Jon Stewart and Bill O’Reilly on the Aftermath of Trump Assassination Attempt | The Weekly Show

BILL O'REILLY: They want to have 80 guns in the basement. to kill squirrels. I, you know, I wouldn't kill a squirrel anyway, but I think you don't need a machine gun to do that. JON STEWART: Right. BILL O'REILLY: OK. [MUSIC PLAYING]. JON STEWART: Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the--. The Weekly Show. Today's episode, of course, with. our fabulous producers, Brittany. Mehmedovic and Lauren Walker. What a shitty week in America. LAUREN WALKER: Ain't that the truth Unbelievable. JON STEWART: That feeling of fear and--.

and disorientation and you feel it in your soul, in your bones, in your nerves and your skin, that sense. of dread and fear and doom. And how-- how did you guys experience this--. the attempted assassinate-- were you. watching TV when it happened? Were you somewhere else? What-- what happened? LAUREN WALKER: I was at a pool party, but--. [LAUGHTER]. JON STEWART: Lauren-- well, first of all, let's get into it.

You-- you were at a pool party? LAUREN WALKER: Yes, I was at a pool party. And something that really struck me was I saw the news--. and, you know, objectively, it's shocking. And it's like world changing. But my-- my inside wasn't reacting that way. And all I could think was, is this like the desensitization. of like the January 6 of it all or the mass shooting every day. of it all? JON STEWART: That's so interesting. Like, did you-- did you feel like-- because you know what. it's like when you live in New York City.

and you see something stark with poverty, right? When you first go there and you'll. see a person clearly struggling in distress and on the street. And your first instinct is like, holy, is anybody seeing this? And then you live there for three weeks, and you're like, eh. And you just walk past it. Do you think it's that kind of mechanism? LAUREN WALKER: Yeah, that was my first thought, is, wow, we are in a slow boil because this is not. shocking my system right now. JON STEWART: Did that change as you reflected on it, as you.

talked to people, as you--. LAUREN WALKER: Yeah. Like I think as I started sitting with all. of the ramifications of such a big event, such like a leader of our country, you know, like it's huge. And yet my system was not reacting. And yeah. JON STEWART: Right. LAUREN WALKER: That was my takeaway. JON STEWART: And it was numbing. Brittany? BRITTANY MEHMEDOVIC: I had slightly the opposite reaction. I immediately-- JON STEWART: Panic. BRITTANY MEHMEDOVIC: Yeah, and I. immediately jumped into like logistic mode of like, wait, how--.

how does this happen? Like, how could this be? Like, I just was refreshing to try and like, I feel like I became a detective. and, like, obsessed with the maps and how--. JON STEWART: That's where I was. Yeah. BRITTANY MEHMEDOVIC: Yeah. And I was actually texting Jillian, who works with us, just being like, have you seen this? Have you seen this? And I just kept circling-- honestly, I spiraled. JON STEWART: I think the part for me. that was so shocking is you just. figure, well, it's Donald Trump. It's the Secret Service. It's all that-- like, it's the most. protected zone that can be.

BRITTANY MEHMEDOVIC: Yes, he is surrounded by good guys. with guns. And that was the other place, like, my head immediately went. I'm like, if he can't be protected. by guns, how could-- like, how am I supposed to feel safe? And it just then my head went into like, the gun regulation conversation, and I just-- yeah. LAUREN WALKER: Yeah. And I was just thinking about all the people who, especially. in recent years, have--.

have borne the brunt of this threatening language, the death threats. And it's-- JON STEWART: God, the--. imagine being--. LAUREN WALKER: Poll workers. And-- and they're not going to be protected. BRITTANY MEHMEDOVIC: No. JON STEWART: This could have been-- it was a trap. I felt so bad that--. I don't know if you saw the-- the one gentleman who. lost his life, a fire chief named Corey, I think, Comperator, and his family. He just-- you just feel so awful for them. But then you also feel like, boy, this. could have been so much worse. BRITTANY MEHMEDOVIC: Yes.

JON STEWART: Just so much worse. And but-- damn--. BRITTANY MEHMEDOVIC: It's heartbreaking. JON STEWART: You guys feeling a little more grounded now as. time has passed a little bit? LAUREN WALKER: Yeah, I think there's. new wonders awaiting us. JON STEWART: Lauren, when's the next pool party and--. LAUREN WALKER: Not soon enough. JON STEWART: All right. Everybody loves a pool party. All right. Let me go. We'll talk to Mr. O'Reilly and then we'll come back. [MUSIC PLAYING]. All right, folks. We are joined once again by Mr. Bill O'Reilly.

We had a discussion last night on The Daily Show. about rhetoric-- about the-- the tenor of rhetoric, the temperature of rhetoric, how this country can move. past this divisive moment. And-- and we settled on-- if I may, Bill, and I'm not trying. to put words in your mouth--. just how poorly thought out your position had been. And you acknowledged it. You felt terrible, which I understand.

And-- and then we moved on. And I thought we gave a lesson to the country. in how, you know--. BILL O'REILLY: Yeah, the only drawback of the chat. was that you were on LSD, which is now manifesting itself. JON STEWART: Is that the last drug that. you heard of from the '60s? So--. BILL O'REILLY: I'm not really in the drug market. other than Advil, which I took right. before I came on this podcast. But anyway, your encapsulation, you.

know, when you're taking psychedelics, that happens. JON STEWART: All right. BILL O'REILLY: But the-- the main point that I think we both. agree on is that you can have robust political debate. without trying to destroy--. and I mean, that literally-- the person you disagree with. I mean, and the problem is in America, a lot of people. make a lot of money doing that. JON STEWART: Sure. BILL O'REILLY: And the corporations--. JON STEWART: You and I--. BILL O'REILLY: --are behind that. JON STEWART: Well, corporate--. I mean, look, the algorithms are different.

The internet is different. I think you found in that event, that terrible assassination attempt, you saw that people didn't turn anymore, even to the news. media, to the 24 hours. They're really glued to Twitter. They're really glued to social media to find out. And that's the Wild West. I mean, the information that is coming out of there. is unvetted. I don't know if you saw there was a time a little bit.

after the incident had occurred where I was convinced. that the shooter was this-- it was a gentleman wearing. a gray cap with dark eyes. And all these posts kept coming up that this was the shooter. Well, it turned out it was spam. It was a an Italian football commentator. And for-- for a half hour or an hour--. BILL O'REILLY: Yeah. JON STEWART: That's just out there as this is the shooter. I mean, it was wild. BILL O'REILLY: You know, I don't live in that world.

