Tell you what's up. I'm Roy Wood Jr. Welcome to Beyond the Scenes. Now, here's the thing about the Daily Show when it airs on Comedy Central, it can only be so long because there's other programs and ship that we have to show. But thankfully we've created this podcast where we can go beyond the stuff that we normally show you on the show, to show you how those things are created, to show you the people that helped create those things, to show you where we are going forward with those issues. This is what we have to do because the Daily Show isn't twenty four hours long, which, if you ask me, the Daily Show should be twenty four hour wall to wall news satire program. And we shoot it in Hawaii. Ronnie Chang, I know you're listening to this, and I want to come and visit you in Hawaii. Joining me on the show today are two people who, honestly hell, they both deserve a damn vacation to Hawaii. They go time and time and time again into the Maga verse, exploring the craziness that is Trump rallies and Trump everything, uh since since Trump got into office. Here's a little here's a little snippet of old Jordan Clapper. Whenever here, President, I think of man, it's a man's job. Maybe clothes minded? No, yeah, well no, um misogynistic. You're voting against your own interest. That's yet, Thank you very much. Trump has been grooming his supporters to push back on any impeachment talk with this simple demand, read the transcript, read the transcript, read the transcript, to read the transcript. Yeah, did you read the transcript? I don't have to everyone else. I can read it if I need to. But yeah, but it's important that everybody read the trashcript. It is very important pay attention and think for yourself. Yes you have. But to be clear, you have not read the trains I have. I got you to myself about this. Okay, I don't know all it's in the Constitution. Have you read it? It's pretty short Constitution America. Yeah, I've not read the whole thing. No, you've read the entire thing. Yes, it's remarkably sure. All right, I doubt that, but it's okay. You should read it because you might be committed that a dishes acting an hour and a half. His pieces go viral every time he does them. Joining me is Daily Show contributor Jordan, Clipper and our film producer extraordinaire who's always there with them dodging the blows from the Trump supporters, Mr Ian Burger, Ian Jordan, how are y'all doing it? Do it good? Roy? Thanks for having us? Yeah, thank you, Roy. Excited to be here. You two are interesting pairing because you all are part of the old guard, what we call the old guard in the building. You two are from John the John Stewart era Daily Show, and you all have been just being going out there Like Clipper. I've already told you this a long time ago. It's not fair to rank, so I'm not going to rank, but I will say you're probably you tell the most risks to me as a correspondent for the number one comedy so number one. Okay, listen, John Oliver got his nose broken. The camera kept rolling. We both would have went to the hospital. So Don Oliver tripped and got his nose broken. That's not talking about like he was in some hairy situation. Dude was running in a field for a b roll. Guy got his nose broken. Freedom a fair enough, fair enough? Uh, let's just start with the basics. How are you both doing? Like Burger I'll start with you, because you're you've been in this ship for years just as a just as a part of the daily show. But just what does your wife say to you when you go, hey, baby, it's time to go out again. Is it like Will Smith and Vivica thoughts when it was time to go fight the aliens? Indeed, indeed it was exactly like that, but very also um rightfully concerned at times. Um she always checks to make sure I think what we're doing is safe. She asked if we have some security with us, which we do. She asked for our plan if things go south, And then, especially in the last year, she kind of checks our coronavirus safety protocols and she'll look at pictures of me from the field and kind of text me immediately to be like, I don't know, I don't feel safe, and you've been there, and I'm like, I'm here. What am I supposed to do? We're in it. We're not gonna hop on a train back to New York right now. But even pre COVID, before you all were going out there, things were getting a little little dicey because you know, Clipper, the only thing that we ever did on the Republican side of the campaign trail, if I recall was the RNC convention in Cleveland in we were going around then, and it was a different tone. It was a very different tone. So how did these pieces start coming together? Jordan's Well, I think from a very honest point, Like all jokes aside, Uh, I needed health insurance. I was out of a job, and it's the one thing I can do because everybody else in that building doesn't have the guts to actually go outside and talk to human beings face to face. So so once I got through that, Uh, I mean, I think, quite honestly, I love doing this stuff. It's so fun doing that, going to the RNC with you Roy and Berg and I've been doing this for for years, Like, it's so fun to be out there in the thick of it. I love the political race. I'd love being a part of that. I've as as stressful as going to those rallies were. Uh, the first Trump election seen like it was really I'd rather be out there a part of it than watching at home screaming on my TV. So as the election came up and came up again, you know, I found myself with the show I was just working on Clipper ending and uh talked to Trevor and was like, Hey, I want to be a part of this. I want to go out and do this, and he was game for it. Uh, Burger was game for it. We've done pieces at Clipper, at Opposition, back at Daily Show as well, so we sort of, you know, and I have been doing this forever and have kind of a shorthand with it and wanted to go out and be a part of it. Uh It. I think the experience was different than what we expected. We thought we'd be covering all sorts of angles than COVID hits and Trump goes wild and we're suddenly in the middle of an insurrection, so things got different. But as wild as that gets, so much rather be out there in the middle of it, agreed. I I can honestly say I actually missed it as well. Um. Prior to this, I was working to show that really not political, and we did one interview on this other show with Elizabeth Warrett and it was like the election was heating up, and I was like, I want to be involved in that again. I really want to be doing that. And same thing as Jordan kind of came back to the show. It's