The Daily Show: Ears Edition - First American Pope Makes History and MAGA Catholics Already Have Issues | Michelle Buteau

Episode Date: May 9, 2025

Desi Lydic has the latest from the Vatican after the announcement of the first American pope, Leo XIV, including the world's reaction to a Chicago-style pope and Fox News immediately yelling at him to speak English. Plus, Michael Kosta celebrates America's conclave win. Following Trump’s ban on transgender people in the military, Jordan Klepper met with a panel of esteemed service members to discuss the president’s rejection of their qualifications, which stand in stark contrast to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s alcohol-fueled past and Trump’s own bone spur excuses. Comedian, writer, and actor Michelle Buteau sits down with Desi to share how the Netflix series that she created and stars in, “Survival of the Thickest,” began as a book of essays written just after her twins were born, how having so much creative responsibility on the show allows her to reflect the diversity of the city she lives in, and why she says featuring body-positive sex scenes shows young women that they are worthy of love at any size and shape. She also discusses her recent accomplishment as the first woman to ever film a comedy special at Radio City Music Hall and reflects on the importance of finding joy during difficult times.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart podcast. 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 with your host, Desi Lydic. Welcome to the Daily Show. I'm Desi Lydic. We've got huge breaking news out of Italy tonight that puts the holy in holy shit! Let's get into the headlines. Now if you've been waiting to hear back from the Vatican about that resume you sent in,

bad news, the position has been filled. And I think we see it. Sorry. There we go. That certainly looks like smoke. And white smoke. Hold on. We have smoke. And it is white smoke.

There would appear to be a white smoke. White smoke, we have a pope. We are watching, and everyone to breathe it in, the white smoke. Breathe it in? I didn't know we were supposed to hot box the pope smoke. Breathe it in. I didn't know we were supposed to hot box the Pope smoke. But white smoke means there's a new Pope and way do you get a load of where he came from? History at the Vatican. The first ever American Pope. Pope. Holy shit!

We have the first American Pope and let me just say, as an American, are you sure about this? We don't really have the gravitas that you associate with Popey-ness. We're less somber procession and more monster truck rally. I just think it's a little bit weird that the holiest man in the world probably knows all the words to the Chili's baby back ribs song. Kind of weird. In fact, I was trying to come up with a way to explain why the idea of an American pope feels like such a contradiction, but I think the way the news broke here kind of sums it

up. What is going on here? Your son was sleeping with your fiance and your fiance was sleeping with your son. That is correct. When I found that out, I confronted Andrea. She... This is a Fox News special report. Wait, what happened with Andrea? Go back to the gross love triangle. I love that stuff. But the votes are counted and the Vatican doesn't have a January 6th, so there's no going back. Let's find out more about this American pope.

Excuse me, Pope Americano. Born in 1955 in Chicago, Robert Francis Prevost has been a cardinal for only two years. He's big into tennis. He's affectionately known as Father Bob. A Cubs fan. He loves to cook. Italian media has referred to him

as the least American of the Americans because of his quiet, humble way. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. So you're telling me that you think all Americans are loudmouthed jackasses? Well, f*** you. Humble? Humble?

I'm the most humble bitch you've ever seen! But let's get back to the Pope. Of course, the first job of every new pope is to pick a pope name, which we all know is supposed to be the name of your first pet and the street you grew up on. But he went a different way. Robert Francis, Prevost of Chicago, taking on the name of Pope Leo XIV. Leo XIV? Did he choose it the way we pick a new email address?

Desi.lytic is taken? OK, what about Desi.lytic 2? Really? 3? Really? 4? Fine, Desi.lytic 14. But yes, Robert Prevost's new name is Leo XIV, which sucks for him because he just got

his real ID. Damn it. Okay. Now, I've always found this odd. The church is so conservative on gay issues, but then they turn around and make its leader choose a drag name. And make it quick. We got to get you to your gown fitting.

You're going to look so fierce. Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! But after he picked his pope name, he came out and gave his first speech in both Italian and Spanish about the need for unity and peace on Earth.

So cue peace and unity in three, two, one. I would have loved for the first Pope from America to say something in English. I was a little surprised that a Chicago native did not say a few words in English. He's talking Spanish. He's an American, and he didn't even speak in English. He's spoken Latin Spanish and Italian,

did not speak in English. He did not speak in English. I mean, I don't know how you claim that this is an American Pope if you won't even speak in English. He spoke in Latin, Spanish, and Italian. He did not speak in English. I don't know how you claim that this is an American Pope if you won't even speak in a native tongue. That to me was very disturbing. Yes, yes. How dare you? If English was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for the Pope.

