also tonight, the mission in michigan to derail biden's path to the nomination. a former congressman who supports the effort, and why it could be good for the president. and beyonci's texas -- has some country fans -- want to guess why? spoiler alert, it's a classic case of if it ain't white, it ain't right. i am ayman mohyeldin, let's do it. ♪ ♪ ♪ allies to the maga movement have not been quiet about their terrifying plans for a second term for donald trump. they have plotted brazenly to essentially institutionalize trumpism, but something you probably haven't heard about is the plan to fight it. new reporting from the associated press reveals the extent to which liberal activists and legal experts behind the scenes are attempting to protect the u.s. government itself. and that's not hyperbolic, as trump and his allies literally

want to destroy it. >> we believe in heritage, whether it's conservative, whether it's president trump or someone else in the field, will replace president biden, thank goodness. and it isn't enough for whoever that is to govern conservative, tactically, they have to wake up every day and say, what part of the american administrative state i'm going to destroy today? >> that was heritage foundation president kevin roberts, describing his organization's presidential transition plan, called project 2025. it was put by the new york times, it was a transition blueprint that outlines a plan to consolidate power in the executive branch, dismantle federal agencies, and recruit and vet government employees to free the next republican president from a system that roberts of use as stacked against conservative power. now the architects of this plan have even suggested firing as many as 50,000 federal workers. make no mistake about it, roberts and his allies are

deadly serious about carrying this out. he told the times last month, quote, people will lose their jobs, hopefully their lives are able to flourish in spite of that. buildings will be shut down, hopefully they can be repurposed for private industry. and if you just felt a shiver down your spine, you are not alone. as i mentioned earlier, liberal organizations in washington are quietly trying to install roadblocks. they are promoting new federal rules to limit presidential power, while urging biden's white house to do more to protect his accomplishments, and limit trump in a potential impossible second term. they are calling on biden to issue executive orders that could limit the use of the military, domestically. they say that he should promote expanded collective bargaining agreements with federal personnel, which would make it harder to fire workers. and they are also promoting a rule that could slow future executive branch orders, to relocate government agencies out of washington, something

trump did when he was in power. now that's all well and good, but biden can only do so much. michael lyndon a former executive director at the white house office of management and budget under biden, told the ap quote, nobody should be under any illusions that there is anything that this president can do in advance to protect -- prevent the next president from doing things that are very damaging, potentially catastrophically. we do, after all, live in a democracy, for now. and joe biden is no tyrant. ultimately, it is up to the voters, and the voters alone to stop donald trump and his project 2025. joining me now, alexei johnson, founder of ten 63 west brought, a political strategist and senior adviser to biden for president 2020. danielle moodie, host of woke af daily podcast, and co-host of the democracy -- and the new abnormal podcast. and barbara mcquade, msnbc legal analyst, former u.s. attorney in michigan, and law

professor at the university of michigan, and author of attack from within, how disinformation is sabotaging america. ladies, it's great to have all three of you with us. so barbara, i'd like to start with you on this. with these sentiments from michael lyndon, biden can only throw up a few roadblocks. none of them permanent, but ultimately only the voters can stop trump and his project 2025. how effective do you think any of these legal roadblocks will be. and legally speaking, biden can't do much more here without congress, correct? >> i think that's right. i think that he could do something through executive order. for example, joe biden eliminated something donald trump created at the end of his administration call schedule f. which was 50,000 jobs in the civil service, that would become political appointees. biden got rid of that, but if trump were to come back as the president, he would have the ability to restore that. and i want to emphasize just how damaging this is to the civil service.

