The Importance of Voting Access and Creative Expression | Guest Spotlight
16:56 Share

Okay, you say, I want some breakfast. Your so-called boyfriend says, we got eggs in the fridge. Obviously, when you say breakfast, you mean McDonald's. Definitely a side-eye situation. Bring home the bacon, steak patty, or others with a BOGO for $1 breakfast. Only in the app. Limited time only at participating McDonald's. Valid once a day. Must opt into rewards. Visit McDApp for details. Ba-da-ba-ba-ba.

Most deals are barely worth mentioning. But then there's AT&T's best deal on the new Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 featuring FlexCam with Galaxy AI. You can get it on them when you trade in your eligible smartphone any year, any condition. It's a deal so good you'll be shouting from the rooftops. So grab a letter and learn how to get that new phone on AT&T. AT&T. Connecting changes everything.

You're listening to Comedy Central. Yeah!

Welcome back to The Daily Show. My guest tonight is a former GOP lawmaker who is the advisory council co-chair of Power the Polls, a national nonpartisan effort to recruit the next generation of poll workers to ensure safe and fair elections for all voters. Please welcome Representative Adam Kinzinger. Now, Congressman...

Congressman, thanks for being on the show. Great to be here. Thank you. Now, you stuck your neck out politically and personally to put politics over personal benefit, over party. Some would say country over party to speak out against Trump despite being a congressman for the Republicans. Why the f***?

"How the did you do that?" -I ask myself that every day. No, look, I really had no other option. I mean, so I wear on my wrist the name of a guy, Andreas O'Keefe, who I knew who was killed in Iraq, and I'm an Iraq veteran. And I just remember thinking when I ran for Congress the first time, if we're gonna ask young people to be willing to die for a country, like, to be willing to fight and die the ultimate sacrifice,

If I go into politics, I have to be willing to give my career for the same cause. It's such a minor sacrifice in comparison to what we ask people to do every day. Yeah, but what was... what was your problem with Trump? Well, I don't know. You know, the fascism, the overthrowing the government, you know, those kinds of things.

I mean, you would think that's a pretty big issue, but I guess not big enough. I mean, you have insight because you were in Congress from 2011 until 2023, I think. And so you have kind of behind the scenes access. You talk to these people all the time. And I think it's very popular to say,

America has never been more divisive than it is now. You have perspective on it. You know, you've been there-- you were there for a long time, and you were working there. Is that true? Was it divisive when you first went in? Yeah, I mean, look, it's-- you know, behind the scenes, it's kind of like any job. So people will fight on the air, you know, within Congress, and then when the cameras come off, you shake each other's hands, maybe go out for a drink. That's happened less lately. I mean, there's a real division that's started to creep in where people just hate each other now because of political differences. I mean, they can't stand to be around each other.

But I think if America actually saw the behind the scenes of what was happening, they'd be like, man, I can't believe they're manipulating us to fight each other as deeply as we are out here when they back there are just kind of playing the game. And it's really a sad state of affairs. Okay, so y'all...

experienced opinion is that it is getting more divisive in Congress. I think the country certainly, and in Congress, yes. I think they're just starting to... You got Marjorie Taylor Greene there, for goodness sakes. I mean, like, who would get along with her in real life? Well, I mean, would the party people get along with her? Would they? They love her now because she raises money for them. Because she goes out there and gets attention. And so, yeah, but when I... When she was there, when I was there initially, she was a pariah.

until she started getting on TV and tweeting and everything. And then she became pretty popular in the party somehow. But, like, genuine? Like, you know, professionally popular? Or would they actually be... Are they now friends? Yeah, I think there's probably some that like to, you know, that would be a friend with her because access to power. But, yeah, mostly it's just professional. And in your, again, expert opinion, how much of this is...

