I saw... I went to South Africa this weekend.
It was a really fun trip. Went to see family,
went to see friends and everybody, and so I'm...
This is so cool, 'cause I'm in South Africa,
and I obviously meet people who know me.
They've known me, like, for many years,
either from my life or from, like, comedy or whatever.
And so I go to get my COVID test to fly back to the U.S.
And one of the guys who's there, like, taking the payment,
he's like... he's like, "Hey, Trevor."
He's like, "Oh, man, I'm a big fan yours, bro."
I'm like, "Ah, thank you, dude. Thank you very much."
He's like, "Yeah, man, you make us so proud in South Africa.
We love what you do."
Then I was like, "Thank you very much. Thank you."
He's like, "Ah, but Trevor, I've got one question, my man."
So I'm like, "What's-what's the question?"
He's like, "Ah, Trevor, why do you change your accent
when you're in America, my man?"
Now mind you, he's just changed his accent
while he's saying this to me, right?
So I go like, "What do you mean?"
So he's like, "Ah, Trevor, ah, my man,
"When you're talking there in America,
"like, everything you say, it sounds so, like...
You know, it's almost American."
And I'm like, "No, that's... that's how I talk."
He's like, "Yeah, I know, but why don't you, like,
make it more African, you know?"
So I'm like, "What do you mean?"
He's like, "Yeah, like, I saw you in Coming to America.
"Then I was like, 'That accent.'
That's the one you should do." So, I'm like,
"So you want me to go on The Daily Show and be like,
(with accent): "'Hello, everybody.
My name is Trevor Noah. welcome to this TV show.'?"
And he's like, "Yeah, exactly. You can do it!"
Then I was like, "But that's not my actual accent."
He's like, "That's not the point.
"The point is, Trevor, they must know this accent's out there.
"When you're doing The Daily Show, they must be
"like, 'Wow. Oh, man, this accent.
It's out there. It's doing things.'"
I was like, "You're gonna get me canceled in America."
He's like, "Ah, they can't cancel you, Bobby.
Tell them to come to me." I was like, "They don't know you."
-He's like, "Yeah, you must introduce me." -(laughter)
Like, literally, this guy was like...
But he changed his accent to tell me the story.
Like, 'cause in South Africa, everyone...
You know what I mean? People call to each other all the time.
You talk to your grandmother differently than you talk...
But now, the guy's like... Now, I imagine...
Part of me wanted to do it, to be honest with you.
'Cause I mean, I don't know what people would say
if I just came here, and then I was just like,
(with accent): "Welcome to The Daily Show. I'm Trevor Noah.
Let's catch up on today's headlines in Congress."
And then people would be like, "What is he doing?"
And then they'd cancel me.
They'd be like, "You can't talk like that." Then I'd be like,
(with accent): "Actually, the other accent was fake.
-Now I cancel you." -(laughter)
ANNOUNCER: Coming to you from the heart of Times Square
in New York City, the only city in America, it's
The Daily Show.
Tonight-- truckers invade Canada,
Joe Rogan has a point,
and Representative Barbara Lee.
This is The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.
Hey, what's going on, everybody?
Welcome to The Daily Show. I'm Trevor Noah.
Let's jump straight into today's headlines.
♪ ♪
We kick things off with the 45th president of the United States,
Donald Jimminy Trump.
Trump is basically the ex that America kicked out
for throwing an open house party at the Capitol.
And like many exes, he really wants a second chance.
But instead of promising to do better next time,
he's threatening to do even worse.
Former President Trump returned to the campaign trail,
so to speak, in Texas last night.
And during this rally, Trump said
he would consider pardoning those prosecuted
for attacking the U.S. Capitol on January 6.
If I run and if I win, we will treat those people
-from January 6 fairly. -(cheering)
And if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons
because they are being treated so unfairly.
Trump also urged his supporters to hold massive protests
in cities like New York, Atlanta and Washington D.C.
if prosecutors investigating him
in those cities bring charges against him.
If these radical, vicious, racist prosecutors
do anything wrong or illegal, I hope we are going to have
in this country the biggest protest we have ever had.
In reality, they're not after me. They're after you.
And I just happen to be the person that's in the way.
