The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Elon's Email Ultimatum, French Accent Diplomacy, Feet Stuff | Wendi McLendon-Covey

Episode Date: February 26, 2025

Desi Lydic tackles Trump's continued defense of Russia to Fox News's dismay and his captivation with Emmanuel Macron's accent, despite the French president's attempts to sway him. She dives into the recent failures of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, including the “DOGE ultimatum” issued to federal workers via email. Plus, as government workers protest, Michael Kosta unpacks the symbolism in an AI-generated video circulating of Trump and, uh, Musk’s toes. Actor Wendi McLendon-Covey joins Desi Lydic to discuss how her improv background prepared her for a career in comedy and the improvised sitcom pilot they worked on together years ago that led to a misguided boat purchase. McLendon-Covey also talks about the increased appreciation for healthcare workers she’s gained from playing a hospital administrator on the new NBC show “St. Denis Medical,” and the next fake profession she'd like to play.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. From the most trusted journalists at Comedy Central, it's America's only source for news. This is The Daily Show. I'm Judgy Leidig. We've got so much to talk about tonight. Elon Musk gets marked as spam. Russia and America share friendship bracelets. And Trump sticks a foot in his mouth, but for once, it's not his own.

So let's get right into it. ["The Star-Spangled Banner"] I'm gonna come. ["The Star-Spangled Banner"] Let's kick things off with the war in Ukraine. Donald Trump promised he could secure a peace deal within one day of taking office, which means he is now negative 34 days ahead of schedule.

Good work, sir. As we know, the Ukraine war began in 2022 when Putin invaded Ukraine on three separate fronts while launching missile attacks on Ukrainian cities. Or as Donald Trump puts it... President Trump has made a series of false assertions blaming Ukraine for starting the war. You should have never started it.

You could have made a deal. That's an interesting interpretation, in that it's not what happened. In fact, it's the exact opposite of what happened. And this has set off alarm bells for a lot of conservatives, including Brian Kilmeade, Trump's buddy and the Joey Tribbiani of Fox and Friends. He tried to gently push back when Trump started to blame the destruction of Ukraine on President

Zelensky. You have a man who's led a country that had the most beautiful cities that they demolished, had the most beautiful domes. Those domes are the most beautiful in the world but that's russia's fault though mr president russia they're all demolished a thousand year old domes and everything's demolished but mr president that's all this is that's Vladimir Putin's fault i get i get tired of listening to it he makes it very hard to make deals but look what's happened to his country it's been demolished but no no i hear you he you. But Mr. President, you know who's to blame for that. Don't you think it's

Vladimir Putin that did the invasion unwarranted, that tried to take back land he had no right to? And don't you think fundamentally that's that? And if you could just get, now both sides want to talk, it seems, so we should just get to that point. They only want to talk because of me. This is how off the rails Trump is. His beloved Fox News is saying, Mr. President, you sound crazy. And I believe DEI causes tornadoes. And he's right, not about the DEI causing tornadoes.

We all know trans people cause tornadoes, but about this war. Under Donald Trump, America has fully taken Russia's side, which means, are we the bad guys now? Well, that didn't answer that. But I think we might be the bad guys. It's not just Republicans who are alarmed. The entire continent of Europe is freaking the f*** out.

If the United States will help Russia take over Ukraine, who's next? Poland? Latvia? Slovenia? Slovakia? Albania? Estonia? Yeah.

I got a 97 in AP Geography. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I would have gotten a 100, but I misspelled my name. So yesterday, Europe tried to get Trump back on its side by sending over its most charismatic Trump whisperer, Emmanuel Macron of France. And right from the start of that meeting,

you could really see how he let his scar down. By the discussion about the critical minors who are finalizing. That is the most beautiful language. I have no idea what he's saying, but that is the most beautiful language. Elegant, beautiful language. Yeah, Trump just loves the French accent, probably because it's the native tongue of his hero, Pepe Le Pew.

Something about that pervert skunk that Trump finds so relatable. But Macron's accent gives him a lot of leeway to gently correct Trump every time he spews bullshit. I mean, this war costed all of us a lot of leeway to gently correct Trump every time he spews bullshit. I mean, this war cost all of us a lot of money. And this is the responsibility of Russia, because the aggressor is Russia. Europe is loaning the money to Ukraine.

