the same time, you're a lot more fun than a lot of people think, you know? I'm constantly trying to explain to people I'm a funny guy, but I don't know. But you really are. You really, really are. And what I liked in the book is, there are moments where there's just like a roasting of people or life. Like the G20, I've never heard a world leader, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, thia, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, 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, 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, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, th.. th. th. th. th. t. ta. ta. ta. ta. th. try. ta. try. try. try. try you do in the book, the high school of it all. I wondered on a personal level, have you maintained connections with those world leaders as like, do you, like, do you, do you, like, who are you still close with just as

a human being? You know, I don't send Angola Merkel memes, but I talk to her sometimes. Sometimes, you know, she'll give me a call, I'll give a, their a, their a, their, their, their, their, 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, than, threat, threat, threat, threat, threat, to, the, to, the, to, the, the, the, the, threat, know, there are a handful of folks who you've been in the foxhole with, right? You've done some good, important work. Some of them are still in power, so I don't want to mention that, you know, that I'm giving them a call because, you know, who knows that I might get them in trouble. You mentioned somebody like an Angela Merkel. Look, the stance she took in Europe relative to immigration, and the enormous political costs she paid for that,

and yet there was something inside her that said, look, I'm not going to simply abandon a million people who are in desperate need. You see that in somebody, and you say, it encourages you that for all the cruelty and venality and corruption around the world, there are a lot of good people doing good work and, and corruption around the world. There are a lot of good people doing good work and some of them actually rise to significant positions of power and in that sense, democracy can work the way it's supposed to.

If we have a vigilance citizenry and that's not always the case. Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here and that's not always the case. Hey, everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show, it's going to be coming out every Thursday. So exciting. You'll be saying to yourself, TGID, thank God it's Thursday, we're going to be talking about. All the things that hopefully obsess you in the same way that they obsess me. The election. Economics, earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient-to-bread

ratio on sandwiches. And I know that I listed that fourth, but in importance, it's probably second. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? I mean, talk about innovative. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. You've started leadership programs, not just in South Africa, but all over the world. The Obama Foundation has set about on a journey to inspire young people to grow up, to become leaders. Growing up in South Africa, I was taught about the different levels of what a struggle is going to be. You know, the Freedom Fightsers may not necessarily be the best politicians. The

best politicians may not necessarily be the best leaders. The best activist may not be the best organizers and so on and so forth. Everyone has a role to play in trying to get to a certain place. And so I wonder, when you set up these, you know, this leadership academy, throwne. the, the, the, the, 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, is is is is is is is is their, is their, is their, is their, is their, is their, is their, is their, is their, their, their, their, their, te.e.e.e. te. te. te. te. their best. their best. their best. their. their, their, know, this leadership academy that's all over the globe, you know, you're clearly trying to create many Obama's everywhere, which is probably like a fever dream of the right, but what you, what you're trying to do is create something specific, and I would like to know what that is. What do you, what do you believe a leader is, not just somebody who's in power, but a leader? The program we did in Johannesburg, we gathered up 200 young leaders from 50 countries on the continent of Africa. And it was as varied, you had young women

who had started rural health clinics. Yeah. You had MPs, who had taken a more conventional political route. You had entrepreneurs. The thing they all had in common, though, was this sense not only that the world could be better and that they had a role to play in it, but also the belief that they couldn't do it by themselves and that they

had to in some ways unlock the potential and power of other people. A speech I gave in Johannesburg in conjunction with that is for the anniversary of Mandela's hundredth anniversary, where I contrasted that sort of democratic, leadership to the strongman leadership that in some ways we've seen ascendant in certain parts of the world, in some ways was ascendant here in the United States. And those are two different stories of what it means to be a leader and power. And that conflict, that battle between a more democratic, inclusive vision and one that's top-down, dominant subordinate.

