The Daily Show’s Jordan Klepper was in the minority when he visited Phoenix and the scene of the current Arizona recount, a.k.a. the third Arizona recount. For one thing, he seemed to be one of the few individuals not carrying a gun, which made him stand out in a sea of MAGAs. Nor did Klepper seem convinced of the competency of the Cyber Ninjas, the company running the recount, which has zero experience with recounts.
Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs chatted with Klepper and conceded that while “it’s comical to watch what is happening here in Arizona… I think that it’s also important to note that this is really dangerous to our democracy.”
Hobbs said that a number of Arizona voters are concerned about their ballots being in the hands of the Cyber Ninjas, a company run by a man who has regularly amplified conspiracy theories about 2020 voter fraud. Among the most prevalent of these theories? That a group of Chinese insurrectionists attempted to change the results of the election by submitting their own ballots… on bamboo paper. Which has led to a group of totally sane people having to use a UV light to look for bamboo in order to disprove this bizarre rumor.
“You can have some pretty far-fetched ideas on both sides, and what we’re doing is simply proving or disproving as many of those as we can,” Senate Audit Liaison Ken Bennett told Klepper.
While discussing the importance of a fair election with a man proudly brandishing a Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum on his hip, he told Klepper that “There has been word that Antifa and BLM may be coming in, so they’re trying to be careful and secure the premises.” As for whether said Man With Gun had seen any signs of Antifa, he had not—but noted that there were whispers that they were infiltrating the carnival that was taking place next door to the recount. As in: an actual carnival. Antifa carnies? Yep! As Klepper noted, they were even mentioned in Cyber Ninjas’s “official documents outlining potential security threats.”
All of which begs the question: Which one is the real carnival?