Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg returned to CBS’s The Late Show on Monday to join host Stephen Colbert in warning about the future of democracy should Republicans win the midterms.
Before Buttigieg appeared, during his monologue, Colbert lamented that, “71 percent believes democracy is in peril, and yet, only 7% identified that as the most important problem facing the country. Kind of hard to fix anything else without a functioning democracy.”
After comparing those numbers to someone who sets their car ablaze by crashing it into a tree who then calls 911 to get their six CD changer fixed, Colbert continued, “These poll results have raised concerns that democratic erosion may have sent many citizens on a downward spiral of feeling powerless, apathetic, and disconnected. Yeah, but what can you do? It doesn't matter. I don't wanna think about it. By the way, ‘Powerless, Apathetic, and Disconnected’ were the original names of Snap, Crackle, and Pop.”
That 71 percent agree with that statement is not proof that 71 percent agree with Colbert, but he returned to the poll during his second segment with Buttigieg. However, he first had to fawn over Buttigieg himself, “you're an excellent communicator. I thought you were a great candidate in 2020.”
He then asked, “How do you feel about the fact that there are 300 Republican candidates on the ballot in just a few weeks who question the legitimacy of the last election, and some who outright believe it should be overturned? When-- you saw the New York Times poll, 71 percent of Americans believe that democracy is in peril. How do you run for office and do so to a public that is losing its faith in the legitimacy or at least the efficacy of their vote?”
Buttigieg replied that, “So, one of the most important principles in democracy is that when you lose, you accept the outcome.... And the reason that's so important is because we expect the same thing from citizens in terms of policy decisions.”
He continued to compare accepting the results of elections you lose to legislation or court rulings that don’t go the way you would like, which is a fine statement in a vacuum, but it completely ignores the history of Democrats calling elections and court cases that don’t go their way illegitimate. Naturally, Colbert didn’t press Buttigieg on that point.
This segment was sponsored by Volkswagen.
Here is a transcript for the October 24 show:
CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
10/24/2022
11:39 PM ET
STEPHEN COLBERT: So, 71 percent believes democracy is in peril, and yet, only 7% identified that as the most important problem facing the country. Kind of hard to fix anything else without a functioning democracy: "Hello, 911? I just crashed my Pontiac into a tree, now it's on fire. Can you send someone immediately to fix my six-CD changer? Yes, I still have a 6-cd changer. Dire Straits. Brothers in Arms, why? Yeah, yeah ‘He got the action.’ Yeah, it’s a great song.”
These poll results have raised concerns that democratic erosion may have sent many citizens on a downward spiral of feeling powerless, apathetic, and disconnected. Yeah, but what can you do? It doesn't matter. I don't wanna think about it. By the way, "Powerless, Apathetic, and Disconnected" were the original names of Snap, Crackle, and Pop.
…
10/25/2022
12:16 AM ET
COLBERT: You're-- you're-- an excellent communicator. I thought you were a great candidate in 2020. And, you know, whenever, you know, down the road you ever run for office again, whether it's, you know, two years from now or 18 months from now. How do you feel about the fact that there are 300 Republican candidates on the ballot in just a few weeks who question the legitimacy of the last election, and some who outright believe it should be overturned?
When-- you saw the New York Times poll, 71 percent of Americans believe that democracy is in peril. How do you run for office and do so to a public that is losing its faith in the legitimacy or at least the efficacy of their vote?
PETE BUTTIGIEG: So, one of the most important principles in democracy is that when you lose, you accept the outcome. And I've had to do that. Winning is much more fun than losing, I've done both, but when you lose you accept the outcome. And the reason that's so important is because we expect the same thing from citizens in terms of policy decisions.
In other words, part of what it means to live in a democracy is that we have this process for getting decisions that all of us have to live by-- those of us who agreed with the decision and those of us who were against it, whether it's a court decision or a decision by Congress on what the law ought to be.
And so if we all have to live with the outcome of each of these policy choices, it's only fair that the people who make them have to live with the outcome of when we choose which one of them is going to be in charge. That's how the bargain works.