like, let me go out and risk my life please. I mean, it is the fun thing. I was saying, like Burg and I will text back and forth articles things were seeing wild insane shit. Uh, then you're having this conversation. That's a luxury at the Daily Show to have that conversation. It's so much fun to be like, we're talking about this here and tomorrow we can be on a plane and talk to the person who's starting this conversation, or talk to other people that we can't believe. If they believe it, let's go talk to them and see what's going on. So like it is, it is the ultimate luxury. It's what's so great about this job is you get to mix it up with those people. Uh, you get to hold their foot to the fire, or you just get to see the chaos that is America up close. I'm gonna tell you something that myself and some of the other talent in the building was discussing, um, after you had your child. You had your first child not too long ago, and we were like, okay, well we know he's gonna do some fraternity leave to be a father in bond and everybody, every talent in the building, were just like, please, God, don't let Trumpet do anything fucking stupid wild clippers out because I don't want to. Oh my goodness, gracious, it was such a relief when you came back to the show, because I want to be honest as a black man, I don't want to be out there. How do you deal with the way people look at you when you're showing up to something and you're for sure not welcome. Well, I will say, I mean, you bring up a good point. And Trevor has called this out, like I do have the luxury of being a white man in America, which allows me to go to certain places, and that's not the thing that they're focused on. And so I can. I can walk into a Trump rally, and I can I look, I look like all the folks that a trumpflage. Yes I have a camera, I have I'm asshole camouflage. But you look like you look like you're there to hear and see. You look like an undecided white man and Trump, Yeah, he doesn't have like us sweatshirt on and camo pants, so it's not exactly fitting in. Yeah, it's the kind of guy who's like thinking about buying a hat, he's got his hand on his back pocket, considering am I really gonna wear? The office will think this is funny. If it's the guy who's voted for Trump because of economic reasons. Uh yeah, he's he's the guy at that Trump probley. That's what I'm That's what I'm portrayed. And our cameraman kind of look like New York guys, like Brooklyn guys. So like I think, I just think that they hate all media, so it doesn't actually matter what we look like. As you said, Roy, if we're walking around and Jordan has a camera following him in a microphone, he's the enemy, like, you know, unless he was like a recognizable person from news Max or something. They're they're hostile right away, are you guys in literal media? I have one word for you. You are controlled by the Deep States. That's that's even two. That one's even too. But that's okay. It's nice to be out there amongst my people. Once more, guys, I got your friend. You are greatmashed by the couple, I don't have more work. Yeah, And I think that's always been the thing, is that there's a hostility. They're mixed with people wanting to one engage and to attention, and so we get people who want to talk to us. I think that's always the thing that like people sign their names saying it's okay for us to use this, Like they know they're on camera, they want to talk, they want to engage, and so once they've gotten past oh that's a person with the camera. I hate all camera, I hate all news, then they engage. And I think there has been an evolution over the last few years, specifically the last year both of the Trump voter who's gotten more angry and frustrated at the media, and they went from being winners and in power to I mean they're winners and not in power, and that has changed the whole vibe. And also for like, our videos were pretty well seen and so we kind of arrived there as well, and that adds a new element to it. Sometimes it means people want to talk to me more and engage, and sometimes it means we have to be a little bit more low key because people want to just scream at me whenever I pop up my big old head. The Hecklers grew as the our our segments, you know, kind of got more play. Yeah, you're not. I don't know what the le let's say, I got, I got some fans it you're not a man of God. Was just like Trevor, no break, sudd Burger, What is the biggest difference to you in Trump supporters just in the energy of these events from till now, because you're essentially the guy that's got to have George debec while he's in the ship. Yeah, as Jordan kind of hinted like there was a change there, their rage was just directed to Hillary Clinton. Like it was like it was so focused and they were excited. Then they win and we started doing these events December, so the crowd was like cocky. They weren't angry at anything specific, and they didn't have a target because Biden wasn't the candidate. And then as it evolved, they didn't have this rage, the white hot rage at Joe Biden the way they added for Hillary Clinton. These extreme nations, they don't they don't treat women with respect. We treat women with respect here, Yes we do. That's an American ideal. Tell me about your shirt, what's it say? It says Hillary sucks, but not like Monica Hilaria. So we were talking about treating women with respect. It's an American ideal that we treat women with respect. You gotta give me the back of that shot one more time. That's too much fun. Drop that bitch. We don't even see the irony of it. I love it. Right when we started we started doing these, um, they were kind of like cocky and feeling good about there, you know, Trump, their place, his place in history, their place as you know, supporters, and his chances of getting reelected. So you know, they almost like took kind of jokes and understood it, and we're like, oh, yeah, big deal. But he's the president. We you know, we got everything. We have the Senate, we got half Congress. You know. The thing that I've always hated about the clipper pieces is how some people will try to frame it like I read I read YouTube comments. I know you're not supposed to. That's my guilty pleasure. It's that McDonald's okay, but I like it. Okay, you're better, you can do it. It's not good for you, it's not good for any of us. It's too late. I'm already I read them all. I'm sorry. And there's there's sometimes there's always the assertion of oh will you try to make that person look back. But as I've always known it in anything