If you are a Democrat who wants a softball interview and the ability to spread fake news unchallenged, you go on a late night comedy program like Rep. Colin Allred going on Tuesday’s edition of The Daily Show to hype his campaign against Sen. Ted Cruz. Throughout the interview, host Desi Lydic would lob him easy questions about abortion and leave unchallenged his claims that Republicans are trying to suppress the vote, ban books, and ban certain hairstyles.
Lydic wondered, “Texas was one of the first states to criminalize abortion. What would be your plans to protect and restore women's reproductive rights?”
Allred began his lengthy defense of abortion with a combination of strangeness and callousness as he cited the birth of his two sons, “My wife and I, we’ve had two boys in Dallas in the last five years. I went to every ultrasound appointment, every genetic testing and, you know, those rooms, when you're having those conversations with your doctor, they are too small to have somebody like Ted Cruz in there with you.”
He also lamented that 26,000 babies were not given the death penalty for the sins of somebody else, “What's happening in Texas is really, it’s a tragedy. We've had 26,000 women who've had to give birth to their rapist's child since the laws have gone into place.”
After some additional abortion promotion from Allred, Lydic hoped the issue might propel him to victory, “Voter turnout is going to be critical for you to flip the seat. It's been estimated that 9.5 million registered voters didn't vote in the last election. How will you encourage Texans to get out and vote and does it rhyme with ‘Schmashmortion’?”
Allred switched topics and instead suggested Republicans are trying to suppress the vote “As you mentioned, I was a civil rights lawyer, but I was a voting rights lawyer specifically before I ran for Congress and to me, there is nothing more important to getting, you know, Texans and our fellow Americans engaged in our democracy and in Texas, we make it way too difficult to vote, but I want folks to know, there's a reason why they're trying to make it harder for you to vote. Why are they trying to take your voice away? Why are they trying so hard to make it difficult for you to be engaged?”
Despite his lamentations about alleged voter suppression, Allred also suggested that older voters’ opinions should not be taken as seriously as younger ones “? And to our young people, one of those things where you would not let your grandparents pick your playlist for the next six years. Don't let them pick your senator, right?”
Lydic loved that analogy, “That is such a great way to put it. Yes.”
Allred continued in his conspiracy theorizing, “They've taken away women's right to choose, the ability to make your own decisions about your body, they’re banning books, kicking kids out of school because of their hairstyle.”
Nobody is banning books, and as for the hairstyle controversy, that was a school district—not the state—and the suspended student defended himself by citing a state law, although a judge ultimately ruled the school district acted legally, arguing it is permissible to regulate male hair length.
Not that Lydic cared, “I so appreciate the work you do and I so appreciate you being on the show tonight. I wish you the best of luck.”
Here is a transcript for the April 2 show:
Comedy Central The Daily Show
4/2/2024
11:26 PM ET
DESI LYDIC: Texas was one of the first states to criminalize abortion. What would be your plans to protect and restore women's reproductive rights?
COLIN ALLRED: My wife and I, we’ve had two boys in Dallas in the last five years. I went to every ultrasound appointment, every genetic testing and, you know, those rooms, when you're having those conversations with your doctor, they are too small to have somebody like Ted Cruz in there with you.
What's happening in Texas is really, it’s a tragedy. We've had 26,000 women who've had to give birth to their rapist's child since the laws have gone into place. We've had stories of Kate Cox, a mother of two who had a pregnancy, she had to go to the emergency room four times. Her doctor said she did a medically necessary abortion and she asked her state, “can I have it close to home because I have a one and a 3-year-old at home” and they said, no and they didn't just say no, they said if you do this, we we’re going to prosecute you, your doctor, your hospital. We've counties saying you can't drive through the county, if you use the roads to access an abortion. I mean, that doesn't sound like freedom to me. I know one thing about us as Texans is that we believe in freedom and so to me, the only way we can restore this right to Texas women and families is at the federal level by codifying Roe v. Wade.
LYDIC: Voter turnout is going to be critical for you to flip the seat. It's been estimated that 9.5 million registered voters didn't vote in the last election. How will you encourage Texans to get out and vote and does it rhyme with "Schmashmortion"?
ALLRED: As you mentioned, I was a civil rights lawyer, but I was a voting rights lawyer specifically before I ran for Congress and to me, there is nothing more important to getting, you know, Texans and our fellow Americans engaged in our democracy and in Texas, we make it way too difficult to vote, but I want folks to know, there's a reason why they're trying to make it harder for you to vote.
Why are they trying to take your voice away? Why are they trying so hard to make it difficult for you to be engaged? Don't let them do it. Right? And to our young people, one of those things where you would not let your grandparents pick your playlist for the next six years. Don't let them pick your senator, right?
LYDIC: That is such a great way to put it. Yes.
ALLRED: So, I mean, I think it’s also true that we have to talk about what's at stake. To me, in Texas, what is at stake is our fundamental freedoms. They've taken away women's right to choose, the ability to make your own decisions about your body, they’re banning books, kicking kids out of school because of their hairstyle. I mean, to me, this is fundamentally about who we are as Texans and as Americans and we have to restore freedom in Texas and across this country and I think folks are going to come out and stand up for that.
LYDIC: I so appreciate the work you do and I so appreciate you being on the show tonight. I wish you the best of luck.
