Come Back, America! with Rory Stewart
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Hello, everybody. Welcome once again. Weekly show podcast with Jon Stewart. My name is Jon Stewart. I'm actually the person in the intro. It just, I don't know, it just worked out that way. We are talking to you Wednesday, April 23rd. We always try and date it because of the speed in which current events has been moving. It is exhausting. We are approaching the first hundred days of... Donald Trump's re-presidency and the first congressional casualty, Mr. Dick Durbin, Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois. Illinois? Illinois. I like to add the S. Although, what would he plural Illinois? Illinois's? We'll figure it out. He said he is not going to seek re-election. And here's the shocking part. He's only been in Congress, I think, 40-some years. And he's only 80.
To see a senator self-deport at the ripe young age of 80. My God. My God. What have we become as a society? To drive... these kinds of adolescent junior senators from office. It's like watching someone declare for the draft as a freshman. No, sir, you're not ready. You're not ready to go. You must mature. Oh, we're so... generally fucked and that the trade war is apparently now this is going to be such an interesting houdini-esque uh escape from these utterly disastrous self-inflicted tariffs you saw trump today in a press conference well nah you know china they they've got to make a deal they've got to do it and so because they have to make the deal and because everybody's kissing my ass even
though no deals are done. I'm probably just going to, you know, remove the tariffs at some point, having nothing to do with the fact that yesterday I sat down with Target and Walmart and all the big box stores and they were like, you're fucking killing us. We are the only thing keeping the economy going for cheap goods and we will have nothing on our shelves in like a week. You're going to see a run on toilet paper that would make the COVID era panic seem like a stroll in the park, for God's sakes. And somehow they'll pull off the feat of saying this was the plan the whole time and what a brilliant strategy it was to tank the global economy for as long as he did while still getting nothing out of it. Meanwhile, overseas, who the hell knows?
Will the EU move towards China? Will Russia just be able to consume Ukraine in the way that they want to? We just have no idea. This is a failure on all levels. The first hundred days have been nothing but sturm and drang and noise signifying nothing. And it doesn't have to be this way. So many of their policy goals could be achievable in non-chaotic terms, and yet they seem incapable of playing that out. Fucking madness. But we're going to get the view from Europe today with our guest, which I'm very excited about. Quite a Renaissance gentleman that we have joining us on the program today. Delighted to have him. Ladies and gentlemen, delighted today, the Stewart brothers. That's it. Reunited, Rory Stewart, nay Leibowitz. Brothers from a different mother, co-host of The Rest is Politics, but truly an enlightenment gentleman, author, former MP, former minister. We're excited to have you discussing things with us today, Rory.
Rory, you are obviously, you know, your career as an author and as a minister, you're so ensconced in politics as well as broadcasting and all these other things. We just thought you'd be a great person to give us a broad perspective on the view from overseas towards America. As you know, America, we're very shy. We don't like people to think about us. That's right, John. Famously shy. Famously shy. Yeah. And obviously, I don't want to start on a confrontational note. And these conversations should be civil, and we're going to try and keep it that way. But Rory, here in America, we're wondering, why is Europe so hostile? Why do they use us so? Why... The UK, the EU, why do they victimize America to such an extent? It's hurtful, Rory.
It is, and you're right. And this is what J.D. Vance wants to know and all those wonderful signal chats. Why are we so mean to you? Why have we been bullying you for such a long time? Why, Rory?
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