Jordan Klepper EXPOSES MAGA echo-chamber and cracks with Trump supporters in 'Red Flags'

[0:00] What is the big issue of this midterm? [0:02] Well, I think it is the socialism and the communism that's on the ballot. [0:06] I'm concerned about the socialism creeping in, communism. [0:10] Do you really think communism is on the ballot? [0:13] I feel like it is. [0:14] How do you define communism? [0:19] That's a hard term. [0:21] It's a hard term. [0:22] It's just almost easier just to throw it out, incite some fear, and then move on. [0:26] Yeah, I probably really couldn't give you a definition. [0:28] Just help me out here. [0:29] Could you define communism for me? [0:31] Big time. [0:32] Define it? [0:33] No, you don't want to hear me all say that, man. [0:35] What? [0:35] I love my freedom, man, too much. [0:37] Right, no, but could you define what communism is? [0:39] What do you mean? [0:40] What is communism? [0:42] They're going to control you. [0:43] What does it mean communism is on the ballot? [0:46] I've been here 70 years, and I've been free. [0:49] Well, I did go to jail once, twice, but free my whole life to do what I want. [0:54] This is the best country in the world. [0:56] Right. [0:56] We live in the best country. [0:57] But I guess I'm trying to... [0:58] And we don't want to change it. [0:59] Right, but what do you mean by communism? [1:05] It's just... [1:07] There it is. [1:15] Proving it. [1:15] Proving it. [1:16] That was a look at the new special from Comedian and Emmy Award-winning co-host of the show, [1:22] Jordan Flemmer. [1:22] This is us. [1:23] The special sees Jordan hit the campaign trail ahead of next week's midterms, asking the [1:28] question, can President Trump hold his coalition together, or will red flags, like plummeting [1:34] poll numbers and rising gas prices, lead to a blue wave? [1:38] And our friend Jordan joins us now. [1:39] Always great to have you here. [1:41] We laughed out loud repeatedly at that clip. [1:45] So tell us where you went, and you're clearly speaking to the true believers who, they at [1:50] least, aren't questioning anything, even if they can't define it. [1:53] Yeah. [1:53] The midterms are interesting because, I mean, I spent a lot of time in swing states, but [1:56] because of these midterms, I found myself in Nebraska, of all places, which I haven't [2:00] been in the last decade, went to Ohio, Texas, Florida, went to many MAGA rallies to hear [2:08] the talking points, what people cared about, and then went to Florida and checked out a [2:11] bunch of folks who were actually turning on Trump to see some of those cracks in the [2:15] movement. [2:16] And we're seeing here, you know, it seems to be a lack of political ammunition from [2:22] Republicans. [2:22] They can't run on the issues. [2:23] They can't run on prices. [2:24] They can't run on the Iran war because none of that is popular or going very well. [2:28] So they're resorting to, it's sort of the same old, same old, you know, we're still [2:32] recycling attacks about trans. [2:34] And now we've added this year around the communism argument, the socialism argument, although [2:38] as Joe always points out, it's President Trump who's actually engaged in active socialism. [2:42] Who's taken over, who's taken over, who's actually said he's taken over 30 companies. [2:46] So this, yeah, so along those lines, so Donald Trump, we understand Donald Trump is interested [2:51] in ass, specifically men. [2:53] Oh, come on. [2:54] The male physique. [2:55] He says it every day, politically speaking. [2:57] That said, I want to know, why do the rest of these Republicans, why are they so hung [3:04] up on trans? [3:05] Why do they love talking about trans? [3:08] Why are they so obsessed with trans when the numbers are so low? [3:12] But they're really, really obsessed. [3:15] As much as Donald Trump is with the male physique, these Republicans are obsessed with trans. [3:20] Well, I mean, you go to Texas, it's the first thing out of people's mouth. [3:22] And they can play the trans idea. [3:25] People are immediately complaining about boys and girls sports. [3:28] And then the non-binary comment by James Tallarico. [3:31] It's the first thing. [3:32] First thing everybody brings up in Texas. [3:34] Because there's 158 million dollars. [3:36] By the way, you know why? [3:37] By one guy. [3:38] You know why? [3:38] Because the Amy Acton thing was was was breaking. [3:41] I mean, he was watching Fox News. [3:43] They talked about six-year-old tweets about trans from Calarico. [3:49] Yeah. [3:50] For 11 minutes. [3:51] And then they talked