Yeah, that's a contest that's taking place here in the United States and around the world. And it's not going to be finished just because the elections over and Donald Trump was defeated because you see examples of this in the Philippines and Hungary, in a variety of countries in Africa and Asia, and so that contest is going to continue. What I find fascinating about the conversation that a lot of Americans are having now, and you talk about this in the book as well,

is how America's influence in the world has diminished over the past few years, you know, how countries around the world have no longer said, what is America doing, we'll work with them. It's been more like, no guys, America we're doing our own thing. But I wonder as somebody who has grown up in other parts of the world, as someone who has family in other parts of the world, is there an argument that maybe that's a good thing that the world doesn't follow America anymore or what would the inverse

of that argument be? Like should the world follow America or is it time for the world to start doing its own thing and America to be less the world police? I think.. I th. I thp I thp I thp I to to to to to be. I to be. I to be. I to be less the world police? I think it is a good thing that other countries catch up and have their own capabilities and their own agency. That's not something that I think America should fear. My argument would be that even in a more multipolar world, where you don't have just one big power, but you have other countries who are coming into their own, the principles that America articulated at its best about rule of law, human rights, freedom of speech, democracy.

Those values, at least I choose to believe, are not exclusively American. Yeah. You, as somebody who lived in South Africa, thi, that that, that that, that that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, but that, that, but that, but that, but tho-to-tod that, but that, but that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that th, but th, but tho, but tho, but tho, but tho, but that, but that, that, that, that, that, that, the that, their their their their their their their their their their their their their their that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, their that, that, those values, at least I choose to believe, are not exclusively American. You as somebody who lived in South Africa know the play that in other countries sometimes you hear where somebody who's doing something entirely for power and money and influence will say, if they're criticized and say, ah, you know, you've been just influenced by Western thinking. That's colonial thinking. No, no, no, no. You are stealing from your people.

And when we criticize you, don't claim that somehow this is some American hegemony being asserted against you. We're calling you on the fact that you're a thief. I think it's important for us to recognize that for all its failings, the values that America is often articulated on the world stage have been ones that I would still believe in and that a lot of people took comfort from. And when we are not asserting them, oftentimes they don't, you know, they don't play out on the world stage.

I sometimes wondered if you ever grappled with the difficulty of the paradox that America was creating in what it was trying to do in the world and then what its actions were sometimes creating in the world, you know? I mean I think about that in the Middle East, you know, wars that have been started under false pretenses, people who have been killed who had nothing to do, you know, and so I wonder as someone who had to make decisions and someone who was in that leadership position, do in how it acted with the world? Because in the world, like I'll tell you as an international person, we would oftentimes go like, man, yes, America's great and it's doing wonderful things, but then you'd be like, but also, man, sometimes they just break the rules and no one can say anything about it.

Absolutely. And I record examples in the book, and I record examples with this, right? And one of the interesting challenges of being president of the United States, but I think being head of government or state in any country is you inherit a legacy, right? So if I come in as president and I can't undo the Iraq war, the decision to go into Iraq. Now I can manage as best I can how we can wind down that war, mitigate some of the damage that's been done, but I can't reverse it. Did you ever, did you ever envy though how Trump just came in and basically broke shit though? Because I mean he didn't care. No, I didn't envy it because I do care.

And I do not think that is an option to simply pretend that the legacy of problems or issues that you inherit are somehow things you can just brush aside. So the answer is yes. I would struggle with the fact that any action I took, particularly when you're talking about, you know, counterterrorism. That's probably the area where I wrestled with this most, because my obligation first and foremost in the United States was to make sure that people didn't get hurt.

That's sort of the bare minimum that you expect out of a nation state that you're living in is that you can defend against harm. Because you're dealing with non-state actors, that, that that that, that tha, th, th, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, thi that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, thi's thi's the the their thi's thi's 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 thi thi, thi's thi's thi's thi's thi's thi's thi's that, that, that, theeat, theat, theat, theateauuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, the you're living in, is that you can defend against harm. Because you're dealing with non-state actors, that meant that by the time I took office, you had networks that were embedded in societies, not necessarily supported by those societies, but they're there, and they're plotting and their planning. And that wasn't made up. And there were organizations that if they could blow up the New York subway system, they would.