I very rarely go to the social media sites for anything. I'm a very traditional old school. JON STEWART: Sure. You just-- you have your Myspace. page and your Friendster account and you just--. BILL O'REILLY: Traditional-- traditional. old-school elderly man. That's me. JON STEWART: Yes. BILL O'REILLY: Unlike the president, though, I have complete control over my faculties. JON STEWART: Are you talking about Biden? BILL O'REILLY: Yeah. JON STEWART: Good slam. BILL O'REILLY: When I see-- JON STEWART: Nicely done. BILL O'REILLY: And I get this mail, too. So I got-- I got a letter this morning about now the Secret.

Service wanted this to happen. And it was a--. JON STEWART: Conspiratorial stuff. BILL O'REILLY: Right. False flag. They set Trump up for the shot. The Secret Service did. JON STEWART: Wow. BILL O'REILLY: Now, I replied to the man--. JON STEWART: Wait, someone sent you a direct--. someone you know sent you an email saying, hey, Bill--. BILL O'REILLY: Viewer mail. We get thousands of viewer mail. JON STEWART: OK. BILL O'REILLY: All over the world. JON STEWART: I get it. OK. OK.

BILL O'REILLY: So I sent this guy back. I said, look, I did four shows with Donald Trump, the history tour, all right? Big arena shows. And they were produced by my production company. It was like the rumble in the air conditioned auditorium. with you and me 12 years ago. And I had a deal with the Secret Service on--. because I'm the head of the production company. I'm going to tell you, those people. are deadly serious in what they do. and would never buy into any kind of conspiracy at all.

What happened there and what is the main point of all this. is that the leadership of the Secret Service is incompetent, and they're all going to be fired. It's just a matter of when, all right? The Director, Kimberly Cheatle, and then. the people who set up the perimeter, that allowed a clear shot into the platform. They're all going to be demoted. There's no--. JON STEWART: Is there any-- do you have any qualms. as you think about this about the idea. that a 20-year-old kid--.

clearly having mental issues, was able to walk. around with an AR-15? I mean, until he set up and pulled that trigger, he wasn't doing anything illegal. Or do you have-- does this at least give you. pause about the kind of weapons that American citizens. without any real oversight are allowed to walk around. with that can take out somebody from 150 yards away.

and can do it with somebody who's. apparently a terrible shot. BILL O'REILLY: The answer to your question is yes. Do I have qualms about it? Yes. Would I slap-- JON STEWART: Look at us. Look at us-- BILL O'REILLY: Slap--. JON STEWART: Bill O'Reilly wants gun--. Bill O'Reilly wants to take your gun. BILL O'REILLY: It's not about a gun control. It's a matter of public safety. JON STEWART: Right. BILL O'REILLY: So each state, according to our constitution, has the right to regulate what laws. it wants to make about guns.

Now, the left, your folks--. JON STEWART: No, no the Supreme Court-- the Washington, DC. had a law that you couldn't bring in handguns. and it got struck down. BILL O'REILLY: Right. Ruled it unconstitutional, OK because--. JON STEWART: So you're not allowed to state by state. make your laws? BILL O'REILLY: No, you are. JON STEWART: I mean, you couldn't ban them. BILL O'REILLY: All right. Let me give you a civics lesson. Every state and every district can make its own laws. But if the Supreme Court deems those laws unconstitutional--. JON STEWART: Well, ain't that the rub?

Ain't that the rub? BILL O'REILLY: The Left wants the laws about guns. to be made from Washington. One central law for the whole country. The Right does not want that, claiming. there are different circumstances. in New York City than there are in Casper, Wyoming. And you don't have that. Now for me--. JON STEWART: I think that's a very broad generalization, Bill, that doesn't quite tack-- so here's what I would say. Let's use the immigration argument, right? So Republicans are very concerned that we.

have open borders. Well, in New York City, we're concerned. that Florida's open borders are allowing what's. called the Iron Pipeline. They're allowing guns that aren't being traced. and are illegal to flow into New York City. I don't think what-- what people who are concerned. about guns are saying is the federal government has to do it. and everything is equal. I think what they're saying is give us. the tools to not allow this chaos in our streets. and help us.

That's all they're saying. BILL O'REILLY: I have a fairly good solution to the gun crime. problem in the United States. Would you like to hear it? JON STEWART: I would like to hear it. BILL O'REILLY: All right. Number one, every state should have very. stringent regulations on military-style. weaponry like the ARs--. every state. So in order to get that, you have to prove--. JON STEWART: So you're voting for-- you're. voting for Joe Biden and the Democrats this cycle.

because of how intensely you feel-- because they. had that in place. And I believe it got repealed--. BILL O'REILLY: Wasn't that simple. Wasn't that simple. JON STEWART: It's never that simple, is it? BILL O'REILLY: Every state--. JON STEWART: Yeah. BILL O'REILLY: State, Stewart, should. it require that the person seeking. the military-style rifle justify it, and then the state makes a decision. JON STEWART: Justified. BILL O'REILLY: That's number one. JON STEWART: With like an essay? BILL O'REILLY: Yeah-- JON STEWART: Dear. BILL O'REILLY: Write a little essay. JON STEWART: Dear Maryland.

BILL O'REILLY: It could maybe be--. it could be maybe multiple choice. Are you alone? JON STEWART: I am surrounded by angry deer. And if I don't have an AR and an-- and an M--. BILL O'REILLY: You don't want to hear this solution to this. JON STEWART: I've been corrected by my staff. The assault weapons ban wasn't repealed. It expired. BILL O'REILLY: OK. JON STEWART: I wanted to correct--. BILL O'REILLY: Everybody watching worldwide--. I want the people in Kazakhstan to know. that Stewart doesn't want to hear the solution. to the gun violence--. JON STEWART: I do want to hear the solution. Bring it, bring it. BILL O'REILLY: Then button it.