that we've done on the show, we're just having a conversation. Present to me your truth, and let's just see where this goes. Are you how do you process these conversations in real time, cleipport, Because there's so many moments that are not scripted, and this person says something and you turn it right back on them, You turn their logic against them, literally on a dime. Uh. I mean it's genius. I mean it's like how how how would you ask you know, Einstein to describe relativity. I'm sure he could do it because he knows the theory of relativity. But I mean, you get what I'm going for here. Uh, There's some things are beyond Uh well, I will say it's it's I mean this it sounds hokey. It's preparation and listening. I think what people don't see is the process of this. And it has evolved from the John Days to what happened a few weeks ago. But one it has evolved too is like Ian and I know We're gonna go out, We're we go to an event where people are going to arrive and have opinions on we see what the news of the week is, what people care about, and we start having conversations about what we hear they think and about the other perspective, and so we start to amass like the conversation beforehand, we think it through. We have what we call joke meetings, where it's Ian and I talking about avenues of conversation, uh, ways to find humor in that we bring in a writer from the Daily Show who will just brainstorm ideas and we literally walk out the door with pages of jokes and avenues and places you can go. And I will say, not a lot of those make it to the final piece, and you'd be shocked. You have four pages, single space, hundreds of potential jokes and the piece might have one. But it's all worthwhile because we've had the conversations, we see what the issues with the arguments are and then we go out and then you gotta just sucking listen. I got in there and he's off camera as well, and so we're both listening to this person and we're talking about like avenues and once you get out there, you realize the reality on the ground is different than what it is back in the studio. It's why going out is so important. That's what the Daily Show also does, Like we are there, and so the assumption you have is like everybody thinks this. You might get there and you might have a page of funny notes and things you want to hit, and you realize they don't think that. So you let it go and you find that new avenue and start discovering things. And as a guy who comes from improv, all the gold comes from discovery and all the connections come from listening. And so you pay attention and you ask a fucking follow up question because it's the one thing that breaks every trumper's brain. It's that they could be challenged with the question why and and you have them walk through why, and more often than not, they don't know why, and so they get caught up in pretzels because yes, A, I'm a genius, but b because they haven't thought it through. That's what we get so much about humor from Jordan is obviously a genius. He's the greatest number one, number one. I mean, people understand some of this, and this is Jordan retaining all of the like those four pages of questions or jokes in an amazing way. But some of this is debate prep. Like we know that we are going to debate mask usage with people there, and we know, like, so you have to have some of you know, statistics ready, you have to have some of the science ready. And Jordan retains that and it's ready to go when people are just like I heard it. You know it doesn't it doesn't, you know, stop transmission, and then Jordan's like ready with like really nobody says that except for all these people say the opposite. And so that's kind of like debate prep. But in a way, like the debate prep happens when Jordan and I are on a plane having a drink or at the hotel where have you drink, and it's like that's what you do. You talk through it. And then Jordan retains so much of it and then presses them and then finds, you know, gold and something that we didn't prep for work. You know, some guy says, some guy says he's made more money under you know, Donald Trump that he ever did under Barack Obama, And Jordan ask somebo do you do for a living? He's like, I'm a debt collector, and Jordan's lands the joke. Um, it's like you can't prep for that. You just need Jordan's standing there asking the question ready to impound. Are you in a better place than you were four years ago? Absolutely? Absolutely, America in a better place than they work for you believe absolutely. We have higher unemployment, we have twitter thousand people dead due to COVID, and we have riots in the streets. Let me just tell you this much. Yes, I'm doing much better. I'm literally making four times as much as I was making when Obama was president. Do you do I work for a debt relief company. Yeah, so now as a debt relief employee, you make more money under Donald Trump. Yeah. Yeah, it's good to be a white debt relief collector. I do like that. So much of it is how much can you retain from the conversation and argument you had at the bar the night before. It's like that is that is a skill set that you'd be surprised how important actually is Burger's your drunken sparring partner. It is you go, you want to whisky or two. You you you have that conversation, you you read on the news, You argue a little bit, and then you you wake up the next day and uh, with a sober mind, you you have it again. As Jordan said, sometimes you're prepared with like their arguments, and you do that by reading the news and reading Twitter and reading your um kind of racist neighbors Facebook pages, which I do, thank you, yeah, thanks for the press, and you're ready. And then sometimes they don't bite on any of that, and they're they just go down a different avenue and Jordan's is there to pounce and it's great. Well, all those those moments that are that stick out in my mind, are all these things that you could never prepare for. Like, you know, we went to a rally and a guy throws his sister, the nurse, under the bus because he doesn't trust any doctors or nurses. If my own sisters are retired r n and we're not talking right now because of her beliefs. So when it comes to heroes, there's doctors, there's nurses, and then there's the pillow guy. Yeah, what have you learned from Michael Lindell? He was a true blue, red working American man. Which which color? Which color? Who's a blue and true man that he's you know, got them all in there? Yeah? Or people started talking about racism in a way that you never expected, or