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1:02

Excludes restaurants. Welcome down here,

1:04

up there, out there, all

1:06

around the world. Welcome to the

1:08

Late Show. I'm your host

1:10

Stephen Colbert and welcome. I'll

1:13

welcome you all to Donald

1:15

Trump's... Golden Age. Turns

1:17

out by golden he meant

1:19

golden shower, because really feels

1:21

like he's peeing on a

1:24

leg and telling us it's

1:26

liberated. It can be a

1:28

little lonely. It's a bit of

1:30

a lonely time for those Americans

1:32

who saw all this

1:34

malicious incompetent corrupt chaos

1:37

coming and voted, not

1:39

that again, please. Which

1:42

is why this weekend it

1:44

was inspiring to see hundreds

1:46

of thousands of Americans

1:48

turning out Hands-off protests

1:51

in more than 1,200

1:53

locations in all 50 states

1:55

in Sweet Home Chicago in

1:58

Washington DC in New York in

2:00

Los Angeles, California, in

2:02

Austin, Texas, and in

2:04

the birthplace of democracy,

2:06

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although a

2:08

lot of those people

2:10

might be Eagles fans

2:12

still drunk from the

2:14

Super Bowl parade. We

2:16

don't know yet. The

2:18

polls were Greece. They

2:20

did grease the polls.

2:23

Spirits were high, and

2:25

the signs were great.

2:27

Let them eat Tesla's.

2:29

Detroit hates kid rock

2:31

and my personal favorite

2:33

I bite Nazis good

2:35

boy! Bight those Nazis

2:37

right in their their

2:39

testicles right there one

2:41

one thing folks are

2:43

mad about is is

2:45

Trump's tariffs which today

2:47

continued to shove your

2:49

401k down a flight

2:52

of stairs. It turns

2:54

out, in Trump's economy,

2:56

the only safe job

2:58

is guy who takes

3:00

photos of panic stock

3:02

brokers. And in the

3:04

last few days, we

3:06

got some classics. We

3:08

got Johnny Headin' hands.

3:10

An old-fashioned, God has

3:12

forsakenness. And this guy

3:14

who will be the

3:16

new face of the

3:18

$100 bill. Today,

3:21

they're going to be fine. Today,

3:23

the Tao stumbled another 350 points

3:26

down, on top of losing nearly

3:28

4,000 points in the last two

3:30

days of last week, when the

3:33

S&P also fell over 10% closing

3:35

out the market's worst week since

3:37

March of 2020, when the pandemic

3:40

ripped through the global economy. Now,

3:42

there is one silver lining. This

3:44

time, since there's no pandemic, we

3:46

can safely scream straight into each

3:49

other's faces. For

3:51

one, for one, what was

3:53

it, 10 a.m., something like

3:55

that. For one brief shining

3:57

moment this morning, things looked

3:59

up around 10 a.m. Right?

4:01

The market shot back into

4:03

positive territory. Thanks to a

4:05

tweet. Reporting the White House

4:07

economic advisor Kevin Hassett said

4:10

Trump was considering a 90-day

4:12

pause in tariffs, but the

4:14

tweet was not true, and

4:16

an hour later, the White

4:18

House issued a statement denying

4:20

it, and the markets lost

4:22

their gains and returned to

4:24

their continued drop. The up

4:26

and down continued all day

4:28

long. Trump won't be happy

4:30

until the Tao Jones looks

4:32

like his signature. All

4:43

this turmoil has really upset

4:45

the Wall Street bros. Even

4:47

the ones that back Trump,

4:49

they're describing his tariffs as

4:51

worse than expected, and reportedly

4:53

for many CEOs, this came

4:55

as a surprise. A surprise?

4:57

He's only been talking about

4:59

tariffs since the 1980s. In

5:01

the campaign, he said tariff

5:03

is the most beautiful word

5:05

in the English language. This

5:07

is like electing Snoop Dog,

5:09

and then saying, I didn't

5:11

know he was gonna smoke

5:13

weed every day. And what's

5:15

this, wait a second, and

5:17

he's, I don't, hold on,

5:20

hold on, and, and sipping

5:22

on gin and juice? In

5:24

this economy? The, uh, the,

5:26

uh, the, uh, the, the

5:28

big banky boys are freaking

5:30

out. J.P. Morgan sent a

5:32

memo to investors, last week,

5:34

titled, There will be blood.

5:36

I forget. Was that movie

5:38

you a romcom? I can't

5:40

remember. Do not worry, J.P.

