The Daily Show: Ears Edition - X Gonzalez and Matt Deitsch on March For Our Lives and Getting Out the Vote

Episode Date: June 6, 2021

March For Our Lives activists X Gonzalez and Matt Deitsch discuss their fight to establish comprehensive gun safety policies and get young people to vote in this interview from August 2018. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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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 Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 utes, a second look, starting September 17th, wherever you get your podcasts. Please welcome March for Our Lives Activists, Emma Gonzalez and Matt Ditch. Welcome to the show.

So good to have you here. Is that the first thing you're going to do? Go straight to my water? You're just going to check if it's what? No, it's the mug? What if it was just like a fake mug and now you would have exposed the fact that I don't have any real things in my cups? Welcome to the show. Thank you so much for being here. You know what's been fascinating for me in watching your journey is that many people get angry when something bad happens

in their world, not just in America anywhere. Many people are outraged, many people say something, some people do something, but you continue to work at it to make change. What do you think keeps driving you? I definitely know that in the very beginning of all this we met with a bunch of kids from Chicago who the peace warriors mainly who we are still friends with today and they told us about the six principles of non-violence Martin Luther Kings and principle number five is no principle number four is except suffering without retaliation for the sake of the cause to achieve the goal, which means basically, it doesn't matter what you face as an individual, the goal is much more important than anybody, which is kind of the main principle that

you know, we went to see the sit-in counters in North Carolina. That was the methods that were used then. It doesn't matter if somebody pour something over my head, try to get me off of this seat, I need to sit here because this is for everybody. And you have been attacked in multiple ways online. I mean, everyone has accused you of everything from being political puppets all the way through to crisis actors. People have said that your emotion is fake. You've forth through that and now you have a movement that has taken you on the road. What is, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, tho, tho, tho, the, the, the, the, tho, tho, tho, thr-a, thr-a, 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, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thi, thri, throooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, and, thi, thi, th you on the road. What is this organization all about? It's all about saving lives, Trevor. It's all about creating coalitions throughout different communities around this country so that we can come together and create a united front for change.

This is way more than just Parkland. This is about the communities around this country that suffer from day-to-day gun violence and gun violence in many different forms. So every single day on this tour, we've traveled 70-something stops now and every single place we go, we hear a new story of someone lost in a different form of gun violence. And so it's about fighting for all of them before it's too late. And the main thing you're trying to do is get young people to register to vote. And actually show up, to. And actually show up. Like, that's an important part. Why is that the key to what you're doing? Because I mean, people say like, register to vote, but you're going like, no, we want you to show up.

Why is there a difference? Because people say, my vote doesn't count. to the face, to register, to their to vote, to vote, to vote, the vote, the vote, the vote, their, their, their, their, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, their, their, their, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, we're going to try to do offers of ride sharing and stuff like that, or, you know, we encourage people to say like, you know, try to carpool everybody that you know and try to get everybody at the polls at the same time, to offer the transportation to those who don't have it. But if, you know, if a million people, that tho, you're, you're, if their, if their, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, try, try, to, to, to, to, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, try, try, try, try, try, t. And, t. And, and, and, t. And, and, and, and, and, and, t. And, t. And, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, try, to, to, try, to, t000 votes that like was the difference between the two people. Right. Like, your vote really, really does count.

What if it had been one vote? That person's one vote would have made the difference. We saw a story where in one election it had to be decided by basically a coin flip. And it's starting to show you that elections are getting closer and closer. People's votes are counting more than they ever thought before. Young people in particular haven't been good at turning up when it comes to the midterms. In this election it feels different. We're seeing research that says more and more people are registering, more and more people who are young are inclined to vote. Do you feel like gun violence and mass

shootings are a big driving factor in this? Well young people are the thii to th th th th th th th th th thin thin thin thin thi thi thi thi thi thi thi to thi thi to to to thi. thi. to to the to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to get 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 get to get to to to to to to to to to to their, their their, the te. tu. tu. tu. tu. tu-n. tu-n tu-n. tu-n. tu-n-upe. turning tunnenene people are more educated now than they've ever been before. And young people turn out at a rate about one in five. If young people turn out in a rate of two out of five, they can swing any election that they turn out in. And so that's what it's really about is about showing that young people, if you can just convincethis election. Right. And actually obtain morally just leaders. Because right now, Congress does not reflect the ones and needs of the American people. When it comes to gun issues, one thing I've noticed repeatedly is how you will be asked questions that many people in Congress don't get asked, so they aren't even expected to know the answers too. Uh, you have had to, that, that that, that, the the the the the that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, the that, that, that, tho, tho, tho, tho, that, the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the that, the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the thi that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, ne ne ne ne ne nea nea, that, that, that, that, that, people in Congress don't get asked, or aren't

even expected to know the answers too. You have had to, I think, immerse yourself in policy more than many politicians have in a strange way. But what are you hoping will be achieved by people voting? What are you hoping some of the changes will be when it comes to gun reform in America? Well, when something like universal background checks is supported by over 95% of the American public and the Speaker of the House refuses to introduce a bill to be voted on, that is what we want to see change.