Every state has a very stringent process in which. to get an AR, number one. Number two, all gun crimes, all crimes. committed with a firearm of any kind. immediately become federal crimes. That's because in New York City, you can commit a gun crime and not even be held on bail, OK? That's insane. So it becomes a federal beef. JON STEWART: I was under the impression.

that a gun crime you--. that they could still do danger to the community-- no. or is that-- that's you're even not allowed to hold a gun. BILL O'REILLY: No, of course--. JON STEWART: You do danger to the community? BILL O'REILLY: But in New York, the no bail law, you can be carrying a firearm and have. a felony on your record and they'll let you go. You'll be prosecuted down the road. JON STEWART: They can let you go, or they must let you go? They can-- but they-- but-- but that's not required. They can hold you in terms of if they deem you a danger--. BILL O'REILLY: Judges discretion--.

JON STEWART: Judges discretion--. BILL O'REILLY: But if you know what it is in Manhattan. So all gun crimes are federal crimes. So you go into a bodega with a gun. JON STEWART: All right. BILL O'REILLY: That's not a local crime anymore. That's federal--. JON STEWART: Federal crime. BILL O'REILLY: Then there are mandatory prison. sentences upon conviction. So first-- first conviction. Crime of the gun--. five. Second conviction, 10, OK? That way, the few--.

JON STEWART: You're tightening the penalties, and you're tightening the restrictions. BILL O'REILLY: Absolutely. That-- and you're not going to solve the whole gun crime. The nut-- the nut in Pennsylvania. will still get the AR because the black market for those guns. is not going to ceasefire, just like the black market. for narcotics. But society is doing its best to protect people. And there you have it, Stewart. JON STEWART: And that solves it. Well, let me poke a few little things in there.

It is, in fact, your side that would. make it impossible to make those stricter regulations. Those have been tried. I mean, after Sandy Hook, people tried desperately. to enact some of those policies and there. was only one side that was fighting it. and that was the Republicans. They've made it more difficult to track these weapons. They've made it impossible to sue gun dealerships that. are known to be selling them to traffickers.

and bringing them up. You know, we talk about the violence--. South of the border in Mexico--. most of those guns come from America. So this gun problem that you've very--. I think helpfully for America set out some of those things--. they've neutered the agency's federally. There can be no registration. Why is it that-- that is so resisted by the Right? BILL O'REILLY: OK. Number one, I don't have a side, all right?

JON STEWART: Stop saying that. BILL O'REILLY: I'm not a Republican. I don't have a side. I'm not an NRA member--. JON STEWART: I don't see color. BILL O'REILLY: I'm none of that. JON STEWART: I don't have sides. BILL O'REILLY: I'm a free thinker. JON STEWART: I'm an amorphous blob. I don't taste food. I don't listen to music. BILL O'REILLY: No, I sit in a room, no music, solving problems--. JON STEWART: Solving problems--. BILL O'REILLY: Trying to convince people. like you to listen to me. That's my life, as sad as it is. JON STEWART: It's and--. BILL O'REILLY: So you are absolutely right that.

conservative gun people--. JON STEWART: Yes--. BILL O'REILLY: Don't want any restrictions. because they're selfish. They want to have 80 guns in the basement to kill squirrels. I wouldn't kill a squirrel anyway, but I think you don't need a machine gun to do that, OK? So that's not my side. What I'm appealing to is the majority of Americans who are--. JON STEWART: Overwhelming, overwhelming majority.

of Americans. Not having gun restrictions may be. one of the most anti-democratic things. that we have in our government-- not. being able to enact. BILL O'REILLY: You're using a word restrictions. Yes, but the--. JON STEWART: Regulations-- what would you rather have me say? BILL O'REILLY: Standards. JON STEWART: OK. BILL O'REILLY: So if you want a heavy weapon, you got to show--. JON STEWART: You a higher bar that you have to pass. BILL O'REILLY: Absolutely. But--. JON STEWART: I just want to get control of the chaos.

I talked to a guy-- I don't know. It was maybe two years ago. He's a State Senator in Oklahoma. And he said more guns, more safety. I said, well, when does that happen? I said, you know, he wanted-- he was passing laws in Oklahoma. that would make it so that you didn't have to take gun. safety courses to get a gun. And I said, well, do gun safety courses make us safer? And he said, yes. And I said, you want to take that. out of making people do it? Yes. So that makes us less safe? No. BILL O'REILLY: OK.

JON STEWART: Well, it doesn't even have any logic to it. BILL O'REILLY: If you understand the world as I do, the societies that don't have gun problems. are the societies where the punishment for violating. the gun laws is heinous. So Russia. Russia's like-- no, listen to me. JON STEWART: What about Australia? BILL O'REILLY: Well, we'll get to Australia.

It's-- Australia is confusing because of the kangaroos. They're transporting guns in their pouches. You didn't know that. JON STEWART: I did not--. BILL O'REILLY: But in Russia, if you have a gun, all right? You go away to a gulag for about 20 years. So I'm going to explain something about Russia. And you may not be aware of this. It is an authoritarian state. JON STEWART: It's an autocracy. Which can I-- let me switch gears for a second. Because this is fascinating, but I. want to get to something else. BILL O'REILLY: Yeah. JON STEWART: I am so fascinated,

Mr. O'Reilly, by the patriotic fervor of the Republican party, of the Republican conventions, the iconography of the flags, the we the people of the Constitution. We are for freedom. We are for Liberty. What is their acceptance of Viktor. Orbán and Vladimir Putin? What is their--. I don't understand. BILL O'REILLY: I don't understand--. JON STEWART: How you can say we stand for freedom.

We stand for liberty. We stand for the Constitution. And man, you know who's doing it right? Putin and Orban. Those are illiberal autocrats. What are we talking about here? BILL O'REILLY: Well, we didn't get to it on The Daily Show. because you were babbling so much. JON STEWART: That's what I do. That's my--. BILL O'REILLY: I understand that--. JON STEWART: Calling card. BILL O'REILLY: But J.D. Vance is the biggest. Putin enabler I've seen.

J.D Vance-- and I actually used--. JON STEWART: The rationale--. I truly-- I truly want to understand--. BILL O'REILLY: Explain it. So J.D. Vance used a soundbite on the no Spin news, which is my daily broadcast. Billo'reilly.com you can get it all. So I use a soundbite of J.D. Vance--. Senator Vance saying, hey, Putin, he's not Hitler, all right? He's not a threat. United States is much stronger than it was in 1938. And I'm going, wait. I believe Putin has nuclear weapons.