5:42

Morgan always talks in 2007

5:44

film references. The memo continued,

5:46

when it comes to retirement

5:48

savings, this is no country

5:50

for old men. All our

5:52

money is gone, baby gone.

5:54

And to be blunt, this

5:56

is super bad. In conclusion,

5:58

Shrek 3. Sooo.

6:00

Wall Street clearly wants the

6:02

president to change his mind,

6:05

but he doesn't have one.

6:07

On Friday, Trump retweeted a

6:10

post. He retweeted a post

6:12

with the caption, Trump is

6:15

playing chess, while everyone else

6:17

is playing checkers. And that

6:20

post linked to a video

6:22

that claimed Trump is crashing

6:25

the stock market, but he's

6:27

doing it on purpose. That's

6:30

a weird thing to brag

6:32

about. Everyone's making fun of

6:34

me for pooping my pants,

6:37

but jokes on them, I

6:39

poop my pants on purpose.

6:42

Well, everyone else is playing

6:44

checkers. I'm pooping my pants.

6:47

That's how you win. By

6:49

default, they get up and

6:52

they leave. JD, bring me

6:54

a wet wipe. On Air

6:57

Force One, on Air Force

6:59

One, Trump said, the market

7:02

crashing is just what America

7:04

needs. I don't want anything

7:06

to go down, but sometimes

7:09

you have to take medicine

7:11

to fix something. Because that's

7:14

how medicine works. You take

7:16

it, and everyone dies. All

7:19

dead. Far from

7:21

pausing the tariffs this morning

7:23

Trump tripled down threatening an

7:25

extra 50% tariff on China

7:27

Which will raise the price

7:30

of everything we get from

7:32

China which I believe is

7:34

everything Trump did that because

7:36

on Friday China retaliated against

7:38

Trump's liberation day tariffs by

7:40

slapping a 34% tariff on

7:43

US goods China if you

7:45

want a trade war a

7:47

trade war is what you'll

7:49

get the gloves are off

7:51

because you make the gloves

7:53

and we can't afford them

7:55

anymore. Trump responded, okay? Have

7:58

at you! That's

8:04

how you thought right? Trump

8:06

responded to China by posting

8:09

if China does not withdraw

8:11

its 34% increase above their

8:14

already Long-term trading abuses by

8:16

tomorrow April 8 2025 United

8:19

States will impose additional tariffs

8:21

on China of 50% effective

8:24

April 9th Then he ended

8:26

thank you for your attention

8:29

to this matter That's that's

8:31

that's that's an odd way

8:34

to end a threat It's

8:36

like getting a letter from

8:39

kidnappers give us $50,000 and

8:41

unmarked bills or you'll never

8:44

see your husband again. Have

8:46

a great weekend Stay sweet

8:49

so So

8:58

why is Trump willing to

9:00

tank the global economy and

9:02

risk the wrath of American

9:05

voters? Well, as one White

9:07

House insider put it, he's

9:09

at the peak of just

9:12

not giving a F-k anymore.

9:14

Okay? Is he taking any

9:16

F-cause because I would happily

9:19

send him a steaming bucketful?

9:21

While the markets were plummeting

9:23

on Friday, Trump spent the

9:26

day at his golf course.

9:28

And the White House... The

9:30

White House released this actual

9:33

statement. The president won his

9:35

second round match-up of the

9:37

Senior Club Championship today in

9:40

Jupiter, Florida, and advances to

9:42

the championship round tomorrow. That

9:44

is an aggressively toned-deaf press

9:47

release. I'm sorry, Mrs. Jones,

9:49

I botched the operation and

9:51

your husband is dead, but

9:54

this morning I got the

9:56

wordling, too. Hazle. Luckily. Luckily

9:58

reporters were aboard Air Force

10:01

One. and they held the

10:03

president accountable with tough hard

10:05

hitting questions like this one.

10:08

Oh I know his brain

10:10

is broke. Oh I know

10:12

his brain is broke. Yeah.

10:14

Yeah. Trump's terrible, but he

10:17

couldn't tank the global economy

10:19

all by himself. One of

10:21

the tariff masterminds is White

10:24

House economic advisor and Mr.

