Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Socialism, Politics & NYC — The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart

[0:00] it sounds like what you're doing differently is you're being competent or you know ruthlessly [0:07] pursuing those goals and chipping away at them so why why take that on you know i i want to be [0:13] honest with people about what it is that i actually believe in and i also think what we've seen over [0:18] many decades is a fear-mongering in our politics where anything that we disagree with or anything [0:24] that portends significant change is described as if it is socialist you know at times as if it is [0:31] communist and the intent of that is to end the conversation there and then and it especially [0:37] happens when you're talking about something that would disproportionately benefit working people [0:40] if we truly want to reckon with one in four new yorkers being in poverty we have to also ask [0:46] ourselves about if it's important to change the framework with which what we determine success [0:51] to be and also you know being a muslim democratic socialist i thought it would be pretty [0:57] straightforward you're just like what if i label myself something that scares people the most [1:04] i'm a muslim democratic socialist if you scare him you scare him twice and i'd like to run your [1:10] public transportation system ladies and gentlemen welcome once again to the weekly show podcast my [1:19] name is john stewart uh it is today is tuesday july 21st we are coming off of the uh the beautiful world [1:29] cup that was held in canada mexico in the united states and and what a treat that that was and it's [1:35] and and it's it's over now and i do hope that the enthusiasm and the love that americans showed for [1:44] the game of football and for the countries that were playing it's i hope this isn't like we had a [1:49] foreign exchange student come live with us for six weeks and like got along great but now that they're [1:55] gone and every now and again we'll check back in by text no i hope that it's a lasting relationship and [2:01] and one that we that that we value uh but you know in these times these are the moments uh post world cup [2:09] there's a period of reflection and uh and we're going to do that on today's podcast not reflecting on the [2:14] world but reflecting on uh one of the cities that was central to the world cup experience which was [2:21] new york city and who better to check in uh with new york city and with how things are going at that [2:29] time than his honor for god's sakes the mayor of new york city let's talk to the mayor why not why not [2:36] us let's talk to the mayor of new york city so ladies and gentlemen uh we have the distinct honor [2:45] and pleasure today to be welcoming the mayor of the great great city uh that is uh the one that [2:52] never sleeps the biggest apple of them all new york city mayor zoran mamdani is joining us mayor mr [2:59] mayor your honor his honor your honor how are you i'm doing well man thank you for having me it's a [3:06] pleasure to be back are you still feeling the afterglow the joy of the of the halo effect of the new [3:15] york knickerbockers incredible run to the championship this year do you still feel it one [3:21] hundred percent it is it nixon five has become a greeting in new york city it's the most beautiful [3:29] one one question sir uh at city hall at the end of the canyon of heroes in the parade there was a great [3:37] deal of uh nick's memorabilia uh that was hung up around the in decorative fashion giant nick's [3:45] caricatures uh nick's jerseys i guess my question to you is may i have those you know what i'll ask [3:55] the team where they are i don't know if there's a i don't know if there's a shed behind city hall where [4:00] they keep them but if if they're still there i will get back to you brother i appreciate it how are you [4:08] feeling now so you have been the mayor for you you started january 1st it is now july seven months [4:18] what's the reality of being the mayor is is what is the difference between the rhetoric of running for [4:24] mayor and the reality of governing as mayor there's often a lot made of a campaign as if it is easier [4:32] and a governing as if it is a harder experience yes i think both are challenging i think what is lost though [4:38] is that governing comes with the opportunity to deliver when you're campaigning you're asking [4:43] people to believe you're asking them to put their trust into a politics that's often disappointed [4:48] them and when you're governing you can earn their trust by what you deliver and so it is much easier [4:54] to have a conversation about this vision today when we've been able to pave 175 000 potholes put the [5:01] city on a path to universal child care win more than 60 million dollars for tenants whose landlords [5:07] made negligence into a business model when we have that conversation now you can point to what these [5:12] last six months have looked like under democratic socialist principles when you have it during the [5:17] campaign sir what we're we're being recorded right now what are you doing apologies you're throwing [5:21] in the s word i didn't mean to use a slur don't throw in the s word i didn't mean to use a slur [5:26] live on this podcast son of a what i just wanted to make sure that we're going to be together in the [5:33] cell when we're all rounded up all right fair enough so that's the interesting thing there's a [5:38] caricature of democratic socialism and there's a reality of democratic socialism and then there is [5:44] just governing that has very little to do with democratic socialism so can we tease those a part a [5:53] little bit in your mind what is governing by the principles of democratic socialism what does that entail [5:59] it means making the choice every day to fight for working people it means that you believe that [6:04] everyone in your city deserves to live a dignified life no matter how much money is in their pocket [6:09] and what we've found is that this city is many things all at once it's both the wealthiest city [6:15] and the wealthiest country in the history of the world and it's also a city where one in four people [6:19] are living in poverty and so that you'll often hear the phrase don't sweat the small stuff to me being [6:24] a democratic socialist is also sweating the small stuff because for a lot of new yorkers it's those [6:30] things that are the measure of how they're how difficult or easy their life is whether they're able [6:35] not only to pay for their rent or their child care but whether they're able to also rely on city [6:40] government to get around their city to breathe in their city to experience life in their city [6:45] and i think that we've we've forgotten that at the heart of what we want to deliver is not just [6:52] the existence of a public sector it's also the excellence and efficiency of a public sector i want [6:57] new yorkers to be choosing to this city government every single day as opposed to feeling as if they're [7:03] subjected to it to me though that statement if if a democrat was running or even a republican to some [7:10] extent that feels like something that everybody would say we want everybody be able to thrive [7:16] in this city is there something about democratic socialism as a theory that brings those to bear [7:26] in other words is it about the safety net is it about you know the caricature is you're a communist [7:32] who's going to nationalize the industries you're going to take over goldman sachs i'm actually coming [7:38] on this podcast to let you know that it's now my podcast wait what yes here's the thing here's what [7:44] i love about that you walk the walk that's the important thing somebody had to seize the means [7:49] of this production and it was it was this specific production that i was talking about wait i'm doing [7:54] this in jersey i'm out of your jurisdiction man i'm not even around there you were doing this in [8:00] jersey wait you're moving me damn you stalin i think that to your point there there are a lot of [8:09] politicians of a variety of ideologies who will speak about housing is a human right for example [8:16] or health care is a human right or they'll talk about dignity i think that the where the rubber meets [8:21] the road is are you actually willing to ensure that that which no one should be priced out of no one [8:28] is in fact priced out of it so i'll give you an example okay child care it's hard to find a politician [8:34] who'll say child care should be more expensive they'll generally say they'll generally say it [8:40] should be more affordable right right um but are you willing to take the step to provide child care [8:46] as something that is guaranteed to new yorkers regardless of how much money they have in their [8:50] pocket so one of our focuses has been universal child care right take the successes of free