They get their money back. No, in fact, to be frank, we paid. We paid 60% of the total effort. And it was through, like the US, loans, guarantee, grants, and we provided real money. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Look at him. Look at that smile.

The guy is smitten. Usually if someone confronts him about being wrong, he takes away their security detail. But's letting macron do whatever he wants. I think a sexy accent is his kryptonite. I assumed it was vegetables, but To be fair, it's not just macron trump was swooning over anyone with a sexy accent I want to know if you what what is your idea about Italy, if you want to make the same thing. Can you talk a little louder?

You have a beautiful voice, like, in this day and age. Where are you from? Italy. From Italy. Oh, I love Italy. Oh, oh, Italy. I love that restaurant with the grocery store attached. Oh, now. I love it. So good.

Now tell me, which section are you from? Fromagio? Produce? Self-checkout? By the way, Trump is the only person on earth who has ever asked an Italian person to talk louder. Of course, as we saw last last week not every accent does it for him sometimes it just confuses him. Mr. President people in India would be

welcoming your decision to extradite the Hubba Rana to eat. I can't understand a word he's saying. Dude come on if you don't understand what someone is saying, don't be rude and dismiss them. Just laugh and go, oh my god, that's so crazy, like a normal person. I mean, is Trump sure that he wants to be president? Because this is the worst job in the world if you don't understand accents. It's like working as an escort if you're still not 100% sure

which hole it's supposed to go in. Although, would that actually make you a great escort? Hmm. I guess we'll never know. By the way, if you're wondering how tough Indian accents are for Trump, he had to get a translator for it. Not for the language, for the accent. It is evident that how the deep state of the United States

was involved in regime change. So what is your point of view about the Bangladesh? What is the role that the deep state played in the situation in Bangladesh? I can't believe Doge is going around looking for inefficiencies. Meanwhile, Trump has an English to English translator. But if you do have to have a translator for accents, why does the translator also have

an accent? Maybe the plan was to have a string of translators with slightly less of an accent until they finally got to something Trump could process. Eventually it'll just be the word Bangladesh written across the boobs of a swimsuit model. Oh now I get it. Anyway back to Macron. Now you might think that it's not wise for Europe to hinge its survival on the seductive power of Macron's accent but Trump himself admitted that it works. I just want to tell you a little story.

So we were at the Eiffel Tower having dinner with your wonderful wife and with my wonderful wife and we came out and he started speaking the French deal. And we didn't have an interpreter and he was going on and on and on, and I was just nodding yes, yes, yes. And he really sold me out, because I got back the next day that I read the papers, I said, that's not what we said. He's a smart customer, I will tell you that. Hold on, hold on. Forget the accent.

What was going on with that handshake? Are they doing the, no you hang up, but with their hands? Before we figure out Russia and Ukraine, we need a peace deal for the world's weirdest thumb worm. So maybe this isn't going to come down to words at all, because if you've noticed how Trump and Macron interact, their hands alone tell a story. They pull, they grab, they push back. But their hands can also join together. Tendon hands, which touch me, which touch you.

The whole world in their hands. Touches le monde entier dans leurs mains. Play the end. When we come back, we'll tell you who's being mean to Elon Musk, so don't go away. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Let's talk about Doge. It's the reason an 18-year-old virgin has your Social Security number. But Elon Musk has been trying to find ways to fire as many federal workers as possible. And this weekend, he tried out his new method by sending an email that shouldn't have been a meeting or an email.

It's the Doge ultimatum. Elon Musk emailing over 2 million federal workers with this subject line. What did you do last week? It simply asked them to list five things they accomplished at work and says not replying by midnight tonight would be taken as a resignation. Ah, the hallmark of a good boss. He gives you busy work that also makes you scared.

This is such an insane idea. Just for starters, let's say everyone does respond. Who the f*** is going to read 2.4 million emails? I say this as someone... Whoo! I say this as someone who has an inbox with 2.4 million unread emails. It is too many emails to fucking read.