10:26

Burns cosplayer. Peter Navarro. Now,

10:28

these tariffs are condemned by

10:31

most leading economists and most

10:33

trailing economists. But Navarro did

10:35

find one guy, an economist

10:38

named Ron Vera, who was

10:40

cited as an expert more

10:42

than a dozen times in

10:45

Peter Navarro's books. One problem

10:47

with Ron Vara. For more

10:49

we turn to our friend

10:52

Rachel Maddow. The problem is

10:54

Ron Vara doesn't exist. He

10:56

never has. The economics expert

10:59

that Peter Navarro has long

11:01

cited to explain why he's

11:03

so gung-ho on tariffs, this

11:06

person Ron Vara is a

11:08

made-up person. Who is Ron

11:10

Vero? Ron Vara is an

11:13

anagram of Navarro, which is

11:15

his last name. Now, I,

11:17

Stephen Colbert, think this is

11:20

incredibly dumb. But you know

11:22

who doesn't? Famed economist Treblock

11:24

Neplock Neppets. Yes.

11:27

Handsome, man. Good-looking, really good-looking

11:29

guy. Treblock fully supports Ron

11:32

Vero. Trump-toteys were working overtime

11:34

to polish these turds. Here's

11:37

Judge Janine. You know the

11:39

uncertainty in the in the

11:42

in the stock market it

11:44

isn't necessarily a negative It

11:46

can be an indication that

11:49

things are going to work

11:51

out. It's just that things

11:54

are they're uncertain right now

11:56

and you got a president

11:59

swinging for the fences. Yes,

12:01

he's swinging for the fences.

12:03

He missed and hit America

12:06

in the S&P 500, which

12:08

as any economist will tell

12:11

you stands for scrotum and

12:13

penis 500. We got a

12:16

great show for you tonight.

12:18

Coming up, Senator Corey Booker.

12:20

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I'd never be a golfer with

12:54

just one arm. But the only

12:56

thing that feels better than proving

12:58

people wrong is out driving them.

13:00

I'm 14-year-old golfer Tommy Morsi, and

13:02

I want to be remembered from

13:04

my ability. As a champion partner

13:07

of the Masters, Bank of America

13:09

supports everyone determined to find out

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what's possible. In golf, and in

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life, what would you like the

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power to do? Bank of America,

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and a member of FDIC copyright

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2025, Bank of America Corporation Corporation

13:21

All Rights Reserve. Welcome

13:27

back everybody. Ladies and gentlemen. My

13:29

first guest tonight is the senior

13:31

senator from New Jersey who just

13:34

made history breaking the record for

13:36

the longest individual speech on the

13:38

center floor with his 25 hour

13:41

and five minute long speech. Please

13:43

welcome back to the late show

13:45

Senator Corey Booker. Well,

14:03

Senator, thanks for being here. I'm

14:06

really grateful that you could be

14:08

here, so we can talk through

14:10

the chaos that is being visited

14:13

on our country by our government

14:15

right now. Before we do that,

14:17

I just want to talk for

14:20

a second about your speech last

14:22

week. You're 25-hour and five-minute speech.

14:24

I know. It's

14:27

unlikely we'll go that long tonight.

14:29

Okay, but just in case I

14:32

have another picture of water right

14:34

here. We have we have some

14:36

recallas. I love that. I love

14:38

that. I love that. Most importantly

14:40

all, here's the men's room for

14:42

you. Anyway, just feel free. Yes.

14:44

I might put that right here.

14:46

Just have it. You can call

14:48

commercial breaks and just walk off.

14:50

So, um. At any point did

14:52

you start hallucinating. When you're up

14:54

there. My worries going into it

14:56

were frankly having to go to

14:58

the bathroom, so I did something

15:00

that's not smart, not advised, that

15:02

really ticked off my mom, which

15:04

was I started dehydrating myself about

15:06

24 hours beforehand, just not drinking.

15:08

So I was... Yeah, seriously, that's

15:10

how you got a kidney stone,

15:12

ma'am. I have... My mom reminded

15:14

me that I am a middle-aged...

15:16

a black guy that's two hundred

15:19

and too much pounds. And that

15:21

is not a smart thing. So

15:23

she wasn't sure how long I

15:25

would go. She just said, please

15:27

tap out when you feel it.

15:29

But my mom is a saying,

15:31

this is behind every successful child

15:33

is an astonished parent. So I

15:35

was happy, I was very happy

15:37

to astonish her that I could

15:39

go that long. Yeah. Well, one

15:41

of the, one of the nice

15:43

aspects of it. You know, you

15:45

were up there, you weren't talking

15:47

about you, you were talking about.