the -- act was passed in the 1800s, to remove the spoil system from our system of government, so that people who were appointed to handle positions weren't just the political favorites of the president, but they were career civil servants. people now have jobs that control our electrical grid, that control nuclear energy and other kinds of things. and if those jobs are replaced on the win of a president, we will lose the professional, scientists, career people who are there to keep us safe from all manner of dangers and arms. >> and -- do you think that the biden team is fully aware of just how troubling project 2025 is? and should he be highlighting the dangers of the plan, more on the campaign trail? >> listen, the biden campaign is well aware of the dangers of -- a second trump presidency. i think that in 2020, the primary, all of the presidential candidates were talking about this problem that donald trump is, and what he would do to our government by

attacking these career public servants, who have this wealth of knowledge. i do think this is an opportunity for this cycle, for the president to start explaining this, what this really means. and -- we're talking about a presidential campaign, folks are talking about whether they like them or not, their personality, what's been there, begich events. which is really important. but these are the peep pieces of government that we are not talking about a month enough. because we are so used to having, this we are so used to being able to sleep at night, because our government is functioning, regardless of who the president's. and so, i urge the biden campaign to take this very seriously, and start talking about it, in their long form interviews and their day-to-day interactions with voters. and let them know that this is an existential crisis, that not only puts our democracy at stake, but the entire world. >> so danielle, of got to ask. i mean, do you think that the people who are listening to heritage foundation president kevin roberts, depending on i guess which side of the aisle

they are, and realize that people like him sound like super villains when they musab out destroying the government, and proudly boasting about it? or, does this base fuel, does this rhetoric fuel the base of the republican party? >> i mean, i think that we have to understand that this is not rhetoric. i think we have to understand that there are billions of dollars that have been put behind product 2025, which is why he is speaking so assuredly. like, he understands that if a republican, and it doesn't matter if it's donald trump. it will be trump, if it is a republican, that enters into the white house, they have 20,000 people on role, that they are training right now to dismantle government from the inside out. so if i am the biden campaign, what i am doing is sending my surrogates out to go talk about my accomplishments. but every time that a microphone is in front of my face, as the president of the united states, i am talking about the existential threat that our democracy in this country is under. and they are not playing games. last time we watched the trump administration have a revolving

door of people who are coming in and out. this time, they have tested the fences, and those people that are loyal to the constitution will be gone. >> barbara, as part of project wendte 25, there are specific plans for using the federal government to punish critics and opponents, should trump win a second term. how realistic is this part of the plan, and what can be done legally to protect the justice department? i know again we like to think that america is immune to things that we are seeing overseas. but we are constantly being awakened to new realities in this country, because of trumpism. >> so the things that donald trump says about appointing the special prosecutor to investigate joe biden, or locking up his opponents, is incredibly frightening. because we are a country that follows the rule of law. if people violate the law, then they should be prosecuted and dealt with in the criminal justice system. but the idea of targeting people simply because of their ideas, or their political affiliation, is just completely

contrary to even the idea of america. i'd like to think that we have systems in place through our grand jury system, as you indicated the judiciary, that could block all of those things. but somebody at the justice department, who is an attorney general, who is using power in a political way, would abuse that power and be very dangerous indeed. >> i want to discuss a video, danielle, that emerged in nashville from this week, that i would say so far has not broken through into the mainstream media, that i think it should. but i want you to watch this video that was shot by tennessee house representative justin jones. >> let -- were having a march in now in town -- white supremacists, -- white supremacist neo-nazism, talking about deporting folks, and racial hatred. this is, this is what we are seeing here in nashville. >> another neo-nazi march on the major american city. it seems like whether it is the heritage foundation's 2025 plan, or these actual nazis,

the far-right is being so much more open, so much more explicit about their extremism. >> and what i am saying to people is that you need to believe them, right they are showing you each and every day, each and every conversation, and each and every article. these are people that do not fear the rule of law. they are freely walking around the street, saying exactly what it is that they plan to do. when donald trump, if he were to enter that white house again, we also have to understand that this will not be his last term. it will be the last presidential free and fair election this country sees. and this is what they want. they want fear on the streets, they want people who believe in the rule of law, who believe in democracy, who are not white, who are not straight, who are not crystal nationalists, to be in prison, right. in one way or another. he is saying this to us, and we need to believe him and take it seriously. >> -- how do you think, and how should joe biden and his team respond to all of this?