Shame. Shame on you. Come on, does it really matter what language he speaks? It's church, you're going to be sleeping through it anyway. And besides, there's going to be plenty of other stuff for conservatives to throw a tantrum about. There's some tweets that when the Pope was still a cardinal that are getting a lot of attention online that are politically charged. This one is directly rebuking JD Vance. The new Pope, Pope Leo XIV, said JD Vance is wrong. Ooh.

The new pope does not like JD Vance. He really is an everyday American. No. No. No. No. No. No.

Be careful, though, Father. If you piss off JD Vance, he's gonna pay you a visit. We don't want that. For more on the new Pope, let's go to the Vatican with Michael Kosta. Michael, what's your analysis? I'll tell you my analysis. USA, USA, USA. Amen. I take it you're excited. The pope is American.

Is the pope Catholic? An American? Yup. We won the conclave, baby. Suck it, rest of the world. The pope's from Chicago, America's number one city in terms of mustard consumption. Now let's shotgun this communion wine. Hells yes! Body of Christ. Costa, Costa, calm down. I don't think it was a competition between countries.

Oh sure, now that we won, they'll say it wasn't a competition. They said we couldn't do it. They said our Cardinal roster didn't have the depth that we'd have to rebuild for years before we got a pope. Well, guess who's kissing our ring now, motherf**kers? Okay? Yeah. Hey, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, tell me how my ass tastes. Oh, my God!

Michael, you're at the Vatican. Stop swearing. Oh my god. Michael, you're at the Vatican. Stop swearing. Oh, fuck, you're right. My bad. Shit. So, sorry. I'm so pumped. I'm so pumped.

Are you even Catholic? Am I Catholic? No, I'm not, but I'm American, OK? Which means I get really excited when we win stuff. Conclave's, space races, Toyotathons, Academy Awards. Hey, Bong Joon-Ho, tell me how my ass tastes. Woo! All right.

Look, I appreciate your patriotism, but this could have been a chance to have a pope from underrepresented countries. There's never been a pope from Africa or Asia. Oh, yeah? Well, you know, there's never else. You know where else there hasn't been a pope before today? America.

OK? And what country is less represented on the world stage than America? Do you know there's never been an American queen of England? Think about that. OK, can you actually give me some analysis here? What is Pope Leo going to bring to the papacy? Yeah, well, you know, the pope has very important responsibility.

He's got that hat. He rides in that car that you can see through. He's got that magic scepter, and he's like, you shall not pass! Casa, Casa, that's Gandalf. You don't know anything about the papacy, much less what an American will bring to it. Look, I don't know what he's gonna bring to the papacy,

but the thing about us Americans is that we're not sticklers for the rules. So it'll be nice to have a pope who's not gonna be a hard-ass for every single little commandment, you know? I mean, this whole can't-say-the-Lord's-name-in-vain Jesus f***ing Christ. Give me a break. Michael, stop swearing! Stop it.

Who f***ing cares, okay? I'm getting into heaven no matter what. You wanna know why? Because I know a guy. All right, all right. Michael Kostner, everybody. Oh my God. When we come back, join in the clever

and listen to the latest culture war, 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. Yeah! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo!

Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo!

Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo!

Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! fighting machine to ever exist, not counting Andre the Giant. But now the Trump administration is banning a select group of soldiers from entering combat. Jordan Klepper has more. The U.S. military. The most powerful and respected organization in the entire world.

Few have what it takes. The discipline. The strength. The bravery. The strength. The bravery. The sacrifices made to serve our country. But according to the Trump White House, there's an enemy within. Everything's transgender. Everybody transgender.

That's all you hear about. The Supreme Court will allow the Trump administration to begin enforcing a ban on transgender service members. No more pronouns. No more dudes in dresses. We're done with that shit. And I had some hard-hitting questions. So as the Daily Show's senior war correspondent,

only I had the guts to... Ow! Paper cut! Ah! Ah! Once recovered, I met with some transgender individuals to hear their unqualifications. My name is Lieutenant Rae Timberlake. I'm in the United States Navy and I've been serving for about