So anyway, Vance misreads history, all right? He doesn't understand the danger of Putin. JON STEWART: He only went to Yale. So, but, you know? BILL O'REILLY: Well, it was Yale Law school, which. is really not going to school. It's kind of like all you do is demonstrate. and make little signs. JON STEWART: Is that--. I didn't realize that. Just a commune--. BILL O'REILLY: And I can say that because I. went to Harvard, all right? So I-- I understand what's going on. JON STEWART: You went to Harvard? Was that a DEI initiative for Irish guys? BILL O'REILLY: That was-- we-- we.

have to admit him because he's so brilliant, but we don't want to. We don't want to. JON STEWART: Fair enough. BILL O'REILLY: So your question is, why are some of the fringe. Right so enamored? JON STEWART: No, no, no. Ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, ba. Not fringe Right-- the vice presidential candidate. of the United states. The-- the-- the presidential candidate of the United States. on the Republican Party. That's not fringe. BILL O'REILLY: No, Trump does not subscribe to that. We don't know what Trump. He won't say what his Ukraine policy is, which tees me off.

because I don't know where he's coming--. JON STEWART: He has-- BILL O'REILLY: In there--. JON STEWART: Very clearly shown an affinity for the types. of strongmen and authoritarian leaders like Vladimir Putin, like Viktor Orban-- and Viktor Orban was down at Mar-a-Lago. having a shrimp cocktail talking about, here's what you got to do with the press. Here's what you got to do with the thing. I mean, how can you say--. BILL O'REILLY: This is why I don't understand Trump. So I wrote a book, The United States of Trump, which you did not read, but you desperately need to read it. JON STEWART: I'm waiting for the movie to come out.

I'm sure it's going to be fascinating. BILL O'REILLY: Right. I'm sure Rob Reiner will direct it. JON STEWART: Yes, absolutely. BILL O'REILLY: Trump doesn't care about ideology. He doesn't care about Viktor Orban. He doesn't even know where Hungary is, OK? He hasn't been to Budapest. What Trump wants a deals. And his theory is if I can be friendly to Putin, to the nut North Korea--. she not so much-- they're not close. But if I can be friendly and convince. these people not to cause trouble,

that's better for the country. Now, during four years--. JON STEWART: Can I ask a question then-- then why. is he so harsh to our allies? Why is he so solicitous to Putin? And--. BILL O'REILLY: Because he wanted NATO to pay the money. for defense purposes. That's why he's not harsh to them. JON STEWART: But they--. BILL O'REILLY: Pay up. JON STEWART: His rhetoric towards France. versus his rhetoric towards Russia is stark.

There is a stark difference in the way that he talks--. BILL O'REILLY: A different agenda--. JON STEWART: The European--. BILL O'REILLY: It's a different agenda. He wants France--. JON STEWART: So you're saying you use a stick on your friends. and a carrot on your enemies, is that the theory? BILL O'REILLY: He's just a deal maker, OK? That's all. He-- and that's why people misrepresent him. They think he's this honest Barry Goldwater guy, all right? Trump. He doesn't care about it. He doesn't know basically--. JON STEWART: He has conservative values. He has no principle--.

BILL O'REILLY: His values are this. I am the best deal maker on earth. This is what Donald Trump believes. And my deals have helped America. And he can trot out deals that he. has made because Putin didn't misbehave for four years. He didn't. JON STEWART: That's-- that's just not--. I mean, not invading-- he didn't leave Crimea. We didn't get anything from him. I mean, I don't understand this idea that--. BILL O'REILLY: That's not-- that's not a deal. That happened under Obama, OK?

He took Crimea under Obama. He didn't take shred of territory under Trump. JON STEWART: Isn't this a bit of narcissism on America. to think that the only things that happen. are controlled by whatever personality is in the White. House at that time? I mean, that--. I think that is a little far fetched and a little bit. solipsistic to think that in America, Putin said, hey, man, Trump's in. I don't want any smoke from that guy, so I'm not going to do anything wrong in the world.

It's just not the case. He was still enabling Iran. He was still allowing proxy armies. all throughout the Middle East. He was still undermining US interests in the Levant. Like, the idea that Putin behaved when Trump. was in office is a fiction. BILL O'REILLY: OK, that is your opinion. But if you look at the scale measure of what Putin did when. Trump was in office and what he's done under Biden,

it's not even the same hemisphere. But OK, you can have-- look, that's the beauty of America. We all have different opinions. But Trump manages his political empire by deal making, not--. JON STEWART: But do you understand, Bill, his record at managing even his financial empire. is unbelievably spotty. The one thing that he does really. well is tell stories that he's the you know, he's the--. the most impressive this that ever that.

Like, that's what he does well. His business record is oftentimes abysmal. There's a lot of bankruptcies in there. There's corruption in there. There's charities that have been shut down. Like, this is a fantasy that he's created this deal-making. empire that never goes South. BILL O'REILLY: All I'm doing is four. years of his administration. When you read Confronting the President-- and I'm. going to hire somebody to read it. to you, to follow you around. And I hope after--.

after it comes out September 10th, we can discuss every single president, all 45 men, all right? Had chaos in their lives. Every one. George Washington's mother hated him. He didn't go to her funeral. JON STEWART: What does that have. to do with you running on your deal. making and business acumen--. BILL O'REILLY: You're doing is--. JON STEWART: Going bankrupt in a casino. BILL O'REILLY: What you're doing. is you're saying Trump has run his business poorly, all right? That's an opinion. The guy has an enormous amount of money.

He has an enormous amount of money--. JON STEWART: Started out good. I'm not saying he ran his businesses poorly. What I'm saying is he cottons no--. no criticism. No idea that anything had ever been-- his rhetoric is always--. BILL O'REILLY: I'm the greatest. He's like--. JON STEWART: I'm the greatest. And this is the worst. BILL O'REILLY: I'm the greatest. JON STEWART: And what I'm saying is it's a fiction. And it's clearly a fiction. BILL O'REILLY: But they all are fictional characters. Biden's going out there going, I'm.

the best president since FDR. And I don't know about you, but Dwight Eisenhower. appeared to me in a vision and said, did he really say that? And Ronald Reagan went, there you go again. JON STEWART: Let's be fair. BILL O'REILLY: Come on. JON STEWART: Joe Biden did pass a tremendous amount. of legislation--. BILL O'REILLY: Not as much as Trump. Trump passed more legislation than Biden. And Biden's on there going, I pass more. legislation than anybody else. We did a fact check. JON STEWART: Trump--.

