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Ilhan Omar - Getting Down to Business with the Congressional Freshman Class | The Daily Show - YouTube
Channel: The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
[0]
Welcome back to the show.
[1]
Oh, thank you so much
for having me back.
[2]
It's, uh, been a long time
since you were last here,
[4]
and you have done a lot
since then.
[6]
-Congratulations...
-Thank you.
[7]
...at, uh, making your way
into Congress.
[9]
-That is exciting.
-It's been a long journey.
[11]
It has been a long journey,
[12]
and it has been
a fruitful journey, as well.
[14]
Um, people love throwing
"the first" at you.
[16]
Do-do you ever get tired
[18]
of having to be the first
of everything?
[19]
We could go, "first refugee,
first Somali woman,
[22]
first woman of color
to represent Minnesota."
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It's just like, "First, first,
first, first, first, first."
[25]
Sometimes people
just add extra "firsts"
[27]
that are not real to just...
[28]
-It becomes a thing. Yeah, yeah.
-"First woman named 'Ilhan'
[31]
-to be in Cong..." Yes, yes.
-Right.
[33]
Um, but-but
you are a trailblazer.
[35]
I mean, just the hijab alone
is something
[38]
that fundamentally changed
what Congress was.
[40]
There was a ban
on the hijab for,
[42]
I think it was over 100 years,
apparently?
[44]
187 years.
[45]
I-I... And that-that changed
because of you.
[48]
-Yeah. -Was there...
was there, like, backlash?
[50]
Does anyone, like, look at you
and go...?
[52]
Does anyone say anything
about that,
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or was everyone like,
"Yeah, yeah, this makes sense"?
[55]
I mean, so, it's interesting,
'cause there was a-a ban
[58]
-on hats and headwear.
-Oh.
[62]
And what people didn't realize
is that it...
[65]
it made it unconstitutional
to apply it to me,
[68]
because we are supposed
to have religious liberty
[71]
-in this country.
-Right.
[72]
And so, um, it would have
[75]
applied a-a religious test,
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and, so, lifting it
[80]
is just upholding
our constitution.
[83]
And people are like,
[84]
"Oh, they did her a favor,
and all of these people
[87]
-are changing things for her."
-Right, right, right.
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And it's, like, no, we're just
following the constitution.
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It does... it does feel like...
[93]
(applause and cheering)
[96]
It does...
[97]
It does feel like
there is a certain tension
[100]
around the freshman group
of congress people
[104]
who have come in, you know,
after these midterms.
[106]
You know, you feel a lot
of the old guard,
[108]
especially on the right,
terrified of the group.
[111]
You know, it's yourself,
it's Ocasio-Cortez,
[113]
it's Rashida Tlaib.
Like, you have these people
[115]
where everyone's
just going like,
[116]
"They're troublemakers,
they're here to cause chaos."
[118]
-Yeah.
-Are you there to cause chaos?
[119]
I mean, they could hear us
coming from afar, and I...
[123]
-(applause and cheering) -And
I... and I really believe it.
[126]
You know, I mean, all of us
were ready
[128]
and are still ready
to throw down
[130]
on behalf
of the American people.
[132]
We're ready to throw down
and make sure
[134]
that we're taking care of
health care once and for all...
[137]
-Right.
-...and that we're making sure
[139]
to get rid of, uh,
for-profit prisons,
[142]
and that we're, um, going
to cancel out student debt
[145]
-and free young people from...
-(applause and cheering)
[147]
...right, like, the shackles
of debt.
[149]
-Wow.
-And so...
[151]
Trump and, um,
and the Republicans
[153]
could see us coming, and so
they shut down the government,
[157]
and they ended up being
this really interestingly
[159]
bizarrely scripted scene
from, like, the House of Cards.
[163]
-Yes. -Um, except
he wasn't as entertaining
[166]
or as strategic
as Frank Underwood.
[169]
And-and so we... we're here,
like, excited to get sworn in
[173]
into this historic-- right?--
historic Congress,
[177]
and we came into
another bizarre history,
[179]
-Right. -because
the shutdown we walked into
[182]
was the first shutdown,
not only, like, the longest,
[185]
but the first shutdown
that was orchestrated
[187]
-by a president of this country.
-Oh, that's interesting. Right.
