“The Daily Show”’s Jordan Klepper Was ‘Surprised’ by One Major Way MAGA Changed Between Trump’s First and Second Terms (Exclusive)

NEED TO KNOW

• Jordan Klepper of The Daily Show, who has been interviewing Trump supporters on the ground for nearly a decade, is sharing the biggest differences he’s noticed in MAGA faithfuls between Trump’s first and second terms

• “They’re not hiding their intentions, they’re celebrating it,” he tells PEOPLE

• Klepper released his latest special, Jordan Klepper Fingers the Pulse: Give the Man a Prize, in December

Jordan Klepper has been enmeshed in politics long enough to see things changing within Donald Trump’s base.

The rotating host of The Daily Show, who this month released his new special Jordan Klepper Fingers the Pulse: Give the Man a Prize, tells PEOPLE that he noticed a change in MAGA acolytes between Trump’s first and second terms, “right after the inauguration.”

While Klepper has been interviewing Trump supporters as part of his man-on-the-street segments and specials for the better part of a decade, he says he was “surprised” earlier this year when he noticed one thing in particular: “The lack of defensiveness from the MAGA faithful.”

“There had always been a trepidation in some of these conversations about some of the crueler, more aggressive actions taken by a Trump administration that, in the first few election cycles, sometimes as I’d press in MAGA, there would be a defensiveness there,” Klepper, 46, claimss. “And usually, they would find something else to talk about in this new wave with the fact that he won this election, and was pardoning the J6ers, and taking these aggressive actions.”

He adds, “There’s a comfort in the MAGA sphere, a lack of defensiveness, an openness to what this movement actually is. They’re not hiding their intentions, they’re celebrating it.”

Jason Kempin/Getty

Jordan Klepper on The Daily Show.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

“The pushback to it” also came as a surprise to Klepper when he was crafting his latest special, which finds him exploring the president’s unsuccessful bid for a Nobel Peace Prize to protests outside of ICE facilities in Portland, Ore. (a headline-making, naked-bike-ride protest, to be specific).

“The Democratic movement has been stunted and depressed since this reelection,” Klepper says. “And when I went to Portland and saw this organic movement of naked people and people dressed in ridiculous costumes, using the absurd as an image to put up against this Trump administration and doing so with such joy and vigor. It takes balls, for lack of a better term.”

He adds, “That was a response that I hadn’t seen in person. And in many ways, [it was] reflective of sort of the moment we’re living in right now.”

Klepper also breaks down the differences between working at The Daily Show during the Trump era and before his presidency while speaking to PEOPLE.

The comedian joined the series as a correspondent in 2014, before eventually becoming a rotating host alongside Jon Stewart, Ronny Chieng, Michael Kosta, Desi Lydic and Josh Johnson.

“I remember early Jon, right before the Trump era began. And what we had at The Daily Show was time. Sometimes if the news wasn’t that exciting, you had stuff you’ve been thinking about for a couple of days. You got to really craft the stories you wanted to talk about,” he recalls.

“Enter this new Trump era. And essentially, you’re playing catch-up and you’re just responding in real time,” Klepper says, adding, “It feels like an important time to be commenting on what’s happening in the news. I feel like it’s more a part of culture and more a part of our lives than it’s ever been, as far as I’ve been alive.

Brad Barket/Getty

From left: Jordan Klepper, Jessica Williams and Hasan Minhaj on The Daily Show in 2015

Also this month, Klepper’s colleague Stewart, 63, made history at the annual Walter Cronkite Awards for Excellence in Political Journalism. The comedian and longtime series host was honored for his work in the comedic news and commentary category as someone who “redefined satire as astute insights based on solid research,” per judges. The awards are administered by the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism’s Norman Lear Center.

The Daily Show Presents: Jordan Klepper Fingers the Pulse: Give the Man a Prize is now available to stream on Paramount Plus and YouTube.

Read the original article on People