>> they need to respond directly to it. have a speech, where he talks about what is happening with these neo-nazis walking down the streets, and people taking their guns and attacking people based on the way that they worship, or how they look, the color of their skin, or who they love. we actually have to continue to talk about this, and sound the alarm. i know that some people have felt as though they were tired of people screaming at the top of their lungs, when donald trump became the nominee in 2016. but we are getting closer and closer to that breaking point. and, for all of the people who feel as though, as i mentioned before, that the government will be there to protect them from these attacks, from people who do not want them to exist. -- the heritage foundation is doing, it should be the top of mind of conversation that folks are having with themselves and their families, as they are going to the election, into the voting booths. and so, the biden campaign, his surrogates, and everyone who believes in democracy, in addition to the moderates and

independents who don't want to another trump presidency, all have to get in line. to talk about the dangers that are to come. >> and barbara, how do you fight this legally speaking? especially in a case of like what we saw in nashville, where freedom of speech is obviously protected, and is a cornerstone of our democracy. but i think you and i have talked about this in the past. how do you, how do you try to combat this rise of neo-nazism, from a legal point of view, and these open attempts to undermine our democracy from within? >> it's a challenge, in our society, where we value the first amendment and peoples freedom of speech, and even the right to say abhorrent things. but i think there are a number of things that we can do to push back against it. number one, there is a misconception, i think, that all speeches permissible. and of course, that is not true. the old adage is you can't scream fire in a crowded theater. but, it is the case that with any fundamental right, the government, if it has a compelling interest, may limit speech as long as the limits

are narrowly tailored to achieve a compelling governmental interest. and so there are ways to do that, to make sure that people can say these important things, but we can control the time, place, and manner where they say it, for example. and so, the goal should be to prevent that kind of hate speech from escalating into threats and violence. and that is where the line gets drawn. >> all right, barbara mcquade, daniel moody, alexia johnson, thank you to the three of you for starting us off this hour, greatly appreciated. there is a growing movement in michigan to vote on committed in the states democratic primary, on the surface you think it would hurt president biden. but former democratic congressman ami -- who backs the effort, says it could help joe biden. how? he will tell us, next. joe biden. how? he will tell us, next. sk? because shingles could wake up in you. if you're over 50, talk to your doctor or pharmacist about shingles prevention. as the world keeps moving, help prevent covid-19 from breaking your momentum. you may have already been vaccinated against the flu,

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a new effort is underway in michigan, ahead of the states february 7th presidential primary. our revolution, a progressive political organization, has called on voters to cast their ballot against president joe biden in the upcoming

democratic primary, urging them to select on committed instead. the group hopes the move will send the president a message, and shift the administration's approach to the war in gaza. saturday, democratic congresswoman rashida tlaib voiced her support for a similar effort from another group called listen to michigan. biden's erosion of support in this state is a subject of concern for his reelection campaign. according to census data, michigan has roughly 310,000 residents with middle eastern or north african ancestry. and arab americans can account for as much as 5% of the vote in the state, depending on turnout. new polling shows donald trump narrowly leads the president in the key battleground state by just two points, with numbers that close though, democrats are sounding the alarm, warning joe biden's handling of the war could cause voters in this crucial block to sit out in the november election. one local activist from dearborn told usa today, quote, it is time for the president to take action, and he is failing

to do so, and that is going to have political consequences. explaining his reasoning for backing our revolutions and committed effort, former michigan democratic congressman any 11 told the new york times, quote, i am working with some people who feel like they will never vote for joe biden, but there are many, many i feel will vote for the president on november 5th, if he changes course. this is the best way i can help joe biden. former congressman andy leavitt joins me now. congressman, former congressman levitt, it's great to see you again, thank you so much for making time. and i actually want to start there. your framing this vote as a way to help joe biden, ahead of november. some michigan democrats, including the state's governor, gretchen whitmer, have cautioned that whipping support against joe biden could, and will, backfire. explain to our viewers why you don't believe that is the case. >> well, it's great to see you a man. and first of all, governor

