Transcript of Election Day Features Voter in Labor, Hot Dems & Don Jr. Warning of Ohio Statehood | Min Jin Lee

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From the most trusted journalists at Comedy Central, it's America's only source for news. This is The Daily Show with your host, Ronnie Singh.

Welcome to The Daily Show. I'm Ronnie King. It's election night, and we got so much to talk about. Democrats try to lock up the horny vote, we get the only exit poll that matters, and today's the 2026 election, so it's time to start stressing about the next one. So let's get into all of it. Our ongoing coverage of the midterms, indecision 2026, some of America decides.

At one point, the contractions were coming about every five minutes, but she was determined to get that ballot cast.

Yeah. Let's go. That is either a woman who really cares about democracy or a baby who really wanted to vote illegally. Look, lady, I know your vote matters, but it's also statistically insignificant. So it's okay to skip it if you're pushing a baby out of your vagina. But it just goes to show you how much people care about voting. Sometimes it's from a sense of civic duty.

I've just been following Trump the whole time. I really think he's doing an awesome job. I mean, everything from the border to the war in Iraq to just the fraud. The fraud's been incredible.

So this guy being sarcastic? I don't know what's happening. OK, I don't know what this guy meant to say, but he is correct. The fraud has been incredible. Also, I don't know what this guy meant to say, but did he say the war in Iraq? This guy is like 10 seasons behind on America. No one spoil it for him. It doesn't end great. Anyway, always good to get the opinions of voters who have a 50-50 chance of getting their junk stuck in the voting machine.

NewsNation caught up with Congresswoman Hailey Stevens as she was in here to cast her ballot for Mike Rogers. You're getting a lot of backlash. Does it feel worth it to have endorsed Mike Rogers today? Any comment at all about how you're feeling?

I'm with my mom. We're you know, this is our tradition here.

Yeah. You know, me and my mom have this tradition where we betray all our core values, then put on a hat that looks like a giant Pringles. Please respect our privacy at this time. Leave Hailey Stevens alone now. She just wants to have a lovely day with her mom and then, after some quiet reflection, push her in front of a speeding bus. But even as voters headed to the polls to cast their vote and cracked their heads slipping on amniotic fluid, politicians were still traveling the country, making their final pitch.

They want to what is it? Save democracy by destroying democracy. They want to pack the Supreme Court. They want to make Ohio a state.

Look, we don't always see eye to eye, but Don Jr.'s right. OK? Politics aside, Ohio should not be a state. It's going to change the demographics of this country, and they're never going to assimilate into our culture. Also, once a state gives us JD Vance and Vivek Ramaswamy, it should be at least downgraded to whatever Guam is.

Now, two last questions, quickly. Who is your best-looking administration official? Is it JD Vance, Marco Rubio, Scott Bessent? Which one of those three? Or is it someone else?

OK, actually, you know what? There are no more important questions to be asked. OK, we are done here. Also, that's a demeaning question that no one should have to answer. But if you asked me, I would. JD Vance, marry Marco Rubio, and kill myself. Look.

In the polarized political climate of 2026, who you cast your vote for can be an incredibly personal decision.

And as members of the news media, respecting the privacy of that decision is absolutely crucial.

Who did you vote for, Republican or Democrat?

Democrat. Who did you vote for, Republicans or Democrat?

I voted Democratic this morning.

Gotcha.

Socialist.

Pardon?

Now, did you vote today for Abdul Al-Sayed?

I did not. I live in New York City, not Michigan.

OK, so you refused to vote for Abdul Al-Sayed.

I guess you could say that.

Wow.

Who did you vote for today, Republicans or Democrats?

Democrats.

Democrat. Do you think it's selfish that you just voted to deny Americans $5,000? What other things are you selfish about? Me time. Totally, girl.

They say that maha moms will be the deciding vote in this election. You don't vaccinate your kids, right?

Of course I do, because I have a brain. Yeah.

I mean, it is ridden with autism.

Today, did you vote with the Republicans or with the Communists?

I would say with the Communists. No.

With the Republicans.

No.

I can tell this is a private thing for you, so let me ask you something else. What's something you've never told anybody? And I'll keep it quiet. We'll turn the cameras off.

I have a mustache and I wax it. I tried to laser it, but it didn't work. Do you have that problem?