BILL O'REILLY: And Trump passed more--. JON STEWART: Things-- Trump had two things. He had to chants, lock her up, build a wall. Didn't do either. Now, as far as passing more legislation. that was consequential. He couldn't get in-- he couldn't get. an Infrastructure Bill done. He couldn't. He tried very hard to do that. He never did-- BILL O'REILLY: Union labor. That was the problem. JON STEWART: He told us--. terrible. He told us that we were going to have a Health Care Bill. that would be second to none. You'll see. I'm going to replace Obamacare, and we're going.

to have a Health Care Bill--. BILL O'REILLY: And we don't--. JON STEWART: Do any of it. Here's what he did. A $1.7 trillion tax cut. BILL O'REILLY: Yes. JON STEWART: Right. He got the corporate tax rate to 20%, and he was able to deregulate. BILL O'REILLY: Yes, all that's accurate. JON STEWART: And even out of that, even as a businessman, you have to admit that's probably worth, what? $5 trillion in stimulus. And he got a GDP rate out of that. BILL O'REILLY: Macroeconomics is swell, all right?

I'm a simple man. You know that. I'm looking out for the folks. Under Trump--. JON STEWART: Which version are you--. I just want a definition of simple. because my definition of you as a simple man. is probably different than yours. BILL O'REILLY: Here's why I'm simple. I don't understand anything you just said in the last two--. JON STEWART: Simple because you don't understand, right. BILL O'REILLY: Under Trump, real wages went up close to 8%. for the folks. Under Biden, real wages are down 2.5%. That means-- JON STEWART: Look, I don't--. BILL O'REILLY: Wait, wait, wait. JON STEWART: Yeah.

BILL O'REILLY: That means the average. working person is down 10% in take-home pay under Biden. So come on. You can go macroeconomic all day long. People got to go to Piggly wiggly to get their groceries. Stop it. JON STEWART: OK, well, let's go simple folk. Donald Trump was the first President. Herbert Hoover to walk out of office with net job loss. First person--. BILL O'REILLY: COVID.

They patched everything down. JON STEWART: I see. So Donald Trump is allowed to say I was $8 trillion. I accumulated $8 trillion to the national debt. BILL O'REILLY: COVID related. JON STEWART: And I left office with a net job loss, and that's COVID. But Biden in getting the economy to recover in the way. that it did, probably faster than any other industrialized. country in the world with an inflation rate.

that was lower than the other industrialized countries. But that-- that's nothing. He sucks. BILL O'REILLY: Look--. JON STEWART: But Trump was great and COVID ruined it. and Biden COVID didn't matter and he sucks. That doesn't make sense, Bill. BILL O'REILLY: Number one, the American economy. is good under Biden. Inflation is not. So there's-- by February--. Look, there are two lines.

What was that word I want? Two lines. JON STEWART: All right. Two lines. BILL O'REILLY: Stock market doing well. The economy, consumers are spending, people are OK employment wise. But, Stewart, since Biden's been in office, gas prices are up 38%. I know you don't want to hear it. I know this is painful. So--. JON STEWART: Here's all I'm asking you. BILL O'REILLY: Food prices is 21%. JON STEWART: When I say Donald Trump was a net job loss.

and added $8 trillion to our national debt, you say, well, that was COVID. BILL O'REILLY: That's right. JON STEWART: Even though it wasn't COVID, it was a $1.7 trillion tax cut that never paid for itself. It was a 20% corporate tax rate. These things, it's trickle-down economics. BILL O'REILLY: No, no. If you look at before the government shut down on COVID, if you look at tax receipts--. and I am not sticking up for Trump. He's way too big a spender for me.

Way too big. And Biden is the same. They're both the same parallel. I'm going to buy votes by spending money. That's what they do, all right? JON STEWART: Then why hasn't-- why hasn't Biden added as much. to the debt as Trump did? BILL O'REILLY: It's close. The stats--. JON STEWART: It's not close. BILL O'REILLY: Yes, it is. JON STEWART: I think it's actually $4 trillion--. $8 to-- $8 to $4 or $5--. BILL O'REILLY: But-- JON STEWART: It's not close. It's like half. BILL O'REILLY: The $8 trillion comes. in the deal for the vaccines and all of the things.

that Trump had to do to keep the country not falling over. Do you know how much that cost the federal government. to have those three pharmaceutical companies. develop that vaccine in less than a year? That was $2.5 trillion. Just that. Come on. JON STEWART: I'm going to have to check your figures, Bill, because you're saying the government. spent $2.5 trillion--. BILL O'REILLY: Moderna and they'll tell you. JON STEWART: You're saying the federal government spent--. BILL O'REILLY: Yeah, they made--.

JON STEWART: PAYGO--. BILL O'REILLY: They made-- JON STEWART: $2.5 trillion--. BILL O'REILLY: With three pharmaceutical companies. based upon them developing a vaccine. in a certain amount of time. JON STEWART: And you don't think any of the spending Biden. did was because of COVID. That was just spent. BILL O'REILLY: Some of it was. Look, Biden puts it up like the Build Back America Better, all right? As a COVID play--. JON STEWART: Infrastructure. BILL O'REILLY: Yeah. And I don't have a beef with that in the sense that--. yeah, we needed an infrastructure update--.

upgrade in this country. But macroeconomics comes down to your--. JON STEWART: Why didn't Trump do that? If he's such a deal maker, why didn't he do it? Why didn't he do an-- remember infrastructure week--. they had like 50 infrastructure weeks. Why didn't he do it? BILL O'REILLY: I don't know why he did it, why he didn't do it. All I know is for the last two years of the Trump. administration, they were desperately. trying to handle this COVID, which Biden inherited. JON STEWART: Not the last two years. It was the last like eight months. BILL O'REILLY: No, it was longer than--.

JON STEWART: COVID hit in March. BILL O'REILLY: They should-- JON STEWART: March--. BILL O'REILLY: March. But it was before that that it started to come in. The pandemic started to come in, all right? So--. JON STEWART: Not much. BILL O'REILLY: The timeline is probably tighter. You're right there. Timeline is probably tighter. JON STEWART: It's like eight months, I think. BILL O'REILLY: The catastrophe of shutting. the entire country down had ramifications. for every part of it. But when Biden came in, remember that when Trump left. office, inflation was 1.5%. JON STEWART: Because the economy was shut down.