17 years. My name is Clayton and I've been trying to go for a pair rescue, PJ, in the Air Force and it's a special warfare career field. I'm second lieutenant Nicholas Talbot with the United States Army Reserve. I've been in for a little over a year. I'm Joe Ellis. I'm a Chief Warrant Officer II in the Virginia Army National Guard. I've served for 15 years. I fly the UH-60, which is a Black Hawk. I don't want to swap war stories, but I've flown Spirit Airlines twice, so I know danger. They seem qualified to me, but there are others who think their weakening are military. They can't go to sea. They can't fly airplanes in combat. They can't deploy with the army into

combat areas. We should never allow anyone in the military to undergo transition surgery, which would make them medically unqualified to deploy. This idea that we spend years of being non-deployable is just simply untrue. I've never missed a deployment. I can fight tonight. They've paid for nothing for my transition. I paid out of pocket because I wanted to be mission ready

as fast as possible. In six weeks, I was deployable again, and I'm deployable today. They spend many times more on Viagra than they do on gender affirming care. If we don't have Viagra in the military, then who is going to take care of Pete Haig-Sess whiskey dick? I mean, that's not how I want to serve my country.

Turns out the U.S. military spends eight times more on Viagra than gender-affirming care. Over 37 million more, to be exact. And on top of that, replacing transgender troops could cost an estimated $960 million in recruiting and training, which ain't easy. It's very physically intense.

After going through a pretty extensive medical exam to even get into the military, going to basic training, it's a lot like what most people think it is. It's like boot camp? Yeah, it's boot camp. I did theater camp. It's tough. My tour duty was South Pacific. Belly high is calling. Belly high.

Is that the whole way? Yeah. All the trans people that are serving go above and beyond the standards, and they do their job every day. But it's interesting to hear that we are too strong for sports, but too weak for the military. Being too weak for both, I was curious why anyone would want to kick out these dedicated individuals.

If I'm in a foxhole, I don't want to know whether this guy next to me is wondering if he's a woman or a man or flipped back and forth. Because everyone knows when you're fighting on the front lines, the real enemies are the preferred pronouns of the person next to you. What the f*** is going on? pronouns of the person next to you. So I go by rank and last name. If someone uses a pronoun that I don't prefer, I really don't care. To me it's a distraction. Like, my job is to fly the helicopter. I'm curious what the reaction has been to you being trans in the military. I received an outpouring of support when I came out.

They're my family and they have my back. At the end of the day, all anybody cares about is whether I can perform my job when I have that uniform on. Must be nice to have respectful coworkers. I work with this guy Ronnie who's a total dick. He's just a dick. So if the people in the military itself don't care, then why did the administration impose an executive order

stating this? An adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual's sex can flunk so the soldier's commitment in executive order stating this. An adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual's sex can flunk so they soldier's commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle. I was named an honor graduate at basic training, so I would say at least someone out there agrees

that I have some honor and some discipline in me. Would you leak war plans on Signal? Are you that disciplined? I don't have any plans to do so. Good to know. If more people met trans people like us, then there would be no issue. If the world's on fire,

these are the folks I want in the foxhole. But would they want me? Do you guys think I would be an asset in the US military? How many pushups can you do? It's sort of like jazz. It's all about the pushups you don't do. And right now I'm not doing millions. How fast can you run two miles?

Well, I can drive it in under 40 seconds. Yeah, so I was at Fort Sill, Oklahoma for basic training. It was about 120 degrees Fahrenheit most days. Yeah, that's not going to work for me. If I'm in the sun for more than seven minutes, I get heat rash just like that. Have you ever tried an MRE? Yeah, and they told me that it was just a little fracture

in my foot. You think that you're talking about an MRI? No. MRE is a meal that's ready to eat. Yeah, military shit. While lawsuits are still pending and the fight's not over, I imagine these troops have lost the appetite to fight for a country that refuses to acknowledge

they even exist. President Trump is my commander in chief and I will gladly answer the call if he calls me up to active duty. America is my home, this is my country, this is where I want to be and who I want to fight for. I'm willing to serve, I'm able to serve and I can get the job done. I'd say come to the fleet, come to the field, come see what the thousands of transgender service members do every day in support of our nation's defense.

Sounds like patriotism to me, but what do I know? I didn't serve because of bone scourging. Thank you, Jordan. When we come back, Michelle Buteau will be joining us on the show, 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. Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay!

Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay!

Yay! Welcome back to The Daily Show. My guest tonight is an actor, writer, and comedian who created and stars in the Netflix series Survival of the Thickest. Please welcome Michelle Buteau! Come on, ladies! Come on, ladies! We're doing it! We're doing it! We're doing it!

We're doing it! We're doing it! We're doing it! We're doing it! We're doing it! We're doing it! We're doing it! This is nice! This is nice.

