Jon on Trump's Meme Assault on Canada & the Alternate Reality He's Constructed | Gov. Spencer Cox

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1:11That same quality extends beyond the closet into home living, from hotel quality bedding and bath products to cookware and thoughtfully designed furniture. Find your next fall favorites at Quince. Download the Quince app for app exclusive offers or go to quince.com slash daily show. Get free shipping on your order and 365 day returns, now available in Canada and the UK too. That's q-u-i-n-c-e.com slash daily show. If your Mac desktop currently looks like an explosion in a library with 50 open tabs, don't feel guilty. That clutter is actually proof of real work and real thinking getting done. But when your Mac starts lagging, running hot, or throwing up storage full warnings, it's usually not your actual project files causing the problem. It's hidden system junk quietly choking your drive. That's where clean my Mac comes in.

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3:15Hello! Hi everybody! Welcome! It's free season. Welcome to the LG, my name is John Stewart. Great show for it tonight. Later on, I'm going to be doing a great job. Free season. Welcome to The Daily Show, my name is John Stewart. Great show for it tonight. Later on, we are going to be joined by Governor Spencer Cox of Utah. He's got a new book out on how we can, as a nation, disagree more agreeably. And I will be the first to tell him to go f*** himself. That can't be what's written. Hold on. Folks, I am reenergized. We've been gone for the month. For the entire month of August. I assume the same for yourselves. Now that we are all as a country synced up on the French calendar,

4:16we all took them on the off. Because I think we learned from experience. August is dead zone. For our vacation, the news ticker slows to a crawl. Just a series of blackbearance, swimming pool videos. So I checked out. Rejuvenated. Just out of a kind of morbid curiosity. Did I miss anything at all? President Trump rolling back decades of childhood vaccine guidance, threatening to demolish the Kennedy Center. Trump's attack on mail-in voting, suggesting that he'll take over the midterm elections. President Trump siding with North Korea. The crisis at sea aboard the USS Lincoln. In addition, so bad, there are reports of sailors attempting to jump overboard. Trump threatening to wipe out Iran. He's threatened to bomb Oman, a U.S. ally. Saying that he was going to use the U.S. military against the bond market? No! Oh no! I'm on the game!

5:17I'm on the game! I love that we thought I needed a beard to look old again. Oh no! Pre-dee! It never ends with this dude, Trump. I've never seen one person work so much and fix so little. It's exhausting in a way that's difficult to articulate, which is why one of the stories from this past August did resonate with me so much more deeply. And that's the plight of the USS Lincoln. 5,000 U.S. sailors and Marines serving on the USS Lincoln stepping on dry land for the first time in more than nine months. The once gleaming aircraft carrier docking in Thailand after 286 days at sea, covered in rust after a record-setting deployment. Can you see it? Look!

6:19Look carefully! Do you see? Let's do the before! Let's do the after! Do you see the metaphor? This ship! A symbol of American might, ingenuity, technical know-how, Patreon and Determination laid low by prolonged exposure to relentless, corrosive elements, reckless mismanagement. This ship, do you see? It's not the USS Lincoln, it's not, it's just U.S. it's just us. Where is the ship? This is what we look like as Americans inside after 18 months of this presidency. Born. By the way, we don't get the one week Thai sex trip to try and paper it all over.

7:20We just have to suck it up. I want you to look at the picture of this rusted-look at it! Don't look away. I want you to think about the visible, tangible, actual, indisputable, factual signs of corrosion on this ship. This is the president discussing it. People on the Lincoln, they say it's beautifully maintained and beautifully taken care of. It's not! It is obviously not! Look at it! Look at my brain! The actual Abraham Lincoln is in better shape than its ship! Beautiful! A beautifully maintained, beautifully taken care of ship doesn't look like the abandoned bridge near my high school where we used to smoke weed.

8:25It doesn't! And it's this, the relentless denial of reality that is just one of the elements eating away at the foundational load-bearing structures that hold this country together. Us and the other corrosive element by God, the other, the memes. Make it stop. Overnight, the trade war with Canada continuing to escalate. President Trump posted a hockey cartoon mocking Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney as governorate. What the f***? First of all, I can't believe AI has gotten so advanced. It can fit Trump's ankles into ice cakes. That's not real. That can't be right. It's a computer generator. Yeah, we're in a full-blown trade war with Canada. Real consequences. Here's what they're hearing from their leader. In the face of unjustified, unprovoked tariffs from the United States.