BILL O'REILLY: No, no-- JON STEWART: The economy--. BILL O'REILLY: Were coming back--. JON STEWART: Done. BILL O'REILLY: They were coming back then. The economy wasn't totally shut down then. Yeah, they were-- JON STEWART: All right. BILL O'REILLY: When we voted in 20--. OK, people were back to work. A lot of them were remotely. A lot of them--. JON STEWART: I just love how you look at like COVID. You look at COVID as this terrible challenge. that Trump had to face and that he had it. all figured out by the time Biden walked in. and he didn't have to do anything--. BILL O'REILLY: Figured out. I'm just trying to tell you what. the government's responsibility was at the time.

I'm a historian. JON STEWART: That's right. BILL O'REILLY: You want to paint me--. JON STEWART: Let's talk about history. BILL O'REILLY: Trump booster, OK? That's what you want to paint me as. And I'm not that. JON STEWART: More of sycophant not booster. BILL O'REILLY: I think Biden is a second worst. president in our history--. next to James Buchanan. And you'll learn all about Jimmy. when you read Confronting the President. Because Biden--. JON STEWART: That is a while statement. Yeah. BILL O'REILLY: Because--. JON STEWART: That's a wild statement. BILL O'REILLY: Problems. Open border, that's Biden. That's not Congress. That's not anybody.

That's an executive order on Biden's part. to open that border for anybody who wants to apply for asylum. That has been a catastrophe across the board Biden created. JON STEWART: I am not going to say that our immigration policy. makes any sense whatsoever. Has anything--. BILL O'REILLY: It's on him 100%. JON STEWART: No, I disagree. I don't think--. BILL O'REILLY: Who else, Stewart? JON STEWART: Well, what I would suggest. is that through a lot of factors, there's a lot more people that are. migrating all over the world. Look, the whole world is having trouble. dealing with immigration and migrants caused by chaos.

and unrest in the world. That's just a fact. There's more people coming through. Allowing asylum for people is also international law. So that's something that-- BILL O'REILLY: No, it's not--. JON STEWART: Really have a choice in. BILL O'REILLY: No--. JON STEWART: Asylum seekers are protected in international law. BILL O'REILLY: No, each country has its own asylum laws. You're not forced. But who's going to force you to have an asylum law? Do you think-- JON STEWART: Understood. BILL O'REILLY: Wait, wait. You think Communist China has an asylum law? JON STEWART: Well--.

BILL O'REILLY: There's no international law in asylum. JON STEWART: In the countries that follow the rule of law. And again, going to autocracies and dictatorships, of course, they play by different rules. But our point is, in America, we have asylum-seeking laws. That's just what we have now--. BILL O'REILLY: Which were broken by the Biden. open border policy. JON STEWART: And they had a legislative fix for that--. that the Republicans wouldn't do because Donald Trump--. BILL O'REILLY: Because the bill--. the bill wouldn't have done anything. I read the bill. JON STEWART: That's not true.

BILL O'REILLY: I want the border to be secure. That wouldn't have secured the border. JON STEWART: A conservative legislature immigration--. BILL O'REILLY: I have the solution to the border. JON STEWART: The immigration-- oh, my God. The Border Patrol were for the bill. Everybody was for the bill except Trump. because he thought it would take away an election. BILL O'REILLY: No, no, no. Everybody wasn't for the bill. I wasn't for the bill. And I didn't care what Trump said about it. JON STEWART: Let me hear. Let me hear. What's your solution? BILL O'REILLY: OK. All asylum claims are suspended for a year by the United States.

so we can reorganize the asylum courts, hire more judges, hire more border patrol, build more barriers. One year, no asylum claims. That stops the cartel human smuggling. operations right there. The people that are in here, OK, already. about 15 million foreign nationals, they need to register at their local post office, and each one of them are adjudicated within our losses. to remember if you come to the United States.

even illegally, all right? You are protected by our Constitution. So now everybody here has to get due process. and they should. But the government has to know who's here, where they are. and what they are doing. And that way, they can get a fair hearing. And so if you stop the asylum for a year, give Congress time to pass a decent immigration law. and stop the chaos. That's how you do it.

And that's a brilliant solution and you know it. So let's admit it in front of the world right now. JON STEWART: First of all, if you believe. this podcast is in front of the world, you are so grossly overstating--. BILL O'REILLY: On it-- JON STEWART: You are so--. BILL O'REILLY: It is now that I'm on it. I'm everywhere. JON STEWART: Let's-- let's not-- well, people. aren't happy about it, Bill. I'll tell you that much. That's for damn sure. BILL O'REILLY: Freedom of speech. JON STEWART: Yeah. OK. Fair enough. Do you understand why people in America, not everyone--.

fear another Trump presidency? BILL O'REILLY: Absolutely. JON STEWART: Because of what happened on January 6. Because he says things like, I will be your retribution. BILL O'REILLY: But that's just rhetoric. And I don't take rhetoric into account--. JON STEWART: Do we--. what else do we have? BILL O'REILLY: Look, Joe Biden says if you don't vote for me, you're not Black. I mean, come on. That's just rhetoric. So I understand that January 6 was.

the biggest mistake Donald Trump. has ever made in his life. And the mistake was that immediately upon the breaking. in of the Capitol, Trump should have gone on television. and said, knock it off. He shouldn't have waited three hours and 15 minutes. That was a huge mistake. JON STEWART: Can I ask a question here? BILL O'REILLY: Yeah. JON STEWART: So we're sort of boiling it down to January. 6 and--. and the three hours and 15 minutes that he waited. But I want to maybe roll it back. further because I don't think January 6 was an aberration.

I think it was the culmination of a slow-moving plot. And I'll tell you, the minute he lost the election, he went through every avenue meticulously. to try and get that vote overturned. He first went to all the states, Nevada, Georgia. I just need 11,000 votes. This was fraud. He went to all the courts. None of it worked.

This kept going and they kept trying to plan. The next step was, let's go to the vice president. The vice president doesn't have to certify it. They tried to make constitutional arguments. Most of his lawyers say, Donald, you lost. This is crazy. This is not constitutional. So what does he do? He lawyer shops until he can find. people that are unscrupulous and then he takes their advice. Now, it comes down to that certification. This has been a process building up since November.

