The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Jon Stewart & John Oliver on America's Trump Monarchy Era | David Remnick
Tue, 11 Feb 2025
Jon Stewart tackles Trump's attempt to be the Super Bowl MVP and examines the president's rejection of federal agencies, birthright citizenship, and basic constitutional checks and balances. Plus, John Oliver welcomes America to its monarchy era. New Yorker editor David Remnick sits down to discuss the magazine’s 100th Anniversary Issue and journey since its inception in 1925. They also talk about the importance of long-form journalism, especially under the overwhelming second Trump administration, as well as how the President is overstepping executive power, the danger of the tech oligarchy, and the need for Democratic politicians and citizens alike to finish licking their wounds and take action.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Chapter 1: What is Jon Stewart's take on the Super Bowl and its aftermath?
Welcome to The Daily Show. My name is Jon Stewart. And man, we worked almost all day on tonight's show. We've got a great one for you. David Remnick will be joining me later. He's the editor of The New Yorker magazine. They're celebrating. What an erudite crowd. celebrating their 100th year at the New Yorker, and he and I will be discussing the difference between umlauts and diuresis.
Emphasis on the... I'll just go now. Let's just... But first, the Super Bowl was last night, and, man... Oh. It was on television. It began with the teams being introduced from heaven. And it's just weird. And it ended with the Kansas City Chiefs in hell.
So congratulations to the people of Philadelphia who immediately, who immediately, I disagree by the way, who immediately celebrated their victory by attacking their own city. Killing their own city. Die, Philadelphia. They were mashing their own city, doing tens of dollars worth of damage. Yeah, that's right. I'm implying it's a shithole. Give Saquon back.
But of course, my favorite moment was the inexplicable post-victory horse race where the winner stands triumphant atop the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum. That's not Photoshop. The horse ran up the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum, reared up on its hind legs, and went, Adrian!
Chapter 2: What proclamation did Trump make during the Super Bowl?
here's here's and i'm gonna you know drop some knowledge no one really cared about the game because of the earth-shattering announcement that had been made moments prior you know we're flying over right now we're flying over a thing called the gulf of america and i'm signing a proclamation and perhaps you could define that
First of all, why do you fly around in a Hyatt hotel room? Second of all, define proclamation? You don't know what a proclamation... Or do you just want her to say what the actual proclamation... I'm sorry, I interrupted. Go ahead.
This is a proclamation declaring today, February 9th, 2025, as the first ever Gulf of America Day.
And we're flying right over it right now. So we thought this would be appropriate. even bigger than the Super Bowl.
It's true. Bigger than the Super Bowl. In fact, my favorite thing about Gulf of America Day are the commercials. It's very historic. I'm sure we'll look back on this day fondly when America is swallowed up by the rising waters of the Gulf of America. You know, it turns out it's kind of a weird thing. Airplanes might not be the best place to make bigger than the Super Bowl announcements.
even bigger than the Super Bowl.
This is a big thing. And almost everybody now has assented to that.
First of all, oh, my God.
It shut him up, even for just a second. I think airplane pilots must be the most powerful force in the universe. I feel like the Democrats have to get themselves an airplane pilot. Sorry for the interruption, but you can't do that. Maybe they'll let Schumer. Schumer will be the pilot. But forgive me, I seem to have forgotten. What does calling it Gulf of America do? Do we get all its fish now?
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Chapter 3: How is Trump attempting to 'Make America Great Again'?
Yeah!
Everything Trump does is all part of making America great again. Order one. Roll back everything from the previous not great administration. Regulations on the environment. Regulations on the Second Amendment. The Title IX guidance. And not just the big shit. You want to make America great again, you can't skimp on the details.
President Trump says he's going to reverse Joe Biden's mandate to phase out plastic straws, saying, enjoy your next drink without a straw that disgustingly dissolves in your mouth.
You... Okay, he's right on this one. He... He is right on this one. Those straws are f***ing terrible. Objectively, I'm supposed to have some weird tissue paper dissolve in my mouth just because turtles can't figure out straws aren't food? No. Don't eat the tubes, you stupid turtles. So Trump is making America great again by taking us back to 2016.