9:27We're stepping up. When we're united, there's nothing the Canadian workers can't do. Oh, Jesus. Here's what we're getting. So Lake Ontario, let's go on. Lake. America. Thank you very much, everybody. Enjoy Lake America. You can't do f***ing. That's not how things work. You don't settle complicated international agreements by writing just a new name on the map. And expecting everyone to just follow along. Google Maps is complying with President Trump's executive order, renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America. Goal. I can feel the rust eating me. Canada's our second largest trading partner.

10:2960% of our oil imports come from Canada. Half of our timber. We get parts for cars and plane. Not to mention 100% of our Carly Rae's jepsin. Why would we be trolling them? Is that the plan to troll them into submission? Treasury Secretary Scott Besson, surely you're of a more substantive understanding of the Canada United States dynamic? How do you see all of this playing out? Laura, I did German Shepherd and there was a docks in that used to antagonize her at the playground. Oh yes, the playground. As dog people famously referred to the place, they take their dogs to play. Yes, my shepherd friend and I were enjoying a sphere retrieval session at the playground. You know dogs are truly one of man's closest associates.

11:34But carry on with your trenchant, completely real story analogy. And this little yippie dog, the used to just like bark away. And for a long time, 110 pound German Shepherd was ignoring the docks. And then one day she'd had enough. And unfortunately Prime Minister Carney did walk away. Is it weird that the Treasury Secretary is at some sort of German only dog playground? The German Shepherd and the docks? The joint banish and housing of Imerlana? They can end up, but this doodle isn't much, isn't it, Mario? A mixed breed doodle on Queen?

12:39Sorry Germany, you brought these jokes back yourself. But seriously, who is the United States in this analogy anyway? Are we the docks and are we the shepherd? Did Canada walk away from the deal? Were we the ones who blew up the deal with last minute stuff? I spoke to President Trump over the weekend after the breakdown in negotiations with Canada. He did not dispute the US added conditions late in the talks. He said, quote, that sounds like me. End quote. That sounds like me? That sounds like me? It just happened. This isn't some story from the frat days. We were like, woke up in a pool and I own vomit in a trade war with Canada. I guess that sounds like me. But I'm married now, settled down. But in those days, man, me and the boys shirt could derail in negotiations.

13:40God, can you just feel the metal bumbling on our starboard side? But with the trade warden out here, the news media has been quick to jump in and explain what's at stake. Americans are now facing higher prices, some examples. Milk, honey, smartphones, liquor, and even wigs and fake beards. Oh, beauty. I'll never let them take you. But hey, man, Canada, it's about time you learned to lessen Canada. That's right. Don't f*** around and yet still have to find out for some reason. And if you think Canada got raked over the coast, Steve Whitcoff and Jared Kushner headed to Russia to let Vladimir Putin know what we thought of their war of aggression in Ukraine.

14:43Yeah, who's the docks under that room? So, first of all, President Putin, thank you so much for having us. We were sitting outside just now, me, Jared and Carol, and then Yuri joined us. And we were all talking about when we retire, we'll have all these incredible stories and incredible memories. And yours will be right at the top of it all. Jared and I just want to thank you. This has been the best semester abroad. I said I wasn't going to do this. The best semester abroad, Jared and I could have ever asked for it. By the way, what the f***'s going on with Jared? He looks like he pre-poisoned himself. What's that?

15:44Do you really tell you he lives in Miami full of time now? By the way, why are we even over there negotiating with him? Why can't Trump just f***ing get out the old one-two year? Why can't he just look at that and go like, oh, you know what we should do? Here's what we'll do. And we'll call it love-estan. No, there we go. It's all fixed. You seeing this sh**, Google? Now I know that the naysayers out there are all going to go, oh, oh, but that thing you drew, John, that's not real. It's not real. But isn't that the trick? Isn't that the whole game that's keeping this incompetent ship of fools of an administration to float? You would fill in up your tank these past six months, probably feeling like gas prices are high.