Hey, Pottery Barn, if you tell me about one more throw pillow sale, I will kill myself and the blood will be on your hands. Also, on your throw pillows. Don't f***ing test me. And I know you gave my email to William Sonoma. Anyway, as shocking as this may be, federal workers do not seem very happy about being sent threatening emails and they're making their voices heard in unusual ways. I want to ask you about a fake video that was somehow hacked onto the TVs at the Housing

and Urban Development offices this morning in DC. It's pretty graphic, so we're not going to show it here on Top Story. It essentially shows the president, again, this was an AI image, kissing Elon Musk's feet. He's right. He's right. An AI video of Trump kissing Elon Musk's feet is disgusting. It's inappropriate and it's disrespectful. It should not be on TV. Let me just show you why it should not be on TV.

Look at this. Look at that. Look at how inappropriate this fake video of the president slobbering all over Elon Musk's foot knobs is. So inappropriate. And that is why we will never be showing this to you. It's called journalistic integrity.

Thank you. Although it has to be said that making that video and hacking the screens took a lot of work, and I really hope whichever federal employee did it included that in their list of five accomplices. This is important. I definitely feel bad for the guy in the HUD office who learned about his latent foot fetish in the worst possible way. Oh no.

Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. And it wasn't just the rank and file who pushed back on Elon's ultimatum. Some of Trump's own cabinet members told their departments the email wasn't official. Cash Patel told the FBI, don't respond to that email. Tulsi Gabbard said, don't respond to that email.

Pete Hegseth responded to that email saying, you up? That was irrelevant. But all this infighting is confusing. Can someone please clarify the situation here? Mr. President, do people have to answer this email or not? Can you clarify, hopefully once and for all, what your expectations are with this email to federal employees?

It's somewhat voluntary, but it's also, if if you don't answer I guess you get fired. Oh great. Yeah that clears up everything. It's voluntary but if you don't answer it you're fired. Okay. At this point the only thing more confusing than that email is that AI video that is totally inappropriate for television. I mean they gave Elon two left feet. Weird and gross. And that's why we will not be showing it to you. It's called

moral courage. Moral courage. Now look, you would expect some pushback within the federal government, but the surprising thing is there's also some pushback from outside the federal government. From Georgia to Oregon to Kansas, Americans angry with President Trump's sweeping layoffs and Elon Musk's drive to slash government spending, packing raucous town halls. Elon Musk has contracts with the federal government. Conflict of English! He's done some very good things.

I think he has. Do your job! Do your job! How do you feel about an unelected, non-confirmed of one of the checks and balances of our nation. Great question. And I'm glad you asked it. Oh. You're here.

Oh. Oh. Oh. Man, that last guy was so ready to get mad. He didn't even wait for the answer. I have a question. You suck. Oh.

Oh. Now, look, personally, I'm glad to see people pushing back against Doge. But even if you support Doge, you have to acknowledge that seeing real people voicing their opinion to their elected representatives is a lot better than seeing Trump going to town on Elon's feet. Just disgusting. It's disgusting. And you will never see that video here.

You won't. Instead, we're going to have some serious analysis about this counter movement to Doge. So let's go to Doge headquarters with Michael Kosta. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Michael, people are not happy with Doge. That's right, Desi, but Doge has to take a lot of the blame for the backlash. They're not handling these layoffs with enough care and finesse.

Let me explain through the use of a visual aid. Let's say this floor represents the federal government. You got to be gentle, right? You can't go in whole hog. You got to start the layoffs with a light little pep. You see what I did there, Desi? That was me laying off 50 NIH researchers. And you know what? I think they liked it. Yes, I see what I did there, Desi? That was me laying off 50 NIH researchers. And you know what?

I think they liked it. Yeah, I see what you're saying. It's not what you cut. It's how you cut it. Exactly. You can't go from zero to 100 like this. That is not how you do it. It's too overwhelming, and it puts too much pressure

on the workforce. Tell me about it. I've been laid off before, and it is always too sloppy. Yeah, you don't want sloppy, Desi. And you can't just focus on the top departments either. Most of the waste takes place at the lower levels of the government. So you got to work both.

Like, this, this is... This is how you do it. This is how you do it. Absolutely. Absolutely. And I got to say, I have never seen you look more professional. Where did you learn so much about government? Was that at college? Oh, no, I worked at Payless.

The point is, you have to pay attention to the whole of the federal government. Then once you've properly covered all the senators at college? Oh, no, I worked at Payless. The point is, you have to pay attention to the whole of the federal government. Then once you've properly covered all the sensitive parts, that's when you bring in the other foot. Oh, my goodness gracious. Oh.