child [8:57] care for three-year-olds of pre-k and extend it to two-year-olds now it's not just as simple as saying [9:04] oh yes i want to do that you have to also be willing to fight for the revenue you need to do [9:08] that and so day eight of our administration we secure an agreement with the governor for 1.2 billion [9:15] that unlocks free child care for two-year-olds for the first time in new york city and our dream [9:21] is that this will extend not only to the 2 000 two-year-olds this year or the 12 000 next year [9:26] but every single two-year-old by the end of four years and it's not just a dream it's it's a promise [9:31] and it's a commit so in some respects is it about the priorities that you have are about quality of [9:38] life for those even if they don't make because universal uh pre-k or universal child care those [9:45] kinds of things you know de blasio might have brought that up or you know it's it's not something [9:51] that i think that the caricature of democratic socialism is that you're a different it's a [10:00] completely different ideology than those that we have seen or is it perhaps just a different [10:07] nomenclature than we've seen i think part of it is that words have lost their meaning over time [10:13] there we go that's this is where i'm this is where i'm getting to is is it really about the labels is [10:19] my i i think if if you go back to some of the democrats that we most admire fdr laguardia you will [10:28] see a lot of democratic socialist principles in their vision and if you think about a lot of what [10:34] we've come to accept as just the facts of life across our country a lot of it is also still driven [10:40] by democratic socialist principles now if today you and i were to introduce the idea of a building that [10:47] lends out books for free we would be slandered in the same way that so many new ideas are slandered [10:52] today and yet that's the library and the same thing with the fire department the same thing with public [10:56] schools and it's to say that a lot of politics has been a debate about who deserves what and i [11:03] would prefer a politics that debates how we can deliver that to everyone and and and to deliver [11:10] it at a standard that is so good that no matter how much money in your pocket you opt for that and i [11:15] think at its best the new york city subway is an illustration where no matter how much money you have [11:22] in your pocket you understand that if you want to get from point a to point b best way is to get on [11:27] that trend that's for sure so to to that end was there ever a consideration for you because of the [11:37] priorities that you have why take on the label of democratic socialist knowing that it comes with [11:45] a lot of other baggage that may not be helpful to you in your pursuit of what are what was it about [11:54] what they were saying that drew you as opposed to running as the things that you're suggesting to me if [11:59] you ran on these as a democrat i it's not i wouldn't say like what what the heck you know it's it sounds [12:06] very much in line with that it sounds like what you're doing differently is you're being competent [12:14] or you know ruthlessly pursuing those goals and and and chipping away at them so why why take that on [12:22] you know i i want to be honest with people about what it is that i actually believe in and i also think [12:28] what we've seen over many decades is a fear-mongering in our politics for anything that we disagree with [12:34] or anything that portends significant change is described as if it is socialist you know at times [12:41] as if it is communist and the intent of that is to end the conversation there and then and it especially [12:47] happens when you're talking about something that would disproportionately benefit working people [12:51] and i think it's important because we keep speaking about some of the inequities and inequalities [12:58] that we see in our city as if they are bugs in a system as opposed to features and and if we truly [13:05] want to reckon with one in four new yorkers being in poverty we have to also ask ourselves about if it's [13:12] important to change the framework with which what we determine success to be and also you know being a [13:19] muslim democratic socialist i thought it would be pretty straightforward you're just like what if i [13:25] label myself something that scares people the most i'm a muslim democratic socialist if you scare him [13:31] you scare him twice and i'd like to run your public transportation system so is is there in in some [13:39] regard is this a is the idea being if i can show myself to be a competent steward of the [13:49] day-to-day functioning of maybe one certainly one of the most complex city systems in the world [13:58] i can demystify i can take these labels that are so loaded with fear and i can maybe uh take a little [14:10] bit of that caricature out of them i mean my my true goal is to deliver for the people of the city and [14:18] if in the process of doing so we can demystify so much of the fear that has become the norm in our [14:24] politics i i welcome it and and i also think that for a long time we've discussed democratic socialism [14:32] as an intellectual debate we haven't been able to point to what examples look like of it delivering for [14:38] people right and now we have that just over six months and i think that it's it's an incredibly [14:45] exciting opportunity because there's a reason so many new yorkers lost faith in city government [14:51] and and the political impulse of lecturing someone as to why they should believe and why they should [14:57] vote as opposed to asking yourself why is it that they lost that faith when you're governing you have [15:02] the opportunity to not just listen but also then respond in action not in words and and i think that [15:09] what's been so exciting is to see that new yorkers understand that some things will take time and some [15:15] things that can be done immediately and if you're able to show that you're doing both then it is [15:20] exactly the kind of extension of an arm to say would you like to join this movement and i've just heard [15:26] from so many that they would ground news is what it's about they might you know what i used to sometimes [15:35] think that you guys are my best friend but i think ground news might be my best friend i think i want [15:39] to get a rental at the jersey shore with ground news have like a barbecue ground news is a website [15:46] and an app because this is uh america in the 2020s you gotta have an app and it helps you better [15:55] understand the news you consume with ground news you can see who owns every news outlet and you compare [16:01] how these different outlets frame their stories compare news coverage of a story see how the same [16:05] events painted across different news outlets and why the headlines differ you got to understand who owns [16:10] it to understand the editorial priorities uh they got a blind spot feed helps you find stories that [16:15] aren't being covered by uh your side the nobel peace center called it an excellent way to stay [16:20] informed and expand your world view and the fifa peace center uh well they they didn't weigh in [16:27] yet but they will that's also a very big peace center to get the same unlimited access to the vantage [16:32] subscription go to groundnews.com steward and subscribe to get 40 off i've partnered with ground [16:39] news to get you the discount that is available only for a limited time that's groundnews.com steward [16:45] or scan the qr code on screen thank you to ground news for sponsoring this episode it's such an [16:54] interesting thing because when you talk about the demonization you know i i always think people [16:59] always say oh that's anti-capitalist and in some respects i think it's it's the opposite you know [17:07] capitalism i think would have faced a much stiffer opposition from communism and socialism [17:13] in the 1930s if the new deal hadn't been instituted if we hadn't had created a more robust social safety [17:22] net revolution would have been much more on the table without social security without the you know [17:28] uh better housing for people and i wonder if that's similar today that in some respects what [17:34] you're doing is actually a reform movement for capitalism to some extent i mean there's some of the [17:40] things that you've said social security if you go back and see how that was treated when it was [17:47] first introduced right it was it was described as the sovietization of america medicare and now [17:53] it is thought of as one of the most american things that we could ever be talking about [17:57] and i think about you know when you go around new york city and you see these monuments to fdr to the [18:04] new deal you know you go to four freedoms park on roosevelt island it is it is a sad reflection of the [18:11] state of the democratic party