16:44Well, jokes on you! How much longer will Americans continue to see these high gas prices? Well, then that's very high. Oh! You think they're high? They're not high? They're actually gas-gas lighting us. And you mean, say, oh, oh, but you know what? Even Trump can only stave off reality for so long that the cumulative effects of high prices and punitive and chaotic tariffs and reckless wars and narcissistic self-aggrandizement will take an inevitable toll that cannot be denied. And yet, and yet, that's well-made-dane! Every presidency in a second term, his poll numbers usually start to decline and he starts to weaken. And that's happening to you. No, it's not. Fake polls. I have great poll numbers. You have great poll numbers. Sure, presidential polls are scored on a scale of one to 30, right?

17:47At 32, you're killing it? And by the way, where does Trump get the idea that his policies are having a positive impact? I have people coming up to me that have 401Ks. They said, you know, I was a disaster. My family wouldn't talk to me. They thought I was a total loser. And now I'm like, uh... The one guy said, I feel like Warren Buffett. Oh, I see. Trump gets it from fictional interactions. From people whose families had cut them off because of portfolio performance issues. I went no contact with my parents because they're underperforming index funds. Autoxic. And you may say that you don't know that these interactions didn't happen. Oh, but we do, friends. We do. We know, by the way, Trump describes the interactions. Every day I come to the White House, people are thanking me. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Thank you, sir.

18:47Bullshit. First of all, you don't come to the White House. You live there. You don't come to the White House every day. Your commute is stairs. And anybody you run into works there. But I'll let you continue describing the regular folk you run into on your way to work. Now, these young, beautiful girls. These young, beautiful girls. These young, beautiful girls in the White House. What's with the three times? You trying to beatle juice, they shit? Tell us again. No, I mean it. Tell us again. What are all the young, beautiful girls that you run into on your commute to the White House from the White House? What do they tell you? They're gorgeous, beautiful girls.

19:48They want to be safe. And they come. Mr. President, I speak to you. Yes. Thank you, sir. Thank you. I said, why you thank me? Because a year and a half ago, I was afraid to leave. I was afraid to open the door of my apartment. And now I walk to the White House every morning and I have absolutely a lot of here. Thank you, sir. Well, that is true. It was pretty chaotic around the White House a while back. I do remember that. But you chuck cleaned all that up. This is definitely fine. Let's say, you got another shitter. Look. There is a part of me I have to say that thinks fighting his reality distortion field is slowly killing us all, is rusting us out from the inside like that poor battleship. Maybe living in it is better. Maybe it's just better to be the guy in the matrix going, I don't know, blue pills not so bad. Reality has stake, not one. But I know too much. How do I even get there? Who would even give me the blue pill?

20:48She's one of President Trump's closest aides, Natalie Hart. Hart's nickname is the human printer because she follows the President everywhere, with a laptop and printer feeding him a steady stream of positive news stories. Yes, Donald Trump has an individual whose whole job is to reinforce his warped reality. And if you think you might go into that field and we're wondering what kind of qualifications you might need, buckle up. And Aid's so devoted that she sprints alongside his golf card when he's out on the links. She wants jumped in the trunk of an SUV to ensure she would be able to be with the President for a court appearance, when there were enough seats in the motorcade. Reportedly slept in the Bedminster Women's locker room to be closer to Trump, who wrote him letters that can only be described as love letters. To quote, I never want to bring you anything but joy. For the sake of my own sanity, I'm going to pretend that's referring to the dish washing liquid.

21:51This is unbelievable. The outside world is somehow fed into this woman, a single conduit. And from there, she is the filter to all of the information that is directly fed into Donald Trump's psyche. And by the way, Natalie Harp had repeatedly declined to get security clearances. Can we even trust her? Well, decide for yourselves. Because tonight, here on the Daily Show, we are premiering exclusive footage. We lived with Natalie Harp. And the President, for a month, to determine what their relationship was really like. Let's take a quick preview. Why would I deceive you? There's no reason for me to do that.