If they could get their hands on a biological weapon, they would use it. You then are wrestling with, how do I protect the American people from those actors, but do it in a way that is morally and ethically justified. And war is madness. Kinetic action of any sort, military action of any sort that results in death and destruction at a certain level is not the thing I would want humanity to do. And what happens to people is tragic.

It is not something you gloss over. What it does to our soldiers and our troops, you know, as I talk about in the book. It's not just the harm that our young men and women suffered, and I would witness in Walter Reed, but it's also how it changes them internally when they have engaged in violence, even if necessary and justified against others. So, the best I could come up with was to never glorify it,

to never pretend like it isn't a dilemma. And so those kinds of questions, I think, are ones that not only should American leaders have to grapple with, but I think the American people have to be aware of. And sometimes the media does not do a very good job. It's a very binary, you know, the Iraq war. It's glorious for the first year and a half and then suddenly it's not. Yes.

And we're shocked that us invading another country might turn out to be messy. Hopefully that's not a lesson we have to be aware. And. And. And. And, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be the the the another country might turn out to be messy. Hopefully that's not a lesson we have to repeatedly relearn. Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show, it's going to be coming out every Thursday. So exciting. You'll be saying to yourself, TGID. Thank God it's Thursday. We're gonna be talking about all the things that hopefully obsess you in the same way that they obsess me.

The election, economics, earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're gonna be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. And I know that I listed that fourth, but in importance it's probably second. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? I mean, talk about innovative. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. 2020 was a year for many of racial reckoning. You know, it was the year when people of all ages took to the streets, black and white alike and said, we need to change the way the police deal

with people in this country, predominantly black people in this country. It was an interesting time as well because, I mean, your presidency, as you know better than anyone, people thought, well that is it. We're now in a post-racial utopia, Barack Obama's in the White house, we those tho th th tho th tho th, we th, we th, we th, we th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. too, too, too, thi. thi. thi. thi. thi, th. th. th. th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi. thi. th. th. th. th. th. th. It, th. It, th. It, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, thi. And, thi. And, thi. thi. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. the. the. the. that is it. We're now in a post-racial utopia. Barack Obama's in the White House. We have half black, half white, all black, good times. Let's have a good one. And then people saw that there was still a lot of work to be done. Let's talk a little bit about the movement as you see it. The problem I have with headlines sometimes is like people But some activists criticized you for saying they've got to be careful of snappy slogans,

you know, like defund the police because it loses people. But I wonder, do you think that the slogan is off, is the thing that makes people for or against you, or do you think people are just going to be for or against you, and then the slogan doesn't really mean as much? And what I mean by that is, like Donald Trump's Make America Great Again, it's not a very divisive slogan if you look at it on the face of it, that's a great slogan. Why would anyone not want to make America great again? But the subtext I actually thought it was corny.

I didn't like it that much when my team came up with it. And then they went to ask Michelle, and Michelle said, no, it's not corny, it's fine. So clearly, she had a better political brain than I did on this. Hey, yeah, I'm glad you actually brought this up because, you know, what's been fascinating while I've been on this book tour is, you know, people have asked me what's my source of optimism and uniformly what I have said is, nothing made me more optimistic during a very difficult year than the activism that we saw in the wake of George Floyd's murder. And Black Lives Matter. And I have consistently believed that their courage,

activism's media savvy, strategic resolve, far exceeds anything that I could have done at their age, and I think has shifted the conversation in ways that I would not even imagine a couple of years ago. So throughout this slew of compliments, I then said, well, what do you think about the particular slogan defund the police? And I said, well, that particular slogan, I think the concern is that there may be potential allies out there that you lose, and the issue always is, how do you get enough people to support your cause that you can actually institutionalize it and translate it into laws, structures, and so forth. There were two or three writers who I admire who wrote, Obama's making an admission to chastise Black Lives Matter and you go,