that a lot of what is said in those in in in those programs and those [18:19] visions today would sound as if it is a bridge too ambitious for the party that we belong to [18:25] and and i think that's that's part of my hope as a democrat is how do we ensure that new yorkers [18:31] and americans don't have to look to the history books to be able to find a party platform that speaks [18:39] about a freedom from want and a freedom from fear i think it's a question of also how you're gonna get [18:46] there because i think you know if i may and you tell me if you think this wrong as i watch you pursuing [18:53] your agenda it doesn't seem radical it it seems workmanlike you you know when you talked about uh the [19:03] universal child care you didn't uh seize the means of child care and create a soviet style uh system [19:11] where they all get the same little uniform and they all come in at four years old and they you know [19:17] pray to the uh the gods of of socialism you didn't even really raise that you went to the governor [19:24] and she was able to help uh you know fill in a little bit of the financial gap you created a [19:31] pied-de-terre uh uh tax for uh you know second homes that for the over five million dollars in [19:39] value is that correct like they're not these are not particularly radical reinventions it feels like [19:47] smart prioritizing if i may well i i think that a lot of it comes back to how do you judge the success [19:55] of your work and i think you have to judge it by what you deliver and one of the cornerstones of our [20:01] campaign was universal child care given the fact that in a cost of living crisis child care is the [20:08] second highest expense for families in new york city we're talking about twenty thousand dollars a [20:15] year for a single child and in this city you have to make three hundred and thirty four thousand dollars [20:22] to be able to afford that kind of expense and to me it is how do we move as quickly as possible is [20:28] that all over this city or is that is that does that vary in boroughs or that's that's the average [20:34] for all five boroughs that's the measure across the five boroughs that that's how much your family [20:39] would have to earn to be able to absorb that kind of a hit and people earn less than that and they [20:44] find ways to make it work but not without it being to the detriment of themselves and their financial [20:49] situation right and i think that you know i never thought that i'd be the guy making it easier for [20:54] aunties at the family function to pressure you into having a kid but but here we are so in some [21:02] respects zoran mamdani's mayoralty has been an aphrodisiac for for new yorkers to to begin to [21:11] repopulate this grand experiment i can see the attack ads now exactly zoran mamdani the the aphrodisiac so [21:20] what about what you're trying to deliver has been slightly more complicated than what you thought it would [21:25] be you know we we can walk through it housing so you were able to get through a rent freeze a two [21:31] year rent freeze yes yeah the independent rent guidelines board established a two-year rent freeze [21:36] for for over two million new yorkers who live in rent stabilized housing right and again not when they [21:43] people immediately cried communism it's not unprecedented the two years is unprecedented but [21:47] this has been done for one year by other yeah they have done it in the past yeah uh what about in [21:53] terms of housing what's been uh you know what have you been able to deliver what's frustrated you [22:00] what's the next step well i think i'll just take a step back to tell you john the most challenging [22:06] thing overall was when i came into this position i expected that it would be difficult in terms of the [22:14] finances of the city especially given my predecessor's approach to those finances what i did not expect was [22:20] 12 billion dollars worth of difficulty right and and you're you're the fiscal conservative like even [22:28] with the city council you've got uh uh what is her name menon julie menon speaker julie menon [22:34] julie men upper east side wealthy upper east side lady we all know the caricature you know they don't pick [22:40] up after their dogs you know what i'm talking about you're the fiscal conservative in that relationship [22:47] did that surprise you i you know it is when i've talked about wanting city government to be [22:56] remade in the image of a struggling new yorker one aspect of it is that we be as careful with our [23:02] money as working new yorkers are with theirs and one of the many reasons for that is that this is their [23:08] money and when we're looking at when we looked at that fiscal deficit what was hard one of the many things [23:15] that was challenging about it is that you couldn't blame it on an external reality you couldn't say [23:21] oh it's the fiscal crisis of 2008 everyone can see what's going on across the country and the world [23:27] this was in many ways purely of city hall's doing it was mismanagement and under budgeting and it had [23:34] been building for years and i think that one of my goals is how do we write the ship not just in a 12 [23:43] month you know interval but frankly on a medium and a long term because if you're just trying to [23:49] survive on a calendar year basis you're you know in many ways going to have to rob peter to pay paul [23:55] and that's eventually that bill is going to come due and the thing that i'm looking forward to next [23:59] year is that we're not going to have to inherit a 12 billion dollar fiscal deficit no matter how tough [24:04] it is right right although that's what do you do with you know there are certain things that [24:09] you know they sort of call them gimmicks as you start to um to balance the budget and there a lot [24:15] of the mayors have done that they're sort of these things that they pass along to other i think bloomberg [24:19] was one of the ones who did it how does straightening out that without pulling from different pension [24:26] funds that are going to you know mature in 2032 how do you begin to straighten those finances out [24:36] without having to use kinds of you know it's in in some ways it's like you're the gm of a football [24:42] team that's got a salary cap you know you you don't want to go into that second apron for new york city [24:47] man and so how do you begin to do that in a manner that is more objectively grounded and and not really [24:58] budgetary uh uh magic well first you know you you brought it up so i just gotta say i'm already [25:06] missing mitch um it's very it's very hurtful it's very hurtful we'll we'll continue on did you see [25:14] his comment on the boston celtics instagram page what no oh when he went after the celtics fans when [25:20] he said i own you yeah that's like god bless can i tell you something there is a monster truck sized hole [25:29] in my heart yes it's one of the best tick tock pages to go to he's the best so so funny i never [25:37] appreciated those cars until i saw those videos i know seeing him stand i think that was his truck [25:41] in the parade by the way i don't even think that was i think that was actually he just drove he drove [25:46] there that day and just got in the back of it i think that's how it worked god bless yeah um but but [25:51] to your to your actual question i think one of the key things is you have to ask yourself is this [25:58] arbitrary or does this have a rationale okay and what i mean by that is for example with the pension system [26:05] we had a deferred payment that was spread out over about 22 years or so and every year the cost to [26:13] the city was increasing and then it was going to just fall off a cliff in terms of the city it was [26:19] going to go up about maybe six billion dollars a year and then the next year is going to be zero dollars [26:24] and some of the challenges that we're facing are challenges of this moment specifically because [26:29] of just how much under budgeting there was how much money the city was spending but [26:33] not showing on its books for a lot of its different social programs and services and so when we looked [26:39] at that and we said if you just spread what had already been 22 years if you just extend it by a [26:44] few years you would then be able to take savings that you will get the year after as you're scheduled [26:50] to but instead spread them over then you can actually make sure that you're able to steward this [26:55] in a way that's more healthy in a medium-term level now i know that there are others who've seen [27:00] municipalities move around their pension obligations and there's a worry of what does this mean for you [27:06] know are you going to honor that this that and the other the thing that's different in new york city is [27:10] that we are not only funding our pension systems at a much higher level than many of the other [27:16] municipalities