22:58I mean, I guess I want that. I mean, but who would do that for me? I'll do it. Wait, what? Ronnie Chan! What? Ronnie. That is unbelievable. Thank you, man. Ronnie Chan, everybody. Ronnie. You did a wrong. Ronnie, you. No, no, no. Ronnie Chan. Ronnie Chan. Ronnie Chan. Ronnie Chan. Ronnie Chan. Ronnie Chan. Ronnie Chan. Ronnie Chan. Ronnie Chan. Ronnie Chan. You, you'll be mine, Natalie? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sure. I want to bring you joy. You're, you'll mind everything or whatever. And you were just standing back there with a printer? Yeah, well, you think I was stealing a printer to make flyers for a show I'm doing? That's that racist. Wait, how is that racist? Oh, wait. Good news coming in. Bpp, bpp, bpp, bpp, bpp, bpp, bpp, bpp, bpp, bpp bpp.

23:58bbbb, bbbb, bbb, bpp bbbb, bbbb, bbbb, bbbb, bbbbb, bbbb, bbbbb, bbbb. there you go. Honestly, I think... That was more of a modem voice than that. Oh, my God! Late night television has never been more fiscally robust and governmentally appreciated? Yeah. Wow, thanks! Thanks, Ronnie. Is that true? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, of course. I mean, could I have printed something that isn't true? Ronnie Chang, everybody, I feel better. Let me come back, Governor Schultz and Professor Junior, so go away. Thank you. When an unexpected change in bedroom performance occurs, the situation can easily feel isolating and highly stressful. However, erectile dysfunction is an extensively researched, highly manageable medical condition. In modern digital care, allows men to find out exactly what's happening with their bodies, without sacrificing their personal privacy or peace of mind.

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26:01The sweater that matches virtually everything, the tailored pair of pants, and the perfectly fitted tee, makes a daily routine run smoothly. Quinn's focus is specifically on creating these essential, highly reliable pieces for the fall season. The lineup highlights luxury grade materials, including organic cotton, marina wool, and 100% Mongolian cashmere. Timeless and versatile, Quinn's Mongolian cashmere sweaters start at just $60, delivering the exact softness, fit, and elevated structure expected from luxury labels. Beyond knitwear, Quinn's craft's premium pants, fitted tee's, classic polos, and breathable activewear built to withstand continuous daily wear. Everything at Quinn's is priced 50 to 80% less than similar luxury brands. By partnering directly with ethical factories and completely eliminating traditional retail middlemen, consumers pay strictly for superior manufacturing, rather than inflated brand markups.

27:05That same quality extends beyond the closet into home living, from hotel quality bedding and bath products to cookwear and thoughtfully designed furniture. Find your next fall favorites at Quinn's. Download the Quinn's app for app exclusive offers or go to Quinn's.com slash daily show. Get free shipping on your order and 365 day returns, now available in Canada and the UK too. That's q-u-i-n-c-e.com slash daily show. Hey, what about you guys? Come on in tonight. He is Utah's 18th governor and author of OffRamp, How to Be a Peacemaker in an Age of Contempt. Please welcome to the program, Republican Governor Spencer Cox. Thank you for your time.

28:09It's great to see you. It's great to be here. Thanks for having me. OffRamp, How to Be a Peacemaker in an Age of Contempt. Talk about what is the purpose. I'll use a trick from your book on you at the very start. You seem very passionate about this. Can you tell me why you feel so strongly? That's from page 2.8. It's in there. Yeah, no, thank you. It's a strategy. It is a strategy. A year ago, something terrible happened in my state. Now, I've been writing about contempt, studying about contempt, and... I've been practicing it. You're very good at it. Thank you. Polarization in our country and our inability to accomplish anything. Yes. And when Charlie Kirk was assassinated in Utah, I felt compelled to finish the work and to write this book. I care deeply about our nation. Right. I think we can solve problems without shooting each other, and I would prefer that. So that's why. But we have a pretty good history in this country of shooting each other.

