The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Rep. Maxwell Frost on Creating a Culture Intertwined with Politics

Episode Date: February 18, 2023

March for Our Lives organizer turned Congressman Maxwell Frost shares how his views of elected officials have evolved now that he works on the inside, what needs to change in order to pass stronger gun laws, and how his fellow Gen Zers can become more engaged with politics despite not trusting itSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Finding great candidates to hire can be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. You might get a lot of resumes, but not enough candidates with the right skills or experience. But not with Zip Recruiter. Zip Recruiter finds amazing candidates for you fast. And right now you can try it for free at Zip Recruiter's smart technology. Sip Recruiters' smart technology identifies to the talent for your roles quickly. Immediately after you post your job, zip recruiters powerful matching technology starts showing you qualified people for it, and you can use zip recruiters pre-written invite to apply message to personally reach out to your favorite candidates and encourage them to apply sooner.

Ditch the other hiring sites and let zip recruiter find what you're looking for, the needle in the haystack. Four out of five employers who post on zip recruiter get a quality candidate within the first day Try it for free at this exclusive web address zip recruiter.com slash zip recruiter the smartest way to hire You're listening to Comedy Central Well Maxwell Fresh congratulations on being elected to Congress the same year you're old enough to rent a car. You're listening to Comedy Central. Well, Maxwell Frost, congratulations on being elected to Congress the same year you were old enough to rent a car. There we go. There's no.

Who have you bonded with in Congress? I mean, I'm guessing the squad, obs. But any oldies? Yeah, well, I don't know if I want to say their names now because now I'm calling them oldies. I mean, more, yeah. Look, there's there's there's there's there's there's there's there's there's, there's, there's, there's, there, there, there's, there, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, the. There, the. There, the. There, the. There, the. There, the. There, the. There, there's, the. their, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. there's, th. th. there's, th. th. there's, their, their, the I want to say their names now because now I'm calling them oldies. I mean, you're more mature. Yeah, look, there's so many people that I've gotten to connect with, you know, folks who are, who've been just doing great work. Barbara Lee, Maxine Waters from Villa Jayapaw, yeah, Jamie Raskin, yeah, so many amazing people

out there. I wouldn't call them oldies, but you know, senior members of Congress who are doing amazing work. Yeah, they're not oldies, they're goodies. Yeah, they're goodies. There we go. There we go. You have been, and I find this so impressive and inspiring, especially to people out here, you've been a gun reform advocate since you were 15 years old. Spurred on by Sandy Hook, which was in Connecticut.

You're from Florida, and you organized the march for our lives. All these things that, you know. They have my pin on too. It's the five-year anniversary of the Parkland shooting. There is a school shooting just last night at Michigan State. Now that you are in Congress, what do you think can be done? How can we break this cycle? Yeah, well we saw Congress pass a bipartisan bill to help end gun violence last year. It's not everything that we need, but it's a good step forward.

The fact of the matter is we need a governing majority that's actually going to care about this issue. And, you know, this word bipartisanship is supposed supposed supposed to mean the the this word bipartisanship is supposed to mean what everyone can agree on. Most NRA members and Republicans are four universal background checks, but the definition of bipartisanship in Congress means what the NRA will allow and because they're a front for the gun lobby they have these politicians bought off and they're unwilling to stand up for what the people want so we can't get things like background checks passed. And so there's a lot of work that needs to be done. A lot of it involves kicking people out and replacing them with morally

just leaders who actually give a damn about children's lives and people they're asking. But in the interim I think we have an opportunity. I mean overturning Citizens United would certainly help us. That's one of the issues that's th. T. T. T. 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's that's that's that's that's th. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. th. th. th. the 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 thi. I is. I's the. I's the. I's theole. I's the. the. the. the. thii. thi. the issues to end all issues. Yeah that's the that's the big one and that's the root of so much of this. So now that you've seen how Congress operates kind of from the inside, are you hopeful? Do you see that there's change possible? Are you excited about America's future or is it depressing? Both? I'll say I'm very hopeful. You know a lot th. Do th. Do th. Do th. Do th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi the thi the the thi the the thi thi the thi the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the 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's that's that's the the the the the the the the the the th. thi thi thi thi thi. thi. thi. thi. to to ti. ti. ti. toooooooooooooooooes. toe. the thoooooooooes. that's that's that's Both. I'll say I'm very hopeful. You know, a lot of times on the outside you might look in and say, there's only a small group of good people and everyone else is a corporate hack and they

