-Cautious career politicians will not be able
to stop the anomaly that is Donald Trump.
But I can.
Hello. I'm Ben Gleib.
I'm a stand-up comedian and TV host,
and I'm running for President of the United States.
-So, Ben, you're a comedian,
and the first thing I want to know is is this a joke?
-I wish it were.
I would have a lot more sleep in my system if it were.
It is very serious.
I believe that our president is a joke,
and the direction our country is heading in
is a very serious one.
And so even comedians have to put on their serious
hats in times like these
and try to do what they can to help the nation.
-You're selling yourself as like a regular guy.
Why should you be the regular guy who is also president?
-I think I'm the regular person who should be president
because I know what it's like to struggle.
I know what it's like to be an everyday,
real American just because I am one.
The career that I've chosen
as a road-traveling stand-up comedian,
I've made my life traveling the country to towns big
and small, Republican and Democrat,
crowds big and small,
unfortunately oftentimes smaller than I would prefer,
and spending my time relating to regular people,
making them laugh, finding out what it is that makes them tick,
talking with them, hanging with them,
often drinking with them after shows.
That's the kind of real person
I think we are not used to seeing in our politics.
We must nominate the person who is most likely
to have the skills to beat Trump,
and I will return his fire with fire
that he will not know what hit him.
-So why do you think you would be a better Democratic nominee,
for example, than Elizabeth Warren?
-Elizabeth Warren is great and I love
how policy-focused she is.
I love how passionate she is.
But I am unconvinced that she has what it takes
to beat a trash-talking comedian troll heckler of a president.
I think Elizabeth Warren would be a very interesting choice,
and somebody I am considering for my vice president.
-Oh, really?
Would you be her vice president?
-I would also consider that.
If the American people decide that I'm not the nominee,
I would definitely consider accepting an invitation,
were I to receive one from her.
-So, where do you place yourself
on the spectrum of the Democratic Party
from a more centrist position to a more leftist position?
-I'm somewhere in the middle of centrist and leftist.
-You're a centrist of centrism.
-I'm a left-of-center centrist to the right of the left.
-Okay. What candidate is on either side
of you on your right and your left in the lineup?
-Bernie Sanders is on my left.
I would say Joe Biden's on my right.
Even though I write all my own stuff, unlike Biden.
Oh, slam.
-That's the zinger that's gonna take down Trump.
-What's that?
-That's the zinger that's taking down Trump.
-Listen, I call it like I see it in all respects.
-I ask this in the nicest possible way,
and it's something I wonder about all
presidential candidates.
Do you think you need to be at least
a little bit of an egomaniac to run for president?
-Probably. I don't know about egomaniac.
I think you have to have certainly a pretty healthy ego.
-An egoist. -An egoist.
I think you have to have a pretty healthy ego
for sure to think that you could be the leader
of the free world and of this great nation
and that people would want to support you.
-Do you think that this run,
however it goes, will help your comedy career?
-Will it help my comedy career?
It remains to be seen.
I think there's a good chance
that it will help my comedy career,
maybe because more people will probably know my name.
But there's a good chance it'll hurt it
because people are gonna see me having been lecturing them
and speaking very seriously about a multitude of issues
instead of making them laugh.
The biggest note I've been given from a lot of my senior advisers
and just my friends is like, "Be funny in these interviews."
In this interview, I've barely been funny.
And I'm not wearing my comedy hat
as much as I probably should.
You shrug your shoulders like you agree.
You don't think I've been funny at all.
-A little. -I've had little moments?
-We'll have to interview other candidates
and see who's definitely funnier.
-Sounds like a plan.