29:10Fair. In pre-social media, we used to shoot people quite frequently. What is different about this time in your mind that makes the rhetoric... You know, it's a reminder of six in stone, so break my bones. But names. That's the real issue. What do you mean? Well, look, I don't know that this is a new problem. Yes. And we do have this recency bias, where we think everything is the best or everything is the worst. I mean, literally 600,000 Americans killed each other in the 1860s. Don't tell me how it ends. All right. You'll get there. The 1960s and 1970s. Political assassinations were fairly common. So I'm not here to tell people that it's worse than then, but I am here to tell people that we're headed in that direction again. And I don't think that's good for us or for our country. Now, the tools are different, the divisive tools, social media, the algorithms, our ability to surround ourselves with only people that are just like us,

30:13only hear what we want to hear, that confirmation bias. That's fairly new. The atomization of facts, we have three stations where you could kind of hear what was happening in the country. So all of that is very different. We are lonelier than we've ever been as a country. I think that's very dangerous. I think young men, especially, the gamification of society, the lack of real contact is bad for them. And the results, we're starting to see. It's not great. So let me ask, is the idea that by using different tools to disagree, we can begin to solve those problems or are those problems the result of those things? Like in other words, would you like to see that done to alleviate the loneliness? Or are there measures that need to be taken that we are not taking?

31:13So what we're seeing in this country right now is this toxic divisiveness. And we're seeing at the national level, and that's what I know you want to talk about. It's what you just talked about, for sure. What I'm even more concerned about is what's happening at the individual level. Right. So four times as many people have lost a friend or a family member to politics. We've replaced healthy tribes in our country, volunteer organizations, faith-based organizations, with politics. Politics has become a religion for a lot of people. And those are very unhealthy tribes. And so my concern with that is, as we continue to lose that, as you drive the Taco Bell and don't talk to a real person now, we're talking to artificial intelligence, because that's going to continue to lead us to this very dark place. And we can't solve any of our greatest problems if we can't have a debate,

32:13if we can't talk to each other, if you're beneath me, and I'm not willing to engage with you, then we can't solve that. So my point is that I don't pretend like I'm going to solve all of the nation's problems. Yes. But if I can get you to talk to a cousin or a friend that you don't talk to anymore, that's eventually how we heal our nation. The crowd thinks that very strongly. Let me make an argument for contempt. The reverse. I have found, in my experience, that there's, you have to be able to discern things that are contemptible. There are things that are contemptible. How do you reckon that we address that? Is the idea that we just act, we ask, to the contemptible?

33:15I'll make it to the museum. Tell me more about what you feel. Senator Mike Lee, he's a Utah guy. I dealt with him trying to get the 9-11's a Droga Bill passed, which was funding for first responders and survivors of 9-11 who led down at ground zero. They were getting sick. I'm very familiar. Yeah. We had a meeting with him with firefighters, police officers and all that. And he was, I'm going to go with not good, and then was one of only two senators to vote that down. And then when the tragedy happened in Minnesota, and those people were killed, and he tweeted out, Nightmare on Waltz Street. How do I, first of all, when I spoke to Congress, I treated them with disdain, because that's what they'd earned. And that disdain helped the power disparity between them.

34:20Isn't that a tool sometimes for the weak? To be able to deal with those, if you can't call something truly contemptible, and treat it as such, and have society agree to that, why would we have to act we as to that? That's all I'm curious. It's just a tool. And I mean that, this, I think, is a good conversation to have about it. It's an important conversation to have it. Look, I'm not telling you that you should not find things contemptible. I find lots of things contemptible, and you've given some examples of that. That tweet was contemptible. We should all stand up and say, that's not okay. We don't support that. And yet, you met with him, even though you knew he wasn't supportive at the point of your time. Well, no, I knew he wasn't supportive, but I didn't know he was that. Which is fair. But you had the meeting, and that's the point I'm trying to make.

35:20Look, there is nothing that I'm, no argument I'm making here, that we, that we should compromise on our principles, that we have to give up on the things our core beliefs. I'm not talking about just being nice to each other. That's not what this is about. This is about sitting here and having this debate face to face. You telling me how you feel, I'm going to tell you how I feel. And at the end of the day, we might find some areas where we can agree, and we might not. And you might think I'm a terrible human being, and I might leave here thinking that that was a waste of time. My mom was right, I shouldn't have come on the show. Did you love to? No, no. Can I tell you what's so weird? Can I tell you something? You're not saying I shouldn't come on the show. No, my mom says I shouldn't be on the show. She doesn't like me. For the record, my mom likes you. I know, it was not that. But that's not what this is about. Yeah. It turns out that people that learned how to debate in high school and college are less polarized than the rest of the country.