you have the debt collector moment. You like, all these things come out and you're not going to read that in an article, uh, which is what is so fun about those moments. Well, after the break, we need to talk about what I believe is probably your biggest moment of improv and which you didn't use any of the prip that you went down there with, and that was the January six insurrection. Excuse me, freedom rally, fun time, good time moment from Jane where he's six, I want kisses Donald J. Trump hugs and kisses event from January six. I want to talk about that day and just it's all insurrection. After this, we're gonna go beyond the scenes in a minute. Let's talk about the insurrection January six. You wake up sunny sky, you're hoppling your Amtrak a sella from New York Pinn Station and your moseyoned down the Washington d C. When did you know this day was going to go to ship I would say nineteen maybe. Uh. Like by comparison, you went to the million Maga March. Yes they are numbers, not ours, I would say, But that is. I think we we went to the quote unquote Million Maga March thirty thou Maga March December right, yes, Ember. They were talking about this there. I mean January six was on the calendar back then, and they were angry at the Million Magle March. They were chasing us down Alley's Uh three security cards needed situation. Uh So I think we knew January six was gonna be dicey. We had seen it with the Million Magle March. I think, I mean, what was it? Was it? Four security guards. We rolled in with Burger like we had a lot. We rolled in with security, a game plan with not only like how we're going to talk to people, but like where we're going to talk to people, because we did get in trouble a few times at the Million Maga March because of location, getting caught at a bottleneck with a lot of people who have a lot of anger and no place to aim at and the guy who's from the Daily Show with the camera is an easy enough spot. So we had to be smart about that. So I think we walked into that day on the sixth cautious and aware that it was going to be dicey. Out there, and then as soon as we got in our hotel the night before, I heard some crazy stuff. But you go in and everybody's like dressed for war. They're dressed for combat. Like, honestly, drove eight hours to d C and a couple is there dressed for combat from head to toe. Yeah. Yeah, Like we we didn't make these jokes when we rolled into the hotel because we wanted to go to our rooms, but George and I were joking, were like, we should definitely ask them what airplane they jumped out of. Like a couple be like, what kind of airplane did you guys just jump out of? Look at you guys are badasses. It's a lot of military outfits, but not a lot of military personnel. The other thing, the night before you get to hotel, we hadn't. We've been in so few hotels because of COVID in the last year, and everybody's nervous about it, rightfully. So we arrive massed up and it's clear we are we're perhaps from the other side, because we're actually and you and you founch you, you found you. The whole the whole place is teeming with people. There's all the bars, are shut down. I don't want to make this all about drinking, but occasionally have a drink the night before. The one place that sells Drake's is the bar that's in the hotel. But they won't let you sit, but you can buy drink and come up to your room. But there are just people hanging out in their fatigues, their maga gear not six ft apart all throughout the lobby, like you're walking through a throng of people angrily trying to get Budweiser, uh district, no masks stepping out, and you see the hotel staff even just nervous there. And we're sort of like, this is already has an energy of people who are like, we don't care. We're not going back up to our rooms. We're not putting on masks, we're not separated. We're hanging out in this lobby. We're drinking booze, and we're talking about what's gonna happen tomorrow. So you can feel that energy. Uh, I mean, I imagine I must have waited fifteen minutes to try to get an elevator to go up alone and have so many awkward conversations. Come on in, Come on in, and I'm like, I'm gonna I'm gonna wait for the ex elevator. You don't come on, come on, like I know, I know. Uh. And then and then the next morning we kind of assemble in the bobby with you know, meet Jordan's, get him miked up, get cameras ready to go, because like we kind of just walk out the door and we're ready to start shooting. Usually that's because you never know there might be something on the street and like people are, you know, so angry and like a gro Then and I'm like, we're not shooting anything in the lobby or near our hotel. We're gonna start walking to the Trump rally. He had a natural rally and the olypsis and we stopped to laugh, but didn't actually shoot this because we're kind of hustling. There are all these maga people taking selfies with this quote on a wall and a quote about the First Amendment. They love it, They love the First Amendment. Get my picture there. They didn't realize the wall was part of the Newseum, a museum dedicated to the institution they hate the most. So there was like a group after group they gave pictures of themselves in front of the Newseum r I P Museum by the way. Alright, it was great. We found ourselves. Though from there we're like, we're then like trudging to the speech, and there is just this wild line down Pennsylvania Avenue to try to get to this speech. We're again we're we're being cautious about what we shoot at the time because people are not in good moods. We don't want to start an issue this early in the morning, and so we kind of all just this giant line of maga folks and incognito media just trudging the way towards the White House. I was being a giant pussy, is what Jordan's saying. I was like, don't anybody so burger. Your plan basically went from prepping, well what type of conversations that we had want to have to where is the safest place to even fucking stand still for thirty minutes? Jordan, where was the safest place to stand? You'd be surprised. We literally the safest place for us to stand was outside the Museum of African American History. Uh, no joke, We're walking around thousands and thousands. You're welcome there. We go see thank you, Roy, thank you? Is that is that? It hilariously, it was the one area where there was space. People weren't congregated, it was not open, but we could go up and be around that area and away from the throngs of folks outside of the White House cheering on Mr. Donald Trump