15:49

our nation with the challenges it

15:51

faces not just this challenges but

15:53

the challenges we always face and

15:55

the need to actually face them

15:57

in some realistic and collaborative way

15:59

but along the way of talking

16:01

about that you managed to wipe

16:04

out strong Thurman's 1957 record which

16:06

was shameful can you mind everybody

16:08

what what the previous record was

16:10

held and trying to stop yes

16:12

strong Thurman when he was actually

16:14

about my age was trying to

16:16

stop civil rights and trying to

16:18

stop the civil rights legislation while

16:20

legends were out there fighting for

16:22

it in the streets he was

16:24

trying to block the legislation and

16:26

I want to say that he

16:28

held that record for 68 years,

16:30

but in many ways he planted

16:32

a seed to just really demonstrate

16:34

that he was not successful. Black

16:36

Guy came along and broke that

16:38

record. That is a poetic, as

16:40

a poetic, denoument of that moment.

16:42

Yeah, but look, the reality is,

16:44

he was not successful. I may

16:46

have broke the speaking record, but

16:48

he wasn't successful in stopping civil

16:51

rights from happening because black people

16:53

and white people and Asian people,

16:55

Christian, Jewish, Muslim, all joined together

16:57

in this rainbow coalition that overcame

16:59

what he was doing. And that's

17:01

the secret. Change has never come

17:03

from Washington. It often comes despite

17:05

Washington and... And it comes to

17:07

Washington by American people who are

17:09

saying, I am not satisfied with

17:11

what's going on and I'm going

17:13

to join a larger movement because

17:15

it's a moral moment. They said

17:17

that in the civil rights movement

17:19

and the labor movement and the

17:21

LGBTQ movement, people who were from

17:23

varied backgrounds said, this is a

17:25

moral moment and I'm not going

17:27

to be a spectator to American

17:29

history. I'm going to join the

17:31

cause of making American history. You

17:43

quote John Lewis saying, you know, let's

17:45

make good trouble. You know, let's make

17:48

good trouble. You say the power of

17:50

the people isn't in the people in

17:52

power. In this democracy, the power of

17:54

people is greater than the people in

17:56

power. Why does it always have to

17:59

be the people? Don't we allow... to

18:01

collect representatives to go to Washington D.C.

18:03

So we don't have to think about

18:05

this all the time. Look, I will

18:08

tell you this, I serve with some

18:10

extraordinary human beings in Washington. People I

18:12

look up to, even, you know, you

18:14

take a Tammy Duckworth who lost her

18:16

legs in combat and is on the

18:19

floor. and fights for things and wins

18:21

battles that people don't know whether it's

18:23

for reproductive health or for our veterans

18:25

so there are good people fighting to

18:28

do good things but the history of

18:30

this country we have to understand we

18:32

are here not because of the people

18:34

in Washington I always say that we

18:36

didn't get the suffrage women's right to

18:39

vote because a bunch of men on

18:41

the Senate floor put their hands in

18:43

and said okay fellas let's give women

18:45

the right to the right to vote

18:48

ready break you know no it happened

18:50

because of somebody like Alice Paul a

18:52

young woman her 20s from New Jersey

18:54

actually did the first ever protest. in

18:56

front of the White House. And then

18:59

when they arrested her, and what they

19:01

do to often strong women, especially back

19:03

in those days, they put her in

19:05

a sane asylum, before Gandhi, she was

19:08

going on hunger strikes in prison. And

19:10

it was the First Amendment, the press

19:12

that told her story, shamed the country,

19:14

and the President of the United States,

19:16

who she was protesting, came out and

19:19

joined the suffrage movement. It has always

19:21

been the people of this nation during

19:23

the abolitionist movement. in the abolitionist movement

19:25

joining together to create the underground railroad,

19:28

liberating people, not waiting for Washington to

19:30

do it. And so that should teach

19:32

us right now. There are good people

19:34

in Washington, hard-working people on both sides

19:37

of the aisle that have done good

19:39

things, but real change, especially in the

19:41

moral moments in our country when the

19:43

character of our nation is in the

19:45

balance, like right now, it has always

19:48

been the change led by the people.

19:50

And that's why... In that speech, I

19:52

wanted to center the voices of Americans

19:54

and read as much as I could,

19:57

the letters we're getting, the demands we're

19:59

getting. people who are saying Corey Booker,

20:01

you're not doing enough, at which they

20:03

were right. Let's talk about your constituents.