36:20Having actual debate is something we don't do anymore. I think we actually need more disagreement. I think we need more of this instead of the, I'm not going to engage with you because you're beneath me. I think you're evil. I just think there's nothing more on American than hating our fellow Americans. I just think that that is in some ways a caricature of how Americans relate to each other. One that is displayed on, I find it more in state houses than I do in actual houses. I find that before we can all learn to be peacemakers with each other, the system is not incentivized for that. Like on that we agree. Aren't we placing the onus of this on individuals? When in some respects this is a natural product of the incentive system that's in place in our government and in our ecosystem.

37:22Absolutely. So the hardest part about doing this and practicing it is that the incentives are completely misaligned. As a politician, the algorithms reward me saying outlandish things, tearing down my opponents, much more likely to get elected at least historically over the past 20 years that's certainly been the case. We had Stanford study this, their depolarization lab. We did- Deletist communists. Sometimes. Yes. We actually put a Republican and a Democratic governor together, they filmed ads together. We got 24 of them to do it where they said, hey, we disagree on lots of things but we can disagree without hating each other. We both care about our country, want to work together on some things. They studied this in their lab. They did an experiment. Thousands of people watched these videos. We looked at their responses. It turns out that there is another way to get elected in this country. 70% of Americans hate how divided we are right now.

38:23They're desperate for something else. There's a market failure. The incentives are misaligned. Neither party is responding to that market failure right now. And I'm just convinced that the first party who does is going to do very, very well. I hope it's my party but not remains to be seen. Yeah, I don't think that's going to be fair. That doesn't seem to be the lesson they're learning from the last 10 years. What's worked? Tell me where this has been successful and where you have found its limitations. So it's successful when you can try to take what appears to be a zero-sum game and turn it into a win-win situation. Which happens on occasion in politics. Talk to me. Okay, the real examples of this happening in the state of Utah. We're working on the Great Salt Lake right now. Environmental disaster. The Great Salt Lake is drying up. No country on earth has been able to preserve a great saline lake once they enter terminal decline. The environmental left, of course, was all over this.

39:23Like, hey, yeah, we got to save the lake. No surprise there. How do conservatives come along and work on this? In a state where we have a super majority of Republicans in the state house. Okay. And so this is an area where we figure out. Is that what's productive of your population as well? Yes. Okay, because then a lot of states like Massachusetts, super majority of Democrats. But not a lot of states have super majorities that are not necessarily reflective because of gerrymandering. Again, talking about the incentive structure. Correct. Yeah, yeah. And that's one of the incentive structures I agree is a problem in our country. So, you know, how do we figure out how to work on this? And we need some help nationally. So I've got to figure out how to work with Joe Biden on this problem. And then I have to figure out how to optimize saving the lake. So this will challenge your priors a little bit. Oh, please. So I'm in the beast with President Biden. And I'm- Beast is his car. His car. This is the limousine. Right. The presidential limousine. He's in Salt Lake. My wife and I are there. We're having a wonderful conversation with him.

40:23I bring up the lake. He says, sure. Yeah, we'd love to help and we- Nothing really happened after that. I mean, so he wasn't opposed to it. What? It from the government? Wait, what? You said they would do something and then nothing happened? Shocking. I know. Sir, at long last. A year and a half later, I'm in the Oval Office. I'm talking to President Trump and I bring up the great Salt Lake. We have a conversation about it. He says, okay, what do you need? And I said a billion dollars and he said, great. Let's work on getting you a billion dollars. And the next day I get a call- And what are you going to have to name the lake? What do you believe will be- So the Republican governor of Utah was able through this peacemaking to get the Republican president to get him water? Again, it's really, really important for our state.

