When you were the host of
the Daily Show let's face it.
There was a lot of power in there because
if you went to town on somebody and
beat the shit out of them,
it fucking works.
Were you ever threatened in
ways where people said to you,
you better quit fucking with me or else?
I was called down to the
White House a couple of times.
Um,
but remember to like
it's,
it's somewhat of a media narcissism to
believe that cultural power is actual
power.
The truth is everything
that we railed against,
you know,
went forward,
whether we were yelling at them or not,
you know,
uh,
we couldn't have been more against
the Iraq War and somehow we
didn't stop it.
Why were you called
down to the White House?
Uh,
it was during the Obama years.
A couple of times.
Because you had done something
they didn't agree with ?
On the Daily Show,
we didn't really have access
to politicians and media.
We really were sort of this
strange Island in that space.
And I always,
and that's the way we wanted it.
We early on in like 2000,
we went to these places and like
saw what that glad-handing world was
and realized that if
we get that shit on us,
it's going to change the way we do the
show and not for the good it's going to
polarize us in a way that
we're going to have friends.
We're going to have friends in the
business that we're not going to want to.
And so what I used to say to the show
always was look around this room.
Uh,
when you leave the show,
these will be the only
friends you have left.
That's good.
You know,
we,
we didn't want to be a
part of that machinery.
But what about the White House calls,
what happened,
then?
Everything's funny until it's your guy.
Yes.
And if you are to do that,
you know,
it's,
you'll be,
you know,
there's the big accusation of you're.
So you're,
so it's both sides,
a pox on both their
houses and you're like,
it's not a pox on both their houses.
It's that you have to
be able to criticize.
It's sort of like when the left
criticizes America and the right says,
love it or leave it.
Right.
But if you criticize the left,
there is a certain love it
or leave it or a certain,
like that's not helpful.
Right.
But that was the general tenor of,
of why I was called down was,
well,
you know,
I see you.