at the time. Burger did a great job with this, And honestly, it is true. You're constantly balancing like the energy of that day, and it's it's a scary day. People, people are people are saying some really scary stuff as you're walking through it. I do love to get out there and I want to interview and talk to folks, but you gotta be really careful. You gonna be smart about it until like Burgers constantly balancing, like, yes, we need to talk to people, but we also need to talk to multiple people over the course of the day. And if you talk to one person who freaks on you and a bunch of people chase you down, and that that's it. We need to be safe first. So the day, more than any other field peace we ever shot, had so much internal calculations about what we actually can shoot and when Okay, Burger to that point, then at what point did you start to feel, oh shit, Like you knew it could be bad, it could be dicey, But when did you feel confirmation this ship is the worst. Maybe we should think about leaving. Oh I think, yeah, I think we. I kind of didn't want to get too into the crowd at the Trump rally because we got too into the crowd at the Trump rally. That crowd needed to do a one eight and then walk back to the Capitol. And we knew that the capitals where the action was going to happen, like even in December. As Jordan said, these guys were like, we're going to the Capitol, and I was like, we have to be there when they arrive because if we were behind, the crowd will be ten thou people away. So we started walking away from the Trump rally towards the Capitol and the crowd thinned out, so it away for a while. We're like, this is all right, it's pretty chill. There's no one yelling at us, and we were just slowly walking to the Capitol. We get to the Capitol kind of ahead of I was a nine percent of the crowd and this is we get there. The Proud Boys walk by, which is always cheerful experience. And then yes, and then we're gonna do a stand up, and I think Jordan was like, oh my god, they're knocking the fence down and we're like, oh, that's right there. We saw them knocked the first fence down, and we're like, Okay, this is just gonna get so much worse from here on out. Broad Boys are here. As we were setting up for a quick stand up, we noticed another large group marching aggressively down the street. The Proud Boys all passed by again. We settled in a spot just outside the northwest side of the Capitol because we knew that at around one pm that angry crowd would be arriving there from the White House, and we knew that if things got hairy, it gave us the best escape route to the train in our cars. And then words became actions. The barricades got pushed over and folks flooded in. We're starting to see this massive people. They broke through the gates here and now they're heading into the the Capitol. I'm hearing people say it's our house. I heard some old man start screaming forward, forward, it's not us. It's a democracy should look more organized than what we're seeing right now, but something else inside. Jordan's kept walking backwards close to the capital. I was like, I'll know, if we need to, let's make a joke here, Let's do it here. That's like, because when did via calm call? That's the bigger question. When did they start texting? When did the wives? Where are your wives at this point? Well, first of all, my wife, who is the best I love her, dearly favorite person in the whole world. When I was coming home after the flash bangs and people were inside, I had all these text messages from friends were like I heard you were there. What's going on? Are you ok Are you okay? Are you okay? And I called my wife to be like I'm okay, and she's like, what are you talking about? I'm like, are you watching? Are you watching the news? She's like, I don't know what you're talking about. No, I'm just I'm busy. You have so much that you're doing your work, Like, can you let me do this? I'm like, there's they're inside the capital right now, there's an insurrection going at She's like really, so like she was a little less to it. I will say she was not as interested in the events of that day as I was, or even the one like high school friend who I haven't talked to in twelve years who was like, I'm going to I'm going to check out Jordan today. He he ted beat out my wife at that point as far as interest in care goes. But that's what parenting does. Bro parenting, you're gone, she's there with the boy. You call her and she's like, I have our child, I'm doing mob stuff. Just whatever. This kid has a bright future ahead of them. You already made your choices. You got to half your life behind you. I can't worry about you too. That. Did you get the alarm to leave Burger? Did that come down from corporate? So no, we were shooting and Jordan and I were basically like, this is getting bad, and our one our security guys, was like, you know, you're okay here. The thing I fear is if if Capitol police reacting force and this mob turns around to run, You're gonna get trampled the Capitol police. This is the tragedy of that day. It took forever for a National Guard and reinforcements to show up, so that didn't happen. But they were like, you guys should wrap up very soon. And we had a train to get out of town. So we were like, we're gonna do one more stand up and Jordan did this stand up and on the fly flash brand graandies go off and he totally unscripted two camera references it and I was like, that's that's perfect. Let's get the hell out of here. And security had they kind of had a path for us to get out of the crowd, and we started leaving, and then in their earpiece they heard over the police chatter. They're like, oh, people are inside the building right now. You should definitely get out of here. So then we hustled out of town. The Trump president was gonna come to an end this the seems fitting a show of aggression, and he went a bunch of people all screaming at a building without a working understanding of how democracy works America. One thunder cannon, tear gas, let's not wait to find out, and we knew it was time to leave. Did you all see any other news outlets that you what was the feeling? You know, like in those war movies were like the like the beat up marines passed by a van with the beat up army people and the battles over and they just both give each other a slight salute, like, hey, we survived. Did you see any of the members of the media. Was there any time to even sit and talk with them at all? Not that day? No, I think that day. I mean you're you're passing by people as