Jordan Klepper kicked off his time as temp host of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show by interview Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Monday where the duo daydreamed about impeaching Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
As part of a voiceover, Klepper declared, “While we were on the subject of national embarrassments, I had to ask the congresswoman about Clarence Thomas and his BFF, Nazi swag collector Harlan Crow.”
During the actual interview, Klepper asked, “I want to talk a little about Clarence Thomas. You said you would even draft articles of impeachment for the things he has done. Has there been any quid pro quo? And I said quid pro quo partially because it took all that effort to learn what quid pro quo meant back in the Ukraine days and it feels apropos of now. I don't think I used apropos correctly.”
AOC then admitted she has no proof of her allegations, not that such details are going to stop her, “Yeah, I think that quid pro quo is this bar that doesn't even need to be met. The justice is required by law to disclose something like that and he has not been.”
While AOC has her own disclosure problems to worry about, Klepper was not about to ask about those, “Can you empathize, though? Beyoncé came through here, wanted to take you on a sweet vacation? Wouldn’t you say yes and let her show you her Nazi memorabilia?”
Again ignoring her own sketchy gift-accepting history, AOC responded, “You got to tell someone about it! But hey—hey-- don't put Bey's name on that like that.”
Klepper continued to try insist Crow, whose mother was almost killed by Nazis, is a Nazi, “I'm not saying she has Na— I’m saying if she invested in Nazi memorabilia to show that she hates Nazi memorabilia. She’d want to show it off.”
Despite the fact that it has been the left that has desperately trying to make the Thomas-Crow-Nazi conspiracy theory a real thing and that she and Klepper proceeded to ramble on about Nazi linens, AOC replied, “This is the distraction of that whole issue.”
Klepper then sarcastically asked, “You’re right. We’re just focused on that as opposed to all the money that is going over to Clarence Thomas. Although if you're billionaire, can't billionaires have friends?”
AOC proceeded to reiterate her calls for Thomas to go, “They can. Supreme Court justices are required if they are receiving money from people -- they shouldn’t even be receiving money from people. This is what we pay salaries to public servants and if they want to live that kind of lifestyle, then they can resign from the Court. They can retire.”
She would also go on to show the real reason she wants Thomas to be impeached or to resign: she doesn’t agree with his abortion-related rulings.
This segment was sponsored by Applebee’s.
Here is a transcript for the April 17 show:
Comedy Central The Daily Show
4/18/2023
11:20 PM ET
JORDAN KLEPPER: While we were on the subject of national embarrassments, I had to ask the congresswoman about Clarence Thomas and his BFF, Nazi swag collector Harlan Crow.
I want to talk a little about Clarence Thomas. You said you would even draft articles of impeachment for the things he has done.
ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ: Yeah.
KLEPPER: Has there been any quid pro quo? And I said quid pro quo partially because it took all that effort to learn what quid pro quo meant back in the Ukraine days and it feels apropos of now. I don't think I used apropos correctly.
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Yeah, I think that quid pro quo is this bar that doesn't even need to be met. The justice is required by law to disclose something like that and he has not been.
KLEPPER: Can you empathize, though? Beyoncé came through here, wanted to take you on a sweet vacation? Wouldn’t you say yes and let her show you her Nazi memorabilia?
OCASIO-CORTEZ: You got to tell someone about it! But hey—hey-- don't put Bey's name on that like that.
KLEPPER: I'm not saying she has Na— I’m saying if she invested in Nazi memorabilia to show that she hates Nazi memorabilia. She’d want to show it off.
OCASIO-CORTEZ: And that whole thing is just -- I mean, bizarre. You also don't keep the linens around.
KLEPPER: Which linens? Oh, the Nazi linens?
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Yeah, who does that.
KLEPPER: Don’t you think, if you had a billion dollars and you bought everything, you’d probably eventually get to Nazi linens?
OCASIO-CORTEZ: This is the distraction of that whole issue.
KLEPPER: You’re right. We’re just focused on that as opposed to all the money that is going over to Clarence Thomas. Although if you're billionaire, can't billionaires have friends?
OCASIO-CORTEZ: They can. Supreme Court justices are required if they are receiving money from people -- they shouldn’t even be receiving money from people. This is what we pay salaries to public servants and if they want to live that kind of lifestyle, then they can resign from the Court. They can retire.