I don't. I'm completely hairless.

Turns out you can ask people anything.

Speaking of who you voted for, how often do you masturbate?

Which of your partner's friends are you most attracted to? Are you comfortable with your penis size?

What is your favorite porn category?

Lesbian milf.

Thank you so much. Have a great day.

Thank you.

I am curious, who did you vote for today, Republicans or Democrats?

I'm independent. I'm not answering that question.

OK, gotcha.

Thank you.

We have to respect her privacy. Let's follow her home.

Thank you, Troy and Grace. When we come back, we'll treat you to the next top politicians asking for your donations. They don't go away.

Welcome back to the Daily Show. The midterm elections were today. So to analyze all the major updates, we turn to Josh Johnson in our Indecision Analyst Zone. I'm Josh Johnson, and this is the Analyst Zone. This is usually when I'd make some sort of crass anal sex joke, but not tonight. No time for butt jokes. There's a hungry hole of information, and we got to fill it.

Vice President JD Vance is widely considered to be eyeing a potential run for 2028, and he has been crisscrossing the country for midterm candidates.

Well, not surprisingly, the early Republican front runner is the grand wizard of ick, JD Vance. And he must really want the job. Why else would he be the vice president for Donald Trump, a guy who's tried to take out 50% of his vice presidents? The good news for JD is he's got some name recognition. The bad news for JD is JD's name is JD. We're electing a president, not the captain of the ultimate Frisbee team.

I just called them the fart left, not the fart left. I promise, that was an accident.

I had a dime mountain dew yesterday and won today. I'm sure they're going to call that racist too. I love you guys. What do you call a fly with no wings?

Walk.

A walk. OK, very good. That's terrible.

Yeah, Trump's going to hang him. Moving on to the Democrats. There are a lot of names being floated right now. Pete "Baby Face" Buttigieg, Josh "White" Obama Shapiro, and Andy, not interesting enough to have a nickname, Bashir. But the one Democrat everyone's talking about is California Governor Gavin Newsom. He hasn't officially declared his candidacy, but he is doing everything you do before you run.

Yeah, no, look, I mean, I got nothing more to say on it. I wrote about it in the book briefly, and the whole thing was brief. And you know, and it certainly has defined a lot of those years as mayor.

And that was the highlight. That was the most exciting moment we could find. So those are a few of the bigger names, but there's some second-tier candidates who, you know, are going to throw their hats into the ring.

It's no secret that I want to be president.

Pass. Who else you got?

As a guy who's, you know, thinking about running after this election.

Again, pass. Isn't there anybody else who wants to run?

Are you thinking about running for president?

I would consider it. On my side of the aisle, if a bunch of goobers run, and I think they're goobers, and one of the goobers might win, and I think I could do a better job, I would consider running.

Oh, shit. Time's up, goobers. That's Louisiana Senator John Kennedy, and I can see him making a serious run for the White House. For starters, he appeals to both sides of the aisle. He's got the voice of Foghorn Leghorn and the haircut of your lesbian Aunt Sheila. And his name's John Kennedy.

I won three times. Now I'm going to do it again. Thank you.

I can't tell if he's joking. Point is, whichever the 2028 nominees may be, the important thing is we're only two years and seven minutes away from finally talking about 2032. And I'm watching clips of Jake Tapper fly fishing with future President Mr. Beast. Thank you, Josh. When we come back, Lee Min Jil, if you join me on the show, don't go away.

Welcome back to the Daily Show. My guest tonight is a bestselling award-winning novelist whose latest book is called "America and Hogwas." Please welcome my good friend, the one and only, Lee Min Jil. Thank you.

Thank you.

Can you please tell us a bit about this book? You don't have to summarize it because there's too many people in the comments section who don't read, and they want us to explain this in, like, 30 seconds. That's impossible. Just read the book. But great book. Every page, I was just engrossed. How would you kind of, without any spoilers, describe it?

Without any spoilers. Without any spoilers. So Helen and John are the parents. They have three kids, Bo, DH, and Mito. The kids are born in Paramus, New Jersey. The parents are South Korean. They go from Sydney to Seoul, back to Sydney, and they end up in Orange County. And they're trying to raise their kids between two different financial crises.