everybody's trying to catch what's going on. UM. I would say. My experience leaving, though, was surreal in that like, uh, I took a car out of uh you know, essentially COVID safety and sometimes beyond the train can be you know, there's sometimes issues there as well. So I drove down and I drove back. But so my four hour drive back to New York, I was just listening to serious radio CNN or MSNBC or one of the news outlets, just their live stream of what was going on. And so I had a four hour drive alone up the American East Coast listening to the sound of these broadcasters like Witness and Insurrection and the fall of the Capitol was yeah, like there was incredibly surreal and hunting and you know, we make a lot of jokes about this, and and it was it was such a sad day and a ridiculous day. I like, you have to almost live with the duality of of America in that moment, where like, we're watching this sacred building, this building that I used to come down as a kid. My parents. We didn't take many vacations. We went to d C. We learned about the important monuments and the great history of our country. You're watching it be desecrated. You're watching people say awful, horrendous things about other American citizens. Uh. And at the same time, you're watching a man on a segue try to drive up and overthrow the strongest government on earth. Can I can I ask you some questions? Are you afraid if you run out of batteries for the last dand then you'll be forwarded good luck? I hope you don't run into bumping terrain or stairs. It's ridiculous and it's it's sad, and it's both of those things. And I felt like all throughout that day, you're constantly confronted with this if it being the worst day and also the most ridiculous day at the same time, Yeah, you had you had that tragedy of your drive out. I had to sit behind these two white women drinking rose on the train in front of me, and they were actually where they took part of the insurrection. They had all their Maggat gear on, and they're actually having a conversation about can you believe all the crime in the cities these days? Like you've committed the crime, you went to the city, and we're part of the crime. And now you're like, look at those people in the cities, Democrats and minorities commit lots of crime. You are did you? They got off from Wilmington, Delaware if you want to find to Susie and Patty and Wilmington's Thank you so much for listening. I'm sure they're listening right now. After the break, I want to talk with you all about some of the more interesting characters over the time that you've gone into the Maga verse. This is beyond the scenes. Will be right back, Burger Clipper, who have been some of the more memorable people that you all have met on the campaign trail out there. I think we have a lot of we have a lot of fun characters as it runs the gamut from you know, characters who are infuriating to the lovable characters. The characters you see multiple times. Burke and I laugh about someone who stood out to us I think a lot about on that day, January six, was a man who was wielding a pitchfork, which would seem like the most aggro hysterical man there on January six, as we were approaching him to talk, he was interrupted by another man who was screaming upsetities, who was even more hysterical than the pitchfork guy. We found filming on the National Mall was a safer, more effective way to get real conversations for a while. Then we found a man acting unhinged with a pitchfork awarding. We can mobilize a million people that you need sitting in this country, now, make no mistake. That's the situation. That's right. Then we're not playing around. Who was interrupted by a man acting more unhinged? How come we got a million people to von even whenever there's where they're scrolling us? How come new right over there? How come we're not down You don't come down there, oh y'all? The really unhinged guy anger, the sort of unhinged guy wielding the pitchform, I think to myself, Okay, he speaks like a pitchfork guy. Looked at the other hysterical man. It was like, I'm not with that. You're like, I'm not with you. I mean in the capitol with him. Shortly, we literally had to get away from the more hysterical man and take the pitchfork guy to a separate area where we could calm down here the political thoughts he needs in space, have a rational conversation, sir. Can you called the pitchfork up a little higher? Yes, it doesn't read that way. That guy is amazing. When Hershey, Pennsylvania, this guy came over to music, I want to be on camera. I was like sure, He's like, I gotta wrap. So I was like, all right, this could be like something for credits. And then George starts talking to him, and then you notice something. Yeah, he he was. He had a he made his own shirt and on the back of the shirt and had uh the next seven presidents or what he thought was Donald Trump, Donald Trump JR. Ivanka, Eric etcetera, etcetera. Why are you here, Well, because two weeks ago I had a dream, and in that dream I was given this vision. You had you had a screen printing dream. Your dream told you that Trump is gonna win and then Ivanka and then Don Junior and Eric Tiffany is going to win and then Baron. Great, but Baron only serves one term. No, that's only one term. That's four years. Yeah, Actually these are mostly one term president. You're not rating it right. No, I'm like eight, that's four years and then another four No, no, no, that's these are one term presidents. Ivanka one term, Don Junior one term. What's to day, Ivanka is two thousand, twenty four eight, that's four years. Honestly, I found him delightful and that he didn't get He didn't get angry with me, he got frustrated and we But you realize this is what it feels like oftentimes of the Trump rally. It's like you're looking at numbers and one of you sees one thing and another person sees a totally different thing. I will say I will give credit to the fans of The Daily Show. That piece tickled me whenever I watch it. But people have pointed out the thing that I didn't see as we were talking to him was he misspelled America at the bottom. So kudos to the Daily Show. Fans were pointing out probably the biggest irony that was on that shirt that I wasn't genius enough to catch. Are you ever worried about punching down in a situation like that? Like, We're granted you were kind of discovering us all in the moment, so it's not the same as something a little more premeditated. But when you're having these discussions with people that clearly have not put all have not connected all