We want these policies that are being supported with a supermajority in this country, universal background checks, digitizing the ATF, disarming domestic abusers, violence prevention programs, and the rest of our policies are on our website, March for our Lives.com, how we save lives. But it's mostly just about getting these policies that have nothing to do with the Second Amendment and just have a basis in saving lives, that are supported by the general public.

These all poll above 65% with the general public, yet Congress decides to do absolutely nothing. And you've been hosting townholes the the the the to to to to to to to to to their to their to to their to the general public, yet Congress decides to do absolutely nothing. And you've been hosting town halls. You've been meeting with people. You've hosted more town halls than I think some people in Congress may have actually hosted. 150 congressmen have not had a town hall in the last two years. Wow. So you're out there.

You're meeting with people who don't always agree with you. What do you find other things they agree with you on? And is there something that you find in some way shifts a person's perspective? Or is there some way that they've shifted your perspective when you engage with people you don't agree with? Usually when people come up to us and say, I don't like what you stand for? They think that we are trying to take guns out of America or that we are against the Second Amendment. That's not true.

We are a pro-Second Amendment organization. We want safety around guns. People who are law-abiding citizens, and are worried about getting their guns taken away, if you're a law conscious about it, you should understand, you obviously do understand that guns are something that need to be held with respect and responsibility. With great power it comes for great responsibility. I'm sorry. But like, that's true and everybody needs to hold that in their hearts and in their minds, and there are a lot of people who don't and we're just trying to catch everybody up to that, their process. And the process process, and their thap, thap, thap, th, th, th, th, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, I, I's, I's, I's, I'm, I'm, I'm thin, I'm thin, that, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, tho, tho, tho, tho, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, th. th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thin, thin, thrown. throwneeeeeean, toooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooomomu, thi, thi, thi, to you, oh you kids are out there, you're trying to take the guns away,

some people will say to you like, oh, you're trying to change what America stands for. What do you find changes them when you speak to them as a person? Is there a moment where they go like, oh, I see what you're saying? Or do you find sometimes you have to saythem choose to ignore what's actually going on in communities even really near theirs. We'll be in Wisconsin and they will understand the day-to-day gun violence that happens in Milwaukee when they're in Janesville and that is heartbreaking to us because we need to really love our neighbors, we need to come together community by community and actually stand for each and every life that we're losing every day. And so when, I don't understand the book,

so a lot of these people don't actually understand what's happening day to day. A toddler picks up a gun and shoots themselves or someone once a week for the last three years in this country. And with something like safe storage laws or mandatory trigger locks, or even like a bike lock on a gun trigger could save countless lives in this country, and that is just common sense. It makes perfect sense for someone to say to say to say to say to say to say to say to say to say to say, to say, to say, to say, 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 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 thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi to to to thi the to the the thi the thi thi thi thi thi thi thi th countless lives in this country and that is just common sense. It makes perfect sense for someone to say, oh yeah, I should report if my gun is stolen. But in Texas where more guns are stolen than anywhere else in the country, that's not a law. You don't have to do that.

But if you steal alcohol from a parent, it could be a felony. It's child endangerment, but we call it an accidental shooting. There are no accidental shootings. It's negligence. Let's talk about the shirts that you're wearing. All right, clearly you didn't talk about it before you left the house. You're wearing the same thing. You're not just talking, you're doing, you're not just doing, you're helping others do. Getting people out to vote always seems tedious. Your shirts have a purpose. Tell me about them. The QR code, if you scan it with your camera, very simple, don't even need an app,

it will get you registered to vote in under two minutes. So if we, can zoom in on their light now. So if you're watching this at home right now and you zoom in, like you can take a picture of this right now on your phone and you can join this movement, you can register to vote, you can get out there, you can have your voice heard. You don't even have to agree with us in policy. You can just get registered to vote and get out there and vote. I like that.

So it's going to your normal lives? Like, you guys know you have the right to be kids as well, right? Like, what do you go back to after this? There is no normality in this country right now. And so having to understand that, we need to continue building these coalitions with people and continue educating people of what's going on day to day to day, because not a day is past on the tour where we haven't have have have have have have a new, we're, we're, a new, to have, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, their, their, and, and, their, th... thi, 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, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, haven't heard a new name and new story. We haven't seen a day go by where a new, a new story of someone else shot and killed, another young person shot and killed in this country happens. This doesn't happen anywhere else except America. And it is up to us as Americans to actually stand up and fight for each other. And so there is no normality until we can continue to come together and actually change this. So I know I know you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you th th th th th th th th th th th th tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho thi thi tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho thi thi thi thi thi. This thi. This thi. This th. This th. This th. This th. This th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi the to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the thooooooooooooooooo the the the tho want us to be kids, but weights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central, and stream full

episodes anytime on Paramount Plus. 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 on Apple podcasts.