You’ve asked why you should take a side publicly. I think some people would say because you have a different responsibility, because you have this particular platform — your audience of millions do look to you because they respect you. You’re not just some guy in a voting booth. You’re a guy who really does have an impact, and they want to know what you think. I’m telling them what I think.
I want to ask you about your political evolution and how you came up. Did you think about politics when you were growing up? One hundred percent, but my mind state at the time was a little bit different because I grew up Jehovah’s Witness. So when you grow up Jehovah’s Witness, you don’t vote. That’s not what they do. They stay away from it. But I read a lot of books. My mother was an English teacher. She told me, Read things that don’t pertain to you. That was her lesson to me. I read so many things when I was younger, everything from Judy Blume to my dad giving me “The Autobiography of Malcolm X.” Then you listen to Jay-Z saying things like, “Government, f government, we politic ourselves.” Where I’m from in South Carolina, a small town called Moncks Corner, we were always aware of government. We had a different view of government back then, and that’s like government will never work for us. It will never work for us because we’re Black. So the only thing we could do is try to do for self. But as I’ve grown older, I realized, Oh, this politics thing can really influence people in a real way.
You just had Mayor Eric Adams on “The Breakfast Club,” and it was a pretty wild interview. I’m curious about your choice to have him mostly interviewed by a former public defender, Olayemi Olurin. Did Adams know he was walking into an interview like that, meaning combative and with an activist? I’m not sure he thought he was walking into a combative interview, but I think people know “The Breakfast Club.” For the most part, if you come on “The Breakfast Club,” you’re going to get asked some really tough questions. He did not know that Olay was going to be there, but we’ve been rotating. I’ve been watching Olay for a long time. And I like a lot of the things that she talks about. And I think that she challenges Eric Adams in a real way. New Yorkers have real questions about New York City. Is New York City safe? The migrant issue is a real issue. And I thought Olay would be perfect for him. And I thought she did a fantastic job. And I thought the mayor did a fantastic job! That made me like Mayor Adams even more because what I realized is, he’s just really, really attempting to do his best. I thought it was very interesting to watch him not run from the tough questions, not duck, show real emotion. That was a great conversation between a mayor of a major city and one of his constituents. Some people feel like Olay might have been too tough on the mayor. I don’t think you can ever be too tough on an elected official. I just don’t.
Has Trump tried to be on your show? Would you have him on? I think you would have to. If you’re a journalist, if you’re a media personality, if you host a platform — I’ve had all of these presidential candidates that were running against him on, especially this year. The Nikki Haleys, the Vivek Ramaswamys, Larry Elder when he was running, R.F.K. Jr. has been on, Marianne Williamson has been on. You’ll probably see Vice President Harris before the election. So I’ve had all of these candidates that are running against him on. You have to have him on. I wouldn’t be able to say no.
You have noted that people come on to pander. Do you feel protective of your audience? Yes, but I don’t think Democrats pander as much as they used to, at least when they come to “The Breakfast Club,” because they know we’re gonna have a real conversation. Secretary Pete [Buttigieg] has not stopped coming to “The Breakfast Club.” A lot of these people only like to come around when it’s election season. And that’s when it really looks like pandering. That’s when it really looks like dream-selling. And by the way, it should be. You should be trying to sell us something. You should be trying to encourage us to go out there and vote for you. Yeah, cut more student-loan debt. Pardon more people who are in prison on a federal level for marijuana. Yeah, continue to do that, especially in an election year, and let’s push for more of that. But guys like Secretary Pete, they’ve been coming for the last four years. That says something to me, and I definitely know it says something to our audience. I respect him for that.