20:05

You held a town hall. I know

20:08

that you went to one of the

20:10

hands-off rallies, at least one, and you

20:12

also held a town hall. What are

20:14

you hearing from your constituents? What are

20:17

they most want you and the other

20:19

people in Washington to do right now?

20:21

What's upsetting them the most? Well, we're

20:23

in a country right now where we

20:25

have a president that in the most

20:28

crass way is saying, hey, I'm gonna

20:30

cut all of this stuff in the

20:32

name of efficiency, which is really creating

20:34

more expense and more hardship. When you

20:37

cut somebody's health care or ability to

20:39

see a primary care physician, you actually

20:41

are pushing them to use the emergency

20:43

room as their primary care place, which

20:45

is the most expensive type of health

20:48

care, as opposed to preventative care. And

20:50

so what I'm hearing is as much

20:52

as you say that, hey, you stood

20:54

for 25 hours, you and I are

20:57

both sitting here knowing that somebody right

20:59

now is on their third shift at

21:01

the... at the diner because they can't

21:03

afford to pay rent unless they work

21:05

a full around the clock. Somebody's in

21:08

the hospital right now who is a

21:10

nurse's assistant changing bed pans and is

21:12

catching extra shifts. We have some police

21:14

officers who are standing, she's standing on

21:17

a third shift being held over. There

21:19

are Americans that stand every day, but

21:21

what they're angry about is that this

21:23

promise that we made. the very dream

21:25

of this country, that if I work

21:28

hard, if I play by the rules,

21:30

if I raise my family, we can

21:32

make it. And that ability to make

21:34

it is being undermined by this president

21:37

who's taking away retirement security, who's attacking

21:39

bedrock promises like Social Security or Medicaid.

21:41

And that to me, the voices of

21:43

these courageous folks, they're heartbreaking. And if

21:45

your heart's not broken, I would say,

21:48

if America hasn't broken your heart, you

21:50

don't love her enough. When you see

21:52

people like Joseph who came to my

21:54

town hall, who's on the autism spectrum,

21:57

who's got severe anxiety standing in front

21:59

of crowds, but we heard I was

22:01

coming out. out after this speech, he

22:03

wanted to come and his mother introduced

22:05

him and he read from this sheet

22:08

in his own handwriting, don't let them

22:10

take away my Medicaid. And if that

22:12

doesn't call upon your conscience, if it

22:14

doesn't call upon your heart to not

22:17

let this fear... that we all have

22:19

right now, that 80 million Americans could

22:21

lose their health care, because Donald Trump

22:23

has told Congress, cut $880 billion from

22:25

Medicaid, in order for me to give

22:28

bigger tax cuts to the wealthiest in

22:30

this country who don't need them. If

22:32

that doesn't motivate you, I question the

22:34

strength of your love, and I worry

22:37

about the poverty in our country, not

22:39

materially the poverty of empathy for your

22:41

neighbor. Well, let's talk about those complaints

22:43

that people have complaints that people have.

22:50

To give the devil more due

22:52

than he deserves, Donald Trump was

22:54

elected because people had these economic

22:57

fears already. People felt like they-

22:59

They felt like- They felt that

23:01

he could fix their problems. Now

23:03

he betrays that trust over and

23:05

over again by rewarding the richest

23:07

people and rewarding himself, frankly. But

23:09

when Joe Biden was elected, I

23:11

remember thinking, let's not go back

23:13

to a pre-Donnell Trump America, because

23:15

a pre-Donnell Trump America gave us

23:18

Donald Trump. What are the changes

23:20

that have to happen that we

23:22

don't find ourselves in a bind

23:24

where people... acting out of their

23:26

own self-interest, which so many people

23:28

have the right to do as

23:30

voters. They want to do what's

23:32

best for themselves and their family.

23:34

What needs to most change in

23:36

America so that a demagogue cannot

23:39

seize the reins of fear? Well,

23:41

first of all... understand that from

23:43

Father Conklin with his demagogic anti-Semitic,

23:45

he was not just the number

23:47

one radio station, the majority of

23:49

Americans listened to him, he was

23:51

a demagogue, McCarthyism, and that every

23:53

generation has seen demagoguery. I remember

23:55

sitting with a great historian John

23:58

Meacham, which he said, nothing that's

24:00

happening right. now is unprecedented. It's

24:02

all very precedent. So the fact

24:04

that demagoguery rises in our country

24:06

or other countries is not unique

24:08

and it tends to possibly happen.