Yo. Oh, man,
Donald Trump is the greatest con man of all time.
Did you hear everything this guy said?
Everything he said.
I mean, part of it was, like, the racist pers--
Who are they racist to?
Who is racist in this thing to Donald Trump, huh?
And if you think about it, like, it's really smart,
what he's saying, because, he could have
pardoned all of his people when January 6th happened.
You realize that, right?
He was the president.
But he didn't pardon them.
He let them get prosecuted
and now they're all going to jail.
He let this happen.
But now that his ass is on the line,
now he's like, "Man, if I was president,
"if I was president,
I'd have never let this happen to you."
But you did.
It is like some dirtbag being like,
"(sucks teeth) Let me tell you something,
-"If you were my girl--" -But I'm your wife.
"Yeah, but if you were my girl,
this shit wouldn't have happened, baby."
You got to admit, Trump leans on his supporters really hard.
I mean, first, they had to storm the Capitol
because he lost the election.
Then their donations went to his legal fees
because he's always getting sued.
Now they have to protest if he gets charged?
Like, where does it end?
If Trump does go to prison, is he gonna make these poor people
smuggle cigarettes up their butts?
"They're worth more unopened,
"so make sure you get the whole carton up in there,
and don't clench. It'll squish the filters."
Anyway, moving on,
from, uh, Donald Trump to posh Donald Trump,
Boris Johnson, the British prime minister
and guy who starts every morning
sticking a fork in an electrical outlet,
has been in quite a spot of bother lately,
which means it's time for another installment of
Keep Calm and Party On.
♪ ♪
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson
just apologized to Parliament
after a damning independent report was released
this morning which condemns,
"Failures of leadership and judgment by Johnson's office"
over those parties at 10 Downing Street
held during COVID lockdowns.
NEWSWOMAN: The government being scolded like children.
The report says, "There were serious failures to observe
the high standards." It says that
"Excessive alcohol shouldn't be drunk
at the workplace." It repeatedly describes
a culture of drinking and partying.
Boris Johnson was back in Parliament
to try to justify the unjustifiable.
Mr. Speaker, I get it.
-And I will fix it. -(clamoring, shouting)
And I want to say...
And I want to say to the people of this country,
I know what the issue is.
(clamoring)
Yes, Mr. Speaker, yes. Yes.
It's whether this government can be trusted to deliver.
-(shouting) -And I say, Mr. Speaker,
yes, we can be trusted.
-(shouting) -Yes, we can be trusted to deliver.
I love how he's like, "I identify the problem.
I know what the--" Yeah, you made the problem.
Of course you know what the problem is.
"Well, I... (chuckles) Guys, I've solved it.
Because I did it."
But, yes, according to this investigation,
Boris Johnson's office had a culture of drinking and partying
throughout the pandemic.
And I'll be honest, I would be more convinced
that Boris could fix it
if he didn't always look like an upside-down guy
doing a keg stand.
I got to say, my-my favorite part about this whole scandal
is actually how high school it is to get caught having a party.
I mean, think about it-- that's the level of scandal.
Other world leaders are staging coups
and invading other countries.
Meanwhile, Boris is filling vodka bottles up with water,
like, "Hurry, hurry, the queen will be home soon.
Ho-ho-ho-ho."
All right, but let's move on to our top story,
which takes place in Canada,
the friendliest country in the world
if you don't count the French parts.
Today the news broke
that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
has tested positive for COVID.
And this is just another reminder
of how contagious this virus is.
Even if you're vaxxed, boosted
and in disguise half of the time,
COVID will still find you.
Now, because he's vaccinated,
Trudeau is handling the virus just fine.
And that's good news for him, because it turns out
he's got a much bigger problem to worry about.
NEWSWOMAN: Right now, a group of Canadian truck drivers
calling themselves the Freedom Convoy
tying up the streets of Ottawa.
NEWSWOMAN 2: Thousands flooded the streets over the weekend.
The truckers are using their rigs to block streets
and even the entrance to Parliament.
NEWSWOMAN 3: The demonstrations were initially aimed at pushback
against vaccine mandates for truck drivers
crossing the U.S.-Canada border.
But the movement escalated into an expression of disapproval
with the Canadian government's COVID-19 policies.
This convoy is all about freedom.