I like to believe that it's just internet bullshit that gets taken into real life. And in real life, we don't behave like this. But for some reason, these people have managed to take the comment section and bring it-- so how much of that is real animosity? How much of it is just internet mentality? Yeah. I mean, look.

think a significant amount of it is it's this is kind of the untold secret politicians watch twitter and so when you see things happening on twitter this way i mean donald trump was the master at this you'd see some conspiracy pop up and he'd give a nod to it and what's happened is leaders have gone from like supposed to be leading and talking about you know trying to direct opinion right trying to lead us to a better place to now following insanity and it's basically like a dog now chasing its tail out in the middle of traffic and i think that's what you're seeing

On that note, like, what is the solution? I mean, in your opinion, how can Americans come together and bridge this kind of political... The solution is in all of us. I mean, and I'm not trying to sound, like, esoteric and, like, big word. Like, really, we control government. It's truly government for, of, and by the people. We've got to quit voting for these clowns that decide they want to go there and be more famous than they want to do good things for this country. Thank you.

We need to make sure our presidents actually care about something more than their own ego and more than their own narcissism. They care about the country. And I mean that. Like, I really... You're asking for too much. I know. I know. I just... I truly believe that America can take our political system back, but we have to believe we can. And we have to say, enough of you abusing us for money, for follows, for likes. We demand mature, grown-up government. So, yeah.

And you're here to talk about power the poll. Can you tell us a bit about that? Yeah, so look, one of the most important things in an election is just the ability to actually do that election. And you think about poll workers, especially on election day.

THEY ARE OUT THERE GRINDING DOWN EVERY DAY, STARTING AT 6:00, 7:00 IN THE MORNING, GOING UNTIL NIGHT TO MAKE SURE YOU CAN VOTE, MAKE SURE THE LINES ARE MOVING AND DONE QUICKLY. THAT IS THE BULLWORK OF MAKING SURE AN ELECTION IS FREE, FAIR AND ACCURATE. POWER OF THE POLLS IS ABOUT RECRUITING A MILLION POLL WORKERS TO WORK AND DEFEND THE NEXT GENERATION OF POLL WORKERS.

In some states, you can be as young as 16 or 17 to go work in the polls. It's a great way to serve your community, to connect to the community. And so PowerThePolls.org. Go there, and it's a great time to sign up to do this. Yeah, and it's kind of a civic duty. It is. It is. And you get paid. Oh, you get paid? You can, yeah. Oh, okay. I was going to forget my last question. I was going to...

I was going to say, it feels a bit like a thankless task at the moment to try to power American democracy. It's like, ugh, why go through that right now? It does feel like a thankless task, and that's the sad thing, is especially the next generation, which is what Power of the Polls is focused on,

They've been so beaten down on democracy. Democracy to them is just like, well, it's just what people say to go after each other. We have to inspire that generation because, look, I really believe this next generation is going to be the ones to take the keys out of the hands of the people that have been holding the keys to power too long. And there's no better way to get started than to be a young person and see how democracy works in the nuts and bolts. Right. And if you're feeling frustrated by the system and you don't know where to start, this sounds like the

a way to kind of, look, I just want to get involved. I don't want to get bogged down in some weird culture war. I just want to help my country. And look, and you're going to be working with people that have different political views than you, all committed to democracy. If we can all agree on that basic thing, I think, seriously, there's no limits to the future of this country. We just have to convince ourselves of this. So, what...

And, you know, as someone coming from a conservative background, like, why is it that whenever we talk about, like, voting access, election access, why does that always feel like a left issue rather than a right? It's crazy. It's because for whatever reason...