24:10

Well here's what's unprecedented. Father Coughlin

24:12

and Joe McCarthy were not the

24:14

commander-in-chief or the president of the

24:16

United States with a Congress that

24:19

would not stand up to him

24:21

at all. Case in point. Donald

24:23

Trump is signing executive orders. A

24:25

lot of presidents use executive orders.

24:27

Never this many, never this fast.

24:29

And never eliminating things completely by

24:32

fiat. He says, Department of Education,

24:34

gone. I signed a piece of

24:36

paper. It's gone. Can he do

24:38

that? Or does Congress have to

24:40

agree? Well, let's speak to the

24:42

specific truth that you told. And this is

24:45

why it's such a moral moment. It's

24:47

because never before. in my

24:49

lifetime, or I think

24:51

in the last century

24:53

of America, have we

24:55

seen somebody to rise

24:57

to power, who this

25:00

callously, cruelly, and in

25:02

a craven manner disregards

25:04

our constitutional principles and

25:06

threatens the bedrock... needs of

25:09

many Americans, health care, retirement security, honoring

25:11

our veterans. So what you're saying is

25:13

absolutely true. And the call then at

25:16

this moment when you see someone like

25:18

him rise, it is now testing our

25:20

nation and our nation's constitutional principles more

25:23

than I ever imagined possible. But the

25:25

question cannot be what is he doing?

25:27

The question is, is what are we

25:29

going to do in response to that?

25:32

And so for me, I can sit

25:34

here, I always say it's a state

25:36

of sedentary agitation, where we're so upset

25:39

about what's going on, but we don't

25:41

ask ourselves what can we do. And

25:43

what I said on the floor in

25:46

the 25 hours, and it was a

25:48

healing process in many ways for myself,

25:50

to say very plainly, we have not

25:52

done enough. I have not done enough.

25:55

The Democratic Party. must accept responsibility not

25:57

for complicity but for contributing to the

25:59

pathway. to this kind of demagoguery, to

26:01

this kind of person being in the

26:04

White House. So we have to tell

26:06

that truth, but it still falls to

26:08

the question is, what are you going

26:11

to do? When this moment in history

26:13

came, where did you stand? And I

26:15

will say to you again, as you

26:18

said it already, the power of the

26:20

people is greater than the people in

26:22

power. And I know you're afraid, but

26:25

Fear is a necessary precondition to courage.

26:27

I know your anger, angry, and I'm

26:29

angry, but anger can either eat you

26:31

up inside or it can be fuel

26:34

for the fight. If anything, the history

26:36

tells us. If American history is anything,

26:38

it is a perpetual testimony to the

26:41

achievement of impossible things against impossible odds.

26:43

In my generation, this is what's exciting

26:45

to me. This is the last baby

26:48

boomer president. We're seeing the last baby

26:50

boomer leaders in Congress. This is a

26:52

generation that I call the civil rights

26:54

generation that has extraordinary accomplishments, but new

26:57

generations are rising. X, millennial, generation Z.

26:59

And it's our turn now, not just

27:01

to talk about what we're against or

27:04

who we're against. It's our time now

27:06

to redeem the American dream, to dream

27:08

this country new, to see the new

27:11

possibilities that our parents and our forefathers

27:13

couldn't imagine. We have the moment now

27:15

to shape this nation, and we cannot

27:18

lose. it, and we especially can't lose

27:20

it to a hate-filled demagogue that wants

27:22

to tear down our country. We need

27:24

to now rebuild it and reimagine it.

27:27

Your protest ended the same day Democrats

27:29

had a win in Wisconsin. where a

27:31

liberal judge won a Supreme Court race

27:34

that Elon Musk was pouring tens of

27:36

millions of dollars into. He lost there,

27:38

but he's been busy elsewhere. Doge's targeting

27:41

of Social Security has sent into what

27:43

has been described as a death spiral

27:45

and chaos. They slash USAID. It essentially

27:47

does not exist anymore. Thousands of employees

27:50

across the federal government have lost their

27:52

jobs, been put on leave. And I

27:54

just want to tell you how violative

27:57

of our values it should be. People

27:59

say USAID, less than 1% of our

28:01

budget, so less than one penny of

28:04

every dollar you send down, put scientists

28:06

right in the middle of fighting Ebola.

