Comedy Central’s Trevor Noah welcomed Beto O’Rourke on to Wednesday’s installment of The Daily Show to promote his new book and his floundering gubernatorial campaign. During the interview, Noah would lament to O’Rourke just don’t get it and see that he is right, particularly on immigration.
While singing O’Rourke’s praises, Noah mourned, “You know, there's no denying that you've always had a charismatic way about you. There's no denying you have been really popular on the national stage. Unfortunately, sometimes, it feels like the majority of Texas isn't exactly on the same page that you are.”
For Noah, perhaps the best example, “is the busing stunt that's happening right now, you know, with Greg Abbott busing people all over the country to prove a point. You're against that. You've spoken out against it multiple times. But more than 50% of Texans go, "Yeah, this is the right move, because it sends a message to Washington, D.C.”
Finally getting to a question, Noah wondered, “How do you, you know, how do you work that in your mind the idea that you are opposed to so many Texans where they say, ‘No, this is actually what we want.’”
Ever the politician, O’Rourke insisted that he can win by convincing people who didn’t vote in 2020 to vote for him in 2022. Beyond that, he tried to contrast himself with Abbott:
What if instead we had, for example, a Texas-based guest worker program or the ability to join family and not wait 20 years in line in Mexico or India or the Philippines to come to the U.S. today. What if you were trying to claim asylum, you didn't wait six years for your claim to be adjudicated, which is the current wait time. What if Texas led the way in rewriting our laws to reflect our values, our interests, and our needs and we say ‘Look, if you want to come to our country, you must follow our laws. But our laws must follow our values.’ I want Texas to lead on that.
Noah did not follow up asking how the governor of Texas can “rewrite” federal immigration law.
This segment was sponsored by AT&T.
Here is a transcript for the September 21 show:
Comedy Central The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
9/21/2022
11:36 PM ET
TREVOR NOAH: You know, there's no denying that you've always had a charismatic way about you. There's no denying you have been really popular on the national stage. Unfortunately, sometimes, it feels like the majority of Texas isn't exactly on the same page that you are. You know, a good example is the busing stunt that's happening right now, you know, with Greg Abbott busing people all over the country to prove a point.
You're against that. You've spoken out against it multiple times. But more than 50% of Texans go, "Yeah, this is the right move, because it sends a message to Washington, D.C. How do you, you know, how do you work that in your mind the idea that you are opposed to so many Texans where they say, "No, this is actually what we want."
BETO O’ROURKE: I actually think that this extremism that we see in our current governor and government in Texas is reflective of the fact that we have a badly broken democracy. Seven million Texans didn't vote in the last election in 2020, 7 million who were eligible to did not and if a majority right now thinks that busing migrants to D.C. or Chicago is a good idea, maybe, as you suggested, it's a reflection of the fact that our immigration is so badly broken.
And people want to do something. What I propose, though, is instead of these stunts, which are so cruel and unkind-- not just to those migrants but to those of us who live in Texas, to the border patrol agents who we put on their backs this entire immigration system that is so badly broken. What if instead we had, for example, a Texas-based guest worker program or the ability to join family and not wait 20 years in line in Mexico or India or the Philippines to come to the U.S. today.
What if you were trying to claim asylum, you didn't wait six years for your claim to be adjudicated, which is the current wait time. What if Texas led the way in rewriting our laws to reflect our values, our interests, and our needs and we say “Look, if you want to come to our country, you must follow our laws. But our laws must follow our values.” I want Texas to lead on that.