It's not only with the truck drivers--
it's actually for every single person.
You, me,
buddy down the road-- it doesn't matter.
Um, it's all about your free choice.
-(loud honking) -You can't lock up healthy people
and expect them to remain healthy. Okay?
So the children have not been in school.
I personally believe that is wrong.
Um, they sh-- We need to drop the masks, drop the mandates
and start living our lives again.
Yeah.
What this woman is saying is...
probably poignant?
I can't tell. I can barely hear anything over the honking.
Watching this made me feel bad for anyone who's actually stuck
in that traffic all day.
Because you realize, if you were stuck in that traffic,
your honk sounds exactly as the protest honk.
You can't separate the two.
It's like... (honking)
"Hey, I'm late for work!"
"That's right, brother! Down with the vaccines!"
But, yeah, thousands of these truckers
have ground Canada's capital city to a halt.
And I'm all for vaccines,
but I do get why the truckers
wouldn't think that they need them.
I mean, think about it-- they spend all day,
every day alone in their trucks.
The only person they would give COVID to
are the hitchhikers that they'll murder or get murdered by.
Either way, COVID isn't their biggest problem,
is what I'm saying. Now, what I don't understand
is why truckers
are opposed to masks. I don't get that.
I mean, masks are just mud flaps for your face.
Just put a sexy lady silhouette on it
and you'll feel right at home.
And these COVID protests in Canada are nothing new,
by the way. Right?
Actually, they're not new anywhere in the world.
Like, you can walk around outside basically any day
and you will see people yelling
about how they're not allowed to go outside
to do exactly what they're doing.
But if you live in Ottawa,
well, it turns out you might be seeing this particular protest
for a really, really long time.
The, uh, people who have organized this say
that they will stay out there months, if needed.
They have raised well over $6 million U.S.
to their fund on the GoFundMe page.
-(honking) -NEWSMAN: The truckers say they're prepared
to stay for months,
as long as they have fuel.
-You're prepared to stay for a month? -Yeah.
I got a month's worth of food in there.
These are people who have arrived, you know, since Friday
-(horn blowing) -into the rest of this Saturday,
uh, and plan to stay here, many of them say,
um, until their demands are met.
Damn, you can really feel these truckers passion.
I mean, you can't hear it because they're honking
over everything, but still, you heard them, you know?
They say that they're gonna be there for as long as it takes,
And I... I believe them.
Yeah. Nobody's more prepared for a months-long protest
than a trucker.
I mean, think about it, they have all of our stuff
in the back of their trucks.
Next month you're gonna see one of them giving an interview
wearing the Snuggie that you ordered for Christmas.
And it's not just having the supplies, by the way.
Truckers make very effective protesters.
Like, they can make a lot of noise,
they're used to being away from home,
and police are afraid to confront them,
because any one of those trucks
could just turn into a transformer.
That shit is too risky.
Of course, street protests in general
are a healthy part of any democracy.
You know, like, putting up campaign posters
or drawing dicks on campaign posters.
But things got a little out of hand in Ottawa
when some of the freedom protesters
decided they wanted a little more freedom
than most people were comfortable with.
NEWSWOMAN: While much of the protest was peaceful,
this morning police are investigating some incidents
involving the desecration of national monuments,
including Canada's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
NEWSMAN: Last night, another protester was seen
climbing onto the monument.
This morning it was marked with urine stains.
The swastika flags seen at protests
denounced by two conservative MPs
who had openly supported the convoy.
At this shelter in Ottawa,
staff say protesters showed up last night
demanding food meant for the homeless.
One member was assaulted,
and a security guard was called a racial slur.
Wow.
Nazi flags, peeing on war memorials,
shouting racial slurs in homeless shelters.
Honestly, it's kind of refreshing to see Canadians
break their stereotype.
Although, maybe they did all of this in, like,
a very polite way.
Go back to where you came from, eh?
I'll give you a ride if you want.
I do kind of feel bad for the vast majority
of the protesters who aren't Nazis, though,
because, like...
I mean, people, let's admit it, once a Nazi flag shows up
at a rally, the whole thing has just turned into a Nazi rally.
You know? It's like when you put the cantaloupe in a fruit salad,
doesn't matter what other fruits are in there,
it'll taste like cantaloupe now.