Pence finally makes it clear no. I'm going to certify these votes because that's. my constitutional duty. And their last minute, last ditch effort is, OK, fine, then I am going to create enough chaos. to get this thing thrown into the House of Representatives. What I'm saying is it wasn't a three-and-half minute brain. fart that Donald Trump went through on January 6.

This was the very intentional strategic end. to a months-long plan by Donald Trump. to disregard the democratically elected new president of the. United States and overturn it. BILL O'REILLY: I understand your assessment. And I understand why people--. some people agree with you. But I've investigated this thing really thoroughly.

JON STEWART: You had your own January 6 committee? BILL O'REILLY: I had my own abilities and the best staff. in the business. OK. JON STEWART: Don't you-- not when my staff--. BILL O'REILLY: Well, you do a different thing than I do. So-- JON STEWART: Let's hope so. BILL O'REILLY: What happened was. that Donald Trump refused to accept the fact that he lost. That's where you start your investigation. About two weeks, maybe 10 days after the vote, I told my audience that there was no massive fraud that could.

be proven in the election. I lost about 1,000 premium members. on billo'reilly.com when I said that. JON STEWART: What do--. you run in an OnlyFans over there? BILL O'REILLY: It's no nudity but close. So I knew there wasn't massive fraud that this Dominion thing. all this was BS because there wasn't one. thing presented by anybody. And Alito, the Supreme Court justice,

actually wrote tell me what you have, and we will consider it-- because he was. in charge of Pennsylvania--. Alito. Nothing came forward so I knew it was BS. But when the run up to the January 6 thing happened, I also have established beyond any reasonable doubt. that Trump was worried things might go south on this. He did not want it so that they made inquiries to the White. house, to the Pentagon, to Muriel Bowser, the mayor of DC,

and to Pelosi to get the guard in ahead. of time, the National guard. It was rejected. And now we learn from Nancy Pelosi's daughter. that she is feeling remorse about rejecting that--. Nancy Pelosi. JON STEWART: So I'm--. I'm going to take issue with your characterization. BILL O'REILLY: You can take issue, but just-- just listen. This is our investigation. JON STEWART: That is not what was found--. BILL O'REILLY: You don't have to believe my investigation. This is what we have found out. So--. JON STEWART: I'm going to believe. the actual investigation. BILL O'REILLY: OK.

You believe what you want because that's what people do. They believe what they want to believe. JON STEWART: No, it's not what I want to believe. It's what was in the report. BILL O'REILLY: Look, there are thousands of reports. JON STEWART: The-- the official--. BILL O'REILLY: There is no official, all right? JON STEWART: Well, the January 6 investigation. BILL O'REILLY: And you're telling me. that-- that committee is what you're going on? What I believe and I could be wrong, but very rarely am, is that Trump didn't want this violence. What he wanted was a display, all right?

That would convince Americans to back his opinion that--. that the vote was fraudulent. That's what he wanted. JON STEWART: So here's-- here's what I'm going to say. I disagree with you that that's what he wanted. BILL O'REILLY: OK. That's fine. JON STEWART: I think what he wanted that day was Mike Pence. not to certify the election. BILL O'REILLY: And Pence is a hero, by the way, and hasn't gotten the credit that he should get. Pence will go down in history as a hero. JON STEWART: Yeah. I would agree with in that one instance.

But boy, did he enable four years of nonsense. leading up to that? But beyond that--. BILL O'REILLY: Beyond--. JON STEWART: On that day when he knew--. so he knew that if he could get the election. into the House of Representatives, he had a shot. BILL O'REILLY: Maybe. JON STEWART: That's what he knew. BILL O'REILLY: Maybe. That's what he wanted. That's what he wanted. JON STEWART: And he knew the only way. he could do that was for those proceedings not to go forward. and for those proceedings to be interrupted. BILL O'REILLY: I think that's accurate.

No, but interrupted. He didn't need it. If Pence had cooperated, which--. JON STEWART: No, that's what I'm saying. This is-- I'm saying post--. BILL O'REILLY: The pitch--. JON STEWART: Once he understood--. BILL O'REILLY: He didn't need that. JON STEWART: But-- but once--. so that's my point. He thought he wasn't going to need it, but he had him there in case. BILL O'REILLY: No, no, that's ridiculous. conspiratorial stuff. Come on, Stewart. That's just conspiratorial stuff. You could never prove that in a court. When you've got Pentagon people raising their right hand. and swearing that Donald Trump told them to alert.

the Pentagon to bring the guard in early, that whole thing just blows up. Now, if you don't want to believe, you don't want to believe it, but that's on the record. Come on. JON STEWART: Here's what I'm saying. He said, go down to the Capitol and fight. That's what he said. BILL O'REILLY: And then he said, peacefully. JON STEWART: He knew at that point--. BILL O'REILLY: He said peacefully. Come on. You're-- you're not even given the whole picture. to the podcast viewers. He said peacefully. Come on. JON STEWART: If I may say so, Bill.

That's just rhetoric. And it was very clear to me that--. BILL O'REILLY: He didn't mean it. JON STEWART: Exactly. BILL O'REILLY: He wanted to give him all the answers. He wanted to arm all those people. to go down and machine gun. Everybody was--. JON STEWART: Machine gun. But he wanted the pressure of the people. to stop them from certifying that election. BILL O'REILLY: I'm not going to disagree with that--. JON STEWART: Go to the house. Well, that's my whole point, Bill. BILL O'REILLY: No, it's not. You're saying that he had nefarious-- that he. wanted to promote violence. None of that is true.

JON STEWART: No, no, no, no. I'm saying his intention was to disrupt. BILL O'REILLY: That's true. JON STEWART: His intention was to disrupt. And-- and it became violent because he was reckless. And that's--. BILL O'REILLY: That's an opinion that--. that I wouldn't--. I don't think that Donald Trump handled that well at all. JON STEWART: I think that is the mildest understatement. I have heard about--. BILL O'REILLY: Because you want to hate him. and I want to treat him fairly.

That's the difference. JON STEWART: My Lord. Bill O'Reilly, do I desperately not want to hate him? I don't hate him. I just feel like he has--. BILL O'REILLY: Would you sit next to Trump at a Knicks game? JON STEWART: I take my son to those. So no, probably not. I only get two tickets, and I generally--. BILL O'REILLY: Bought ticket next to you for $8,000. JON STEWART: Not given the-- the damage. that I think he's done to the discourse in the country. BILL O'REILLY: You know, I would sit--. JON STEWART: That's not hate. BILL O'REILLY: I would sit next to Biden. And I would ask him all these questions--.