But obviously, if we're going to make America great again, we can't stop in 2016. We've got to keep pushing to that place when America was truly great.
Which further back do we need to go?
So, looks like it's the 70s. Oh, like you don't know who Burt Reynolds is. If you're going to make us great, you're going to have to roll further back than the 70s. What do you got? We're going to stop the destructive and divisive diversity, equity and inclusion. Yeah, the 70s won't fly. 70s was all about women's lib and Stonewall. Now, my friends, we got to go back further to make America great.
And ladies, when we do go back, don't worry. It's all going to work out for you.
You will no longer be thinking about abortion. Women will be happy, healthy, confident, and free. Like everything else, it's a little bit different today. You're not allowed to say that because if you call a woman or a girl beautiful, that's the end of your career. Oh, you can't even say, hey, sugar tits.
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Chapter 4: What are Jon Stewart's views on America's historic greatness?
America's greatness awaits.
We were the richest country in the world. We were at our richest from 1870 to 1913. That's when we had... We were a tariff country. 1870s.
Okay. There we go. 1870s. Pew, pew, pew, pew, pew. And of course, while America presently is still pretty rich, apologies, Luxembourg. Point taken. Who wouldn't trade our current environment for America's 1870s tariff-driven, becandled, tuberculosis-laden, pre-industrial heyday? We were so wealthy, we had commissions set up. What to do with all the money that we were taking in?
Quick point of order, though. To the extent that we were at our richest from 1870 to 1913, it wasn't so much we as like four guys. And we called them robber barons as a sign of affection. Meanwhile, the rest of America, the leading cause of death was falling into a vat at work.
And it got to the point where even the robber barons realized that the only way this glorious era in American history was going to end was either full-scale f***ing revolution or reasonable compromise, which is how we ended up with stuff like income tax and labor laws and workplace safety guarantees. So let's really tread carefully in the greatness way back machine.
Arizona House Republican Andy Biggs introduced a bill this week that would abolish OSHA, a Department of Labor agency tasked with overseeing workplace safety.
What?
What?
Why not just bring back child labor while you're at it? When you talk about school lunches, hey, I worked my way through high school. I know about you, but I worked since I was, before I was even 13 years old, I was picking berries in the field before I had child labor laws that precluded that.
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Chapter 5: How does Jon Stewart critique the separation of powers in America?
Don't bring us your tired and poor huddled masses. Do you have any mathletes? Any doogies, Hauser? We will take all of your Sheldons, young and old. For those of you at home who might fear that the president's desire to take us back to our nation's historic greatness may tread into unconstitutional action, fear not.
because the brilliant design of our nation allows for the co-equal branch of the judiciary to stand as a bulwark against tyranny, as judged in the landmark decision of 1803 Marbury v. Madison, which, as you know, is when James Madison lost the historic Supreme Court case to Stéphane Marbury. Marbury ran him out of the building and established our foundational separation of powers.
Vice President J.D. Vance, he had some interesting words about the separation of power and government.
He's for it? If a judge tried to tell a general how to conduct a military operation, that would be illegal. If a judge tried to command the attorney general on how to use her discretion as a prosecutor, that's also illegal. Judges aren't allowed to control the executive's legitimate power.
Of course they're allowed to adjudicate the boundaries of that power. That's the whole f***ing point of the judiciary, to interpret whether those powers are legitimate. You went to law school, mother f***er. The alternative is that... Acting. The only alternative is that the executive determines for himself what is constitutional. At which point, there would be no guardrails against... Oh.
Hey, Congress. Hey, buddy. You got a little separation of powers problem. I was wondering any chance you might be reasserting your authority. Opposition party. Democrats, you ready to do some oppositioning?
There are some things we can do, but the Republicans are in the majority in the Senate and the House. We're going to need some Republicans, frankly, who are willing to lose, who are willing to be a Liz Cheney and say, I will lose my seat to do the right thing by this country, not the right thing by Donald Trump. I haven't seen it yet. Let's hope.