OK. It's a story about family. This is also a story about education.

And about wisdom.

Wisdom.

About wisdom.

Yeah. And can you just tell for the ignorant Americans in the watching this what is a Hogwas?

Hogwas is a learning center in which you pay money to learn a skill like tap dancing, how to be a broadcast journalist, to be a comedian. You can go to a Hogwas in Korea for that.

Really? There's a Hogwas for comedy?

Definitely. Definitely. Even K-pop drama, anything.

Oh, OK. But that's not you see, because when you wrote this book, it really was like I felt like you wrote it for me.

I did. I did.

Everyone feels that way because the story in it is so.

I even interviewed your wife.

Yeah, you interviewed my wife for it as well because in it, the family is from Asia. They go to Australia, which is what I did. And then also, I went to tuition centers in Singapore. I call it tuition centers.

Which are Hogwas.

You call it Hogwas. But the way you describe Hogwas is way more holistic. In Singapore, you're like, people are tap dancing and learning comedy. That's not what the is happening in these Singapore tuition centers. They are beating the Chinese into people. I'm telling you.

Did you beat did you get beaten?

Yeah, I got beaten all the time. I got beat Chinese because I went back to I went back to Malaysia, Singapore. I was the kid who I would wake up in Malaysia at 4:00 a.m., take the bus into Singapore to study. So I was going across the border anyway. And I went I moved back to Singapore when I was eight years old from America. So I had no Chinese in me. And I had to learn Chinese from scratch. And Chinese teachers hate eight-year-old boys, Chinese boys who cannot speak Chinese. They take it's a personal offense.

A front.

A front. And they beat it into you. And I know I've seen you do interviews where you also got beaten. But you got beaten for, like, you were just, like, walking in the back of the class.

That's right.

Yeah.

That's right. I got hit. I was six years old. I finished my worksheet, and I was walking back and forth in the class. And then the teacher said, come up in the front of the classroom. So I went to the front. She said, take out your hands like this. So I held my hands out, and I thought I was going to get a present.

And you did. The president of discipline.

That's right. And I got smacked in my hands quite a bit.

Yeah, so we get beaten all the time. And so whenever these American kids when American kids complain about some stupid bullshit, I'm always like, you guys are soft. And I've seen both sides. You've kind of I think you saw both sides as well, Western education and Korean. And I saw Singapore and America and Singapore and Australian, for that matter. So I was able to compare it. And I was like, yeah, they just beat it into me.

But do you think that you benefited from all those tuition centers?

Yeah, the beating I mean, the beating made me kind of, you know, whatever about the world. It was my villain origin story. I mean, the tuition centers well, this is the thing I was trying to get at before we talked about these beatings because, again, the tuition centers, it's a lot of scared parents putting their kids into these things because they don't know what to do. And they're like, you know and I was even a problem kid. I was like a straight arrow guy.

Do you have a job now?

I have a job now, kind of, you know, saying you to people. I don't know if this is a job. I wasn't even a problem kid. I just.

You're a truth teller, Ron. You're a truth teller.

OK, sure. Thank you for beating me, Singapore. Thanks for beating the truth into me. But the tuition centers, did I benefit from it? I mean, I don't know. It made me tougher. I don't think it made me a better student. You know, I wasn't a great student, but.

I never went to Hogwas.

Oh, you never? OK, yeah. But you interviewed, like, 1,000 people.

Yeah, I interviewed a shit ton of people.

And I remember you said in interviews that you went in kind of, like, thinking these Hogwas would be these terrible places where children are for. And then you kind of changed your mind.

Oh, totally, because all these Koreans said to me, I hate Hogwas. They're horrible. They cost much money. And then I said, well, then did you go to Hogwas? They're like, yes. And I said, well, are you going to send your kids to Hogwas? They're like, absolutely.

Right.

So I said, I'm confused.

No, that makes complete sense to me.

Right? So then I went to go visit all these Hogwas, and I met the tutors. I met the parents. I met the kids. I went to the regular school, the actual formal school. And you see all these disconnects between the practice and theory of learning.

Right. And I'm sorry. I want to go back to what you were saying. You didn't go to Hogwas because you talked about how your mother is a very well-adjusted woman who actually didn't want to force it on you guys.

