Jon Stewart applauded Democrats on their election wins this past Tuesday but noted that they end up letting Republicans get the best of them when they’re too rigid about following the rules.
“Democrats, I think, do really well running on the audacity of hope,” Stewart said during his podcast series “The Weekly Show With Jon Stewart.” “And Democrats f—k things up by governing on the timidity of what they believe is possible through the rule-change.”
He went on to say that the laws of the U.S., including its Constitution, are riddled with loopholes Democrats can take advantage of to push their political agendas forward if they got crafty enough.
“The American government is complex to the extent that if you want to stop something from happening, there are enough poison pills in whatever amendment,” Stewart explained, who pointed that’s why it appears that Trump has been able to get away with controversial moves in the White House, like sending military forces anywhere he’d like. “But it’s also complex enough that the truth is, you can find a way to do anything. You can subvert those very same things as we see Trump doing.”
He added: “It’s about imagination and about resilience, but it’s about clarity.”
Later on in the conversation, Stewart’s guest, MSNBC host Chris Hayes, agreed with Stewart, saying it’s time for Democrats to play ball like Trump and Republicans.
“At one level, I have these moments where they’re, like, [Trump] does something and I feel a little bit of an illicit thrill. Like, I guess you can just do that,” Hayes admitted. “I think you’re identifying something absolutely true in the culture of Democratic Party politics, which I know better than the culture of Republican Party politics, which is a kinda of lawyer brain.”
He continued: “There’s some place between what Trump’s doing and no we can’t do that because it’s never been done that way. Or because there’s some memo somewhere that says we can’t. That allows for more innovation and creativity and aggression — I use that word advisably — in pushing the envelope a little more than Democrats have been comfortable doing.”
He closed out his comments on the matter, saying that Democrats don’t need to mirror Trump’s “lawlessness,” but learn from his innovative tactics.
“That to me is one lesson,” Hayes explained. “You do not want the lawlessness of Trump, but what I do think you want to copy is a little bit of this spirit of, it’s a malevolent creativity in the case of [Homeland Security Advisor] Stephen Miller, but a little bit of innovation and creativity … I want to do this, what can we do that is within the law to get there. Now, maybe it’s never been done before, or maybe it might face a legal challenge, but I want you to tell me how to legally do what I want to do.”