THEY ARE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO VOTE. THEY FEEL THREATENED IN THE GOP THAT THE MORE PEOPLE VOTE, THE MORE IN DANGER THEY ARE. I THINK WE KNOW WHY. WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT TODAY, WHAT YOU SEE THEM OUT THERE DISCUSSING IS NOT WHAT THE VAST MAJORITY OF AMERICANS WANTS. THE THING THEY CAN HOPE IS TO TURN THEIR BASE OUT. I THINK IT SHOULD BE A NONPARTISAN OR BIPARTISAN OR WHATEVER ISSUE TO SAY IF YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO VOTE IN THIS COUNTRY, WE SHOULD MAKE IT AS ACCESSIBLE AND EASY FOR YOU TO VOTE.

better ideas to get people to vote for you. That's the way you can really watch it. - What I love about having you on the show is we get to talk to people outside our own echo chamber, I think, a little bit. I mean, what is your conservative argument for voting for a Democratic president? - Oh, it's real easy. I believe in democracy.

I mean, democracy was... I was there on January 6th. I had to live through that. Standing for the Constitution, standing for democracy, there is nothing more conservative than that, and Donald Trump is the exact opposite of that. So, for me, Kamala Harris is going to defend that democracy, and I think every Republican that takes their views, viewpoint seriously, old-school Republican, not whatever this new thing is, should be voting the same way. Well, you know... Thank you. Thank you.

Congressman, I really wish you weren't former congressman. I wish you were current congressman. I wish you could run again. Thank you so much for coming to speak to us. And thank you for trying to do something for a country, power the polls. Texting between two different kinds of phones makes photos blurry, likes messy, and security risky. Not just that, it also makes sharing photos or even simply video calling, editing messages, or leaving a group nearly impossible.

With WhatsApp, everyone can enjoy seamless messaging with the added protection of end-to-end encryption. Streamline your messages across all devices on WhatsApp. Message privately with everyone. Hey everybody, Jon Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show, coming out every Thursday. We're going to be talking about the election, earnings calls.

What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? Listen to The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart wherever you get your podcasts. My guest tonight is the singer, songwriter, and producer of the Grammy-nominated band Black Pumas, whose latest album is called Chronicles of a Diamond. Please welcome Eric Berta.

Thanks so much for being on the show. Thank you. You're making me cooler just by joining me at the desk. Thanks so much. I feel so cool.

I feel like your band right now is in such a great place culturally. You're like in that, correct me if you feel differently, but you're in that sweet spot of you're big enough to sell out Radio City and people love your music, but you're still that kind of underground vibe where you don't have to play to a mainstream audience.

sensibility or doing anything you don't want to do. I mean, do you feel that way? Which is a great place to be because we feel in charge of our self-expression, which is amazing as artists and human beings. And, you know, selling out Radio City here in New York is still, like, really cool for us. So we don't take it for granted. It's been amazing. And just being in here in this smaller TV audience situation is super dope. Yeah. No, you can't... And...

I mean, the authenticity is coming through in the second album, I feel. I can still feel it. I mean, that was one of my questions for you was, like, do you feel that transition from, you know, making your first album where you're just pure self-expression and doing what you want to do to the second album where there's...

There's expectations for it now, kind of, you know? Did you feel that kind of pressure? Did it change your creative approach to it? Most definitely. So, with the last album, I was really lucky because of my other half, Adrian Quesada. He came to the table with such a knowledge and such a sensitivity towards the culture, towards the style of music that...

I just-- You can say black people. Yeah, black people. Yeah. But it was really easy for me to kind of adopt the character that was being presented by way of the canvas that is soul music. And so as we accomplished that, and he liked some of my songs, and those songs kind of helped catapult Black Pumas like Colors.

You know, it's been really amazing. But for the second album, there was way much more, you know, pressure. But, you know, I was raised in an artist household, and I was always taught to kind of genuinely be okay with expressing myself. And thankfully, the people have kind of allowed it, you know? So it feels nice to be here. You haven't changed yet, is there? Not yet. Not yet.

Not never. Right. And I guess I know you're still with an indie music label. Yeah, that's right. ATO Records. But do you feel like with this second album, with the more anticipation and the undoubted success of the first one, do you feel like you have more resources now? Like, how is it actually affecting how you make music for the second album? Well, when we did so well the first time around, I...

kind of immediately learned that our team, which is a great team, they were kind of relying on us to -- for direction. And so that was like -- that came as a really big surprise. While it doesn't sound super -- like a big deal, it came as a surprise because I don't know that we were for sure as to what direction we wanted to go in. So we just continued to be genuine, continued to be honest.