that are being cited but also that it's not a question of if we're going to get to 100 [27:21] funded it's just a question of when in the 2030s we would do so and and then do you have to look at it [27:26] because i guess there's sort of different areas like we'll spend less here but we need to raise [27:31] more revenue here is is there a kind of interplay between the kinds of taxes because albany i imagine [27:37] is not going to go along with really raising taxes in the same way that you might want to i think what [27:43] you'll find actually is there are a lot of people in albany who do agree with the vision of raising [27:48] taxes a little bit more on the wealthiest so that everyone can afford life in new york city and you know [27:54] what what but what it is as you said is it can't just be one thing it has to both be a conversation [28:00] about revenue and a conversation about savings so we actually created something called chief [28:04] savings officers for the first time where we had in every single agency and department oh sure csos [28:10] csos come on csos but that's you know you're at the water cooler you know you're talking to your [28:16] friend you're like hey have you heard about the csos what do you think about the csos hey do you know [28:19] the csos coming in here you got like five csos over here me and my csos were hanging out catching up [28:25] beautiful yeah and the csos they found about 1.7 billion dollars in savings across city government [28:35] and they're actually going to continue that work right because when you look at the size of our [28:41] budget and you also look at what the approach has been to the finances of our city we know that there [28:46] are more savings to be had and sometimes these are the efficiencies that come from when you're [28:51] actually pressure testing how we've been doing things there's savings to be had when you actually [28:56] say that you know could that contract that you're giving to a consultant actually be done in-house and [29:01] it can be a lot of times were there stuff in the budget as you went through you're like [29:07] 100 million dollars on mittens what is this like did you find things that you couldn't believe you were [29:12] just like where's these love seats what's going on i haven't i haven't i haven't seen that specific [29:20] example you don't comb it through like that it's not we do come through um and and there were a [29:25] number of things where you you can't provide a justification for it and if you can't provide one [29:31] then why should the city be spending that money a lot of times it comes from a vision of government [29:37] where you want to hollow out its capacity and privatize as much of its responsibility and oftentimes [29:42] it's done in the name of fiscal prudence and yet what you find is you end up overpaying for that [29:48] external capacity than what it would look like if you invested internally i mean you know we've [29:53] talked about in the past this you know the previous administration had an ai chatbot that [29:59] cost hundreds of thousands of dollars that was not even usable or is it just like the microsoft [30:06] paperclip that just pops up what can i do for you today it's like i thought you lost your job [30:12] it's just ask jeeves he's just back right that's all they do is they just run it through that [30:17] and you look at that and it's not just the amount of money it's also the number of vendors that we went [30:22] through to get to that point it just speaks to an approach to contracting that does not actually save [30:28] you money and it doesn't build any kind of long-term fluency what it does is just lock you into [30:34] commitments that will cost you money and and oftentimes won't even perform those services i don't [30:43] know if you know this about me but uh my summer wardrobe is and i've i've taken to this been for [30:47] many years now 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your order and 365 day returns now available in canada too that's q-u-i-n-c-e [32:13] dot com slash tws for free shipping and 365 day returns quince.com slash tws the contrast between [32:26] the caricature of you if you spend any time speaking to you there's a grounded seriousness and reality [32:34] to the way that you're approaching these problems look there's gonna be mistakes there's gonna be [32:39] first snowstorm is not gonna be the same as the second snowstorm as fat joe has in his song today's [32:45] snowstorm is not tomorrow but that was the first draft that was the first draft of that song but i [32:52] the caricature so trump will tweet out communist lunatic and are there criticisms that bother you are [33:02] there ones you laughed on you know uh the city tweeted out during the heat wave put your thermostats [33:07] to 78 and immediately ted cruz from texas is like social the warmth of collectivism meanwhile texas [33:15] tweets out the same thing and so does the energy department of the united states of america which [33:19] they pull off of their website out of fear that now they will be associated with this do any of those [33:27] criticisms permeate do any of them land have you heard any of the criticisms where you thought to [33:33] yourself actually that's constructive and i will think about how to make uh adjustments to that any [33:41] of that look i i took offense when they came for socialist icon rudy giuliani's energy policy i said [33:47] you say what you want about me but you you know what nobody puts rudy in a corner let's let's let's not [33:57] go there let's not go let's not but but but i think you know it is easy when there is this much noise [34:05] to tell yourself that all of it is exactly that tune it all out but that's also what it will leave [34:14] you in an echo chamber you cannot have it that you are only surrounded by people who agree with you [34:20] you might as well just stay home at that point and i think that the job that i have that my team has that [34:25] our administration has is how do you listen to all of it and then separate out what is actually worth [34:32] engaging with and what is just driven by the algorithm and written in response to what the [34:39] algorithm responds to and rewards and and i think that the the other part of this is no matter how good [34:46] we may feel about whatever achievement we have or how this you know six months has gone you always have [34:51] to push yourself because every day is an opportunity to do better for new yorkers and i think that's [34:56] something that i love about this city is you especially see it in in kind of sports culture but [35:03] i would say even in in the cultural aspect of the city there is this sense of having to be the best [35:09] of driving yourself sure each and every day and yet in our politics that often feels as if it's missing [35:16] there there is somehow in a city that is that is the best in the world at so many things mediocrity has [35:21] come to be accepted as the standard in our politics and i think that that's it's something that that we [35:27] shouldn't accept any longer and it was one of the things that i think drew people to you if i may is [35:33] there was a it it didn't just feel like platitudes there was a specificity to the affordability argument [35:40] you know i see a lot of politicians that they they perform the rhetoric of that argument we need to get [35:47] back to kitchen table issues and all that rather than going out to a halal food truck and go why is [35:53] this 14 there's like three pieces of chicken in here it's right like why does that cost that way [35:58] you know is is affordability the toughest challenge that you think you'll face i think so because this [36:06] is could this still be a middle-class city that that is what it has to be and i think if if we if [36:14] we allow it to continue on the path it's been for many years it will become a museum of where working [36:21] class people once lived and we we don't want this to be something that people can visit to pay tribute [36:26] to what it once was we want it to be a living breathing testament to that energy and i think what [36:32] is one of the most concerning things that i hear is when i turn to someone who is working as hard as [36:40] they can for the city and i ask them how long their commute home is and they tell me it's ours because [36:46] they're going to another state or another city that's a reflection of a failure to ensure that [36:53] those who build the city can live in the city and the reason i think that affordability will be our [36:58] greatest challenge and also our greatest opportunity is this is what is pushing people out of this city [37:04] you you cannot disentangle a cost of housing of child care of groceries from the exodus of working [37:10] class people from out of the city some of these things are new york city specific some of them [37:15] are true across the entire country and we have to finally change