whitmer is a co-chair of the presidents reelection campaign. she is doing a great job, and she is playing her role very well. but here's the situation. joe biden needs to do this for two reasons. and i have to say, the first one is about substance. what is happening is horrifying in gaza. the situation on the west bank is terrible. both israelis and palestinians are completely traumatized. and so, this president, who i am so proud to make so much progress with on domestic policy, and who has done such a terrific job there, can be a great foreign policy president, if he changes course, really changes course, gets a permanent cease-fire in gaza, and opens up the biggest diplomatic initiative of his presidency, to at long last allow the palestinian people to have self determination along with the jewish people having self determination there. together, somehow it's

difficult, but sharing, and deciding, they decide, not us. they decide how to share that land, democratically. and so, the political situation though, a man, is this. it is not our revolution, or listen to michigan, like whipping this up. people are not going to vote for joe biden on february 27th, because they are really mad at him. their cousins are dying their friends are dying. and it's not just arab americans. you are right, we are the densest arab american state. we also have 250,000 muslims in michigan, we have 1.4 million african americans. and you just saw the amy bishops going even further, in saying that we ought to suspend military, all aid to israel, military aid to israel. and then you've got 370 something thousand, 18 to 24- year-old voters. all of whom are very upset. now, these are somewhat overlapping groups, right. but, ayman joe biden won

michigan by 150,000 votes in 2020. we need these people to vote for joe biden on november 5th. >> yeah, you need. yeah, you need that coalition. and obviously, we are starting to feel the pressure. i wanted to, as i mentioned earlier, congresswoman rashida tlaib, she has thrown her support beside a similar an committed effort in your state, specifically for the policies that you outlined with the war in gaza. but i want to play for you have some of the political class, in the political world, have reacted to her position. watch. >> and so, rashida tlaib is not there to represent the squad, she is not there to represent palestine. while there is merit in all of those things, you better represent your hometown constituency in the city of detroit. and i will tell all my friends and families in detroit that your congresswoman has failed, you and frankly embarrassed you, and there could potentially be ramifications. >> if you want to see donald trump beat joe biden, and you have -- rashida tlaib questioning joe biden's leadership, suggesting he's not fit for reelection. that is how you do it.

democrats beating themselves. >> i want to give you a chance to respond to that. what do you make of those attacks on your former colleague, and the thinking behind it from that analysis? >> well first of all, i want to say that there are multiple efforts going on. there is one really organic movement to get people to vote and committed, that our revolution has endorsed, and is participating in, and representative tlaib is supporting it as well. you know frankly, i don't care what a bunch of talking headed pundits say on msnbc. we are here on the ground in michigan. and, they are dead wrong. representative talib is representing her constituents. you know, 1000 black pastors in this country have written to the president, saying we are super upset about this. so, the idea that you either bring home the bacon, or you work on human rights around the world, is nonsense.

and representative tlaib is trying to do both, we must do both. joe biden has done a good job on a lot of it, but we need him to change course on this. we can't stand 28,000 people being killed, women and children being killed at the fastest rate of any conflict since world war ii. the most journalists being killed in any conflict on record. and you know all of these facts, they go on, and on, and on. 2000 pound bombs provided by the u.s., being dropped on places, according to the new york times, where the idf told civilians to run to. and then our military officials say we wouldn't use those bombs at all, on such a dense population. we haven't done it in decades, we didn't do it in syria or iraq were battling i.s.i.s.. i mean, people are super upset about this, with ayman. and i'm a union organizer, i'm a community organizer more than a politician. and i feel like we need to keep these people in the game. so my message to people who are