41:26This is a big deal. Completely understand that. And- And- And- And- And what I will say, one of the most stringent environmentalists, anti-Trump people I know who's working on this project, had a red hat made that said make the great Salt Lake great again and tweeted out how grateful he was for the president's help on that issue. And I told the president we'd name it whatever he wants if he helps us save the lake. So- So in your mind, you were able to- What was it about- What did you change to make that happen other than in the course of convincing the president why this was a good idea or not? Did you feel that was a cultural hot button somehow? Sure. Yeah, I was very worried that Republicans would just see this as kind of a climate change, you know, leftist idea. Oh. And- I didn't even think about it like that. Yeah, and that's where if the environmental community supports it, then we're opposed to it, right?

42:28And this was us trying to bring those two together to work on this issue, not just there, but in the state houses where- Well, where we now have- Give me another Utah. Give me another Utah. Give me another Utah. Okay. Several years ago, LGBTQ protection and rights. No- Get warmer? Okay. Okay. No red state had taken this on. Yes. This was- So think kind of 2014-2015. You were one of the only red state governors who made a pride month. Is that correct? That's correct. So I was lieutenant governor at this time, but the Indiana is blowing up over this issue, religious freedom, Rifra laws. You saw the same thing in Arkansas. This was people saying, I don't want to bake a cake for like a gay wedding. Correct. Yes. Yes. This was- You have to bake a cake if- Regardless of your religious beliefs. We brought in the LGBTQ leadership in the state. We brought in the religious leadership in the state.

43:28The predominant church, the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but- But others- The Catholic church, the Jewish faith, the Muslims- All around the table. And for- Muslims. Weeks. Yes. Utah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. They're there. Uh, so we- I- I can tell it's been a while since you've been to you. I haven't been there in a while. I went through there and I was like, can a brother get a cup of coffee? I'm just telling that I was it. I was done. Yeah. I found a Starbucks. I'm sure it's all different. There's one there now. Yeah. It's really true. I'm an old man. Yeah. I saw the beer. Yeah. So- But honestly, I might need a hit from that marker before we- Understood. Understood. I understand. I understand. So, look, we- So we brought them all together. And I have to- It was-it was rough. I mean, there were times where people walked out of the room. Uh, there were- You know, they felt contempt for each other at times. Right. And yet- What were you attempting to do-

44:28Were you attempting a legislative solution? Yes. What is it that you were looking to craft? Well, we did craft it. And this is what came out- Okay. So, um, two things that were really important. So-so one was, uh, protections for LGBTQ people in our state- Citizens in our state in employment and housing. So, you know, you don't get kicked out of your apartment because you're gay. Um, and-and-and- I mean, these did not exist in-in our state that was not a protected class at the time. Really? We were the first red state in-in the nation to do that. And we added protections for-for people of faith. So, you-you don't have to bake the cake if-if you don't want to. Um, but you-you also don't get to fire people from their jobs or-or keep people out of their-their apartments. That was the barge. But- But you can understand how- Look, I mean, we're sitting there- Yeah. On-on the night this is signed. I-I mean, I-maybe now it doesn't resonate because it-we-we-several years ago. But- Yeah. This was-this was groundbreaking. I-I mean, at the time.

45:28And-and-and I have religious leaders and-and-and the LGBTQ community, like hugging and tears in the rotunda of the Capitol. Right. And it's a great example of-of bringing people together. I-I think that's-it's certainly an admirable effort. It's hard for me not to look at it as-there's a vulnerable-there's a power disparity in that equation. And that the gay community in Utah is not equivalent to the Christian community in Utah. And so- The-the difficulty I have in that-just being honest. Yeah. Is that you're asking a community of people whose humanity has not been recognized as total to accept that they will be- You will still be viewed-we can't fire you, but we will still view you as aberrant. And we will enshrine that in the law. Because it does-if you flip that and you say to somebody, I will not bake a cake.

46:30Because you believe in Jesus for your wedding? I think you can see that that would-that's a contemptuous position. And so asking a group that is traditionally less right-hit. To accept a bargain for their humanity still strikes me fundamentally as-I don't want to say contemptible. But boy, there's some synonyms that-that are hard for me to-it's-it's a hard one to swallow as a victory. Does that resonate in any way? I mean, it resonates, but I-but I don't think that that was how it was viewed. And again-right. You can talk to them. I'll let them have that conversation. I'm not gonna end up-it's like- I do one show a week, man. I already went-I spent my whole longest reading this thing.