direction so that people can [37:22] actually afford to live here see that i think is said it brings up such an interesting point and you [37:28] don't get sick i don't know what they're doing you protect get this man some purel and that you do not [37:34] get sick brother no i'm on that i'm on that emergency every day i take that i take that vitamin c you're [37:40] shaking too many hands i see it every day the uh but but you know the big uh talking point is my god [37:50] this communist lunatic is going to drive out our billionaires as though that is the reason that [37:56] people are drawn to new york that that tourists come here and go let's go down to little billionaire [38:02] and uh it's the area of new york where the billionaires live and we can enjoy a small slice [38:06] of how they live but the real danger to new york is not the couple of billionaires who feel as though [38:14] taxing their second home is too burdensome for that but the exodus of essential workers [38:22] who can no longer afford to be anywhere near this area wouldn't that be much more devastating what [38:29] you're saying speaks to the fact that for all of the conversation about an imagined capital flight [38:35] there already is a flight it's just of working class people and we know that the racial dynamics [38:40] of this are also immense but we've seen over the past few decades our city has lost 200 000 black new [38:47] yorkers from 2010 to 2019 the population of black children and teenagers declined by 19 and you can [38:56] feel that in this city in neighborhoods that are shells of what they once were and small businesses that [39:03] don't have those same customers coming through that came in for years in classrooms that are a [39:07] little less full if we want to be honest about what it's going to take it's not just going to be [39:12] one day to the next it's also going to have to be a complete shift i mean i'll give you an example [39:18] of this when we talk about housing since the early 1960s new york city started to make decisions [39:24] that would render it unable to build the level of housing it needed to to keep up with demand what [39:30] were those are those zoning decisions a lot of those are zoning decisions decisions around capacity [39:35] and and also around size of building scale of building and you'll walk around the city you'll [39:40] see buildings that are incredible that we associate with our city yet you could not build them today [39:45] because they were built prior to to those zoning changes being having happened right and one of the [39:52] critical things here is we have to treat the cost of living crisis as both a short-term crisis and a [39:58] long-term crisis we have to take immediate action and then we have to do the long-term work of being [40:03] able to build 200 000 new affordable homes over 10 years because if you do not have a city that is [40:08] growing a city that is building then what you have is a city that has died and it's difficult because [40:13] here's now here's your dilemma hit me you make this place too nice then rents are really gonna then [40:19] the whole then you're because you are you're in a vicious cycle in some respects look we joke about [40:24] it but there are a lot of people in brooklyn that are resentful as brooklyn started to change and [40:30] develop it gentrified and suddenly the people that lived in brooklyn as my family did when when when [40:36] they came here couldn't afford to live there anymore it's as though when they finally came in and made [40:43] the neighborhoods more livable that drove out the people that had been living there and i imagine [40:49] that's a difficult problem to solve as well it's this strange trap and i think anyone growing up in [40:55] this city has gone through the experience of looking at a construction site in their neighborhood [40:59] and asking themselves is this for me or is this going to push me out and and one of the key things [41:06] here is that we have to both build more housing than we've ever seen in our city in a long time and [41:12] do it while strengthening the tenant protections that we have in this city so that we're not forced to [41:18] choose between the tenants of today and the tenants of tomorrow and i think to what you said there are [41:22] a lot of new yorkers who rightfully associate even just investments in their own neighborhood as if it [41:28] is the appetizer to displacement right and we have to show that these things are not in fact tied together [41:36] that you do not need new residents to invest in that old park you can do that and i think you know when [41:42] we go back to this conversation around the fiscal deficit of the 12 billion dollars there is in that [41:48] moment it is all too easy to say my only focus right now is to get out of this fiscal crisis and then [41:54] everything else will figure it out next year we wanted to also use it as an opportunity to show that [41:59] we mean what we say that you do want to still fund your parks your libraries your cultural institutions [42:06] and do it in a way that annualizes that funding as opposed to making it subject to every single year's [42:12] you know budget dance with the city council and that's also to me what is a critical part of [42:17] earning those new yorkers trust back is that they see those investments in their neighborhood and [42:23] they'd see it before anyone's ever going to talk to them that you may have to leave we want them to [42:27] stay and it's and and sometimes it's a small i i tell you this seems like a ridiculous thing [42:32] one of the most important things you did was getting people to take some of that scaffolding down [42:36] like it's things that you do like it the scaffolding is so a part of the landscape that i almost thought [42:44] of it as like oh that's how buildings are like they're built and people just hang scaffolding like [42:48] christmas lights just never take them down like that's just a crazy weird thing and when you start [42:54] taking them down you're like oh wow new york's beautiful yeah it's it's we treated it as if it was [43:01] part of the physical landscape of the city right so much of what the approach has been is it is what [43:08] it is this is how it's always been and and that's just not acceptable and i think to your point when [43:15] you are able to change these kinds of ways that new yorkers measure their quality of life it gives them [43:24] it's an invitation to them to hope and believe but if you don't change those things then why should [43:30] they take that step and so getting back to the original sort of you know that idea of of redefining [43:36] sort of what democratic socialism can do for a city this complex and and and this size and kind of the [43:44] realism that has to go along with it and the budgetary uh you know restrictions and things that [43:50] you have to get there do you in any way have that conversation with so now democratic socialism is [43:57] considered the hottest trend in the democratic party and and there's there's energy grassroots [44:03] energy and all and and these democratic socialist candidates are popping up and you're having to [44:07] answer for every one of their policy positions and there are some look maybe i'm an old man or [44:15] a lib or whatever they want to call me but you know who's calling you this anybody if you if someone [44:20] says we're going to abolish all prisons and borders like i do go i don't think that's a good idea like [44:25] it's it feels like order and security is also a progressive value why shouldn't people in [44:31] neighborhoods with less resources have the same safety and security that neighborhoods with lots [44:37] of resources so are there tenets of those that are kind of following in the wake of zoran mamdani's [44:45] success that you're not comfortable with or that give you pause yeah if if you have more than one [44:51] socialist in a room and there isn't disagreement then you don't have more than one socialist in a room [44:55] are you allowed to have more than one socialist in the room we're actually just trying to change [45:02] that law for we're trying to get it to two it's sort of like how soccer used to be in the nasl in [45:08] the 80s there had to be two americans on every team so there's got to be there's got to be two [45:12] socialists in every room well look man now we have quarters and i didn't think that day was going to [45:16] come with with with with the world cup that's what i'm talking about so but you're comfortable with [45:21] those kinds of discussions well i i'm comfortable with disagreement and i'm comfortable with [45:26] disagreement that doesn't end the conversation entirely because i think what motivates a lot of [45:31] people is how do you deliver public safety and the thing that i've said time and again is we cannot have [45:36] new yorkers choose between safety and justice and yes i am you know doing the work with our police [45:43] department and we have been able to deliver the lowest number of murders and shootings in recorded [45:48] history and at the same time i'm doing the work to close down rikers island and ensure that we are [45:54] actually building the four smaller borough-based jails that brings an end to a horrible chapter in [46:00] new york city history and i think to your point you know when we're thinking about safety there cannot [46:05] be a hierarchy of safety where you experience it more or less depending on where you live in our city [46:11] or how much money is in your pocket and there also can't be a definition of safety that is purely [46:16] after the the fact meaning that how you respond to violence we also have to do the work of investing [46:23] so that we prevent violence to that point the department of community safety which was you know [46:29] one of those things that you would ran on which i think was sort of reprioritizing some of those [46:33] assets so that not necessarily it was always police were the first responders to everything there was [46:39] also associated how how has that come i know it the money for it didn't exist you had to do an [46:44] executive order i believe what's what's the status of that how has that grown so we've we've created [46:51] that office of community safety we have for the first time in new york city now a deputy mayor for [46:55] community safety renita francois who's doing great work in putting together what is right now a quarter [47:00] of a billion dollar budget in a lot of the very kinds of things that you're talking about and i think [47:07] you know one of the clearest examples to me is we have asked police officers to do almost everything we [47:14] can think of when it comes to dealing with the failures of not just the social safety net but [47:19] also violent crime and also and also and also across the five boroughs and what we found time and again [47:25] is that these same officers who signed up to join the department to respond to violent crime to prevent [47:31] violent crime are also being tasked with responding to a mental health call and this is the kind of work [47:38] that undermines both our ability to deliver on public safety as a whole and it shows that we need [47:45] to develop a new model here and so one of the focuses coming out of the office of community safety [47:50] is how do we provide the investment and the support so that when a new yorker calls for help with a mental [47:58] health crisis that they can also receive that help from mental health professionals as well and that's [48:04] something that continues alongside the incredible work that the office is doing with gun violence [48:10] prevention which is work that always we always need to do more and more of because we know it's an [48:15] epidemic in this city and across this country and a lot of that prevention work also comes with [48:21] investing in gun violence interrupters in the crisis management system and i've had the privilege of [48:27] meeting a number of young people who themselves have been victims of gun violence and they've told me how [48:33] organizations like the ones that new york city invests in are the ones that will respond to them [48:38] in the moment and make sure that retaliation isn't something they're thinking about but rather [48:42] recuperation is what they're focused on right so that it's it's there's a wide variety of uh [48:48] interdictions that you can do in those various situations not just after the fact make those arrests [48:53] so there's a whole cadre of groups that you know look they stood in opposition to you there was a great [49:00] amount of fear and we can run through them from police department i think there was a lot of [49:06] fear there and i know listen the cops in this city they do incredible incredible work and they don't [49:13] necessarily get the recognition and the care you know i think there was a lot of hostility to them [49:19] for a lot of years and i and i i think that's unfortunate i think they're you know like you say [49:24] that's something that you have to to battle with there's trump supporters you know new york city has [49:29] has everything uh there's the billionaire class we got it all what's your outreach like to those [49:36] communities what have you learned from those communities what have you learned from those [49:39] people how do you interact with them and how do you take in their criticisms of you or their uh fears [49:49] i think the first thing you have to do is walk into those conversations without having already made a [49:53] judgment and when when you walk into it with an open mind then it means that you can actually have a [50:01] conversation and make a decision as to how you feel after you have that conversation and i think in [50:06] a lot of our politics we we label people and then disregard them entirely we treat them as if they're [50:13] not even people worth engaging with and look i'll have conversations with more billionaires that oppose [50:19] my fiscal policies than those that don't but there's still more things to actually be discussed about [50:24] with them and similarly you know what i've also found is to our benefit the caricature of me and [50:31] what our administration would mean was so immense when i walk into a room and i don't immediately [50:37] strangle three people that are in front of me people are taken aback that might not actually be as bad [50:43] slightly low bar for a conversation now what about have did you have caricatures of them are there you [50:51] you know look i saw when you tried to go to staten island that was a rough ride but are there [50:56] caricatures that you've had of uh those folks that have been shattered when you've spent time with [51:03] them when we talk about staten island you know what comes to mind for me is when i went there i was [51:08] being protested outside uh by a number of of staten islanders who were very supportive of the president [51:16] deeply opposed to me and then when i went inside the restaurant there were other staten islanders who were [51:20] very excited about me coming there and to me it also shows me that you can just paint a broad brush [51:27] and say you know what i'm not going it's actually funny that you mention it because right after i'm [51:30] going to staten island i didn't didn't plan that have a caprese salad for me my friend i got you [51:37] beautiful thing um but yes you you grow up in the city you have caricatures of so many people that's [51:42] right and you have to leave those at the door and you also have to be willing to move beyond them and [51:49] for some of those conversations to be actually good faith ones to offer people the ability to [51:54] critique you to you and i think you know sometimes when you're the mayor you're in a position of power [52:00] you want people to just tell you oh you're you're incredible here's here's what i love most about [52:04] your agenda it's like you're not actually going to get anything done if that's how you want to be [52:07] treated we do have some leaders in this country who appreciate who appreciate that work and i'm [52:12] cognizant of your time and i really appreciate you spending here so uh the final question which i [52:17] have to ask you because it's it's dominating the news today uh you know and i the question to you [52:22] is the netanyahu thing and arresting netanyahu understanding where you're coming from there is [52:29] there a sense you have it maybe is that a distraction from all these other things that you want to do [52:35] is that taking a little bit more of the media space than you realized well i i think i have a [52:41] responsibility to be honest with new yorkers and when i'm asked a question to answer it honestly so that [52:46] was brought up to you that was brought up to you yes yes and yet i know for many new yorkers when [52:51] they see a clip it doesn't begin with the question it begins with the answer right and i think i think [52:56] the the the focus always has to be on the work that you're doing and how you find a balance between [53:02] you know not giving your kind of a classic you know a political deflection where you don't want [53:06] to answer any of those questions and focusing on the work and still finding that together and are there [53:11] any other uh leaders that you would also like to arrest because i have a list of just anybody who the [53:17] icc is called for i think we should be honoring all right seven or eight all right very very good uh [53:23] mr mayor thanks so much for joining us and uh uh keep going and we'll check back in uh every six to seven [53:29] every next championship you'll come on this show see you next year fantastic enjoy staten island have a [53:37] great day thank you my friend thank you guys oh folks it's back it's bomb buzz you know i love the [53:49] ball buzz i because i let me tell you something about my feet my i'm a delicate