JON STEWART: Because Biden hasn't done--. I understand that. But that's apples and oranges--. BILL O'REILLY: No apples, no oranges. I'll sit next to Biden. JON STEWART: Biden hasn't violated the one core tenet. of our constitutional republic, and that. is the peaceful transfer of power. And that's what-- BILL O'REILLY: And that's why--. JON STEWART: To me, that-- to me, that's disqualifying. BILL O'REILLY: I said this on your--. JON STEWART: He said--. BILL O'REILLY: I said this on The Daily Show. That's true. And that's why Trump is in 25% ahead of Biden now. That January 6 is what pulled Trump back.

Final comment tomorrow night--. Thursday night. So this podcast will probably go on forever. because everybody in the world will watch it. and the totalitarian regimes will force people to watch it. In China and Russia, they will. JON STEWART: No question. BILL O'REILLY: And if you don't, you're. going to get in trouble. If Trump would go on Thursday night and say, you know what? I have some of my rhetoric has been extreme and too personal. And based upon what happened to me, I almost lost my life. I'm going to tamp that down, and I'm.

going to campaign on what I believe. I can do for the country. I can improve your life. I'm going to stop the personal stuff, and I hope everybody else follows. If Trump would do that Thursday night, he will win probably in a landslide in November. JON STEWART: So you're saying if you could come out and go. like, I am a completely different person. because of this experience--. BILL O'REILLY: Maybe not completely. because no one's going to buy that, but he has modified a little bit--. and he doesn't have to apologize. He doesn't have to look weak.

JON STEWART: I see. BILL O'REILLY: He just has to say I see a bigger picture--. JON STEWART: Make a--. a strategic pivot without actually. having change in his heart. BILL O'REILLY: See, no matter what he does. JON STEWART: All right, O'Reilly, you're out. BILL O'REILLY: OK. I want to say that I appreciate. Always appreciate the debate with Jon Stewart. And I think that we built up a legacy here in this country. that every other political pundit should follow. And it's fun. It's informative. JON STEWART: It is fun.

BILL O'REILLY: And best of all, I'm so much. better looking than Stewart. It's really a good contrast. JON STEWART: I don't--. I don't disagree with that. Thank you very much for being here, Bill. [MUSIC PLAYING]. BILL O'REILLY: God, that's a lot. I just love the whole like, Stewart, January 6. It was a bad day. You know, it's the--. like Trump was jet lagged. He was-- he a cold. 3.5 hours. He should have done it.

Like, and it wasn't like the culmination. of this gigantic plot to overthrow the electoral Jesus. LAUREN WALKER: I know on his show. he talks about how calling Trump anti-democracy is hate. And it's like--. BILL O'REILLY: And it's just-- it's a literal fact. LAUREN WALKER: Yeah. JON STEWART: And it's hate. And that's he sort of blames that. on the radicalization, right? Wasn't he saying like MSNBC something? He didn't say to me--. I think he's smarter than. Yeah. LAUREN WALKER: Well, I've had the joy of watching his show.

for the last few days and--. BRITTANY MEHMEDOVIC: Subscriber. LAUREN WALKER: Yeah. JON STEWART: By the way, for those viewers at home. that may not understand, Lauren is. our master of understatement. I don't know if you guys might realize. She-- she's our dry performer. LAUREN WALKER: Yeah. So I've been on that website 4 million and one now from me. And--. BILL O'REILLY: Are you a premium member? Have you jumped on. Have you jumped? LAUREN WALKER: I want it all. BILL O'REILLY: All right. As you should, Lauren. LAUREN WALKER: It is my right.

So he was just going on about how MSNBC. is the worst of the worst. And we were talking amongst the staff like how. is-- how is like Abraham Lincoln. killed if MSNBC didn't exist? How is MSNBC implicated in this when assassination is not. uncommon or like attempts on the lives of our leaders. is not uncommon? JON STEWART: I think you're also forgetting the view. And I think that the-- the views. commentary about McKinley can be directly related to his--.

LAUREN WALKER: Joy Behar was there. JON STEWART: Joy Behar was--. Joy Behar coming out against McKinley and Garfield. is what led directly to--. it's just wild, man, to listen to. But-- but I got to say like always fun to-- it's. almost like a Thanksgiving in July. You know, it's like that-- that sitting around. because it really is like--. because I have family members who, you know, Bill O'Reilly is their patron Saint.

and probably is too soft and liberal for them. You know, O'Reilly he's still he's a little too conciliatory. And it really does remind you of those conversations, like after the football game or like finally somebody. will turn and be like, so you really want. to indoctrinate the children? Is that what you want to do? And you're like, no, that's not what's happening here. BRITTANY MEHMEDOVIC: But didn't say that. Yeah, I think this is the first and potentially last episode. that my family will listen to so. [LAUGHTER].

JON STEWART: Well, I'm sorry they're so disappointed. you work for a communist, but we'll--. we'll move it along. But-- but great stuff, guys. As always, Lead Producer Lauren walker, Producer Brittany. Mehmedovic, Video Editor and Engineer, Rob Bartolo, Audio Editor and Engineer, Nicole Boyce, Research and Associate Producer Jillian Speer, and Executive. Producers, Chris McShane. Katie Gray. This is The Weekly Show. We will see you next week. I mean, that just makes logical sense.

BRITTANY MEHMEDOVIC: Yeah, should we hit him with socials? JON STEWART: Socials? Yes, yes, yes, yes. Brittany, sorry. BRITTANY MEHMEDOVIC: Twitter, we are Weekly Show Pod, Instagram and Threads, we are Weekly Show Podcast, TikTok, Weekly Show, Podcast and YouTube, we are Weekly Show with Jon Stewart. JON STEWART: And TikTok, especially. because the kids love nothing more than two old men. talking over each other. That's just--. BRITTANY MEHMEDOVIC: Hashtag viral. JON STEWART: Hashtag-- what's wrong with these people? All right. Very good, guys. See you next time. [MUSIC PLAYING]. The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart.

is a Comedy Central Podcast. It's produced by Paramount Audio and Busboy Productions. [MUSIC PLAYING].