This is nice. This is nice. I feel like we need more dance breaks. We do, with ties? We gotta get it in. Tie twins. Yes, instead of Magic Mike, it's like Magic Michelle. Is this a tear away suit?

No, not yet. Mine is. Really? I'll show you later. They're like, no, my eyes! Don't do that! Oh, I'm so happy. You're beautiful. Come on now.

You stop it. And you're so funny, so tight, just everything. I... No, no. No, no. I am such a fan of yours, and I'm so happy that you're here. Congratulations on the second season of your show. Thank you so much!

You got season two, you have a recent special out, you're about to go on tour. Woo! Thank you so much! You got season two, you have a recent special out, you're about to go on tour. Yes. You're the mother of twins. Yes. First question. Yes.

Yes. Yeah. Would you like to go take a quick nap in my dressing room? No, you know what? I'm sleeping right now. You wouldn't know. You know what I mean... You find the moments. Yeah, I mean...

Yeah, it's a nice part about, like, not being on your phone all the time, to take those breaks, you know, to actually see your children, um... living in the world, crossing the street, being, like, just so cute and grown, having time to be creative. I'm just... You you guys put your phones down

and start like a pick-up book up. Yes. I can't say it enough. It's like healing to create stuff, yeah. Excellent advice, especially when they're little, like yours, you have six year old, they're six, right? Yes, yeah. I love the way you describe your daughter, Hazel.

Oh my God. As having the vibes of a 53 year old woman who works at the DMV. Yes, a 53 year old black woman that works at the DMV. You know what I mean? Yes. Because when you know, you know. With the specificity.

Because she rolls over to the playground and she's like, is this what y'all meant to do? I'm like, hazel. They would be nice. I love her. You know? I love that energy. I love it too.

I mean, I want them to be honest, just not with me all the time. Yes. Hold back a little bit. Just a little bit. She told me my elbows look old. I was like, girl, eat your peas. What does that even mean?

I mean, my elbows look a little haunted. They're a little gray. They look like the top of a pigeon's head. We don't have to get into it. Let's talk about the show. Let's talk about the show. I do want to talk about your show. This is season two.

Yeah. Your character Mavis explores dating, all kinds of relationships, building this beautiful budding career. You're now in a phase of your life where you have this booming career. You're married. You have kids.

Is this your opportunity to go back and get a do-over, do some things differently? Kind of. So you know, Mavis is the name of my grandmother and she was my person, she was my soulmate. I think you could have more than one soulmate and you don't know how they're gonna come to you, you know? And so it's so nice hearing her name on set all the time. But you know, I wrote this book, Survival the Thickest, and when I brought the twins home I'm like, I'll have time to write a

book now. I don't know what I was thinking. And yeah, and my husband was just like, are you gonna finish this book? I was like, that feels like a loaded question. And he found Joan Rivers old desk at Housing Works or some sort of like place, yeah. Yes, some sort of vintage shop and brought the desk home. I wrote the book on the desk. There was like legit energy in this desk.

I wrote the book and I'm like, I did this like artist thing where I was like, who's gonna read this book? Why should I even write it? And I'm like, write it for you just to get something done. Right. And I couldn't have ever imagined that it would turn into two seasons of a show.

And so what was really fun was working with my co-creator and showrunner, Danielle Sanchez-Whitsell, who was on the Carmichael show and has worked on New Girl. And so she has amazing experience with the unique voices. And it was pulling these stories, these essays, from like 15 to 35, 42, and putting them in a world that I wanted to see on television. You know, a New York that reflects my New York with fat, black, brown, queer, non-binary voices.

And I feel like we've done a bang-up job doing that. This season we have, you know, spoiler alert, if you haven't seen it, you need to see it. If you've seen it, watch it again. You need to see it. I think I have. Episode 6. Agreed. The category is love.

We have a beautiful trans wedding. Peppermint, who's a beautiful black trans woman, who's also a drag performer, gets married. And it's just, it is not only the New York that I live in, but it's also the America I want to live in. What are all those questions? I want to talk about the fact that you are wearing all the hats on this show. You mentioned, you created, you write, you produce, you star in.

What does it feel like to have that kind of creative freedom and also responsibility? Gosh, I mean, it feels damn good. Yeah. It feels really good. And I will say, I've been doing stand-up comedy for over 20 years and doing projects with a lot of friends, including a producer on your show, Devon.