upset is, don't go vote for my old colleague and friend dean phillips. marianne williamson's name is still on their, although she has withdrawn. don't vote for them, and don't stay home. don't stay home! come out, and tell the president you are mad at him! when ayman, there is eight months left, or something like that, till november 5th. let's send a message to the president, that if you change course, which you must do, for justice, then i think the people will return to you. >> we have about a minute left. but i want to get your thoughts on part of the blame game here. because i spoke with -- , the mayor of dearborn about the argument that if trump does in fact beat biden in michigan, it's the arab americans, it's the muslim americans who would be blamed for that loss. and he remarked very simply, he has never lived in a world where you point at the voters and blame them for a candidate's position on an issue. just give me your reaction to that, and how damaging this

blame game approaches, especially for members of your own party. >> it's totally useless, ayman. and mayor -- is such a true reference young elected official, doing a really good job representing his constituents. what mayor -- is saying, what i am saying, what we are all saying is, this is a catastrophe in gaza. we have to change course. let's do it now, and then november will take care of itself. but we've got to work really hard to win michigan. it's going to be tough under any circumstances. not anything to do with arab americans or muslims, or any individual voters. i am afraid if we don't change course, that we can't win on november 5th. and that is why i am pouring my energy into this, because we cannot allow donald trump to be anywhere near the white house again. full stop. >> our democracy is on the

line, and it is now squarely in the hands of joe biden. so we will see what happens come the end of february. congressman, former congressman and the levin here, thank you so much, we look for it having many more conversations. if you live in florida and have a kid in public school, you might have to sign off on them being able to hear stories from black authors. we are going to unpack that basket of crazy, next. unpack t basket of crazy, next. as the world keeps moving, help prevent covid-19 from breaking your momentum. you may have already been vaccinated against the flu, but don't forget this season's updated covid-19 shot too.

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as the world keeps moving, help prevent covid-19 from breaking your momentum. you may have already been vaccinated against the flu, but don't forget this season's updated covid-19 shot too. right in the middle of black history month, a florida school district was asking for parental consent to allow their children to hear a guest speaker read a book, written by a black author. the school sent out an actual permission slip, seen here post on social media by one of the students parents, you can see under description or nature of the activity, it reads quote, students will participate and listen to a book written by an

african american. the permission requirement was implemented to comply with governor ron desantis's parental rights in education law, also known as the don't say gay law. a spokesperson for the school district said that a statement in compliance with state law, permission slips were sent home because gas speakers would participate during a school authorized education related activity. joining me now, to discuss this and more's -- history of race and policy professor at the harvard kennedy school. professor, it's great to have you back on the show. and i want to start off by asking you what you make of this news, coming out of florida. when you lecture young adults, but what message do you think it sends two young children and families across this country, that they have to ask for permission, to learn from a black author? >> well it's just the latest assault on the freedom to learn in this country. and the assault on truth in history and most especially the history of black people in this

country. florida has been ground zero for the passage of such laws. and of course, these laws have also attacked the rights of parents and children to understand the lgbt community, to understand basic sex education. it's a really frightening further assault on the broader rights that we have in this country, in terms of a democracy. >> we know that this law also makes it easier to challenge books in school libraries, leading to what some have referred to as a book banned policy in florida, and now it appears that desantis himself thinks too much parental power might be a bad idea. there was a press conference on thursday, he called out parents for abusing the law, asking his states education officials to, quote, prohibit bad actors in school leadership positions from intentionally depriving students of an education by politicizing the book review process. your thoughts on this? is the genie out of the bottle?