Cantaloupe is the Hitler of fruits, is what I'm saying.
Well, for more on this saga, let's go now to Desi Lydic,
who is live at the protest.
Desi, what's the latest on this trucker protest?
-(horns honking) -Trevor, If... (drowned out by honking)
(loud honking continues)
Uh, Desi, sorry, can you say that all again, please?
The horns were drowning you out. We couldn't hear anything.
Oh. Guys, could you please stop honking?
-(loud honking) -I'm trying... (continues inaudibly)
...like the penis of a starfish.
-(honking continues) -Sorry, Desi,
the horn-honking was too loud, except for the...
starfish penis-- which, actually, you know what?
Heh. Doesn't really matter.
Actually, could you just tell us what's happening
right now in Canada-- where's this going?
Yeah, you know what, let me try Morse code.
-(honking continues) -Morse code?
Yeah, 'cause we're both ship captains in the 19th century.
Okay. What, are you gonna honk out your message?
Mm-hmm.
-(honking Morse code) -Uh, oh, Jesus, I haven't done this
in so long. All right, "If... one...
"thing is clear...
"it's that the horns...
are too loud."
-(honking continues) -Well, I mean, I knew that.
You didn't have to Morse c... You know what?
Desi, this was a huge waste of time
-Thank you so much. -Oh, no, thank you so much
for sending me up to freezing-cold Canada,
you asshole.
-(honking stops) -Oh, now you stop honking.
Well... that was awkward.
All right, when we come back,
we'll be talking about the fallout
with Joe Rogan and Spotify.
-You don't want to miss it. -(horns honking)
Why are they honking for me now?
Are they here?
I still have my job, right?
-Right? -Oh, yeah.
Your job doesn't go anywhere, Desi.
You're cutting out. I can't hear you.
-Your job doesn't go anywhere. -I don't...
-I think I heard you say that I still have my job? -Yes. Yes.
♪ ♪
So, Joe Rogan.
I mean, you all know the story, and if you don't know it,
I envy the world that you live in
where news just doesn't come to you.
Um, Joe Rogan had to respond finally
to the whole Spotify, um, Neil Young thing.
'Cause I'm sure you remember, Neil Young came out, right,
and he was like, "I'm sick of Joe Rogan
"spreading all of this misinformation about vaccines.
"If Spotify's gonna let him, like, um, say all of this trash
on the app, then I want them to take my music off."
So then, Spotify was like, "All right,
"well, we'll take your music off.
"You're Neil Young, and this is Joe Rogan.
We've paid him millions of dollars."
Do you know what I mean? Like, and I get it.
'Cause Spotify was never gonna quit Joe Rogan.
You give a guy a $100 million, you're gonna keep the guy
that you gave $100 million to, cause you've spent the money.
It's the same reason I still drink tummy tea.
I bought it in bulk.
All it does is make me shit, but I spent my money.
I don't approve of it, but that's life.
And a lot of people said Neil Young was an idiot
for going up against Spotify. I'm not gonna lie.
I didn't think this was gonna do anything.
Like, even me as Trevor. I was like, "Ooh. Neil Young,
"thank you for laying your life down,
and things are just gonna carry on."
But it turns out one person can start a movement
because over the weekend,
um, Joni Mitchell said,
"Spotify, take off my music, as well."
And then, people were like, "Oh, shit. We know Joni Mitchell."
And then Brené Brown came out, and she was like,
"My podcast-- I'm not putting any more episodes up."
And that's huge
because Brené Brown is like Oprah's therapist.
And I mean, think about it. That's huge
because Oprah is our therapist.
And then on top of that, Harry and Meghan came out,
and they were like, "We have concerns."
And that seems calm, but for British people,
"We have concerns," basically means, "Oh, hell, no!"
So things got big over the weekend.
And then, on Sunday night, Joe Rogan comes out,
and he issues his own apology. Right?
This is how big this thing got.
And so, like, after you watch that apology,
there's-there's a couple of things
that-that I wanted to say about it.
Um, number one, in my opinion, I actually thought
it was a pretty classy apology from Joe Rogan, you know?
For him to say, "I can do better.
"Um, I am not trying to spread misinformation.