Democratic Congressman Dan Goldman of New York.
That's the sales pitch. We just need someone on their side willing to lose everything for progress, like a Russian dog being shot into space. You can see the Democrats' backbone on our new show, America Backslides, starring Dan Goldman as hopeful loser. But fine. We have to rely on Republicans in Congress to be a check on Trump.
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Chapter 6: What does John Oliver have to say about America's monarchy era?
We let you spend your wild teen years experimenting with your ridiculous ideas of checks and balances because deep down we knew that once you got that nonsense out of your system, you'd be backed. In fact, if I may sing from Hamilton. I'd really, I'd appreciate not. That's fair. What I'm saying is, let me be the first to welcome America to its monarchy era. Congratulations, everyone.
You can now take your place in the pantheon of great empires alongside the British, the Roman, the Klingon, Wakanda, whatever one Babar the Elephant was the ruler of, I forget. Hold on a second, Mr. Oliver. Yes. If I may. Yes.
Ambassador Oliver. Go ahead. For a moment. Please. America, yes, we are having a bit of trouble with democratic governance. But I don't think we want to abandon our republic and go full empire.
Yeah, but why not, John? You really prefer the system that you have right now? Oh, I need 51 votes. for a bill to pass? Is the vice president in town to break a tie? Or, wait, is this one of the bills that needs 60 votes for no clear reason? Well, I'm sorry, little Timmy, no health care for you.
All right.
It does not sound great when you put it like that. Oh, you mean when I put it entirely accurately, Sean? It doesn't sound great? What I'm saying is don't fight being a monarchy, John. Embrace it. Kings get shit done. Now, is it stuff that you want done? Not necessarily, but they do move quick. They taste cumin at lunch, and they've taken over an entire continent by dinner time.
That is how the British rolls, John. everyone else, they're not like us. In fact, if I may sing a line from Mr. Kendrick Lamar. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I really, I really don't think you should do that.
I appreciate you for stopping me on that one. Not to be short-sighted, but spoiler alert, John, things didn't end up so great for the British Empire.
Oh. First of all, how dare you? We are technically between empires at the moment, but we're keeping our castles warm and our crowns bejeweled for the day that we get back onto our feet. Look, no offense, but I'm not sure the imperial model is for us. Oh, really? The imperial model isn't for you, John? Have you seen anything America's done over the last 50 years?
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Chapter 7: Who is the special guest on this episode?
Was there a story? It was meant to be just a purely comic, jazz age, 1920s, pre-Depression thing. And they were going to close it down after three months. And then they had a good piece about the Scopes monkey trial, which you remember?
sure who did what i watched it on court tv it's fantastic and then i swear to god what took off on the newsstand was a piece you're not going to believe this about cabarets and nightclubs and things like this and people were fascinated and it flew off the newsstand And the next thing you know, we were a big success.
Really? At that time, were the illustrations the majority of it, or were the articles the majority of it?
Oh, it was purely little bits and pieces. The first profile that ever ran, and we're famous for longer pieces, as you know. The first piece that ever ran as a profile was a one-page profile of the head of the Metropolitan Opera. Showbiz.
Showbiz.
One page.
And you know the writer was like, 500 words, I'll never make it. And it was awful. It was dreadful. Really? Yeah, yeah. And now, 100 years later then, when you're carrying the mantle of something that has been here for so long, though, it does present... an extra burden and challenge. You don't want to be the guy that's at the... Right.
You don't want to be the last guy out the building, and it's changed so much. So in this more challenging media environment, to do long-form... You buy this and you... I don't remember what that's called, but you look at it... And read. Read. Yeah.
And read more. What? You know, there aren't little dots in one-sentence summaries of world events. Son of a bitch. No, it's in... It is in defiance of every trend that we think is happening. But look, I think that people actually want to know. They want to know what's going on in the world. They want to know what's going on in Washington.
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