28:08

or fighting a treatment-resistant tuberculosis, or fighting

28:11

the bird flu. In a world now

28:13

that we now know that an infectious

28:15

disease anywhere is a threat to public

28:17

health everywhere. When the horrific earthquake happened

28:20

in Myanmar... We didn't have the resources

28:22

to respond because USAID wasn't there, and

28:24

the people that are filling the gap

28:27

don't share our values of democracy, freedom,

28:29

and justice. The Chinese stepped forward and

28:31

said, let us help you, let us

28:34

stand up. There is a global competition

28:36

going on, and I know we fundamentally

28:38

should be focused on the trashing of

28:40

our economy. Inflation is going up, people's

28:43

401 of cake accounts are going down.

28:45

But in this interconnected globe, those issues

28:47

matter, and I don't, and I've been

28:50

one of people defending USAID and don't

28:52

want to lose that, I sit down

28:54

with foreign leaders and I had a

28:57

European come to, European, a foreign minister,

28:59

I don't want to name the country,

29:01

but with a very thick accent, looked

29:03

at me and said, I can't say

29:06

all the English that he spoke, colorful,

29:08

colorful French or Greek or whatever it

29:10

was, but he basically looks at me

29:13

and quite literally says, what the is

29:15

going on with your country. We need

29:17

you. We need you. And you're retreating

29:20

from world leadership. You're retreating from being

29:22

the light of democracy that we need

29:24

you to be. I have friends in

29:27

New Zealand, and they said, this time,

29:29

we're mad at you. Last time, we're

29:31

mad at Trump. Yes. And I said,

29:33

oh, that's terrible. You guys are like

29:36

the country that likes us. And they

29:38

said, we're the country that loves you.

29:40

And we're mad at you this time.

29:43

And this is what King said. He

29:45

said, what we're ultimately going to have

29:47

to repent for is not the vitriolic

29:50

words and violent actions of the bad

29:52

people. but the appalling silence and inaction

29:54

of the good people. This is one

29:56

of those moments where we should be

29:59

looking at ourselves in the mirror and

30:01

saying, why didn't we have such a

30:03

low voter turnout? Why didn't we understand

30:06

what was at stake right now? Let's

30:08

talk about action and inaction and one

30:10

of the things that made so many

30:13

people mad at the Democratic leadership is

30:15

voting for the CR, which is not

30:17

a clean CR. that had a lot

30:20

of cuts in it, that seemed like

30:22

the only place where the Democrats could

30:24

exercise any leverage over what was going

30:26

on, the slash and burn going on

30:29

in Washington, and D.C. I had Senator

30:31

Schumer on last week to talk about

30:33

this, and I have great respect for

30:36

Senator Schumer, but I found his answers

30:38

less than nutritious. And I'm wondering why

30:40

you voted against it. Look, for me,

30:43

that was a catalytic point, and I

30:45

thought that if we took a stand

30:47

there, then we would not stand alone.

30:49

I think faith is one of these

30:52

things. That when you step out into

30:54

scary dark things, faith is knowing one

30:56

of two things is going to happen.

30:59

Either you're going to find solid ground

31:01

underneath you, or the universe will send

31:03

you people that will teach you how

31:06

to fly, that will soar with you.

31:08

When we started that 25-hour journey, we

31:10

had no idea how people were going

31:13

to react, but we knew we needed

31:15

to do something different and take a

31:17

risk. be with our side, it would

31:19

be a galvanizing moment. But we disagreed.

31:22

What we can't do now, and years

31:24

and years, a very good portion of

31:26

my life was defined by playing football.