Uh, you know, I will try and do a better job at this."
I actually thought it was pretty classy. And I know
some people are gonna say, "Yeah, the only reason
"he's saying sorry is because
his bosses are making him say 'Sorry.'"
Yeah, but bosses or not, guys, let's be honest.
In this society we live in these days, who says "I'm sorry,
"and I made a mistake, and I don't have all the answers.
I'm just trying to do..."? People don't say that anymore.
Nobody admits to making mistakes anymore, you know?
I was half expecting Joe Rogan to come out and be like,
"Uh, guys, my podcast was hacked.
That wasn't me." But instead, he owned up to it.
I thought it was pretty dope. It was refreshing.
You know? Secondly, I also like that he said
"I'm still a Neil Young fan,"
even though Neil Young was against his views
in those podcasts. You know what I mean?
I think that was nice.
It's nice to live in the world where we can say,
"I don't agree with you, but I still like you."
'Cause that used to be a thing that we could do as people.
You know, now we've just turned into a group of people
who are like, "I hate you. I hate you
"because you said the thing opposite of me."
"Don't... Get away!
I disagree with you. (bleep) you, Mom."
Now you don't talk to your mom anymore.
You know? Like, I like that he said that.
I-I like a lot of people who I don't agree with on everything.
Like, I don't believe that
"Uptown Funk" is gonna give it to me...
but I still love Bruno Mars.
We agree to disagree.
This is society.
All right? And-and also,
I-I think...
This is-this is, like, a really complicated
point to make, maybe. Is-is this:
Joe Rogan says that he brings on people who he
doesn't agree with all the time,
but people are pulling a handful of episodes out
and they're angry about those episodes
and they're saying he spreads misinformation.
Now, here's where-- I'm not trying to defend Joe Rogan,
and somebody's maybe gonna do it to me.
They're gonna take a part out and go,
"Trevor defends Joe Rogan, Trevor sl--"
Whatever it is, I don't-- I, myself, am saying this.
I understand the nuance of this point.
Joe Rogan makes a shit ton of podcasts,
and in those podcasts there were, like, maybe two
podcasts or so where people were like,
"We don't like what you, what you said there."
But he's not wrong in saying that he sometimes
brings people on who say the opposite point to that.
And the reason we know that that's true is because
we've all seen that clip of Joe Rogan's where he's
on his show being corrected by somebody on his show.
So, he's not lying when he says he brings people on
"to correct him," and, the-- we saw the correction in live t...
Like, you know what I mean,
happened in real time on his show.
So I go, "Yes, he does bring that stuff on."
But because of the Internet age we live in,
we shit on people based on the little that we see of them.
We don't give them the full context. People are like,
"I'm not gonna listen to hours and hours of Joe Rogan,
I'm just gonna get angry about this and move on with my life."
So, in his def-- I get that part of what he's saying.
All right?
I get it.
But everything in life needs context.
Like, if you cut out one part,
then sometimes you can lose it, you know?
Because you can watch a movie and then cut out a clip
and you'd be like, "Oh, is this a movie about
some guy hooking up with his sister?"
So then you're like, "No, this is Star Wars.
There's a lot more shit."
The context is very important, is what I am saying.
Right?
Joe Rogan does. He talks about MMA,
He has authors on-- uh, really cool authors sometimes.
You know, he talks to real doctors who disagree with him,
et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. He does, he does that.
In Joe Rogan's defense-- I can't believe I'm saying that, now,
but now.... you know, I also want to live
in a reasonable world.
In Joe Rogan's defense,
he does bring other people on.
Now, h-here's the issue that I have with the clip, though.
Joe Rogan then goes on to say,
"I'm not trying to spread misinformation, but,
"let's be honest, a lot of the things that we're saying now,
you would be banned for saying a long time ago."
Right? And he says, like, "Remember, a lot of things
"that we said months ago, like, they weren't considered true,
but now they're true."
And-and I've noticed this trend starting to happen
where people are using what I like it to call, like,
"broken clock techniques." Where they're going, like,
"Oh, it wasn't 4:00 earlier, but it's 4:00 now."
Yeah, you were wrong then.
At some point it will be 4:00.
It doesn't mean that now you were right all along.