what, hold on a second, I just spent the whole summer complimenting them. What are you talking about? The reason it caught attention, I suspect, is there were some in the Democratic Party who suggested the reason we didn't do better in the congressional elections this time of was because of this phrase. And I think that people assumed that somehow I was making an argument that that's why we didn't get a bigger democratic majority. That actually was not the point I was making. I was making a very particular point around if we in fact want to trans not the point I was making. I was making a very particular point around if we in fact want to translate the very legitimate belief that how we do policing needs to change,

and that if there is, for example, a homeless guy ranting and railing in the middle of the street. Sending a mental health worker rather than an armed, untrained police officer to deal with that person might be a better outcome for all of us and make us safer, right? That if we describe that to not just white folks, but let's say Michelle's mom, that makes sense to them. But if we say defund the police, not just white folks, but Michelle's mom might say, if I'm getting robbed, who am I going to call and is somebody going to show up? Right?

So the issue here becomes, you know, at any given time, how are we translating and using language? Not to make people more comfortable, quote unquote, right? Because that's always a strain in historically, right? The concern in these debates is also, is often, oh, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, to, to, or, or, or, to, to, or, 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, 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 Because that's always a strain and historically, right, the concern in these debates is also, is often, oh, are we just trying to make white people comfortable rather than speaking truth to power, right? That's the framework we tend to think about these things. Right. Yeah. The issue to me is not making them comfortable, it is, can we be precise with our language enough that people who might be persuaded around that particular issue to make a particular change that gets a particular result that we want, what's the best

way for us to describe that? What you're basically saying is we should workshop all of our slogans with Michelle. That's what I hear you saying. That probably would be wise. It would probably work but but I want to go back to to something that, that that that that that that that that that that that that that that th th th th th th th th th th th th. thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thiated thiated thiated thi thiated to be persuaded thiated that that that that that that that that that that thiated thiated thiated thiated thiated thiated to be persuaded to be persuaded to be persuaded to be persuaded to be persuaded to be persuaded to be persuaded to be to be to be to be to be to be to be th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. that's that's that's thi. that's that's that's that's that's to be persuaded that's that's that's that's that's to be, but but I want to go back to something you said earlier, which I think is really important. And I said this in the wake of some of this criticism. I said, look, part of this is also everybody has different roles to play. An activist, a movement leader, is going to provide a prophetic voice and speak certain truths that somebody who is going to be elected into office will not be able to say. I re-read James Baldwin's of Fire Next Time this summer. How is it that something written 50 years ago, 55 years ago, yeah, applies directly today,

right, despite everything that's happened? To me, that is as searing and as honest a portrayal of the gaping wound of race in America. But of course, James Baldwin can't be elected to the U.S. Senate or unlikely that he would want to be the mayor of a city who's responsible for figuring out how do I deal with the police union. Right? That's somebody else's role. And all these roles are important. And so, you know... Why do you think, if I may interrupt, why do you think though that Republicans or right-wingers now do that though? That's something that I've struggled to understand. You see now, even in this election, I mean, some of the Republicans who are running were Q and non-supporters and they were going, we're running and this is what, and some

of them were winning. Some of them are so extreme and they're winning. And so I sometimes wonder if, if there's this, is it just a political thing in America where if you're, if you're in the Republican Party you can be completely bombastic in what you believe..... to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be the the to be the to be the the the their. toe. the the toe. the the toe. toe. to be to be toe. the the the Republican. 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. And, the their. And, their. And, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, Democrat, you're trying to tow the line between centrist and left leaning? No, well, because I think, in fact, the Republican Party is the minority party in this country. The only reason that it doesn't look like they're the minority party is because of structures like the US Senate and the electoral college that don't render them the majority party. So, so the, and so, and, and, and, and, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so they, so they, so they, so they, so they, so they, so they, so they, so they, and they, and they, and they, and they, and they, and they, and they, and they, and they, and the the minority party is because of structures like the U.S. Senate and the electoral college that don't render them the majority party. So they have certain built-in advantages around

power given their population distribution and how our government works. But the truth of the matter is that 60% of the people are occupying what I would consider a more reality-based universe and those are the constituents we're speaking to. And that is a more diverse group. You know, I describe in the book the first time I go to the Republican House caucus to speak to him. And I think there was an Asian guy or gal and maybe a couple of Hispanics. And that was it.