flower when it comes to [53:57] my uh my feet they my feet have to be ensconced in uh luscious fabrics uh your socks your socks are the [54:06] building block of your entire outfit if the socks aren't going you're not having yourself a day and [54:13] i have had you know those socks that and you wear them a couple times whenever you wash them and they [54:17] turn crinkly like how do socks get like is the alaskic just melt is it some sort of is it material [54:27] that's biodegradable and it just turns into uh nonsense but the bomb is sock and especially the sports [54:33] sock man this this bad boy it's cushioned exactly where you want it to be cushioned it is and it's [54:40] sucking up your sweat the point is this you put your boots back in the closet you got bombas warm [54:46] weather foot fair ready for the rotation they got slides and sandals they've revolutionized the feet [54:51] game foot game feet plural whatever it is for every item you purchase by the way an essential [54:58] clothing item is donated to someone facing housing insecurity so not only are they saving your feet [55:03] they're saving the world head over to bombas.com weekly and use code weekly for 20 off your first [55:10] purchase that's b-o-m-b-a-s dot com slash weekly code weekly at checkout guy's been on the job six [55:23] seven months how is his hair darker now he's getting younger he said he's on minoxidil he did is that [55:34] really true he did wow okay that's some radical transparency what is that something that what [55:41] would that work should jesus is that what can wait what have i been doing wrong youth baby youth i've [55:50] been on smoke and and carousing this is crazy that that doesn't work somebody said yeah somebody's got [55:57] to publicize that it's so interesting to me and i i would imagine he somewhat like obama was that is [56:04] very effective in diffusing the caricature because when you do talk to him it's very clear his focus [56:11] is uh very grounded in the brass tacks of the logistics of how he's gonna do this and not [56:22] necessarily the broad strokes of we must take over first the means of production and like he's literally [56:30] like there's this fund and so what we do is we defer the annuum of the fund to 35 and then we can fund [56:39] the chat like it's it's very serious i mean weirdly the ac thing for as stupid as it was is just a great [56:46] example of that where he's like set your acs to 78 and then they have a full-blown panic call it [56:51] socialism call it communism and he's like set your acs to 78 just do it i i don't know what to tell [57:01] you the funny thing was it wasn't even him like it was like an auto you know an auto text that goes [57:08] out during heat waves that had been going out for like a decade exactly yeah like you just end up looking [57:15] foolish like he's just running the city right but they really they make it seem as though he literally [57:22] was sitting back there he goes we must feel this oppressive heat because the billionaires must [57:30] understand that the people the fever of the yeah it is a huge threat to them it's like any thought [57:37] about collectivism is a threat to their way of life you know they're like radical individualists they think [57:42] about only themselves these politicians and the idea that you might have to suffer a little bit of [57:47] warmth so that everybody else can feel a little cooler is a threat what i don't understand about [57:54] it is it's already the dynamic we have in this country now in the last 50 years obviously capital [57:59] has been overvalued and labor has been undervalued and that's kind of through policy that's how this [58:05] inequality i think has been allowed to grow you don't tax capital the same way you tax labor you know [58:12] salaries are for suckers as they say yeah but you know it's not as though collectivism is unheard of [58:21] they they make it sound like we've all been living the the fountainhead like oh yeah it's so weird to [58:29] me like and and republicans social security is sacrosanct medicare is sacrosanct what do you think [58:35] those are that's setting our thermostats to 78 in a heat wave it's the same fucking thing and guess [58:42] what people really like them they're very popular people love 78 78 is a great temperature who loves [58:52] 78 joey 75 i if i may say it's a range 75 is 75 is a little more reasonable some of us you know we [58:59] might have been futzing with the dial a bit yeah guys i'm currently set to 62. that is not true [59:07] yeah you get get out of that house right now we're gonna get the office of community safety on you [59:15] britney what's about listen i know the but like when you guys are out in the city do you feel [59:20] any difference in the management of it right now do you feel any like there have been times that i've [59:26] been in the city and i have felt like when i first moved there in 86 87 and all that like [59:31] it did not feel like a safe place it did not like and and you know there was a in in that burst of [59:39] uh when they started busing in a lot of immigrants that the city was not able to absorb at first [59:45] you felt the difference there to how are you guys feeling yeah i mean i feel very safe i've felt [59:52] safe i've lived in the city for 12 years you know i've i've certainly felt safe you know for the [59:57] majority of that time um but realistic everybody who lives in new york city feels safe but have to be [1:00:02] realistic yeah like take your headphones out at night you know like if you're walking around we [1:00:07] all we all make those choices um but i think what the mayor's office is doing so well is like [1:00:12] communicating what they're doing i don't know how much i would be aware of that has changed in the [1:00:18] past six months if it wasn't for such an effective media strategy which is a huge part of governing [1:00:23] effectively it's like do your job do it well and let people know that you are doing your job well [1:00:29] right i think he's undeniably changed the mood attitude like towards politics overall which i [1:00:38] think is such a huge win and like also just reach on people that like politics doesn't have to be just [1:00:44] business as usual anymore and it's okay not like he's just like we've talked about this but the good [1:00:50] vibes he's put back into this city like the happiness the joy it's like it's not meaningless yeah [1:00:57] it's not meaningless it makes you excited to be part of a community and be out there and [1:01:02] and celebrate wins and and do fun stuff together so it's he's also let's let's i mean to come in [1:01:08] on a knicks championship and a world cup that is that that's also timing there's a certain amount [1:01:14] of timing like he could have come in on you know the 18th mets collapse which he is like simultaneously [1:01:21] yeah nobody gives a anymore i don't even i watch the mets now i'm like eight to three it's fine [1:01:28] it doesn't matter next one yeah nixon five nixon five nixon five it's fine britney what do the people [1:01:35] want john yes or no did joe biden win the 2020 election uh at this time i'm uh i'm not going to be [1:01:45] drawn into this kind of uh conversation uh and i defer to my previous statements uh on the matter [1:01:54] it's simple john yes or no uh joe biden was uh certified uh in the 2020 election uh joe biden slept [1:02:05] in the house that is traditionally reserved for the president of the united states when joe biden would [1:02:14] at three in the morning ask the chefs who are on call at that same house to make him a grilled cheese [1:02:24] sandwich they would do it uh thus reflecting his uh certified position uh at it's so bonkers [1:02:38] uh i would like to change my answer if you woke up from a coma in 2022 and said biden is the president [1:02:45] you would be right yes uh if someone were to ask the question on jeopardy during the years of 2021 to [1:02:56] 2024 uh the president currently certified of the united states of america recognized internationally [1:03:03] the answer would be uh who is uh joe robinet uh biden uh and that is uh all your time is up that's it [1:03:14] thank you so much next next question i yield i yield my time what the are we doing like it's insane [1:03:22] and it's all done to just flatter they you know i don't doubt now that with the ideological heart [1:03:28] hiring there he does have some true believers who are i mean there was a guy in homeland security who [1:03:34] was like you know sometimes i uh transport myself into chick-fil-a's like i'm sure there's like lunatics [1:03:41] out there but overwhelmingly it is a you know there's a thing in football like sometimes you [1:03:49] see it if you're watching the film like you know derrick henry will be charging down the field with [1:03:54] the ball and he's a giant running back and like very difficult to tackle and you'll see a cornerback [1:03:59] kind of come up and like do a little