about a walrus. [3:52] Then they talked about a walrus. [3:54] No, it was this. [3:54] It was 11 minutes on old tweets by Talarico. [3:59] Then it was trans, trans, trans. [4:02] And then it was a walrus. [4:03] There's your news on Fox. [4:04] Nothing about Iran. [4:05] At the height of this Ohio story. [4:06] Nothing about Amy Acton. [4:08] I will tell you, though, you've said this. [4:09] And all I can think about is the walrus. [4:11] Yes, I mean, I want to know more about this walrus. [4:13] The walrus was trans. [4:15] But anyway, go ahead. [4:17] Non-binary. [4:18] Walrus had a nice ass. [4:19] Yes. [4:20] I mean, it's first draft boogeyman creation. [4:22] And so I do think they just throw it out. [4:24] And what is amazing when it comes to the communism conversation, like Trump throws out socialism, [4:29] communism, and then I go out there and people are trying to make sense of this. [4:33] And then you find Islamophobia was a whole new boogeyman that came back again. [4:37] It felt like we were living in, like, 2004 Islamophobia meets 1950s red scare. [4:42] They had a baby, and it's this midterms for some reason. [4:45] And the trans stuff just, it just gets people going. [4:47] They get angry. [4:49] I think because the people that I talk to in Texas can craft a narrative around the idea [4:55] that they're fighting for children. [4:57] If you push them and push them, they're not going to complain about the things that are [5:01] happening back at home. [5:02] But they're going to talk about the things that, as a Christian nation, they can fight for. [5:06] But their candidate let a pedophile, like, go after just serving days. [5:09] If you're talking about children, I'm just curious how that... [5:12] They're fine with Ken Paxton, fine with a pedophile, giving him a one-day, like, trying [5:17] to give him a plea deal. [5:18] But on the trans issue, the crazy part about it is, like, 85% of Americans agree with that. [5:24] You look at, like, we were just talking about it, NCAA, they've got, what, 500,000 student [5:31] athletes? [5:31] Yeah. [5:31] They've got, like, less than 10 trans people. [5:36] And I think almost all Americans and Tallarico are saying, we worry about fairness and we [5:43] worry about compassion, but we're not going to have men who transition after puberty competing [5:48] against women. [5:49] Like, this argument is over. [5:51] I just got to point out also, so on my show, we're doing this thing about the state of [5:55] the sports union about this issue, polling it ourselves, and we called the NCAA and we [6:00] asked how many trans athletes are there now in terms of the alleged boogeyman taking the [6:06] spots of female athletes. [6:08] After all of these regulations and these sorts of bills that have been passed, there are [6:12] zero. [6:14] Okay, zero is less than even 10. [6:16] We're going to update it, Joe, from less than 10 to literally zero. [6:19] So the invention of the opponent is, it raises another question that I have been struggling [6:24] with, if I can just pivot very briefly here. [6:27] I asked Wes Moore this question. [6:29] He didn't specifically deal with it. [6:31] What was the sound Donald Trump made? [6:35] Was it a ribbit? [6:36] The ribbit clip? [6:37] Yeah. [6:37] Jordan, in your estimation, what's happening with him? [6:42] Why are those noises leaving his mouth? [6:44] What was that noise? [6:45] Well, you've seen blood is pooling in weird places. [6:47] And what that does to the vocal cords, I don't think science has figured out yet. [6:50] He's cut all of the funding for the doctors who can figure that out. [6:53] So we're not going to get to the bottom of that. [6:56] I'd like to think he's finding, I mean, I think perhaps the dog whistles are taking a [7:00] different form and it sounds more like some sort of a ribbit frog, a ribbit of sorts. [7:05] So Jordan, let's watch a clip from the special where you speak with some Texas voters about [7:09] the state's Republican Senate nominee, Ken Paxton. [7:12] Are you excited about Ken Paxton? [7:13] I know he's not perfect and I know he's done a lot of things that's not quite right. [7:19] I've always respected his record as attorney general. [7:22] I've never heard Paxton say anything that would go against Christianity. [7:26] His wife divorced him on biblical grounds. [7:28] Absolutely. [7:29] Yeah, that's widely known. [7:30] What do you think it means by biblical grounds? [7:33] Not my concern. [7:34] Could the biblical grounds be like using the Lord's name in vain or a corruption indictment? [7:38] I've never heard him accused of