47:36What I will say is those protections went both ways. And it's not about contempt. It's about religious freedom, which is really important to people. You wouldn't have to bake a cake for a Christian if you didn't want to. That is also included in the law. We're not gonna force you to do that piece. And yet, at the time, again, this was incredibly rare. It had never happened. Those types of protections in a red state. And it didn't have to happen. That's the point. But even now, though, and I so appreciate the effort, but you no longer have pride month in Utah. You've changed it to fidelity month. Why? Well, did you want to know the real story? No. Yeah. Lie to me. Yeah, I really do. Yeah, no. Okay, so the pride month thing again got very contentious. And the decision was made a couple of years ago. Look, celebrate pride month. That's great. Government will stay out of it.

48:36You celebrate whatever months you want. Do you not acknowledge any months there anymore? There are some months we don't. But again, understanding the question of the power disparity. Again, it's a, hey, man, people got upset about it. It wasn't, was it mandatory? Did everyone in Utah have to wear a unitar. No, they did not. They did not. And dance? No, they did not. The, what I will say is, the fidelity month piece of that, that was not intentional. That was something that came out in April. We said, that's great. And we didn't know it was coming out in June. And that, so, so, so, for the not- For the not-month is not a little place. We did not switch pride month for fidelity month. Although that's how it looked, and I understand why it looked very bad. Does Utah have a fidelity issue that they would have to? So you was like, every month is fidelity month. You would hope so. That was kind. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Really more than Jersey and New York. I've been here for a couple days. It's fun. It's something.

49:36Yeah, man. It is. It is different than Utah. You know what? We are going to change that to our new tourist slogan, New York. It's something. My man, I appreciate you. Thank you. And I appreciate you having these conversations in good faith and good spirit. And that is, I will say this. We need more good faith argumentation. And that includes being able to discern the contemptible and to discern when things are being weaponized in the opposite direction. And I do appreciate it. And I urge people to read it because it is an interesting read. And it's a fascinating look. And I really do appreciate it. Thanks, your guys. Good government, you thought. Good, good, good, good. I need it. Thank you. At the end of a long demanding day, nothing plays a larger role in overall recovery and daily performance than restorative sleep. Given that roughly one-third of life is spent in bed, settling for a saggy, worn out mattress often leads directly to morning hip, back, and shoulder pain.

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53:42What are we looking at this week? John Big News, the Republican Party's holding its first ever midterm convention this week. It's got all the excitement of watching politicians talk combined with an election half the country doesn't know about. Woo! I definitely, I feel your energy. It sounds great. John, and I'm glad you said that because guess what, bitch? I got us tickets. You and me, front row, watching superstars like Senator John Barrasso, Senator Tim Scott, and holy shit, is that US House candidate Laurie Buckout? You better f**king believe it is, John. I'm very busy this week and so. Don't you know, I didn't even tell you the best part. It's happening in Dallas, 95 degrees. I don't think I didn't even tell you the best part. We're going to miss the NFL kickoff for it. I'm going to go away. Michael Cox, everybody. Good man. And by the way, before we go, a good friend of mine by the name of John Field has written

54:49a book. It's called, I Will Follow You Anywhere. He is a 9-11 responder and activist. It's the incredible story of how he and a rag-tag band of veterans and responders and survivor and son of a gun. I think the first and 9-11 got together and changed policy in Washington. It's an incredible book. It's an incredible read. I wrote the forward. I shouldn't chat G.P.T. wrote the forward. And I signed it. No. His story is truly incredible and he really shines a light on all the amazing people who got that done for the people who deserved it so much down at ground zero. This is available at the link below. Please get it. Here it is your moment of sound. And now we're learning the latest escalation between Canada and the US over those tariffs could end up costing you every time you need to use a restroom. TNTV reporter Kevin Landers explains how our country's number

55:50one export from Canada could impact going number two. Explore more shows from the Daily Show podcast universe by searching the Daily Show wherever you get your podcasts. Watch the Daily Show week nights at 11 10 Central on Comedy Central and stream full episodes anytime on Fairmount Plus. This has been a Comedy Central podcast.