Yeah, she well, she was a piano teacher. Her whole attitude is, you can't make kids study.

So was she wrong? Was she wrong? Because you can make kids study. You can beat it into them with stick. I know because that's what happened to me.

Right. No, no, this is good. If you want to become a comedian.

Yeah.

This is good.

If you want to be a comedian, beat the Chinese into your kids every day. Have I said beating kids too much on this interview?

No.

I feel like for five minutes, I've just been talking about being beaten. And this is the other thing. It's like Americans again, like, I'm going to overgeneralize here, but Americans are very weirded out by this because I talked to Trevor Noah about this before, about how we always get beaten as a kid. And Americans are like, what? You got beaten at school? Yeah, man. In Singapore, they would beat us. And then they would.

It's illegal now in Korea.

Oh, is it?

It used to be.

Someone should tell Singapore because this is I don't know. They would hold us I just want the interview to talk about this beating. So they would in Singapore, they would call assemblies.

Ronnie, are you OK?

OK. OK. Why? Why? Why? What? What? It's normal. This is.

No, you're perfect. This is how we get it all into our system.

Yeah. But again, so I really want to get your opinion on education here because that's kind of one of the big themes of this book. And I could tell you really care about education because you're very detailed about it in the book, the whole process of going to college and Hogwas and everything and the stress that people feel. So is education in America OK?

No. No. I'm really worried.

You know what would fix it?

I do know how to fix it.

Yeah, I also know how to fix it.

We just need this giant.

We know how to fix it. Yeah, so what is.

Well, I'm really worried about America because I think our generation.

Why? It's fine. What are you worried about? It's fine. It'll be fine.

OK. Well, if you say so.

Yeah, just.

No, the general competence has really gone down. Our kids really are not doing so good. And they're really worried, too. They're really anxious.

OK, but that's every generation.

Well, I don't know. And also, the average reading level of the average American is around sixth or seventh grade.

It's OK. Just watch YouTube. It's OK.

And I'm really worried about the fact that they don't know what's true or verified information, which affects civics.

Yeah.

Just saying.

But what do you think? Is Hogwas the answer in America? I mean, what is.

No, I don't know if Hogwas are necessarily the answer, but I do think that we need to start talking about what's going on with the kids right now and also the fact that every single state in America has different standards. And all this choice is sometimes really good. But if the kids aren't learning the stuff that they need to know for a very fast-changing world, then maybe we should focus on it. Maybe the politicians start talking about it.

Yeah, that's never going to happen. That's never going to happen. These guys are these woke liberals in the thing are just so idle. But so you kind of went 180 on Hogwas, right? So now, is that something in America that we should do? We should have Hogwas with.

Well, what I did see is in California, for example, they had different kinds of Hogwas. They had working-class people Hogwas, and they also had really, really expensive Hogwas. And some Hogwas are basically daycare centers for working parents. So if you're a cashier in H Mart and you bring your kid to a Hogwas because you've got no place else to send your kid, and it's about only $400 a month, and there's actually a van from the Hogwas that picks your kid up from school and keeps them there until about 7 o'clock at night, that's basically daycare. And the kids get worksheets and a juice box and a pretzel.

Yeah, sorry to interrupt you, but yeah, I was going to say because you've talked about this before, but you don't mean that in a bad way.

No, I actually think it's a good thing because the kids are at least safe.

Right.

If you have the kid alone in an apartment, it's not safe.

Sure. You've also talked about how I also want to emphasize that this book is like I don't want to put anyone off, people thinking that this is just for Asian people. This book is great. And one way no, no, but one way you described it in an interview was that you said that you love talking about the Korean diaspora. That's your focus.

Yeah.

But you also said that everyone is a diaspora now.

That's right.

All in society.

Because you have all different kinds of diaspora. You have environmental diaspora. If your state is too hot and there's too many fires, maybe you want to move. That's environmental diaspora.

So white people can also be a diaspora.

White people are diaspora.

Yeah. OK, good. So this book was also.

The original diasporic people were Jewish.

OK.

It's in the Bible.

OK.

And then you.

OK, another well, since we're talking about fiction, this so everyone can be a diaspora. This is not just for Asian people. One I'm trying to sell your book here. There is another thing that's in this book, another theme in this book, which I find very interesting because I also related to it is the idea of these immigrant family units. So I don't know enough about non-Asian family units in America, so I don't want to overgeneralize.