You can't just wait at the time-- What's the time? 4:00?
No. What's the time, 4:00? No. What's the time, 4:00? No.
What's the time? 4:00. Yes! Ha-ha! I told you.
I was right all along.
No.
At some point you may be right.
Because here's the thing--
I'm not saying Joe Rogan himself,
but I know Joe Rogan has not been a COVID vaccine fan.
Joe Rogan and a lot of people like him were like,
"The vaccines are bullshit. They're useless."
Right? And now they're saying, "Look, huh?
We were right. We were right." No.
Omicron gets through the vaccine.
Vaccines will still save your mother(bleep) life.
Have you seen the-the numbers?
The rates of people dying, the rates of people getting sick.
If you don't have it, it's like 7.8 out of 100,000 people
can die. And then when you take the vaccine,
it's, like, nothing. And then when you go down to the booster,
it's, like, even less than nothing.
Do you get what I'm saying?
Omicron changed that.
You can't say that, like, "I was right all along
when I became right." No.
You were wrong all along and then now things changed
and now you're not as wrong as you were.
That's the first point for me. You know?
The second thing he says as well, he's like,
"Oh, if you said, uh, cloth masks
were-were useless back then, you-you would be banned."
You-you weren't-- you weren't banned for saying that.
For months, there's been research on the types of masks.
That's another issue I have.
People are taking the words and then they're just cutting
a few words out and be like, "You see? I'm right!
Masks are useless." No.
Cloth masks are basically useless.
Cloth masks. All right?
Masks still work.
But now people are using cloth masks
to negate all the other shit.
"You see? All masks--" No, my friend.
What we've realized is
knitted condoms don't work.
Condoms still work.
You can't be like, "I told you condoms don't work."
No, no, no. Knitted condoms.
Let's be specific about which ones we're talking about.
Again, in Joe Rogan's defense--
I can't believe I've said this sentence so many times--
the-the thing about COVID coming from a lab,
that could get your post removed from social media.
Again, it didn't get you banned.
But that is a thing, where people are like,
"Ah, it's just a theory." And for a long time,
because of racism towards Asian people,
people were really sensitive about that.
'Cause they were just like, "Ah, you Chinese people
came with this from your house."
That's how people were saying it.
Joe Rogan's like, "No, I wasn't saying it like that.
It's a-- Misinformation."
I-I understand that part.
You know what I mean? But-but...
people mustn't make it like, "Oh, no,
we were right all along."
This shit has proved everybody wrong in every different way.
You know?
It's proved so many people wrong.
I'm not saying Joe Rogan is trying
to spread misin-misinformation.
And he is right. It is just a conversation.
But conversations change with context.
Do you know what I mean?
You can say-- anyone--
you can say the election was stolen.
Ain't no thing but a chicken wing.
But when you're the president of the United States
and you say the election was stolen,
the context changes. You can't be like,
"I was just having a conversation.
You know, just me and my people, shooting the shit."
It changes a lot.
And I think Joe Rogan acknowledges--
He goes, like, "Yo, I have millions of people
"listening to me, so now I have to be responsible.
"'Cause now I have a boss called Spotify
and now you guys are listening to me."
It's the gift and the curse.
You can say whatever you want when nobody's listening.
And then when everyone's listening,
now you have to be responsible.
I mean, it's the same rules as, like, a penis.
When no one's around, do whatever you want.
When there's people, oh,
all the responsibility in the world.
(laughter)
Now there's gonna be a headline.
"Trevor Noah defends Joe Rogan."
That's all they're gonna cut out.
Or "Trevor Noah slams Joe Rogan."
Now it's like I don't-- There's no--
You know what I mean?
So, welcome to the Internet.
Welcome back to The Daily Show.
My guest tonight is Barbara Lee,
the highest-ranking
African-American woman in Congress.
She's here to talk about current challenges facing Congress
and the documentary about speaking truth to power
throughout her career.
Madame Secretary, you just don't care much about civil rights
-of Black and brown children. -MAN: Ms. Lee.
-This is horrible. -MAN: Gentle lady's time...
CORY BOOKER: What drives Barbara is that she's not
concerned about popularity.
She's concerned about her purpose, not celebrity.
It's about significance in the lives of people.