bit of a shimmy and not really make direct contact and they [1:04:04] always just call it as a cornerback made a business decision that was a business decision that was made [1:04:10] these people in these hearings are making business decisions their fealty to trump oftentimes is a [1:04:17] business decision or it's a building block in their larger uh project of uh reclaiming this country for [1:04:28] the heritage americans who they think built and that's and that's all it is and they know it's nonsense [1:04:33] and the way you know they know it's nonsense is all the years they've had to prove it and they have never [1:04:40] once they can do every they could do any late night uh presidential address that they want but there [1:04:47] are places where you can adjudicate where you can bring your evidence to a a place that has evidentiary [1:04:56] standards and you are allowed to do that and they don't they can't they cherry pick you know [1:05:04] intelligence reports until they can find the thing not realizing that the rest of the page debunks it [1:05:09] completely they have no ability they they shoot their own arguments in the dick time after time after [1:05:16] time but if they really believed it and if it was really true we'd know it because they would have taken [1:05:23] it and and they would have given it credence and credibility by applying actual evidentiary standard to it [1:05:31] and they don't them all right and i was going to say feed them beans but no no no beans for them [1:05:43] they don't they don't deserve they don't get up i don't know why i got mad at that that was like a [1:05:47] weird we should honestly be pretty mad about that we're all mad like yeah all right pretty yeah i had [1:05:54] like a weird yeah it's it's watching that theater is it's such a weird performance to do like especially i [1:06:03] mean i don't know not to get like too but like people that are supposed to then take on a position [1:06:07] that's independent of the president like you think of kevin warsh the new fed chairman like you're [1:06:12] supposed to not care what the president thinks and you care so much about what the president thinks [1:06:19] you're going against every sense of like every bit of common sense in your head to not be able to say [1:06:26] that he lost in 2020 and then we're supposed to have any faith in this is like that no no no no [1:06:32] he's actually independent how but it is you know in a lot of ways it's like in the middle of a job [1:06:38] interview where you're you know where national security depends on your competence where uh the [1:06:44] rule of law depends on your ability to understand it and execute it and in the middle of it they go [1:06:49] and uh one final question are keepler elves real and you have to go uh sir uh i've seen no evidence [1:07:00] that uh they are real or unreal i do know that cookies are delicious [1:07:08] uh whether or not they are made in trees is not my purview and i would like it's so stupid that's [1:07:15] how ridiculous it all is these are unserious people it dumb yes okay what else bring john [1:07:24] do you think donald trump will write a presidential memoir no i think someone will write a presidential [1:07:32] memoir and it will say written by donald trump but it will not be written by donald trump yeah [1:07:38] do you think donald trump will write his name legibly on a piece of paper yeah no i don't i don't i [1:07:44] think donald trump will film a presidential movie about his i think donald trump will do a radio uh serial on [1:07:51] i think there will be a podcast there will be a building somewhere in florida that will look like [1:07:57] the legion of doom and you know what if i'm donald trump the the truth is if you're donald trump [1:08:03] you're hard pressed not to think you are that special boy because he really has lived this [1:08:09] weird life that lacks accountability where the rest of us really are npcs they stormed the [1:08:16] capital innocent they beat the out of police officers they sprayed them they hit them with [1:08:22] flagpoles with the confederate flag flying off them and in the next election he won anyway and he had [1:08:29] sex with a a porn actress after the birth of his son and his wife was like meh like how could you not [1:08:37] live that life and you know and paid the the actually 130 000 and his lawyer went to jail for [1:08:44] it he was fine it is like at a certain point it's that uh m night chamel on movie with bruce willis [1:08:52] like invincible like it's it's a train wreck hey but my clothes aren't even ripped like yeah how do you [1:09:00] not come away from that thinking i guess i am a god he walks between raindrops like it's i don't know [1:09:08] i would if i was him i'd think pretty highly of myself as well yeah maybe not not that highly i'd be [1:09:15] hard to think that highly well not no he's he's still like i think he looks i think when he was [1:09:20] on stage with those uh spanish uh football players who had just won the world cup and he was standing [1:09:27] there you know in his looking like like a weird door to another dimension like i bet he sat there [1:09:35] like i wonder if they can tell us apart we're all fit athletes look at us over here just just 21 22 super [1:09:45] hot guys in the sun celebrating a big victory huh and then he that's hot chat chat chat doesn't [1:09:54] his physical say he's like 210 or something it's crazy yeah they they showed it once if you took his [1:10:00] stats like 6 3 225 and then they showed like uh uh i don't know dk metcalf who's like known as a [1:10:08] complete physical anomaly of a specimen and like that dude 6 3 225 and trump's just like with his [1:10:15] head slowly sinking into his shoulders and his front butt slowly consuming his back butt and you're just [1:10:23] like what what kind of fairy tale are we living in here why that's the next thing that they should ask [1:10:31] in the senate when they come for their confirmation hearings hearings what do you think the president [1:10:35] weighs like that would be hilarious well there's obviously muscle and visceral fat and then of course [1:10:45] there's bone and hair and the brain so big the brain the the weight is most likely the brain [1:10:53] that is taking over okay last one all right crunchy or smooth oh i i mean i can't even imagine that this [1:11:01] question made it past our screeners that made it past the thing the idea that you would settle for [1:11:07] only one sensation when it comes to a snack when you can have two sensations and the same flavor i mean [1:11:15] that's honestly why would you opt for less fun like that oh do you want ice cream with whipped cream uh [1:11:25] yeah isn't that more that's better like crunchy is just better smooth i don't even understand [1:11:33] the what the purpose of it is except for like caulking like crunchy if you're gonna have peanut butter [1:11:40] and there's an ability to add a crunch to it and by the way layer i'm not done honey a banana [1:11:49] oh some jam like throw a fucking party if you're gonna have it have it do it and i pop by the way [1:11:59] i apologize if either one of you is smooth and i and i know i've i've actually pinned you now down [1:12:04] to a very untenable position i just thought you i thought where you were going with that is to say [1:12:08] like why limit yourself like you can have either one but i see what you're saying now is i just have [1:12:15] one and it's crunchy no this isn't this isn't uh you know a a question of choice yeah i don't know [1:12:23] how to admit this but i'm a smooth girl britney how long have we known each other should i leave [1:12:33] many years you know we and i you know how highly i think of you and how much i value the work that you [1:12:39] do and that's why this is it's so hard for me to have to say britney i had no idea i know [1:12:47] i didn't want this whole time britney this whole time uh very interesting though britney this is an [1:12:55] insight an insight the more you know is it uh strange that i have uh i guess more emotion in [1:13:05] that than when i'm talking about the straight of hormones is that is that weird very nice well uh uh [1:13:11] how do they keep in touch with us for god's sakes for more of these scintillating takes that i have on [1:13:16] on food um twitter we are weekly show pod instagram threads tick tock blue sky we are weekly show [1:13:23] podcast and you can like subscribe and comment on our youtube channel the weekly show with john [1:13:27] stewart very nice producer uh britney memetovic producer jillian spear video editor and engineer [1:13:32] rob vitola audio editor and engineer nicole boys and our executive producers christmas shane and katie [1:13:36] gray couldn't do it without you guys and thank you very much and uh we'll see everybody next week [1:13:41] the weekly show with john stewart is a comedy central podcast it's produced by paramount audio [1:13:48] and busboy productions