>> well the genie's been out of the bottle in florida. i mean for example, 300 titles were banned, predominately into particular counties. one, just outside of jacksonville, played county, almost 200 titles were banned including toni morrison, james baldwin, margaret atwood, the children's young adult writer -- jack. i mean, it's absurd. and what's interesting here is that this latest controversy that desantis was responding to, included books about johnny apple seed, and the bible. and one imagines that desantis was hearing it from his conservative supporters, how dare these people say the bible has no place in our education curriculum. so this is essentially the chickens coming home to roost, to ron desantis. >> that's a good point. and i wanted to actually talk to you about the classes you teach, specifically professor. one of them was specifically called out by republican congresswoman virginia foxx, during the congressional antisemitism hearing in december. what did you think, when you heard that?

and what are some lawmakers missing, and misconstruing about the nature of your classes? >> well. i was shocked by it. but it just shows that this assault is not ending in florida, or texas, or any of the state legislative bodies that have criminalized truth in this country. this assault is moving to hijack every form of truth telling in this country, every form of being able to confront our history honestly. and it's absurd that i get charged with essentially promoting hate at harvard, because i teach the history of race and racism. but it is consistent, it is very consistent with the logic here, that we have to deny people access to knowledge that would help them understand the country we live in, and potentially be able to change it as a result of that knowledge. >> and i think that the absence of that knowledge is very dangerous for our country, and i'm curious to get your thoughts on that. what do you fear will happen if we see lessons like yours, and books for further curtailed around the country? how far back could it send our

progress as a country, trying to move forward? >> well we will have a democracy, certainly not one recognizable. i mean, the only way to protect democracy is with a at educated citizenry, that can in the public square, debate policies, for example policies about the future of earth, related to climate change. policies related to equality, reproductive rights. i mean, these are not just partisan issues, these are fundamentally issues that pertain to how we live to gather, and survive together. and what these folks are essentially doing is stripping us of our ability to be able to question politicians, to be able to question policies and participate fully in democracy. >> all right, -- professor at harvard. sir, thank you so much for your time, i greatly appreciate your insights as always. >> thanks for having me. >> next, it is time we talk beyonci. the queen is taking on country music, and revealing a brutal truth about the country music industry as a. whole t the count industry as a. whole like here. and here.

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♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> you are welcome, folks. that is going to be stuck in your head all night, and as i said, you are welcome. that was beyonci's texas hold'em, one of two songs she has dropped in advance of her much anticipated country album, stated to be released on march 29th. but not everyone is thrilled about the icons for way into

the genre. in fact, one oklahoma-based radio station sparked outrage this week for initially refusing to play beyonci's new single. a fan who requested the song received an email reply that read, quote, high. we do not play beyonci on k y casey, as we are a country music station. well the stations owner later told nbc news that it was unaware that beyonci had released country songs, when the request was made. but, let's take a step back here for a moment. according to forbes, as of tuesday, only eight of the 150 stations that are report to billboard's country airplay charts reported having played texas hold him in its first day. and none said they had put her other single, 16 carriages, on the air. this is not the first time the country music industry has been at odds with beyonci. she faced an intense backlash in 2016, for daring to perform at the cma's alongside the chicks.

let's be very clear here, this is just the very latest flash point of the long and ugly history of racism within the country music establishment. you are probably familiar with some recent episodes, like when rapper little knots ex, saw his viral hit old town road removed from billboard hot 100 -- on the grounds that it quote, didn't embrace enough elements of today's country music. and there have been even more foul, and even more outrageous controversies. after it was reported in 2021 that country superstar morgan wallen was caught yelling the n- word on camera, he immediately saw a 1200 percent increase in digital album sales. and just last year, jason aldean filmed a music video for his infamous grievance anthem, decrying black lives matter, outside a tennessee courthouse, where a black man was attacked by a mob in lynched in 1927. for years, for decades really, white country music fans have sent a clear message, black

artists do not belong in this genre. which is racist, obviously, but also ironic, given how musicologist speculate that the precursor to the banjo, the cornerstone of country music, originated in africa, and arrived on american shores during the 17th century, with enslaved people taken from west and central africa. according to alice randall, professor of african american studies at vanderbilt university, black country music goes back to the arrival of the first black child to enslaved african woman in the americas. black people have always been a part of folk and country music. ray charles, tracey chapman, charlie pride, -- darius rucker. and to the conservatives who claimed that beyonci is stealing your genre, you are making her point for her. this new album, act to, is the second installment of a three volume project that is literally about reclaiming black roots in musical genres that have been co-opted and

whitewashed. so do yourself a favor, go listen to texas hold him. it's good country music, and to anyone who says otherwise, we'll, bless your heart. comedian -- is here to talk about all of this, as well as her new book, and john stewart's return to the daily show, coming up next. e daily show, coming up next.