don't care about anyone. But having conversations with my colleagues, I've been so surprised by so many people who I get in the conversation with them and I find out what they're about and they're about they're about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about about and their values. And I'm like, OK, you know, you're actually a lot more progressive and forward thinking that other folks might think. And I think the problems people have smaller goals because they understand the landscape and the battlefield that we have in Congress right now. And I think when we show those politicians and everyone that good policy equals

good politics, then I think people will get the courage that they need to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the to the the the to the courage and to the courage and to to the courage and to the courage and to the courage and the courage and to to their and their their their their think people will get the courage that they need to stand up for what we need in this country. More of this. I mean, I think a lot of Gen Ziers tend to not trust the government. How do you think you can change their minds? Well, I understand, first off, like, you know, and this is something I, like, running for Congress, I had to think about the fact that during the Black Lives Matter protest, I was tear gas mace arrested and jailed for nonviolent protests. Now I represent those same streets in Congress, but I still have to square the fact that I'm a part of the system that causes a lot of harm, and I get it. And I think part of what of what of what of what of what of what of what of of of to to to to to to to the to to their to their to to do their their to do their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their gas, their gas, their gas, their gas, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, 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, ta, ta, ta., ta.ease, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, the gap between cool and consciousness. And I think that's a really good way that we can bring younger people into the fold.

And March our lives did a great job of that, and with the movement. It was like the cool thing to be at the marches, is the cool thing to register to vote. And I think the more we can get our culture intertwined with the politics, I think it's going that's going that's going that's going that's going that's going that's going thiii, thinin, thin, thin, thin' the thin' the the to the to to to to to their going 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 the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the foldldld. the the fo. the folululul. the fol. the fol. the fol. the to marches. to to to to to toe if the marches could translate to votes more directly, it would be ideal. Yeah, let me go. But, you know, maybe election day off would be a nice start. Exactly. And, yeah, I agree. And vote at turnout is up for young people. We have record highs of youth through the tu-out.

It's never been the largest piece of the pie, but young people right now are voting at higher numbers than any other generation when they were our age, and half of Gen Z can't even vote yet. So we're not where we want to be, but we're going in the right direction. You brought pussy-ass bitch. It's now in congressional record because of you. So, um, I just personally want to thank you for that. And that was about a certain person too. It was about, well it was about a pussy-ass bitch. What's so inspiring about you is that you got involved as a teenager and how that can manifest into real change. And so I think it's exciting. Gen Z is so exciting to me because they're so motivated, they realize their power and that

can really change things. I mean, trying to get Gen Z to trust the government, how about just trying to get Gen Z to be the government? And I think you've done that. No, it is exciting. And I think we see a lot of young candidates running across the country. And look, it's not like Gen Z was waiting to get in Congress. I'm the oldest the genzier can be. We just got old enough to run. But I think the significance here is that the first chance we got, we jumped. the chance, we're, we're, the the, the, the, to, to, the, to, the, to, the, th, th, the, to, the, the, th, the, the, the, th, and, the, the, and I's, the, the, thi, thi, and the, the, and the, and I'm, and I'm, and I's, and I's, and I's, and I's, and I's, and I's, and I's, and I's, and I's, and I's, and I's, and I's, and I's, and I's, and I's, the, the, the, thi, thi, they, thi, thi, thi, they. they, they. they, they. they, they, they. they's they's throwne, they's they's throwne, throwne, they's throwne, they. throwne, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin at the opportunity because we want to be a part of the solution. We want to be at the table. We don't want to be the only people at the table, but Congress does not look like our country right now, right? Like Gen Z and Millennials make up a third of the country. We're nowhere near a third of government, both local and federal and so we need more

people to run for office. Yes, Congress, but also, the city, the city, the city, the city, the city, the city, the city, the city, the city, the city, the city, the city, the city, the city, the city, the city, the city, the city, the city, the city, the city, the city, 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 the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the tho, tho, thooo, the the ta, the thea, thea, thea, thea, thea, thea, thea, tha., tha., they're closer to the people and closer to the decisions that matter on a daily basis. Yeah, being involved in those, the midterm elections and all, everywhere down the ballot is essential and I feel like the right realizes that. Yeah, they do. And they're more organized around that than we are. That's why they've played this long game of taking over the state legislatures. It's why we woke up 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. T they're th. T th. T th. T they're that they're th. that, thate. that, they're they're th. they're they're th. they're th. th. that, that, th. that, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the. the. the. the. the. the. they're they're they're theeeee. they're they're theeeeeeee. Roe versus Wade was gone. That's a plan that has been a long time in the making. So Democrats, I feel like sometimes we're too obsessed with these short-term goals. We need to be about be about power-building in these communities long-term. It's not going to happen overnight, but that's how we're going to wake up in morning and have our freaking rights back back back back back 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.