[190]
And, you know, you and I
come from foreign countries,
[193]
-Yes. -and so in many
of the foreign countries
[196]
around the world, if
a president or a prime minister
[200]
was to shut down government,
[203]
there would probably be
a vote of no confidence.
[206]
-Mm-hmm. -He would
no longer be president.
[209]
That's interesting.
[211]
-(cheering, applause)
-Right?
[212]
And we're...
and we're sitting here,
[214]
and we're not
holding him accountable
[215]
for shutting down the government
for 35 days and getting nothing
[219]
-out of it.
-It does... it does seem like
[221]
Trump operates, um, under,
you know, a set of rules
[224]
that no one else does,
and-and that's...
[226]
-He's delusional. That's why.
-(laughter)
[228]
And you haven't been afraid
to call him out on that.
[230]
But let's talk
about some of those policies
[232]
-that you spoke about.
-Mm-hmm.
[234]
One of the biggest criticisms
that, you know,
[236]
you always hear
leveled against you,
[238]
and the group of freshmen
who have come in, generally,
[240]
is that people go:
"Oh, these are lofty ambitions
[243]
"that can't be achieved.
[244]
"America doesn't have the money
to cancel student debt.
[247]
"America doesn't have the money
for Medicare for all.
[249]
American just
doesn't have the money."
[252]
How would you propose
getting the money
[254]
to pay for these
amazing programs?
[257]
America has money.
[259]
Money isn't... We don't have
a problem of scarcity, really.
[262]
What we have is a problem
of moral courage. Right?
[266]
-Our budgets really are
supposed to be... -(applause)
[270]
our budgets are supposed to be,
uh, an example of...
[274]
-of our moral values.
-Right.
[276]
And so, you know, this is why
I got on the Budget Committee,
[279]
'cause I'm excited to make sure
that we have a budget
[281]
-that's reflective of our
values. -(cheering, applause)
[284]
And so what we need to do
is we need to make sure
[287]
that we are prioritizing
and funding policies
[289]
that create positive impact
in people's day-to-day lives.
[293]
-Mm-hmm.
-We have been...
[295]
prioritizing
in enriching the wealthy.
[299]
We have given in to, um...
[303]
caving in-- right?-- like, to
the powers of special interests,
[307]
-Right.
-and so we need to make sure
[309]
that we're holding
special interests accountable,
[312]
that we're getting money
out of politics,
[314]
that we are, uh, taxing...
the uber rich.
[317]
-Right.
-Um, that the one percent
[319]
gets to pay their fair share.
[321]
-Right.
-Um, so this is...
[322]
this is why we're proposing
a marginal tax rate.
[325]
We want to make sure
that the American people
[329]
recognize government as one
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that works for them
[333]
and works on behalf
of their interests.
[337]
If you...
[339]
(cheers and applause)
[342]
If you've been following
the shutdown,
[343]
for most people, the story
has been that, um,
[346]
Democrats and Republicans
are now working on a plan
[349]
to fund border security.
[351]
And, you know, you listen
to Nancy Pelosi speak,
[352]
and it seems like
the biggest sticking point
[354]
is really the wall,
but a lot of people agree
[356]
on the basic fundamentals
of giving more money
[358]
to the border, to, you know,
[360]
for border security
and improving that.
[362]
But yourself and a few
of your freshmen colleagues
[364]
have come out, and you wrote
a letter saying no,
[367]
-we should cut funding
to these programs. -Mm-hmm.
[370]
That's a really controversial
stance to take. Why?
[373]
I mean, because what
we have been doing
[374]
is that we've just had
slush funds
[377]
to fund private
detention centers
[380]
for young kids who are being
put in cages.
[383]
That is, that is not in line
with our values.
[386]
We want to make sure that every
single dollar that we have,
[390]
um, is used to actually care,
[393]
and provide something that is
in line with our values.
[397]
We have-- You know, Minnesota,
like, that's where I come from--
[400]
-It's negative 60 degrees
yesterday. -Mm-hmm.
[403]
We have a homeless crisis.
[405]
We have people who are freezing
[408]
And what we can do
with the money that we have
[412]
is make sure that we're
investing $20 billion
[414]
in providing homes
to our homeless folks.
[418]
That would get rid of
homelessness in this country.
[421]
(applause)
[423]
What we can do
is that we can stop
[426]
the constant increase
of our defense budget.
[429]
Since 9/11,
it increased nearly 50%.