using the Lord's name in vain. [7:41] So it's not that one. [7:42] So it's probably like one of those. [7:45] Everybody knows what he's been accused of. [7:48] It's not an issue. [7:49] Not exactly a ringing endorsement for Trump's pick. [7:52] But to be fair, even Trump doesn't seem that excited about him. [7:56] He could be a pain in the ass sometimes, I'll be honest. [7:58] You might not like the way he looks. [8:00] You might not love his look. [8:01] He may not dress right. [8:02] He may not talk exactly perfectly. [8:05] And he may not be the best looking guy I've ever seen. [8:08] I'm not going to have a heart attack and drop on the ground because Trump said that. [8:12] That's right. [8:12] You'll vote for the Fuggo. [8:14] When Trump calls Paxson ugly and a loser, he's just, is that like terms of endearment? [8:20] It's like the same thing our friends hanging out and they're like, hey, you're short. [8:24] I'm like, oh, you're so tiny or whatever. [8:27] Donald Trump comes out and says, thank you for waiting. [8:29] Let's go vote for this ugly loser. [8:30] You're going to say, yes. [8:32] Yeah. [8:32] All the way down the ballot. [8:34] Yeah. [8:35] Yeah. [8:35] The support for Trump and Paxson is especially rich to me because I remember as a Republican, [8:39] all the evangelicals telling me about how evil Bill Clinton was back in 99 and people would [8:46] write books, you know, the, the, the, the, the dictionary of character or whatever it was [8:51] called when character was still king character, character, character. [8:55] People would be telling me at town hall meetings, Bill Clinton can never be president because [8:58] character comes first. [9:00] These same people now are lining up to vote for a man who is impeached by Republicans. [9:08] They're lining up to see and support Donald Trump. [9:12] I think when we went to talk to everybody at this event, nobody wanted to talk about Paxton. [9:17] They could, they could, they could echo the party line there, but I think going to these [9:21] MAGA events where they're trying to bring out the base, they're less about curiosity and [9:27] support for these local candidates. And it's just by rote fidelity to, to Donald Trump yet again [9:32] and again. And so like the Christianity, again, it felt so, it felt so hollow when you bring up [9:37] moral failings there, but then it was brought back out again to wield against Tallarico because [9:42] of some of the, the, the gender conversations he had. [9:44] Ah, that's situational Christianity. That's, that's cool. [9:48] It's always good for me. [9:48] Really quickly, uh, in closing, you've been to Trump rallies for years now. [9:54] Yeah. Talk about the intensity here, the more intense, less intense, about the same as it's [9:59] always been. [9:59] You know, it's, I would say numbers are lower, but you hear some people trying to point to the [10:04] empty seats in the stands. People are still showing up. He goes to San Antonio and there [10:07] are lines around the block and they show up for 12 hours. [10:09] Wow. [10:10] It's fascinating though. The, the negative ads are working, but the people who are there [10:14] are in it to win it. And I see an intensity by the MAGA base, but I'm not seeing necessarily [10:19] an updating of the, the points of view or the talking points outside of these basic [10:24] ones we've talked about here. They've unplugged as well. I would get into the nitty gritty [10:29] of what happened in the last few weeks and they're not paying attention. So I've heard [10:31] of that happening on the left where people got so exhausted by Trump, but even the MAGA [10:35] faithful, I feel the exhaustion and I see them just echoing the things they've been saying [10:40] for 10 years. [10:40] The new special Red Flags premieres tonight at 1130 Eastern on Comedy Central. It's also [10:46] going to be available to stream tomorrow on Paramount Plus, as well as on The Daily Show's [10:51] YouTube channel. And the award-winning co-host of The Daily Show, Jordan Klepper. Jordan, [10:55] thank you again. [10:56] Thank you. [10:57] Thank you, Jordan. [10:58] Thanks. [10:58] Hey, it's Rachel. I am so glad to see you at the end of that clip, because this is where [11:02] I get to tell you about a new way to watch all our clips and all of our shows and everything [11:08] on MS Now on your phone or your tablet or your laptop. You can watch things live or recorded. [11:14] Plus, you can ask me and all the other hosts and reporters questions in our weekly live [11:18] chats. You can go to ms.now slash membership or just click below. Thanks.