of the doubts, are you ever worried about how you're perceived in your interactions with them? Sure? I mean, I think with the Daily Show, it's important not to punch down, and I think you always want to hold you know, look to those in power and challenge them. I think when you go to these rallies you have to be careful. There are people that we talked to that we don't put in these pieces because it does feel like it's going over the edge. It feels like they don't have their faculties about them in a way that I felt like we're just making fun of them for that. Uh. That being said, I also think these have been odd, trying times and I think the uh, the vigor and some of the vile of the masses are what propelled the guy in charge to make some of these decisions, and I think they could be easily swayed by some of this this hateful rhetoric, and so I I feel like it's fair to push them on some of these things that have led to led to some pretty disgusting things in our in our last few years, and so so I think you have to constantly have that conversation. Let's not just poke fun of what they're wearing. We can maybe have some fun around that, but let's try to get to the source of it. The thing that always interests me is I think I've said this before, but I think like contradiction is so fascinating to me because I think it's it exposes the lie that you're telling yourself. And more often than not, you see these people think either things for the first time, holding these two opinions that are contradictory, uh and me putting them right up against one another. And I think it really is often at its best revelatory of of the whole swath of the population who thinks these multiple things that uh maybe don't totally add up, but think them all at once. And I think we're able to kind of to give context to that away when when when we find success with it. Yeah, I think we're I think Jordan is a good point, like we want to be respectful and we're grateful these people will talk to us, although I think we want to make a special shout out to anyone on January six who went into the Capitol building. We have noticed some of the people that we've talked to it past rallies have now popped up. Uh. Somebody we talked to at one of the early rallies popped up and is facing charges because he brought weapons into the Capitol that day. And so I think like sometimes there's criticism on oh, these are just these are just folks in their ideas and there maybe a little bit misguided. These are people bringing guns into the capital trying to overthrow the government, and so it is, Uh, sometimes it's tough to wrap your head around. I feel like to a degree, there is something with regards to accountability. You voted for a man that did the things that sucked up all these people's lives in all of these different ways. But I sometimes find myself feeling a sense of pity towards some of the Trump supporters who just you just bought the lie Burger. How do you think the Trump supporter has changed the Yeah, I think, well, he lost the election, so he obviously lost a bunch of supporters and that's a big difference between and the people he lost are people who are I want to say, more rational obviously, and so those people you encountered less frequently at the recent rallies. And then I would say, kind of what sticks with us The most recent event things we went to were the one in December and the one in January, and that's self selected group of very angry, very you know, unfriendly people. So that's kind of like it's hard that it's hard for me to have sympathy for the people we talked to on those days because they were threatening. The I walked out of the hotel and on December six and made eye contact this woman. We smiled each other, it's the morning, I'm going to get a cup of coffee. And then my eyes looked down and she has Kyle Rittenhouse had did nothing wrong T shirt. So it's like I can't talk to I can't see you, I can't talk to you, Like there's a there's a lot of that still, And yeah, I agree, these people were misguided and led astray, and I hope that if he fizzles out, they'll come back. The thing I empathize most with is like, I think humans need to feel like they belong and they need to feel like they have a purpose. And so I get it. Initially, this felt like you could join the team, You could go to a rally and it felt like, uh, you know, college football or any other tribe, that you could be a part of your here And guess what, You're not only here a part of this team, You're doing something important. You're saving our democracy, you're saving America. So now boom, you you belong to something and you have meaning. I think those are powerful things that honestly, it's something I search for. I think all humans search for. That I totally get. I think like what has become frustrating is that like the evolution of it is like you can throw more chaos on there. Everybody's still so bought into the team. Ian brings up a good point. He did lose. People have shifted over, so it's not the same team. But those that we talked to who are still die hard Trump stuff, there's not a new thing with Trump that's gonna come on that are gonna make them change. They they they bought the lie, they bought the team. This the last one we went to. It was a Mike Lindell event, and I think what was fascinaing to me about that event was the Mr. My Pillow was how quickly, how quickly they gave Mike Lindell the status they gave Donald Trump. The people we talked to there saw him as like a savior. They said, he sees it like I see it. He speaks the truth, He has the guts to say that. The way they talked about him was as if he's been on the scene for decades, speaking truth, fighting for the good fight, Like this guy sells pillows and he's gotten into politics and the last few months. But you're giving him all the credit of a savior. What is Mike Lindell talking about that you agree with? Well, just the whole fraud of the election. He's got the proof. You know, the proof is there? What makes you know that Trump won? His own Department of Justice says there was no fraud. Just well, you don't trust the Department of Justice. Oh no, you trust my pillow guy. Well, I wouldn't go quite that far to say you know, I trust what he's saying. You do you trust what he say? Yeah? Oh so you would, you would go that far? Yeah, that's exactly where you wet. They need a god to tell them what is right and what is wrong, and that they are a victim and that if they stick to the good side of things they will be they will be righted and righteous. And I