[432]
We have not had that high
of an increase
[435]
in education funding;
we haven't had that kind
[438]
of increase
in health care funding, right?
[441]
We don't invest in the things
that actually,
[443]
positively impact people.
[446]
But we are willing
to invest in things
[449]
that give contracts to, uh,
[453]
companies and corporations
that benefit
[455]
from our struggles
and our pains.
[458]
And that's not gonna happen
under our watch.
[460]
Let me ask you this.
[462]
You, um...
-(cheers and applause)
[465]
You're someone who has been
very outspoken.
[467]
You know, you've always spoken
your mind,
[469]
you've always spoken directly
to people, voters,
[471]
your colleagues, etcetera.
[473]
And recently, you've come
under fire for a few
[475]
of your previous comments.
[476]
-Um... Yeah.
-Recently. (laughs)
[478]
-But, I mean, well, most
recently. -It's constant.
[480]
-You know, there was a,
-It's constant.
[481]
there was a tweet that you had
a while ago,
[483]
criticizing Israel
and what, you know,
[485]
how they're handling the crisis
in Palestine and in Gaza.
[488]
And you said, you know,
[490]
Israel is hypnotizing the world
with what they're doing.
[493]
You apologized after that for--
And what you said
[495]
was really interesting to me
in the apology.
[497]
You said,
I apologize for focusing
[500]
on the semantic argument
[502]
-and clarifying my comments.
-Mm-hmm.
[504]
And-- but I-I apologize
[506]
for not making people understand
that I was completely
[508]
not trying to be anti-Semitic,
and not standing up
[510]
-and fighting against
that anti-Semitism. -Right.
[512]
Because, I mean, you know,
people who may not know,
[515]
but the-the idea
[517]
of Jewish people
hypnotizing anyone
[519]
is part of the stigma
[520]
-that led to many of them,
you know... -Yeah.
[522]
The Holocaust and many
of the hate crimes against them.
[525]
You apologized for that,
[527]
-but you've still stood fast
-But...
[528]
with your criticism of Israel.
[530]
You-you still criticize people
that you don't agree with.
[534]
How do you find that balance
between criticizing people
[538]
and then also not looking
like you are condemning
[540]
mass groups of people
as opposed to governments?
[543]
Yeah. I was gonna say
with-with that tweet,
[546]
what I finally realized is, um,
[549]
the realization that I hope
that people, um, come to
[553]
when we're having a conversation
about white privilege.
[555]
-Right.
-You know, people would be like,
[557]
"I grew up
in a poor neighborhood.
[558]
-"I can't be privileged.
-Right.
[560]
"Can you stop saying that?
[562]
-I haven't benefitted
from my whiteness." -Uh-huh.
[564]
Um, and it's like, no, we're
talking about systematic, right?
[567]
-Right, right, right.
-Um, and, so, for me,
[569]
that happened for me.
[570]
I was like,
"Do not call me that.
[572]
-That's not what I was doing."
-Right.
[573]
And it was like, oh, I...
[575]
I see what you're saying now.
[577]
And so I...
[579]
You...
I had to take a deep breath
[583]
and understand
where people were coming from
[586]
and what point
they were trying to make.
[588]
-Interesting. -Um, which is what
I expect people to do
[591]
when I'm talking to them, right,
[593]
about things that impact me
or offend me.
[596]
And what is important
in-in this conversation
[600]
is that we separate
[602]
the-the land, the people
and administrations.
[606]
When I talk about...
[610]
what we are doing wrong
in this country,
[613]
it's not because
I hate this country.
[615]
It's not because
I don't see myself as American.
[618]
It's because I love this country
and because I am American
[621]
and because
I want it to do better.
[623]
And so when I talk about places
like Saudi Arabia
[627]
or, you know, um, Israel
[630]
or even now with Venezuela,
[634]
I'm not criticizing the people.
[637]
I'm not criticizing their faith.
[638]
I'm not criticizing,
um, their way of life.
[642]
What I am criticizing is
what's happening at the moment,
[645]
and I want for there to be
accountability
[648]
so that the government,
that administration,
[651]
that regime can do better.
[653]
Because I believe
that we all deserve better
[656]
-and the human collective
-Mm-hmm.
[659]
requires us to speak up
when we see something wrong.
[663]
(cheering and applause)
[665]
Thank you so much
for coming back on.
[667]
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar,
everybody.
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