Wait, hold on. So if one foot represents the federal government, what does the other foot represent? Oh, this foot's just a sex thing. Oh, my gosh. Got you. Michael Kosta, everyone. What does the other foot represent? Oh, this foot's just a sex thing. Oh, my god. Gotcha. Michael Kosta, everyone. Oh, my god.

When we come back, Wendy and the Tendent Club people will be joining us, so don't go away. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Welcome back to The Daily Show. My guest tonight is a beloved comedic actor known for her work in Reno 911, Bridesmaids, and The Goldberg. She now stars in St. Dennis Medical on NBC. Please welcome Wendy McLendon Covey! Yeah! Yeah!

Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!

Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!

Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! I'm all horny now that I've watched all that foot action. Yes. My goodness. Who doesn't love a little foot action? Anyone that says otherwise is a big fat liar. Liar. Liars. I am so happy you're here.

I'm so happy to be here. I'm so happy to be here. I'm such an enormous fan of yours. Everything you do, I mean, Bridesmaids, biggest comedy of all time. Goldbergs, which was on for 10 whole seasons. Reno 911, which was on for... We got a little revival, like right before COVID, so we knocked out two more movies and a few more episodes.

I mean, that was like a 20-year span. What is the... Isn't that crazy? Being that I'm so young. Impossibly. Yeah. But what is the secret, what's in the secret sauce for how to have such like great longevity with these projects?

I wish I had an answer for you. I'm just really, really lucky and I worship the devil. That's all it is. That's all you gotta do. That's all it is. Well, no problem. Sign me up. No problem, you guys.

Now, I've been lucky. Well, maybe the secret sauce is you. That's probably the truth. You say such things, Desi. Let's be best friends. Okay. You started at the Groundlings. I did, yes.

You were in the main company. I was. And the Groundlings, if you don't know, is a famous improv theater that is responsible for breeding just the top comedy talent of all time. Just about everybody on SNL comes from either the Groundlings or Second City and yeah I was lucky enough to do that for seven years and how did that how did that training prepare you for your comedic journey all these roles that you play? Well, the great thing about improv

is that you are never supposed to deny anything. So if you approach, I mean, even sales, if you're in sales or anything where you have to deal with the public, if you just approach it from a place of, yes, and I can do this for you, or yes, and I cannot do this for you, but I can do this, oh, hello and I cannot do this for you but I can do this. Oh hello. Yes and that that cup improv.

You had planned on doing that. Poetry. Yeah that was a planned little stunt that I thought I'd pull out here. They taught stunt work at the groundlands. I got to witness your improv skills on a tiny little project that we did many years ago that never saw the light of day. You were a baby. Yes. You were a kitten.

That's what we'll go with. Yes, no, she was so young. As were you. Right. Yeah. Yes, no. She was that. So young. As were you. Right. But this project had, it was you and Jane Lynch, and Sam Pancake, Jack Plotnik. It was all improvised.

Kind of like a curb your enthusiasm. And it was only like two days of filming. But that was such a master class for me to get to watch you and Jane show up to the party. Be a good improvise or a great listener, but like show up with the goods it really was like that was probably as such a nothing thing for you, but it was very impactful for me so thank you well, you're welcome and you

absolutely an angel because you came in at the 11th hour. Like literally, she was cast at what, 9 o'clock at night and 6 in the morning you're on set with us. Yeah, but that just shows that they were desperate. I was... That's when I got all my jobs and they were very desperate. Like, let's just hire the next person that walks in the door. Okay, fine, she'll do.

Okay, can I tell you something embarrassing about that job? Please. I was so sure that that stupid show was gonna go. And by the way, this was a scripted show for VH1. That doesn't do scripted shows. No, but on the strength of that hilarious pilot, I bought a boat. Oh my God.

Oh my God. Oh my God. This is not a joke. I talked my husband into buying a frigging boat and we had to push that thing uphill for the next five years and we couldn't even sell it. We had to give it to someone to take it off our hands. You no longer have the boat. Hell no.

Oh, don't buy a boat, people. Do not buy a boat. Rent a boat and rent a captain for the day. But you don't need a boat. So they didn't talk about good investments at the groundlings. That was not part of the training. Oh no, never, never.