And this is some... one of the things that makes me
see her, for me, as a guiding light.
Welcome. Hi, Congresswoman.
BOOKER: That every day, no matter what's going on,
you get up, you go out that door for another day of service.
Representative Barbara Lee, welcome to The Daily Show.
Happy to be with you. It's an honor, Trevor, really.
No, I think the honor is mine because, you know,
I've known a little bit about you over the years.
But, um, you have a documentary
that has just come out about your life.
And there are honestly few people
who have acted in movies that have a story
as amazing as yours is in real life.
You know, you grew up in a world
where you lived in a segregated community.
Your mother almost died giving birth to you
because she was a Black woman,
and people wouldn't help her in the hospitals.
You know, you went through domestic abuse
as a wife who had to escape a husband
where the law wouldn't protect you.
You have lived such a journey, and to see you here now
as a congressperson who's been serving
for over two decades, you know, with constituents
who love her, is-is quite the journey.
When you watch this movie, did... were you also shocked
at the life that you've lived?
'Cause I know sometimes people forget.
Trevor, first of all, uh, yes, I was.
And it was very humbling for me.
And I just have to take a moment and give credit to Abby Ginzberg
who actually tracked me down and forced me to do this film
because I was an unwilling subject.
And she took... It took twice as long
to do the film because of me.
Uh, because this is my life.
And you know, I believe that so much
of what I have been through really has been reflective
of what so many others have gone through in this country,
especially young African-American women.
-Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. -Women, and Black people in general.
It's not for myself that I've done what I have done
and tried to break down barriers and, you know, move forward,
-but it's for others. -Right.
Because, you know, everyone deserves the quality
of life that this country provides for everyone else.
-Right. -And Black lives do matter.
And hopefully, young people especially,
will see the lessons in my life.
I think many-many young people have.
You know, it's apt that you mentioned Black Lives Matter
because your name cannot be separated
from the struggle in the United States.
You're know, you're not just fighting
for people's freedoms, but also fighting an unpopular fight.
I mean, you were working with the Black Panthers
for, you know, a long period
where many people labeled them as terrorists.
Only today, people are starting to realize that, man, oof,
the U.S. government really did a number on people
with this organization. But you were working
in-in many unpopular positions,
fighting for the liberation of poor people in particular,
and when you got to Congress,
there were many people who said,
"Whatever you do, do not say the word 'poverty.'
Please, don't bring poverty into politics."
And you did just the opposite. Tell me why.
Well, Trevor, I had to do that, because, first of all,
uh, yes, I was a community worker
with the Black Panther Party and the Black Panther Party
had a ten-point program. And that program was about
feeding hungry children, right?
About medical care that was inaccessible
to low-income people, Black people, people of color.
It was about providing the shoes, which we did, clothing.
It was really about providing for the basics
in terms of just survival so that we could move forward
to change the conditions that give rise
to all of these very, uh, unbelievable injustices
in the wealthiest, most powerful country in the world.
So, yeah, uh, when I came to Congress,
I mean, it's like, I come as Barbara Lee,
my experiences. Experiences matter.
And so I had to fight like would you not believe
to get Democrats to con... yes, continue to talk about
fighting for the middle class, but what about
low-wealth people, what about low-income people,
-Mm-hmm. -what about poor people, what about
working people, who worked two jobs
and still live below the poverty line?
So it was an uphill battle, but everything is, Trevor, you know?
And so we finally broke through and now I chair the task force
on poverty and opportunity
and we have close to a one... hundred members
on that task force. And every issue,
especially now, with the Biden administration,
uh, intersects with race and income inequality.
And so we're trying to really look at legislation
and funding priorities in the context
of what will lift people out of poverty.
-Right. -So that they can go out and live their lives
and take care of their families.
Um, some people may remember your name
or even your face from maybe one of the scariest fights,
I think, that you've ever, um, taken upon yourself, and that is
fighting against George Bush going into Iraq.
In fact, you were the only dissenting voice
at a time when every American, almost every American said,
"Let's go in and let's bomb people."
You said, "This is not the right thing."
You got death threats,
you were vilified across the board.
I guess my question has two parts to it,
is, um, number one...
when you were doing that,
did you not think to yourself,
"This could be the worst mistake I'm making,
"because although I know I'm right, I know
that the cost that I will pay may be too great"?