You give your mom money, right?

Yeah, I give my mom money. Of course, you give your mom you give your mom money. Do you know how quiet it is in the studio right now? That's how weird. That's how weird it is. It's weird. It's weird. Come at me, whatever. I don't care.

Because you're a good son, right?

Sure, but I'm just this is a long-winded question to say that am I correct in saying that that's a very uniquely Asian thing? Or am I off base? I'm happy to be.

No, I don't think you're off base. There are certain values in Asian culture which really stress the sacrifice and also honoring your parents. And so filial piety is one of them. The thing that I wanted to ask in this book, which really troubled me because this is not about a dysfunctional family. This family is not dysfunctional.

Surprisingly, yeah.

I did that on purpose.

Yeah.

It's actually pretty easy.

They're almost idealized.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, because I wanted to ask the question, why do terrible things happen to good people? Right? Because we want to know.

Well, it can't be God because he doesn't exist. So what is it?

We are going to.

So why do terrible things happen to.

And I wanted to understand how these terrible things happen and then also how do good people who are trying to be decent when terrible things happen, how do they survive? And I notice these strategies that are in Asian culture. They're in other people's culture, too.

Of course.

And mostly, it was sacrifice and sequencing. So if you don't have generational wealth and shit happens and you don't like it, the way we're going to get through this is if you and I, one of us sacrifices and one of us says, you know what? While Ronnie does this thing, I'm going to hold back. And when you're done, then I get my turn. And that sequencing and sacrificing was a really good strategy for people who don't have generational wealth. And that's what I wanted to focus on in the book.

Yes. And you did. You bring it out in a very entertaining story. So you're not just ranting about it, but it's the best kind of education where you learn about it despite.

I try not to rant.

Yeah. Well, I try not to learn. And I just so because and I had to learn because of this. Now I know way more about Koreans and Christians than I ever wanted to know.

You're basically Korean now.

Yeah, I guess I'm basically Christian now because I read.

You're Korean.

OK. So I got final last I got some you're such a smart social commentator. I just want to get your quick thoughts on these difficult topics.

Let's go.

Because I think you're the only person qualified to actually answer this stuff. So imagine that I am a MAGA Asian. And you don't have to imagine that hard, really. I'm 50% there. What would you say to MAGA Asians who have sacrificed a lot, worked hard, did all the right things, were decent people, trying to put their kids into Ivy Leagues, and affirmative action comes in and they believe it has screwed up their plans.

I think one of the things.

First of all, who did you vote for?

Democrats down the line.

OK.

I think that a MAGA Asian person who believes that race-based affirmative action is a bad thing has often been misinformed. I do. I think that race-based affirmative action is a good thing. Now it is actually illegal in America to consider race. That said, I think when you start thinking that this other group is the enemy, you really misunderstand the history of civil rights in America. Asian Americans have benefited significantly from all the work, the hard work and sacrificial work of African Americans in civil rights in the United States.

OK, so this book is kind of a critique on Ivy Leagues, college education. So higher education, Ivy Leagues, do we need it? Do we need it? Do kids need it?

I think that it's a nice thing if you could understand it for what it is. It doesn't guarantee a perfect life. I think that highly selective schools can be good. But very often, if you only focus on the brand name of a school, you are going to be heartbroken.

So what the are we supposed to do then? Just raise holistically well-adjusted kids? Yeah, but that's not going to work because it's too hard. They need a goal. So I mean, Harvard, not worth it.

Well.

You went to Yale. You can say that. Whatever. I don't even know anymore. Is it worth it? I don't even know. I don't know what's going on anymore.

The thing that I really want to focus on is that if you get into one of those schools, great. However, the idea that most people are going to get in is kind of silly because it's a numbers game. They just don't have the spots. If they have 2,000 kids in a class, about 500 are really open to the general public. The other 1,500 are already spoken for.

OK, so imagine I'm a young MAGA Asian.

Sure.

What would you tell me if I'm like, I need to get into these Ivy League things? What advice would you give me?

I would say if you want to go for it, look at the statistics that you have and all of your qualifications and whatever there is. However, basically, it's a crapshoot. And I would actually say that actually, grad school is probably more important.

