Jordan Klepper is most famous for his reports at Trump rallies for “The Daily Show.” He admitted that despite attending many rallies, he has not been able to change anyone's opinion. However, he pointed out that going to prison for Trump has been the only thing that has effectively influenced people.
During a new “After the Cut” segment, the current host of “The Daily Show” took questions from the audience. Klepper was asked directly if he has ever managed to convince someone at a Trump rally that their views are inconsistent with their beliefs.
Klepper bluntly replied, earning a big laugh from the audience, that he has not come close to doing so.
Having said that, Klepper did remember meeting a woman at his most recent on-the-ground segment in South Carolina who used to support Trump. But he disclosed that the turning point for her was going to jail for her involvement on January 6. was “She was arrested for being inside, spent 60 days in jail, and she changed her opinion. And — give her a round of applause!” Klepper explained. “Great, and now you guys just clapped for an insurrectionist. See how easy it is? Wow.”
Setting jokes aside, the correspondent admitted that “it was good to talk to her.”
“She was somebody that I did ask, I was like, ‘We don’t run into many people who feel like they’ve been through it, and then come out on the other side,'” he said. “And she said, I think, jail shook her. And I think she started doing her own research, as she said, and a couple of things didn’t line up. And she felt like she was taken in.”
He added, “And so she felt it was her duty to come out to this Trump rally, and talk to people about what she’d been through. They weren’t necessarily great at listening to her. But there’s a little glimmer of hope in there.”
When asked if he thinks there’s any kind of conversation that can change people’s minds, Klepper honestly replied that there probably isn’t — at least not in a TV segment.
“Here’s my opinion: changing somebody’s mind is difficult to do. And I think if you are approaching something with the goal of changing their mind, you won’t get anywhere,” Klepper said. “I think the problem we have right now is a crisis of certainty.” could He continued, “I talk to everybody on all sides, who are very certain about their beliefs. And if you actually want somebody to see something that they haven’t seen before, and shift their belief, they have to acknowledge that they have a sense of uncertainty.”
“And if they’re being approached by somebody else, you have to acknowledge that you have a sense of uncertainty as well. And so I think in order to change somebody’s mind, you have to be a bit of a loser to begin. It sounds strange, but you have to concede something to get anywhere. And so is it going to happen on a TV show? Doubtful.”
Jordan Klepper stated that having a conversation that changes someone’s mindset is challenging. He believes that approaching with the intention of changing someone’s mind will not be effective, as there is a crisis of certainty. He added that in order to shift someone’s belief, they need to recognize their uncertainty.
“And if they’re being approached by somebody else, you have to acknowledge that you have a sense of uncertainty as well. And so I think in order to change somebody’s mind, you have to be a bit of a loser to begin with. It sounds strange, but you have to concede something to make progress. So, is it possible to achieve this on a TV show? It's unlikely.”
You can watch the complete “After the Cut” segment from “The Daily Show” in the video above.