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well first of all, donald trump is not an old man. >> he is an old man! he is objectively an old man. [laughter] on a human scale, trump is objectively old. if he was a tortoise, i would tell him as a tortoise at 77, oh young man, go off and enjoy college. [laughter] but he's not a tortoise. >> all right, that was quintessential john stewart, making his triumphant return to comedy central's the daily show, nearly nine years after signing off as host. the king of political satire made no secret of the fact that america has changed quite a

bit, during his absence, and the stakes of every election feel so much greater. the threats to democracy are so much more -- but fortunately, he has a spectacular team of canadian correspondents backing him up, including the outrageously talented jose sloan, who just so happens to have a new and hilarious book out, hello friends stories of dating, destiny, and day jobs. dulcee sloan, it's great to have you on the show, thank you so much. and congratulations on the book. >> thank you for having me. yeah i don't know if anybody told you this, but writing a book is a very hard. >> yeah, it's a reason why i will not write a book, i am way too lazy to write a book. >> well, i was tricked by my manager. so, that's how i ended up writing a book. [laughter] he hit me up one day and was like, why did you write a book? i was like, that sounds very difficult, i don't think so. [laughter] and he was like, cool, cool. let's just take a meeting, see

if anyone's interested. and then we took four meetings, and he was like, now you have to write a book. this man tricked me. >> well listen, we're going to get to the book in the second, because i do want to talk to you about that. but i've got to ask you about the entire daily show team, you, not pulling any comedic punches in jon stewart's first episode back. he had trump, he hit biden pretty hard. he frankly irked a lot of hard- core democrats out there. the part of the job as you have to call balls and strikes and political satire? >> i mean, i don't know what they were mad about. i mean, what was the issue? like i don't -- what where they concerned? >> i mean, i would say that the concern that they have is that he was making fun of joe biden, or at least concerned about joe biden's age, and that would, among young voters, potentially resonate. >> i mean, if anyone should be concerned about joe biden's age, it is truly joe and jill

biden. but also, it's, i don't understand how you can't talk about who he is as a person. because if you talk about policy, if you talk about his, things he did when -- he's been a governor's entire life, his entire career. if you can talk about his entire career, i can talk about the fact that he's been around since, like he was old when reagan was out. so i don't understand why we can't comment on who the man's. because you have to be a certain age to run for president. >> so >> we can always talk about. that >> but you bring up a really interesting point. and i guess as a comedian, i want to get your thoughts about how you approach it. because some comedians have talked about how we can actually be rather hard to mock trump. one, because he's already such an absurd parity of himself and character. and to, because he says and does some extremely dark, scary things, that people feel comedy could normalize. how do you approach that?

>> i don't talk about trump. when the daily show talks about trump. i talk about me. if you come to see me, you stand up, and i talk about me the daily show talks about trump i've got nothing to do with that man i not going to vote for, i've got nothing to do with him. so, i think what people are really asking comedians to do is to make them feel better about this man running for office, and that is truly not our job. if you have a problem with this man, running for office, then vote against him if you have a problem with anybody running for office, then vote against them if you have a problem with trump, would you need to do is look at the basis of the republican party, and see what kind of shenanigans and -- is going on over there because it is truly the reason why he is here. it's because the republican party let this happen. so, it's not comedians jobs, or a burden on us to make you feel better know, call your dad, call your mom. call your relatives, and be like yo, why are you voting for this man? this ain't about us, go to thanksgiving, call your dad, go to easter, call your dad, call