Yeah, that's too bad. Oh my God. Oh my God, you bought a boat. That's so funny. Anyway, it was a terrible show. I mean. Yeah. It's no St. Anyway, it was a terrible show. Yeah. It's no St. Dennis Medical.

I'll tell you that much. Perfect segue. Yes, thank you. Yes, and. Yes, and. I truly, the show is so funny. And you're phenomenal in it. And I heard that you received the script the day

that the Goldbergs ended. Is that true? Yeah. In a weird twist of fate, yes, I did get it the same day and I was all pouty. And I'm looking at this script going, God, I think it's funny. I think this is funny. I think I want to do it. But, you know, it was just in the pilot stages.

So you think, well, I should just do it because 50 50, you know, it might not go. But it went. But then we went on strike. Oh, that's right, yeah. So if you watch St. Dennis, you might notice that between the first episode and the second episode, we all look a lot different. And that's why. But it's been a blessing, it's been so much fun.

And I cannot tell you how much respect I have for healthcare workers after doing this. Oh. Oh. It shows. It shows. Incredible. It really shows in the show.

One of the things that I appreciate so much about it, it's laugh out loud funny. It's very, very funny. But all of the characters have these huge blind spots for comedic reasons, but never are they completely inept at their jobs. Right. And so it is sort of a love letter to health care workers. It really is.

It really is. Because when you get into health care, don't think that you're ever going to work a 40-hour week. OK, that just doesn't happen. And there are times when it's somebody's worst day in the world, but you just want to go to lunch. Yeah, or you really have to pee and you wish someone would just make a decision. Like it's there are people too, you know, and sometimes they're going to have a bad day and they should be allowed to have a bad day sometimes.

Of course, as we all should. But yeah, respect, respect to all of. But yeah. Respect. Respect to all of the health care workers out there. Have you had anyone come up to you, any actual health care workers come up to you and say, thank you for making the show. I watch the show. I do get DMs from people who say the way you play

the administrator is dead on. Not to pat my own back there, but the very thought that you have to keep people motivated when you don't even believe what you're saying anymore. And I've had to work for people like that. And so what do you do? You change your physicality, and maybe you might throw a fake judo move or whatever to just kind of get a smile on someone's face,

and all they want to do is flip you the bird. What are my favorite things about your character that I noticed is that she wears these like enormous brooches on her lapel. She'll wear like a breast cancer research pin and then the next day it'll be a giant hummingbird that's just slightly too large for the lapel. Yeah. It tells you so much about that character. She's very like front-facing. Was that something that you came up with?

No, but I love it for her because she is just, it's that false optimism, you know, of, hey, you guys were having a pizza party. Like, we're adults, who cares? Get that hummingbird out of my face. Sometimes you just need a hummingbird you know there are some days. It softens a lot of blows. Well at this point you have played a fake cop, yes a fake doctor, hospital administrator, a fake mom in the 80s. Knowing your track record,

this show's gonna last for 27 seasons. I hope so, Desi. We gotta get you in there. Yeah, sign me up. Come on. But what is your, what do you wish to do next for a fake job? Ooh, for a fake job, next, prostitute.

Oh. That's the one I want in on. Yes. I really think I'd be good at it. Footwork or no footwork? We'll get to it. Sign me up because I'd like to buy a boat. St. Dennis Medical airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on NBC and streams on Peacock. Wendy McLennan coming everybody. We're gonna take a quick break. We'll be right back after this.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. That's our show for tonight. But before we go, Comic Relief is putting on a show to raise money to support the most vulnerable communities affected by the LA wildfires. The show is called Comic Relief, Stand Up for LA. It's on March 3rd.

It's in New York City. I will be there. Jon Stewart will be there. John Stewart will be there, Josh Johnson will be there. For more info and to buy tickets or to donate, please go to the link below. Now here it is, your moment of zen. No one has taken responsibility for the hack, but it comes as the government considers replacing half of the housing agency's workforce with AI.

Staff reportedly struggled to turn off the TVs, eventually trying a traditional fix and unplugging them out the wall. Explore more shows from The Daily Show Podcast universe by searching The Daily Show. Wherever you get your podcasts. Watch The Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central and stream full episodes anytime on Paramount Plus. Paramount Podcasts.