OK. So can I so should I go to Harvard or not if you can get in, but.

If you get in and if you really want to go, be my guest.

Well, I mean, one of the themes in the book is more that they're looking these tutors at a Hogwas get so frustrated.

Yeah.

And they ask the parents to think of their kids more holistically.

Yeah. Well, because I think the tutors are looking at the kids and saying that the kids are really freaked out. All the young people right now, especially between the ages of 12 to 17, are trying so hard to professionalize themselves into thinking about trying to get into a highly selective school. They don't even understand what it means. All they know is they have these brand names. It's kind of like a Rolex watch or Coca-Cola. But they don't actually know what these schools mean and what they want. And they may not even like it once they get there.

Right, because they weren't beaten enough in these teaching centers.

Mostly that, yeah.

OK. OK, this last question for you. How do you oh man, there's so much to talk about. This book is so interesting. I got last two. Can I do two?

OK.

Is it OK to go two?

I'm good.

So one of the themes of this book is the IMF financial crisis.

Yeah.

I call it the global financial crisis. Americans call it what happened? I don't know. So by the way, that's what I also love about this book. You put into words all these things which I've given up trying to explain to non-Americans. You've managed to put it into this story. So thank you so much for doing that.

My pleasure.

This IMF, which I lived through, the global financial crisis.

Yeah.

So there's been two this book covers two financial crises, '97 and 2008. What lessons for these kids do you have for the next one that hopefully does not happen?

Well, the first line of the book is the rules of engagement have changed already. What I'm really saying is that the reason why all of us feel like shit right now and are really worried is because the rules of engagement for every single field has changed, whether it's in how to get a job, how to do your job, how to find a partner, all those rules have changed. So what are we going to do if those rules of engagement have changed already? So we're going to have to figure out how to be a better problem solver and commit to relationships. That sounds a little strange, but when I did my interviews, the people who survived these incredibly huge economic shocks, who didn't have a whole lot of money to ride out the storms, they were able to do it only when they had deeply committed relationships and people who stayed with you for the whole ride.

OK, this all sounds suspiciously Christian. So I'm just going to skip on to the last question. How do you reconcile America being the best place for these people to come to make a living and also being what it is right now?

You know, have you heard that expression, America is a place even where our enemies want to live?

No, but that's completely correct.

It's completely correct because there is possibility in this country. I know that things are really tough right now. At least it seems that way for some people. But it is possible here to have many different acts. And in other countries, it's more difficult to pivot your career, your relationships. And here, it is possible.

Yeah, thank you. Min Jin, thanks so much for being on the show. Your book is great. Thank you for doing what you do. Thanks for writing it. Thanks for speaking to us. "America Hogwas" available now. Lee Min Jin. We'll let you have a quick break, but we're right back after this.

That's our show for tonight. Before we go, let's check in with your hosts tomorrow night. It's Michael Costa. Michael, Michael, what do you think you'll be looking at? Ronnie, tomorrow we'll be doing full election analysis and answering the question on everyone's mind. What happens if you accidentally swallow your "I voted" sticker? Tune in to find out.

OK, why would anyone swallow their "I voted" sticker?

Well, obviously, they didn't mean to, Ronnie. They could have just stuck it on their sandwich for safekeeping and then forgot about it when it was lunchtime. And now they can feel it tickling their way through their small intestines.

Did you swallow your sticker?

Of course not. I have mine right here. You think I tore this off a 10-year-old after I screamed at him, "Don't tell anyone you saw me eat that sandwich, Brayden?" Of course not. I got this because I voted.

OK, that it says I'm a future voter. They don't give those to adults.

Well, of course they do. Ask anyone. Ask Brayden. He knows what to say.

OK, tune in for Michael Costa at the desk tomorrow. Also, if you missed Jordan Kleppa's special, "Red Flags," then good news. It's airing again right now after the show. So stay tuned. Now here it is, your moment of zen.

Outside of a polling place at a public library, lots of political signs. There's one for Mike Rogers. There's a lot of local races here. Here's Democrat Jason Hoskins. Melanie Macy, a Democrat, as well. What's unusual about this, though, is there's not one sign for Abu Al-Sayed. What is that all about?