your mom because it's their fault, for you, talk to yourself and go, why did you vote for trump, why think this is okay? of all the things that he said because honestly, it has nothing to -- do this is a revenge for obama, it has nothing to do with any type of politics. he is wild, he literally planned treason and people were like, all vote for him. [laughter] >> let me. >> >> let me get your thoughts on another issue i don't know if you saw our last block, we were talking about the conservative outcry over beyonci's accounting country elm -- what this whole affair illustrates, that the far-right actually really hates cultural appropriation, but black people have always been a four part of folk and country music. do you want to weigh in on that? >> if white people hit it cultural preparation, then they shouldn't have created music. because every form of music in america was stolen from black people. rock and roll, jazz, blues, country, pop music. so if they have a problem with cultural appropriation, y'all critique classical music, you could've stuck with that.

go -- see what i'm saying so, it only applies to the fact that when we don't like this thing, we can't steal this thing listen, we keep showing up, we keep showing up, and we keep doing what y'all let us do gymnastics, you saw what happened. y'all let us do golf, you saw what happened now we -- listen, when we started messing with the winter olympics, it was over for y'all my daughter apologized for the inconvenience, stop letting us do your sports. calm down. so it's like, of course you ought to be upset, -- so, it can't be, it's a conservative outcry you will have nothing else to be mad about that's all it is because if you want to be upset about something, gun control, you have all the time to fix that. but you want me mad at her beyonci all, -- that sounds stupid. >> but let's talk about your book, i've got to say, it is super funny, i can see why not having spoken to you for a few minutes. but it's really real and earnest, and i know you said you were tricked by your

manager and writing it, but did you find that writing it was somewhat a cathartic process? and, what would you say was your favorite part in the process? >> why do people keep asking if writing this book was cathartic? i >> guess people would like to think that in writing your book, you really pour your heart and soul into it, and you really reveal things about yourself. and in doing so, it kind of feels good. >> well, i kind of, the way i approached it, first of all, because once i realized i had to do it, i called michelle -- and i was, like how do i do this? because her book is about -- its amazing. and so, i started from a place of, it's a book of stories. i started with, she gave me the advice to start with stories that were too long for me to tell onstage. so i started from there, so i started with the comedy. so things that i started to tell onstage, but he needed too much context, or a need to know how a group or where i grew up, that's where i started. . and then i brought in, i mixed my childhood in and things of the daily, show me doing theater, because i am a

trained actor. and so, i started from a place of comedy, and wanting to tell stories. and, that's how i kind of envisioned the entire book was, i wanted to sound like i was talking to you. when you were reading it, i want it to be like okay, i'm going to tell you what happened. that's the whole vibe that i wanted for the book. so i came from a place of comedy in the book, because i just had a lot of ridiculous things happen to me. so i was like, i -- i used to date a mechanic, because i had a 92 pontiac with 283,000 miles on -- it transmission. fluid [laughter] >> well, let me ask you really quickly, what would you want people to take away from the book, a central theme, or a message? >> be nice to yourself. because, the relationship you have with yourself is a long relationship, the longest you'll ever have in your life and being like, what we say life is short now it's, not

being alive as long as than you ever do if you live for a day, or hundred years, that's all your life so, the relationship you have with you is the one that's extremely important so, be nice to yourself, give yourself grace, and don't be mad at yourself or decisions you made when you were 25 or when -- your 40 because that's not going to help, because we haven't invented a tie machine yet so, you've got to live with this, it is what it is. >> it is a very important message, be kind to yourself -- thank you so much for making time, hope to have you back on the show. and congrats on this important book. thank you. >> thank you so. much >> all right, thank you at-home for making time for us to make sure to catch ayman back here on msnbc saturdays and sundays at seven pm eastern. follow us on x and instagram at ayman an msnbc. and till we meet again, i am ayman mohyeldin in new york, have a good night. am ayman mohyeldin in new york, have a good night. wayfair deals so big that you might get a big head. because with a sale this big, you can get your dream sofa for half the price.

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