31:29

And I used to know when we

31:31

were going to score on the other

31:33

team. And how did I know we

31:36

were going to score on the other

31:38

team, is when I started hearing people

31:40

in that huddle. argue amongst themselves, demean

31:42

or degrade them for missing a tackle

31:45

or making a bad play. This is

31:47

one of those moments where we're going

31:49

to have differences, but I'm telling you

31:52

if everybody in your coalition agrees with

31:54

everything that you believe in, your coalition

31:56

is not big enough. We can have

31:59

some room for mistakes. some room for

32:01

divisions, but when it comes to unifying

32:03

and the cause of our country, when

32:06

millions of Americans are literally on the

32:08

verge of losing their health care, when

32:10

seniors who have been saving for retirements

32:12

have seen their 401ks lose so much

32:15

money that they now realize they may

32:17

have to extend retirement for years, when

32:19

we have veterans. Perhaps the people that

32:22

deserve our deepest respect and appreciation, losing

32:24

their jobs, being fired more than any

32:26

president has fired veterans, and losing the

32:29

services that they deserve, this is a

32:31

time to say, okay, I may disagree

32:33

with you, I may disagree with what

32:35

you did, but right now, we're gonna

32:38

unify in this fight because we've got

32:40

bigger challenges before us. We've got to

32:42

go here, but I want to ask

32:45

one other question before we go. And

32:47

that is. The international, as we've said,

32:49

the international response has been, other than

32:52

Russia, it's been who want to build

32:54

a statue to Trump, they've said, on

32:56

the state media, it's been pretty appalled

32:59

across the board. Prime Minister, the new

33:01

Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Kearney, I

33:03

believe his name is Mark Kearney, he

33:05

gave a speech that was heartbreaking. but

33:08

resident. He said that at this moment,

33:10

when these tariffs go up, when Trump

33:12

makes, you know, allies of our enemies

33:15

and enemies of our allies, that the

33:17

United States abdicates its role of leadership

33:19

in the world. And he says that

33:22

is a tragedy, but we have to

33:24

face it. Can America walk back? In

33:26

your opinion, can America walk back from

33:28

the bridges? that this man is burning?

33:31

Should they trust us again? Should we

33:33

even be trusted with the launch codes

33:35

if this is the sort of person

33:38

that we elect? I formed my speech

33:40

around John Lewis who said the importance

33:42

of getting in good trouble and he

33:45

would tell you if... if he was

33:47

here and I believe he's in heaven,

33:49

that the change that he most made

33:51

perhaps in his life was before he

33:54

even got to Congress. It was because

33:56

he as a young man decided to

33:58

make good trouble. But when he did

34:01

get to Congress years later, he was

34:03

beat on the Edmund Pettis Bridge, he

34:05

was beat at Freedom Rides, he was

34:08

physically assaulted at... at sit-ins and he

34:10

said that a man, an elder man,

34:12

came with his grandchild and asked him

34:15

for his forgiveness. He admitted that he

34:17

was one of the people that beat

34:19

him and John Lewis forgave him because

34:21

he said everybody needs mercy, everybody deserves

34:24

a pathway to redemption. The soul of

34:26

our country right now I think needs

34:28

redemption and all of us have to

34:31

expand. our hearts. We've had very difficult

34:33

days, but the only way we get

34:35

from here to there is start to

34:38

embody and inhabit the best of our

34:40

virtues and values. I say this about

34:42

religion. Before you tell me about your

34:44

religion, first show it to me and

34:47

how you treat other people. Before you

34:49

tell me how much you love your

34:51

God, show it to me and how

34:54

much you love God's children. Before you

34:56

teach me about the passion you have

34:58

for your faith, show it to me

35:01

through the compassion you have for others.

35:03

That's religion. You and I are people

35:05

of faith. But there is a civic

35:08

gospel in this country that we need

35:10

more than ever. Do we have this

35:12

declaration of independence that we herald? But

35:14

the declaration of independence ends with this

35:17

remarkable statement that these imperfect geniuses put

35:19

down, which was a declaration of interdependence.

35:21

They said that we must mutually pledge,

35:24

pledge to each other, our lives, our

35:26

fortunes, and our sacred honor. Now more

35:28

than ever. the civic gospel of America.

35:31

Yes, Canada needs it, New Zealand needs

35:33

it, the world needs it. But it

35:35

will not be real anywhere until it's

35:37

real in the hearts of Americans. And

35:40

you cannot point fingers and ask other

35:42

people to live that spirit. You've got

35:44

to embody it. And I promise you

35:47

and I've learned. this in my

35:49

my own life. you

35:51

If you have the

35:54

courage, if even if

35:56

your legs shake,

35:58

if you have the

36:01

courage to speak

36:03

up, even if your

36:05

voice breaks, you

36:07

will be an inspiration to another, and

36:09

then another, and then another. and that

36:11

will begin to overwhelm all the darkness

36:13

in this world. Be, decide with conviction in

36:15

John Lewis, Be, that you'll be a

36:17

point of light, that you'll cause some

36:19

good trouble, and before you realize it,

36:21

you have redeemed the soul of a

36:23

weary nation. and before you thank you for being

36:26

here. Thank you. Thank you for your

36:28

of a weary you. Send

36:30

record everybody. Thank you

36:32

for listening to the Late you for listening to

36:34

the Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Just

36:36

Just one more thing, if you want

36:38

to see more of me, me come

36:40

to the Late Show Show YouTube for more

36:42

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