And it's led us into some places that have been really new and very cool. And we're still observing people's reaction to it. So that's been really nice. Right. And you came up kind of playing smaller gigs coming up in Radio City. And everything is really happening for you. Do you feel like you...

Do you still go back to play small games just to get the energy of that? Most definitely. So I'm lucky because I was busking before. Everybody hated me.

So what city were you busking? I was busking in Santa Monica and Los Angeles. And so I went from Los Angeles to Austin, Texas, where there's a live show for anybody and everybody every single day. So to be interjected in such a culture where the artist is just incredible.

embraced in this uncanny way, that really opened my eyes to being able to play and not having to pay to play, you know, too, but being able to play and really just integrate in the culture. So, you know, we played C-Boys, which is a smaller venue, Shotgun Club. And you feed off that energy. Obviously, it's smaller. Everyone's there. You're playing original music and you're killing it. Yes. But there's that sense that, you know...

you really have to work hard because we have friends who come in there and we're just in the back, like doing that thing. But, you know-- - It's like you're playing, you're like trying to prove yourself versus where your city where everyone's there to-- - Most definitely. And I wanna say like briefly that we were just very lucky just from the very get go. Like as soon as I met Adrian Quesada,

We had such a chemistry, obviously, you know, I'm a creative and an artist first, and it helped to be with a partner who was just knowledgeable enough to kind of help me find a container for that musically. And to then see the stage in such a real way. I used to be in theater, I grew up acting, and so, you know, it's not that much different. There's, you know, so...

So to be in that situation in Austin, Texas, it was like the perfect place to cultivate the live performative element. Right. And I heard you recently went to a silent meditation retreat. Yeah, most definitely. I discovered Vipassana through a girlfriend of mine and it changed my world. I have done the retreat twice. It's free. They fed me for free. They put me up for free. But what's the condition? You just have to shut the f*** up?

the up for seven days? - Exactly, exactly. - Sorry, I should have said it's a silent retreat. Did I mention? - It's a silent retreat. So it's a silent retreat. You get there, it's maybe 100 students, five instructors, and you learn the technique, which is really easy to learn. - It's to shut up. - Yes, just to be quiet. You know, you'd be surprised to just be quiet. - The technique for that is a quiet skill, I guess, these days. What happens if you don't shut up? Do they like kick you out? Is that the--

How do they kick you out? You can get kicked out. Yeah, for sure. So you can get kicked out. But I think that the technique is to get you on a vehicle to the source of how and/or where our subconscious mind is reacting to, you know,

our thoughts and things that might have happened in the past. So to get to the bottom of it, it's really technique to do so. Yeah, that sounds horrible. Um... I'll never do that, but Chronicles of a Diamond is available now. Eric Burden and the Black Pumas, everybody.

Explore more shows from the Daily Show Podcast universe by searching The Daily Show, wherever you get your podcasts. Watch The Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central, and stream full episodes anytime on Paramount+. Paramount Podcasts.

Does money stress you out? Let Facet flip your financial chaos into clarity. Finding Facet immediately put us at ease. Facet's innovative approach to financial planning ensures your money works as hard as you do, enabling members to experience the joys of having your finances in order. That makes us Facet for life now, I guess. Visit Facet.com.

FACET.com to learn more. This ad is sponsored by Facet. Facet Wealth is an SEC-registered investment advisor. This is not an offer to buy or sell securities, nor is it investment, legal, or tax advice. These testimonials are from current Facet members who are not compensated. All opinions are their own and not a guarantee of a similar outcome. Save on O'Reilly Brake Parts Cleaner. Get two cans of O'Reilly Brake Parts Cleaner for just $8. Valid in-store only at O'Reilly Auto Parts. O-O-O'Reilly Auto Parts.