think like that didn't leave And it was a little bit scary to see how quick you could sub in a fucking pillow salesman and he got all the credit that they gave somebody else who at least had a career decades of debauchery and ass holishness to to rely on toward. But as you said that my pillow guy event, it was certainly hysterical how they latched onto him and they're like, he's a great patriot, he he speaks the truth. It's like he's he literally just advertises pillow. But the nature of that event wasn't hostile. It was people who are like, it's a town, it's a fair and there's nothing else coming through this town this month that I want to go to, So I'll go to that thing and put on my maga clothes. Again. You know, like they all still have the clothes. If somebody's gonna invite you to come to the costume party, they're all like, I'm gonna win the costume part. If Trump is reinstated in one you think the Democrats will accept it and allow our nation to help. I think there's gonna be a lot of whining. Still, They're just not gonna let it go. They're gonna be winding in the field months after everything's already decided. Anyway, are you excited about being out here in the field to watch Trump on the jump bout trun Is he gonna be on the jump Jumbo Trump? We don't even know he knows. I think it's parades. It's always like if a parade comes to your town, you show up. And I think more often than not that Trump rally is a parade. So people are gonna keep showing up. So then what's next for Trump supporters? Do they still have some leverage in the Republican Party? Or is this just political cosplay akin to Civil War reenactments for the next couple of years, until I guess it all dies it dies away. I mean, I think I think the storyline is the Republican Party has crumbled, and it is so desperate to be loved by that minority of the population that is all in on MAGA. Like, yeah, sadly they have I think they have a ton of power. I think you see it with Kevin McCarthy. You see him bending over backwards to perpetuate the big lie, to try to make these folks happy and not mad at him. And I think that's what's I think that's what's so sad and what's so so scary is that what has been passed on is like, this is how you chumm the waters to get these folks on your side. And so I think Trump can leave, but they're still using the chum the waters uh tactic to get on their side. So yeah, there's the supporters whold power. Again, They're not the majority of people. Uh, They're They're a minority, but the democracy has been crafted around the way in which they have an outsized voice, and you have craven politicians who are going to try to to utilize that however they can. And so so sadly, I don't think it's just a laughable thing of like, oh this is going to fade away. I think it's still such a potent part. That's that is quite literally pushing and controlling the narrative of that whole party. So what I'm hearing from you, Clipper is that you and Burger will continue to go into the magaverse for as long as there is one. Is that what's next for you to healthcare sustained? Right? Yeah? I think And I've always been Donald Trump, thank you, Wow, thank you, thank you. Mr Trump. Everybody is like, what is his healthcare plan? He hasn't he said he has one? What is it? This is the healthcare plan? Thank you? Go to employee satirists for a long time now. I think the as Jordan said this, there will be events, and for they're always events, but there will be events that gather this group of people that are essentially a Trump rally, but a little bit about something else, critical race theory, outrage, um, anti mask outrage, anti VAXX events. It's that's gathering the same people using the same mechanisms like that. It's probably even using the same Facebook group. So it's like, this is the Trump Maga group in Huntington Beach. We're doing this thing, and everyone who is part of the Huntington Beach Trump MAGA group will come to the anti vaccine thing. So he may not be there physically, it didn't matter. They all went to the Michael Lindl thing. He wasn't there. I think trump Ism is around for the next four years. I think we don't need to chase the trump is m but we're curious to continually at least act the conversation and see where they're at. So that's that's where we'll be a heading. Well, gentlemen, I can't thank you enough for putting your lives on the line repeatedly in the name of comedy. Well I get to kick it in an air conditioned building for Trevor Noah. That must be real nice, fright, it must be real, real nice. I can't relate. I've been doing zoom chats because of COVID last year. Just come out with us, Come out with us, give dangerous world of zoom. We're gonna get back out there, you and me together, all right, Bone Brothers, We're gonna hit it up one more time. I never have more fun than when I'm out on a field. Peace with you, and that is a factful Stop the cop one the Bone Brothers joint, and then the thing with Clive Burne. People like, what is bone Brothers? You gotta google that? Google at everybody. Honestly, we we we have so much fun for the Daily Show nerds out there. It is so much fun to have two correspondents going out and play it around. You are just the best out there and so much fun to play with. And that in a different world where COVID didn't happen and a left became a right. I think we were hoping to do some more figure the polsls where you and I could have hit the campaign trial and and and had that experience a little bit more. So still can't, Yeah, we still can't. There's still time. He is Daily Show field producer Ian Berger, and he is the second most risk taking correspondent in the history of the Daily Show. He is Jordan Clipper. I'll take it. Number one is Ronnie Chain. He ate a full stick of butter on live television. That is pretty good. Ronnie, you're not in Iowa anymore, you don't. You don't have to eat that. I can't stop eating fried butter. I respect everything you did, But Ronnie chang ate a stick of butter. You know what, I would not eat a stick of butter. That to me. I know you were there, We're you know. The insurrection was pretty bad, but I don't know if you've ever just eating a stick of fried butter before you know what. I'm from the Midwest. Yes, I have boys. Thank you all, Thank you, right, thanks right. Listen to The Daily Show Beyond the Scenes on Apple podcast, the I Heart Radio app, or wherever you get your podcasts. I want to go even further beyond the scenes. Check out the video version of Beyond the Scenes on The Daily Show's YouTube page.