It is much more homogeneous, which means that, yes, they have to do less work, but it also means that they are they can talk to themselves and as a consequence of the way our democracy, our republic is structured they don't have to appeal to as broad of a base. That's not fair but you know I at least would prefer not having the progressives model ourselves out of, or model ourselves on the current Republican Party. That doesn't feel like a good strategy to me to get the outcomes that we want. Let's talk a little bit about, let's loosen things up. Let's unbutton one of those buttons on the shirt.

As someone who I consider to be one of the best deliverers of jokes and roasts, are you going to be more careful going forward about who you roast. And I say this because you roasted Donald Trump, he ran for president, you roasted Kanye West, he ran for president. So I don't know if you've noticed, but you have an ability to inspire people to to run for the highest office in the land with some of the jokes that you tell about them. Well, I should roast people, people I admire more. I'll start roasting you, man. Who knows? Although you weren't born here, so, you know.

But look, I was able to get away with it apparently. Who knows? Who knows? Um, before I let you go, I wanted to know one last thing, and that is, being president of the United States is arguably the toughest job in the world. When you transition back to personal life, I wonder what that is like, because unlike you, I don't have that power. I've never been able to just change a thing in the world or do something about it. But now in many ways you are like me, in that you see the thing on the TV

and then you get angry or sad, but you cannot really do anything about it. And so I wonder, as former president, Barack Obama, have you transitioned into that completely, or do you find different ways to try and fix the problems that you see in the world? Well, first of all, I'm not, I I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, th th th th th th th thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th th th thi, th th th thi, th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th thi, th th an th an thi..... thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to told to to to to to to to to told to to thi. thi. more influence in cloud. So let's just be clear. Come on, man.

I was hoping you let that slide. I was hoping you just let that one slide. I was hoping you just be like, yeah, you don't triv. Yeah, in many ways. Look, I have, the truth is that, um, I did not have those kinds of withdrawals and I know that there are people who I know who've had them when they leave public life and very visibly, you know, they want to get back on stage. Yeah. Michelle and I, that's something we share. We feel good about the work we did. We don't feel anxiety about not being the center of attention. We get frustrated like I think citizens around the world and here in the country do when

we see something unjust or unfair. And yes, the goal I think for us is to find new ways to have that same impact. Understanding that we'll never have the exact same impact as you have in the Oval Office, but a lot of the work around the foundation is, you know, you said create a lot of Obama's, I'm not sure that's the goal. But if 10 years, 20 years down the road, there are 1,000, 10,000, 100,000 young people who are now moving into positions of authority and power and in some ways have been shaped by our example in a positive way,

yeah, that's the legacy that may exceed anything that we did while we were in our formal positions. And that we did, you know, while we were in, in, in our formal positions. And, and that feels pretty good. Well, I could talk to you for hours, but luckily I have a 700-page book to answer the rest of my questions. Thank you for joining me. Thank you for taking the time. And, uh, yeah, thank you for being you. Hey, Mr. President, aka Obizle. Thank you for joining me on the Daily Social. I enjoyed it, man.

We'll do it again. Vol-Yo, too. Definitely. Explore more shows from the Daily Show from the Daily Show, wherever you get your podcasts. Watch the Daily Show. on Comedy Central and stream full episodes anytime on Fairmount Plus. This has been a Comedy Central podcast. Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, the weekly show,

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