Like, we've done a lot of stuff together. And the thing is, we do a like, a lot of stuff for free for so long. And so when people come to me and they ask me, how do I start making money, how do I get to the next level? I just say, keep doing it. Be so good by the time you get in that seat, by the time you get that job, you can't mess it up

because you've done it for 10, 12, 15 years for free. So you already know all the things that could happen. You know what I mean? And also, like, admit what you don't know. Yes. You know? Yes. Tell that to the administration. I will.

I will. It's one guy who needs that message. I will. I will. Take that up to the top. This season two is real steamy when it comes to the sex scenes. Did you see it? Yes.

OK. Very steamy. And I to the sex scenes. Did you say it? Yes. Okay. Very steamy. And I'm just wondering, was that your call? And how do I? Of course. As it should be. How do I push for more sex scenes here at The Daily Show? I get none. I'll talk to the administration.

Thank you. Yeah, you know, this is a body positive show, you know, and I'm positive we all got a body. And it was really important for me to show, um, my silhouette and other silhouettes being loved down. You know, because we are worthy of love at any size or shade or shape. And even down to, like, you know, not... Even down to, like, not wearing a lot of makeup, I want to show, especially young women, you know, even down to like, not wearing a lot of makeup, I want to show,

especially young women, you are beautiful the way you are. You deserve to be loved, however that looks, you know? So, it was so important too, to work with a very diverse cast and crew. And you know, 70% of the heads of our department are female. And, cause you know, we get stuff done. and 70% of the heads of our department are female. Cause you know, we get stuff done. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. And so it was really important as a plus size actor to be working with women who know how to light the biscuits. When there's Thanksgiving dinner on the table, you know what I mean? Gotta light those biscuits. Gotta light them good. That the table, you know what I mean? Gotta light those biscuits.

Gotta light them good. That bucket of chicken. They gotta be seen. The legs and the thighs. What am I talking about? One blazer, I don't know who I am! Dance break! I want to talk about your stand-up. First of all, you were the first female comedian ever to film a special at Radio City Musical.

Yeah. What does it feel like to break that beautiful glass ceiling. Oh my goodness, that was, I think if it's not a little scary, then why are you not doing it? Does that make sense? Like it should be a little scary. You should be a little excited. You should push yourself. You know, no matter what you have on your resume

or what you have in your bank account or what you think you can or cannot do, just try. You know, because you're just gonna end up in the same position anyways if it doesn't work out. And so I thought, you know what, let's see. It's really crazy that a woman has not filmed there. And I'm like, this isn't even about me, it's about them. You know, and the only reason why I even thought I could play Radio City Music Hall is because

years ago I opened for Jonathan Van Ness. You know, so that's, that should be the name of the game. We should be helping each other up. You know, uplifting diverse voices. And so, a beautiful mind at Radio City Music Hall was, it was really, it was so special. I was like more excited than my wedding. Oh, yes, you should be.

Yeah, cause I made money. You should be no offense to your husband,. You should be open to your husband. But that's a huge accomplishment. Yes. And you really are inspiring to so many women out there. One thing that strikes me as so special about you is that you infuse so much joy and positivity in your comedy and in all of your work. You are so excellent at these like hard, assertive, very funny, powerful jokes, but you never lose touch with your humanity.

Do you ever find that challenging when times are tough? Like how do you channel that energy? Asking for a friend. Um, no. It's, it's, I'm a joyful person. You know? And so, um, not only my mom and my grandma Mavis and my great grandma Hazel, like all these women

in my family, everybody in my family has had to really fight for their joy and their peace. And they fought so I could be here. And so that's not lost on me. And you know, when you start from a place of like, let's have fun, you know, how can we find comedy on the other side of pain? Then I do believe that I will always be okay, you know,

cause sometimes it is perspective. And we have to be aware that things are happening. And there is injustices. But like, how do we find our joy in the day? You know what I mean? Because then if we're not happy, then they've won. Right. That's right.

That's right. You are so inspiring and such a joy to be around you. Thank you for being here. Oh my God, shut up, it's not you! You shut up, you shut up! Welcome to the few! You are so inspiring and such a joy to be around you. Thank you for being here. Oh my God, shut up, is that it? Congratulations, you shut up, you shut up. Welcome to the show. Season two of Survival of the Sickest

is streaming on Netflix now, Michelle Butoh. I'm gonna take a quick break. I'm gonna take a quick break. I'm gonna take a quick break. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back.

We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back.

We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. Watch The Daily Show, weeknights at 11, 10 Central, on Comedy Central, and stream full episodes

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