And the second part of it is looking at the crisis
happening right now at the Ukrainian border,
are you now in another position where you're saying
to your colleagues, "Hey, let's breathe and think about
the ultimate cost of war before we act"?
Uh, Trevor, let me just first say, um,
I come from a military family. My dad
retired a lieutenant colonel in the army.
He served in the, uh,
segregated 92nd Infantry in Italy,
supporting the Normandy invasion.
I know what war is about.
My dad was the first person who called me--
and this was the vote right after the horrific,
terrible events of 9/11, where the country
was angry and mourning and had...
wanted us to do something.
But when the authorization came-- three days, mind you--
after these terrible events-- 60 words--
it was a blank check and all it said, basically, was
any president can go to war any time he or she wants to.
Took away Congress' responsibility under Article II,
where Congress is supposed to be
the final decisionmaker on going to war.
We gave it to any president.
That was 21 years ago now. Right?
That was outrageous.
My dad was the first person who called me after that vote
and he said that was the right vote.
He said, "Do not send our troops into harm's way.
"Do not do any action right now,
three days, 9/14."
That's when it was. September 14.
"Give it a little bit of time. Be rational.
"Think through the implications of what you're about to do."
So, yeah, it-it was a rough time.
Death threats. I mean, it-it was a horrible time.
But I had to be ready for that, because, you know,
we're elected, Trevor, to lead.
And so fast-forward to today.
First of all, uh, I really do believe--
and I have been to Ukraine, uh, in 2019
and I understand Russian aggression
and what's taking place there very clearly--
and I believe very clearly that, uh,
Ukraine is a sovereign country
and it has the right to determine its allies
-and its alliances. -Mm-hmm.
And I think that the Biden administration
is doing the right thing by-by exercising
a strong diplomatic initiative.
But we can't mess that up.
We've got to allow diplomacy to work.
We cannot-- And-and I'm concerned about,
um, sending troops and hard military hardware
because, um, even though the president has said
we're not going to enter into combat operations--
I believe him.
Uh, I know he does not want to do that.
He supports my repeal of the authorization
of the-the use of force.
So I know this president really wants a diplomatic solution.
What I'm concerned about is a miscalculation.
Errors can occur.
Our troops could be there and something could happen
and then they would have to take the offense
-or defense... -Right. And then they're roped in. Yeah.
We talk about sanctions.
We talk about, uh,
what would bring Putin to the table,
uh, and getting him to back off of his aggression.
Uh, I'm not sure if-if sanctions are gonna help or hurt him,
because he wants to do what he wants to do.
And will it aggravate the--
a-and include, um, efforts,
in his mind, to escalate even further?
-So we have to calibrate this very carefully. -Mm.
I really hope that, uh,
we let diplomacy work and not do anything
that's gonna exacerbate or escalate
what is taking place now.
Because, Putin, we know what he wants to do in Europe
and in Eastern Europe, especially,
and-and with Ukraine. And it's very dangerous.
So we've got to do everything
to, uh, continue on the path of diplomacy.
Well, Representative Barbara Lee,
thank you so much for taking the time.
And, uh, thank you for finally allowing them
to tell an amazing story of the life that you've lived.
Well, thank you, Trevor. Thank Abby Ginzberg.
-She made me do it. -(laughs)
I will do. Thank you so much.
Barbara Lee: Speaking Truth to Power
premieres on Starz February 1.
We're gonna take a quick break,
but we'll be right back after this.
Well, that's our show for tonight, but before we go,
please consider supporting the Loveland Foundation.
They're an organization
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If you want to support them in their work,
then please donate at the link below.
Until tomorrow, stay safe out there,
get your vaccine, and remember,
my parliament isn't home on Friday,
so party at my place!
Now, here it is, Your Moment of Zen.
♪ ♪
Well, of course, the snow is not all fun and games.
Some people were hard at work plowing snow.
What has the snow been like so far?
-Is it kind of easy to plow? -It's real easy.
It's like, uh, bread and butter.
-(laughs) -You know? It's like a Thomas' English muffin
with some jam.
Spreads nice and gets all the nooks and crannies.
♪ ♪